Storm clouds circling over Colin Mayes

Something is rotten in Okanagan-Shushawp and it may cost Conservative MP Colin Mayes his job as chair of the HoC’s Aboriginal Affairs Committee. Couldn’t come at a worse time for Steve’s moderation project too.

There seem to be some serious issues at the local Conservative riding association, with 10 of the 30 directors having left the board since last March. One member who was recently fired off the board, Miles Lehn, said he was canned after expressing concern over the growing control the religious right was accumulating and exerting over the riding association:

“What I found on the board was that they were basically all members of (Mayes’ church) congregation. It seems to have gone in the direction of dirty liberal policies and tactics.”

Then there’s Colin’s executive assistant fighting against homeless shelters (h/t Audacious Onthology):

... At the public hearing into rezoning for the proposed Salmon Arm shelter, Terri Jones, executive assistant to Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes, ... “I don’t think it’s a good mix to have people who are either alcoholics or people who are on drugs in situations where they’re around kids or the elderly – especially when it’s a fact they will steal to support their habits,” she said in an interview after the meeting. ...

Unfortunately, the RCMP say Terri’s theory is pure BS:

Cpl. Henry Procé is media relations officer with Vernon RCMP and has spent eight years policing in Vernon, five of them as a watch commander. He said he hasn’t seen any evidence that homeless shelters present a danger. “From the police point of view, I don’t see this as a cause of increased crime. In fact, it may have the opposite effect, with a place where they’re warm and dry and not so desperate – not sleeping in bank foyers.” ...

But that’s not the worst of it. Now the latest broadside to hit Mr. Mayes: accusations of racism. Remember, he’s also chair of the Parliamentary Aboriginal Affairs committee:

Mayes (Okanagan-Shuswap) replied “good joke” in an Oct. 21, 2006 e-mail responding to a joke about an aboriginal man with a shotgun, speaking in broken English, who enters a coffee shop and has an exchange with an employee who calls him “chief” and “Tonto.”

The local TV station has a news report with video online that sums up the recent doings well and gets a weak, feeble defence from Mayes.

In a statement, Liberal Indian Affairs Critic Anita Neville called for Mayes to step-down as committee chair and apologize for his praise of the offensive joke:

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Mayes would support and find funny something that is so insulting to First Nations. His attitude indicates that he is not qualified to chair the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. He should resign immediately as chair and apologize to First Nations people. As Chair his responsibility is to ensure that Aboriginals from coast to coast to coast get a fair, unbiased hearing at committee.”

If the name Colin Mayes sounds familiar, it should. He’s the genius that was forced to apologize for suggesting journalists critical of El Presidente Steve and the CPC should be thrown in jail.

You may also recall Mayes replaced Maurice Vellacott as the committee chair after Vellacott was forced to resign for complaining about the “Godlike powers” of Supreme Court Justices.

Gee, with such a tough act to follow, and all the talent in the CPC caucus, I can’t wait to see what winner Steve finds to take Colin’s place.

P.S. Here's another ironic note. Up until the last election, Colin's riding was held by good ol' Darell Stinson. You'll probably remember him from this famed line, where he challenged my current MP, Liberal John Cannis, to a fight on the floor of the HoC, nearly ten years ago:

"I hear the word 'racist' from that side. Do you have the fortitude or the gonads to stand up and come across here and say that to me, you son of a bitch? Come on."

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