Well, but is there some list somewhere that Dain's name is on? This seems unclear.
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Man, this is exciting journalism! Good one, RossK. Your site is the Must See centre for what's going on, these days.
Kim Bolan is a journo to be admired. I like that she stepped up this way to explain her methods, eyeball to eyeball. Too bad about the smackdown, though.
I admire her, too, for sheer courage when another person (Tara Singh Hayer) was murdered for his determination to tell what he knew about Air India.
As for what's going on with the Harper Conservatives and the federal Liberal Party, honestly, my head is still spinning. I'll need another 3 months to figure that one out. Maybe Anon has a bead on it.
For now, see ya on Monday in B.C. Supreme Court, eh?
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That doesn't explain why she felt it was necessary to make that familial connection public now does it?
It was a smear job.
Mary and Catnip.....
There is one little thing missing from the comment, I agree, that is critical.....I'm trying to get an answer before I comment in full (ie. I'm giving Ms. Bolan the benefit of the doubt at the moment given her track record and the fact that she was good enough to comment directly).
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Well, thanks to Kim Bolan for being prompt and vigilant...however, as I think was suggested by anon above (quoted yesterday by Gazetteer) there are several possibilities for the genesis of this story - not all of which have been exhausted by Ms Bolan's explanation.
In fact, she actually says this:
"The reason I wrote the story this week is because I just learned (through Sikh community contacts, not POLICE) that Saini was the father-in-law of Bains. I did not know that until very recently. I called up Saini and Bains and they confirmed it. I thought it was relevant."
So, we know that Ms Bolan was not contacted 'directly' by the police or CSIS, but we do know that she appears to have been contacted by members of the Sikh community.
Does it therefore follow that there was no political angle behind the story or the decision of Ms Bolan's editor to run the story now?
I don't think so, and I'd suggest journalists like Juliet O'Neill and Stevie Cameron might like to speak to Ms Bolan about the kinds of tactics the authorities (and special interest groups) often use in furthering their own interests.
I don't think she should be so sanguine about believing that she hasn't been 'used' in this instance too.
I'd say only one shoe has hit the floor.
G West--
Since you've raised it.....I agree that this is the critical issue.
I'm awaiting Ms. Bolan's response re: who asked who.....
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And if anyone would like to learn more about the 'tactics' that G West is alluding too they might like to have a look/listen to Ira Basen's 'Spin Cycles' series on CBC Radio One. There is a link to it on the sidebar under the 'Honourable Roll'.
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One other not exactly small matter that appears to have been overlooked before Mr. Harper lit his hair on fire over Paul Martin's alleged 'terrorist' contacts is the timing of this little drama.
I know if often seems as if the Liberals have been in power in this country for ever but, in 1990 the Sovereign Government of this land was still in the death grip of Brian Mulroney. The Liberals, under Jean Chretien, were not actually in power until they defeated the successor government (under short lived Prime Minister Kim Campbell) on October 25 1993.
I'm beginning to think that the current Prime Minister should learn to read a calendar. And he ought to remember that, if there were terrorist groups thronging the land and making sly offers of support to anyone - even someone as inconsequential in the context of the time as a potential future leader of the 'opposition' - as Paul Martin was then - that it was the duty, nay obligation, of the government and their security forces (RCMP and CSIS) to bring this to the public's attention – if not Mr. Martin’s.
I think Ms Bolan AND the current Prime Minister need to check their dates and remember that they should be directing their questions in another direction entirely. This is not an old story. It’s a new story constructed out of ‘old’ whole cloth.
Just a thought. From thinking that the Liberal hue and cry in the House the other day was an over-reaction by members of M. Dion's bench, I'm beginning to wonder if they have a point.
I'm just glad that I discovered your blog recently . . . Cutting edge stuff, RossK, and obviously the MSM is giving you well-deserved respect.
Good job!
Ross K:
Nice work you are doing here, I thank you very much for it and commend you on it's quality to date.
"The reason I wrote the story this week is because I just learned (through Sikh community contacts, not POLICE) that Saini was the father-in-law of Bains. I did not know that until very recently. I called up Saini and Bains and they confirmed it. I thought it was relevant.
So don't always look for a political conspiracy. In this case, there isn't one." Kim Bolan | 02.23.07 - 2:17 am
I have real problems with her assuming there is no political conspiracy here at all. Why did whoever bring this to her attention? Does she know this source's political affiliations/interests/agenda well enough to positively rule that out as a prime motive for making her aware of this? For that matter was the source made aware of it by another person so as to encourage that source to come forward and have it look like it came from a non-partisan? Assuming the person/source had such intent did that source come up with it themselves or was this part of some larger orchestrated act within the Conservative party and if so to what level does it reach?
She is presuming/assuming an awful lot here and asking us to take it on faith that this is so. She is also asking us to take on faith that she is correct about this man being on a potential witness list in this matter. When I consider this is touching on a very significant political situation in Ottawa between parties and within the Libs, when I consider that PM Harper is clearly using the Air India investigation/issue vis a vis the ATA to paint Dion's Libs as soft on terrorism, I would say there is quite a lot of reason to be concerned about political conspiracies and connections, even if they are not immediately apparent, and should not be ruled out until one actually verifies this instead of apparently assuming it. If I were a political rteporter worthy of the name I would know that Harper's CPC has borrowed heavily from the GOP/Bush media playbook and such dirty tricks operations on such serious issues are one of the staples of that book, so I would never dismiss something like that out of hand in circumstances as politically charged as is this one.
to be concluded...
Conclusion:
I also would like to know why she thought this was significant for a reason other than how it could be influencing Liberal ATA policy given her focus on the clause in question and the political dynamics in Ottawa recently over it. She wants to claim by the look of it that this was not why she thought it was so important that it needed immediate reporting like this, yet I don't see her actually providing any other such reason so far. I'll wait, and I do commend her for responding instead of simply ignoring you, but that doesn't grant her more credibility on the story itself, no that comes from what she actually answers and given the IMHO sloppiness of her definitively assuming no political connection/conspiracy despite the very real potentials for one given what she has said so far bothers me.
I've got my whole take on the discrepancy between Bolan's comment and her article up on my blog.
http://tinyurl.com/2626g8
Thanks everybody.
I've heard from Ms. Bolan directly by Email and I'll have an update up soon (just have to get dinner on the table and bath for littler e. done before I can back to it, wife C. is away tonight, and there are, alas, priorities involved).
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So, in other words,
Ralphie made up the "it was top secret and only could have been a leak" slander,
was made up whole cloth.
Slandering the PM, intelligence, and the RCMP, all in one shot. Nice.
Its the cover up that'll get you.
So
-the fact that a Liberal MP's close relative is a material witness in Canada's biggest terrorist hearing,
-Dion's done an about face on this issue contrary to his one party bigwigs, and
-Dion actively recieved a critical bloc of votes from those related to this issue,
that's all no problem.
The fact that the above is even being questioned is the "conspiracy"?????
You liberals are hilarious.
I'll have an update up soon (just have to get dinner on the table and bath for littler e. done before I can back to it, wife C. is away tonight, and there are, alas, priorities involved).
Aww.. This guy is too good to be true.
This whole drama started with Kim Bolan's obsession for covering Sikh issues and her biased reporting. No wonder Kim is an honoured guest of Indian establishment when she visits India. Her major sources here are those who are well known for their Pro India views and their contacts with Indian intelligence agencies and the consulate.
The book Soft Target written by two Canadian Journalists of Globe and Mail
clealy pointed the finger of accusations for Air India blast on Indian Government to sabotage Sikh Independence movement and link it with terrorism. The most costly trial in the history of this country where every possible resource of the Canadian Government was used has proved that Sikhs are innocent.
I think we need to look in to motives of Kim Bolan and her associates to keep the air India issue alive.
PM Harper's use of a this story to divert attention from his attempt to pack judiaciary with conservative and anti freedom judges was shameless and a low life attempt at political smear.
WHY IN THIS ENTIRE AIR INDIA PROBE INDIAN GOVERNMENT"S ROLE HAS NEVER BEEN PROBED WHEN THERE ARE STRONG REASONS TO SUSPECT??
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