Joe Oliver tried to explain why the federal government is getting out of the business of doing environmental assessments for things like pipelines, nuclear facilities or landfill cleanups.
“it’s a sort of administrative process which doesn’t actually review anything. What we’re doing is getting rid of some of the paperwork”
– Joe Oliver, Toronto Star, August 30, 2012
We know Joe “nothing to see here” Oliver has got his talking points down, but if his words aren’t exactly soothing, there’s a good reason. Conservatives have turned the term “administrative” into a pseudonym for “forthcoming disaster”.
Other epic Conservative “administrative” episodes:
When the Finance Minster broke his own sole source contracting rules:
“I do not regret hiring Mr MacPhie. I do regret that administrative functions were not followed."
– Jim Flaherty, Canadian Press, May 14, 2008
When John Baird defended Tony Clement’s G8 slush-fund:
“[There were] administrative deficiencies surrounding the intake of these projects”
– John Baird, National Press Theatre, June 9, 2011
When the Conservative Party pled guilty to breaking election spending laws:
“This is a question of a long-standing administrative dispute with Elections Canada”
– Pierre Poilievre, House of Commons, March 7, 2012
With growing concerns about Conservative mismanagement and unscrupulous politics, Canadians are now starting to understand the Conservative lexicon – when there’s “administrative” smoke, there’s Conservative fire.
