and distinctive lack of acuity the dipps have sent Svend, yet another pretender who would be Queen, to Scotland on an all paid taxpayer-funded vacation.
Know all ye! In three years time the Queen of Diamonds will be the swooning beneficiary of an $86,000.00/yr serf paid pension.
Quote:
Robinson takes taxpayer-funded junket
CanWest News Service
Friday, July 16, 2004
The NDP dispatched Svend Robinson on a taxpayer-funded junket to Scotland last week even though he is no longer a member of Parliament and plans to plead guilty to stealing a valuable diamond ring.
Robinson joined a group of eight MPs and senators attending a session of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, held in Edinburgh on July 5-9.
Part of the mandate of the OSCE is to encourage new democracies in Eastern Europe to develop anti-corruption policies and promote integrity in government.
Robinson, who is apparently suffering from "extreme stress," looked "tanned and relaxed" when he attended the conference of parliamentarians from 55 nations, according to an MP on the trip, who asked not to be identified.
Robinson wasn't the only former MP who took part in the all-expense paid mission. The Liberals sent former Montreal MP Clifford Lincoln.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation condemned the participation of the two former MPs, saying it's unacceptable for them to take free trips at taxpayers' expense when they are no longer in Parliament. But the CTF's federal director John Williams said it is even more deplorable that the NDP would allow Robinson to represent Canada at an international event when he has criminal charges hanging over his head.
'BIGGER PROBLEM'
"Svend Robinson has a bigger problem right now and it involves the courts of the country and I think most people would view his participation (in the trip) as being really unacceptable," he said. "He has stepped over the line and he (went) on a junket that he has no business being on. These things are for lawmakers and not for former members who are either too sick to work or are facing criminal charges."
Karl Belanger, the press secretary for NDP Leader Jack Layton, said former MPs have 30 days to wrap up their parliamentary duties which is why the party allowed Robinson to take the trip.
"It's been planned well in advance, probably before anything happened to Svend, so it was in the works and I guess he decided to go ahead with what was planned before," he said.
Asked if it was appropriate for Robinson to represent Canada when he faces criminal charges, Belanger said: "He has been charged, but he has not been proven guilty."
Robinson, 52, was in Edinburgh when the theft charges against him were read in a Richmond, B.C., court. He faces a charge of theft over $5,000, but his lawyer said last week he will accept full responsibility for his actions.
Robinson has admitted pocketing an expensive ring which the company said was valued at $64,000. The case has been put over in provincial court until Aug. 6.
In a tearful news conference, Robinson said he took the ring from an auction in an "act of utter irrationality" as an engagement present for his partner Max Riveron.
Robinson, who will collect an annual parliamentary pension of $86,663 at age 55, is a vice-chairman of the OSCE's committee on democracy, human rights and humanitarian questions. He could have had the OSCE pay for the trip but elected to bill Canadian taxpayers.
Other politicians on the trip were Conservative MP Jason Kenney, Liberals Paul Szabo and Roy Cullen, Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde and Liberal Senator Bill Rompkey and Conservative Senator Ethel Cochrane
Smug in his acceptance of a role to encourage development of "anti-corruption policies and promote integrity in government" Drama Queen Svend expressed much excitement at the thought of riding bareback through the high and lowlands of heather whilst those bound to the land pick up the tab. Although expected, he did not shed, as is his wont, a maximum river on departing his betrothed, the King of Tart.
Knaves, young and old have been cautioned to beware of a stranger bearing rings of any color or enquiring as to family jewels for without a doubt, the man who has not had his day in court but admits to being a common thief will not vacillate in his lilting quest to determine if in fact the Scots are 'Regimental'.
wailing diminuendo. . . . !!
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