In honour of the Queen of Skeena-Bulkley Valley

The SharonSmithIsUs edition:



And tonight... we have a little bonus.

Really Sharon? No problem?

Like Unrepentant Old Hippie we suddenly started to get a lot of traffic looking at this post about Houston BC mayor and Conservative candidate for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, Sharon Smith. Oddly, the traffic was coming from one of our friends in Nevada, Coyote Angry.

Accidental Deliberations provided the explanation by pointing out this story from CTV, and as AD points out, CTV is burying the greater of three stories - specifically the one related to democracy corrupted by the Conservative Party of Canada.

The Conservative candidate for B.C.'s Skeena-Bulkley Valley insists naked photos taken of her in her office are not an issue for the party.

Sharon Smith, the mayor of Houston, B.C., grabbed worldwide attention five years ago when pictures of her wearing nothing more than a smile and her mayor's robes were widely circulated on the Internet.

Copies of the pictures were allegedly copied from her computer and circulated around the small mill town.

In one full-length photograph, Smith is seen seated naked with the mayor's medallion around her neck.

Speaking from Smithers, B.C., Smith told CTV the Conservative party is aware of the pictures, and they were never an issue in her bid for office.

"They've known since I put my name forward for the riding and the federal candidacy," she said.

Well, they should be an issue, but we'll get back to that.

Appearing at a luncheon with Smith in Smithers, Conservative Gary Lunn says the photos don't matter to the party.

"This election is about leadership. Sharon has shown leadership in the riding and on council so we're very proud to have her as our candidate here," he said.

Gary Lunn. There's a real prize. This is a guy so incompetent that he didn't have a clue what was happening in his own ministry, lost track of the condition of a nuclear reactor and then had the country's nuclear regulator fired to cover up his own shortcomings. Leadership? Lunn might want to take a course. In any case, he's wrong. This election is NOT about leadership. It's about Harper breaking promises and ignoring his own legislation.

Machterschleichung (sneaking into power)

Smith is a different issue. The crux of the issue surrounding her was her appointment by the Conservative Party of Canada as "liaison to the federal government" and the blatant effort to sideline the duly elected member of parliament for Skeena-Bulkley Valley. In effect, Smith's appointment was an affront to Parliament and a dismissal of the democratic process. In fact, Dick Harris, chairman of the Conservative British Columbia caucus made it clear that he considered the democratic process a complete waste of time:

I and other BC Conservative MPs will work closely with Sharon Smith as she represents constituents of her riding to the government members. It will be a bonus for people of Skeena-Bulkley Valley to have direct representation to the government on so many issues,” continued Harris

Harris concluded, “Having an MP from the fourth party in the House just doesn’t cut it when it comes to actually getting things done for the folks in Skeena-Bulkley Valley .

So, Sharon Smith, obviously the annointed candidate for the Conservatives in any future election, was given the job of representing constituents, a role which belonged to Nathan Cullen of the NDP. And then Harris made his reason for the appointment based on his belief that the Parliamentary system really wasn't aligned with the way his party did business. In order to talk to government, a "representative" had to come from the government party. All others, despite the choice of the constituents, were ignored.

The Germans actually have a word for it - Machterschleichung.

That Sharon Smith accepted the role shows one set of a variety of colours. She went along with this whole idea. She too, clearly believes that democracy is inconvenient and standing in the way of her diety-provided position with a Conservative government.

That was the first, and most important, of three issues.

Schlafenzeitungen (Sleeping newspapers)

The uproar that followed Smith's "appointment" by the Harper government developed into another issue. That uproar was coming from the report in one local newspaper and a wide array of blogs, where all the research and digging was taking place. The affront to democracy, although obvious, was being totally disregarded or completely missed by the major media in British Columbia and, to a much greater degree, Canada at large. At least six blogs, with moderate readerships, were making regular posts and sending emails in an attempt to get the major news outlets to wake up.

It took four days. Four days to get a story of major significance out into the light and into the public arena. And once that happened, didn't the Conservatives immediately backtrack. Yes, and a name appeared which surfaced again during the current campaign: Ryan Sparrow.*

What became evident however, was the fact that the major media outlets were paying little or no attention to the skullduggery of the Harper government and, as self-declared public watchdogs, were not doing their jobs. They were quite comfortably asleep.

The Germans have a word for that too - Schlafenzeitungen.

Der nackte Bürgermeister (The naked mayor)

It was the digging around to find out what Harris and Smith were up to in Skeena-Bulkley Valley which dragged out an older story and the third issue surrounding Smith. In 2003 photos appeared, all over the globe, of newly-elected Houston, BC, mayor Sharon Smith posing in her publicly-owned municipal office, wearing nothing but her publicly-provided chain of office. At the time Smith refused to apologize (and she still hasn't), criticized those who published them and claimed that the photos were private; not intended for public viewing.

I'm quite certain they weren't, but those photos exposed more than Sharon Smith's body.

Take this comment from the latest CTV story:

Let's not forget that the pictures were private and were stolen from her computer. It would be nice if some of you righteous Liberals would remember Mr. Trudeau's comment that government and (for that matter the public) have NO place in the bedrooms of the nation.

Alright. Let's not forget that these photos were taken in the mayor's office at Houston, BC. Let's not forget that they were taken shortly after Smith had won the election to the mayor's post. Let's not forget that Sharon Smith is now running for the party of "family values". Let's not forget that Sharon Smith treated her ascent to the Houston mayor's chair with complete disrespect. Let's not forget that Sharon Smith presumed to treat the symbols, accouterments and fixtures of the mayor's office as her personal property rather than something entrusted to her to safeguard for the public as required by Letters Patent. Let's not forget that Sharon Smith participated (obviously) with secret intent in an event which would have caused outrage had she announced she was going to do it, and then saved them without regard to consequences.

Let's not forget that in most business offices if you take a picture of your naked ass on a photocopier and are discovered, your fully clothed ass usually gets fired.

Taken as one, Smith presumed to own the trappings of her office and abused them without first considering the consequences of her actions. That's just plain bad judgement. Then she refused to apologize. That's just plain arrogant. Then she dismisses the whole thing by claiming a level of priviledge to which she is not entitled because of the public venue. That's just plain imperious.

The truth is, Smith will fit right in with Harper's Conservatives because their behaviour is no different. She's the perfect Harper Conservative.

And let's not forget that her defenders, those who are saying photos taken in a mayor's office, wearing a mayor's chain, are private and not an issue which should be public, are the same ones who went into fits of apoplexy over Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky because, you know, that was different.

No problem? Right. The Germans have a word for that too - Hypokrisie.

========

* For Kady... because we know how she loves to read his name.

Perhaps the PCO simply mis-clicked

An old friend of mine would tell me that this little event, which occurred at 11:31 a.m. Ottawa time, contains a wealth of information.

So, for our friends in the Privy Council Office, let me make your search a little easier.

No, Sharon Smith's indiscretions won't go away. If she was willing to behave in a fashion which showed disrespect for her office at the municipal level, there's no telling what she'd do in a Parliament Hill office.

Go ahead. Run her as a candidate.

She was dressed! We can do better than that.

The (former) mayor of Arlington, Oregon has lost her seat in a recall vote.

The reason?

Photographs of her which appeared on a MySpace page. She was wearing a bra and panties which the voters of the small Oregon town thought was an inappropriate rig for a mayor. Never mind that the photos were taken before she ran for office.

The mayor of a small Oregon town who came under fire for racy pictures of her posted on the Internet was recalled in a close vote Monday.

According to the person who spearheaded the recall drive, Ron Miller, the vote was 142 in favor and 139 against the recall of Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist.

She came under fire after she posted photos of herself posed in lingerie on a fire truck on her MySpace page.

Ummm. You folks in Arlington are a bunch of amateurs. Really.

Kontur-Gronquist, who is quite clearly one very fit woman, is positively overdressed compared to the standard set by at least one Canadian small-town mayor. (Not safe for work)

That is Her Worship, the mayor of Houston, British Columbia, Sharon Smith. Note: she is wearing absolutely nothing but her ceremonial chain of office. That's right. That photo was taken while she held office.

She still has her job.

You folks in Arlington haven't heard the best part yet. She's has close ties to the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. That's right. She's a conservative. We expect she'll be running for a federal seat in the next election.

Our bitch with her was that she was a participant in a constitutional scam. We took that seriously.

I suppose if Kontur-Gronquist had posed in an even skimpier swimsuit it would have been different... for some reason that escapes me and none of you could possibly explain.

The status of Sharon Smith UPDATED

Since Dick Harris has "appointed" Sharon Smith the *ahem* liaison with the Harper government from the federal riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley, some questions as to what her status actually represents are appropriate.

Clearly, she's the mayor of Houston, British Columbia and can represent that district municipality in that capacity. Her point of contact: the Member of Parliament for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, Nathan Cullen.

She is a member of the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District board, but that doesn't give her any increased access to federal government than her position as mayor. Since she's not the chairman of that regional district board, she represents Houston on that board.

So what is she?

Well, consider that the University of British Columbia is a public institution and occasionally enters into communication with officers of the Crown regarding education, legislative research and applications for grants, capital or operating funding. In order to do that, the President and every department head of UBC is registered as a lobbyist under the Federal Lobbyist Registration Act.

A search of the Lobbyists Registration System does not produce a result when Smith is entered into a search.

But, with no other official status, the only thing her role seems to represent is that of a lobbyist. Why is she not registered?

If a public university has to register every individual likely to communicate with the government, shouldn't Smith be required to meet that same standard?

Just sayin'.

UPDATE: Tim picked up on another "special liaison" person appointed by the Conservatives. This time it is in the Western Arctic in the form of Brendan Bell. Bell will be running for the Conservatives in the next federal election. Are you surprized?

UPDATE 2: Try as I might, I can't find a supporting link to verify that Brendan Bell has received any special appointment at all. He has announced that he is not running in the North West Territories election and will make a run for the Conservative Party candidacy for the federal seat. Other than that, Bell appears to be a very busy and energetic minister in the NWT assembly. A check on NDP MP Dennis Bevington's (Western Arctic) website contains no information that would indicate Bell has received any special status which would undermine Bevington's role as MP.

Apologies to everyone if the update got everyone's blood up.

So... do I play this one as dirty as a Conservative would?

Not quite. But I come from a culture where the unofficial motto was: You fight dirty? We fight dirty. I will exercise a small modicum of restraint - very small.

Sharon Smith, the Mayor of Houston, British Columbia, had more than a little fame after having donned the chain of office in 2002. She was very "hurt and embarrassed" by all that attention. She seems to be having a less emotional reaction at being used as a lever by the Conservative Party to subvert democracy.

The fame? Well, more like infamy.

On 11 December, 2003, the mayor of a small town in northern British Columbia, population 4,300, made titillating news in London, England; San Francisco, and; Chicago. To name just a few of the hundreds of places that told her embarrassing story.

So, perhaps Dick Harris, working so diligently for the Conservative Party cause, was going for name recognition in appointing her the "go to person" for the riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

And it's that name recognition that is curious. The major organs of the reporting media have given this heinous assault on the electors of Skeena-Bulkley Valley a complete pass.

If Smith were to limit herself to municipal politics there is a chance her past ridiculous lapse in judgment might have faded into nothing but an urban myth. Hell, it isn't even in the pages of Snopes yet. But to become party to a political profanity suggests she is prepared to accept that the gloves are off. Or, in her case, everything but the gloves.

If this type of abuse of the democratic establishment of Canada had been perpetrated by any other party the Conservatives would have been digging under the fingernails of corpses looking for information to post on their party website.

So, Sharon Smith should expect what's coming.

The nude pictures don't matter. I'm sure a lot of people have them, although an intelligent person wouldn't leave them accessible on the family computer where "the kids" friends can get at them.

It's the apparent lack of respect for an office, which deserves to be held with dignity and reverence, which should call into question the fitness of an individual to stand for parliament or, in this case, somehow find herself made a form of government agent without portfolio. Yes, even the mayor of a small town in this country is expected to show deferential regard for the ceremonial trappings of office.

Sharon Smith didn't do that.

She mocked the office that had been handed her by the voters of Houston, B.C. It doesn't matter that the photo was intended to remain private; the place wasn't. It belongs to the ratepayers of Houston.

In short, not her office, not her chair, not her chain.

One can only question how she would treat a position of even greater authority than that of mayor of Houston, B.C.

How she fits in with the Conservative Party is another question, but then, I suppose they're not all that adept at using Teh Google.