James Moore, UNBC Chancellor

This is James Moore campaigning for Stephen Harper on October 18, the day before the last election :

"... all that effort that you've poured into everything that we've fought for for so long, all of it is for naught if over the next 24 hours, we don't make sure that we get out that vote and re-elect Prime Minister Stephen Harper." 

This is *a government that actively muzzled Federal Scientists, that steadfastly failed to take meaningful action to address global climate change, that stifled legitimate democratic dissent, that discounted the need for a Federal inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous woman, and which sought to exploit anti-Muslim sentiment amongst Canadians in order to bolster its electoral fortunes.* 

This is University of Northern BC Board of Governors Chair Ryan Matheson on CBC Daybreak North defending the board's appointment of Moore as chancellor two days ago : 

"James Moore represents a lot of great things about what UNBC is - James being one of the most public alumni from UNBC ... UNBC being a great educator of minds is producing world class leaders."

UNBC Chair Ryan Matheson is the provincially appointed alumni representative on the Board of Governors 

This is the petition to Ryan Matheson created by a UNBC senator:

* UNBC must reverse its decision to appoint James Moore as Chancellor *


Update : Prince George Citizen, Nov. 30 : Faculty, alumni call on UNBC to reverse James Moore appointment as chancellor

Amy Blanding #takebackunbc : "Members of Parliament of Canada are not eligible to be members of the board (a chancellor is considered a board member). Moore was nominated while he was still a sitting Member of Parliament. This seriously calls into question the legitimacy of his appointment and the process."

The Province, Dec 1 : Ex-Conservative MP Moore faces backlash over UNBC appointment

"Ryan Matheson, chair of the UNBC board of governors, said the university is listening and plans to reach out to those who have voiced concerns but will not reverse the appointment.
Matheson said it is “unfortunate” Moore is being judged on his previous political affiliations."

Previous political record, if you please, Mr. Matheson

Tuesday update : So remember that sexting scandal about James Moore and Vanessa Schneider, senior aide to Con Minister of Infrastructure Denis Lebel?
I don't care who James Moore is doing or isn't doing but it turns out that in April this year, Vanessa Schneider was appointed new communications director to BC's Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson : BC Liberals stock-up on spinners for advanced education
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The Star leaks and the Fair Elections Act

Last week, the Star published a half dozen articles based on secret memos and a 70-page slide show about the Cons' 2015 election war room strategies anonymously leaked to them, as presented to the Conservative National Council above by Harper's former dcomm and now executive director of the CPC, Dimitri Soudas :

"Everything we do is part of the strategy to ensure we win in 2015 with another majority government"

The campaign is slated to start this spring. 

"Everything" includes a "drive, disrupt, disunity" campaign targeting Justin Trudeau from within the upcoming Liberal convention, led by :

"Soudas, Industry Minister James Moore (or Heritage Minister Shelly Glover as backup), former PMO chief of staff Guy Giorno, and a “yet-to-be-determined” Conservative who will be blogging for Macleans magazine";

leveraging Laureen into the public eye; and data-scraping comments under articles, Twitter and Facebook for possible supporters to add to their CIMS/CVote database. 

Blurring the lines between the public service and the Con Party on our dime has been a Con specialty.

Prior to the last election one of Jason Kenney's staffers was forced to resign after sending out a Con fundraising letter to target "very ethnic" ridings on Immigration Ministry letterhead but was then rehired back and given a promotion in the same ministry three months later.

A year ago, Michael Sona, Con volunteer in the 2011 election fraud riding of Guelph who afterwards became a staffer to Dimitri Soudas' wife, MP Eve Adams, tweeted about Hill staffers building the CIMS :

That would be gov staffers in the public service working on the Hill adding info about Canadians to a partisan Con Party election campaign database.

And in the same month Blogging Tory founder Stephen Taylor bragged to his Enbridge and TransCanada-sponsored "Big Data" audience at the Manning Centre for Building Democracy about the Conservative Caucus Research Bureau using taxpayer dollars to micro-target voters in 2008 :

"[The party] sent out, I think, probably a hundred million pieces of mail. Paid for by the taxpayer, I should say. They were each barcoded, and they were each very issue-specific. Most people would sort of ignore it or say 'this is garbage.' But the few people who would actually send it back and say 'Hell yeah, that's what I'm all about' -- you would be able to put them in a database."

The School of Practical Politics at the Manning Centre "will be training thousands of volunteers online and at the school's new campus in Calgary from now until the next election".

The newly leaked docs from the Star on data-mining Facebook :

"The slide show points to radio station CFRA’s Lowell Green, whom it identifies as an “Ottawa based conservative leaning talk show host.” It says a “recent Facebook posting—non-issue” received 55 Facebook “likes.” The document says the party was able to “positively identify 38 constituents (70 per cent ID rate).” Of those 38, it said five “are current members/ donors."

Using a simple Facebook application to ask “Have you voted yet?”:

If a voter clicks yes, “I voted,” the party would then place a badge in their friends’ news feeds saying “I Have Voted, Have you?”

Place a badge in their friends' news feeds?

Notably, under the Fair Elections Act the Cons are in such a rush to bash through Parliament, there is no mention of such data scoping, while targeting and contacting "current members/donors" like those mentioned above will no longer count as an election campaign expense after the writ is dropped. 

And with the Elections Canada's investigatory function now relocated to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions under Peter MacKay, we'll likely never get to hear about our tax dollars hard at work re-electing another Con majority.

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