Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Resigned BC Liberal cabinet minister Bill Bennett proves himself a $25,000 bonehead

Ex-Minister of State Bill Bennett - bonehead once again

I've called BC Liberal cabinet minister Bill Bennett a bonehead before - and now he just had to go out and prove it again!

Bennett flamed out in an email with obscene language not to an NDP symp or union supporter but - bonehead play - to the president of the Fernie Rod & Gun Club!

And that misanthropic missive cost Bennett a cool $25,000 a year - the money he was collecting for being a junior Minister of State - in other words, Minister with Letterhead and not much more.

A tip of the hat to my 24 hours colleague Sean Holman, also of http://www.publiceyeonline.com/ who first broke the story on Tuesday.


Obviously Bennett's exalted position got to his head because how else can you explain using language unfit for a daily newspaper to belittle someone who dared criticize Bennett.

In his email to Maarten Hart, Bennett wrote that: "It is my understanding that you are an American, so I don't give a shit what your opinion is on Canada or Canadian residents."

"As someone who has spent the past six years working my ass off for my constituents, I am not about to take that kind of bullshit from someone who, for all I know, is up here as an American spy who is actually interested in helping the US create a park in the Flathead," Bennett continued.

"I will continue to work for hunters and anglers in the East Kootenay as I always have and you will continue to be a self-inflated, pompous, American know-it-all.

Have a nice day.

Bill Bennett"

Bennett - obviously no relation to former Social Credit Premier Bill Bennett - is prone to gaffes.

In October of last year he accused the BC NDP of planning a campaign of "dirty tricks" against Premier Gordon Campbell's Conversation on Health and that they would be advised by "American strategists" who might be "Democrats or Republicans".

His "evidence"?

Bennett told Province reporter Ian Bailey that he had learned some New Democrats had been to Washington, D.C. for seminars, "where they were trying to teach people about how to practise politics in a more effective and negative way."

Of course, Bennett didn't realize that Premier Campbell's chief of staff Martyn Brown had been doing the same thing - attending seminars in Washington on political strategy and tactics.

Ironically, just a few days after the first Healthcare Conversation it's not the NDP who pull a dirty trick on the Premier but his own minister, Bill "Bonehead" Bennett!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems a father in the lower mainland emailed his MLA as he was concerned about a teacher who was grabbing girls buttocks. What can you do? The MLA sent the email to someone else who promply sued the father.( Vancouver Sun today 7 February) The long and short of it, don't email a MLA unless you are brownnosing him because it may come back to bite you. The fact they are hired to do their best for the voters. and non voters simply doesn't work with some of those power hungry folk. None of the two parties seem immune to getting upset if some one writes with a differenrt position than the MLA. Hell, they are MLA's so must know everyhing, at least in their minds. Sort of like a vision from God, sermon on the mount maybe. How do I know? Well it happened to me and the MLA wasn't on the Gordon Cambpell team.No names, no packdrill was a long established tradition in my earlier life

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Anonymous said...

Goodness gracious me, Bennett leaves such a large hole in cabinet that the very noisy Kruger gets to replace him which sort of indicates just how important the position .

Anonymous said...

I didn't think the comment that Bill gave was anything less than appropriate. If I were in his position I think I dissed that idiot back to his grandfather's grave. I admit it is hotheaded way of thinking, but if you are getting rammed up in the ass by some clown who will come, claim and eventually kick the shit out of you, should you fight back?
What's so wrong about protecting the dignities of Canadian? We are losing our sense of nationalism by the second and someday in the very near future we will be assimulated if we don't keep true to our heritage. Gosh, if it's anything we should inhibit the amount of power given out to foreign companies or to private companies in general. I mean health care fine do the public/private system, but don't give away our valuable natural resources like water and electricity. Why don't you write about that instead of just biting someone's head off in your article. Why don't you advocate something more useful.