Canada Immigration Minister Jason Kenney
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has re-hired Kasra Nejatian, the corrupt aide who last March used Canadian government stationery to send out a Tory fundraising letter. Canadians, get ready for a bruising fight on the corruption front in the next four years of of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s majority Conservative rule.
The gravity and corrupt nature of Nejatian’s actions were illuminated by his resignation. Even the Globe and Mail doesn’t mince its words:
Mr. Nejatian broke several rules when he used Mr. Kenney’s MP’s office letterhead for an appeal to Conservative MPs to raise $200,000 for an ad blitz in opposition-held ridings with large ethnic communities.
For an aide and policy advisor to arguable one of the most powerful ministers in the Harper government, Nejatian is quite incompetent. Intending to send the the communication Conservative MP John Duncan, he also dispatched it to NDP MP, Linda Duncan.
So, what message is Kenney sending us by re-hiring Nejatian? That we should go to hell if we’ve a problem with the abuse of public property for partisan purposes? Wrong. This is the sort of thing that will instill in us a determination to fight for Canada.
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Thanks for taking the time to respond to the posting. My argument is that Kasra Nejatian misused Canadian government resources for Conservative Party campaign purposes. Political staffers are prohibited from using departmental resources for the direct benefit of their political party. At the time he was a policy advisor to Jason Kenney, a Canadian Federal government minister, but he lowered himself to the rank of a partisan party operative. Nejatian's actions were so serious they were variously equated to turning the minister office, which should serve all Canadians, into a party "war room". But I also note that Nejatian capitalized on his exemption from the stringent rules requiring public servants to be non-partisan. I think there should be a clear distinction between a campaign staffer and a ministerial policy advisor. On the issue of incompetence, Nejatian erroneously sent Conservative party campaign communication meant for Conservative MP John Duncan to NDP MP, Linda Duncan. Obviously, he didn't double-check before tapping the sent button. He could have sent the communication to anyone with the name Duncan. We should demand the highes standards from policy advisors to Federal government ministers.
If you want to make a point that this has happened and it should not have, then do so. To label this individual as corrupt and incompetent is without merit. I have no doubt that Mr. Nejetian is neither. Turn down the rhetoric if you want to be heard.