To avoid any confusion

Just so we're all clear on the timeline...

Past: Conservative MP (and former cabinet minister) discovered misusing parliamentary resources to influence the course of a nomination race (and the subsequent vote in the riding).

Present: Conservative MP (and cabinet minister) discovered misusing Parliamentary resources for party fund-raising and organization.

Future: Conservative MPs (at behest of Prime Minister) discovered misusing Parliamentary resources to threaten the complete withdrawal of services from any riding which fails to elect a Con MP.

Always glad to help.

On questionable privileges

It's interesting to note that Helena Guergis' use of parliamentary mailing privileges for explicit electoral purposes is being treated as a matter of general interest, while Greg Thompson's in endorsing a successor both as "next Conservative candidate and MP" is currently being reported as an internal Con matter.

But the overall message seems to be the same in both cases. As far as the Cons are concerned (including anybody who learned about politics through the party), the lone role of an individual MP is to use every available resource is to use every means at their disposal to convert public resources into campaign materials - whether or not they're supposed to be used for that purpose. And the more tired Canadians are of the results, the more incentive they'll have to remove the MPs who have been trained to use that strategy.

"Put everything on hold in that riding until there is a nominated federal candidate"

I'm not sure it's possible for the Cons to serve up a more brazen example of federal funding being misused for political purposes than this. But will two of the federal opposition parties be too busy defending government secrecy to give it the attention it deserves?