Thread by @ThibaultBen

To understand the kind of politics we're in for with a Kenney-led conservative campaign coming, let's take a short jaunt down memory lane: the fake citizenship ceremony saga. nationalpost.com/news/canada/ke… #ableg #abpoli

1. In 2012, Kenney was adamant about holding a citizenship ceremony at now-defunct Sun News TV's ("Fox News North") studio. Sun Media demanded that bureaucrats comply.

2. We're left to speculate as to why. To boost ratings with their flagging TV network? To give Kenney an uncritical platform to woo cultural communities? To distance their brand from Kenney-friend and host Ezra Levant's racist screeds?

3. Whatever the case, Kenney's department officials cautioned against the idea of a Sun studio orchestrated ceremony (Sun wanted only 10 people, no family), because citizenship ceremonies are special to the new citizens and their families.

4. They (reasonably) suggested that Sun could cover one of the 13 already-scheduled ceremonies on the same day, where new citizens' families would be welcome.

5. But Sun media demanded the studio ceremony, saying they could "fake the oath". So, the bureaucrats came up with a "reaffirmation ceremony".

6. Note that released emails show that Sun was doing the demanding -- but the department officials would only have said "how high" if Minister Kenney or his office demanded the for-profit (Sun) / for-partisanship (Kenney) ceremony.

7. Problem was: the department had trouble finding new citizens to attend the faked ceremony, because it turns out that new immigrants are a little busy working to find time to attend fake ceremonies for Kenney and his pet-media's gain.

8. Probably doesn't help that said pet-media's Tory leadership dabbled in overt racism. huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/26/sun…

9. But in order "to have the right numbers" (reminiscent of anti-immigrant Bernier positions, maximebernier.com/reduce_the_tot…, for Kenney and Sun Media, there was a magic number of immigrants needed), 6 of Kenney's department employees had to stand in as new immigrants.

10. Sun News then passed the whole thing off as a real ceremony.

11. And when the whole thing came to light, instead of apologizing (and crawling into a deep hole, like any decent human), Kenney blamed his bureaucrats for "handling the situation inappropriately".
cbc.ca/news/politics/…

12. Because that's the kind of leadership one can expect from Kenney and friends: demand unethical action, demand it louder when the officials resist, then throw them under the bus when the truth comes to light. #ableg #abpoli