A little due diligence goes a long way

It's not the thing to bring down a campaign, but it seems finally at least one skeleton has been shaken out of the Conservatives closet. CTV News has discovered that Derek Zeisman, the Conservative candidate in British Columbia Southern Interior, is about to face the justice system on smuggling charges. It seems that back in 2004 Mr. Zeisman drove a BMW across the border, inside of which was 112 bottles of alcohol. He also has found himself in trouble for lying to Border officials upon his arrival at the Canadian border.

It was all apparently a rather well kept secret as no one in the Tory structure, including leader Stephen Harper knew that Zeisman was to make more than campaign appearances in the next few weeks. Harper said that he depends on others to go over the applications for him and flag any potential problems before he signs off on their candidacy. It would seem somehow that process wasn't utilized to it's fullest potential in this case.

Zeisman for his part, is unrepentant about any potential misdeeds, awaiting his day in court he seemed more concerned about the sudden attention the revelations have provided. He is apparently blaming someone in the government for his troubles, a cross border trade specialist, Zeisman is claiming that somebody with an agenda, leaked the information about him.

He didn't give any indication as to why he never mentioned his legal difficulties to the riding association and the Conservative hierarchy. Perhaps they have their own version of the don't ask, don't tell. Regardless of all the attention, they also claim that despite having just learned of the charges, they don't plan on pulling his candidacy, letting the folks of the Southern BC Interior make the judgment call for them.

Considering the recent (and maybe future) legal travails of the Liberals, the sideshow troubles of Zeisman most likely won't cause any major damage to the Harper campaign. But it's definitely an embarrassment for a campaign that had been running rather smoothly thus far.

Update, 7:15 am,Thursday: After further review, we'll punt!. In a Thursday morning news conference, Conservative leader Stephen Harper announced that the Conservatives have decided to not let Mr. Zeisman run under the parties banner in the upcoming election, "should he be elected he would not be allowed to sit in the House as a Conservative." It is now up to Mr. Zeisman to decided if he wishes to continue on in the campaign as an Independent. It's a rare stumble in the campaign for the Conservatives, who for the most part ran an error free journey thus far. Harper is hoping that by terminating Zeisman's affiliation with the party that he can put the irritant behind them. It will be interesting to see if the Liberals would try to use the situation to their benefit, considering the slippery slope on ethical credibility that they find themselves in of late.