Minister's role as defence lobbyist questioned

[CHIMO]

OTTAWA—Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's past work as a defence lobbyist will impair his ability to fairly oversee a military spending spree that could benefit the international firms he once represented, critics say.

O'Connor's appointment as Conservative defence minister on Monday has raised eyebrows and sparked worries that his time in the private sector will leave him open to potential conflicts of interest as his department opens the spending taps for new equipment.

"His rap sheet on working for the arms industry is as long as your arm. He has been with all of the heavyweights," said Steve Staples, of the Polaris Institute.

"Is that going to impact his ability to be defence minister? He's going to have to bend over backwards to not appear to be interfering," Staples said.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1139352620170&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

Harper's attitude? Well our plan is the opposite direction and he was not going the wrong way on a one way street.

[Bragi]

1. NDP should support O'Connor

Since O'Connor is big advocate of increased military spending, and since this echoes what Layton called for in the last election, I don't see why the NDP should get all antsy now just because the new Minister is a former arms trade lobbyist.

Wait, a check of the media clips shows the NDP haven't said a word yet about O'Connor. It looks like they are every bit as silent on him as they were on Harper's support for the US war machine during the last election, so I guess all is fine between them and O'Connor.

Way to go Jack!