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Warren Kinsella

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File:Kinsella.jpg
Warren Kinsella in his basement
For the Canadian author, see W. P. Kinsella.

J. Warren Kinsella, (born August 1960 in Montreal, Quebec), is a Toronto-based Canadian lawyer, author, musician, political consultant, lobbyist and commentator.

Education and career history

Warren Kinsella has a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism (Honours) from Carleton University, as well as a law degree from the University of Calgary. He is the president of a new firm, The Daisy Consulting Group, recalling the name of a Democratic Party ad in the 1964 U.S.presidential election.He worked as a strategist in the Canadian federal Liberal Party's 1993 election campaign "task force", as a staffer in Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's office before Chretien won the Canadian federal election, 1993, and as chief of staff to federal Public Works minister David Dingwall. He also ran the Liberal Party "war room" in the Canadian federal election, 2000 which returned the Liberal Party of Canada to the Canadian House of Commons for a third successive term as a majority government.

Currently, Warren Kinsella appears in the National Post as a new media columnist.

Politics

Kinsella's work as a political strategist has led to his being labelled by his opponents a "Liberal attack dog", and the "James Carville" and "Prince of Darkness" of Canadian politics. Kinsella gained national exposure during the 2000 federal election when he appeared on the CTV television show Canada AM brandishing a purple Barney dinosaur to highlight Stockwell Day's creationist beliefs.

Kinsella ran as a Liberal candidate in the 1997 federal election in the riding of North Vancouver and lost.

Kinsella was a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He criticized the Paul Martin Liberal campaign several times in the 2004 federal election, and 2006 election.

In December 2006, he revealed on his National Post blogthat his firm had been actively supporting the candidacy of new Liberal leader Stephane Dion.

Gomery Commission

Kinsella's actions as an aide to a Liberal cabinet minister brought questions over his role in the lead-up to the 2004 Canadian sponsorship scandal. In 1995, while working for David Dingwall, then Minister of Public Works, Kinsella wrote a memo to deputy minister Ran Quail recommending that the government's communications be reorganized under a centralized delivery system and that Charles Guité be assigned to head the new agency. However, Ran Quail dismissed the memo as a "mistake by an inexperienced staffer." Dingwall testified that he didn't remember the incident, but assumed that he must have instructed Kinsella to write the memo. The Communications Co-ordination Services Branch that was created in November 1997 consisted of almost exactly the consolidation of functions that had been advocated by Kinsella and was headed by Charles Guité. In his report on the scandal, Justice John Gomery noted that the memo was "a highly inappropriate attempt by political staff to interfere in the internal administration" of the department. In testimony at the commission, Kinsella was revealed as the person who introduced Guité to Jacques Corriveau, the man who accepted the ad kickbacks for the Liberal Party and wrote a memo to Guité saying Corriveau should be given contracts. As well, testimony by former minister Diane Marleau showed Kinsella kept in touch with Guite after Kinsella left public works and joined an ad agency. Kinsella was a witness at the Gomery Commission and frequently mocked Judge Gomery on his web site. In 2006, Guité was convicted of defrauding the federal government and sentenced to 42 months in prison. Kinsella left government service to work as counsel to the Vancouver advertising firm Palmer Jarvis, which donated $10,000 to his 1997 campaign in Vancouver North.

Legal action

Kinsella has been a party to several libel actions and threatened defamation suits. In 2004, Kinsella threatened legal action against Canadian bloggers who he alleged libelled him. The matter was eventually settled without litigation when most parties involved came to compromise. The issue aroused controversy in the Canadian blogging community. In January, 2006, he launched a lawsuit against a blogger, Mark Bourrie, for posting about Kinsella's role in advocating the government's hiring Chuck Guite in the lead-up to the sponsorship scandal. The lawsuit was settled out of court. Kinsella's publisher paid an undisclosed financial settlement in 1998 for Kinsella's libeling of Reform Party activist Roger Rocan in Web of Hate, along with an apology stating: ""Harper Collins ... and Warren Kinsella state that the words 'fascist, Klanmen, Jew hater and Hitler freak' should not, and do not refer to Roger Rocan regret any adverse inference concerning Roger Rocan which could have been taken from the passage."

Earnscliffe Communication Group

In November 2003, the Auditor General of Canada reported concerns in regards to polling contracts awarded by the Government of Canada. In April 2004, a memo written by Warren Kinsella critical of the manner in which polling contracts were awarded to the Earnscliffe Communication group on behalf of the Finance department, surfaced in the media. The July 24, 1995 memo written to Charles Guité stated: "None of these procurements were conducted through (Public Works), contrary to cabinet-approved guidelines. This is simply unacceptable. I require an immediate explanation as to how the department in question was permitted to breach the guidelines.". On April 18, 2005, Kinsella appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and was asked to explain the July 24, 1995 memo. The hearing was a highly charged political atmosphere in which numerous heated exchanges took place, one being former Prime Minister Paul Martin's communications director, Scott Reid calling Kinsella a liar. .In May, 2005, Kinsella was sued by the Earnscliffe communication group and several of its then-principals for a post on his blog.

On January 8, 2007, Kinsella apologised on his blog to Terrie O'Leary, one of the Earnscliffe litigants. "I provided testimony to the Standing Committee on Public Works (PAC) in April of 2005. I also authorized and presented to the Committee various documents. I regret any harm these statements may have caused Terrie O'Leary. At no time in any dealings involving myself and Ms. O'Leary or at any other time did I observe any evidence of any kind that Ms. O'Leary was ever personally involved in improper contracting activity." ''. Days later, former Prime Minister Paul Martin's communications director Scott Reid apologised to Kinsella for calling him a liar. . It had also been revealed that Canadian taxpayers had been footing the legal bill for former prime minister Paul Martin's aides in the $350,000 libel action.

On April 11, 2007 the Government of Canada appointed Daniel Paillé, a former Parti Québecois cabinet minister to lead an inquiry into polling contracts awarded by the previous Liberal and Conservative governments from 1990 to March 31, 2003, a period which contracts were awarded to the Earnscliffe Communication Group. . Media reports suggest that Earnscliffe Communication Group had earned about $6 million from the federal government since 1993.

Involvement in punk rock

File:Tribbles.jpg
Front Cover

In his youth, Kinsella was the bassist of the Canadian punk band, "The Hot Nasties". In 2005, Kinsella wrote Fury's Hour: A (sort-of) Punk-Rock Manifesto (Random House, 2005), a history of the early days of punk.

Kinsella is now playing in punk rock band Shit From Hell.

He wrote the song, Barney Rubble is My Double, featured on the Hot Nasties long play cassette tape and the Shit From Hell self titled CD. It was also covered by The Evaporator's on their Ripple Rock album.

Personal life

He is the son of physician and medical ethicist Douglas Kinsella, C.M., founder of the National Council on Ethics in Human Research (NCEHR). He and his wife have four children. In late 2000, he established a weblog, "Latest Musings".

Works

References

  1. Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities (2005). Who is Responsible? Fact Finding Chapter VI - Administration of the Sponsorship Program Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  2. Gomery.ca (2005).Schedule of Witnesses Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  3. Barrera, Jorge (2006-02-15). "'Prince of Darkness Sues Blogger". Ottawa Sun. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. Punk History CanadaThe Hot Nasties Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  5. Warrenkinsella.com (2006). Latest Musings June 2006. Retrieved June 30, 2006.

External links

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