http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Saulie+Zajdel+arrest+UPAC+surprise+Conservatives/8536640/story.html
"He was known as the “shadow MP” of the federal Mont-Royal riding, hovering and thinking about making another run at the job after losing in 2011….Saulie Zajdel’s stunning arrest Monday on five charges including breach of trust, corruption and fraud sent a shock wave through the ranks of the Conservative Party from the top down…
Zajdel, who bagged a controversial adviser’s job in the office of Heritage Minister James Moore after his defeat in Mont-Royal…was hired by Moore, a close associate, to work as a “liaison” between the government and Montreal’s cultural communities from October 2011 until March 2012.
His role with the Conservatives was vague, and for months he refused to explain his duties or his salary…. Cotler expressed his annoyance, suggesting Zajdel was being paid by Ottawa to prepare his political rematch, calling him Mont-Royal’s “shadow MP.”…the Conservatives indulged in a dirty tricks campaign, with workers phoning people in Mont-Royal strongly suggesting Cotler was going to retire. The speaker of the Commons later ruled the stunt as “trickery.”…
Zajdel was part of Harper’s entourage on a visit to Montreal that included a stop in a pub. It was there he revealed to a Canadian Press reporter [Zajdel] was dissatisfied with his salary in Moore’s office.
“Oh, (it’s) not as much as I want it to be,” Zajdel quipped. Asked how much he’d like to earn, he said, “Something in the six digits and it’s not that.”
There was a report later in Le Devoir that Zajdel’s salary was $60,000 a year."
So, get rejected by the voters, have the party run a "trickery" campaign against your opponent, get paid with your tax dollars to raise your political profile in the riding, complain about making a more than middle-class salary, get arrested? Harper is a Beatles fan, so I'm sure he'll appreciate that stories like this are just another day in the life of his government.
