Would you like to become an ambassador?...

Wow.

Apparently the Liberals were so desperate that they were willing to appoint Inky Mark to some plush patronage job to decrease the number of Tories in the house.

The Liberals are denying this of course. I'm sure Inky probably wishes that he had recorded that phone conversation now.

I'm reminded though of this quote from Paul Martin on judicial appointments:"These are essentially appointments based on merit and they go through a very non-partisan expert panel." He was responding to claims from a high profile Quebec Liberal that said otherwise.

As in judicial appointments, and any other type of appointment that the Prime Minister holds the sole power, we have the Liberal Party's word that the process is fair and unbiased.

And everyone else's word that it isn't.

Addendum: Yee-hah! Apparently Inky Mark does have a phone record:"The fact remains that I do have a telephone record that Mr. Alcock may not understand."

Although Alcock is denying any approaches have been made, the PM would not rule out whether such tactics would be used when he was interviewed by CanWest News last week and asked if he was considering using the power of patronage.

"If you look at the senate appointments that we've made in the past, I think I was the first prime minister who appointed an NDPer," the PM said. "We appointed Conservatives in the past. So to a certain extent, I've already answered your question."