UPDATE BELOWWhat a difference the light of day makes.
A difference, alright, just not much of a difference.
On Wednesday, the Conservatives were standing behind Derek Zeisman.
On Thursday, after the case of the candidate accused of smuggling gained national attention, Conservative boss Stephen Harper has announced that Zeisman will still carry the Conservative banner in the federal election but he just won't be able to sit in a Conservative caucus if elected, at least until the court case is resolved. [Corrected to reflect the details of the Canada Elections Act, as pointed out by a more-knowledgeable reader.]
Zeisman's bio has been removed from Conservative.ca, but he will apparently still be the official Conservative candidate on the ballot.
While he has not been convicted, Zeisman failed to disclose the charges against him to Harper and the federal Conservative Party didn't check Zeisman's credentials. When asked about it, Harper sloughed responsibility for the problem onto other people for failing to complete the appropriate checks, despite being the person ultimately responsible for approving candidates.
Compare Harper's position on his own responsibilities to the Conservative position on ministerial accountability. Harper made his initial comments in front of a Conservative backdrop featuring the word "accountability".
Update: The correction above notes that apparently the Conservatives can't punt the guy and block him from carrying the party banner. Fair enough.
Two things still apply:
1. This should have been caught by the approvals process. Harper's attempt to push the responsibility for this situation to the candidate and to unnamed officials of the party isn't good enough to meet the standards of accountability to be expected here.
2. Why was the first response to back the guy up and downplay the charges because they weren't under the Criminal Code?
Zeisman should have been strongly encouraged to resign from the ballot. Period.
Of course, given the guy's background, Harper can count on his vote if he gets elected, regardless of where in the House he sits.
Outside of caucus isn't much of a change.