Accountability - What Accountability?

This from the Globe and Mail:

"The Tory candidate whose appointment to citizenship judge facilitated the defection of Liberal MP Wajid Khan dodged the screening process for that job, a parliamentary committee heard yesterday.
Raminder Gill took up his new position in October, having circumvented a three-month screening that usually includes an interview and a reference check, said Michel Simard, the senior judge leading the Citizenship Commission.
"When we had the change of government, the screening process was declared under review," Mr. Simard told the House committee on citizenship and immigration.
About 30 other applicants who have completed the screening process are waiting to become citizenship judges, Mr. Simard said."

Surely this situation is covered in the endlessly touted Accountability Act? or maybe Ms. Fraser could spout on it for us, but, right, she's busy clearing the way for zero accountability in the environment file. Just goes to show you - if you blather on enough, no one will notice you're doing whatever you bloody well please.

NAFTA Environmental Studies

Mr. Baird has failed his first test. Instead of addressing immediately the overdue publication of the latest NAFTA Environmental Studies, he has replied with a vague response showing no real concern about the actual issues addressed by the report, namely damage to the fishery from pulp mills and over-impact on bird populations from forestry. The government has sat on the studies for 6 months when they are normally released within 60 days.

They Really are Pathetic

First Harper has to send his MPs to school to learn how to be . . . what? something they should have had been to begin with - to learn the skills to do the job their getting paid for ?- what happened to Canadians that they voted for these people when they are so inept - they don't know how to open their mouth without sticking their foot in it, they can't explain H.s policies without wandering in circles, they are outraged at just about everything, they don't seem to care about the citizens of this country, they never go out among them. So what is the school about? - none of the above, it's about how to win the next election, according to their imported neo-con handlers. Fortunately it won't work. By the way - whose dime was that school on?

Contrast that to Dion's democratic liberal gathering where the MPs were asked to contribute, to reflect together what Canadians want, to offer their intelligence, knowledge and experience to the process.

Now, to continue the school analogy, they are out in the schoolyard, trying to make fun of Dion -with attack ads! Did I miss that an election had been called? Is Mr. H. not still supposed to be acting on behalf of all Canadians including those that are Liberal. Are the cons not supposed to be runnng the country, not going to school and playing in the school yard? I can't wait until these pathetic embarassing people are voted out.

If Mr. H. wants to be a schoolboy and waste our money electioneering when he should be running the country, then an election should be called - and right now.

Penny Wise or ?

Consulates in Japan, Italy, and Russia closed to save 3.4 million and a 146 million annual contract to run a software program Canadians and civil servants don't like. I may be perennially suspicious but why close consulates? and why AGAIN think that we are so stupid that we would believe it's a cost-cutting measure? Mr. H. only cuts what he doesn't like. So what's the real reason?

New meaning to the Word 'Hypocrisy'

How's this for a strategy: spend the first year trashing the Liberals every time your mouth opens - including in answer to serious questions about Canada's policies and programs - and then just take everything the Liberals were doing - in some cases out of the trash to which they themselves had relegated it - and parade it in front of the electorate - as if we were unbelievably stupid - as their new poilicies. Every time you think it can't get any worse....!!!

Ouch!

Garth Turner's blog just posted this today:

"The latest news about Wajid Khan is pretty dismal. The former Lib MP, now a Tory, has left a financial rat’s nest behind him. Apparently his Toronto car dealership financed his last two election campaigns, and the local Liberal association borrowed some $180,000 from Khan - which is interesting since he is now a Conservative. Also of interest is the fact this seems to contravene election laws, and the association itself was delisted for not filing financial statements."

Now I understand why the Liberal party riding executive supported Khan! What a mess. Well, as they said, "Khan feels more at home with the conservatives. They share the same traditional values."

Less Than Perfect Truths #3

The Conservative Party failed to follow its guidelines established under its own Accountability Act and those of Elections Canada, then repeatedly denied it, then had to acknowledge it, then failed to apologize:

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper must personally apologize for repeatedly denying that his party was caught in violation of the Canada Elections Act, now that the Conservative Party has acknowledged that he broke election financing rules by failing to disclose his delegate fees in the party’s 2005 Elections Canada return, Liberal Treasury Board Critic Navdeep Bains said today."

"In the revised report, the Conservative Party states that the additional "reclassified revenue related to the 2005 convention," including $539,915 in previously unreported donations and an extra $913,710 in "other revenue," was exactly equal to the additional $1.45-million they posted as "other expenses" in the same report." Liberal Press Release Dec. 27 2006: OTTAWA

For a complete and clear explanation of this odd series of events, see CBC.ca for Dec. 27, 2006.

Also note that Mr. Kingsley, the head of Elections Canada, who had had to make it clear to the Conservatives that party convention fees had been counted as donations for many years and was part of the law overseen by Elections Canada, handed in his resignation within days of these events. See the Toronto Star January 1, 2007. The Star also refers to disparaging comments against Mr. Kingsley made by Mr. H before he was PM.

"In the past, Harper, when heading the National Citizens Coalition, had criticized Kingsley over his enforcement of legislated bans on third-party election advertising and blackouts on Internet distribution of vote results in Eastern Canada before polls had closed in the West, saying his office was full of "jackasses."

Mr. H.'s comments on Kingsley are listed on the blog post for Dec. 31 2006 on The Cracked Crystal Ball II and elsewhere in the blogosphere.

Dismantling Canada's Institutions #5

One of the underpinnings of Canada's democracy is the check on government provided by the rule of law. Mr. H. has made a number of moves that appear to be part of a plan to limit the rule of law.

One of the ones that really disturbs me is the empowering of the police - who it would seem to me should have less untrammeled power, not more - by giving them a place on the committee for the selection of supreme court judges.

He has also eliminated the funding for the Court Challenges Program that financed reviews by the courts of government legislation or policies, which wronged or oppressed members of the citizenry or were not in keeping with the Charter.

More on this later.

Dismantling Canada's Institutions #4

Among the fundamental underpinnings of democracy are freedom of speeech and access to public information, especially information about the actions of government. Dictatorships usually deny both of these to their citizens.

While there have been no attempts by the concervative government (of which I am aware) to limit the institution of free speech, there have been substantial efforts to restrict the institution of freedom of access to public information. We all know of course about Mr. H.'s refusal to meet with the press, except on his own terms, and his so-called gag order on all of his MP's and the centralization of information dissemination at the PMO; does this not constitute an attack on, or at the very least, an erosion of the underpinnings of Canadian democracy?

The second attack was through the Accountability Act, which in its first draft was reported to limit access to government information. Unfortunately the coverage of details of the amendments has been slight, and I am not sure if indeed these limitations remained in the version that was passed.

Then there was the incredible fiasco around the release to the PMO's office of names of people and institutions requesting information on the government through the access to information department: Mr. Day telling the world that the Liberals did this all the time and he was going to clean up this cancer!! only to find out that indeed only his government did this and was breaking the rules/law? when it received a list of names.

Access to information, one of the fundamental democratic rights accorded to Canadian citizens, appears to be unpopular with this government, whose absolutely favorite words include -up there with "family" - "democracy".

And finally, a pattern that seems deliberate: set the citizens off course by deliberately saying one thing, something general, like "cutting taxes" and doing another, something specific, like lowering some and raising others, with a net increase to most citizens - yet another way to limit access to real information.

List of Less than Perfect Truths #2

I add the obfuscation and failure to disclose by Mr. H. and his minions in addressing the Zacardelli "who knew what when" questions as another series of less than perfect truths. Again http://saundrie.blogspot.com/ (sorry I still don't know how to link directly to the post) and the links there to "catnip" provide an excellent summary of these events.

I also add the communications around the Khan defection to this list. Again, an example of obfuscation, deliberate failure to communicate, or inept strategy characterizes this handling of "who knew what when". This has been well-covered by Cherniak at http://jasoncherniak.blogspot.com/.

Dismantling Canada's Institutions #3

Scotian wrote an excellent post on this government's lack of support for Canada's space robotic engineering high tech sector http://saundrie.blogspot.com/ in December of last year, and while the sector is not an institution in the strict sense of the word, it seems clear from this decision that Mr. H. does not belief in government supporting research and development. As Scotian points out, Canada's achievements in this sector are part of how Canadians see themselves on the world stage and so I include it as another example of Mr. H. dismantling, not building.

List of Lies - Oops, Less Than Perfect Truths

I'm starting a list of less than perfect truths from Mr. H. and his men, the few he allows to talk. Feel free to add to the list. Then we can all use it during the election to inform the members of our riding who are not political junkies. The first on the list (not in chronological order):

On Dec. 4, 2005, Harper said: "The party does not have an agreement to pay Mr. Riddell these expenses, and Mr. Riddell has not been paid anything to date."

Well, that pesky court system seems to think differently: Jan 12, 2007, the Conservative party was ordered to pay up to $50,000 to Riddell. "A judge has ruled that the party had no right to renege on an agreement struck with Alan Riddell, who stepped aside as the candidate in Ottawa South so that Allan Cutler, the bureaucrat who blew the whistle on the sponsorship scandal, could carry the party banner in the riding." (Thanks to BCer in Toronto and David Akin for the facts.)

Mr. Kenney, Where to Start?

Today on "Politics" Mr. Kenney was in his usual form. Check out these verbatim quotes concerning the conservative approach to Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity:

[we] need to be "present on the ground and being accessible as a government to new communities. My job is to open the door and say . . . you're welcome to participate in the democratic process in general and, by the way, yes, the conservative party in particular."

So having been elected to help govern the country, Mr. Kenney is out on the hustings campaigning for the conservative party. Someone needs to give him a job description. Besides isn't that illegal? Isn't it covered somewhere in the Accountability Act?

More verbatim: "New Canadians are naturally conservative oriented in their thinking . . . conservative in their cultural values and quite traditional in their social values - there's an automatic coalition there [with the Conservative Party]."

More electioneering and pretty presumptuous about people from all over the world thinking just like him. It would be interesting to poll some new Canadians - especially some women - see what they think about this "automatic coalition". They may have been looking forward to making up their own minds, you know, like in a democracy.

Then of course, the obligatory Liberal bashing: "people like him [Khan] are finding more and more a kind of intolerance in the Liberal Party for the values that many new Canadaians bring to this country, traditional values. Prime Minister Harper has signalled again and again his respect for those values and has signalled that if there is a need somewhere down the road for special protection for religious minorities and cultural groups, the government will be willing to look at that."

What is he talking about? What are these "traditional values" and what does he mean "special protection for religious minorities and cultural groups"? I thought they weren't crazy about the charter to begin with - now it seems it's not enough! Well, this comment did follow a question on gay marriage . . .

Mr. Prentice, Pipeline Magister Ludi

Check out this article if you want to know what's replaced the Kelowna Accord as the priority at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada these days. Most western First Nations know that all bureaucratic roads lead to Minister Prentice if it's about pipelines, but I doubt if most Canadians do. It's a big job ignoring First Nations environmental and territorial pipeline concerns.
http://www.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20070106/ENVIRO06?section=Energy

Is the Right United?

Is the Right united? No. The NDP have not yet officially merged with the Conservatives. What will they call themselves: the Conservative Democratic Party, the New Conservative Party, the Democratic Conservatives? So many choices.

What is Khan Really Doing?

I'm really surprised at all the blog commenters who seem to think it's a good thing to have an ex-Pakistan air force pilot going around the world on secret Canadian business, about which Canadians will never know. What is he doing? Harper says that both Khan and he agree that Canada should have a "more assertive role in world affairs", well what does that mean? Given H.'s last 12 months I think it means "make more war". Maybe Khan is visiting all those secret CIA camps around the world, gathering intelligence. I was appalled when I first learned last year that he was both a Liberal and a secret advisor to the C. prime minister. Dion had to tell him to choose - he should have been told at the outset.

And on the issue of comparing this situation to Dion's dual citizenship, that's really beyond the pale. For Mr. Coyne, who seems like an intellect to be admired, to say "No, indeed. The idea's absurd. It's like, I don't know, being Prime Minister of one country and a citizen of another." is incredible. I guess he either has major lapses or he isn't what he seems. We should be asking instead how someone raised in the Pakistan culture and in their military sub-culture who has now exhibited loyalty issues should be handling sensitive aspects of Canada's international affairs.

We're Not That Stupid

Well I fail to see the media's portrayal of Baird as Harper's "golden boy" but let's just say he is for argument's sake. Harper has an agenda, clear for all who care to look, of radically changing Canada, in my opinion of course for the very worst, but he knows this is not what Canadians want, so he proceeds one step at a time with his agenda, and at the same time, he tries to play the public with manipulative strategies. "OK Canadians you think you care about the environment and you like Mr. Dion's position, well I'll roll out my golden boy, aka pathetic pit bull, and he'll make mince meat of Dion and wow you guys. There won't be anything substantive but you're not really smart enough to figure that out. And the press, well they never do their homework anyway (most of them), so they'll never make an issue of it."

Now there are two problems with this strategy: 1. Canadians are not stupid 2. There are many issues Canadians care about and Dion will cover them all well - and Harper has only one "golden boy". What Harper needs is to actually care about Canada and Canadians and to develop policies that reflect their vision for Canada, not that of his American backroom strategists to whom he swears the greatest allegiance along with their imaginary right-wing god.

President Harper

Don't you miss the old days when all of the ministers would come out and talk to the Canadian people? Now all we have is President Harper on the white house lawn.

Baird? You've Got to Be Kidding

What is needed for the Environment Portfolio is someone who wants to improve the environment - this guy was in the Harris government, a government with one of the worst environmental records anywhere in Canada, ever. What is also needed is someone who projects respect and humility, because this issue is bigger than all of us and we are all in it together - so why pick, one of the least respectful, most self-important, most highly partisan members? We already have to put up with Harper's smirk, Day's pontificating self-righteousness, now we have Baird - Mr. Nasty Know It All - in our face. Not a good move, Mr. Harper - the response to these people amongst many of the citizenry of this country is visceral - how not to be loved and how not to get elected again.

Bedard

This may seem melodramatic but Bedard is looking more and more like a political prisoner.

Harper's New Year Address

Well: he still has that silly - scary? - little smirk; his press people should put the prompt at a level so that it actually looks like he's talking to us; and that old church-state thing is back "God keep our country glorious and free" - or "at least until I'm finished dismantling it, ruining its reputation and reducing its democratic institutions to rubble."

My prediction for this year and a few subsequent ones: the separation of church and state as a fundamental principle of our democracy will be seriously challenged unless Bush and Harper and their minions are gone.

Happy New Year to all and may Buddha keep our country glorious and free (and I'm not being facetious).