Nova Scotia continues to be awash with outrage at the profligate spending by MLAs, uncovered two weeks ago by the province’s Auditor General. This scandal has cost one MLA, Richard Hurlburt, his job (he jumped before he could be pushed). The Premier is pretending outrage and promising to fix things. But will he really get to the root of the problem? Dan Leger of the Chronicle Herald put it well: “This is petty larceny in its detail, but carried out grandly. The cookie jar was open for so long that nobody in politics today can even remember who pried off the lid. It’s what happens when government is allowed to act in secret.”
He’s dead right, and the truth is that the problem extends across the country. Elected and appointed officials simply should not be allowed to spend public money without being fully accountable for it. Anything else is undemocratic.
More evidence of the nasty battle at the federally funded non-governmental organization Rights and Democracy has emerged. It appears that the late Rémy Beauregard — who headed the organization — was being set up by his board with secret meetings and negative performance appraisals he wasn’t allowed to read. This is the kind of nasty bullying and mobbing one expects among 13-year-olds, not in an organization with such lofty (and now ironic) goals. However, as former Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier and many others can attest, this is quite normal in the senior public service these days.
Meanwhile, on a more local (for me) level, I have to ask: what on earth is going on at the University of Ottawa? Arrests, professors and students barred from campus, secret administration meetings, University President Allan Rock caught on tape screaming at a student, apparent covert surveillance of a professor, lawsuits… And about what? Part of it seems to involve a dispute about the pedagogical methods of physics professor Denis Rancourt. But that only seems to be the tip of the iceberg. Viewed from afar it looks like a major clash of cultures, with Mr. Rock using the kinds of strong-arm tactics he must have picked up in politics.
One almost feels sorry for him, watching him walk down the street on YouTube, students dogging his every step. Almost, but not quite. Did he not expect this job to be completely unlike working with the federal public service? Did he not anticipate enthusiastic, determined and idealistic students hounding his every (mis)step? Well, he should have — it’s a university, for Pete’s sake. In any event, I intend to look into this a bit deeper and invite you to visit YouTube to see some of the videos there. Just search using “Allan Rock” and “Denis Rancourt”.
See you Thursday.
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MLA Expense Padding Scandal Has N.S. Government Scrambling
More Evidence of Nasty Internal Conflict at Rights and Democracy
University of Ottawa Engaged in Ugly Battle Against Dissenters
Health Canada Delays Allowing Unapproved Substances onto the Market
More Calls for Improved Access to Information
Time Magazine Reports on the Costs of Ignoring UBS Whistleblower
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MLA Expense Padding Scandal Has N.S. Government Scrambling
Ocean Playground? It’s a pig trough
The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), February 13, 2010
Summary: Politics has been forever changed in Nova Scotia. The depth of the rage and fury is unprecedented among taxpayers after a week of exhausting revelations about excessive spending of public money by MLAs from all three political parties. (Column)
Chat at the water cooler…. you paid for that, too
The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), February 14, 2010
Summary: Our MLAs’ expenses have sparked lots of talk at the water cooler in the past two weeks, and probably in their own offices, too. (Column)
It’s time to close the cookie jar for good
The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), February 15, 2010
Summary: When you get right down to it, no one said it better than David Dingwall, the former perquisite king of Cape Breton politics. “I’m entitled to my entitlements” is his famous quote. He was talking about his right to the many fringe benefits of running the Royal Canadian Mint. But he could have meant an MLA expense account in Halifax. (Column)
Speaker’s staff reviewing MLAs’ expense claims
The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), February 15, 2010
Summary: House Speaker Charlie Parker’s staff have been busy reviewing the mountain of questionable expenses the provincial auditor general recently unearthed. Parker said Sunday that MLAs will find out in due time if their claims for generators or big-screen televisions are legitimate, but he expects the bulk of the review by his office to be done by the end of this week.
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More Evidence of Nasty Internal Conflict at Rights and Democracy
A losing battle: How the late president of Rights and Democracy tried to fight back
Macleans, February 12, 2010
Summary: With five board appointments in 2009, the government set out to transform the style and personality of the Rights and Democracy. And in the midst of the astonishing uproar that has followed Rémy Beauregard’s death, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has stayed mute on the issues at the centre of the controversy.
Former head of rights group disputed review
CBC News, February 12, 2010
Summary: The late past-president of government-funded human rights organization Rights & Democracy disputed several allegations made against him in a performance review, CBC News has learned. CBC News has obtained a copy of Rémy Beauregard’s response to the performance evaluation. Since Beauregard hadn’t been allowed to see the original review, he was forced to request it from the Department of Foreign Affairs by filing an access to information request.
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University of Ottawa Engaged in Ugly Battle Against Dissenters
Ottawa U student federation president charged with causing disturbance
Ottawa Citizen, February 3, 2010
Summary: Seamus Wolfe, president of the University of Ottawa’s student federation, was charged this week with causing a disturbance by allegedly swearing at police during an incident at one of the federation’s campus offices.
Fired prof alleges UOttawa spied on him
Macleans, February 10, 2010
Summary: Several months after physics professor Denis Rancourt was fired, the University of Ottawa remains mired in controversy over the high profile case. In November, Rancourt filed a union grievance accusing the university of engaging in “covert surveillance” against him. He posted a report and supporting documents on his website at the beginning of January.
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Health Canada Delays Allowing Unapproved Substances onto the Market
Risky products may be escaping controls: Health Canada audit
Globe and Mail, February 12, 2010
Summary: Potentially harmful substances can slip into the Canadian marketplace because the federal agency that acts as a gatekeeper is unable to assess their safety in a timely fashion and does not count those that elude its grasp.
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More Calls for Improved Access to Information
Canadian democracy is oxygen-starved
The Gazette (Montreal), February 14, 2010
Summary: The free flow of information is essential to a democracy, just as oxygen is essential to a human body. Citizens can’t make good decisions at the voting booth if they don’t have the facts, and the arguments, on all sides of the issues.
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Time Magazine Reports on the Costs of Ignoring UBS Whistleblower
U.S. vs. Swiss Tax Cheats: A Whistleblower Ignored
Time, February 13, 2010
Summary: At the end of the day, none of the options facing the U.S. in its bid to bring tax cheats to justice appear promising. Which makes that lost opportunity with UBS whistleblower, Bradley Birkenfeld, something of a black eye for the U.S. Justice Department.
