Posted by Ian Bron
News Summary and Comment:
First off, apologies for the second pause in my postings, again due to technical difficulties. There hasn’t been a lot of accountability news related to whistleblowing lately in any event, this being the dog days of summer.
My first story today pertains to the testimony of former Quebec Justice Minister Marc Bellemare, in which he essentially accused Premier Jean Charest of corruption in the appointment of judges. Bellemare came out with these accusations some months ago, so they aren’t new, although this is the first time he’s been so descriptive and blunt. This is going to be a hard slog for him. If he’s telling the truth, he’s a whistleblower. The public seems to buy it, but the current government won’t stop at anything to try to discredit him. He may have trouble, like many whistleblowers, finding people to support him. Of course, he might just be nuts, throwing wild accusations around. I doubt it, but we’ll see.
The second story returns us to the treatment of Canadian veterans, particularly those with wounds. Much criticism has been levelled at bureaucrats in the Department of Veterans Affairs and other parts of government by the Veteran’s ombudsman. He wanted to name key decision-makers behind the current deeply flawed compensation regime at a press conference, but backed down on that – for now. I can imagine the panicked discussions that were held when he made the threat, though. Bureaucrats that make unethical decisions do like their anonymity, and may just have wondered what whether some of these trained soldiers, sailors and airmen might not have sought them out personally. Ah, scenes I’d like to see.
There’s also a story on the runaway spending of senior bureaucrats in the federal government, and some interesting blog posts on open and transparent government.
Have a good weekend.
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Former Minister Gives Explosive Testimony on Judicial Appointments
Controversy on Treatment of Wounded Veterans
Travel and Hospitality Expenses of Federal Bureaucrats Keeps Climbing
On Transparency and Open Government
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Former Minister Gives Explosive Testimony on Judicial Appointments
In about-face, Bellemare says he will testify at inquiry into judges’ nominations
Globe and Mail, August 12, 2010
Summary: It’s become a nasty saga replete with allegations of influence peddling, reports of police surveillance, and two former allies-turned-adversaries. And on Thursday, Quebec’s summertime political potboiler took another surprising twist.
Bellemare gives explosive testimony against Charest
National Post, August 24, 2010
Summary: Quebec Premier Jean Charest personally ordered his former justice minister to name two people to the bench because a party fundraiser wanted them to be made judges, Marc Bellemare testified on Tuesday.
Charest told me to keep quiet: Bellemare
National Post, August 26, 2010
Summary: Marc Bellemare said on Wednesday that Quebec Premier Jean Charest told him to keep quiet about the rigging of judicial nominations the day the former justice minister announced he was resigning in 2004.
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Controversy on Treatment of Wounded Veterans
Veterans advocate won’t go quietly
Globe and Mail, August 17, 2010
Summary: The Veterans Ombudsman isn’t the first watchdog Stephen Harper has gotten rid of, but he is certainly the loudest. Claiming he was mere “window dressing” for an “obstructive and deceptive” bureaucracy, Pat Stogran promised veterans Tuesday he would use his remaining three months on the job making sure “Canadians know how badly so many of you are being treated.”
Minister promises action on compensation for wounded veterans
The Star (Toronto), August 19, 2010
Summary: Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn insists his government is not trying to shortchange wounded veterans and said he’s open to changes to how disabled soldiers are compensated for their injuries.
‘Penny-pinching’ claims in veterans affairs to go under Commons microscope
Winnipeg Free Press, August 20, 2010
Summary: Opposition MPs plan to force another House of Commons committee to return early from summer break to review the impending departure of the first-ever veterans ombudsman.
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Travel and Hospitality Expenses of Federal Bureaucrats Keeps Climbing
High-flying civil servants: Why bureaucrats’ travel and entertainment costs keep soaring
Macleans, August 25, 2010
Summary: An examination of the ever-rising amounts spent on travel and hospitality in the federal public service.
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On Transparency and Open Government
Creating effective open government portals
eaves.ca, August 25, 2010
Summary: In the past few years a number of governments have launched open data portals. These sites, like www.data.gov or data.vancouver.ca share data – in machine readable formats (e.g. that you can play with on your computer) that government agencies collect. Increasingly, people approach me and ask: what makes for a good open data portal? Great question. (Blog)
How Science Is Rediscovering “Open” And What It Means For Government
eaves.ca, August 18, 2010
Summary: Pretty much everybody in government should read this fantastic New York Times article Sharing of Data Leads to Progress on Alzheimer’s. On one hand the article is a window into what has gone wrong with science – about how all to frequently a process that used to be competitive but open, and problem focused has become a competitive but closed and intellectual property driven (one need only look at scientific journals to see how slow and challenging the process has become). (Blog)
