Tag: Afghan Detainee Controversy

Media Update for May 10, 2010

News Summary and Comment:

I start today with a great blog posting by a U.S. sister organization to Canadian for Accountability, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). It tells how the U.S. Inspector General for the Department of the Interior tried to warn Congress that the department wasn’t doing its job regulating the oil industry – or doing much of anything right, in fact. One memorable quote:

“I have watched a number of high-level Interior officials leave the Department under the cloud of OIG investigations into bad judgment and misconduct. Absent criminal charges, however, they are sent off in usual fashion, with a party paying tribute to their good service; wishing them well, to spend more time with their family or seek new opportunities in the private sector. This charade does not go unnoticed by the career public servants, many of whom have been witnesses in our investigations. What are these civil servants to think? If those at the top are not held accountable, why should those at lower levels not feel empowered to challenge the call for accountability?”

Take out “OIG” and you could be talking about Transport Canada… or any number of other government agencies at the federal and provincial levels in Canada, I’d wager.

Back in Ottawa, the Interim Information Commissioner is under fire in two stories. In one, she is criticized for defending the government’s right to withhold documents pertaining to Tommy Douglas – documents that are 25+ years old. In another, she is taken to task for failing to come down on Public Works and Government Services Canada, which lied to a requester seeking information about lead contamination at an old Canadian Forces rifle range. Some say she is moving cases faster – I would agree, from personal experience – but I don’t like her defence of Robert Marleau, her predecessor, or the fact that so many investigations let bureaucrats off the hook. In the “lapdog” or “watchdog” debate, I’m starting to tip to the lapdog side. Can’t be all carrots and no sticks, Ms. Legault.

See you Thursday.

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U.S. Inspector General Tried to Warn About Problems in Oil Industry Regulator

Federal Information Commissioner Criticized

Afghan Detainee Controversy

Supreme Court Declines to Offer Blanket Protection of Media Sources

Tory MP Shory to Stay on Despite Allegations of Fraud

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U.S. Inspector General Tried to Warn About Problems in Oil Industry Regulator

IG Warned Congress About Failures of MMS, Interior
Project on Government Oversight (blog), May 10, 2010
Summary: An excellent piece on the POGO blog that describes the U.S. Inspector General’s efforts to have problems at the Minerals Management Service – which is the oversight agency of the offshore oil industry down south – addressed.

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Federal Information Commissioner Criticized

Critics wonder if information commissioner more lapdog than watchdog
Calgary Herald, May 9, 2010
Summary: Those who have dealt with secrecy in the federal government aren’t surprised that federal lawyers would fight tooth-and-nail to prevent the disclosure of decades-old records requested under the Access to Information law. What has surprised is that the secrecy is being supported by the Office of the Information Commissioner, the independent watchdog of the access law.

Public Works slow to release lead reports
Ottawa Citizen, May
Summary: Public Works bureaucrats withheld records about lead contamination at the military’s Dwyer Hill training centre in the west end of Ottawa, at first claiming to the Citizen that such documents didn’t exist.

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Afghan Detainee Controversy

Afghan police beatings commonplace, military inquiry finds
Winnipeg Free Press, May 7, 2010
Summary: Afghan authorities routinely beat people “in the street and elsewhere” and most Canadian soldiers knew about it, a military board of inquiry has found. The results of a five-week investigation, released Friday, found troops in Kandahar had lingering concerns about the local police force.

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Supreme Court Declines to Offer Blanket Protection of Media Sources

Media can’t shield sources all the time, top court rules
Ottawa Citizen, May 8, 2010
Summary: By an 8-1 margin, the Supreme Court of Canada Supreme Court of Canada concluded that the press — in a world of tweeters and bloggers — is an ill-defined group and to grant wholesale constitutional immunity ‘would blow a giant hole in law enforcement.’ The legal battle was ignited in 2001, after reporter Andrew McIntosh of the National Post received a plain brown envelope from a source. Information in that envelope led to stories that would become known as the Shawinigate affair.

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Tory MP Shory to Stay on Despite Allegations of Fraud

Harper won’t boot besieged MP Shory from caucus, says case is not like Guergis’
Winnipeg Free Press, May 6, 2010
Summary: What kind of allegation or RCMP scrutiny will get a Conservative booted from caucus? According to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, allegations of a civil or “private” nature don’t cross the line, and that’s why Alberta MP Devinder Shory is still sitting with his Tory colleagues. Shory is one of dozens of people named in a Calgary lawsuit alleging a $70-million mortgage fraud — one of the largest in Canadian history — against the Bank of Montreal.

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Media Update for April 29, 2010

News Summary and Comment:

My first story pertains to Perry Dunlop, the former police officer from Cornwall, Ontario, who blew the whistle of the sexual abuse of minors in that city. Despite being decorated and respected, he faced years of cover-ups and reprisals for his persistence and dedication in bringing the issue to public light.

He finally succeeded in having an inquiry called into the handling of the whole matter, but it was a Pyrrhic victory: the inquiry was too limited to really get to the bottom of things. Perry refused to testify as matter of conscience and protest and went to jail as a result. He wasn’t treated well when in there, either. He later appealed that sentence, and, just this week, his appeal was thrown out by the Ontario courts.

This was expected, but disappointing. Judges really have no idea what whistleblowers go through. I guess it’s easier to stay in the ivory tower.

You can read my full comment on his case here.

In other news, pilots are telling Transport Canada that it isn’t doing its job with respect to regulating pilot fatigue. This is the same department behind safety management systems story, in which they have been slowly surrendering its inspections and regulatory authority to operators. The department, of course, denies that this is so or that any lives are being put at risk despite evidence from recent crashes and expert opinion. Food was regulated the same way prior to the 2008 listeriosis outbreak that killed 22 people.

It brings to mind George Orwell’s quote:

“It was not easy… It needed… a sort of athleticism of the mind, an ability at one moment to make the most delicate use of logic and at the next to be unconscious of the crudest logical errors. Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to obtain.” (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

I won’t say much about the Parliamentary ruling on the Afghan detainee documents except that it was the right decision, accountability-wise. The Brits are noticing what’s going on, as they have a similar situation. Blogger David Eaves has an interesting take on it, too.

Have a good weekend.

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Perry Dunlop Loses Appeal

Pilots Tell MPs that Canada not Following International Fatigue Rules

Parliamentary Speaker Rules Afghan Detainee Records Must Be Released

Quebec Construction Industry Probe Leads to Arrests

Some Collected Stories on Federal Government (un)Accountability

GAP Speaks Out in Support of NSA Whistleblower

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Perry Dunlop Loses Appeal

Ontario’s top court dismisses cop’s appeals over Cornwall inquiry contempt
Winnipeg Free Press, April 22, 2010
Summary: Ontario’s highest court has dismissed the appeals of a former Cornwall, Ont., police officer who refused to testify at a public inquiry largely of his own making, calling his claims “spurious.” Perry Dunlop led a crusade for years in Cornwall, Ont., to root out pedophiles and his work sparked calls for a public inquiry.

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Pilots Tell MPs that Canada not Following International Fatigue Rules

Canada violates rules on pilot fatigue standards, MPs hear
The Gazette (Montreal), April 28, 2010
Summary: Canada is in violation of new international standards to combat pilot fatigue in the cockpit, the country’s largest pilot union told parliamentarians Tuesday.

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Parliamentary Speaker Rules Afghan Detainee Records Must Be Released

Afghan records denial is privilege breach: Speaker
CBC News, April 27, 2010
Summary: The federal government breached parliamentary privilege with its refusal to produce uncensored documents related to the treatment of Afghan detainees and must provide the material to MPs within two weeks, Speaker Peter Milliken has ruled.

Afghan records release has legal limits: PM
CBC News, April 28, 2010
Summary: Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is open to “any reasonable suggestion” to end the impasse over the release of documents related to Afghan detainees, but stressed that his government must also meet its own legal obligations.

Canada’s Afghan detainee scandal gets constitutional
The Guardian (Manchester), April 28, 2010
Summary: It’s been five months since diplomat Richard Colvin first levelled the charge that all detainees handed over to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops had been tortured. Since then, politicians – and those citizens who have actually noticed – have been embroiled in procedural geekery, wrestling with the issue of the government’s refusal to release relevant documents to the case. (Opinion)

Parliament, accountability and you
eaves.ca, April 28, 2010
Summary: The only thing that is extraordinary about what is happening in parliament is that it is a profoundly ordinary experience for ordinary Canadian who might ask a question of their government. (Blog)

Harper digs in over Afghan documents
The Star (Toronto), April 29, 2010
Summary: Prime Minister Stephen Harper hinted Wednesday he was prepared to go to an election if necessary to prevent the release of all uncensored Afghan prisoner documents to the House of Commons as directed by Speaker Peter Milliken.

Afghan records meeting ‘constructive’: Goodale
CBC News, April 29, 2010
Summary: Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale says a Thursday meeting involving all parties to solve the impasse over disclosing documents related to Afghan detainee transfers was “very constructive.”

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Quebec Construction Industry Probe Leads to Arrests

Quebec corruption probe makes two arrests
Globe and Mail, April 27, 2010
Summary: A major probe into Quebec’s construction industry has netted two more people allegedly involved in municipal corruption.

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Some Collected Stories on Federal Government (un)Accountability

No evidence PS hiring reforms have had any effect, auditor general says
Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2010
Summary: Federal bureaucrats haven’t collected evidence to show whether the much-ballyhooed legislation that was supposed to revolutionize the way the government hires, fires and manages its employees is working or not, says the auditor general.

Un système « opaque » et « non transparent »
Le Droit, April 27, 2010
Summary: Des contrats octroyés pour l’entretien des 319 immeubles fédéraux ne feraient pas l’objet d’appels d’offres publics et seraient accordés sur invitation, un système « non transparent » qui priverait des dizaines d’entreprises de la région de l’Outaouais de contrats fédéraux, selon le dirigeant d’une PME de Gatineau.

Rapport accablant sur le laxisme federal
Le Droit, April 28, 2010
Summary: Le gouvernement fédéral ne finance pas à un niveau adéquat le programme d’inspection et n’embauche pas suffisamment d’inspecteurs, mettant en péril la sécurité des travailleurs fédéraux.

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GAP Speaks Out in Support of NSA Whistleblower

When Whistle-blowers Suffer
Government Accountability Project Blog, April 27, 2010
Summary: The case of Thomas A. Drake, a former National Security Agency official indicted last week on charges of providing classified information to a Baltimore Sun reporter, is painfully familiar. In 2002, I became the target of a leak investigation stemming from America’s first post- 9/11 terrorism prosecution. The common denominator of whistle-blowers is the same: They disclose information of significant public importance that reveals illegal, unconstitutional or dangerous conduct, often at the highest levels of government. The government should not be allowed to hide illegal conduct under official-sounding labels such as “classified,” “privileged” or “state secrets,” which confer an aura of legitimacy on alleged crimes, and whistle-blowers should not be prosecuted. The billions of dollars wasted on modernizing the NSA’s vast eavesdropping system is what needs to be investigated, not Drake.

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by Ian Bron on April 29, 2010
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Media Update for April 26, 2010

News Summary and Comment:

In today’s news, it seems that the municipality of Central Elgin (Ontario) has opted to take over Stanley Harbour from Transport Canada. This story first surfaced over a year ago when an Access to Information Act request revealed that the harbour was laced with toxic chemicals. Adding to suspicions was the cone of silence that Transport Canada insisted be imposed during the negotiations. I couldn’t help but feel that something dodgy was going on. It’s just my belief that when governments want things under wraps, it’s because they’re up to no good. Nonetheless, the municipality insists that it got a good deal. They also insist that rehabilitating the harbour won’t cost local taxpayers a cent. Being from Ottawa, I know how little that kind of promise means, and wonder how much the cleanup will cost all other Canadians.

In Quebec, Marc Bellemare – the former Liberal provincial Minister of Finance who blew the whistle on corrupted judge selections – now finds himself the subject of a probe following allegations of impropriety in the last Quebec City municipal elections. Coincidence? I think not. Whether or not he’s completely accurate in his disclosure – and it being Quebec, and Canada, of course he is – it’s a standard tactic to attack the whistleblower. More allegations of nepotism are surfacing as well, and a bureaucrat has been arrested in the related the construction industry scandal.

On the other side of the pond, the Brits have their own Afghan detainee scandal heating up – and it’s spilling over into Canada. It seems that their government also tried to keep many documents secret, but failed. The courts ordered them released, and some shed light on detainee treatment that substantiates what Richard Colvin reported to Parliament late last year.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., a former watchdog whose role was to protect whistleblowers is being prosecuted because he was doing exactly the opposite. Would someone please do the same to our Public Service Integrity Commissioner?

See you Thursday.

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Central Elgin Votes to Take Over Toxic Harbour

Quebec Judge Appointment Scandal Continues to Heat Up

More Quebec Corruption Stories

Afghan Detainee Inquiry

U.S. Whistleblower Watchdog Charged

Abousfian Abdelrazik’s Bank Account Frozen by Government

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Central Elgin Votes to Take Over Toxic Harbour

Central Elgin council approves harbour takeover
London Free Press, April 26, 2010
Summary: Fifteen years of talks ended with 22 minutes of discussion Thursday night as Central Elgin council voted unanimously to assume Port Stanley harbour. Councillors, before a crowd of seven citizens, praised the deal with Transport Canada insisting the port won’t become a burden to local ratepayers.

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Quebec Judge Appointment Scandal Continues to Heat Up

Ex-Quebec cabinet minister Marc Bellemare not keen on testifying
Winnipeg Free Press, April 21, 2010
Summary: Former Quebec justice minister Marc Bellemare is asking a court to quash his subpoena to appear before the province’s chief electoral officer. Bellemare sparked a political crisis for Premier Jean Charest last week by alleging he was pressured by Liberal fundraisers to make certain judicial appointments while he was justice minister in 2003 and 2004.

Bellemare firestorm heating up
The Gazette (Montreal), April 22, 2010
Summary: Marc Bellemare is getting more attention than he bargained for. The former politician, whose allegations against Premier Jean Charest have sparked a firestorm in Quebec City, is himself the subject of a probe. Quebec’s chief electoral officer has launched an investigation into financing of Vision Québec, the municipal party Bellemare led in unsuccessful bids for election as Quebec City mayor in 2005 and 2007.

Nominations de juges: Jean Charest montré du doigt
La Presse, April 22, 2010
Summary: Jean Charest a déjà touché de très près aux nominations de juges comme premier ministre, mais aussi comme ministre conservateur à Ottawa.

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More Quebec Corruption Stories

D’autres cas de favoritisme
La Presse, April 21, 2010
Summary: L’avocate retenue par le gouvernement Charest il y a deux ans pour présider le Tribunal administratif du Québec est associée, depuis longtemps, au Parti libéral.

Civil servant surrenders to SQ after home search
The Gazette (Montreal), April 22, 2010
Summary: A Beaconsfield civil servant was charged with breach of trust and municipal corruption Thursday when he gave himself up to Sûreté du Québec officers who arrived at his St. Lazare home with an arrest warrant in hand.

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Afghan Detainee Inquiry

Afghan torture allegations erupt in U.K.
CBC News, April 21, 2010
Summary: Afghan detainees handed over by British troops to Afghan secret police were regularly beaten with weapons, hung from the ceiling and electrocuted, according to detailed allegations made public in a London courtroom on Tuesday.

Detainee case lawyer denies breaking conduct rules
CBC News, April 21, 2010
Summary: The federal government’s lead counsel at hearings into the handling of Afghan detainees denied that he is in a conflict of interest. Alain Prefontaine was responding to a CBC News report that he has acted as both lawyer for and against the hearing’s chief witness, diplomat Richard Colvin, and may have broken the rules that govern lawyers in Ontario.

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U.S. Whistleblower Watchdog Charged

Government charges ex-protector of whistle-blowers
Associated Press, April 22, 2010
Federal investigators charged the nation’s former top protector of whistle-blowers Thursday with criminal contempt of Congress. Former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch withheld information from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during the Bush administration, according to a two-page filing in federal court by the U.S. attorney’s office here.

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Abousfian Abdelrazik’s Bank Account Frozen by Government

The never-ending ordeal of Abousfian Abdelrazik
Globe and Mail, April 21, 2010
Summary: It is nearly seven years since Abousfian Abdelrazik was picked up – apparently at the behest of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service – and tossed into a Sudanese prison.

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by Ian Bron on April 26, 2010
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Media Update for April 22, 2010

News Summary and Comment:

Today’s update is a bit short as my news aggregator is down. There hasn’t been anything earth shattering, though. The Jaffer-Guergis scandal now seems to have been clarified as one centring on influence peddling. Things don’t look good for the two, but the government appears to have escaped unscathed. It seems odd to me that this should have come out of nowhere – surely there were signs.

The government is choking of the Military Police Complaints Commission’s inquiry by denying them documents. They’re downright arrogant about it, too –the government lawyer said the inquiry would get them “when we’re good and ready”. Nice to see such respect for democratic institutions and principles.

Down in Ontario’s Elgin County, there’s a vote today on whether the county will take over Port Stanley from Transport Canada. This has been mired in controversy as the harbour is contaminated and the fact that Transport Canada has insisted everything be done in secret. It certainly doesn’t breed confidence.

Have a good weekend.

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Jaffer-Guergis Scandal Continues to Unfold

Afghan Detainee Inquiry

Immigration Adjudicator Found Guilty of Breach of Trust

Former PQ Member Back Premier Charest on Judge Selection Issue

Elgin Vote to Be Held on Taking Over Toxic Harbour

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Jaffer-Guergis Scandal Continues to Unfold

Government tables potentially damning documents against Jaffer, Guergis
Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2010
Summary: The federal government tabled new documents Thursday that show that former MP Rahim Jaffer’s company sought as much as $135 million in federal government grants or loans for three different business projects, revelations that amount to potentially damning new evidence against Jaffer and his wife, MP Helena Guergis..

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Afghan Detainee Inquiry

Dispute over torture reports threatens detainee hearings
Canada.com, April 20, 2010
Summary: The fate of a Military Police Complaints Commission hearing on handling of Afghan detainees was thrown into question Tuesday by a dispute over if and when the government will turn over eight “torture reports” and other documents.

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Immigration Adjudicator Found Guilty of Breach of Trust

Ajudicator guilty of seeking sex in return for positive refugee ruling
Canada.com, April 21, 2010
Summary: A former immigration adjudicator and Toronto city councillor has been convicted of offering to write a favourable refugee claim in exchange for sexual relations.

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Former PQ Member Back Premier Charest on Judge Selection Issue

PQ veteran backs Charest on judges
The Gazette (Montreal), April 21, 2010
Summary: Premier Jean Charest got support from an unlikely ally Tuesday as the controversy over the province’s system of naming judges continued to boil over in the National Assembly. Even though the Parti Québécois has been complaining loudly that the premier gets to see a list of potential judges before one is selected – a fact revealed by Justice Minister Kathleen Weil last week – a former PQ house leader says there’s nothing wrong with that.

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Elgin Vote to Be Held on Taking Over Toxic Harbour

Local control of harbour wins support
London Free Press, April 22, 2010
Summary: The newly-formed Port Stanley Village Association is backing a deal that would see the federal government hand the Lake Erie harbour over to local control.

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by Ian Bron on April 22, 2010
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Media Update for April 19, 2010

News Summary and Comment:

There are many accountability stories again today, but the three key ones are the same as last week: the judge selection scandal in Quebec, the Helena Guergis affair and the Afghan detainee controversy. The first, dealing with allegations that Premier Jean Charest knew that judge appointments were being tainted by construction industry money, is still the key one to me. Why? Because I find the charges entirely believable and think that even if Charest isn’t fingered (he won’t be), an impartial investigation with the appropriate scope would uncover a lot of dirt. The Parti Québéquois, though, is a bit too holier-than-thou: odds are this system has been in place for a lot longer than the current Liberal term in office.

In Manitoba, the Public Utilities Board is lining up for a whitewash of a whistleblower’s report into financial mismanagement at Manitoba Hydro. They are giving the Crown corporation all the room it needs to smear the whistleblower, put forward uncontested testimony and bury any data they don’t like. The whistleblower, by the way, estimated that Manitoba Hydro had lost over a billion dollars due to poor risk management. Taxpayers in Manitoba need to sit up and take notice of the PUB’s antics, because it’s their tax dollars at risk. The PUB, by the way, looks to be the gold standard for patronage appointments. None of the board members has a lick of experience with utilities, or, indeed a technical background of any kind.

In a superficially unrelated story, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pulling its $5.2 million grant to a Canada-led anti-smoking initiative for Africa. The reason: Barbara McDougall, chair of the federal International Development Research Centre is also a board Member at Imperial Tobacco Canada.

Those last two stories neatly encapsulate the disease in Canadian politics. How on earth could we still be doling out appointments to people with no experience in the field? And how on earth could we have the chair of an anti-smoking research centre also be on the board of a tobacco company? This is the kind of 18th Century nonsense that makes the entire country look like a third world backwater. We should all be mortified.

See you Thursday.

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Jean Charest Implicated in Judge Selection Scandal

Details and Speculation Regarding Former Minister Guergis

More Testimony in Afghan Detainee Inquiry

Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board Favours Hydro Executives over Whistleblower

Gates Foundation Pulls Anti-smoking Grant

RCMP Watchdog Wants New Powers

Board of Rights and Democracy Agency Faces New Allegations

Ottawa U President Allan Rock Makes Excuses for Coulter Controversy

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Jean Charest Implicated in Judge Selection Scandal

Former SCOC justice sets about restoring faith in Quebec justice system
Winnipeg Free Press, April 15, 2010
Summary: Michel Bastarache was given just a few hours to decide if he wanted the job of helping to restore trust in Quebec’s justice system, which has become mired in allegations of influence peddling. The former Supreme Court justice felt he couldn’t turn his back on the crisis sparked by a one-time justice minister’s claim he was pushed by Liberal party fundraisers to make certain judicial appointments between 2003 and 2004.

Bellemare threatens to sue Charest
The Gazette (Montreal), April 16, 2010
Summary: Premier Jean Charest’s decision to sue one of his former cabinet ministers for defamation may draw a countersuit. In an interview with the Quebec City daily Le Soleil, Marc Bellemare, who was briefly Quebec’s justice minister in Charest’s first mandate, says he’s thinking of countersuing Charest.

Nomination des juges: Charest estime «normal» d’être consulté
La Presse, April 17, 2010
Summary: Jean Charest trouve «tout à fait normal» que la ministre de la Justice, Kathleen Weil, discute avec lui des candidats au poste de juge avant de soumettre sa recommandation au Conseil des ministres. L’indépendance du système judiciaire n’est pas remise en cause selon lui.

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Details and Speculation Regarding Former Minister Guergis

Helena Guergis touted firm linked to husband Rahim Jaffer
The Star (Toronto), April 15, 2010
Summary: Helena Guergis touted a green technology company to Simcoe County officials while her husband Rahim Jaffer and businessman Nazim Gillani were involved in a plan to take the firm public in a $1 billion deal.

Harper criticized for stand-off with ethics czar
The Star (Toronto), April 15, 2010
Summary: rime Minister Stephen Harper’s handling of the Helena Guergis file prompted renewed criticism after the Parliamentary ethics watchdog said she had not been formally asked to investigate the former cabinet minister’s conduct.

Private eye in Guergis case $13M in debt
CNews, April 15, 2010
Summary: The private investigator at the centre of allegations against MP Helena Guergis owed creditors more than $13 million as of August 2009, according to documents obtained by CBC News.

Guergis file back on Ethics Commissioner’s table
Globe and Mail, April 16, 2010
Summary: The Ethics Commissioner is back on the Helena Guergis file, this time over allegations the former Conservative minister of state promoted a biofuel company that had been involved in business discussions with her husband, ex-MP Rahim Jaffer.

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More Testimony in Afghan Detainee Inquiry

Investigating Afghan torture not job of Canadians: officer
National Post, April 15, 2010
Summary: Torture “absolutely” has taken place in Afghan prisons but it was not the responsibility of Canada’s military police to document, investigate it or stop it, Lt.-Col. Douglas Boot told a public hearing Thursday.

Soldiers did not unlawfully shoot unarmed Afghan: Natynczyk
Globe and Mail, April 16, 2010
Summary: After two days of probing, Canada’s top soldier is outright rejecting one of several troubling allegations levelled by a former military interpreter this week — saying his troops did not unlawfully shoot an unarmed Afghan.

Lawyer slams top soldier’s version of Afghanistan shooting
Canada.com, April 17, 2010
Summary: Canada’s top soldier has denied allegations his troops shot and killed an unarmed teenager in the back of the head in Afghanistan and then tried to cover it up. But a letter issued by Gen. Walter Natynczyk in response to recent testimony before a Commons committee looking into allegations of detainee abuse in Afghanistan has actually raised more questions than it answered, says the lawyer of the man who levelled the accusations.

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Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board Favours Hydro Executives over Whistleblower

Hydro consultant’s role to be limited
Winnipeg Free Press, April 12, 2010
Summary: Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board has set the ground rules for a New York consultant — better known as the person who blew the whistle on possible financial risks facing Manitoba Hydro — to be involved at an upcoming hearing into power rates.

Hydro accepts report into whistleblower allegations
Winnipeg Free Press, April 17, 2010
Summary: A review into a whistleblower’s allegation Manitoba Hydro is not properly protecting ratepayers against financial risks and blackouts has been completed. The Crown corporation said Friday the KPMG report on Hydro’s risk-management practices had been submitted to the audit committee of Hydro’s board.

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Gates Foundation Pulls Anti-smoking Grant

Gates charity miffed by alleged conflict-of-interest involving federal official
Winnipeg Free Press, April 12, 2010
Summary: Bill Gates’s charitable foundation has snuffed out a $5.2-million grant to a Canadian initiative to curb smoking in Africa, citing troubling federal links to the tobacco industry. It nixed the federal project after learning that a key player, Mulroney-era cabinet minister Barbara McDougall, was also on the board of directors at Imperial Tobacco Canada.

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RCMP Watchdog Wants New Powers

RCMP watchdog asks for enhanced powers to tackle ‘credibility challenge’
Canada.com, April 15, 2010
Summary: Canada’s new civilian watchdog of the RCMP says that he has to be given new and enhanced powers to keep an eye on the force and to help eliminate its “credibility challenge.”

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Board of Rights and Democracy Agency Faces New Allegations

Bid to quell internal warfare at Rights and Democracy racks up big price tag
Winnipeg Free Press, April 15, 2010
Summary: The interim president of Rights and Democracy spent almost $400,000 in two short months in a bid to quell a staff rebellion at the troubled agency. Jacques Gauthier hired two law firms, private investigators, forensic auditors and public-relations experts, the House of Commons foreign affairs committee heard Thursday.

Droits et Démocratie doit se conformer aux politiques d’Ottawa, dit le president
La Presse, April 17, 2010
Summary: Droits et Démocratie, un organisme qui se veut indépendant de toute ingérence partisane, doit se conformer à la politique du gouvernement, estime son président, Gérard Latulippe.

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Ottawa U President Allan Rock Makes Excuses for Coulter Controversy

University of Ottawa president defends himself in wake of Coulter controversy
Canada.com, April 16, 2010
Summary: University of Ottawa president Allan Rock is finally prepared to say what he thinks about the Ann Coulter affair.

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by Ian Bron on April 19, 2010
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Media Update for April 15, 2010

News Summary and Comment:

There are a lot of accountability stories today. The most sensational might be the Helena Guergis story, and the most durable the Afghan detainee issue. But I think that the allegations against Quebec Premier Jean Charest are the most important.

This week, a former Liberal Minister of Justice turned whistleblower, Marc Bellemare, told the media that the Quebec Liberal Party took donations in cash to get around election finance laws and allowed leading party fundraisers to put forward names for judicial appointments – and that Charest knew about it. This is huge news.

Of course Charest denies knowing anything, and has threatened to sue Bellemare. He has also launched a judicial inquiry into the allegations. But it’s hard to imagine that Bellemare would gain anything by making the allegations, and the construction industry in Quebec is at the centre of other accusations of corruption. It’s worth noting, too, that Charest refused to call an inquiry into that mess. Still, nothing has been proven, and one might ask why Bellemare didn’t do something about it when he was in office. Ultimately, I think little will stick to Charest.

In Ottawa, the Information Commissioner of Canada roundly criticized the government in her latest report on information access in the federal government. In short, she says that people are being denied their right to access government documents. I’m sure a lot of senior bureaucrats are pumping their fists in victory about this.

Meanwhile, Joanna Gualtieri’s case continues to get attention. I am pleased an surprised that people drew the right conclusion – that whistleblower protection is worse than it ever was.

Also in Ottawa, new documents show that the federal government knew about the abuse of workers in Indonesia well before these were recently exposed by whistleblower Virgil Grandfield. These workers were hired by the Canadian Red Cross, using much public money. But once they arrived to do work, problems arose: many workers were not paid and some were children. The Red Cross denies the problem was widespread, and the government is keeping its mouth shut. There’s leadership and integrity for you.

Have a great weekend.

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Jean Charest Implicated in Judge Selection Scandal

Federal Access to Information Regime Criticized

More Comment on Gualtieri Case and Ineffectiveness of Whistleblower Protection

Documents Show Government Knew of Problems in Red Cross Tsunami Projects

Details and Speculation Abound Regarding Former Minister Guergis

More Testimony in Afghan Detainee Inquiry

Former AG Calls for Audit of MP Expenses

Transport Canada Criticized for Poor Aviation Safety Oversight

Board of Rights and Democracy Agency Faces New Allegations

Alberta Auditor General Calls for Less Government Spending Secrecy

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Jean Charest Implicated in Judge Selection Scandal

Charest knew party was dodging fundraising laws, former minister says
Globe and Mail, April 12, 2010
Summary: Quebec’s governing Liberal Party took donations in cash to get around election finance laws and allowed leading party fundraisers to put forward names for judicial appointments, according to explosive allegations made Monday by a former Liberal justice minister.

Charest names Michel Bastarache to preside over judge inquiry
The Gazette (Montreal), April 14, 2010
Summary: Premier Jean Charest said Wednesday he will testify at a public inquiry he has ordered to look into allegations of influence peddling in the naming of Quebec Court judges.

Charest to sue over judge selection claims
CBC News, April 15, 2010
Summary: Quebec Premier Jean Charest is suing former justice minister Marc Bellemare over his claims that Charest was aware that Liberal Party donors were influencing the selection of judges in the province.

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Federal Access to Information Regime Criticized

PM’s chief of staff, top staffers called to testify on alleged political interference into Access Act
The Hill Times (Ottawa), April 12, 2010
Summary: Key Conservative staffers, including the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, will be called to testify before the House Ethics Committee, following a wave of media reports alleging political interference into the Access to Information Act process. (Note: this article is available by subscription only)

Access denied: Federal delays stymie information requesters, watchdog says
The Telegram (St.John’s), April 13, 2010
Summary: Federal delays in answering queries from the public are getting worse and threaten to scuttle the right to know, says Canada’s information watchdog. Interim information commissioner Suzanne Legault urged government agencies to take “immediate steps” to curb the persistent foot-dragging she detailed Tuesday in a special report to Parliament.

Tories get low grades on openness
The Star (Toronto), April 13, 2010
Summary: The Prime Minister’s Office has declared this week that freedom of information is “the oxygen of democracy.” Canada’s information commissioner, however, finds that the capital is somewhat oxygen-deprived under Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.

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More Comment on Gualtieri Case and Ineffectiveness of Whistleblower Protection

Whistleblower rules prove completely useless
Barrie Examiner, April 12, 2010
Summary: It’s the kind of story that leads taxpayers to believe there’s no hope. Joanna Gaultieri tried to blow the whistle on billions of dollars of excessive luxury living at Canadian diplomatic outposts around the globe. You’d think she’d be on the career path to the top in no time. But, instead, her superiors in the department of Foreign Affairs worked long and hard to bury her and protect their fat-cat lifestyle.

Gualtieri’s fight strikes a nerve
Owen Sound Sun Times, April 14, 2010
Summary: Our story of Joanna Gualtieri’s valiant battle to expose government squander, and the resulting 12 years of federal lawyers trying to crush her, triggered a firestorm of outrage among readers across the country. Most found it hard to believe the government of a country not officially a banana republic would be allowed to drag a public service whistleblower through hell for doing the job Canadians expect.

Experts see link between Gualtieri, Colvin cases
Embassy (Ottawa), April 14, 2010
Summary: Experts and a former whistleblower are drawing a link between the heavy criticism the government received over its treatment of diplomat Richard Colvin and its recent decision to end a tumultuous 12-year legal battle with a former Foreign Affairs employee.

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Documents Show Government Knew of Problems in Red Cross Tsunami Projects

Feds knew about underage workers in Canada-sponsored projects: Documents
Canada.com, April 13, 2010
Summary: The Harper government was told last year about underage workers at a controversial post-tsunami reconstruction project in Indonesia that was sponsored by taxpayers and the Canadian Red Cross from 2006 to 2009, according to an internal federal document obtained by Canwest News Service.

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Details and Speculation Abound Regarding Former Minister Guergis

Ethics Commissioner refuses to investigate Helena Guergis
Globe and Mail, April 13, 2010
Summary: The federal Ethics Commissioner has declined to investigate Helena Guergis, who was removed from cabinet and expelled from the Conservative caucus after allegations against her had been received by the Prime Minister.

New details emerge of Guergis, Jaffer affair
Ottawa Citizen, April 14, 2010
Summary: As new information leaked out surrounding the scandal that forced her out of the Conservative caucus, Helena Guergis is rejecting allegations, made by the Liberals in the House of Commons, that her husband, former MP Rahim Jaffer, used her government car and chauffeur and was allowed to use her parliamentary office to conduct his private business.

Harper, Guergis on different pages over ejection
Ottawa Citizen, April 14, 2010
Summary: Helena Guergis has no idea what she may have done that prompted Prime Minister Stephen Harper to kick her out of cabinet, suspend her from the Conservative caucus and call in the police, her lawyer said Wednesday.

Guergis denies private investigator’s ‘bizarre’ cocaine allegations
Globe and Mail, April 15, 2010
Summary: Helena Guergis’s lawyer is denying the “bizarre” allegations that were forwarded to Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week and led to her resignation as minister of state for the status of women.

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More Testimony in Afghan Detainee Inquiry

Ottawa blocked efforts to monitor detainees’ treatment, diplomat testifies
Globe and Mail, April 13, 2010
Summary: When diplomat Richard Colvin warned a March, 2007, gathering of Canadian officials to stop handing prisoners to Afghanistan’s notorious intelligence service, a government note-taker laid down her pen and stopped recording the meeting, the foreign service officer says.

Canadians ‘subcontracted torture’ in Afghanistan: testimony
National Post, April 14, 2010
Summary: The Canadian military “subcontracted torture” to the Afghan security service and shot an unarmed 17-year-old man in the back of the head, alleges an Afghan-Canadian who worked as an interpreter for the Canadian armed forces in Afghanistan.

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Former AG Calls for Audit of MP Expenses

Let AG Fraser audit Parliament: former auditor general Dye
The Hill Times (Ottawa), April 12, 2010
Summary: Former auditor general Ken Dye says Canada’s Auditor General Sheila Fraser should be allowed to audit MPs’ expenses and she should also take over from the private firm that audits Parliament’s annual financial statements.

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Transport Canada Criticized for Poor Aviation Safety Oversight

Canada slow to act on aviation weaknesses, hearing told
Vancouver Sun, April 13, 2010
Summary: The federal government moves far too slowly to close serious safety gaps in Canada’s aviation system, the head of the independent body charged with investigating crashes warned Tuesday.

‘Blind eye’ turned to airline safety, pilot union tells MPs
Ottawa Citizen, April 15, 2010
Summary: Transport Canada has turned a “blind eye” to safety concerns at airlines by bungling the rollout of its new aviation oversight system, the head of the government’s pilot union told parliamentarians Thursday.

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Board of Rights and Democracy Agency Faces New Allegations

New allegations rock troubled rights agency, widow demands inquiry
Winnipeg Free Press, April 13, 2010
Summary: The sad downward spiral of an internationally respected Canadian rights agency continued Tuesday as new allegations of financial irregularities surfaced concerning the board of directors.

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Alberta Auditor General Calls for Less Government Spending Secrecy

Alberta Auditor General’s report calls for less government spending secrecy
Calgary Herald, April 14, 2010
Summary: Alberta’s auditor general released a semi-annual report Wednesday that highlighted myriad problems in provincial government departments and agencies, including poor accounting of corporate credit card use, shoddy compliance of occupational health and safety orders and need to better document value from controversial public-private partnerships.

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by Ian Bron on April 15, 2010
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