Have you noticed all the sheets draped over it?
Outside of changing the bricks to Tory blue - the sheets are holding another meaning.
Since (con)federation in 1949 and the initial Joey's ownership years that followed - the WillDun administration must be the most secretive and unaccountable government.
So enter stage right - Danny Williams - and boom - all truths will be revealed. Let's bring the Auditor General in and let him see what everybody else was trying to hide. While former MHA's were being carted of to jail - Williams was busy.
Yes we seen an untendered pile of money go to Dean MacDonald's company, Persona for "good" public policy reasons. I call this "Flip that Utility" - which you can read HERE.
Then we seen Williams - after demonstrating shock and disappointment - over the findings of the Auditor General - promptly call in Chief Justice Greene to study what went wrong and present a report on how to fix it.
Chief Justice Greene in his usual style - expertly reviewed the material - and presented a superior report with recommendations. (He should be a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada) If that were to happen I could actually say that the federal government had for once made a good decision. In either case, Chief Justice Greene's report spoke specifically about the need for accountability in public accounts.
So Danny - King of the Truth and Accountability - after the worst mess since
Roland Butler the Chair of the Committee and a Liberal - said nothing. Just the other day - the retired Butler said he tried but the Tories would not let him. He's RETIRED and now he's talking.
What of Lorraine? Well the NDP did not have a seat on the Committee - however - the Leader wanted one right? Where are all the News Releases over the past 6 years complaining about the fact that the Committee was not holding public meetings? Is the deal here that if I don't have a seat on the Committee it does not matter? Well no sooner had I wrote this last night than Ms. Michael says in the Telegram today that "When our caucus is represented, I can assure you we will speak very strongly in favour of regular public meetings". I'm sorry Ms. Michael but that is very weak. Why would we have you on it - if you will not speak of it until you are there?
So after the King of Truth exposed the corrupt and criminal behavior of MHA's including his choice for Deputy Premier - Ed Byrne - he proceeded in running a secretive government.
Anybody remember poor Tom Osborne? He was booted from Cabinet by Williams - why? Well as we all recall a bureaucrat did not advise Osborne about error rates in the hormone receptor tests; Osborne has not been in Cabinet since the removal.
Kathy Dunderdale for her part - just experienced a scathing review on accountability by our current Auditor General. Anyway you slice it - it's keeping the public away from how decisions were made on billions of dollars. Open and accountable? Not a chance. What did she say about the negligent behavior of her own MHA's regarding the Public Accounts Committee? Well - apparently she didn't notice either - but now that the CBC has advised her on the operations of a House Committee - she will be drilling down on that.
Let's have a serious discussion here people. We the people are not in control of our own government or the MHA's that we elect. After the most disgusting exposure of corruption and criminal behavior by some of our elected representatives and the not-criminal but very questionable expenditures and behavior of many more - we are allowing them to set up another system that is ripe for abuse.
The PC, Liberal, and NDP had at least one of their MHA's locked in a prison cell - and therefore every party should be super sensitive to anything that may look odd to the people they serve. For 6 years these politicians sat on their hands and said nothing about this very disturbing situation.
How arrogant are they? Well they take the recommendations of a Chief Justice and essentially flush them down a toilet. What do we do? Is it time to meet on the steps of the Colonial Building?
You see what better way to set up a secretive government than by claiming to be the King of Truth and Accountability on the front end?
Waiting for change from these politicians? Boot them out first or make them change the rules first? Which comes first the chicken or the egg? I am going to have to trek from here to the chicken farm by Cochrane Pond to think about it - oh wait that's private property now - right?
1 comment:
Sue, I am disgusted with the secrecy of the PC's and, while I am Liberal in my leanings, I am not happy with any of the political parties in terms of openness and accountability. I don't know the actual composition of the new Public Accounts Committee but I would hope that the NDP will be represented as well.
To me, there has never been a time in our history where the members of both the Liberal and NDP needed to collaborate for the betterment of the province. We have a secretive, out-of-control, PC government in place that is not concerned with the wellbeing of the silent majority so we must rely on the opposition to do the job for us. Vision and statesmanship must trump partisan politics and petty squabbling.
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