(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
June 21, 2000)
More
questions of corruption
By Leo Knight
WITH
the Canadian Alliance leadership campaign winding its way
through the final days, two candidates are swaggering to the
finish line while Tom Long staggers.
But
one thing this campaign has taught us is that the attitude of
corruption is rampant in our political life.
When
two paid staffers in Gaspe were exposed this week fabricating
membership applications, Tom Long desperately needed to come out
publicly and decry that sort of activity. But he didn't. And
neither, surprisingly, did the two main competitors, Preston
Manning and Stockwell Day, or the party as an entity.
The
reluctance was epitomized by the prime minister in Question
Period last week when he was able to deflect an attack on the
blatant corruption of the federal Liberal party by attacking the
Alliance for the problems in Gaspe. Sure it's the big pot
calling the small kettle black, but it was effective in muting
the accusations.
The
problem, as I see it, is not ignorance or priority gauging in
terms of the important issues, but rather that of a system which
is so permeated with corruption that everyone simply turns a
blind eye lest they be tarred with the same brush.
How
else can we explain the B.C. Liberals' relative silence on the
issue of the membership forgeries attributed to the campaign of
Ujjal Dosanjh.
By
any analysis, there were over 1,000 questionable membership
sign-ups by the Dosanjh camp, many of which reportedly involved
forgery and impersonation, both Criminal Code offences.
Dosanjh
won the leadership of the party and the premier's chair by just
over 200 votes. The sign-ups were submitted for his benefit
while he was the chief law enforcement officer of the province.
Why
aren't the Liberals screaming from the parapets? And why aren't
the RCMP conducting an investigation? And how, in the name of
God, can Dosanjh get away with positioning himself as an honest
man and the law and order guy and the media not scream its
outrage?
It's
politics, apparently.
I
suspect the Libs are afraid they would open themselves up to the
same charges. The Mounties are beholden to the government for
funding and indeed, for their daily crust as the premier has the
power to eliminate the federal policing contract with the RCMP
and institute a provincial police force or at least a regional
police force in the Lower Mainland.
Equally,
the police forces of the province are desperately trying to get
the appropriate funding for the fledgling Organized Crime Agency
of B.C. One can't curry favor on one hand and investigate
improprieties on the other.
And
so, apparently, we need to suffer the Office of the Premier of
the Province of British Columbia being inhabited by a man who
arguably gained that privileged position with the assistance of
organized fraud and deception by his supporters. And the
Opposition stands mute.
Am
I wrong in all of this? Is the state of politics such that we
are supposed to dismiss this as nothing more than dirty pool and
not criminal behaviour? Well, no, I'm sorry, but I can't.
Our
political leaders are supposed to represent our interests. They
aren't supposed to seek and gain power, whatever the cost,
simply so they can advance the cause of their own political
ideology or to line their or their pals' pockets. Whatever they
may think, they govern for all not just a select few.
Unfortunately the state of government in this country has evolved into dictatorships with all the power centralized in the office of the respective premier or prime minister.
For
proof, one need only look as far as the HRDC scandal and the 20
or so police investigations currently ongoing into various
elements of the grants given.
To
date, not one head has rolled. Inaction sometimes speaks
volumes.
*
* *
When
Ujjal Dosanjh left the attorney general's office for the loftier
position of premier, he made sure he had his mole in his former
quarters. He conveniently placed old buddy Barry Salmon as
"Programs/Projects Development Analyst" in the
ministry.
Salmon,
you'll remember, is the political fixer who ran interference for
Dosanjh, instructing Paul Gill, the brother of Peter Gill of
Gillian Guess fame, to downplay his relationship with Dosanjh
lest the pesky media start putting two and two together.
He's
also married to Sandra Houston, the Deputy Chief of Staff in the
premier's office. Dosanjh, incidentally, was best man at the
wedding.
Salmon's
position was supposed to be temporary. But, as inevitable as the
sun coming up in the morning, the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring
is taking place to give Salmon a permanent place at the public
trough.
The
in-service government job posting service is showing Competition
number AG2000:7615, for a "Program Manager, Planning and
Priorities" in the AG's ministry. This is a created
position essentially. It's posted as a Management Level 4 job
paying $64,123.
But
this is done as part of the subterfuge. You see, had they posted
the job as ML 5 or ML 6, they'd actually get qualified people
within the ministry applying for the job because of the extra
money.
Keeping
it at ML 4 ensures Dosanjh gets his boy in place. Then, once in
place, the job can be upgraded to a higher pay-grade.
Ironically,
the person responsible for the so-called "competition"
is Patti Thomas, Director of Management Services. She
conveniently has her office right next door to Salmon's so she
won't have to go far to conduct her "interview" with
the job candidate.
Thomas
is also very familiar with the upgrading of job classifications.
She
managed to get her own position upgraded several levels in the
span of a few short months, though nobody I spoke to can figure
out why.
The
"how" is the subject of much more speculation, none of
it flattering.
She's
also the person who decides how much money the Organized Crime
Agency gets to spend. Needless to say she doesn't have the first
clue about policing or how to conduct complicated
investigations.
Sigh.