(Hat tips to several emailers… Chris…)
Let’s not get confused over the scandals and corruption within the Liberal Party and the various government branches and departments that Liberals appoint their failed candidates to.
This one is about the ex-Liberal Party cabinet minister who lost his election in ‘97, and was thus rewarded by then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien to head-up the Royal Canadian Mint, where all our coinage is made. Seems he dipped into the coinage too often without good receipts, and suddenly, now that there’s a completely different $10 million scandal also going on today—that’s shunned by the Libs.
See, his expenses were only more than $740,000 last year. That’s way less than $10 million. And it doesn’t directly involve Prime Minister Martin as the $10 million scandal—which is completely different from the Chretien/Martin Sponsorship/Adscam scandal—would allegedly seem to.
Phew. Somebody make a flow chart of Liberal scandal and corruption.
Oh by the way, this makes for the fifth Crown corporation boss to leave in controversy since Paul Martin became prime minister.
Ottawa (CP) – David Dingwall has resigned as president of the Royal Canadian Mint amid questions about his expenses and lobbying efforts.
Dingwall issued a statement Wednesday announcing that he was stepping down so that the controversy would not detract from the work of the Mint. The former Liberal cabinet minister has been under fire over reports that he and top aides racked up expenses of more than $740,000 last year.
He has also been criticized for failing to register as a lobbyist for Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a Toronto pharmaceutical company.
Reports have said the company agreed to pay Dingwall up to $350,000 for his help in securing grants under a Technology Partnerships Canada program – even though program rules forbid hiring lobbyists.
In his statement, Dingwall said he believes he complied with “all aspects of the Act governing the government relations business.”
“If there was a registration problem or other technical compliance issue on one of the contracts, then that is entirely my responsibility,” he wrote.
And as if vying for our coveted Quote Of The Week Award, Conservative leader Stephen Harper entered some bonafide gems:
Earlier Wednesday, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said that if Dingwall resigned it would only be a first small step.
“What really needs to happen is this culture of waste, management and corruption that the Liberal party practices needs to end.
“I don’t think it’s going to end with a few firings. I think it’s only going to end when we fire the government.”
It should also be noted that documents outlining Dingwall’s spending were obtained under the Access to Information Act by Conservative MP Brian Pallister.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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