Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin repeatedly puffs out his chest and touts—without even cracking a smile—that he was the one who established the Gomery Inquiry into the Liberal Party corruption, as if indicating that he had a choice—the other one being to launch a massive cover-up, and that that would have been the other acceptable choice in the matter. (Watch as the gullible media scrum dutifully nod in approval—every time—and then write notes in their official media notepads every time he repeats it; then they print it or broadcast it, over and over, to the obedient approving nation. He and the Liberals are going to clean this mess up—like only they can!)
But since his grand noble and ever so benevolent gesture (not covering it up—thank you dear leader!), what have the Liberals been doing? Fixing all the accountability problems in the government? No. Changing rules and regulations? No. Creating copious new auditing procedures? No. Firing bad bureaucrats? No.
The civil service is completely liberal, as is just about every facet of Canadian life by now. The Liberals appoint everybody to the civil service, and yet the bureaucrats are tootling along as if there’s no change, nor even a need for change. This indicates to me that it was more than simply a bureaucratic problem, it is a political problem—a systemic problem running right from the roots of the Liberal Party through the various leaves (the judiciary, academia, the media, the crown corprations, other corporations that get their welfare payments, and on and on).
Justice John Gomery said Tuesday that some bureaucrats who “disregard the law” through mismanagement don’t appear to suffer any consequences such as losing their jobs.
Gomery told a Treasury Board official at the sponsorship inquiry he couldn’t find any evidence in the Financial Administration Act allowing managers to weed out bad seeds in the bureaucracy.
“Sometimes you get people who just, more or less deliberately, disregard the law,” the judge told Stephen Wallace, a top official at the Treasury Board secretariat.
“There have been, it seems to me, well-documented instances of mismanagement . . . and I didn’t see that they had any consequences on the employment of anybody.
“What happens if you find somebody who’s just a bad apple?”
Wallace said managers in fact have the power to suspend, demote or fire employees who break internal rules.
But he acknowledged that power isn’t always exercised.
“Consistent understanding and ability to use these tools is not evident across the system.”
Wallace added police and the courts, not internal rules, are best-equipped to deal with bureaucrats who cross the line and break the law.
But Gomery didn’t appear satisfied.
“It takes a major scandal to get the police involved,” he said. “It is not in the nature of the public service to call in the police.”
[…] Wallace was among a panel of public-service managers who appeared before Gomery to explain what has changed in government since Prime Minister Paul Martin shut down the scandal-plagued sponsorship program in 2003.
The responses were mixed.
Wallace said plans are in the works for tighter financial controls, better training for managers with signing authority as well as more detailed audits.
But government-wide training courses, including those ensuring bureaucrats know the law, have yet to be implemented, said Wallace.
Public Works official Richard Robesco, who oversees 450 government ad contracts, told the inquiry that training measures in his department haven’t been updated recently.
Matters that have apparently been more important for the Liberals? Gay marriage, gay marriage, and gay marriage. And legalizing pot-smoking, and legalizing prostitution, and launching still more Soviet-style social programs. And buying more liberal votes. And buying off Canadians with their own money.
That’s progressive! Vote liberal!
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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