Politics in 2013

[Old Sweat]

Edward

Re your comment regarding a Supreme Court challenge, I believe he has already asked the Supremes for a ruling on what he can do regarding Senate reform.

It will be interesting to see in due course how PM Harper goes about making lemonade out of the bunch of lemons that have landed on his desk this time.

 

[GAP]

the sad thing about all this was the fact that these were prominent, conservative appointments screwing up by the numbers...

 

[Edward Campbell]

the sad thing about all this was the fact that these were prominent, conservative appointments screwing up by the numbers...

But that can be a "good thing," IF the Prime Minister plays it as: "tell you provincial premiers that YOU want to elect your own senators because YOU will make better choices than I."

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I'd be hesitant to point fingers at the Conservatives on this, but since you have to actually search CBC.ca to find the story....

They sent me this e-mail. Mulcair, can respond that "I was not sure if it was an attempt to corrupt and as for corruption in Quebec I and (rest of Canada) had suspicions but no proof. However Mr Speaker let us ask our esteemed colleagues about the $90,000 paid to Senator Duffy...."

 

[OldSolduer]

What, or more correctly who, irks me in all this is Pat Martin, the swearing blowhard from Winnipeg.

 

[ModlrMike]

The cynic in me wonders if the media's focus on Senators Duffy and Walin is at all connected to the their being conservative media in their prior lives. I notice that Mr Harb is hardly ever mentioned.

 

[OldSolduer]

The cynic in me wonders if the media's focus on Senators Duffy and Walin is at all connected to the their being conservative media in their prior lives. I notice that Mr Harb is hardly ever mentioned.

I would tend to agree with your assessment.

Non bias media? Not in Canada you say? Pity.

 

[Edward Campbell]

I would tend to agree with your assessment.

Non bias media? Not in Canada you say? Pity.

I don't expect an unbiased media; hell's bells, I don't even want an unbiased media.

I do want some accurate reporting of facts, but I'm a very average Joe and I can sift the factual fly shit out of the pepper the media serves.

An unbiased media would be a deadly bore - so dull it would fail.

So I don't mind that the Toronto Star supports the Liberals and goes after Toronto's Mayor Ford, or that the Sun papers and Sun TV are heavily biased towards the Conservatives - I know that when I read either or both I have to wade through oceans of BS and that's OK, we all have mental hip waders.

 

[Edward Campbell]

And here, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Halifax Chronicle Herald is a another symptom of the Ottawa disease (patronage):

http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/1130152-crtc-commissioner-patrone-takes-job-at-sun-news#.UZahL8sTwZE.twitter

Now, this should be taken with a small grain of salt, while the Chronicle Herald does not compete "head to head" with Sun Media, news organizations love to dish the dirt on one another.

There is nothing that says, as far as I know, that CRTC Commissioners have to forsake all gainful employment (and caveat lector, in my "second career" I had a friendly, collegiel relationship with the former Acting Chair of the CRTC and with another serving commissioner, in both cases before they joined the CRTC). They serve, generally, for a five year term; it is adequately paid but it is "public service" and, in at least some cases, the salary is not competitive with the private sector. But: it is influential public service and Marc Patrone has returned to his previous business (he is listed, in his Linkin profile as Director News Operations Western Canada at Sun News Network, so he's not in the regulatory business) and one cannot help but wonder if he was hired on merit or in return for holding favourable views while still in the CRTC. It smacks of patronage: a defeated Conservative candidate is appointed to the CRTC and then, when his tour of duty is finished he joins a Tory friendly broadcast news network.

Patronage is not unique to the Conservatives: the Liberals were, and still are in many respects, masters of it - there are still many long time Liberal loyalists in the upper reaches of the civil service and they still hire Liberal friendly academics and consultants. Do they do it consciously? Is there a "little red book" of reliable people? No, but when they need a consultant or an academic they often turn to people they know, people with whom they have dealt over the years, people like them - people from what John Ibbitson calls the Laurentian elites.*

But the Senate of Canada is the worst example of partisan political patronage in Canada and the solution is simple: elections.

_____
* See The Big Shift

And yet more, same source, about the patronage problem in this article which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Halifax Chronicle herald:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1130470-behind-the-job-rigging-at-acoa#.UZnuQWen-9o.twitter

Behind the job-rigging at ACOA
Officials tailored hiring criteria for MacKay aides, Public Service Commission finds

May 20, 2013

PAUL MCLEOD OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA — Two of Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s political aides had their civil service appointments revoked last fall when the hiring process was found to be rigged.

In total, three of MacKay’s aides were given civil service jobs linked to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency after MacKay lost responsibility for it in 2008.

Two of them had their appointments revoked by the Public Service Commission after investigations found ACOA managers twisted hiring rules. The third appointment was never investigated.

One former MacKay staffer, Kevin MacAdam, is asking the Federal Court to intervene and let him keep his job.

Political staffer Shawn Masterson also had his appointment revoked. He is not fighting the decision and has left ACOA.

Investigators did not find evidence of political interference from MacKay’s office, but several high-ranking ACOA executives, including president Paul Leblanc, have been punished.

Masterson was a political staffer and special assistant of ACOA when MacKay was the minister responsible for the agency.

Sometime after MacKay lost the ACOA file in 2008, Masterson was appointed to an ACOA communications job in Ottawa.

ACOA executives tailored the position to Masterson’s qualifications, excluded other candidates and bent language rules because he did not speak French, the Public Service Commission would later find.

The commission, which is in charge of ensuring the civil service is free of political influence, revoked his appointment but did not identify Masterson.

The Chronicle Herald pieced together his identity based on information gleaned from court documents. His identity was confirmed by a former work associate.

The appointment of Masterson was anything but simple. There were 16 civil servants with priority status for the job he applied for, seemingly putting Masterson at a distinct disadvantage.

The commission found that two unnamed senior ACOA officials and a human resources official explored several possible job classifications before settling on one that matched Masterson’s background.

It was then advertised externally so that he could apply. The job was advertised for just 48 hours — a manager requested the “absolute minimum” — and Masterson was told to keep an eye on the government jobs site.

Applicants were only required to speak English, even though it was a job that would normally require bilingualism in the Ottawa region.

The hiring manager also applied the education qualifications in an unprecedentedly restrictive way, so as to limit the number of candidates from “fewer than 10” to just two, the commission found. Masterson beat out the other candidate.

A similar situation occurred in Prince Edward Island, where Kevin MacAdam won the job of director general of operations.

Aside from being a former MacKay staffer, MacAdam was a Progressive Conservative fisheries minister in P.E.I. and a failed federal Conservative candidate.

The job required knowledge of French and would normally be opened up to internal candidates only. The commission found ACOA dropped the bilingualism requirement and opened up the job to external candidates so MacAdam would win the job.

Upon starting in February 2011, MacAdam began two years of French-language training at his home in Ottawa while drawing his salary. Court documents show he was paid $130,700 per year.

MacKay declined an interview, but a spokesman stressed that no evidence of political interference was found in any of the commission’s investigations.

“It’s no surprise that political staff are often found to be excellent candidates for public service appointments following three years of service in a ministerial office,” said Jay Paxton.

Masterson, MacAdam and another MacKay staffer, Nancy Baker, found themselves in an unstable situation when the ACOA file was moved from MacKay to New Brunswick MP Keith Ashfield.

MacKay no longer had the funding to employ the three, but Ashfield’s budget was already tied up with his own staff.

While two of the three ended up winning ACOA appointments, Baker landed a job at Enterprise Cape Breton Corp., which delivers ACOA programs in that area. Within the last year, she moved to the Defence Department, where MacKay is minister.

Enterprise Cape Breton is a Crown corporation and falls outside the scope of the Public Service Commission. It did not investigate Baker’s appointment.

NDP ACOA critic Ryan Cleary said there is a clear trend of the Conservatives using ACOA, Enterprise Cape Breton and other agencies as a dumping ground for patronage appointments.

“All these bodies that play an important economic and industrial role, we have to have full confidence in these organizations,” said Cleary. “And when you have this kind of patronage that is happening, it undermines everything.”

The commission found four top ACOA executives engaged in improper conduct. Their appointment privileges were suspended, and they were ordered to take an ethics course.

(pmcleod@herald.ca)

The various "opportunity agencies" in Industry Canada are shams, to begin with - just a way to funnel money into regions for partisan political purposes. If they were well managed subsidy programmes, with clear targets - like ship building - I would be less annoyed, I don't like subsidies but, since everyone does it, they are grudgingly acceptable.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Interesting phrasing in the former Chief of Staff's statement.....

Here is the story, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from CBC News:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2013/05/pmo-chief-nigel-wright-quits-post-over-duffy-payback-deal.html

....  I did not advise the Prime Minister of the means by which Sen. Duffy's expenses were repaid, either before or after the fact ....

 

[Nemo888]

There seems to be a direct correlation between how long a party has been in power and how corrupt it becomes. Perhaps changing the diaper more often would make for better governance.

If I thought the electorate could do something I would hope for changes to campaign financing and the punishment for things like what Duffy did to be more in line with treason. Instead he gets a large bribe from a party insider to keep quiet. That is pretty corrupt.

 

[Old Sweat]

Would you please explain what a misuse of housing allowance by an unelected senator has to do with campaign financing, especially cosidering how restrictive the rules for campaign contributions already are?

 

[SeaKingTacco]

There seems to be a direct correlation between how long a party has been in power and how corrupt it becomes. Perhaps changing the diaper more often would make for better governance.

If I thought the electorate could do something I would hope for changes to campaign financing and the punishment for things like what Duffy did to be more in line with treason. Instead he gets a large bribe from a party insider to keep quiet. That is pretty corrupt.

Actually, the Conservatives have considerably strengthen campaign financing rules, much to the discomfort of the opposition parties. I get that you viscerally dislike Harper, but one has nothing to do with the other.

This is not to minimize the current situation.  If ever there was an opportunity to reform the Senate, this is it.  The fact that the PMO's office (through bad judgement, likely) got dragged into this speaks more to the problems created by the PM (any PM, really) appointing Senators than anything else.  And until the Provinces come on board with a plan appoint elected senators that does not reopen the Constitution...none of this will ever change.  Regardless of who forms Government.

 

[Nemo888]

Here is how legal corruption works at a local level. I had a friend who was a real estate developer. He has a large stable of municipal politicians in his pocket. It took many years of course. Some he groomed since before they won an election. Stuck with them even if they lost the first couple. He would give the maximum amount every year legally and a little more help on the side. Logistical help like giving employees paid weeks off to volunteer at election time, jobs for close friends and finding election managers.

The years go by and let's say he buys some land by the river in Richmond County. The is no infrastructure  (roads, water, sewers, electricity waterfront building permits, etc, etc,) in place to build so he gets it dirt cheap. He asks for a zoning change. Tells the Councilman from Richmond no hard feeling if he votes against it. All the rest vote for the change. He builds his condos. The city foots the bill for the new infrastructure and the locals go nuts because their infrastructure is crumbling and it wrecks the waterfront.

Costs of getting Councilors in your pocket about 300,000$. Profit on the deal is roughly 3 million.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Here is how legal corruption works at a local level. I had a friend who was a real estate developer. He has a large stable of municipal politicians in his pocket. It took many years of course. Some he groomed since before they won an election. Stuck with them even if they lost the first couple. He would give the maximum amount every year legally and a little more help on the side. Logistical help like giving employees paid weeks off to volunteer at election time, jobs for close friends and finding election managers.

The years go by and let's say he buys some land by the river in Richmond County. The is no infrastructure  (roads, water, sewers, electricity waterfront building permits, etc, etc,) in place to build so he gets it dirt cheap. He asks for a zoning change. Tells the Councilman from Richmond no hard feeling if he votes against it. All the rest vote for the change. He builds his condos. The city foots the bill for the new infrastructure and the locals go nuts because their infrastructure is crumbling and it wrecks the waterfront.

Costs of getting Councilors in your pocket about 300,000$. Profit on the deal is roughly 3 million.

I get how that works, but I fail to see how any law on campaign financing will fix your situation.

Politicians are like you and me.  They have lives and friends and business colleagues.  They don't get severed from Canadian society when they get elected to office.  What is your prescription?

 

[Nemo888]

That is the 2000 year old question. Politicians are highly adaptable by nature so it is always an arms race.

Federally and Provincially some recent changes to the number contribuitions you could make to candidates and parties threw a  wrench into some of these guys operations. Finding the covert support which will take up that slack will be almost impossible. Jobs, time off, paying third parties under the table for campaigning, patronage and even ghost employess are very hard to ferret out. Most especially becuase all the parties rely on this system.

One of the very best ways is to throw out incumbents and have some fresh new faces. Fresh new faces often have no longstanding relationships and hence the corruptive infulence is lower, at least for the first few years. The Reform Party was awesome for that. As the years go on my respect for Preston Manning grows. His stance on corruption, especially the legal kind, makes up for all the things I disagreed. The ammalgamation made the Reform more like the old Conservative Party, not the other way around.

Full disclosure the man I am taling about did this with Team Liberal. Though Team Conservative was exactly the same(at least locally) and the NDP wished they could. NDP did occasionally do the patronage thing, but without influence they had little opportunity to be corrupt. That would of course change a few years after they got some. In the shadows someone is whispering poison into their ears from the first day they get the job. Without credible punishments eventually politicians succumb to the temptation.

 

[Brad Sallows]

The NDP is extraordinarily corrupt.  There is a feedback loop between the NDP and unions, specifically public sector unions.  Neither side of that arrangement supports the other out of altruism.

 

[Nemo888]

Unions are corrupt to be sure, but my friend seemed to think they were a joke. He had more money to throw around than the local unions of 10,000 members or more.  They simply don't have the resources to be much of a player by comparison.

 

[OldSolduer]

Unions are corrupt to be sure, but my friend seemed to think they were a joke. He had more money to throw around than the local unions of 10,000 members or more.  They simply don't have the resources to be much of a player by comparison.

Did the Ontario Union of Teachers or some union in Ontario own part of the Maple Leafs?

That ain't chump change.

 

[Old Sweat]

Did the Ontario Union of Teachers or some union in Ontario own part of the Maple Leafs?

That ain't chump change.

The Teachers' Pension Plan owned the team collection of hockey players.