01) THAT'S EVEN MORE SCANDALOUS!

By Jean Kenyon

     Canada's mainstream media have lately been full of Conservative Senators fudging expense claims, the Prime Minister's Office trying to keep it quiet, and a video of a crack‑smoking Rob Ford which has mysteriously disappeared. But while they've been preoccupied with these salacious dramas ‑ and they are of some importance ‑ the media have been under‑reporting some even more scandalous goings‑on.

     As Canada Day 2013 approaches, here are my suggestions for Canada's National Scandal Sheet.

1. ELECTION FRAUD GOES UNPUNISHED

     On May 24 Judge Richard Mosley found that a campaign of voter suppression occurred in ridings across Canada in the 2011 federal election, as voters who had indicated they were not supporting the Conservative Party received phone calls directing them to non-existent polling stations. Mosley also stated that Conservative MPs in six ridings, where the result was challenged by the Council of Canadians, had sought to obstruct his investigation.

     What have been the consequences? No MPs have lost their seats, no one has been named, fined, or jailed, and the media are giving all their attention to the Senate expenses scandal.

     The eight voters who brought this suit have decided not to take it to the Supreme Court. Instead the Council of Canadians has launched a petition calling for a public inquiry, and to bring the perpetrators to justice: http://canadians.org/election/petition.html

     Meanwhile Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand told a House of  Commons committee that Elections Canada needs more powers to compel witnesses to testify. He told reporters that Conservative officials have repeatedly refused to speak to E.C. investigators in the election fraud case.

2. G20 POLICEMAN ACQUITTED

     In June 2010, Dorian Barton was peacefully demonstrating in the area designated by Toronto police for G20 protests. As he saw mounted police appear on the scene, he started taking pictures. He never caught the badge number of the officer who stepped forward from a line of police, struck him with a baton, and broke his shoulder with a riot shield. An eyewitness caught the officer's face on camera, but not the actual blows.

     Funny that no one in that line of police could identify their colleague. At trial the eyewitness's character was impugned, and the officer was acquitted.

     This is the first of a series of trials of G20 police. Personally I'm more worried about the police cracking heads than whether the Toronto mayor may be a crack head.

3. TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION DOCUMENTS NOT DELIVERED

     Following Stephen Harper's 2008 public apology for Canada's past practice of forcibly removing Aboriginal children to residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to let victims of abuse tell their painful stories ‑ and to create a historical record of the residential schools.

     But as the Commission nears the end of its mandate, it is still waiting for millions of documents to be released by the federal government. Library and Archives Canada estimates that to find and digitize them all would take 10 years. Will the Commission's mandate be extended, so the work can be completed? Will it have to go to court to get the documents?

     Harper would like to take credit for his public apology, while behind the scenes trying to prevent Canada's true history from being told.

4. HEAD STILL IN THE TAR SANDS

     Harper gave a speech to the US Council on Foreign Relations recently, urging approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry huge quantities of bitumen from Alberta to the US Gulf Coast, leading to further expansion of the tar sands.

     Yet Canada's own military has issued two reports stating that climate change will lead to major threats to global security. Not even these voices influence Harper to shift away from his full-speed-ahead promotion of the tar sands. The COFR also grilled Harper on Canada being the only country to pull out of the Kyoto protocol.

     And if you needed another reason to hate the tar sands, see this 3‑storey mountain of petroleum coke piled along the Detroit River, on a strip of beach owned by one of the Koch brothers (of Tea Party fame):  http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/business/energy‑environment/mountain‑of‑petroleum‑coke‑from‑oil‑sands‑rises‑in‑detroit.html

5. CONTEMPT FOR UN ARMS CONTROL TREATY

     On June 3, sixty‑one nations signed a treaty to control the international trade in small arms, such as handguns and grenades. But Canada refuses to sign. NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar asked why, pointing out that half a million people die every year because of the illegal trade in small arms, especially in conflict zones like Sudan and Congo.

     Our honourable foreign affairs minister's reply? "We don't want to see the NDP and their friends in the Liberal Party try to bring in a long gun registry by the back door."

     There's no connection with the long gun registry, and John Baird knows it. Just a sleazy remark. Harper had earlier demonstrated his contempt for the UN talks by sending a Quebec gun dealer as Canada's representative.

6. RCMP COMMISSIONER DISPARAGES HARASSMENT CLAIMANTS

     First it was one woman, then 2 or 3, who ventured to speak out about persistent sexual harassment within the RCMP. Now a lawsuit, awaiting class action certification, has gathered the names of 300 current and former Mounties who claim that their workplace was toxic because of sexual harassment and bullying.

     RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson was called to speak at a Senate committee looking into these matters. He picked out some complainants by name, stating that they were women who failed to make advancement in the force and were looking for someone to blame. He singled out two male complainants as being involved in union organizing activities, and therefore not credible. Clearly the culture within the RCMP hasn't changed much.

7. ANTI‑LABOUR BILLS CHASE ONE ANOTHER THROUGH PARLIAMENT

     The newest Omnibus budget bill, C‑60, has attracted attention for the way it will threaten the independence of the CBC. Less noticed has been its provision for federal officials to sit in on collective bargaining talks at all Crown corporations, including the CBC. In this way the federal government will exert control over staffing, salary, pensions, and more.

     Meanwhile Bill C‑377, passed in the Commons in December, is working its way through the Senate. It will impose complicated accounting procedures on unions, including a requirement to divulge exactly how much staff time they spend on political activities.

     As if all this were not enough, a new private member's bill, C‑525, is coming next. It will make it harder to certify a union and easier to decertify, in the federally‑regulated sector (telecommunications, banking, and transportation). And before the end of June, the Conservative party convention is expected to vote on a policy resolution to eliminate dues check‑off and union shops altogether.

     This barrage is intentional. Before we can organize to fight back against one assault, two more come at us. Even more scandalous, the Harper Conservatives were not elected with any mandate to target organized labour.

     Well, that's the National Scandal Sheet for another week in the life of this disgraceful Harper Conservative government!

(The above article is from the June 16-30, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)