The month of March brought a record-breaking blizzard of reported spending scandals, shaking the confidence of Canadian taxpayers from coast-to-coast with highlights that included the following top ten stories:
10. PEI Senator Mike Duffy Allegedly Vowed Revenge: As reported in the National Post, a recently published book by Dan Leger entitled Duffy: Stardom to Senate to Scandal claimed that “Duffy seemed determined that, if he were to go down, he would have company, telling friends that, if charged, people high up in the Conservative Party would be called to testify to what they knew”. Widespread reports about the new allegations added more fuel to the fire of the ongoing Senate Spending Scandal featuring PEI Senator Mike Duffy.
9. New Brunswick Backbencher Budgets Challenged: A story in the Edmonton Journal reported on a recent controversy in New Brunswick over the lack of transparency in backbencher constituency spending. While the reporting rules require the disclosure of the total amount spent by a constituency office, they do not require the disclosure of what those funds are spent on. In the story Keven Lacey of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is quoted as stating that “MLA expenses in New Brunswick have been in the dark ages for years,” and that while “other provinces have modernized their systems, New Brunswick has failed to and has been left years behind as a result.”
8. Quebec Skeletons in Liberal and Separatist Closets: As reported in the Toronto Star, former Montreal police chief Jacques Duchesneau warned separatists against making the Charbonneau hearings a political issue on the campaign trail since neither the Liberals or the PQ have clean hands in the Quebec municipal corruption scandal. Duchesneau is quoted as stating that the “mandate of the commission goes back to 1996”, covering the 1996 to 2002 period when the PQ held power and that “If the PQ thinks it’s only a Liberal problem they’re making a big, big mistake…” While the Charbonneau Commission is in recess during the provincial election, new revelations will undoubtedly surface once hearings resume after the election.
7. Federal Influence Peddling Allegations a Multi-Party Affair: The National Post recently reported that Bruce Carson, the former Harper aid previously charged with influence peddling, now faces a new wave of allegations that tie him to “a top Trudeau advisor”. The story states that “According to a recent court filing by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Mr. Carson, 68, illegally lobbied for the Energy Policy Institute of Canada (EPIC), an industry-funded interest group currently headed by Daniel Gagnier, the Liberal Party of Canada’s national campaign co-chairman.” The story concludes by noting that Carson’s lawyer denies the allegations.
6. Ontario Awards Pan-Am Security Contract to US Firm: CBC News reported on an Ontario government tendering controversy that arose over the award of an $81 million Pan-Am Games security contract to a US company that bid $14 million more than a competing Canadian bid. As the story noted, “The Liberals have been under fire for the rising security costs for the Games, saying the original $113-million estimate was just a “place holder” number and the latest estimate of $239 million could go higher”. The report concludes by stating that the total tally for the games has now reached $2.5 billion.
5. Manitoba Auditor Rocks Province Over Sole Source STARS Deal: As the Winnipeg Free Press reported , the Manitoba auditor general released a scathing report criticizing the sole source award of a $160 million air ambulance contract that represented “the tip of the iceberg in a government procurement program in which many contracts are awarded without a bidding process.” The story noted that value for money on the air ambulance program was not achieved since “costs per mission were likely to be 231 per cent to 618 per cent higher than other EMS programs.”
4. Premier Redford Toppled by Spending Scandal: A story in the National Post highlighted the spending scandal that ultimately led to the downfall of Alberta premier Alison Redford. As the report stated, “The crises sparked by her travel habits brought her down Wednesday night, and she only had herself to blame” after news of “an expense claim that revealed the Alberta premier spent $16,353.71 to visit Chicago and Toronto in December, 2012, with an aide — for three nights” which was in addition to the “$45,000 bill Ms. Redford racked up — and begrudgingly paid back at the barrel end of a caucus revolt — travelling to South Africa despite the federal government’s offer to take her there for free.”
3. Mickey Mouse Spending at BC Injection Site: A story in The Province revealed that the Portland Hotel Society, which runs a BC safe injection site, funded trips to Disney Land and Europe for a member of BC’s Legislative Assembly. As the story stated, “NDP MLA Jenny Kwan offered Thursday to pay back any improper travel expenses as she became embroiled in a spending scandal involving the Portland Hotel Society”. The scandal erupted after an audit “turned up hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable expenses”. The story also notes that “Kwan quickly claimed she believed her former partner, PHS executive Robert Dan Small, had paid so that she and her two children could accompany him on trips to Europe and Disneyland” but that she had never confirmed how the trips were being paid for.
2. Cops Allege Criminal Cover Up in Premier’s Office: A story in the Ottawa Citizen reported on police allegations that David Livingston, the chief of staff to former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, provided high-level remote access to a political operative who was directed to wipe clean two dozen computers in the premier’s office to destroy emails connected to the government’s controversial mid-campaign power plant cancellation decision. While Livingston, who faces criminal breach of trust charges, denied any wrongdoing, the scandal increased the risk that the minority government will be forced into an early election. As the story states, “Not technically criminal” isn’t a slogan you want to run on.”
1. Premier Threatens Opposition With Libel Over Coverup Allegations: As reported in CBC News, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne threated to sue official opposition leader Tim Hudak for libel if he did not retract his “false, misleading and defamatory” accusations regarding her “alleged involvement related to the gas plant scandal.” As the story explains, Hudak stated that “We now know that the coverup and criminal destruction of documents and emails took place in Kathleen Wynne’s office under her watch as premier,” and that she “possibly ordered the destruction of documents.” The premier acknowledged that the OPP’s criminal coverup allegations were “very disturbing” but insisted that those alleged events took place under the watch of her predecessor Dalton McGuinty during the transition period and did not involve members of her staff. While that may be technically true, it could ultimately be difficult to determine who knew what when after two dozen computers were allegedly wiped clean of key email communications about the controversial gas plant cancellation decision.
