March 4, 2010

There's a little unfinished business that needs to be tidied up before the Conservatives move on to their new agenda when parliament opens.

Kamloops MP Cathy McLeod says her government will focus on its economic action plan for the next two years. "We have been fortunate with what we've received in this riding," she told the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board.

While constituents expect their MP to bring home the money, they care a lot about accountability. Voters made that abundantly clear when the Conservatives were first elected four years ago. Canadians had become weary of Liberal cronyism and the notorious "sponsorship scandal."

Prime Minister Harper was elected on accountability. His Accountability Act promised to clear the stale smell of patronage from the halls of Parliament. To his credit, he delivered in all but one but very significant way.

According to Duff Conacher, coordinator of the non partisan group Democracy Watch, Harper implemented 29 out of 30 parts of the act.

One part was the appointment of the Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page. Sure, Page often contradicts the finance minister but the fact he is still there is a credit to the PM. "Sure, the government attacks him and don't give him enough money to do his job but he exists. No prior government had a truth in budgeting officer to examine what the finance minister was saying," Conacher told CBC radio.

The one glaring omission is the Public Appointments Commission. Absence of this commission has meant that numerous government agencies have stacked with the Harper brand of ideology.

It was supposed to work like this. The committee would make a short list of qualified candidates using merit-based criteria. From that list, unqualified ideologically-driven party favourites would be filtered out.

Because this didn't happen, government agencies are now being occupied by only those who the PM decides are politically correct. Many departments are becoming ideological forums and disintegrating into dysfunction.

The PM's influence is everywhere: he has made about 1,500 appointments to various committees and agencies.

The bias of appointees ensures partiality. For example, when it comes to immigration and discrimination panels or the parole board, decisions can be highly influenced by ideology. "Law enforcement has changed in significant ways simply by changing the people who serve," observes Conacher.

 

Not a problem, says Conservative strategist Rick Anderson. "Bias on committees is exactly what new governments should do." New governments should bring new principles into government, he argues. Andersen sees friction between the government and Kevin Page as "a sign that things are working as they should."

Infighting by Harper's appointees has been especially devastating to the Rights and Democracy committee. Until now, this agency has been quietly promoting human rights around the world for 22 years.

Harmony disintegrated when Harper's appointees accused the head of the Rights and Democracy committee, Remy Beauregard, of being pro-Palestinian. This issue is peculiar about the PM. In Harper's puzzling allegiance to Israel, anyone who is pro-Palestinian is automatically anti-Israel. And this equates to being anti-Jewish in his odd logic.

Never mind that none of the accusations were true, said Beauregard before his sudden death. He vehemently denied charges that he met with Palestinian politicians in Cairo or attended the Durban Review conference in which anti-Israel sentiments were expressed.

"This is patently false and I consider it an attack on my reputation," emphasized Beauregard before his heart attack only hours after a stormy committee meeting in January. His widow says stress from the false accusations triggered his heart attack.

Since Beauregard's death, 45 out of 47 committee staff have signed a letter to the asking the Harper to remove the new interim chair. Four former presidents of the agency have written Harper demanding "a full investigation of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Beauregard's death ... with a focus on the role and conduct of the board of directors."

In typical Conservative fashion, the interim president has come out swinging by calling for an investigation of spending while Beauregard was chair, an act some members are labelling a "witch hunt."

Harper's failure to appoint unprejudiced members is a recipe for dysfunction. And now he has added disaster to calamity by appointing a one-time candidate and advisor, Gerard Latulippe, to the defunct Canadian Alliance party. Latulippe once warned that Muslin immigrants could result in "fostering domestic terrorism."

The prime minister must clean up the appointment process before any more damage is done.
 

David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca