Jean Chretien is ordering out his RCMP hit squad as I write. Guite is getting ready to rat:

In his response to the $30-million suit, Guite alleges that even when he questioned or recommended that certain contracts not be awarded, he was told "it is the prime minister's budget and we decide on the events, how much to allocate in funds and what agency will manage the event.

"In many cases," the statement says, "sponsorships were refused at the bureaucratic level but reversed at the political level."

Guite lays the blame for the scandal directly on his higher-ups -- former minister of public works Alfonso Gagliano and former prime minister Jean Chretien. He says the suit against him should be dropped and those in power at the time should be sued instead.

Of course Mr Guite could join Chretien and Gagliano to the suit if he feels so strongly and he must certainly regret his decision not to cut a deal and roll on his political masters back in the time of Gomery.

check out the United Nations Human Rights Council....

more on  the United Nations

I have a post at The London Fog on the Chair of the Committee for Suatainable Development

UN Commission On Sustainable Bureaucracy

Zimbabwe Currency: Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) Inflation rate: 3,714 percent and rising Exchange rate: Officially, 250 ZWD per US$1; unofficially, as high as 750 ZWD to the U.S. dollar

via Instapundit

Follow the links and check out how North Korea's currency is making out ... and Hogo Chavez is running a great socialist paradise.

RCMP officers who have abused prisoners, committed sexual assault, hired prostitutes while on duty or showed up drunk for work have rode off with a reprimand and docked pay, 24 hours news services has learned.

Read the rest.

UPDATE: Read this one as well...

Judge's withering ruling cites family tie between Mountie and top Liberal

UPDATE II: Of course the top Liberal's in Ontario are not that concerned about police misconduct, instaed they are seeking to increase the powers of the police.

 The police should have sweeping powers to seize documents from the media, even if a confidential source might be identified, a senior government lawyer argued Tuesday.

Let's just ignore the fact that the bad apples have already spoiled the barrel.

from the National Post:

Three Halton police constables have been charged with assaulting a 79-year-old retired teacher who was shot with a rubber bullet and tasered during an arrest in Oakville last fall. Gerry Morgan died in May, six months after he was arrested at a Marine Drive home at 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2006. A woman who identified herself as his daughter answered the phone at Mr. Morgan's home yesterday: "My dad was a wonderful man." She said her father had four children-- two daughters and two sons --and taught at teacher's college and was a consultant with the Halton and Dufferin-Peel Catholic school boards. Mr. Morgan was arrested after Halton Regional Police Services responded to a call for assistance. "While inside the home, officers employed use of force weapons," the Special Investigations Unit said in a statement yesterday. "They discharged an ARWEN (Anti Riot Weapon Enfield) weapon and as a result, Gerry Morgan was struck once with a projectile made of rubber-like material and the allegation is that he suffered a serious injury to his upper arm. Officers also used a TASER device on Mr. Morgan and the allegation is that when he fell to the floor, Mr. Morgan suffered a broken hip." The trio will appear in court on May 28.

First the United Nations brought human rights to Libya.... now they are teaching Zimbabwe about sustainable development... this is the most ridiculous letter to the editor I have seen in a long time:

UN posting may give Zimbabwe real incentive to improve

National Post

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Re: The UN's latest, editorial, May 14.

One remarkable effect of the rotating chairing of UN committees is that it gives compelling reasons for errant regimes to imagine themselves becoming responsible custodians of world standards. The developmental worth of this system can be seen when these states learn to adopt maturity and stewardship.

Libya was forced to think about the meaning of human rights when it became chair of UN Human Rights Commission. This resulted in some profound policy epiphanies that would been unimaginable before Libya's turn at chairing that committee. Could anyone have envisioned Libya admitting responsibility for the Pan Am disaster at Lockerbie, Scotland, or backing away from lethal WMDs, if she had not been given the responsibility of heading a human rights institution?

I hope that Zimbabwe, as the new head the UN's commission on Sustainable Development, will transform similarly. Prescriptive behavioural management does not have nearly the effectiveness of developmental techniques.

Alan Blanes, facilitator, World Movement for the Culture of Peace Initiative 2000-2010, Edmonton Committee, Edmonton.

By the way, the World Movement for the Culture of Peace appears to have some affiliation with the UN. Now, if we could only get Sudan as the head of UNICEF, the children of Darfur will have much better lives.

(also at The London Fog)

CBC reports on a vaction to the Dominican Republic ....

That's when … we both realized that this was getting out of control, that this was not just a misunderstanding," said Dawn Sinnott, who began yelling for help.

"You think you're in big trouble now?" Dawn Sinnott recalls a man identifying himself as an employee telling them. He then told them, she said, "You just disturbed the peace. I'm going to have you arrested.… You're going to prison forever."

Instead of a marked police vehicle, though, a white pickup truck arrived to take the Sinnotts away. They were taken to a building with cells, although they were later told the building is used by tourism security and not the actual police.

The Sinnotts said they were astonished when — at one point during the interrogation — the man who accused them of stealing his cellphone answered a cellphone he was carrying. The man said the cellphone he was using belonged to someone else.

"That's when it stopped being about the cellphone," Dawn Sinnott said.

"He said, 'If you just give us the money, you can go,'" Andrew Sinnott said. "I didn't have the [cash] — I didn't even have a room key."

The whole thing is worth a read and reminds me of my brother's friend who, upon graduation from medical school, headed to Mexico for vacation, which vacation ended when the police stuck a gun in his girlfriends face and made hime pay-up. They were going to charge him with some nonsense charge.

We had a client who, while we were representing him on an litigation matter, was paid a sum of money of which he declined to inform us. He was a crack addict. After he had cleaned himself up, we were working the file and asked him why he didn't tell us about the money. He replied, "when you're a crack head and someone gives you ten grand, you don't call anyone." He said the money lasted about a month. The Ontario government is addicted to gambling revenues. It advertises gambling in a manner that it would never allow liquor producers or tobacco companies to so do. They run a fixed game on a monopoly level. Banning smoking in bars was easy. The government changed the laws for horse tracks and slots because revenues were down. Hypocrites? Apparently not. Gambling online, something the government is attempting to shut down, is a fair wager. The odds are set by the game (cards) or by the gamblers (horses & sports). Government gambling is designed for the return to the government. Not enough money coming through the tills, change the odds or the game. The government cannot compete on a level playing field with their ludicrous games. The government was taking some heat for the finding that they were still telling customers they had a chance to win a certain prize after the prize was already won. Now we find that retailers of government lotto tickets have been ripping off their clients and it appears that the government was aware of the problem. Rather than call the cops they spun like crazy. The government has now nixed a public inquiry into the issue. When the government recieves information that will require the outlay of money or may affect their supply, like any addict, they don't call anyone.

The Liberals used their majority to crush a Progressive Conservative vote for a legislative inquiry into the "Lottogate" scandal yesterday, prompting opposition accusations that the government has something to hide.

The Fraser Institute reported yesterday that the average Canadian pays about 45% of their income in taxes. High on the list were the hidden taxes found on such vices liquor and cigarettes. Lotto proceeds are pure taxes. The government maintains a monopoly position, not for the reason claimed that only the benevolent government can regulate our vices, but because vices are a cash cow and the government cannot stand competition. Should there be a public inquiry? Perhaps. More importantly, the government should get out of the vice business and let people keep a little more of their money to spend on other items, vices or not, as they choose. by getting out of the lottery business they cannot guarantee that no one willbe ripped off, but at least the gambler will have a fair shot at the prize.

(cross post @ The London Fog)

Since Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams appears to know so much about Liberal improprieties from the Brian Tobin days, one would think that he has an obligation to order an investigation.

Williams told the legislature the Liberals have plenty of skeletons in their own closet, and identified some of the issues that dogged the party before the Tories won the 2003 election.

"Some of their friends — Bristol Communications, for example, over a period of four or five years donated $254,000 to the Liberal party," Williams told the house.

"For that they received $20 million in advertising contracts."

Williams also raised a controversial $250,000 campaign involving promotional ads about then-premier Roger Grimes, as well as almost $182,000 spent on a proposed Lower Churchill hydroelectric deal, which Williams described as "a project that just never happened."

Williams also noted that his government had restored the ability of the auditor general to review the books of the house of assembly.

"We acted quickly because your government took the auditor general out, and you know where that ended up," said Williams, referring to a legislative spending scandal that has rocked political circles since June.

It isn't good enough to say that you know about the skeletons. The government has an obligation to investigate these matters once they come to light. It is not enough to say let bygones be bygones until you start slinging mud at my government.

UPDATE: I just made a call and it seems a lot of this stuff was investigated by previous Auditor Generals.

The Ontario Government, like all provincial governments is completely addicted to lotto revenues. The government has taken steps to stop competition from the  private sector and now is answering the claim that clients are suffering from misrepresentation by adding a disclaimer.

Ontario's Lottery and Gaming Corporation is now considering printing disclaimers on scratch and win tickets, in light of criticisms that current practices are unfair and misleading to the consumer.

Under the current system, scratch tickets continue to be sold even after the top prizes have been won and players have no chance of winning the jackpot. While consumers may call a toll-free hotline to learn what prizes are left, critics have said the OLGC should be more transparent in its practices.

Proposed changes would see the OLGC print a disclaimer on the tickets, explaining that some of the prizes may have already been claimed.

So we have a game that is completely rigged. The sign says there is a chjance you can win $1000 but the vendor know that there is no chance to win $1000. The vendor is not required to tell the purchaser that there is no chance. Who would do such an evil thing? Why it must be Big Tobacco! No, it's just Big Government. Government cannot stand a competitor because no one will play by the state's stacked rules. Be it lotto or health care, the state cannot compete so they use a gun to keep out the competitors and stack the game in their favour.

The Auditor General, Shelia Frazser has asked the RCMP to investigate CFL Hall Of Famer and former Ombudsman for Federal Prisoners, Ron Stewart,  for spending abuse, etc. Via Bourque, canada.com is reporting:

On top of his clearly identified spending abuses, Stewart billed for another $127,000 in questionable payments for cashing out vacation that he claimed he never took, despite spending the majority of each summer, from April until October, at his cottage, located on an Ontario island about 90 minutes from Ottawa, which was accessible only by boat and had no electricity or land telephone line.

Although Stewart had a government cell phone, he was seldom reachable and his days on the island produced virtually nothing in the way of work, the report said. (Emphasis mine: LT)

If being seldom reachable and producing virtually nothing in the way of work is the standard for an RCMP investigation, then I suspect that a majority of the Federal, Provincial and Municipal civil services should be under investigation. Pick up your phone, randomly call the number of a civil servant and odds are you are getting voice mail.

If you missed the Chretien press conference to announce his bid for judicial review, you missed a classic Chretien performance. Shifting blame, abrasive and defiant, he stuck a shiv through Martin's ribs, attacked Gomery, praised the worst parts of his record as great achievements, insulted his own lawyer and scoffed at his detractors. At the end of the day, he claims it was not his fault at that when he learned of it he called the cops. That is not quite the way I remember it. I recall stories in the press, questions in the House of Commons, a general knowledge throughout the political country of the program and denial after denial. It was only when the cat was out of the bag, and Chretien had shrugged his shoulders at the theft that he called the RCMP. And what difference does that make? The RCMP were up to their eyes with the Chretien corruption, from taking orders from the PMO to pre-emptively arrest people at the APEC Conference to the politically motivated Mulroney investigation to the BDC forgery to the RCMP involvement in taking sponsorship money and hiding it in illegal bank accounts, the Chretien PMO and the RCMP appeared to be walking with their hands in each other's back pocket. So call the cops, there is a biy of immunity in that relationship. Still, Chretien is the most ruthless bastard in the country and if he is going down, do not expect him to go solo.

This should be insufferable. Bono is the new age guy who believes that the answer to 3rd World Poverty does not come from individual freedoms and the corresponding rule of law, but from the propping-up and lining the pockets of Third World tyrants. Looking at some recent Nobel Peace Prize Winners, Bono's politics should all but guarntee his victory.

Some of you may have seen the news reports on China's corruption audit. The government did an audit and found, to everyone's surprise that there was corruption. Heads will roll - literally. For those in the west who see tyrannies as legitimate, this audit is evidence that a police state can control the corruption within the government. In reality, the audit is a way to consolidate power. On the list, I assure you, are those the leaders want gone from the competition for the graft. There will be reformers on the list and those that have not paid the graft up the chain. There is no capitalism in China. Capitalism is about the creation of wealth. The Chinese are not interested in making money, they are interested in taking money. They simply do not run profitable companies because, so long as the money flows up, the banks will never call a loan. We should think about this when we see Chinese "corporations" wanting to purchase Canadian resource companies. The resources will no longer trade on the free market and the "profits" will be used to line the pockets of corrupt tyrants who are fundamentally opposed to individual freedom.

Jean Chretien is no policy wonk, a master politician perhaps, but a policy wonk no. Yet it was this man, when the first smell of the sponsorship scandal hit, who committed Canada to Kyoto to get the bad political story off the front page. Excellent politics, poor policy. But policy be damned! The job of Chretien was politics and it is politics that keeps the Liberal government heading down this economically destructive road. The United States has not signed on, nor India, nor China. The Russians came in late, but they did so only to sell emission credits for good old hard currency. It is estimated that Canada will have to spend billions upon billions purchasing these credits to meet our Kyoto goals. Who will we be buying them from? From every tyranny and Banana Republic on the face of the earth. We are then supposed to delude ourselves into thinking that the governments of these states are going to act in the exact opposite way than they have always acted - that they will use this money to better the lot of their people, to build the institutions and infrastructure that is necessary for prosperity. It is aid without the human rights string attached. The money will be used to line the pockets of the ruling elite and to build up military power. Military power to be used against their own people. I'm sure Mr. Chretien's friend Robert Mugabe wishes he was 20 years younger.