Shorter MacKay: The AG says potato and I say potahto but it all adds up to F35reedom fries!

Peter MacKay continues to deny that he or his department did anything wrong, even as he agrees with the Auditor-General that more oversight is needed. This week he is chalking up the missing $10 billion (in his F-35 fighter jet cost estimate) to a disparity in accounting practices. MacKay wants Canadians visualizing slightly different, but equally legitimate accounting formulas.

Only this scandal is not about accounting, it’s about accountability.

Critics suggest MacKay is either ignorant of procedural policy or chose to ignore it. But it’s becoming clear neither of these are true.

…the government kept two sets of books on the project, one for private purposes showing the cost as $25 billion, the other for public purposes putting it at $15 billion…

and, although

…it is possible that a minister could be so ill-briefed that he would never have heard of “life cycle costing,” though the concept has been around for decades; that he would not know it was the standard, not only at Treasury Board, but across NATO. And I suppose it is possible for a government to be so confused that it would both apply and not apply the concept at the same time, particularly if it was unclear that this was something that was required of it, rather than simply good practice.

…it is not possible to believe this, once you understand that in fact there is no difference of opinion: that the policy of accounting for all the lifetime costs of an asset, without exception, is not some crazy invention of the auditor general’s, or some musty Treasury Board guideline. It is the publicly stated policy of the Department of National Defence — the department of which, if memory serves, MacKay is the minister. The policy the minister sees fit to ridicule is, according to conventional constitutional doctrine, his policy. (Andrew Coyne, Ottawa Citizen, April 11).

Must read/must listen to media items.

Coyne: The F-35 scandal — when governments lie, how do we respond? (as cited above)

and

The Current on the F-35 Fighter Jets: Buried in the story of the cost of F-35 fighter jets is…the intricate web of development and business that has already been spun into the procurement of these planes….Today, we’re asking if the fighter jet procurement is simply too big to fail.

The interviews give the impression the F35 is to MacKay et al what a video game is to a teenager. Something shiny, bright, and new. ‘Awesome’ entertainment. Nothing of substance is offered, not even a half-baked rationale.  At a time when government departments and regulatory processes are being gutted because of an alleged lack of revenue, you’d think they’d try harder to sell this turkey.

MacKay is asking us to trust him on the F35 despite the Pentagon’s serious misgivings and MacKay’s failure to be accountable and transparent on the true cost – a cost he was fully aware of.  The timing couldn’t be worse, too, considering Harper is asking ordinary citizens to swallow an austerity budget that guts essential services, programs, and thousands of  jobs.  Harper is making massive cuts across the board to  government, including the military, Veterans Affairs, and the border service.  Harper is even cutting Canada’s air defense system, largely eliminating the air defence capability in the Canadian Forces.  Go figure.

Peter MacKay and Stephen Harper know $10 billion isn’t chump change, which is why they misrepresented the true cost to the public and Parliament. They knew most of us wouldn’t go along with an expenditure they can’t justify when they are cutting everything from food safety, to environmental oversight, to pensions.

More election violations surface

Tories may have broken 2011 election rules with US Republican campaigners in Ontario

Front Porch Strategies, a Republican-tied U.S. firm, was hired by 14 Conservative campaigns to go door-to-door during the 2011 election; an apparent violation of the Canada Election Act which bars foreign political involvement.

This speaks volumes about the alleged – by Harper et al – grassroots popularity of reform Conservatives. They have to import foreign wingnuts because there is an insufficient number here to campaign for them?

Although Front Porch has not been linked to any illegal phone calls or robocalls made in the last election, citizens in both Fantino and Dykstra’s ridings have reported irregularities in the campaigns. Those allegations include reported misleading calls in Dykstra’s riding (St. Catherines).

Under the Canada Elections Act section 331 (Non-interference by Foreigners), it is illegal for a non-resident to directly participate in election campaigns in Canada:

“No person who does not reside in Canada shall, during an election period, in any way induce electors to vote or refrain from voting or vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate unless the person is (a) a Canadian citizen; or (b) a permanent resident.”

If the violation was intentional, the offence carries a summary conviction, according to the Act.

Further…

[Front Porch] and its staff have numerous ties to Republican election campaigns, as well as Evangelical Christian groups and anti-abortion campaigns in the U.S.

The firm boasts a number of GOP congressional election campaigns under its belt.

Read the whole shameful story.

A quick question about those federal cuts…

Harper created four agencies and at least three of them are a complete waste of money.  One has even been scrapped (see number 2) but its chief exec continues being “funded”.  Think Milton but with much nicer digs and ON the payroll.

1. The Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (created by Harper in 2008).

   The agency was set up to perform three functions: set annual employment insurance contribution rates,  invest any EI surplus, and manage contingency funds. But Harper capped contribution rates, nixing that duty; and there has been no surplus to invest and no contingency funds to manage. So far, this waste of space has spent more than $3.3 million for new offices, computers and furniture, high-priced execs, consultants and other staff, travel budgets, expense accounts, and board meetings.  Yet it has nothing to do. “Its published budget for 2011-12 includes giving everyone raises, and moving the entire agency into new offices — all at an expected cost of $1.8 million.”

   “Compensation costs include stipends and expenses for the seven appointed board members, and $244,000 for a couple of executives. The agency’s executive director, retired senior public servant Phil Charko, is being paid about $150,000 a year to work part time. The budget provides another $200,000 to pay an investment manager if the agency ever has any money to invest. Another $300,000 is budgeted for additional corporate services such as IT management, human resources management, and translation services.” EI financing agency spends millions doing nothing, CBC, Jan 19, 2012

2. Public Appointments Commission Secretariat (created by Harper in 2006)

   “The Public Appointments Commission Secretariat was originally set up to support a commission to oversee hiring processes in Ottawa, a centerpiece of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s accountability policy. When opposition parties blocked the appointment of the first Public Appointments commissioner, Harper scrapped the commission entirely. But the secretariat lives on with an annual budget of more than a million dollars. By fall of [2011], government documents show the Public Appointments Commission Secretariat had spent just over $2.5 million in donated federal services and cash.“ Should the Public Appointments Commission Secretariat be scrapped?, CBC, Jan 27, 2012

3. The Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor (created by Harper in 2011)

   “A mining watchdog agency that was supposed to hold Canadian companies accountable for their actions overseas has done little to protect communities abroad, critics say. In October 2009, the federal government appointed a corporate social responsibility counsellor to probe complaints about Canadian companies committing abuses in developing countries. The Toronto-based office…has received two complaints in the past two years — one of which was recently dropped because the mining corporation chose not to undergo the voluntary investigation.” Mining watchdog agency called ‘bogus PR job’, CBC, Nov 1, 2011

4. The Office of Religious Freedom (created by socially conservative Christian right wing Harper in 2011)
   An $5 million a year agency to be located in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. Harper said its task would be threefold:
   -  Monitor religious freedom around the world;
   - Promote religious freedom as a key objective of Canadian foreign policy;
   - Advance policies and programs that support religious freedom around the world.Separation of Church and State is old skool!

Harper is cutting 19,000 federal jobs and gutting every agency and department under the sun.  How are these four faring? Anyone know?

I have a hunch The Fraser Institute remains unconcerned

New rules in budget ‘create more fear’ among politically active charities.

Revenue Canada defines charities under four categories: those that relieve the poor, advance religion, advance education or those whose purposes benefit the community.

Who qualifies?

The Fraser Institute, a rightwing libertarian ‘think tank’ promoting unregulated free market capitalism (of the variety that brought down the global economy in 2008) and extremely limited government. TFI has enjoyed charitable tax status in Canada and the US since 1974.

Who doesn’t qualify?

Greenpeace had its charitable status revoked in 1989 for being an advocacy group.

Selling Harper’s pension changes one inflammatory column at a time

Globe and Mail columnists Margaret Wente and Dakshana Bascaramurty appear to be on tag-team duty, spinning the inter-generational hate and prejudice that is the foundation of Harper’s pension reform sales pitch.

A few observations:

1. The Globe and Mail, owned by Bell Media – a large corporation enjoying bottom of the barrel tax rates, has formally endorsed Stephen Harper and reform conservatism since 2006.
2. The Globe increasingly emphasizes opinion and subtly crafts opinion to appear as news. Opinion pieces are promoted on its web front page and in its news category.  With few exceptions, the Globe’s opinion writers are wingnuts, among them the seasoned and highly skilled John Ibbitson, Tim Powers, and Margaret Wente.
3. Harper has no financial basis for making the pension changes, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page. Harper is making those changes anyway; a) because he has always loathed the social safety net and b) because he needs funds for other very costly projects, fueled by Bill C10 and Bill C30 (expanded prisons, privatization of prisons and warrantless spying on Canadian citizens).
4. To sell the unnecessary pension changes, Harper sent Diane Finley on a national tour telling young people that older people are a burden.  The sales pitch isn’t working as 70% of Canadians polled oppose the changes. Not to worry. Now that the OAS eligibility changes are passed, the ever loyal and dutiful Globe will continue to promote Harper’s talking points.
5. And finally, writing an inflammatory column has likely garnered journalism newbie Dakshana Bascaramurty sufficient attention to cement her standing at the Globe.  Her previous fluff pieces garnered 20-40 comments. This latest one has gotten her over a thousand so far.  In the dog-eat-dog mainstream media employing more Ibbitsons and fewer Salutins, I guess you do what you have to do.

Writing evidence-free columns is relatively easy work. It doesn’t require research, it doesn’t require much thought or care.  Plop a hateful headline atop your baseless sneers and you’ll have what it takes to be a Globe columnist.  Just don’t expect to be taken seriously or admired.

Conservative majority budget is a good first stab…in Canada’s back

Dr. Dawg summed up the Harper government’s pre-budget strategy best

The strategy was simple: prepare us for an attack by chainsaw-wielding maniacs—then just slap us around a little and break a few fingers. Folks will still sigh in relief, or so the Harper government is hoping…

Looking at the budget, I guess you could say they chainsawed a few fingers off and deeply wounded others hoping they’ll eventually fall off on their own. You know, when the gangrene sets in.

A few revealing snippets:

• Most federal agencies are receiving dramatic cuts, including the Auditor General (the office that uncovered Adscam and Gazebogate, among other crimes) and the Chief Electoral Officer (currently investigating robofraud complaints in 200 federal ridings). The list of agencies losing millions of dollars in funding is here. Altogether 19,000 public servants are being laid off. As we’ve already seen, cuts in staff have worked out well for Canadian citizens.
• Despite evidence from the Parliamentary Budget Officer that there is no public pension crisis, Harper has raised the eligibility age for OAS to 67 from 65.  He first announced this significant change, not during his election campaign and not even on Canadian soil, but at the World Economic Summit in Davos where western industrialized nations decided China state capitalism is the new model for capitalism. Postponing eligibility for OAS will also postpone eligibility for the Guaranteed Income Supplement received by only the lowest-income seniors.
• Ottawa will no longer invest in scientific discovery…and plans to force government labs to switch to commercial research aimed at improving business productivity.  Translation: Scientific research that isn’t specifically geared to beefing corporate profits isn’t likely to be funded; and corporations, particularly those that have the government’s ear, will determine the direction of scientific research.
• The government will cut short environmental review hearings to 24 months.  That’s one way to deal with citizens – now referred to by Harper as “environmental terrorists” – opposed to pipelines being rammed through their communities.
• Harper intends to cap federal health care spending in 2017, essentially leaving each province to fend for itself.  In December 2011, Flaherty advised the provinces he intended to reduce federal health transfers from 6% to between 3% and 4%.  The budget cements this plan.Harper’s primary  political interest has always been to rid Canada of public health care and starving the provinces has been a long-time strategy.
  

  “each province should raise its own revenue for health care – i.e., replace Canada Health and Social Transfer cash with tax points.”
  (Stephen Harper, ‘Firewall’ letter, January 24, 2001)

  “What we clearly need is experimentation with market reforms and private delivery options [in health care].”
  (Stephen Harper, then President of the NCC, 2001)

“Reshaping Canada” in Harper’s image is officially underway.

My apologies for delaying posting comments

Because there is so much spam, I am filtering comments.  Sorry for the delay in getting the comments posted…I appreciate all of them.

 

If it roboquacks like a duck…

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, roboquacks like a duck, and the phone number belongs to the duck…chances are it’s the Duck.

Species: Tory.

The promise the Tories never mentioned during the election: A Fresh Plate of Steaming Scandal Every Week

This week it’s

Defence officials misled Parliament on F-35 deal: AG report

Canada’s new federal spending watchdog is set to deliver a scathing report on the F-35 fighter jet program early next month that will make distinctly unpleasant reading for the Conservative government.

The first draft of the report on replacing Canada’s fighter jets by new Auditor-General, Michael Ferguson, is said to charge the Department of National Defence with misleading Parliament, according to someone who has read it.

What will tomorrow bring?

The war on Canadian women begins, a year after Harper promised not to wage one

Not to be outdone by US Republicans, Canada’s fundamentalist Tories will hold an abortion debate in the House of Commons in April, one year after Harper promised never to have one.

In April 2011, during the election campaign, Stephen Harper promised not to reopen the abortion debate.

A Conservative government won’t allow the abortion debate to be reopened in Parliament, because it’s “not the priority of the Canadian people,” Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Thursday.

Apparently his majority is not about keeping promises to the electorate but of fulfilling the ideological need of a few old white men to control the wombs of Canadians.

A controversial proposal from a Conservative backbencher to legally define fetuses as human beings — and reopen the abortion debate — will have its day in the House of Commons.

Tory MP Stephen Woodworth wants Parliament to create a committee of politicians whose task it will be to review a law that stops short of defining unborn children as “human beings.”

A committee of MPs has agreed to give Woodworth at least one hour of debate sometime in April. He will receive a second hour of debate sometime either in late spring or early fall.

If parliamentarians agree to Woodworth’s request, a special committee would review Section 223 of the Criminal Code, which says a child becomes “a human being . . . when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother.”

That section of the Criminal Code says a homicide on a child happens when someone “causes injury to a child before or during its birth as a result of which the child dies after becoming a human being.”

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse than the worst election fraud any western democracy has ever seen, we have this idiocy to worry about. And if the vicious attack on women in the US is any indication, we should not make light of this or pretend it’s going to go away after Old Fogie is through with his hour of preaching. God help us, we are just shy of being Oklahoma .

I definitely want to know who sits on “the committee of MPs” agreeing to reopening the abortion debate. It had better not be members of the opposition.