December 9, 2004

Martin, Chretien Liberals one in the same

Open, honest and accountable. That’s what the Liberals promised they would be to Canadians during their 2004 federal election campaign. And here we are, just six months into a new term, and Prime Minister Martin and his party have shown no sign of living up to their campaign promises.

When the enormous mismanagement of funds through the Sponsorship Program came to light just prior to the election, Mr. Martin vowed that no stone would be left unturned through an inquiry into the scandal. Over $250 million was spent through the Sponsorship Program. Much of that money was doled out to Liberal-friendly advertising firms which performed little or no work for their pay. This money didn’t just end up in the hands of Liberal friends, someone had to put it there, and Canadians deserve to know who.

            Unfortunately, the Liberals made sure Canadians didn’t have the “who” answers before going to the polls this past June.  Instead they scheduled an inquiry into the scandal for September 2004, two months after the federal election. Now, with the inquiry well underway, we are learning that government documents requested by the inquiry have been edited so that information needed to help answer some of our questions has been completely deleted.

            Whited-out government documents, while upsetting, is nothing new. Through my work uncovering the $2 billion wasted on the useless gun registry, I have encountered hundreds of whited-out documents that I have requested through the Access to Information Act. While I and every other Canadian may have access to government documents, the Liberals are still deciding just how much we get to see. It is appalling to see blank documents intended to provide information on how Canadians’ tax dollars are spent. 

            In addition to the cover-ups in the Sponsorship inquiry, we are now unravelling yet another debacle -- this time at the Citizenship and Immigration Department. Immigration Minister Judy Sgro had the immigration permit of a Romanian stripper fast-tracked just in time for the stripper to also serve as a volunteer on Sgro’s campaign team during this past summer’s election. The Romanian was permitted to enter Canada even ahead of foreign doctors because she was coming to this country as part of a exotic dancer visa program. According to Sgro, the program exists because without it, there would be a shortage of native-born exotic dancers and it could wipe out the whole strip club industry. Apparently for the Liberals, keeping exotic dance clubs in operation is more important than decreasing waiting lists in hospitals and waiting lines in doctor’s offices.

Sadly, the Immigration Department is not the only government office without priorities. The Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, which has repeatedly claimed that it is doing all it can for Canadian cattle producers, has turned down a financial request from a group that wants to open a slaughtering facility in eastern Manitoba . The group, which has put forward a viable business plan and has already secured funding from its members and its provincial government, was simply told “no” by the federal agriculture department. When the cattle industry and every expert in the industry has stated over and over the need for increased slaughtering capacity in this country, why are the Liberals not bending over backwards to make it happen? This government can say it is aiding cattle producers, yet its actions demonstrate otherwise.

The recent visit from United States President George Bush brought some good news to the cattle industry that appears to have the Liberals breathing a sigh of relief. The relief to our ranchers will be short lived however. Holding out hope that the cattle trade will get back to normal is only putting the industry at future risk. There is much to be learned from the BSE case of May 2003 and the crisis which has evolved. One positive-testing animal has caused the industry an estimated $5 billion to date. We need to plan for the future and the possibility of another positive test. We need to be sure the agriculture industry never again takes a blow like this one because next time the results will be even more devastating.