Monday, April 25, 2016

There Was A Reason For the Judge's Scorn


In the wake of the Duffy verdict, Michael Harris writes, we should know what was going on in the minds of the RCMP and the prosecutors. He lists a number of questions. For example:

  • Did the Commissioner of the RCMP or his staff have any communications from the PMO regarding the Duffy case, and if so, will he make them public?
  • Did the Commissioner of the RCMP or his staff communicate with the Minister of Public Safety or his staff about the Duffy case? If so, did he offer or receive any advice and will he release those communications?
  • Will the Commissioner of the RCMP fully describe his role in the Duffy case, including exactly how and by whom investigators were assigned to this case?
  • What are the names of the lawyers who worked on the Duffy file?
  • Who assigned the prosecutors to this case?
  • Did these lawyers meet with RCMP investigators before the 31 criminal charges against Senator Duffy were laid?
  • Did lawyers express any disagreement with the decision to lay those charges or were the Mounties an prosecution lawyers always on the same page?
  • Did prosecution lawyers offer any advice to the lead RCMP investigator on this case? If so, what was it?

Normally, you'd expect the opposition to raise these questions. But the opposition is what's left of Harper and Co. And they have learned nothing:

Every once in a while, a defeated political party reminds everyone of why it was thrown out, and more importantly, how unfit it remains for office. Rona Ambrose showed once more that she is a not a leader but a dead-end partisan just as uninterested in the truth as her former boss.

In the wake of last week’s court verdict, instead of acknowledging that things had gone horribly wrong in the political persecution of Mike Duffy, Ambrose and almost all of her caucus had nothing to say about the disgraceful conduct of Harper and his PMO. Worse, they had nothing to say for themselves – not even that this kind of political scape-goating and abuse of power was dead wrong and would never happen again under Conservative auspices.

Justice Vaillancourt understood exactly who he was dealing with and that's why his final conclusions were so scathing.

Image: ctvnews.ca

12 comments:

Dana said...

And you can add this to the gathering chorus as well.

http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/04/24/opinion/duffy-time-ask-wright-questions

Steve said...

After more than a decade of being shafted by the RCMP, its time for the worm to turn. Of course in a Game of Thrones world, the Liberals would just use this power to keep the RCMP doing evil for them.

Owen Gray said...

Let's hope the present government is wise enough to keep the RCMP at arm's length, Steve.

Owen Gray said...

Thanks for the link, Dana. It appears Horton wanted to charge Wright. Someone put the kibosh on that idea. Who? and Why?

ron wilton said...

Ontario, Quebec and most of the Atlantic provinces having their own provincial and or municipal police departments have very little contact with the RCMP except for airports and Ottawa around the parliament buildings and perhaps customs offices, but out here in the rest of Canada our governments contract out those services to the RCMP and they are omnipresent 24/7.

If the rest of Canada was even remotely aware there are many various and serious concerns with the interaction of this 'police force' and the inhabitants, most particularly First Nations, and the reluctance of that 'force' to investigate or pursue any manner of political malfeasance, preferring I suppose to not bite the hands that feed them.

Under the previous federal governance, we in the wild, wild west assumed correctly that RCMP stood for Royal Conservative Mounted Police and the slogan on their cruisers and APC's 'to serve and protect' was aimed at and for corporations and politicians.

So far as that goes, nothing out here has changed.

Dana said...

I suspect Paulson was instructed by the PMO and/or Peter Mackay's office that Wright was to be protected.

If the Trudeau government does not call a formal inquiry into how this all came about and then acts on whatever recommendations that inquiry reports I can almost guarantee that something like this will happen again. It's far too tempting as a way of chastising wayward sons and daughters.


It will also mean that democracy in Canada is an illusion perpetrated by the power of the state.

Owen Gray said...

It sounds like what happened to Duffy is not a rare occurrence, ron.

Owen Gray said...

That's why we need an inquiry, Dana -- to lay down some markers. We can't let this happen again.

Dana said...

I've sent an email to my MP with the National Observer article and some questions.

We'll see what happens.

This could be a pivotal point in our history as a democratic state.

Owen Gray said...

An excellent idea, Dana. The abuse of power behind the Duffy Affair could be Harper's Watergate.

Dana said...

To tell the truth I'm less concerned with who did it than I am that it was done.

If it was done.

That's the point of inquiring.

Owen Gray said...

Agreed, Dana. First comes discovering whether or not an abuse of power actually occured. Then comes who and why. It's about accountability -- something the Harper government said it held dear.