Government ethics

Leaked B.C. Rail privatization documents released

Topics: 
BC, Corruption, Government ethics
Rating: 
0

Jas Johal – May 8, 2013

It was a case that cost BC taxpayers more than $6 million. Two ministerial aides Dave Basi and Bobby Virk, were charged with fraud and breach of trust in connection with the $1 billion privatization sale of BC Rail in 2003.

The pair eventually pleaded guilty to corruption charges, and the Liberal government wrote off all legal fees around the case. Global News has acquired the exclusive agreement documents between the government and Basi and Virk.

Effort to suppress protocol “secrecy for secrecy’s sake,” court rules

Topics: 
Justice Department, RCMP, Government transparency, Government ethics
Rating: 
0
Suzanne Boudreau

Don Butler – April 25, 2013

The federal government’s attempts to suppress a legal protocol between the RCMP and the justice department amount to “secrecy for secrecy’s sake,” says the Federal Court of Appeal.

In a decision dated April 17, the court ruled that everything except the first three paragraphs of the 17-paragraph protocol should be disclosed to Ottawa resident Suzanne Boudreau, a former military prosecutor and justice department lawyer who first asked for it under access to information in 2006.

Court OKs $887M settlement for Canadian veterans

Topics: 
Justice Department, Veterans Affairs, Government ethics
Rating: 
3

Murray Brewster – April 4, 2013

The Federal Court of Canada has rubber-stamped an $887-million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving thousands of disabled veterans. The case involved a three-decade-long federal government practice of clawing back the military pensions of injured soldiers by the amount of disability payments they received.

Halifax resident Dennis Manuge, a former army sergeant, was the lead plaintiff in the case, which dragged its way through the courts for nearly five years, including a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada on a technicality.

Government whistleblower just doing ‘the right thing’

Topics: 
Justice Department, Whistleblowers, Government ethics
Rating: 
5

Laura Stone – April , 2013

It used to be his cottage, but now Edgar Schmidt calls the three-storey white pine loft his home. The 60-year-old lawyer relocated to Val-des-Monts, Quebec in January, a month after he was suspended without pay from the Department of Justice for filing a lawsuit against his own employer.

The claim is one experts believe could have wide-ranging ramifications for both the public and whistle-blowing public servants. Schmidt alleges the department is failing to ensure that laws comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and under that test, the Minister of Justice does not have to inform Parliament of laws likely to be unconstitutional.

Peter Penashue quits over campaign donations

Topics: 
Electoral fraud, Government ethics
Rating: 
3

Laura Payton – March 14, 2013

Conservative cabinet minister Peter Penashue has resigned his seat in the House of Commons to run again in a byelection, he announced Thursday in a news release, and has paid the government $30,000 in compensation for "ineligible contributions" he accepted.

And while he blamed volunteer Reg Bowers for problems with his 2011 election campaign, Bowers said he still believes in Penashue.Bowers, however, resigned his seat on a federal board shortly after speaking to CBC News. Despite two resignations and the $30,000 repayment, it's still not clear whether voters in Labrador will know what happened before they go to the polls.

Alberta tobacco probe blowing smoke, says expert

Topics: 
Alberta, Government ethics, Government transparency, Conflict of interest
Rating: 
0

Jeremy Loome – January 15, 2013

Multiple loopholes in Alberta ethics law guarantee Premier Alison Redford can’t be punished by the province’s ethics commissioner for awarding a contract to her ex-husband while she was still justice minister, says a legal expert.

The multi-million-dollar contract Redford awarded to her ex-husband’s legal firm Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes gave it the responsibility of suing tobacco companies on the province’s behalf for past damages to the public. Some critics have noted the deal was officially signed after she left the post of Justice Minister, making the ethics issue moot.

Treasury Board vows sanctions after watchdog’s report

Topics: 
Procurement process, Corruption, Government ethics
Rating: 
3

Dean Beeby – March 12, 2013

A federal watchdog is blowing the whistle again on a series of cooked contracts at a school that teaches public servants about ethics and values. Frank Brunetta, the procurement ombudsman, said Tuesday he found more evidence that the Canada School of Public Service rigged its contracts to make sure they went to favoured suppliers.

The report examined the way contracts were awarded to six consultants, altogether worth $1.7 million, from 2008 to 2011. Brunetta’s inquiry was sparked by a tip he received in April last year that contracts awarded to two consultants, who were paid $435,000 and $260,000, showed clear signs of favouritism.

Feds ordered to pay legal costs for Justice Department whistleblower

Topics: 
Justice Department, Whistleblowers, Government ethics
Rating: 
5
Edgar Schmidt

Douglas Quan – March 8, 2013

In a novel move cheered by whistleblower advocates, a judge in Ottawa on Friday ordered the federal government to cover the legal expenses of a Department of Justice lawyer who filed a lawsuit against his own department.

Edgar Schmidt, who was suspended without pay after filing his claim in December, asserts in court documents that the government has failed to live up to its obligations to ensure that new legislation complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

When Transparency Can Hurt Democracy: Rebuttal

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics
Rating: 
4

Letters to the Editor – March 4, 2013

Samuel Mosonyi’s attempt to rationalize the Justice Department’s allegedly illegal actions (When Transparency Can Hurt Democracy, February 27) is absurd beyond words.

He argues that any signal that a new bill may violate the Charter would ‘kill it’ and thus bureaucrats (Justice Department lawyers) would be determining what laws are passed – rather than our democratically elected representatives.

When Transparency Can Hurt Democracy

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics
Rating: 
4

Samuel Mosonyi – February 27, 2013

A Department of Justice lawyer, Edgar Schmidt, recently challenged his employer in court, alleging that the process that the Department uses to analyze whether proposed legislation is in accordance with the Charter is against the law.

Schmidt alleges in his claim that since 1993, the Department of Justice has not been informing the Minister about potential Charter inconsistencies as long as “some argument can reasonably be made in favour of its consistency – even if all arguments in favour of consistency have a combined likelihood of success of 5% or less.”

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