Prime Minister Harper Above the Law?

A Conservative spokesperson responded to the news by publicly stating they will not cooperate with the Ethics Commissioner’s investigation, claiming the investigation is just a “partisan attack” and that the Ethics Commissioner is a “Liberal appointee.”

Dr. Shapiro’s appointment was reviewed by an all-party parliamentary committee and approved by a resolution of the House of Commons. Not a single member of the Conservative caucus is on the record as having opposed Dr. Shapiro’s appointment.

Click -- to read the entire article, in English.
Cliquetez -- pour lire l'article entier, en français.

Media

Click here to view the first clip from the press conference.
Click here to view the second clip from the press conference.

(Caution) The media links above are to streaming media services. The media-in-question is the property of the Liberal Party of Canada and should not be reproduced without the express written permission of the party.

Opposition MPs blasted Stephen Harper on Thursday for his refusal to co-operate with the federal ethics commissioner, with one MP threatening to hold the prime minister in contempt.

"Let's not mince words. The prime minister is being an absolute hypocrite over this whole issue," NDP MP Pat Martin said on Thursday in Ottawa.

"If he won't comply with the ethics commissioner's inquiry, I'd be prepared to table a motion to see the prime minister in contempt."

Click here to read the entire article.

But the PMO accused Shapiro of having a double standard when it comes to investigating Conservative MPs. It noted that he refused to investigate Liberal Tony Valeri's landholdings during the election campaign on the grounds the commissioner couldn't act between sittings of Parliament.

Based on that decision, the PMO is arguing that Shapiro has no business investigating something that happened in between the dissolution of the last Parliament and the commencement of the next one.

Shapiro has been criticized in the past. Former NDP MP Ed Broadbent accused him of having "extraordinarily serious credibility problems" after a series of questionable reports last year.

And he argued that it's the prime minister, and not the ethics commissioner, who chooses cabinet ministers.

Justice John Gomery said Tuesday that some bureaucrats who “disregard the law” through mismanagement don’t appear to suffer any consequences such as losing their jobs.

Gomery told a Treasury Board official at the sponsorship inquiry he couldn’t find any evidence in the Financial Administration Act allowing managers to weed out bad seeds in the bureaucracy.

“Sometimes you get people who just, more or less deliberately, disregard the law,” the judge told Stephen Wallace, a top official at the Treasury Board secretariat.

“There have been, it seems to me, well-documented instances of mismanagement . . . and I didn’t see that they had any consequences on the employment of anybody.

“What happens if you find somebody who’s just a bad apple?”

Wallace said managers in fact have the power to suspend, demote or fire employees who break internal rules.

But he acknowledged that power isn’t always exercised.

“Consistent understanding and ability to use these tools is not evident across the system.”

Wallace added police and the courts, not internal rules, are best-equipped to deal with bureaucrats who cross the line and break the law.

But Gomery didn’t appear satisfied. “It takes a major scandal to get the police involved,” he said. “It is not in the nature of the public service to call in the police.”

Why should Harper give a **** about the ethics commission? What did it ever do against the Liberals who walked off with millions of tax dollars? Oh right, nothing, yeah a real great organization to be respected.

P.S.

I love how the Liberals can take MILLIONS from the Canadian people...yet these morons still vote for the Liberal party. Yes, anyone that voted Liberal is a moron. Not for political reasons, but for the simple fact that they stole your money and you tried to vote them back in to power.