[columbo]

Privacy Commissioner steps down...

Last Updated Tue, 24 Jun 2003 11:37:26
OTTAWA - Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski resigned Monday amid investigations into his lavish food and travel spending.

In a statement on the Web site of the Privacy Commission of Canada, Radwanski said he was forced out because of the actions of MPs investigating his expenses.

"I have been left with no other choice as a result of the actions of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, and the statements about me that have been made by members of the Committee to the public and others through the media," Radwanski wrote.

In accepting his resignation, Deputy Prime Minister John Manley said Radwanski believed the situation impeded his ability to do his job.

According to records of some outings, Radwanski had spent $250 on drinks in one establishment and dropped over $450 on dinner in another, usually with one other staffer.

Radwanski also charged nearly $500,000 in travel expenses. All of it was billed to taxpayers.

His office has also been accused of falsifying a document submitted to a Commons committee investigating the expenses.

In the statement, Radwanski continues to tell Canadians his aggressive criticism of government led to what he calls a provoked a politically-motivated assault on his character and reputation.

Pat Martin, an NDP MP on the committee investigating Radwanski, says that isn't the case.

"I've made it clear that if I thought for a moment that this was some kind of a witch hunt…you wouldn't see my name on this unanimous report," said Martin.

In an e-mail message to his staff, Radwanski delegated all of his responsibilities to Gerald Neary, the commission's director general of investigations.

[columbo]

Revenue Canada investigating privacy czar's tax debt

Last Updated Fri, 20 Jun 2003 22:19:02

OTTAWA - The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency is investigating reports that a $540,000 tax debt of Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski was forgiven shortly before the prime minister gave him the job.

Because he had filed for bankruptcy, Radwanski reportedly settled with Revenue Canada to pay $67,000 of the debt.

A spokesman for Revenue Minister Elinor Caplan said Friday that Caplan has some answers, but is looking for more.

Derik Hodgson, Caplan's communications director, said it's not uncommon for professionals to come to Revenue Canada with a bankruptcy proposal.

He said the decision in 2000 to forgive Radwanski's taxes was not necessarily unusual.

Hodgson said Radwanski's tax information would not have been given to anyone, including the Prime Minister's Office.

In a separate development Friday, most of the privacy commissioner's staff have called on him to step aside while he defends himself against allegations that he misled a parliamentary committee about his office expenses.

Dozens of employees working for Radwanski demonstrated over the noon-hour on the sidewalk in front of his office in Ottawa.

They delivered a letter saying the allegations of lavish spending and mismanagement make it difficult for them to do their jobs.

Three-quarters of Radwanski's staff, members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, signed the letter, said employee Tom Fitzpatrick.

Members of the operations committee have asked Auditor General Sheila Fraser to review spending on travel and hospitality that totalled $300,000 last year.

There are allegations that employees who have spoken out have been threatened with reprisals.

In the letter, Radwanski's employees say whether he's guilty or not, he should stand aside to protect the office from further public ridicule.

"I must say I'm not surprised," said Liberal MP Reg Alcock, who chairs the government operations committee looking into Radwanski.

But Alcock rejects any notion the committee bears any responsibility for diminishing the integrity of the commission.

"The committee is an instrument here; it's not the cause," he said. Radwanski has been adamant that he won't resign. He has painted the accusations against him as a politically motivated smear campaign.

Removing him would require the agreement of both houses of Parliament, which are on a summer break until mid-September.


OK fine....So the PM's Office apparently "didn't know" that he had filed for bankruptcy and owed over $500,000 to Revenue Canada.....Isn't this something they should find out before giving this guy a job and access to hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars?!!

As Mulder would say, "Hello? McFly?".....Hasn't the Liberal government ever heard of a concept called "fiscal responsibility"?

I mean, gimme a friggin break here....The guy owes 500 thousand bucks to the government, so he pays back approx. 1/8th of it, and they give him job and a fat expense account?!?!!

[columbo]

The one positive thing about this is that at least the Liberals are pursuing this matter with the RCMP....

Just remember....THEY GAVE HIM THE JOB IN THE FIRST PLACE

Fraser calls for RCMP probe into Radwanski
Last Updated Wed, 01 Oct 2003 9:43:26

OTTAWA - The auditor general has asked for an RCMP investigation into former privacy commissioner George Radwanski and top officials in his office.

Sheila Fraser tabled a report into what she called Radwanski's "reign of terror," which ended in June when he stepped down as privacy commissioner amid allegations of mismanagement and misspending.

The report calls on the RCMP to investigate Radwanski and his top aides for 2½ years of overspending and cronyism.

She turned over two files to the RCMP, but said the police might choose to widen their investigation beyond those issues.

The Mounties have been asked to look into:

a $15,000 payment to Radwanski

more than $100,000 paid to Radwanski and others in lieu of vacation time that was taken but not reported.

Opposition members of Parliament jumped on the report, peppering the government with questions about the issue in the House.

Alliance Leader Stephen Harper demanded to know what would be done to prevent a similar situation in the future.

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien replied that rules are in place and are working in this case.

"Our audit revealed a major failure of management controls and the abuse of public funds by the former commissioner and some senior executives, for their personal benefit," Fraser said.

The report details nearly $500,000 in travel, hospitality and other spending by Radwanski and his top officials over two years.

"The former commissioner spent public money on travel and hospitality unreasonably and extravagantly," Fraser said. In her opinion, he abused the discretion accorded to someone in his position.

Some of the trips taken by Radwanski and his officials involved "minimal business," she said, and overstepped spending guidelines.

Examples cited in the report include:

-people paid more than they should have been
-favouritism in hiring
-disregard for regulations
-executives given unjustified bonuses and raises
-documents falsified to cover up overspending
-She also blamed senior officials for turning "a blind eye to breaches of law, policy, guidelines and basic management principles."

"I am both outraged and saddened by what we found," Fraser said.

"The human cost has been significant."

The report also slams the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Commission for not responding decisively when they were first made aware of problems in the privacy commissioner's office.

Radwanski has said he was forced out of office by a vindictive Liberal government angry because he has been critical of it.

Saying he had seen a draft of the report before it was released, Radwanski called the report distorted and factually wrong.


Sorry, but I'm not going to compliment the Libs for finally doing what's expected of them. You don't congratulate someone for cleaning up after themselves.....you expect them to do it.

Columbo

[columbo]

Sorry if my tone has been getting venemous when discussing these events, but it really does bother me when I think about riding along the King St. TTC and seeing homeless men and women sleeping on top of subway vents to stay warm, or when I read about animal shelters closing down for lack of funds, and then I hear about people like Radwanski, appointed by the Liberals, who bilk tens of thousands of dollars out of the taxpayer on vacations and meals and other frivolous luxuries....

[GoneForNow]

Originally posted by columbo:
As Mulder would say, "Hello? McFly?".....Hasn't the Liberal government ever heard of a concept called "fiscal responsibility"?

I mean, gimme a friggin break here....The guy owes 500 thousand bucks to the government, so he pays back approx. 1/8th of it, and they give him job and a fat expense account?!?!!

Columbo...........I don't know Canadian law, but it seems somewhat unusual that a tax debt would be forgiven, even partially. In the US, federal tax debts (states too), except in very narrow and rare circumstances, are not dischargable in bankruptcy. Sounds a little strange to me.

[columbo]

Columbo...........I don't know Canadian law, but it seems somewhat unusual that a tax debt would be forgiven, even partially. In the US, federal tax debts (states too), except in very narrow and rare circumstances, are not dischargable in bankruptcy. Sounds a little strange to me.

Typically it isn't. In fact, I've known several people who've owed money and filed for bankruptcy and the only creditor they couldn't escape was Revenue Canada...

Typically I believe that these individuals have had to make monthly payments to Revenue Canada (typically through having their wages garnished).

So obviously this nonsense about nobody in public office knowing that Radwanski owed several hundreds of thousands of dollars is B.S.

[oldie]

Have just been reading this thread with interest, as I have Cousins who live in Mississauga. they are saying the same as Columbo!!!

Power corrupts

Much can be said in favour of "Coalition" of political party's

Italy, generally accepted as the highest standard of living in the world along with Scandinavia - coalition government since 1946

One step forward - no steps back

Sorry you may have to read between the lines of this post, but for the sake of brevity, it is mean't only for contributors of the thread

Ciao ciao - Oldie

[columbo]

Originally posted by oldie:
Have just been reading this thread with interest, as I have Cousins who live in Mississauga. they are saying the same as Columbo!!!

Power corrupts

Much can be said in favour of "Coalition" of political party's

Italy, generally accepted as the highest standard of living in the world along with Scandinavia - coalition government since 1946

One step forward - no steps back

Sorry you may have to read between the lines of this post, but for the sake of brevity, it is mean't only for contributors of the thread

Ciao ciao - Oldie

Hi Oldie,

The Internet really does make it seem like a small world....I live about 10 minutes away from Mississauga

It's funny that you should mention "Coalitions"....

One of the biggest problems with Ontario (which is essentially the country's political core) is that (as in many other provinces), those parties driven by Conservative ideology have (until recently) refused to merge. Thus, they essentially steal votes from each other, which has allowed the Federal Liberal party to form a majority in Parliament.

I would like to see more of a "coalition" but existing divisions can be expected to remain when you're talking about partisan politics (formed based on "a shared" or "common" ideology).

I guess I tend to lean slightly to the right, if anything, simply because I feel like the Liberal Party in Canada has become too detached from the reality of what it means to be a Canadian day-in and day-out.

[oldie]

Hi Columbo - just - repeat just - right of centre myself

What is different about Brit politics to what I observe at this board (mostly American two party politics) is that in the UK one tends to vote not for a leader or indeed a particular political party but instead for a parties "Manifesto" - In other words what suits ME and my family - and what the standing parties at election time intend to present to the people - and indeed the Monarchy - to hell with PARTY politics

Nuff said on that score

Yep - cousins - live on a 42 ft yacht named "Maltese Falcon" in which they sailed across the Atlantic - Mario and Lilian Borg - arrived Malta (filmed by CNN) stayed for one year then returned to Canada via the long route etc etc

Ciao ciao - Oldie

[AlbertB]

Do we have anyone who would describe themselves as a Canadian Liberal on TSG? PC maybe, or Columbo?















If so how do they feel about being described as "Scum"?

[pyritechips]

Do we have anyone who would describe themselves as a Canadian Liberal on TSG? PC maybe, or Columbo?
If so how do they feel about being described as "Scum"?

Well, as far as I know both my Mom and Dad are Liberal supporters so I chose to overlook the "scum" comment. Knowing columbo somewhat, I hope he meant the Liberal "politicians" are scum and not necessarily the supporters.

[sweets1981]

AlbertB,

I own up to being Liberal...
As for the scum part well... resent that very much.

[Paquadez]

From carefully reading this post, I feel that what you obviously need, is some accountability.

Thatcher's government was infested with villains (e.g. Neil Hamilton taking "Cash for Questions): Blair's government is the same; e.g. the Deputy PM John Prescott having Two Jaguars and Three houses (although from the UK papers, he is being forced to leave his "Grace and Favour" flat, paid for by a fisherman's union - and about time!

No matter what their stated views, ALL pols are corrupt; goes with the territory!

Paq

[AlbertB]

It did seem a little strange and has kept me from making any post on this thread up until now. I kind of figured Columbo maybe meant politicians, but him having been described as a Liberal himself so many times it confused me.

Then I got to wondering if he was happy to be described as scum, and if it stood for something like "Society for Canadian Upsetters of Mulder"!

Myself? Despite not being particularly Liberal in nature, (pro death pen, pro abortion, anti immigration, pro contraception, pro prison sentence for littering, pro flogging for being politician etc) I have in the past been described as a bottom feeder, but scum floats doesn't it!

[pyritechips]

ALL pols are corrupt; goes with the territory!

"ALL"?

I've grown to respect you Paq, but I didn't expect this hyperbole from you.

I considered you intelligent and wise enough not to express such a blatantly reactionary viewpoint.

Politicians are no more corrupt than profesionals in any other field. I believe that what is corrupt is not the politicians themselves but the process. As soon as you cross the line and tell yourself that all the dirty aspects of politics are acceptable because everybody else does it, and you convince yourself that you cannot serve your country without lowering yourself to the level of those abusing the system, then you are lost. I can't imagine someone like REP being corrupt. I believe that any politician, and any other person on this planet, is allowed to be assumed innocent until proven corrupt. I think your statement dishonours many a good person.

May I assume you are corrupt? Prove your innocence!