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Matters of Concern to the Polity The Need for Democratic Renewal to Enable Canadians to Hold Governments to Account TML Weekly is
publishing views and commentary related
to the political interference of the Trudeau In this case, the testimony given by the former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould, known for the integrity with which she carries out her responsibilities, reveals the nature of the wheeling and dealing which goes on in the corridors of power behind the backs of the people. If the Attorney General could not be persuaded to agree to intervene in the case, at least she should agree to find a way out for the government by getting "an outside opinion" while the Prime Minister's entourage would organize op-eds to build a credible case. In the course of this, everyone's image is tarnished, including the perception that former Justices of the Supreme Court are for sale, as in the case of Frank Iacobucci who has been hired by SNC-Lavalin to make its case to escape criminal charges so as to continue qualifying for government contracts. And the best part is that all of it is legal! In fact, what the government is arguing is that even though it may be "inappropriate" it is legal. And because so many jobs are allegedly at stake, maybe it is not so inappropriate after all. In fact, according to the narrative being spun, it is downright "appropriate" and therefore "legitimate!" Wilson-Raybould noted that Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick said as much in a December 18, 2018 phone call. She recounted him saying that "[the Prime Minister] wants to be able to say that he has tried everything he can within the legitimate toolbox." As for Trudeau's Chief of Staff Katie Telford and recently resigned Principal Secretary Gerald Butts, Wilson-Raybould recounted that they similarly wanted such a "solution," quoting a transcript of their conversation with her own Chief of Staff Jessica Prince. Butts is recounted as saying: "Jess, there is no solution here that doesn't involve some interference," while Telford remarked "we don't want to debate legalities anymore." This "characterization" of the conversations is expected to be contested when Butts testifies before the Justice Committee on March 6. The facts attested to in the articles in this issue of TML
Weekly speak for themselves. The performance of SNC-Lavalin in
acquiring Atomic Energy of Canada Limited under the Harper government
exposes the mantra about defending Canadian jobs as a fraud. The
millions of dollars spent on bribing officials to acquire contracts in
Canada such as to fix the crumbling Champlain Bridge, build the McGill
megahospital, provide the infrastructure for a light rail commuter
train, all in Montreal, amongst others, do not have job creation as
their aim. Not least of all, every time SNC-Lavalin manages to get
serious charges against it dismissed by the courts, the media with all
their powers of investigation are silent. They prefer to let the
insinuation hang in the air that Libya under Gadhaffi was a cesspool of
corruption but in Canada we have rule of law. These are aberrations,
not the rule. It also cannot escape the attention of Canadians that while the Trudeau government is introducing all manner of changes to the electoral law and a new National Security Act in the name of restricting "foreign influence" in Canadian elections so as to not permit the undermining of Canada's "liberal democratic institutions," the SNC-Lavalin case shows the lengths to which governments themselves interfere to undermine the very same "liberal democratic institutions." It is companies like SNC-Lavalin, whatever government is in power and the point men of the state who are engaged in bribery, threatening behaviour and subversion of what the political police call Canada's liberal democratic institutions. What is democratic about that? Besides other things, the SNC Lavalin case also shows the sense of entitlement of those who have privileged positions within the polity when it comes to breaking the law, engaging in what they know to be illegal acts and feeling that they can do so with impunity. Even when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar, governments and the rich strata they protect can make laws that give them impunity. Wernick's testimony is in complete violation of his position as Clerk of the Privy Council. The offensive that he is trying to take regarding his so-called worry about foreign interference in the upcoming election and the "rising tide of incitements to violence" is a pétard to extricate the Prime Minister, his office and the Privy Council itself from the mess that they find themselves in. Far from eliminating the role of privilege, it is all done to provide legitimacy to the increased use of police powers. The more it goes, the more government is exposed as having no moral justification whatsoever for its pay-the-rich schemes in the name of high ideals. TML Weekly is also publishing material from the
Party Press which recalls the 1995 sponsorship scandal from the days of
the Jean Chrétien Liberal government. Desperate at that time to
defeat the Quebec referendum and remain in power, the Liberal Party
wallowed in corruption while all the parties in the House of Commons
joined its "unity" bandwagon which violated Quebec election laws. The
Gomery Commission into the sponsorship scandal revealed the extent of
the corrupt practices for which the Liberals were subsequently turfed
out of federal office. Before they left, the Liberals suggested they
were addressing the sponsorship scandal by enacting limits on corporate
contributions to political parties and candidates, saying this would
end the "undue influence of money." The Harper Conservatives went
further, banning corporate contributions altogether. None of this could
change the essentially corrupt character of party government in Canada.
Under the sanctimonious Harper government, corruption was practised on
an even grander scale and now, under the sunny disposition of the
Trudeau regime, it is grander still. What is significant in all of this is how, in the same way as during the sponsorship scandal and under the Harper government, so today Canadians can see that it is not just a question of wrong-doing by certain individuals who need to be punished but never are. It is an indication of a fundamental problem that in this system called a representative democracy based on what is called responsible government, the people are powerless to hold those in power to account. The spectacle shows how everyone from the Prime
Minister to his staff, to the point men of the state past and present,
the leaders of the other parties in the House of Commons and of the
Official Opposition, former justices of the Supreme Court and the media
at the disposal of maintaining the rule of narrow private interests
over the polity, are all in it together. All of them divert the
attention of the people away from discussing how the problem of being
unable to hold governments to account can be solved. The Liberals are taking the approach that this is just a question of different interpretations of events and discussions, while the Opposition is arguing about whether there should be criminal charges or a commission of inquiry. All are trying to cover up the fact that it is the system of representative democracy and the electoral process built on top of it which is in crisis and needs renewal. If what is legitimate is to be made the issue, then it is the process which brings party governments to power, over which the people exercise no control, whose legitimacy is brought into question by these unfolding developments. Canada preaches to so-called third world countries to stamp out corruption. Oodles of money is spent on training foreigners to do things legally. In the case of Venezuela, in the name of providing humanitarian aid and opposing the allegedly corrupt government and president, the Government of Canada is even backing a brutal coup d'état and appeasing plans of the United States to invade that country. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland struts around the world as the great white knight of the rule of law, democracy and the judge of what is "legitimate" in other countries and what is not. But this SNC-Lavalin case in fact reveals that Canada's corruption stands second to none. The difference is that in Canada everything is "legal." Attempts to present Canada's corruption as "legal" solicits nothing but contempt and condemnation but it will nonetheless be said that it is necessary and therefore "legitimate." The position of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada (MLPC) during the sponsorship scandal more than 20 years ago, brought forward in this issue of TML Weekly, is particularly appropriate at this time: "Today, as the anti-social offensive and the drive to embroil Canada in the aggressive wars led by U.S. imperialism are stepped up, the problem that the people cannot hold the government to account becomes increasingly evident and urgent. So long as Canadians do not participate in setting government agendas and are, on the contrary, at the mercy of whatever self-serving agendas the government, political parties and the media set, the problem of accountability will continue to plague the polity. Thus, the most important question which has emerged is who wields political power -- where the decision-making power is vested. While the question of power involves a myriad of elements, the cutting edge of the people's struggle for empowerment is to build the organizations through which they can put themselves into positions of influence by taking stands that defend the rights of the people and, on this basis, open society's door to progress and advance the cause of peace and human rights. This is the only way people can avert the dangers which those in power today are preparing. The program of the MLPC is to bring forward worker politicians and people's representatives to elect and be elected to form a Workers' Opposition in the Parliament. A Workers' Opposition can then go further and create an anti-war government which responds to the needs of the people at home and abroad."
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
government in a
matter before the courts related to the engineering giant
SNC-Lavalin. Given the disinformation promoted by the official
circles in and out of government, it is important for Canadians
to get a perspective on this scandal which helps them understand
the depth of the crisis the establishment finds itself in as a
result of all the state arrangements made to benefit narrow
private interests in the name of high ideals. The desperation of
Prime Minister Trudeau to help SNC-Lavalin is palpable and shows
not only the pressure these narrow private interests are capable
of putting on governments to serve their aims, but the extent to
which both the party in power and the point men of the state such
as the Clerk of the Privy Council bend over backwards to serve
their interests.
Far from it! The SNC-Lavalin
case before us reveals how what
the political police call the liberal democratic institutions in
Canada work; how they function to pay the rich. This is brought
to light not because any of this is new, but because of the firm
stand taken by the former Attorney General. The current
SNC-Lavalin case shows what happens in Canada. The millions of
dollars in bribes and the power of governments and the state
power and the power over the courts are not a matter that one
need surmise. The evidence is before us.