An Ottawa Week

The release of the Gomery  Report  also known as the Quebec Sponsorship scandal provided more TV time and newspaper space than any single topic in many years. It may even lead to an election before the end of the year.

The big winner falling from the report was the present Prime Minister, Paul Martin, as he was exonerated in the matter of the scandal. The big loser was the former Prime Minister Jean Chretien who should have been aware of what was taking place in a program that he advanced. Was the program ever justified as appropriate to bring the Federal Government before the people of Quebec? Whoever dreamed up the program along with the now deflated street fighter, “da little guy from Shawinigan” will go down in history as down-right foolish. Were the antics of  Jean Chretien simply “small town cheap”?

We heard that Chretien will apply to the Federal Court to review the finding of the Gomery Commission, in the hope that he might come away smelling sweeter. It was even said that he would pay for the legal costs. Wonderful!

By the end of the week one poll showed the Conservative Party leading in an election if it were held today. It also showed that the majority of Canadians believe that the Prime Minister who was Minister of Finance during the scandal period must be held accountable. So it goes in politics. One can’t always win in politics or life, even when one does the right thing or is innocent of some improper action or activity. If you are a member of the opposing force or group, you just “take your lumps”. Even Justice John Gomery has been criticized for some of his comments for which he did apologize. Yet, the vast majority of Canadians who viewed any of the sessions of the Commission’s hearing would believe that Mr. Justice Gomery to be an able and honourable gentleman. He was certainly thought to have been so before his appointment. His report is a reflection of all that he heard; his conclusions are the result of his analysis and integration of the data and information provided by the many witnesses who made presentations and were questioned on their activities.

During the week the Prime Minister attended the Summit of the Americas held at Mar del Plata in Argentina. Although he extolled the benefits of free trade, Canada was still faced with its problems with the United States on a softwood lumber dispute. Some South Americans view the United States as an imperialist world power and demonstrated in a violent confrontation with the police.

France has been involved in a number of violent confrontations with youth across the country. These young people are mostly unemployed black North Africans who have not been integrated into French society. The French government needs to address the problems generated by its open border immigration policy which conforms to an agreement of all the countries in the European Block. We in Canada may face similar situations but we do not have the same concentration of youth and therefore it may not be likely but the problems of integrating new Canadians into Canadian society remain.

There are many problems relating to Native reservations in Canada. This past week was highlighted by a water advisory requiring water to be boiled, on the Kashechewan Reserve in Northern Ontario. This type of situation exists in a number of communities in Ontario and the government needs to do all that is possible to avert another “Walkerton” situation. As to the federal government, the ministry responsible for aboriginal affairs needs to analyze all situations under its jurisdiction. What is not called for is the throwing of many millions of federal dollars at the problems that exist.