Canada
column for Sunday, June 16/13
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THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By
Jim Fox
Scandals
involving a Senator’s expense claims and the destruction of government
correspondence in Ontario are now being investigated by police.
The Mounties have launched a “formal investigation” into the Canadian
Senate expenses scandal and the involvement of Nigel Wright, Prime Minister
Stephen Harper's former chief of staff.
Wright resigned from Harper's staff last month after it was learned he
gave $90,172 to Senator Mike Duffy to pay back money that was “improperly”
claimed as housing and other expenses.
Harper said he was unaware of the “gift” to Duffy that opposition
politicians suggest was intended to interfere with an internal audit of Duffy's
expenses and to buy his silence.
An
audit also resulted in Senator Mac Harb being ordered to repay $231,649 in
expenses and Senator Patrick Brazeau must repay $48,745 for disallowed living
expenses.
Auditors are still looking a travel expense claims of $321,000 paid to
Senator Pamela Wallin.
Ontario Provincial Police are now investigating the destruction of
emails by senior staff in the Liberal government concerning the cancelation of
contentious gas plants at a cost of $585 million to help the party win last
year’s election.
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Another
promise not kept is how opposition politicians referred to the unexpected
resignation of former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
After resigning as premier last fall, McGuinty said he would remain as
the Liberal Member of the Provincial Legislature for Ottawa South until the
next election.
His resignation now after 23 years in politics came as a controversy
mounts over the costs of canceling two gas plants and the investigation of the
destruction of government documents.
Former finance minister Dwight Duncan and former energy minister Chris
Bentley also left the party and retired from politics after Kathleen Wynne
succeeded McGuinty as premier.
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News in brief:
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The Canadian government said a new airport will be created east of Toronto in
an area that will also house the Rouge National Urban Park. Finance Minister
Jim Flaherty announced the project on land acquired in 1972 as studies show the
Toronto area will require another international airport. Residents who live
near the proposed airport site have been objecting to the plans for years.
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Chris Hadfield, who recently returned after six months at the International
Space Station, said he is retiring from the space program and moving back to
Canada. Hadfield, 53, said he will leave the Canadian Space Agency next month
and move from his long-time home of Houston. He told a news conference in
Montreal that he is ready to pursue unspecified private interests, outside of
government.
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A Kitchener, Ontario firefighter who saved a man trapped after a car crash in
Fort Myers has been given a Carnegie medal for heroism. Nick Dorken was on
vacation in Florida on Feb. 23, 2012 when he pulled an unconscious man from a
burning car. He was also given a lifesaving award from the Fort Myers fire
department.
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Facts and figures:
The
Canadian dollar has advanced to 98.28 cents U.S., its highest level in four
weeks. The U.S. greenback returns $1.0175 in Canadian funds, before bank
exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is steady at 1 percent while the
prime-lending rate is 3 percent.
Stock
markets are lower, with the Toronto exchange index at 12,213 points and the TSX
Venture index at 932 points.
Lotto 6-49: (June 12) 4, 8, 16, 25, 33 and 36; bonus 21. (June 8) 8, 11,
19, 42, 46 and 47; bonus 27. Lotto Max: (June 7) 5, 19, 24, 34, 35, 38 and 43;
bonus 8.
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Regional briefs:
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The Transportation Safety Board said the operating crew of a Via Rail that
derailed west of Toronto last year "misperceived" crucial signals
telling them to slow the passenger train. Three crewmembers were killed and 44
passengers injured when the train hurtled off the tracks after crossing a
slow-speed switch. The board called for installation of an automatic, fail-safe
mechanism to slow or stop trains if a signal isn't followed.
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Melissa Shepard, 78, of Nova Scotia,
nicknamed the “Black Widow” who laced her new husband’s coffee with tranquillizers
while on their honeymoon, was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison. Her husband,
Fred Weeks, 76, recovered after hospital treatment. She served prison terms for
manslaughter in 1992 in the death of her second husband, Gordon Stewart, and
for theft from a man in Florida she had met online.
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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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