Cronyism Scandal Rocks Vancouver

The biggest single issue that got the Conservatives elected back in 2006 was the Sponsorship Scandal. Riding the wave of accountability and promises of a Federal Accountability Act, Stephen Harper became the first non-Liberal Prime Minister of Canada in the 21st Century.

While the Conservatives managed to enact most of its accountability act, there has been one glaring omission. They have failed to institute a Public Appointments Commission. The purpose of such a commission was to provide a screening mechanism whereby unsuitable candidates would not be able to be appointed to various public positions.  This would include appointments such as judges, parole boards, and law enforcement positions. 1500 appointments have made since Harper was elected in 2006. These were all appointments made “the old way.”

The importance of this is that minority governments, such as the current federal government in Canada, can’t pass all of their legislation. How can they get around this? By appointing people into positions according to their ideology. A prime example of this is how the refugee board has to deal with discrimination. By appointing the “right” ideological people to the refugee board, the Conservatives are able to further their own agenda without passing any specific legislation. This is where things get interesting in Vancouver. I’ve recently been made aware of a suspicious appointment of a tribunal judge to the refugee board. I can’t name any names, but I can tell you that it’s Barry Dhillon. Sources close to me have revealed their doubts about Barry being chosen. As one person said, “he takes too many coffee breaks.” Another insider told me that, “Barry listens to CBC radio all day, and you’d think that would be an indication of a more centralist/left leaning political view. In fact, what Barry has been doing is winning shwag from various talk shows as a covert and insidious way of trying to bankrupt the CBC.”

While no one is saying that Stephen Harper or Barry Dhillon have done anything illegal (yet), there is little doubt that these two are in cahoots. Next week I plan to interview Mr. Dhillon at his parents’ home (he still lives with his parents) to get his supposed “side” of the story.

All joking aside, congrats to B-dawg for his promotion (I assume it’s a promotion)!