When the Government is afraid of truth, we should be very afraid. of them

What most reasonable Canadians have to be asking this week is "What possible reason would Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin have in speaking out to the Parliamentary Committee, except to let Canada know the truth about our nation's complicity in the torture of Afghan prisoners."

Our government has done everything it can to prevent this truth from surfacing at all. They have interfered every step of the way in in an effort to stop Colvin and others from testifying, even going so far as to threaten legal action if they did.

If the Harper government and the Canadian Forces have noting to hide, we should be asking, what is this government afraid off.

Colvin is obviously a very brave man. His actions will undoubtedly stop any chance of advancement he might have had within the diplomatic corps.

I don't think I have ever in my life been so ashamed of my government as when I heard the Conservative Party members respond to Colvin's testimony. From Defense Minister Peter McKay on down they tried, unsuccessfully to undermine his credibility and to question his motives. Even that tired old war horse Rick Hillier got into the act.The manner in which it was done cheapens the process.

The crass braying from Harper's donkeys was no match for Colvin's quiet, articulate and through testimony however. What he had to say rang true and was very disturbing. .

This is a sad day for Canada.

Another Step Backward

The Government of Saskatchewan, not the most enlightened group, has just put a bounty on coyotes. Yup, now farm kids can earn Christmas shopping money killing coyotes and cutting off their paws. All four paws have to be presented before the bounty will be paid. I assume the government must think that cutting off just one paw, like the right front paw, or something like that was just too complicated for these rural folk.

This new initiative was recently announced by Agricultural Minister Bob Bjornerud. He calls it the Saskatchewan Coyote Control Program. The program will pay $20.00 per coyote and some Rural Municipalities are adding another $10.00 or so to the bounty.

This all raises the image of guys driving around in their pickups, with a rifle, a case of beer and a bag of coyote paws in the back, looking for more Christmas money.

As one would expect wildlife and environmental groups are up in arms but, in the eyes of these farmers and ranchers, environmentalists are mostly pinko city folk, so nothing for this Saskatchewan Party Government to worry about. That same bunch who wanted to keep the long gun registry in place.

So Merry Christmas rural Saskatchewan.

Government Ethics. An Oxymoron?

For years most of us have marveled at how business leaders learned that they can can seemingly divest themselves of responsibility when it comes to losses, lawsuits, union contracts, or monies owed to creditors by simply splitting their company into small subsidiaries. That way the small entity is wholy responsible for the problem and the parent company is insulated from any fallout which may occur during tough times. It is a kind of shell game business loves. The average person knows it is a scam but, ya know, we don't write the law.

In the last day or so an interesting story has hit the news in Saskatchewan. Big Sky, a hog producer, has filed for court protection from its creditors. Big Sky apparently owes several thousand dollars to farmers who provided the company with pig feed and it is reported, to other small companies doing work around the plant.

The farmers, quite justifiably are incensed. One guy is owed $47,000 for nine semi trailers full of barley he delivered and Big Sky won't pay up.

Here is the hook. The Saskatchewan Government owns 64% of Big Sky. So the Saskatchewan Government is shirking its responsibility in this matter and is stiffing its own citizans. Good work.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud apparently told the media that the government has no obligation what so ever in this matter. Give your head a shake Bob, I think perhaps a course in ethics 101 is in order.

Brad Wall, a true believer in the old, bread and circuses principle, is on the front page of the Leader Post this morning, posing with the Saskatchewan Roughrider flag and a couple of Riders football players in front of the legislature and the Big Sky story doesn't appear until page B7. So, it is working.

Now if the Riders lose the Western Final this Sunday, Brad may have to pay up. If they win, the Farmers might have to wait a while for their money.

Southey on Sarkozy

I live in a city with a newspaper, the Leader Post which can only be described as marginal. I wouldn't want you to think for a moment that I am slagging everyone at the LP however, they do have a few good journalists but, working for a CanWest paper they are starved for resources and I am not sure there is an editor in the place.

Saying that, I really do enjoy the Globe & Mail. Over the weekend I was reading Tabatha Southey's piece on Nicolas Sarkozy's attempt to put himself into the frame when the Berlin Wall came down, even though he was in Paris on the dates he claims to have been in Berlin. You can read it here. It is quite funny.

In the column Southey notes that people have been making fun of Sarkozy on the net, putting him into the frame in other historical events including the Kennedy motorcade which I have included in the blog.

That gives me wonder if Stephen Harper is really at all these events that the PMO insist be covered only by an "official" photographer excluding the working press photojournalists or, if he is really sitting with his feet up at home. I am sure the PMO can afford PhotoShop too.

That gives us a challenge I think.