Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, April 02, 2012

Auditor-General Michael Ferguson prepared to hit high-flying Conservatives

OTTAWA—It’s a safe bet that Jim Flaherty’s first majority budget will be consigned to political afterthought at some point this week.

There will be some bad news delivered to public servants beginning as early as Monday.

Down the road, you will likely see more ads on CBC television and be subjected to ads on its radio service.

Environmentalists who quite rightly shout at the pro-pipeline, opponents be damned, ideology of the Harper government will be labelled at each turn as impediments to jobs and prosperity.

We will learn to live without the penny and OAS changes are too many years, and elections, down the road to spark any real dissent.

But for a frustrated opposition looking to poke holes in Flaherty’s latest effort, a gift that keeps on giving may again be coming from the skies.

The first report from Auditor-General Michael Ferguson is due Tuesday and, unless the Conservatives have done a masterful job of sanitizing a draft which had been circulating through official Ottawa, it is going to heap a bunch more woe on the government’s worst managed file.

The auditor-general had been prepared to report the defence department did not properly price the proposed F-35 purchase, the largest military acquisition in Canadian history, there was no oversight from Public Works and the government may have misled Parliament.

That latest accusation will be scant surprise for both opposition parties which have spent months trying to get the government to deal honestly with cost overruns and production delays on the F-35 program.

With the auditor’s report looming, the government has moved into fallback position, something that could turn into a full-blown retreat if Ferguson holds his ground.

In July 2010, the government announced it would purchase 65 jets to replace the aging CF-18s, for $16 billion, including a $7 billion, 20-year maintenance contract.

The defence department had held firm to its cost of $75 million per plane, even though the Parliamentary Budget Office said the cost will more likely be around $128 million per jet.

Recently, however, the messaging has changed.

From Stephen Harper on down, the Conservatives now stress flexibility, saying no contract has been signed.

Look for that to be the line if Ferguson is tough Tuesday — the government will argue that he is critical of a deal not yet consummated.

But be sure that whatever is in Ferguson’s report, the opposition will be further emboldened to call for a proper, open bidding process to replace the CF-18s.

More bad news came from Washington late last week.

The Pentagon said the F-35 would not reach full production until 2019, two years later than planned.

Costs have risen another 9 per cent — the U.S. bill is now up to $1.1 trillion (U.S.) — a tab that rises because of three consecutive purchase delays, increased labour and material costs, inflation and a reduction in orders from other nations, part of the purchasing consortium, which have dealt with reality.

The independent U.S. congressional auditor says the costs of the delivery of the first 63 jets in the U.S. has exceeded budget already by $1 billion and the assertion that the plane can be delivered in large numbers and remain affordable “could be in question.’’

Knowledgeable critics of the deal essentially argue the government has rigged the process, bowing to pressure from military brass who wanted the F-35s and nothing else and wrote in the price and the project requirements to satisfy their pre-conceived needs.

Alan Williams, a former assistant deputy minister for materiel at defence, has called it “wiring the specs,” and is quoted in a published account as calling this “the most distorted hijacking of a procurement process you could ever make.”

If Ferguson holds his ground, it would not be the first time the government has been cited by an auditor-general for purposely underestimating costs so it could buy what it wanted.

It has faced the same charges in past helicopter and submarine purchases.

We will learn Tuesday whether the new auditor, Ferguson, has the same resolve as his predecessor, Sheila Fraser.

Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Tim Harper

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