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.]

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Ethics Watch: Olivia Chow calls on commissioner to investigate appointments to Oshawa Port Authority

NDP MP Olivia Chow is calling on Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson to look into what she alleges may be too-cosy-for-comfort partisan ties between Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and the current crop of federally appointed directors on the board of the newly created Oshawa Port Authority, as well as the subsequent approval by that same board of a proposal to build an ethanol refinery on the waterfront -- which, she notes, was given "despite the objection of Oshawa City Council and Mayor and the Durham Regional Council."

(Earlier this month, the city council approved a motion directing Oshawa Mayor John Henry to lodge a similar request with the commissioner, but under the current law, only MPs can do so.)

In her letter, Chow asks Dawson to investigate whether any of the directors benefited from "preferential treatment" by Transport Minister Denis Lebel, who is responsible for appointing new members, "based on their relationship with [Flaherty] and their donations to the Conservative Party."

The current chair, Gary Valcour, is the immediate past president of Flaherty's local riding association of Whitby-Oshawa, while another director, Chris Kluczewski, was a member of the executive, and two other directors, Peter Singh and Norm Mackie, have given money to either the party or local Conservative candidates in past years.

Chow's letter also raises the possibility that similarly special consideration may have been given to the company behind the ethanol plant.

Former FarmTech Energy Corp. director Timothy O'Connor, yet another former member of the Whitby-Oshawa riding association, also served as campaign manager to Ontario PC MPP Christine Elliott -- who is, of course, married to Flaherty -- during the most recent provincial election, and although he's no longer a director in FarmTech, his brother, Dan O'Connor, remains president and CEO.

Chow also points out that she has made "repeated attempts" to bring the matter to the transport committee, but has been "thwarted by the Conservative majority," thus rendering her unable to "properly vet the appointees."

In response to today's submission, Flaherty spokesperson Chisholm Pothier provided the following statement:

    The federal government makes one appointment to the board of the Oshawa Port Authority. The other appointees come from the city and the province, one each, and the port users, four.

    From a list submitted by the users, the federal Transport minister picks the four appointees.

    The federal appointment is appointed by the federal cabinet, upon the recommendation of the Transport minister.

    In any community there will be overlapping relationships between local representatives of government, business and the community. Those relationships do not prevent qualified people from being appointed to government roles.

    All the people appointed to the Oshawa Port Authority are well qualified.

It remains to be seen whether Dawson will pursue any further investigation into the file.

In the meantime, here's the full text of Chow's request:

Original Article
Source: CBC
Author: Kady O'Malley 

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