UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown

PEI MLAs hiding ten years of breach of fiduciary trust

The UK has been rocked by a scandal that touched MPs of all parties. They were claiming fraudulent expenses. In Britain a shocking scandal leads to inquiry

Following the audit, British Prime Minister Brown is telling MPs to pay back up to five years of those expenses. MPs braced for expenses demands Corruption in the Prince Edward Island legislature than dates back 9 of 10 years is being swept under the carpet. In Britain a shocking scandal leads to inquiry

“Gordon Brown has urged MPs to repay expenses claimed up to five years ago if asked to do so following an audit” BBC

Considerable effort is being expended to get to the bottom of the scandal. MPs may have some personal hardship to repay what the audit and Sir Christopher Kelly finds wrong.

Premier Ghiz, hiding the scandal under the carpet

Over in Canada, PEI’s Ghiz and Binns government have almost ten years of influence peddling and breach of public trust half hidden in the closet. The Auditor General looked at 5% of the Provincial Nominee Program. He found 20% of the files were improperly handled.

Money was given to bankrupt companies, to companies who didn’t qualify. MLAs, deputy ministers, senior bureaucrats and other crossed the lines of propriety and took money from the scheme. Civil servants took bribes.

Premier Ghiz seems determined to ignore the real issues raised. He has instructed his MLAs to refuse to widen the review at the Legislature Public Accounts. It appears Premier Ghiz may have received benefit from the program. Otherwise, he would be willing to conduct a thorough investigation.

Liberal Federal MP Shawn Murphy says the Liberal Premier is out-of-step with parliamentary policy across Canada. Quoted in a Charlottetown Guardian editorial, Murphy says,

“…as far as he knows the Prince Edward Island public accounts committee is the only public accounts committee in Canada that does not allow deputy ministers to appear. Murphy said it would be far more effective for the committee to hear from deputy ministers…“The deputies are responsible for administration and that normally would be the focus of the public accounts committee,” said Murphy.

“The ministers, individually and collectively in cabinet, are responsible for establishing policy, which normally would not be a concern to a Public Accounts Committee.”
Murphy went on to say that the trouble with the present dispute before the provincial public accounts committee is that the Opposition’s new position is completely inconsistent with the policy held by Conservative members for 11 years prior to May 2007, when they insisted that only cabinet ministers would appear before the committee.

There we have it. A Liberal MP saying the Premier is outside convention and taking a swipe at the hypocrisy in the Conservatives all in one breath.

The public knows a cover-up when then see one and Ghiz has a big one going on here.

There is a reason politicians have the lowest standing in the opinion of the public of any profession. They are not honest and generally have their hand out for money from the public and the public purse.

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