Minority, how can it work?

[silverback]

So how much corruption is ok wil*** ?

How many lies are ok ?

If you had a pile of money on your desk and the liberal party of Canada came in, how much would you let them steal, burn, or give to their friends before you told them to stop? If it was only some of the party doing the deeds, would you still say "Go ahead, I still like the rest of you!" ?

Anyone who stood by or accepted and made excuses for the crap the Liberals were pulling on us needs a slap upside the head.

[cowman]

One thing Duceppe brought up during the campaign should be pursued? He asked where the dirty money went? Which Liberals recieved it? And he implied that the reciever of stolen money is as dirty as the provider?
I would suggest that is something that should be pursued? If I buy a load of stolen weed spray I am as guilty as the thief...and so were the recievers of the stolen tax dollars! It might be very interesting to see who benifitted from the theft?
There will always be thieves. If you catch the little fish but the big fish get away you really haven't accomplished much because the big crooks can always find little crooks to do their dirty work? That is how organized crime works? And make no mistake...this was organized crime on a massive scale.

[ivbinconned]

Good point silverback.

It is discouraging and worrysome to see the tolarance that the liberal minded have for perversion, cheating and stealing within their ranks and yet have zero tolarance for those moms that want to stay at home and raise their own kids.

Or for the paster who preaches that the gay lifestyle is a sin. Or for the farmer, that for decades kept the shot gun close by and ready to use.

Or for for those who support life at all stages.

Their hate for traditional "values" was evident on election night when jack chow mentioned Harper there arose loud booing from his supporters. A classless bunch I'd say!

[cakadu]

"Anyone who stood by or accepted and made excuses for the crap the Liberals were pulling on us needs a slap upside the head."

What should we have done, silverback, beyond voicing our displeasure with our vote? Who is to say that we stood by and took it and/or accepted it. Many were upset by the antics of the last 12 years and our recourse was through our democratic right to vote. It doesn't mean that we stood by or accepted it. I'm curious to know what you think we could have done.

[silverback]

Cakadu,

If you did not support the self serving liberals, then my comments are not anything you need to worry about. I am directing my comments at those that have said many times over the last few years that you can't blame all the liberals for the wrongdoings of a few.

Personally, I take great offence to anyone who would steal or waste the money I am required to send in to them. It does not matter to me if it was the leader of the party or the lowest appointee of them, they all are tainted by the action of a few.

And before anyone types it, yes I will say the same thing if the conservatives waste my money in the same way.

[cakadu]

I'm with you on that one silverback. What I find absolutely astounding is that there must have been more than just a few people - read that civil servants - who knew what was going on or at the very least had some suspicions. Out of all those people, not one had the resolve to say something?

For me personally if I saw anything like that I would have to say something to someone. If you know of something and remain silent, you're just as guilty as the person committing the wrongdoing - at least in my books you are.

The corollary of that is unless someone says something along the way, it remains pretty hard to convict person or persons unknown.

[cowman]

Well the whistleblower guy in Ottawa tried to point out what was going on and look what happened to him? Hopefully the new accountability thing will let civil servants speak up?
I don't know if this is just confined to the federal government? Don't know about provincial politics but it happens in municipal government? I have a "confidant" in the local county and he tells me when any employee is hired he has to sign an agreement not to reveal any screwups or "insider" info! If the employee talks...he can be fired!
However we all know that is sort of a joke? It is not too hard to get the "scoop" on tenders, proposed projects, etc. if you know the right people? Might not be right but thats how it works.

[cakadu]

Cowman, that is a simplistic view of a confidentiality agreement as it covers much more than that. It also covers things like using information you find in the course of your employ for your own gain, proprietary information that is the property of the employer, or as a contractor the findings that you glean during the course of your contract are the property of whomever you are doing the work for. Breach of the confidentiality agreement can result in dismissal. An example would be if you were working for a municipality and as an employee you knew that they were going to annex some land in a certain place and you went out and bought that land prior to it being annexed. As a ratepayer in the municipality would you be happy that this employee went out and bought land knowing that they were going to make a bundle once it was annexed?

As a rule government matters and dealings are public record as they should be.

Your insider friend would have had a choice about signing the agreement - not signing it would have meant they didn't get the job, but the choice would still have been theirs to make.

[cowman]

Well maybe that is why so many councillors and former councillors seem to have made so much money in the real estate market? Funny how so many of them got in on the developement scheme...before they started pushing this latest land use thing? Amazing how the councillor in one division got all those subdivisions on prime agricultural land?
Do you ever wonder why one guy gets a subdivision, while another doesn't? It really has little to do with rules. I think you might be looking through rose colored glasses?
As I've said many times: There is the way it is supposed to be....and then there is the real world? It sometimes isn't pretty.

[cowman]

Linda: Just remembered this gem! Do you ever wonder why your municipality is buying gravel from a private contractor at Eckville and trucking it east and south of Innisfail to stock pile...as pit run!
Do you also ever wonder why they let an option go on 3/4 of land of gravel west of Innisfail, with proven reserves that would have lasted for dozens of years? Since giving up those reserves a private contractor has bought them up? Check out who bought them. Check out who his good friend is...you just might find out it is a councillor...who actively sought the giving up of those reserves?
Ask how come rebuilding RR 242 was so high over budget? You just might find that the contract was done on an hourly basis...with absolutely no supervision! The cats never got out of bull low. Ask where the money comes from to cover all these super high costs...you just might find it comes from the road maitenance budget?

[cowman]

sounds like the citizens of your county should petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to have a corporate and governance review done of all county operations.
Councillors can get in big trouble if they are giving out information that benefits one contractor over another.

[cakadu]

Cowman, I know some of what you're speaking of, but not all of it. If all of that has happened (and who knows what else) then how on earth can anyone say that we have been well served as ratepayers of the county, by our various councils?

It is amusing to see how those who have gotten their subdivisions now see the wisdom and foresight of preserving agricultural land!?!?!?

The policy that we have in this county for preserving agricultural land isn't working too well for us, given the drilling activity, the power lines, the subdivisons etc.