Learning Stories
by
Mario deSantis
mariodesantis@hotmail.com
“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, and free to choose those who shall govern my country.” - -The Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, Canadian Bill of Rights, 1960
“The whole judicial system is at issue, it's worth more than one person.”--Serge Kujawa, Saskatchewan Crown Prosecutor, 1991
“The system is not more worth than one person's rights.”--Mario deSantis, 2002
Ensign Stories © Mario deSantis and Ensign
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After leading the country through one of the worst ever economic downturn marred by a secretive and corrupt governmental administration(1), Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is sliding faster than ever towards the bottom of his slippery slope: democracy in accordance to Jean Chrétien. This is the way Ralph Nader describes the slippery slope: "Justice is a seamless web and so is injustice. Gets to be contagious. They figure you accept this, then you will accept that. If you accept that, you will accept this, and it becomes a slippery slope, and the real question is what will you accept? In a democracy, the answer is yours, and your answer we all respect and accept(2)." But we don't have a democracy anymore and Jean Chrétien's hasn't reached the bottom of his slippery slope yet. So as Jean Chrétien has been cleared of any wrongdoing with the Auberge Grand-Mere's loan affair so his government is taking revenge against Francois Beaudoin, former president of the Business Development Bank of Canada. Francois Beaudoin sued the bank in October 1999 alleging that he was forced out of his position when he suggested the foreclosure of a loan owned by a friend of Jean Chrétien. In December 2000 the bank filed a countersuit claiming that Beaudoin misappropriated bank money for personal use, and now a federally commissioned audit conducted by KPMG has concluded that Beaudoin charged $159,000 in personal expenses to the bank including his underwear(3). Chrétien's slippery slope is taking a personal mode and we don't know if it will go beyond Beaudoin's underwear; but, we also know that what goes around comes around, and it is just a matter of time. References/endnotes Relevant political and economics articles http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign 1. Auditor general slams Ottawa in final report, CBC Canada, February 27, 2001 http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/02/27/desaultels_final010227 also refer to http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/other.nsf/html/99menu5e.html 2. Ralph Nader's quotation as mentioned by lawyer Larry Zatlyn in his speech at the PUBLIC REVIEW OF NO-FAULT INSURANCE IN SASKATCHEWAN, Saturday, June 10, 2000 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan http://www.angelfire.com/nf/coalitionagainstnf/P.htm 3. Audit reveals misspending by former bank boss, CTV News, February 27, 2001 http://www.ctvnews.com/ |
