By Mario deSantis, February 16, 2000

In reading the article "The questions of the HRDC scandal. How can we trust a government that is not responsible?(1)" I was astonished to realize how the feeling of helplessness of the author, Marie-Josee Kravis, is close to mine. Marie-Josee Kravis is not able to rationalize the irresponsibility of the federal government in dealing with the $1 billion dollar jobs program at the Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). One billion dollars of taxpayers money is grossly misspent willfully and yet nobody is responsible for this scandal.

Denis Desautels, the Auditor General, has stated that this mismanagement problem needs "...to be fixed right away...(2)" Desautels' comment raises another question "how can you fix right away a billion dollar scandal which has implicated so many politicians, so many bureaucrats, so many businesses, and so many lawyers?" No, there is no quick fix for this problem, this is a textured social problem and its fixing requires deep transformational changes(3) of our political, bureaucratic, business and justice leadership.

Marie-Josee Kravis has stated that "...in an era of supposedly more sophisticated and technologically advanced management systems and controls, the government is unfazed and unapologetic about mismanaging and misappropriating public funds..." Our own majority governments make regulations and laws and yet they break these regulations and laws(4)(5)(6).

When will the Police and Justice System come to the rescue of our democracy(7)? Unable to explain how to find a remedy to the current corrupted governmental leadership, Marie-Josee Kravis has stated "...Political philosophers, notably John Locke, have claimed that citizens entrust governments with the coercive power to act on their behalf, for their benefit and for the protection of their rights. Failure to fulfill this trust would, Locke suggested, lead to the loss of legitimate authority. Trust therefore implied strict accountability. To be responsible meant to be answerable..." We have governments which break the same regulations and laws they make(8) and yet they demand "...private corporations and citizens to be responsible for events they could but did not prevent..." Is this the social contract citizens have with our governments(9)?

Endnotes

1. The questions of the HRDC scandal. How can we trust a government that is not responsible? By Marie-Josee Kravis, National Post, February 11, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com

2. Desautels wants system overhaul, by James Baxter, Southam News, February 11, 2000, National Post http://www.nationalpost.com

3. Refer to the series of articles NEED OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN SASKATCHEWAN, by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News, September to November 1998 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantis.html

4. THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF BILL 23: Back to work legislation against Saskatchewan Nurses, by Mario deSantis, June 8, 1999

5. Rules may have been bent for firm U.S. Company got $1.6M, by David Stonehouse, Ottawa Citizen, February 14, 2000, National Post http://www.nationalpost.com

6. Mr. Mackay, Conservative House Leader, has presented evidence of suspected criminal wrongdoing to the RCMP. Stewart deflects charge that she lied to Parliament: Another raucous day, by Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief, February 12, 2000, National Post http://www.nationalpost.com

7. Milgaard's $10 million compensation: covering up the personal assets of our policing Saskatchewan Government, by Mario deSantis, June 24, 1999

8. Governments must stop to serve themselves and their friends, by Mario deSantis, February 12, 2000

9. Governmental coalition in Saskatchewan: a private contractual deal at the expense of the electorate?, by Mario deSantis, October 2, 1999