Ethics Counsellor clears Chretien!

This would be more credible if the counsellor was actually a watchdog as opposed to a lapdog. The counsellor, Howard Wilson, is appointed by and reports to the Prime Minister, Jean Chretien. How can anyone think this "investigation" actually means anything?

Today, Mr. Chretien demanded that the leaders of opposition parties apologize. They haven't done so, and if anything, have stepped up their attacks. More power to them. Mr. Wilson says that Mr. Chretien "was dealing as an MP on behalf of a constituent". This is total nonsense. The Prime Minister is not just another MP, and nobody he deals with would make the mistake of thinking so.

Even in the middle of an election the PM is an enormously powerful man. He is still running the government, and has the right to appoint people to a great variety of offices, from the senate to various committees and commissions. Equally, he has the right to un-appoint people in some circumstances. Mr. Chretien is known to be extremely loyal to his friends, and revels in his reputation as a scrapper. He is a wily politician and knows how to cover his tracks. His nature and position make him a very bad enemy to have.

He only admitted to the issue under heavy pressure. I firmly believe that he would much prefer that the issue had never come to light. The president of the Business Development Bank of Canada is not on the list of people that Chretien cannot call, such as a judge, or semi-judicial bodies like the Telecommunications Commission. However, Chretien was calling to encourage the Bank to grant a loan of $615,000 to the man running a money-losing hotel. This hotel had been purchased from a company partly owned by Mr. Chretien.

Clearly, Mr. Chretien is personally interested in the outcome, though me may not stand to gain directly. Still, he is using his political influence to help a friend. And that's wrong. The opposition parties should continue to press Mr. Chretien on this issue, and try to force an RCMP investigation. After all, there are already several RCMP investigations into financial wrongdoing in Mr. Chretien's riding. What's one more?