Root Cause of Sponsorship (and other) Scandals
Dear Winnipeg Sun,
Your editorial (" So much for Gomery's Independence- Nov 6/05") came far closer than Justice Gomery to revealing the "fault" in the "new" PMO/PCO government operations that is the root cause of this (and many) money/power scandals in Ottawa.
Before Wm L M King quietly merged the Office of Clerk of the Privy Council with the Office of Secretary of the Cabinet by Order-in-Council in 1940 (thereby usurping the BNA Act Constitutional powers of the Privy Council for the benefit of the Government-of-the-Day), the Privy Council ACTUALLY SUPERVISED the government's actions.
The Privy Council was/should be the INDEPENDENT advisors of the Governor General- the true Head of State (although Cabinet members are a part of the Privy Council, they need not hold EVERY posting).
The original 1867 idea was to NOT PERMIT the lowly commoners to run the show, but to double-check them with a chamber representing the propertied class (why else does the Senate have a property & net-worth qualification).Then for every single bill to be assented, denied or reserved by the Queen's local representative AS AN INDIVIDUAL ( Section 12) AND THEN to have the British Privy Council review every Act with the authority to Disallow any Bill within the next 2 years.
Four layers of government - three to make sure that the 'bottom rung' on the ladder didn't get carried away with power.
Currently, the Cabinet members who initiate most bills are the same blokes that review those decisions on the Privy Council's Treasury Board - hmmmpf ... they supervise themselves!!
No wonder this (and many prior) administrations have had money scandals and have mis-appropriated funds!
Solution - Separate the Office of Secretary of the Cabinet from the Office of Clerk of the Privy Council!
Robert Ede
Your editorial (" So much for Gomery's Independence- Nov 6/05") came far closer than Justice Gomery to revealing the "fault" in the "new" PMO/PCO government operations that is the root cause of this (and many) money/power scandals in Ottawa.
Before Wm L M King quietly merged the Office of Clerk of the Privy Council with the Office of Secretary of the Cabinet by Order-in-Council in 1940 (thereby usurping the BNA Act Constitutional powers of the Privy Council for the benefit of the Government-of-the-Day), the Privy Council ACTUALLY SUPERVISED the government's actions.
The Privy Council was/should be the INDEPENDENT advisors of the Governor General- the true Head of State (although Cabinet members are a part of the Privy Council, they need not hold EVERY posting).
The original 1867 idea was to NOT PERMIT the lowly commoners to run the show, but to double-check them with a chamber representing the propertied class (why else does the Senate have a property & net-worth qualification).Then for every single bill to be assented, denied or reserved by the Queen's local representative AS AN INDIVIDUAL ( Section 12) AND THEN to have the British Privy Council review every Act with the authority to Disallow any Bill within the next 2 years.
Four layers of government - three to make sure that the 'bottom rung' on the ladder didn't get carried away with power.
Currently, the Cabinet members who initiate most bills are the same blokes that review those decisions on the Privy Council's Treasury Board - hmmmpf ... they supervise themselves!!
No wonder this (and many prior) administrations have had money scandals and have mis-appropriated funds!
Solution - Separate the Office of Secretary of the Cabinet from the Office of Clerk of the Privy Council!
Robert Ede
posted by Walk a Kb or Two in my cassins | 10:44 am
|
0 comments
