Sunday, July 1, 2012

Why I still care about the BC Rail Scandal

Just before all the details of the BC Rail sale were about to come out, the 2 men on trail changed their pleas to guilty and 6 million dollars were illegally paid to cover their costs, they were given house arrest rather than hard jail time and put under a gag order to not say anything ever about what happened.  Since then, enormous effort and additional money has been expended by the government to keep all the details buried. 
I think a 10 year old can figure out the plot here. If there is nothing to hide then you don’t waste effort hiding things.  Anybody who cares to look at this knows that it stinks. If Christy Clark and other Liberal leaders are not guilty, then who are they protecting? The only thing we don’t know for sure is the details and who is being protected?
I have talked with a few dozen people about this and I have only heard 2 opinions. Most of the time, I hear that we must have an inquiry, get the details and move on. Sometimes however, I talk with people who say there is no sense because all politicians and parties are corrupt and we just have to accept it.  I have never met anyone who thinks there is nothing to hide.
This resignation to accept that our government cannot be held to account is why I believe we MUST have an inquiry. This is not a vendetta against any person or persons involved. It is much more important than that. An inquiry is required to restore voter confidence in our democracy and public process.