It seems anyone willing to speak out on issues that make the Conservative party squeamish is being let go.
This past winter, the head of the RCMP’s public complaints commission was let go. Paul Kennedy was working on a report about the tasering death of a Polish immigrant, and heard other complaints about police misconduct.
He was replaced a month later by Ian McPhail, a lawyer with no background in law enforcement, and strong involvement with the Conservative party as an organizer. Was it a patronage appointment? The Conservatives say no.
Marty Cheliak was let go last week as the director general of the Canadian Firearms Program. He is an outspoken supporter of the long gun registry.
Now I’m not personally sold on the necessity of the long gun registry, but the way he was kicked out bothered me. A week before he was to give a presentation at the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police national convention, he was suddenly let go.
After a year on the job, the conservatives decided that Mr. Cheliak wasn’t bilingual, and shipped him off for French lessons. How convenient.
The police chiefs, by the way, also support the registry.
Most disturbing of all was the decision not to renew Pat Stogran’s term as Veteran’s Ombudsman. Mr. Stogran has been outspoken about the government’s treatment of our military veterans. This job is especially important given the many veterans returning home from Afghanistan with physical and mental wounds.
Since hearing of his pending dismissal, Mr. Stogran’s has shed light on a recent change by the Federal government in how wounded war veterans are paid. He said disabled veterans are now offered a lump sum payment of $250,000 instead of a lifetime disability pension.
A quarter million doesn’t go very far these days, especially if you need specialized housing and transportation from an injury.
Mr. Stogran will be on the job until Nov. 10, the day before Remembrance Day. Let’s hope he can use the spotlight garnered form his unfortunate departure to do all he can for our veterans to make sure they get a fair deal from the feds.
These men and women put their lives on the line to serve their country. They should receive nothing less than the best treatment.
As for the case of the disappearing critics, and there are many more, Prime Minister Harper will continue to deny that there is anything political about their dismissal. However in Ottawa, everything is political, and these cases are particularly obvious.
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