DO AS I SAY…

Justice John Gomery was in Ottawa this week speaking out against government corruption, or the potential for it.

Gomery warned the of a growing concentration of power in the Prime Minster’s Office and that unelected officials held too much sway over the affairs of the government of Canada. He said there "is a danger to Canadian democracy and leaves the door wide open to the kind of political interference."

Gomery, as you may remember, was selected by then Prime Minister Paul Martin to investigate reports from the Auditor General Sheila Fraser that sponsorship program cash was awarded to Liberal-friendly advertising firms.

At the end of the commission, Gomery tabled a report that included 19 recommendations, including one which spoke of the problem of centralized authority in the PMO and a power base of unelected handpicked bureaucrats.

Gomery today told the Commons Government Operations Committee that he finds it “hard to swallow” that the Conservative government has all but ignored his report. That Stephen Harper has yet to implement most of the 19 recommendations made by Gomery is one thing. That fact that Harper ran a campaign in the federal election on accountability and ethics tells another story entirely.

The consolidation of power under one man and what Gomery called “a corresponding diminution of the role of members of Parliament” leads to the inevitable conclusion that Stephen Harper never wanted to be Prime Minister.

He wanted to be King!

Harper, by his actions on the very day that he was declared by Gomery to be a autocrat, does not to dispute the notion that he is a bully and will stoop to nothing to maintain his grasp on power.

He announced today that he is suing the Liberal Party for $2.5 million. Harper, in a statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice claims the federal Liberal Party has “falsely and maliciously accused Mr. Harper of serious, grave libel."

It is the first time since Confederation that a Prime Minster has decided to sue his political opponents. Taking your adversaries to court. Now that’s good old fashioned despotism. The reality is that the lawsuit will likely never see the inside of a courtroom and Harper will most likely abandon the suit.

Harper initially had served not only the Liberal Party, but Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff and House Leader Ralph Goodale with notice of a potential libel action a week ago. When Dion had refused to apologize Harper said the leader of the opposition was “making the biggest mistake of his life.”

What is curious is that those individuals were not mentioned in the latest submissions to the court by Harper and his lawyer. So I can only guess that Harper feels the accusations made by the Dion, Ignatieff and Goodale were not false or malicious.

Interesting.