Canada's Lenin

Comrade Gilles Duceppe

The role of a Communist in parliament was outlined in a set of theses adopted by the Communist International in 1920. In essence, that role was to expose the limitations of parliament as a path to improved living conditions for working people. Communists in parliament did not aim to gain “amendments” to reactionary legislation, but to denounce the legislation, and use their resources as an MP to help organize mass campaigns to defeat it. Their role was also to use the parliamentary platform for general socialist agitation. Communist parties were too openly state their political positions, and parliamentarians were bound to support these policies.

A Communist in parliament: the story of Fred Paterson By John Nebauer

The discussion of the tactics of the Bolsheviks reveals quite clearly that the Bolsheviks used the tactic of standing for election to address the masses in periods of working class retreat and demoralization, when mass struggles were not the norm. A struggle that involved re-elaborating again the tactics of the Bolsheviks in the various Russian Dumas (toothless fake parliaments, convened by the tsarist regime to provide a fig-leaf of popular representation). The Bolsheviks used the opportunity of elections to this powerless body as an opportunity to engage in mass agitation and propaganda for the overthrow of the tsarist regime, and as a tribune for the struggles of the working class and the peasantry. Bolshevik deputies were under the strict control of their party, and were not in the Duma to engage in parliamentary careers, but rather to act as revolutionary leaders of the masses.

Weekly Worker 324 Thursday February 24 2000 review

The creation of the Bloc Quebecois was an amalgamation of left and right forces in Quebec after the fall of the Mulroney Tory government to the Liberals, the Grand Old Party of Canadian politics. The centre left Liberals, who wear the mantle of Trudeau Statist Federalism, swept the Tories off the map. The resulting collapse of the Mulroney Tories into the Bloc and the Reform parties was the result of Mulroney’s unholy alliance of Quebec Nationalist politicians and western right wing regionalists and populists.

If Reform was the right rump of Mulroney’s Tories, his left wing was Lucien Bouchard and other Quebec ‘Sovereigntists’ who formed the Bloc Quebecois. While the Sovereigntists were a mixed bunch of both right centre social democrats and left social democrats, the Bloc Quebecois did not ally itself with any of the parliamentary parties in the house, having become the official opposition to the Liberals.

The NDP as a Federalist Left opposition party was weakened but could have strengthened the left opposition to the Liberals. But they did not, given their federalist leadership which continued to ignore the rank and file who had passed pro Quebec resolutions at their national conventions. Any alliance even a tactical one with the Bloc was out of the question to these quisling Canadian nationalists who cared more for their parliamentary careers than offering the Rest of Canada (ROC) and Quebec a left alternative to the Liberals Statist Federalism.

Enter Comrade Gilles Duceppe who replaced right wing privateer and management lawyer Lucien Bouchard(1) as the BQ leader. Duceppe was and remains a communist in the Leninist tradition; his protests to the contrary, belie the fact that the entire Bloc campaign is the classic Leninist Parliamentary strategy of being the Opposition in parliament.

Unlike all the other Federal parties, the BQ has no intention of ever being government. They enter the house as the official opposition from Quebec.

As Sovereigntists they propose a two state solution in Canada, and that is the principled position they fight from.

As Internationalists they believe any gains made for the Quebec working class are gains for the Canadian working class. Such was the claim made by the BQ when they ran for election last summer.

And when they launched their election campaign the key issues the most important issues for them were class struggle issues around Employment Insurance, Job Security, funding for the industrial infrastructure in Quebec.

Unlike the NDP whose program was aimed not at Canadian workers but Canadian Citizens over broad-based issues such as health care, the environment, etc.

It has been the BQ in the house that has lobbied for Anti-Scab legislation this year. That legislation just missed passing in the house. It was squashed by the Conservatives and Liberals.

Under the leadership of Comrade Duceppe, the BQ has adopted a working class program as a left social democratic party, much more so than the mushy social democrats in the NDP. While sovereignty is their goal, it is the sovereignty of the CSN, which was the union Duceppe, was an organizer for and which has been one of the strongest supporters of Quebec nationalism.

During and after last summer’s election Duceppe took the position that the BQ would not give a blanket approval of the minority government nor go into a coalition government but rather in traditional Leninist fashion, they would judge each bill on its own accord.

While the BQ has led the campaign of exposing the Chrétien Liberals and their AdScam scandal in Quebec, it has been the working class issue of the use of the EI funds to shore up the Liberals surpluses, that they have made their cause celebre. This theft, as Duceppe calls it, began under Paul Martin when he was Finance Minister. It has been EI and the need to end it being used as a government slush fund that has given the BQ the voice of the working class in the house.

It is not the NDP, but the BQ that has spoken out loudly and ceaselessly not only for Quebec workers but workers across Canada on this crucial issue. EI’s impact on seasonal and precarious workers is problematic, as the Liberals gutted it they also changed it making it harder for workers to access and limiting the time one can get it. This has negatively impacted on seasonal and part time workers in Quebec and the Rest of Canada (ROC). And it is this issue that has seen the BQ speak out for workers across the country.

The chorus line has been the NDP, who still refuse to recognize the BQ as fellow social democrats. Ever opportunist, they will use the separatist canard when it suits them to appear more federalist than the Liberals or Conservatives. Instead of creating a common front with the BQ the NDP, whose status within Quebec is next to nothing, continues to try and pose itself as a federalist social democratic alternative to the BQ.

The BQ under Canada’s version of Lenin has moved fully to the left, and here is where Duceppe faced criticism of his style. He purged many of the old right that had remained in the party, by refusing to accept their positions as he pushed his left nationalist position within the party. He made it no longer home and they left, usually for the provincial PQ, which has moved to the right as happens when parties gain state power.

The Liberal minority government faces an intransigent Leninist opposition in the BQ and this is what has made their hold on power perilous for the past twelve months. The BQ saw the gains they had made in Quebec at the Liberals expense and knowing more of the AdScam scandal was to come out in public prepared to bring down the government from day one in order to make electoral gains. As polls show those gains will be substantial whenever an election is called.

Unlike the Conservatives who waited till they had polling numbers ahead of the Liberals, the BQ knows that after achieving record seats last summer, that they had not seen since they had been the official opposition, they are in to gain more.

As history has shown once again the NDP will prop up a Liberal government, at their own expense, pushing the Liberals left as they move right. The pitch by Martin and Layton that the Conservatives are in bed with the Separatists shows how right wing the NDP will go to get their consumer social democratic platform implemented.

The BQ will of course remain the good Bolsheviks and support those bills such as the Anti-Scab one, or those around EI or workers rights, that benefit workers. They will support direct no strings funding to Quebec. And they will support free trade. One of the few left wing parties to do so.

This is what makes Quebec’s position unique, its left wing supports a totally autonomous nation, and free trade in that case allows Quebec economic autonomy.

Unfortunately that also puts the BQ on the side of other free traders such as Ralph Klein, and Stephen Harper. What makes their version of free trade different than the right wings is they see the (Quebec) state as crucial to propping up and making their industries competitive.

It is this reason that the BQ will defend huge Federal Government handouts to Bombardier, and other Quebec industries, in order to keep them solvent. It is also because unlike other areas of Canada, these businesses are unionized. And those unions are the backbone of Quebec nationalism while the corporate bosses are convinenant Federalists, the compradour class in Quebec. During the referendum a telling picture was published across the press. On a tour of the Bombadier factory the President and PM were confronted by a massive sign hand painted and unfurled by the factory workers, it had one word on it; OUI.

The union culture in Quebec is a crucial part of the popular culture in that nation, and the nationalism of Quebec culture. It is a left wing nationalism, and it reflects the Social Democratic politics of Quebec unions and their political allies. It is a nationalism that calls for So So Solidaritie.

It was shown this spring when post secondary students across the province went on a month long general strike against the Charest government in Quebec.

Quebec labour and students have effectively used the General Strike and the Wild Cat strike since the seventies. In fact it has been so effective that the English Canadian Labour movement in Quebec continuously tries to undermine it whenever it happens.This occurred last year when the QFL, aligned to the CLC, got cold feet over a call from the CSN and other Quebec unions for a general strike against privatization plans of the Charest government.

There may be two solitudes in Canada, Quebec and the ROC, but there could be two Solidarities if the Canadian left got over its parliamentary fetish for Trudeau federalism.

The BQ under Duceppe offers the NDP and the CLC that challenge, to build a new federalism in Canada with Quebec as a partner rather than a conquered people. It is this principled position that makes Duceppe the Lenin of Canada. His refusal to consider gaining power in the Federal government, when the goal is Sovereignty, is a page out of Lenin’s work on Nationalism. The Quebec left has matured enough to produce its own Lenin.

So far So-So-Solidaritie has been missing from the Canadian labour movement and its party the NDP.The NDP's failure and outright refusal to form coalitions with the BQ for the last decade.The embrace of Canadian nationalism by the Canadian Labour movement during the Quebec referendum. These politifcal decisions shows the Canadian left is still haunted by the ghost of the David Lewis.

"When he was asked as to who is the main "enemy", he responded definitely "the communists".

Today, Jack Laytons NDP would answer; 'the seperatists in the BQ'.

Bloc Québécois

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QUEBEC... ON THE ROAD TO NATIONHOOD

Dear Friends,

Québec's march towards nationhood is nearing its goal, as the results of the most recent referendum so clearly showed. In a vote held October 30, 1995, close to half the population of Québec opted for sovereignty. For very many Quebecers, this is the only choice for taking their own destiny in hand.

Québec is a tolerant and diverse pluralistic society, and will remain so after it becomes sovereign. The sovereigntist project, which is founded on democratic principles, reflects this reality. It proposes a new openness toward the rest of the world as well as a new economic and monetary union with Canada. It seeks to end over thirty years of constitutional deadlock that have prevented Canada's two founding peoples from moving forward.

Québec aspires to possess all the tools necessary for its economic, social and cultural development. And like for many other peoples before us, this desire to control our future is contingent on the creation of our own country, Québec.

The members of Parliament of the Bloc Québécois would like share their project and their motivations with you. This document is a first step. We hope that the enclosed information will help you understand why so many Quebecers are committed to building a country of their own.

Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Québécois

Meech Lake, or Breaking the Faith Anew

In 1984, Brian Mulroney, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, was elected Prime Minister of Canada. During his election campaign, he promised to bring Québec back into "the Canadian constitutional fold with honor and enthusiasm." In response to this openness, Québec premier and Liberal Party leader Robert Bourassa, who had been elected in 1985, presented the rest of Canada with five minimum conditions that Québec deemed essential for it to recognize the 1982 Canadian Constitution. These conditions were the following:

1. Recognition of Québec as a distinct society

2. Veto over any change to the Constitution

3. Guarantees concerning the appointment of Québec judges to the Supreme Court of Canada

4. The right of provinces to opt out of federal programs with full financial compensation

5. Increased powers for Québec over immigration duties within its borders

In 1987, these five conditions were incorporated into the Meech Lake Accord1, an agreement in principle signed by the Prime Minister of Canada and the premiers of the ten provinces, including Québec's premier. The premiers committed to having the agreement ratified by their respec-tive legislatures by June 23, 1990.

The Accord sparked strong opposition, particularly in the English-speaking provinces where the concept of "distinct society" as a means of designating Québec was poorly received. To salvage the agreement and win the support of Manitoba and Newfoundland two provinces that had gone back on their signatures the federal government sought to limit the scope of the "distinct society" clause, the concept that was the source of the disaffection. Its efforts, however, were in vain. Under assault from these two provinces, this first attempt to reconcile the demands of Québec with the expectations of the other provinces met with failure. In Québec, this unfortunate outcome was perceived as a refusal by the rest of Canada to recognize its uniqueness.

The fallout from the Meech Lake episode was serious for the federal government. On May 22, 1990, one month before the death of the Meech Lake Accord, Lucien Bouchard, the Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Jean and federal Minister of the Environment, resigned from the Progressive Conservative Party to protest his government's attempts to limit the scope of the distinct society clause. Several Conservative MPs from Québec did likewise. They realized that Québec's only remaining option was sovereignty and, together, they formed the Bloc Québécois.

On August 13, 1990, Gilles Duceppe, the current leader of the Bloc Québécois, was elected as MP for the federal district of Laurier/Sainte-Marie in a by-election. He was the first-ever sovereignist member elected to the federal parliament.

In July 1992 following several months of discussions, the provinces and the federal government reached a new constitutional agreement the Charlottetown Accord2. The agreement addressed very few of Québec's demands and delivered far less than the five minimum conditions set out by Robert Bourassa at the time of the Meech Lake Accord. The new agreement weakened the concept of distinct society and got a very skeptical reception in Québec. Once again, a majority in Québec saw it as an attempt to negate their uniqueness.

On October 26, 1992, a referendum was held to give Canadians the opportunity to vote on the Charlottetown Accord. The results of this pan-Canadian exercise were telling: 57% of Québec voters felt that the agree-ment did not address Québec's traditional demands and rejected it; else-where in Canada, voters felt that the agreement gave too much away to Québec and also rejected it by 54% margin. The pact was broken for good.

"We entered the federation on the faith of a promise of equality in a shared undertaking and of respect for our authority in certain matters that to us are vital. "But what was to follow did not live up to those early hopes. The Canadian State contravened the federative pact, by invading in a thousand ways areas in which we are autonomous, and by serving notice that our secular belief in the equality of the partners* was an illusion.

"We were hoodwinked in 1982 when the governments of Canada and the English-speaking provinces made changes to the Constitution, in depth and to our detriment, in defiance of the categorical opposition of our National Assembly. "Twice since then attempts were made to right that wrong. The failure of the Meech Lake Accord in 1990 confirmed a refusal to recognize even our distinct character. And in 1992 the rejection of the Charlottetown Accord by both Canadians and Quebecers confirmed the conclusion that no redress was possible."

Québec will remain a strong proponent of free trade. It will continue to support the movement toward integration that emerged from the Summit of the Americas and that should lead to the creation of an continental free trade zone by 2005 at the latest. Once sovereign, it will also continue to adhere to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other similar agreements while seeking to liberalize its own economy further and promote the globalization of trade.

Gilles Duceppe: The Bloc enters a second decade

By ALLISON DUNFIELD
Globe and Mail Update

A former Communist, hospital orderly and son of a famous actor, Gilles Duceppe, 53, is still pursuing elusive Quebec sovereignty at the centre of Canadian federalism.

When Mr. Duceppe arrived in Ottawa 10 years ago as the first Bloc Québécois member, after winning a 1990 by-election, the intense, blue-eyed leader said he didn't expect the Bloc to be on Parliament Hill for a decade without achieving its goal of Quebec sovereignty.

“I would have liked our presence in Ottawa to have been over by now because it would have meant we'd reached our goal,'' Mr. Duceppe told The Globe and Mail in August on the anniversary of the creation of the party. The party says it will have no reason to exist if it achieves sovereignty for Quebec.

The party was founded by Lucien Bouchard, who is now Quebec Premier, when a group of disgruntled Tory MPs left their party to work in the Commons for an independent Quebec. In 1990, Mr. Duceppe was propelled into politics after winning in the riding of in Laurier-Ste-Marie, Que. The son of well-known Montreal actor Jean Duceppe, Mr. Duceppe was chosen by Mr. Bouchard to run after two former Parti Québécois cabinet ministers said no.

Born on July 22, 1947 in Montreal, he received a bachelor of arts from College Mont-Saint-Louis and studied political science at the University of Montreal. He became a separatist in 1967, the same year as René Lévesque. Soon after, he joined in the labour movement and communism. He belonged to the Communist Workers party for three years.

Before his political life, Mr. Duceppe was a union organizer for the Confederation des Syndicats Nationaux, and in his first election, he had the support of many community leaders and activists. One New Democratic Party leader actually withdrew from the by-election so she wouldn't harm Mr. Duceppe's chances of winning in 1990.

Mr. Duceppe has always had a strong sense of justice for francophones and has been known for his articulate manner in the House of Commons. He has been attempting to prove that the Bloc is not just a one-issue party - including issues such as the environment and foreign affairs in his campaign kickoff. Fighting organized crime is another major theme for a party, as Quebec has been beset by biker gang violence.

A day before the election was called, Mr. Duceppe predicted that the Bloc would win more than the 44 seats it has going into the race, but would not be drawn into detailed predictions. Some party officials have predicted more than 50 seats. On the eve of the election campaign, he also said the Bloc would be open to co-operating with other parties if a minority government is elected, although he would not agree to a coalition government.

A sore spot for the Bloc is the fact that two former MPs, Nic LeBlanc and Richard Bélisle, decided to join the Alliance and run for the party in Quebec. Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Bouchard have said the Alliance's views are too right-wing and too extreme to appeal to Quebeckers - especially on abortion and crime issues.

“We're also the best-placed to fight this right-wing current which is surging across Canada,” the leader said in August.

Mr. Duceppe has a record of supporting women. On Oct. 12, the Bloc proposed a $45-billion expansion of Canada's social-safety net over five years as a means of dealing with women's issues. Mr. Duceppe said the plan, including a $25-billion expansion of employment insurance and $4.2-billion to forgive debt of developing countries and expand foreign aid, would respond to the demands of the World March of Women.

As party leader, he is known for having a strong grip on members and has reprimanded those who miss meetings. And his leadership has not been without controversy. Mr. Duceppe's new book, book, Gilles Duceppe Par Lui Meme, was coincidentally released Friday, two days before the election call.

Duceppe ready to ride Bloc's wave of popularity

Angela Mulholland, CTV.ca News Staff
April 21, 2004 1:53 PM ET

Just a few short months ago, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe seemed doomed.

His party was drifting into obscurity, his MPs were defecting in droves to provincial politics and a high profile former Bloc MP, Jean Lapierre, emerged from retirement to join the Liberals calling the Bloc irrelevant and obsolete.

But then, like a gift from heaven, came the sponsorship scandal.

Known as "les commandites" in Quebec, the scandal has deeply eroded support for the Liberals in Quebec and given the Bloc a much-needed boost. Quebec voters, furious with how the scandal has tainted their province's image, are promising revenge in the next election.

A recent Ipsos-Reid poll found support for the Bloc in Quebec has risen to 45 per cent - 15 points higher than support for the Liberals.

While Duceppe, 56, must be pleased with the Bloc's resurgence, he may suspect it likely has little to do with him. Sure, his party has been relentless in its attacks against the Liberals and has helped to expose much of the sponsorship scandal. But the Bloc's popularity rarely has anything to do with Duceppe, says Michael Behiels, a history professor at the University of Ottawa.

"When Quebecers vote for the Bloc, they are not voting for Duceppe. They are voting for the ideas the party represents," Behiels told CTV.ca. "If they vote for the Bloc, it's almost always a protest vote against the current federal government."

When it comes to whom voters would choose as their leader, polls in Quebec show that Prime Minister Paul Martin runs way ahead of Duceppe -- even with voters seething at the Liberals.

"Duceppe is not seen as someone who could ever be prime minister," Behiels says.

In recent years, Duceppe and the Bloc have been floundering. The party's goals have seemed less relevant for many Quebecers. The economy is doing well, and even the hard-core sovereigntists recognize that the support needed to win secession is gone. With two referendums behind them, most Quebecers are not interested in talking about separation - at least for now.

"This is typical of the kind of ebb and tide of Quebec secessionism," says Behiels.

"And the tide has gone out for the moment."

Duceppe is savvy enough to know not to push the secession issue. Instead, he will campaign on old-fashioned Quebec nationalism, pushing for Quebec's rights in Ottawa with the slogan "Because We're Different."

That's not to say that Duceppe himself has abandoned the secession cause. No matter what the federal government promises to Quebec in terms of transfer payments and acknowledgement of the Quebec culture, Duceppe is almost certainly never going to be dissuaded from secession.

Duceppe's ties to sovereignty can be traced back to his childhood in Montreal. The Bloc leader has said he often endured taunts from anglophones during his school years, and resented listening to "God Save the Queen" before hockey games at the Montreal Forum.

He studied political science at the University of Montreal before his dissatisfaction with the status quo led him to work with the Communist Workers' Party in the late 70s. Duceppe now says that working with the communist movement was "a mistake," but a mistake made in the quest for change.

In 1977, Duceppe became a union negotiator for Confederation des Syndicats Nationaux, the Confederation of National Trade Unions, and earned a reputation for his passion for hard work.

According to those who know him, Duceppe is intelligent, disciplined and utterly focused on his goals. He is renowned for his willingness to work hard -- perhaps too hard, say those who have accused him of sometimes being too intense and humourless.

In 1990, a Tory MP named Lucien Bouchard took notice of Duceppe. When the Meech Lake constitutional deal fell apart and Bouchard formed the Bloc Quebecois, he sought out Duceppe and urged him to run for his new party in a byelection.

Buoyed by his reputation as a labour leader and perhaps a little by the name of his father -- the well-known Montreal actor, Jean Duceppe -- Gilles Duceppe became the federal party's first elected MP.

Over the next three years, Duceppe helped Bouchard and the quickly-expanding Bloc to drum up enough support to run candidates in most Quebec ridings in the 1993 election. With anger at the then-governing Tories raging, the Bloc Quebecois won 54 seats and became a formidable force in federal politics.

Bouchard left the Bloc in 1995 after the failed Quebec referendum to become premier. Two years later, Duceppe became the new leader of the Bloc and was almost immediately forced into a federal election. Despite his inexperience, his party won a respectable 44 seats. But support slipped further in the 2000 election. His party won only 38 seats and Duceppe was criticized for ineffective campaigning

When Duceppe came to Ottawa almost 15 years ago, he didn't expect the Bloc be around long before it would achieve its goal of Quebec sovereignty.

He was wrong.

"Duceppe has certainly failed in his mission to withdraw Quebec from the federation," Behiels says. "That's likely been very depressing for him."

What may be even more depressing is that the Bloc under Duceppe's leadership has withered, particularly in the last year or two.

Many of the die-hard separatists within the party have defected to join the action democratique du Quebec. The ADQ is a provincial party of conditional federalists, or "soft separatists" who want to work with Ottawa to reopen the constitutional question. The Bloc no longer serves their purpose and they believe they can better work at the provincial election to achieve their goals.

Beheils says the defections are less a statement on Duceppe's leadership and more of an indication of the party's relevance.

"It's simply a reflection of the reality of the Quebec political climate at the moment. It's a reflection that the Bloc is beginning to come apart."

For the moment, the tide has now once again turned in Duceppe's favour. The sponsorship crisis has dropped into Duceppe's lap and sent voters over to the Bloc by default. The timing couldn't be better.

Duceppe is showing that sometimes the best way to get ahead is to do nothing.

What remains to be seen is whether Duceppe can hold onto his seats and even earn a few more. If he can, he'll have saved his leadership -- at least momentarily -- and put off the question of the relevance of a separatist party for another day.

GILLES DUCEPPE

The current Bloc leader, Gilles Duceppe, is also the son of Jean Duceppe, a famous Quebec actor who helped found the PQ and the NDP branch in Quebec. The later is separated from the federal NDP, declared itself to be in favour of sovereignty, and subsequently merged in the Union des Forces Progressistes.

A new branch of the New Democratic Party of Canada, called New Democratic Party of Canada (Quebec), was refounded in 1990, and is active only on the federal level in the province. In 1995, the NPDQ changed its name to Parti de la démocratie socialiste and contested the 1998 Quebec election under this new name.

In 2002, it joined with the Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressiste (Union for a progressive alternative) and the Parti communiste du Québec (Communist Party of Quebec) to form the Union des forces progressistes (UFP). It remains an organized tendency within the UFP under the name Québec socialiste.

UFP members share the view that the answer to the national question, and by extension social emancipation, is sovereignty for the Quebec people. The UFP believes that Quebec should become a country, free from the federalist yoke, and should acquire the essential tools it needs to develop as a nation.

Duceppe is a native of Montreal, Quebec. He studied political science at the University of Montreal. In his youth, he advocated communism, and was a card-carrying member of the Communist Worker's Party. Duceppe later said his three-year membership in the Communist Worker's Party was a mistake brought on by a search for fundamental change [1] (http://www.uni.ca/duceppe.html). He later became a trade union negotiator.

In 1990, Duceppe was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the newly-formed Bloc Québécois in a by-election in Montreal's Laurier—Sainte-Marie riding. At the time, he was forced to run as an independent because the Bloc had not been registered by Elections Canada as a political party. All of the Bloc's other Members of Parliament had crossed the floor from either the Progressive Conservative Party or the Liberal Party earlier that year. Duceppe's victory in a by-election demonstrated, for the first time, that the party had electoral support in Quebec and was capable of winning elections. Previously, many pundits (and members of other parties) predicted that the Bloc would be able to gain the support of the voters.

In 1996, when Lucien Bouchard stepped down as Bloc leader to become leader of the Parti Québécois, Duceppe served as interim leader of the party until Michel Gauthier was elected later that year. However, Gauthier was forced out of the party leadership in 1997, and Duceppe became party leader and Leader of the Opposition.

Gilles Duceppe

Objective

To become the next Prime Minister of Canada

Experience

MP for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Leader

1990-present, Bloc Québecois: Montreal, QC

• Became the first elected MP in 1990, worked with Lucien Bouchard
• Served as Party Whip from 1993-1996
• Served as Leader of the Official Opposition from 1996-1997
• Won the leadership of the party in 1997

Union Negotiator, Confederation of National Trade Unions

1977-1990, CNTU: Montreal, QC

• Promoted the interests of workers and the development of peace and democratic initiatives while working for the Quebec chapter of the CNTU
• Facilitated negotiations between organizations and workers

Activist: Member of Company of Young Canadians, Communist Workers’ Party, President of Quebec Students’ Union

1966-1977, CYC, QSU, CWP: Montreal, QC

• Worked as president of the Quebec Students’ Union (1968-69)
• Involved with the Communist Workers’ Party in the late 1970s
• Involved with the Company of Young Canadians, an federal agency devoted to social change in Canada
• Developed leadership and communication skills while gaining experience in community-based and political organizations

Education

B.A. from Collège Mont-Saint-Louis

Late 1960s-70s, Collège Mont-Saint-Louis: Montreal, QC

• Studies in political science, Université de Montréal
• Worked as president of the Quebec Students’ Union (1968-69) and with the Communist Workers’ Party

Interests

Childhood hockey heroes were Maurice Richard and Dickie Moore.

Languages

Bilingual (French/English)

Additional Information

• Became a separatist in 1967
• Spent five years as a nurse in the late 1970s
• On June 15, 2004, spoke in Montreal about youth voting: « Qui a dit que les jeunes ne s’intéressaient pas à la politique? Peut-être est-ce la politique qui ne s’intéresse pas assez aux jeunes? » (“Who said that young people aren’t interested in politics? Maybe ‘politics’ isn’t taking enough of an interest in youth?”)

Workers' Communist Party of Canada

Wikipedia

Workers' Communist Party of Canada

The Workers' Communist Party of Canada was a Canadian political party that nominated candidates in the 1972 and 1980 general elections. For several years it published a weekly newspaper "The Forge/La Forge". The WCP was strongest in Quebec, but alienated many young Quebec progressive people because it declined to support independence for Quebec, although it did support Quebec's right to self determination.

None of its candidates was elected to the Canadian House of Commons, nor did they receive many votes.

The party followed a Maoist political program, and was influenced by the New Left.

See also: List of political parties in Canada

Quebec's Union of Progressive Forces -- a new party of the left

by Richard Fidler

A new left-wing political party has formed in Quebec in recent months and is rapidly winning members throughout the French-language province. The Union des forces progressistes (UFP) describes itself as "a federated party that seeks to become a mass alternative to the parties of neoliberalism

GILLES DUCEPPE
Biography from Toronto Star

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Former hospital orderly, former Communist and labor organizer. First ever elected MP for the separatist BQ.

And now - after winning the Bloc leadership with 52.8 per cent - leader of Her Majesty's loyal Opposition.

Largely unknown outside Quebec - except perhaps by fans of Canada AM's political panel, where he has frequently appeared - Duceppe is among the most popular federal politicians inside that province.

Duceppe is no Lucien Bouchard. He doesn't have the charisma or the spell-binding oratory.

But he has been by far one of the Bloc's most effective MPs, an intense man with searing blue eyes who can often drill the government in the daily Commons question period better than any other.

CALLED THOUGHTFUL

Liberal strategist Michael Robinson, a companion on the Canada AM panel, says Duceppe is thoughtful, engaging, has a good sense of humor, and is not cheap or mean-spirited.

"I quite like him, on a personal level," says Robinson.

On the political level, however, the 49-year-old Duceppe can be as tough as nails:

· In the Commons, he subtly but deliberately plays the race card, portraying the English-speaking rest of the country against French-speaking Quebec.

· He was once ejected from the House for calling Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps a liar.

· He contemptuously rejects warnings that there wouldn't be free trade between an independent Quebec and what would be left of Canada.

"Tell western farmers they will have to eat all their beef or watch the carcasses rot, instead of selling them to Quebec, (or) go to Oshawa and explain to workers in the automobile industry that they will have to go on unemployment insurance out of patriotism, because Canada cannot sell any more cars to those poor Quebecers," he once said.

Even some members of the Bloc consider him overbearing.

Duceppe probably could have been leader a year ago. After Bouchard left to become premier, he quickly emerged as the likely front runner among potential contenders.

But then he backed off when it appeared his candidacy might split the party.

In her 1995 book, The Bloc, author Manon Cornellier says Duceppe exercised unprecedented control over Bloc MPs as Bouchard's hand-picked party whip.

"At one point it went as far as surveillance of letters sent (by MPs) to party members," she wrote.

Swearing like a sailor, Duceppe also regularly reprimanded members who missed committee meetings or committed some other transgression, and irritated others by monopolizing contact with the press.

"He loves being at the microphone," one MP told Cornellier. "Even now he controls things completely."

Two years later, Duceppe may have mellowed somewhat. He was backed by more than 20 of the other 51 Bloc MPs and by the presidents of more than half of its 75 riding associations.

His rise has not been without controversy, however.

In 1994, he was briefly the centre of attention over a parliamentary mailing to his constituents in which he urged them to vote for a party for which his wife was a candidate in local school board elections.

And this year, he came under attack for his role in helping Bouchard's staff exploit House of Commons rules so that they could both collect their new salaries with him in Quebec city and get federal severance pay after being "fired" from their jobs here.

The son of the late and highly acclaimed actor Jean Duceppe, the new leader's roots in the separatist movement go back 30 years.

He hasn't done so lately, but in a 1991 interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Duceppe attributed his conversion to separatism to mean-spirited and colonial-minded anglophones.

Duceppe told the Citizen that when he and his friends went to hockey games in Montreal in the '60s, they would sing "O Canada" while the kids from English-speaking schools waved the Union Jack and sang "God Save the Queen."

Worse, when he tried to board a bus for students going to an English-speaking school one bitterly cold day, he and his friends were only allowed to stand in the aisles. When he complained, the story goes, an anglophone teacher slapped him.

"If you're talking about social justice, that event marked me," he told the Citizen.

Even so, Duceppe only became a separatist when René Lévesque did - in centennial year, 1967. And even then his attention quickly shifted to the labor movement and eventually to communism.

With the influence of the church sharply declining in those years, "we looked for another set of values, one that was all-enveloping, like the church," he told the Montreal Gazette.

For a lot of us it was communism. It was a rational explanation that had answers to all the questions. Like in the church, the answers were all there, written down. It gives you a sense of security."

Looking back now, he says his three-year membership in the Communist Workers party was a mistake brought on by a search for fundamental change.

PROPOSES UNION

Duceppe returned to separatism after the 1982 overhaul of the Constitution by Ottawa and the other nine provinces over the objections of Quebec.

But his plunge into federal politics only came in 1990 after the collapse of the Meech Lake accord, which was aimed at patching up the split of 1982.

Less than two months after Meech failed - helped in no small measure by Jean Chrétien, who by then was Liberal leader - Duceppe and the newly born Bloc led by Bouchard snatched a Liberal stronghold in east-end Montreal with a stunning 66 per cent of the vote.

The Bloc has never looked back.

From a rag-tag group of former Tories and Liberals under Bouchard in 1990, it has grown to a party of more than 100,000 members, helped defeat the Charlottetown accord in a 1992 referendum, swept 54 of the province's 75 federal seats in 1993, helped win the provincial election of 1994, and came within a whisker of winning the referendum on sovereignty in 1995.

Now, polls suggest, it is poised to sweep Quebec again in the federal election expected this year.

What sort of leader will he be?

History suggests he will be very much in the Bouchard mold.

Like Bouchard, he says the Bloc should act as a truly national opposition where necessary, speaking out on behalf of the poor or other Canadians regardless of where they live.

Like Bouchard - and unlike former premier Jacques Parizeau - he proposes a European-style union between an independent Quebec and what would be left of Canada.

GILLES DUCEPPE:


The sovereigntist

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- People who meet Gilles Duceppe for the first time are struck by his unwavering gaze. There's an intensity in those steely blue eyes that is almost disconcerting.

The Bloc Quebecois leader is utterly focused on his goals, say those who know him well.

His personal style is one of hard work and discipline.

"My assessment is that he is a very determined person," says Jean Lapierre, a former Bloc MP who used to sit beside Duceppe in the Commons.

"He's very serious. He's probably too intense, you know. He wouldn't laugh for a small joke. I think that's one of the points that he has to work on."

Duceppe, 49, rises early, and is known to call colleagues at 6 a.m. to discuss the day's news. For months before the leadership convention in March he averaged five hours' sleep a night.

Duceppe broke into politics as an organizer for the Communist Workers' Party (Marxist-Leninist). His left leanings continued later in life.

In the 1970s he spent five years working as a medical orderly on the night shift at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital to help organize a union there. "I didn't make money with that choice," he says wryly.

Although he regrets his involvement in the communist movement, he also sees a fundamental continuity in his career. "I was always involved, socially and politically. I didn't stop because I made an error."

His communist past has drawn some fierce criticism in the English-language media but it doesn't seem to be an issue in Quebec.

"There are so many former Marxists around in universities and all that, and most of them have become very quiet, moderate people," says Louis Balthazar, a political scientist at Laval University in Quebec City. "We're used to it."

QUICK HIT LEADER: Gilles Duceppe, replacing Michel Gauthier on March 15, 1997. GOAL: Wants to achieve sovereignty by the year 2000 ... Says it is not necessary for Quebec to eliminate its deficit before holding another referendum. BEGINNINGS: First paying job was with Company of Young Canadians, an organization set up by former PM Pierre Trudeau's government to tap youthful idealism ... In late 1970s joined Maoist group which later evolved into Communist Workers' Party (Marxist-Leninist) ... Did not vote in 1980 referendum since communists placed top priority on solidarity of Canadian workers ... Has described communist involvement as an error. FEDERAL EXPERIENCE: Was first MP to win election under the banner of the Bloc Quebecois ... Ran for leadership following resignation of Bloc founder Lucien Bouchard, but lost to Michel Gauthier.

Unlike some of his rivals in this year's contest for the separatist party's leadership, Duceppe insisted on a party program covering all major issues. He says the program is not limited to defending the interests of Quebec.

"When we're discussing family trusts, when we're discussing employment insurance, when we're discussing peace missions around the world, we're talking for Quebecers but not only Quebecers."

However, most of the questions raised by the Bloc in the House of Commons relate specifically to Quebec concerns. The overriding theme -- that Quebec is being shortchanged and suppressed -- is constant.

Duceppe insists that his commitment to Quebec sovereignty does not equate with hostility to the rest of Canada.

"We need Canadians to live a quiet revolution like we did in the '60s. Canadians need to discover themselves without Quebec."

The grandson of an Englishman, Duceppe says he has no grudge against English Canada.

He admits some unpleasant encounters with anglophones in childhood. In grade six, he once was slapped by an anglo teacher -- and promptly slapped her back.

He denies that the incident colored his thinking. He notes that when he entered his first formal debate in college, he argued for federalism -- and won.

"I had the wrong cause, but I was a good debater," says Duceppe, with a chuckle.

He insists Quebec sovereignty would not mean the destruction of Canada.

"We want a strong Canada beside us with a strong culture. We don't want Canadians to lose their culture to the United States."

He is a strong defender of the so-called partnership option, which foresees an independent Quebec working in harmony with the other provinces.

His personal friends include federalists such as New Democrat Svend Robinson. When Duceppe and his wife took a holiday in Vancouver some time ago, they stayed in Robinson's apartment.

"He (Duceppe) is a very progressive member of Parliament," says Robinson. "He's very solid on many of the issues that I and New Democrats are concerned about.

"Obviously we differ fundamentally on the issue of Quebec's place in Canada, though certainly not on the right of Quebecers to make that decisison."

Duceppe has been portrayed as a puppet of Bloc founder Lucien Bouchard, now Quebec's premier. He readily confirms that Bouchard is a friend, but strongly denies being a yes-man. He thinks Bouchard likes him for precisely that reason.

"Real friends can tell you when they disagree. There's many, many, many, many people around (who) always agree with you just to please you, and those are not friends."

In the weeks following the leadership convention in March, Duceppe's critics in the Bloc have fallen silent. Even runner-up Yves Duhaime, who initially refused to rally to Duceppe's leadership, has agreed to run on his slate against Prime Minister Jean Chretien in Saint-Maurice.

Balthazar of Laval University predicts that the Bloc will remain a potent force in the coming election, because many Quebecers see no other party they can count on to defend their interests.

"The Liberals are doing so bad with the French-speaking Quebec population that I guess any candidate would be better than the Liberals so far.

"Since the Conservatives are doing so little -- (Conservative Leader Jean) Charest is concentrating in Ontario -- I guess the Bloc will have an easy time."

Alberta's next CEO

Will he? Won't he? When will he?
Who Cares! Bring on our new CEO

King Ralph is playing coy about when he will actually abdicate, err resign. Pundits say after the Queen comes and Alberta celebrates its one hundred years of Solitude, he will step down. Others say maybe in 2006.

Ralph says 'Nah', maybe 2008. Oh he is such a kidder our Fuerher. He doesn't want to be overshadowed in our Centennial Year by a leadership race. Even though one is already happening in the Tory backrooms.

Which is probably the reason that the Tories are so busy that they have no time to organize a proper birthday bash, with cake and fireworks and twelve months of events.

Why bother with a leadership race? Everyone knows that the former Finance Minister who slayed the Deficit Dragon, is the chosen one of the Calgary Elite who run the Progessive Conservative Association Inc. And their chosen son is none other than the ultimate former Tory turned corporate shill; Jim Dinning.

Dinning the ideal icon of Corporate Calgary is the fair haired lad being groomed to become the next CEO of the Party of Calgary and thus the CEO of Alberta.

Dinning is the ultimate corporate lobbyist, and was instrumental in pushing for electrical deregulation when he sat on the Transalta Board until this January. While Ralph takes the heat for being TransAlta's bum boy, Dinning raked in the bucks.

And he has benefited from Alberta's privatization of its liqour control boards. The privatized liquour monopolies made their profits off the governments fire sale prices of the businesses and properties and union busting with the subsequent drastic cuts to workers wages and benefits) They made so much money in fact they have set up an investment trust fund to avoid paying taxes on their ill gotten gains at taxpayers expense.

In fact every move of the Alberta government made to end its involvement in "being in the business of business", has benefited Jim Dinning and the Calgary PC Corprate Elite.

Dinning has benefited from the Klein Revolution in a big way, and with the backing of the Kleinistas he is being groomed for annointment as Calgary's next big CEO to run Alberta.

Sure there are other would be contenders for the Throne but they are just red herrings and smoke screens to put a democratic veneer on the Dinning Coronation.

The Vatican was more democratic in its leadership race last week in comparison to the Party of Calgary.

And after all since it is the Party of Calgary it will be the Calgary Gang that decides who will be crowned and they are backing Dinning. The rest of the Province can just butt out, thank you very much.

Hail to the Chief. Forget the leadership race, lets get on with the annointment.

Corporate connections
Alberta's former treasurer has built a power base in the private sector but ties to the business elite may not be a plus in returning to politics
Gary Lamphier
The Edmonton Journal
Saturday, April 30, 2005

Dinning quietly left his post at TransAlta in January to gear up for the coming Tory leadership race, and to assemble a campaign team that includes longtime Klein advisers Rod Love and Hal Danchilla. But the TransAlta connection hasn't been severed. Dinning still provides consulting services, says Snyder.

"Jim can think big, he's got some good vision. But more importantly, he's a very good consensus builder.

"And when you try to bring coalitions together, those are clearly superb skills. That's the one area where he has continued to do some consulting work for us," he adds.

Dinning's corporate circles extend far beyond TransAlta, however.

The smooth-talking Queen's University grad, who counts former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed (described as a longtime family friend) and ex-provincial treasurer Lou Hyndman as his political mentors, sits on nearly a dozen company boards.

The list includes major Toronto Stock Exchange-listed firms such as Shaw Communications, Finning International, Parkland Income Fund, Russel Metals, and Liquor Stores Income Fund.

"What he brings to the boardroom table is his government relations experience, and also a lot of overall corporate experience," says Irv Kipnes, CEO of Edmonton-based Liquor Stores Income Fund, Alberta's largest liquor retailer.

"A lot of our time in the few months we've been a public company has been taken up with governance issues. But Jim has been very good at focusing on the business," he says.

Dinning also serves on the boards of several smaller public firms, including Oncolytics Biotech, JED Oil -- a Calgary junior that went public in the U.S. last year -- Time Industrial, and Western Financial Group.

At Western Financial, Dinning's perks include a Calgary office to go along with his chairman's title.

"Jim joined our board about three years ago, and he was active right off the bat. He's good with financials, good on the soft stuff, good on strategy and he's very quick," says CEO Scott Tannas, son of former Tory MLA Don Tannas, who spent 15 years in the legislature.

"Usually most directors have a hole where they're not good on the soft stuff, or they're not good on the strategy, or they're not good on numbers. Jim doesn't have that. His battery is really strong. He doesn't have any weaknesses in business -- he gets it all," says Tannas.

Dinning is also a director of two privately owned companies, Vancouver-based Great Canadian Railtour Co., and Elluminate Inc., a Calgary e-learning startup.

In his board roles with larger public companies, Dinning typically earns five-figure annual retainer fees, while rubbing elbows with some of the nation's most powerful corporate execs, business tycoons and politicos.

The Come Back Kid

As the Toronto Star poll says; a week in politics is a long time. And this week was the return of the Contender.

With the week off from Parliment, the Party Leaders swept on Ontario to lobby for votes, to see if there is an appitite to kick the Liberals out of office.

Paul Martin did a Hail Mary by apologizing to Canadians and Quebecois for six minutes on TV last weekend, and then agreeing to a new budget deal with the NDP by Monday.

That left Harper 'flabergasted' and angry, and his tone was vitrolic. This week was a mini 'annus horriblus' for the Conservatives. Come hell or high water Harper would show he was not impotent and damn them lefties he would call an election. Knowing full well he had the the backing of the permanent opposition party in the house; the BQ.

Harper declared class war in front of a partisan crowd of business people. How dare they use taxpayers money to benefit....ummmmm.....taxpayers., Harper declared. Instead they should have given tax cuts to the corporations. See my comment: Mr. Harper Friend of the Working Man.

Well that didn't fly in Canada this week. It was Harper the dodo, lots of flap no lift.

As Brian Laghi of the Globe and Mail writes today:

"As for Mr. Harper, it appears his baggage from the Reform Party and last year's election campaign, along with his somewhat aggressive performance during the past week, have combined to brand him in the public's eye as a man with a hidden agenda. Recall, also, that the Reform Party was seen by many as a party of anger and Mr. Harper's aggressive performance in the wake of Mr. Martin's s national televised address, which he called a sad spectacle, may well remind them of what it used to be about."

Instead the Martin Layton one two punch was delivered squarely on Harpers jaw, and all the poll results show that. Martin maintained his parties status quo position in the polls, basically patching a badly leaking life raft. If an election is called now it will be to return a Minority Government either Liberal or Conservative.

The winners this week were the NDP and Jack Layton as the Toronto Star points out:

"New Democrats have reason to cheer today's poll results, with Graves saying: "Not since the salad days of the 1980s have the NDP been poised to exert such influence on the Canadian political scene." The NDP tops all other parties as the second choice, with 24 per cent of respondents saying they would move their vote to Layton's party."

The announcements yesterday of the First Provincial funding agreements for Day Care were between the provincial NDP governments of Manitoba and Sasktchewan and the Liberal Feds further cemented the Layton Martin accord.

The NDP bailed out Martin in a big way and stopped the Conservatives in their tracks.

While Martin made lots of money announcements the key is that the budget must get passed. Not getting the Atlantic Accord pulled out of the budget, is the fallback card for Martin.

Layton did the next best thing and took his first announcement about the Liberal NDP Budget to Halifax and announced that if the Accord was to be finalized then the new budget would have to pass. That meant Harpers Atlantic Conservatives would have to support the NDP Liberal budget. It was an excellent parry of the Conservatives whining.

And if the Conservatives are not going to look like the opportunist amatuers they are they may have to postpone their attempt to "end the Liberals misery" until the budget vote. And even then they can't count on every member of their party or the BQ will be in the house for that vote.

Suddenly next weeks rush to judgement by Harper looks more like it may become a case of the mouse that roared. As the Globe and Mail points out:

"Finally, Mr. Harper finds himself with little support in Quebec and actually running third in urban parts of Canada with populations of more than a million. Indeed, the New Democrats are the second choice of more Canadians than are the Tories."

The winners this week, the people of Canada, with an improved pro-people budget. Even Bono would be pleased.

And the polls show that Harpers drop coincides with a rise in support for the left, the NDP and Greens. Not the Tories. If Liberal votes went anywhere it was to the left.

POLL PUTS LIBERALS IN FRONT
Martin's wait-for-Gomery campaign appears to strike a chord with voters
By CAMPBELL CLARK
With a report from Shawna Richer in Halifax
Friday, April 29, 2005 Globe and Mail

However, as the Liberals and Conservatives batter away at each other, many Canadians appear dissatisfied with both. The poll found that in addition to the 18 per cent of respondents who support the NDP, 10 per cent supported the Green Party, which has never elected an MP. And Liberal supporters are twice as likely to switch to the NDP as to the Conservatives, the poll found. In Quebec, the Bloc appears set to romp to a sweep of most of the province's 75 seats. That support is unusually firm: only 6 per cent of Bloc supporters said they could switch to the Liberals. "The Liberals have nothing to pick up. Nothing," Mr. Gregg said. "They are gone in the province of Quebec." Support for the other federalist parties in Quebec stands at 9 per cent for the Conservatives, 8 per cent for the NDP, and a surprising 12 per cent for the Greens. "None of the federalist parties are right now satisfactory options for federalist voters," Mr. Gregg said. The survey of 1,000 Canadians was conducted between April 24 and 27. It has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent 19 times out of 20.

*****

Liberal: 30%

Conservative: 28%

NDP: 18%

Bloc: 14%

Green: 10%

3% of Canadians say the government is doing an 'excellent job'

24% say it is doing a 'very poor' job

9% of Quebeckers support the Tories; 12% back the Green Party

61% of Canadians are willing to wait until Gomery reports before voting

49% say their opinion of Paul Martin has worsened in the past year


POLLS SHOW TORIES HAVE LOST THEIR LEAD
Fri, 29 Apr 2005
CBC News
OTTAWA - Two new polls show the federal Conservative party has lost its lead in public opinion across Canada in the past week.

STRATEGIC
COUNSEL GPC
LIB 30 27
CON 28 25
NDP 18 11
BQ 14 11
GREEN 10 8

GPC: margin of error 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Strategic Counsel: margin of error 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The two national polls, by GPC Research and Strategic Counsel, each have a margin of error that puts the Liberals and Conservatives in a statistical tie. But they are a substantial turnaround from other recent polls, which have shown the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals by as much as seven percentage points. "As it stands now, it looks like there's still life in the Liberal party, which comes as a surprise for a number of people," Gail Haarsma, vice-president of research for GPC, told the Canadian Press. Her firm interviewed 1,215 voters by telephone between Monday and Wednesday of this week. Allen Gregg, chairman of Strategic Counsel, said his firm's polling, done for the Globe and Mail newspaper and the CTV network, indicated there is a ceiling to Conservative support. "For example, they are running third in cities over a million in population right now, at 18 per cent, behind the New Democrats," he told the Globe. Strategic Counsel polled 1,000 Canadians between Sunday and Wednesday. Both polls were taken after Prime Minister Paul Martin's television address last week, in which he said an election should not be held until Justice John Gomery has made his report on the federal sponsorship scandal.

And a third poll, taken just in Quebec, indicates support for separatism may not be as high as another survey showed earlier this week. The poll, released this week by the CROP polling firm, found only 47 per cent of Quebecers favoured sovereignty, compared with the 54 per cent support a Léger Marketing poll reported on Wednesday. The two polls had comparable sample sizes of about 1,000 people, and both were accurate within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.


MARTIN PUSHES HIS WAY BACK
LIBERALS PULL AHEAD OF TORIES

REVERSE SLIDE IN ONTARIO SUPPORT

SUSAN DELACOURT
OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
TORONTO STAR
APRIL 30,2005

OTTAWA—The political alliance between federal Liberals and New Democrats is helping push Prime Minister Paul Martin's government onto the comeback trail, according to a new Toronto Star poll.

The poll, by EKOS Research Associates, was the first to be conducted after Martin made his deal with NDP Leader Jack Layton to help save the government. It shows the Liberals rebounding and back ahead of the Conservatives nationally after a dramatic plunge earlier this month.

Martin's Liberals now stand at 32.5 per cent among decided voters, compared to 30.5 per cent for the Tories and 19 per cent for the NDP. Just three weeks ago, the Liberals bottomed out at 25 per cent while Conservatives were rising with 36 per cent support nationally.

In Ontario, the Liberals have climbed back to 39 per cent while the Tories are at 33; a near complete reversal of results a couple of weeks ago and more in keeping with the province's Liberal-friendly tradition. With 106 seats, Ontario will be the main battleground in the election.

In fact, overall, it seems that most of the dramatic trends witnessed at the beginning of this month have now reversed, the Star-La Presse poll shows, and Martin's new pact with Layton could be proving to be a helpful factor in the Liberal bounceback. On Tuesday night, Martin and Layton announced an agreement that forces the Liberals to rewrite the budget in return for NDP support in securing its passage.

When EKOS asked respondents which federal political alliance made them least comfortable, a full 59 per cent declared unease with a Conservative-Bloc Québécois alliance, compared to 33 per cent who said a Liberal-NDP pact.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has declared that he wants to put the government "out of its misery" by voting with the Bloc to defeat the Liberals, even with the NDP siding with Martin.

Martin and Layton have been saying for several days that Harper is now in bed with the separatists in an attempt to force an early election and prevent major progressive programs such as daycare and public housing from going ahead.

Today's poll shows that Martin and Layton's efforts may be having some effect. EKOS found that public anger is abating over the dramatic allegations of kickbacks and tax-dollar abuse revealed earlier this month at Justice John Gomery's inquiry into the sponsorship scandal.

Harper's similar fanning-out efforts this week, on the other hand, seem not to be helping. Indeed, EKOS found that 50 per cent of Canadians "just can't see" the Conservative leader being elected as prime minister. Nor are Harper's chances improved when people see him as an ally of the Bloc.

"While Stephen Harper may see an NDP-(Liberal) alliance as unholy, his reliance on the BQ to dislodge the Liberals may well constitute the Conservatives' most glaring exposed flank," EKOS president Frank Graves says.

"Paul Martin and Jack Layton are regarded as a far less frightening political couple; rather, it is Stephen Harper and Gilles Duceppe who are seen as disturbing and beyond odd bedfellows."

But the Liberals aren't out of the woods. Buried among generally positive news for the Liberals are these results:

A majority of Canadians, 60 per cent, feel it's time for a new government in Ottawa. Still, that's roughly the same number who thought so a year ago, too.

Anger over the sponsorship issue is still running higher than anger over any early election call. While 52 per cent of Canadians said they would be inclined to punish a party at the ballot box over the sponsorship issue, only 35 per cent said they would hold an early election against any party when making their voting choice.

"..(Stephen Harper's) reliance on the BQ to dislodge the Liberals may well constitute the Conservatives' most glaring exposed flank."

Frank Graves, EKOS president

Martin is seen more as part of the problem than as part of the solution. While 32 per cent said he had no part in the sponsorship scandal and deserves credit for calling the inquiry, almost twice that number — 62 per cent — agreed he should be accountable because he was a key player in the government that ushered in the program.

In Quebec, things are not so rosy for Martin. The Bloc Québécois stands at 49 per cent, the Liberals, 21, NDP, 14, and Conservatives, 11.

But on a countrywide basis, Martin seems to be holding his own, relative to Harper. Overall, 36 per cent of respondents identified Martin as the best leader for the country as a whole, compared to 28 per cent who saw Harper through that lens.

When respondents were asked which leader was best for the interests of particular provinces, Martin was seen as best for Ontario, B.C. and the Atlantic, while Harper scored highest in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The poll was conducted this week, from Tuesday to Thursday, among 1,212 Canadians of voting age (18) or older. The results are deemed valid to within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error increases when results are subdivided by region.

Still, this new EKOS poll shows that a week can indeed be a lifetime in politics and especially a week in which political leaders have been engaged in such frenetic activity. Martin, Harper and Layton inundated Ontario with visits this week, while the Liberal-NDP deal was being negotiated and Conservatives were weighing the public appetite for an election.

The poll shows more Canadians would like to see a majority government than a minority government, a reversal of attitudes seen in February 2004. But is also finds a public resigned to a minority, with 69 per cent predicting that as the likely outcome of the next election.

Citizen Klein

Klein sparks controversy with energy bill comments
Global Calgary

Electricity operators 'not too happy' with Klein

Don't sign long-term, premier says
Calgary Herald, April 28, 2005

Electricity contracts dog Klein
CBC News
Long-term electricity contracts may be the right choice for some consumers, Premier Ralph Klein said Wednesday, a day after saying people should tread carefully before signing one.
Klein said he had only been speaking for himself, and that customers have to make up their own minds.
"It's no different than buying a cable service or telephone or any other kind of service or commodity," he said. "You make sure that the deal is right for you. Now, the deal that is right for me is a regulated rate option." On Tuesday, Klein said the regulated rate option – which is set by the Energy and Utilities Board and is cheaper than the contract rate – will likely be extended when it expires in July 2006.

When is the Premier not speaking as Premier? When he is quoted as the Premier after being asked a question as the Premier about Electrical De-Regulation. Flip Flop Ralph suddenly was speaking as Citizen Ralph, as Consumer Ralph, musing out loud, misquoted by the media.

He was caught in a lie again, saying one thing and then after firmly removing his foot from his mouth and putting his brain in gear he realized what he had said. Or perhaps he just heard himself on the news. And all of a sudden his sage advice as Fureher to his Volk, is suddenly just 'a personal opinion of a consumer' like you and me.

What started this whole thing was the release Tuesday of the Utilities Board Report by the NDP a report the Government still refuses to release to the public.
The report damns electrical deregulation as a failure for consumers, the Volk of Alberta and a win for utility companies, surprize surprize.

The report rejects all of the electricity pricing options proposed by the Department of Energy. The list of government proposals “does not provide consumers with a fair choice” (p. 6), and is being driven by retailers who are “self-serving and disingenuous” (p. 6). The report lambasts the Department of Energy by stating: “Again, we note with great concern that consumer protection does not seem to be a criterion under the current consideration of the Department in determining its retail policy” (p. 12).

When questioned about the report Klein went on the defensive and made his comments as Premier saying that he would consider leaving regulation of the market, such as it is, price in place beyond this summer. Then his caucus got to him slapped him upside the head and said; "what are you thinking?".

On Tuesday, Klein said the regulated rate option – which is set by the Energy and Utilities Board and is cheaper than the contract rate – will likely be extended when it expires in July 2006. Energy Minister Greg Melchin said Wednesday that no decision had been made about what will happen with the regulated rate, but that they will know by the end of June.NDP Leader Brian Mason said the premier is giving conflicting messages."The premier and his [former] energy minister [Murray Smith] encouraged people to go into long-term electricity contracts as a way to avoid volatility and high prices in the electricity market," Mason said. "So now these people who've taken the premier's advice and are locked in to five-year contracts at the highest rates in the province's history, they're being told by the premier they made a bad deal."That kind of arrogance just takes your breath away." CBC News

The written report here does not do justice to the press conference recording of our Ralph having a hissy fit literally screaming at reporters that he was miss quoted. The froth and spittle actually managed to come through the speakers on the radio.

Royal Ralph's rant made Howard Deans performance look mild.

Wanna piss off King Klein? Raise the issue of Electrical De-Regulation and it being a failure and he literally has a spaz attack and goes ballistic. He did that after the first year of de-regulation when he was questioned in a rate TV interview where he began berating the reporter, turning red and blowing his cool on TV. Any mention of the failure of this pet project of privatization and Klein flips out. It's one of his few achilles heels.

Klein knows that Energy De-Regulation is a failure, and has no where to go since he painted himself into a corner defending it on behalf of his good friend; Steve West (who came up with the idea) and the folks at Transalta (who pushed for it so they could sell electricity into the US market).

Oh yeah former Tory Cabinet Minister Lou Hyndman is a director at Transalta. And current candidate for Ralphs job, Jim Dinning was on the TransAlta Board till this January. They pushed for the deregulation of electricity, in order to facilitate TransAltas sole ability to market blended electricity across Canada and into the the USA. TransAlta is the fourth largest private electrical supplier in North America. It's a Contiental player and acts like one at the expense of the Volk of Alberta.

Ah nothing like Tory politics to leave the Volk of Alberta at the mercy of predatory monopoly corportations.

Better that of course than the state controling the monopoly.

Rip-off rates and snake-oil salesmen
Electricity Hucksters backed by government; consumers pay up to 25% more

Here is another example of not letting the facts get in the way of the privatization ideology of the Alberta Reich.

Like the fact that electrical deregulation has increased costs to consumers both directly in electrical costs and indirectly by increased gas prices. The government de-regulated gas powered electrical utilities as gas prices were skyrocketing, this from a government that has only one resource gas and oil, another Tory duh'oh, that.

Then there is the fact de-regulation has increased the inflation rate in the province, which indicates prices increasing NOT decreasing as promised.

Alberta now has the highest utility costs in Canada.

While little old Medicine Hat the city in the South of the province has the lowest utility rates in Canada. Hmmm hows that, oh yeah they own their own utilities.

Now TransAlta who was the mover and shaker behind the de-regulation putsch is backing off.

Race to electrical deregulation in N.A. now in retreat, says TransAlta boss
EDMONTON (CP) - The race to deregulate electricity in North America has stalled, leaving power producers in an investment limbo, says the president of TransAlta Corp., one of the country's biggest privately owned electricity generators. Stephen Snyder told TransAlta's annual meeting Friday that the political situation is one reason why the utility is operating plants in Mexico where it has locked in 25-year, government-backed power contracts. "In many North American provinces and states the race to deregulation . . . has turned into a retreat," said Snyder, who is also CEO of the Calgary-based utility. "As a result it's not clear if new plants will operate under regulation, deregulation or partially regulated rules.

Funny that, its enough to make one Ralph.

KLEIN'S ELECTRICITY MESS JOLTS ALBERTANS
Charles Frank
Calgary Herald
Saturday, April 30, 2005

: Backers cringe when premier talks tough subscriber only content

It's always best to take many of Premier Ralph Klein's comments with a grain of salt.

He has, after all, been known to "reconstruct" those public utterances that later prove impolitic or in need of "clarification" because they do not jibe with either government policy or the mood of the electorate.

And this week's verbal two-step (one step forward, one back) on electricity contracts, which saw the premier first warn Albertans about signing long-term contracts and then do his best to rescind that political faux pas, is a classic example of a process we have all come to recognize.

That having been said, no amount of reconstruction, clarification or backtracking will fix the damage done to the government's electricity deregulation initiative -- and in passing the much vaunted Alberta Advantage -- by the premier's jarring comments this week.

By intimating that (a) the regulated rate for small businesses and residential homeowners is likely to be extended beyond 2006 -- perhaps indefinitely, and (b) that it is buyer beware for consumers who succumb to the long-term sales pitches of electricity retailers operating in the province, he has managed to kick the already wobbly legs out from under the province's electricity deregulation initiative.

That, in turn, raises the question of whether a province where you can't be sure if your electricity costs are going to be manageable -- or predictable -- is a welcoming place for people to set up businesses, not to mention residences.

I expect that thudding noise you heard resonating through the streets of Calgary following publication of the premier's declarations was that of sales people at companies like Direct Energy, Enmax or Alberta Energy Savings, pounding their heads against their respective office walls in disbelief.

Scandal in the Alberta Stock Exchange

Updated April 28, 2005

Business community not worried about Alberta Securities controversy: Klein

Welcome to the Alberta Reich. Once again, Herr Klein has allowed the fox to run the hen house. In doing so the all too predictable has happened.

Instead of admitting that provincial regulation (or non regulation ) of the Alberta stock exchange is a FAILURE and a SCANDAL of insider trading proportions. The Alberta Reichstadt circles the wagons in defense of its own, while Ralph goes golfing.

Klein still confident of the ASC
EDMONTON - Premier Ralph Klein says he does not believe investors are worried about the performance of Alberta's securities watchdog despite its recent controversies.

The Finance Minister at first dismisses media reports on abuses and questionable practices inside the ASC. Now she is supposedly acting on them. But the ASC see's itself as being above government oversight, ah the conundrum of self regulation comes home to roost with the Tories.

Alta securities commission says auditor general can't see enforcement files
Thursday, April 28, 2005
EDMONTON (CP) - The Alberta auditor general's investigation into the Alberta Securities Commission has hit a snag. Commission officials say they failed to reach an agreement with Fred Dunn about the parameters of his probe and that if they can't find common ground, they will refuse him access to their files. ASC spokesman Rod McLeod said he's not sure where the two sides go now. "We told Mr. Dunn that his proposed scope of audit may require the ASC to breach statutes and legal obligations placed upon us by the Securities Act (and) that we cannot and will not do," McLeod told reporters in Calgary. He said they are waiting for a written response from Dunn. "If we can live with the (parameters), we'll proceed. If we cannot, we'll have no alternative but to deny Mr. Dunn access to documents we feel statutorily obligated to protect."

Finance Minister Shirley McClellan tried to referee the two provincial bodies Thursday, saying she is confident both sides can work it out and the probe will go ahead. "I have every confidence that the auditor general and the securities commission and their legal people will interpret the appropriate sections and ensure that within the bounds of the legislation that the auditor general will receive all the information that's pertinent to his investigation," she told the legislature. She pointed out that both bodies were creatures of the Alberta legislature and said she was confident they will sort out who has authority to do what.

ASC Restrictions Ruin Any Chance of Proper Investigation, Taft

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft is calling the Alberta Securities Commission’s efforts to restrict the Auditor General’s investigation of the commission proof positive that the review will fall well short of getting to the bottom of recent allegations.

ASC sets restrictions on audit information

By DAVE EBNER

Friday, April 29, 2005 Page B10 Globe and Mail

The Alberta Securities Commission has placed restrictions on the information the Alberta Auditor-General can look at in an audit of the regulator. The ASC, which is dealing with a controversy over questionable enforcement practices, said the Alberta Securities Acts deems all information connected to enforcement matters to be confidential. The Auditor-General is planning to release a report on its audit in July and this week outlined specific things it wanted to look at, including procedures the ASC uses to ensure that "conclusions or decisions are adequately documented." The ASC restrictions "ruin any chance of proper investigation," said Kevin Taft, leader of Alberta's Opposition Liberals.

Instead of admitting there is a serious if not criminal situation inside the ASC the Finance Minister calls on the workers to blow the whistle on their bosses. And, again predictably, when they do they get fired by their ASC bosses in order to cover up their excesses and abuses. Catch 22.

De-Regulation, self regulation, all the so called free market solutions to the crisis of the Capitalist state are applied here in Alberta with Republican-lite glee. As a result of the Wild West atmosphere of the oil boom without end, the serious flaws in the de/un regulated market are swept up under the carpet of oh look there’s another gusher.

How many failures of privatization and deregulation must occur before the Alberta Volk wake up and smell the coffee. Let me count the ways……Ralph’s offer of being hung, drawn and quartered still stands…..when will we take him up on it…..

The scandals in Alberta, the democratic deficit, the pocketing of taxpayers money for contract work that wasn’t tendered nor ever done, by a Tory insider, the failure of electrical deregulation, the current ASC scandal, every problem in Ottawa is once again mirrored in Alberta.

This is what happens when political parties are in power too long and without opposition that can defeat them. Such was the case after eight years of Mulroney’s Conservatives in Ottawa and after ten years of the Chrétien Liberals in power.

In Alberta the Party of Calgary has been in power for 33 years, and Ralph has been in power for 11 of those. Just think of all the skeletons in the Legislature that they have accumulated.

Below are the current updates, as they say watch this space as more of the facts behind this MAJOR STOCK EXCHANGE SCANDAL are revealed.

Following the updates are the April 1 and March 23 stories that exposed the scandal in the ASC. See the comments section where I have added the news updates between April 1 and April 23 when the ASC bosses began their campaign of intimidation of the staff.

Click here for Google news links to all the stories on the ASC. This just gets better and better, and the silence from the Government or at least Ralph is deafening. This is the Ad scam of Alberta.

THE ASC WITCH-HUNT BEGINS

The Alberta Government began investigating the ASC because of pressure from the media and the financial industry.

The audit they have called for has resulted in exposing ASC staff to arbitrary dismissal by their ASC bosses for being Whistle Blowers in the ASC...

According to the provincial Liberals; The Witch Hunt is On.

Internal Audit Committee an Extension of PC Party into Government

Kevin Taft, leader of the opposition Liberals, said an out-of-province investigator is needed to clear up the "sorry mess." "We basically have a clubby situation in which Tories are investigating Tories . . . and lo-and-behold the real picture never emerges," Mr. Taft said. "There is too much smoke for there not to be some serious fire burning there." Globe and Mail April 26 2005

Alberta Securities Commission staff implore finance minister to step in

Canadian Press

Thursday, April 28, 2005

EDMONTON (CP) - Alberta Finance Minister Shirley McClellan has been implored by staff at the Alberta Securities Commission to intervene in a controversy that has dogged the regulator for months.

In a two-page letter to the minister dated Monday, 35 current commission employees accuse two senior officials of "bullying and intimidating behaviour." The result, they say, is that the work of the ASC, Canada's second-largest market regulator, is suffering and staff are afraid to co-operate with three investigations currently underway.

The employees complain specifically about the actions of chairman Stephen Sibold, whose contract expires next week, and executive director David Linder. Neither man was available for comment.

Sibold and Linder have denied earlier allegations of misconduct at the ASC, including interference in investigations of Alberta Securities Act violations.

The letter from employees is the latest development in an ongoing controversy that surfaced earlier this year surrounding the commission.

Sibold previously referred to anonymous complainants as "depraved" and "cowardly" and threatened legal action against them. He has also threatened to sue newspapers that reported the allegations.

In the legislature, McClellan had urged employees to come forward with any evidence and assured them there would be no reprisals.

Last week senior ASC administrator Grahame Newton was fired for allegedly failing to co-operate with a KPMG forensic audit of commission computers.

The employees' letter says the firing has spawned greater fears among the 100-member staff and added to the "high stress levels, extreme distrust and paranoia" of recent months.

In addition to the KPMG investigation, the commission has hired consultants to address "human resources problems" discovered in an earlier probe by Calgary lawyer Perry Mack.

Finance Minister pulls a Duh oh!

McClellan says ASC needs to keep her informed

Apr 26 2005
CBC News EDMONTON – Finance Minister Shirley McClellan says someone at the Alberta Securities Commission should have informed her that a senior administrator was going to be fired. McClellan says she needs to know what's going on at the commission because she is the person answering questions about its operations.

A big Opps......now, only now, days later does the Minister demand that the ASC answer to her. A bit of a back hand slap, for their arbitrary firing of a whistle blower. Hmm arbitrary actions is one of the things the ASC insiders are accused of doing........

ASC administrative head dismissed

CBC News

CALGARY – The Alberta Securities Commission's director of administrative services has been fired. Grahame Newton said he was informed of his dismissal in a letter couriered to his home Thursday night, but that the reasons cited are without foundation. He wouldn't elaborate, but said he believes the real reason he was let go is that he was one of the people who spoke out about problems at the commission.

Alberta Liberals attack ASC computer investigation
Globe and Mail
By DAVE EBNER
Friday, April 22, 2005
A forensic computer probe at the Alberta Securities Commission is producing a "fearful and intimidating climate," said Alberta's Liberal Opposition Leader Kevin Taft in the legislature's question period yesterday. Finance Minister Shirley McClellan said Mr. Taft had "a great deal of ignorance" about how the computer probe is being conducted. The ASC said this week that it hired KPMG to assess the security of its computer systems, particularly e-mail. Ms. McClellan said the probe was in no way trying to expose ASC employees who provided anonymous allegations of lax enforcement practices at the commission for in an investigation earlier this year. Those allegation were found to be untrue.

OFFICIAL TERMINATED FOR CAUSE, ASC SAYS
By DAVE EBNER and KATHERINE HARDING
Globe and Mail
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Controversy at the Alberta Securities Commission intensified yesterday with the official announcement that one senior employee at the regulator has been fired. The part-time commissioners who oversee the ASC said in a press release that Grahame Newton, the commission's director of administrative services, was terminated for cause because he did not co-operate with an audit of the ASC's computer systems and admitted to "the interception of several private e-mail communications among ASC staff." A lawyer for Mr. Newton said there were no grounds to terminate for cause, adding that Mr. Newton co-operated fully with the computer audit. The ASC has been rocked by anonymous allegations of lax enforcement and unprofessional behaviour. The computer audit was started as part of an investigation into those allegations, most of which have been declared unfounded by the part-time commissioners.

Alberta Securities Commission says it had just cause to fire employee

April 23, 2005

Investor advocate Diane Urquhart said Friday that the firing of Newton in the midst of the turmoil at the securities commission will not go over well with the investing public. "If in fact someone has had a remedial termination because of an allegation of providing information . . . it's unacceptable and the investing public should be very concerned," she said. Urquhart was skeptical of the timing of the KPMG audit. "It's entirely reasonable for a forensic audit to occur . . . but right in the middle of a human-resources fiasco makes no sense from a management point of view. It's oil on a fire." Newton was fired the same day Alberta Finance Minister Shirley McClellan told the legislature there was no witch hunt underway.

APRIL 1, 2005

The 'top brass' are covering their ass in fine old Troy tradition, must be Tories they deny like Klein. The Alberta Securities Commission proves the need for ONE NATIONAL REGULATOR, like the SEC in the US. Here we have five, count 'em five stock markets across Canada no uniform rules, and no single body responsible for those exchanges.

"Unlike the U.S. and its powerful SEC, there is no national regulator in Canada. It's an international anomaly that dates to the British North America Act of 1867, which divvied up government responsibilities and decreed property a provincial matter. Until the late 1990s, the stock market followed a similar pattern: there were five separate exchanges in Canada. They've consolidated somewhat, but the regulators who oversee the markets haven't managed to move in tandem. Instead, they've been bogged down by an ages-old Canadian political game, that tug of war for power between Ottawa and the provinces." Canada needs a securities watchdog with teeth

The Alberta exchange has had scandals before,Bre-X being the most infamous, fraudulent penny stocks, insider trading, in fact in the 1980's and '90's the Alberta and the Vancouver Stock exchanges were known as the bad boys of the marketplace, promoting boiler room stock operations which were documented in the Financial Post, which is now part of the National Post.

The Infamous Vancouver Stock Exchange

In the novel, the company established by Granger McAdam to exploit his diamond find in Vietnam is listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE) which specialised in the financing of junior mining companies all over the world. However it was also one of the most controversial stock exchanges in the world and had been described as the Sodom and Gommorah of modern day financial markets. Its reputation makes Cassie Stewart's task of raising money to finance a diamond mine more difficult.

"Vancouver has all sorts of dodgy companies on the Exchange, cowboys, fly-by-nights."

"This market's not like London. It's pretty wild, with all sorts of unscrupulous operators, lots of manipulation."

Despite her confidence, Cassie discovers that the Vancouver Stock Exchange's notoriety is not exaggerated! Nevertheless the risks she runs in tangling with the sharks in Vancouver are as nothing compared with those that await Eva when she returns to Vietnam ...

N.B. In reality on November 29th, 1999 the Vancouver and Alberta stock exchanges merged to form the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX). The reputation of the Alberta Stock Exchange had been greatly damaged by the BRE-X scandal. It is to be hoped that the CDNX will enjoy a much better reputation than its two predecessors!"

With the Klein revolution of getting government out of the business of regulation or oversight, what do you expect in an oil rich speculative market place but speculation. Welcome to the wild west, where anything goes, investor beware you will get screwed and don't go to the sheriff cause he's on the take.

NO FOOLING

ASC issues raised year ago

Letter to government: Former senior enforcement officer outlined concerns

Theresa Tedesco, Chief Business Correspondent

Financial Post
Friday, April 01, 2005

The Alberta government was warned about "significant ethical shortcomings" in the executive offices at the Alberta Securities Commission last year, according to a confidential letter obtained by the Financial Post.

The four-page missive delivered in January, 2004, to Greg Melchin, Alberta's former revenue minister, claimed there was a "two-tier regulatory regime" with one set of rules for "normal" people and another for the "powerful." The letter also alleged senior executives engaged in favouritism among staff, exchanged "erotic" e-mails, and condoned an "open display of sex toys" in the regulator's offices.

The letter, written on Jan. 9, 2004, by Wayne Alford, a former ASC enforcement director, lists four incidents of what he described as "significant ethical failing," and warned that "should they become public knowledge, would certainly bring the administration of Alberta's securities laws into disrepute if not open ridicule."

Mr. Alford, who resigned from the securities watchdog in December, 2003, urged Mr. Melchin to "intercede" and "address the abuses at the ASC."

In one case, Mr. Alford claimed Mr. Sibold decided whether the commission would pursue an enforcement action against a Calgary lawyer, who was also a former law partner of Mr. Sibold, in connection with an insider trading case. In the end, according to Mr. Alford, enforcement staff "received instruction from Sibold and Linder not to pursue this case even though the case was strong and in the opinion of staff, completely sustainable."

Mr. Sibold is also alleged to have become involved in a case involving another Calgary lawyer who had been investigated for providing misleading information to the Toronto Stock Exchange. The unnamed lawyer was also a partner at Mr. Sibold's former law firm in Calgary. Mr. Alford wrote that Messrs. Sibold and Linder instructed enforcement staff to "discontinue enforcement action" against the individual. Instead, the ASC issued a public notice that provided guidelines for lawyers about their obligations when dealing with regulators.

"The enforcement action was terminated notwithstanding staff's opinion that the case was strong and completely sustainable," Mr. Alford wrote.

In the third example, Mr. Alford claimed Mr. Sibold "objected strenuously to staff" who commenced an enforcement action against an unnamed, prominent Canadian businessman for alleged insider trading. After reviewing the file, Mr. Sibold's view, according to the letter, was that "there was no case" against the businessman, and he ordered his staff to "seek a quick and very insignificant settlement to the file." However, ASC enforcement lawyers involved in the case objected in writing to Mr. Sibold. In any event, the businessman subsequently "admitted to all of staff's allegations relating to insider trading."

ASC SCANDAL BACKGROUND

Alberta regulator lashes out at 'depraved' accusers
Globe and Mail Thursday, March 24, 2005

CALGARY -- Stephen Sibold, the embattled chairman of the Alberta Securities Commission, denied allegations of misconduct yesterday, calling his accusers "depraved."

"I challenge these cowardly and depraved individuals who are hiding behind anonymity to come forward, identify themselves and present what they take to be evidence supporting their baseless and false allegations," Mr. Sibold said during a brief press conference held at the ASC offices in Calgary.

He answered no questions about the allegations, on the advice of his lawyer.

In an e-mail to commission staff yesterday morning, Mr. Sibold called the allegations "malicious and vicious," ending the four-paragraph missive by saying he wanted to "prosecute these depraved individuals."

Mr. Sibold announced that he was serving a defamation notice to the National Post and the reporter who authored two stories that appeared in the paper yesterday.

The articles, citing unnamed sources, described the commission as dysfunctional, specifically saying that the regulator's top executives interfered in enforcement cases.

Mr. Sibold, whose term as chairman ends in May, and David Linder, the commission's executive director, were identified by the unnamed sources at the commission, according to the articles.

The accusations have thrown one of Canada's largest securities regulators -- the overseer of the country's oil and gas business -- into disarray.

Mr. Sibold forbade his communications staff to talk about the issue to reporters.

Meanwhile, the Alberta government is continuing its search for a new chairman, but a spokeswoman for the Finance Minister said only one round of interviews has been completed.

Mr. Sibold's five-year term ends in May.

All this is occurring as the province awaits the results of an investigation it requested in January over the ASC's regulatory practices.

The vigour with which the commission has pursued enforcement cases is at the heart of the allegations against Mr. Sibold and Mr. Linder, several securities lawyers said. Some believe the commission hasn't been tough enough.

Mr. Linder, who has been executive director since late 1997, said in a statement that the allegations had "no merit," adding that the commission during his tenure has operated under "the very highest standards of propriety, professionalism, fairness, respect and integrity."

The province's investigation into the allegations began in January when Alberta Finance Minister Shirley McClellan asked the ASC's nine part-time commissioners to look into suggestions of wrongdoing.

Calgary lawyer Perry Mack was hired to interview the complainants, whose accusations were submitted to the part-time commissioners on Feb. 16. On Monday, a report with Mr. Sibold and Mr. Linder's responses to the complaints was submitted.

"There's nothing I can tell you," said Mr. Mack when contacted yesterday.

The reports will likely be part of a package and will be handed to Ms. McClellan soon, but not this week, said Alan Hunter, a partner at Code Hunter LLP in Calgary who is representing the nine commissioners.

Meanwhile, players in Alberta's capital markets await a decision on the Blue Range Resource Corp. scandal, a much-anticipated ruling that has been long delayed and is expected at the end of April. (The ASC alleges that Blue Range executives misled investors over the company's oil and gas production and reserves.)

Mr. Sibold was appointed chairman of the commission in May, 2000, for a five-year term. It was announced last October that his tenure would not be extended.

This week, the Alberta cabinet passed an order-in-council that makes this May the official end of his term.

A previous order-in-council had the end of his term as March 31, even though his contract with the commission had the term's end as May.

Tracy Balash, the spokeswoman for the Finance Minister, said the order was "just correcting an administrative error."

She said she believed that no one had noticed the inconsistency between the original order and the contract until recently.

Asked why the Alberta cabinet would make the order given the accusations against Mr. Sibold, Ms. Balash said: "You can't make decisions on a human resource matter when you're dealing with allegations that haven't been proven."

Mr. Sibold, in his e-mail to the commission staff of about 120, said he was "gratified" that the government "has clarified my term of office."

His last day is May 7.


Securities watchdog turmoil
Alberta commission facing review, lawyer denies claims
Theresa Tedesco
National Post
Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Senior officials at the Alberta Securities Commission interfered with enforcement cases, engaged in favouritism and condoned lewd conduct among staff, according to allegations contained in a confidential report prepared for the regulator's commissioners.

The National Post has learned that an unprecedented review into the conduct of the provincial watchdog's executive ranks, including Stephen Sibold, outgoing chair of the ASC, and David Linder, executive director, revealed a "dysfunctional" agency with questionable management practices, lax governance and a "toxic" atmosphere that contributed to staff departures in recent years.

According to sources, a detailed report prepared by prominent Calgary lawyer Perry Mack for the ASC's board of commissioners is based on claims made by a group of about six whistleblowers and supported in subsequent interviews by about 30 former and current employees. Mr. Mack, who was hired by the ASC's 12-member board of commissioners in January, tabled his findings in mid-February.

The extraordinary probe was ordered by Shirley McClellan, Alberta's Deputy Premier and Finance Minister, after she was advised about "allegations" into the conduct of the ASC's chair and executive director two months ago. According to a one-page letter sent to the ASC's board of commissioners on Jan. 12, Ms. McClellan stated "the allegations appear to be sufficiently serious to justify further investigation." The Finance Minister, who is responsible for the ASC, told the board to report back to her on "what actions the commission intends to take with respect to these complaints."

Among the complaints current and former staff reported to Mr. Mack, sources say, are allegations that executive managers obstructed the work of enforcement staff by directly influencing whether the regulator would pursue cases against certain companies and individuals.

"Every week we had to justify our cases. It was routine that staff was asked to drop cases," said a source familiar with the regulator who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. "It was made clear that certain people and companies were not to be troubled and were being protected from regulatory activity."

Messrs. Sibold and Linder did not respond to repeated calls or e-mails. However, Alan Hunter, a lawyer representing the ASC's nine part-time commissioners, said yesterday that "the matters are internal to the commission and are highly confidential."

In response to questions sent to Messrs. Sibold and Linder by the National Post, Mr. Hunter said, "Many of your allegations are not accurate."

The allegations raise troubling questions about the credibility of one of Canada's largest securities regulators. The ASC is responsible for governing all publicly traded companies in Alberta, including some of the largest oil and gas companies in Canada. The provincial regulator administers Alberta's securities act, rules and regulations and it also oversees the TSX Venture Exchange.

Sources told the Post that most of the ASC's senior management have revolted against the chair and his lieutenant over what they claim to be an oppressive work environment that has fostered deep tensions and resentment among the rank-and-file.

Since Mr. Mack tabled his report to the ASC board of commissioners almost six weeks ago, sources say a rift has ensued and that the most senior executives are now barely communicating with the rest of the staff.

"The atmosphere has become such that we cannot carry out our business," said a source familiar with the regulator who asked not to be named. Another official described the atmosphere as "untenable" and "poisonous," saying that "there isn't much work getting done these days. People are hunkered down."

According to sources familiar with the complaints, Messrs. Sibold and Linder are said to have fostered a "cowboy mentality" that encouraged favouritism, especially among female members. "The chair acts like a horny teenager," said a source who asked not to be named.

At the same time, sources say senior lawyers, accountants and investigators at the ASC chafed at what they described as inappropriate sexual behaviour in the fourth-floor executive suites, including the frequent circulation of lascivious e-mails on the regulator's computer system and an inflatable sex doll prominently displayed in the offices.

"Skill and intrinsic ability didn't have much to do with how you were evaluated in performance appraisals and remunerated," said a source who filed a complaint with Mr. Mack. "The route to the top was to flatter the chair, wear low-cut blouses and shake what you've got."

Mr. Mack, a well-regarded corporate lawyer, declined to comment for this article, saying, "everything I do or don't do is confidential."

Messrs. Sibold and Linder are said to have responded to the allegations in Mr. Mack's report. The board of commissioners has been meeting this week to decide its next course of action. The group is also required to report back to the Finance Minister.

In the meantime, many of the ASC's 119 employees fear recriminations in the wake of the unprecedented investigation and ensuing scandal. Members of the staff are particularly worried that Messrs. Sibold and Linder are currently conducting performance reviews of all employees, which will determine their salaries and bonuses for fiscal 2005, beginning on April 1.

"Generally, people are feeling harassed," said an insider who asked not to be named. "I think a number of people expect life to become unpleasant."

Beleaguered commission employees blame the board of commissioners for failing to address their concerns, especially because the human resources committee of the board receives all exit interviews of senior managers who quit. Sources say those interviews were littered with serious complaints against the ASC's executive management. "If there had been any kind of oversight, these things wouldn't be happening," said a disgruntled official.

Meanwhile, Finance Ministry officials are currently assessing candidates to replace Mr. Sibold. Last October, the provincial government announced it would not reappoint Mr. Sibold to a second five-year term. He was expected to leave the ASC at the end of March, however, Mr. Sibold's employment contract entitled him to stay on until May 7 and an order-in-council was signed yesterday to accommodate an extension. (His two-year term as chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators ends next week.)

Mr. Linder continues to function as the commission's chief administrative officer, a post he has held since 1997. Unlike Mr. Sibold, he does not sit on the board of commissioners.

© National Post 2005