The following high-ranking people have left their jobs in the past few months. They have variously resigned, been sacked or replaced, or not had their appointments renewed.

Marty Cheliak The RCMP Chief Superintendent is being replaced as head of the Canadian Firearms Program, the Mounties confirmed on Wednesday. The official reason: The position is designated bilingual and he’s not.

Chief Supt. Cheliak, who became director of the program a year ago, is a strong proponent of the controversial long-gun registry, which the Conservatives have long vowed to scrap. But at a news conference in Halifax, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the decision to remove him an RCMP “staffing” issue. “It’s not a political matter,” he said.

The move comes just days before the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police annual meeting in Edmonton, where Chief Supt. Cheliak was to present a major report that was expected to underline the effectiveness of the long-gun registry. As well, a crucial House of Commons vote on the future of the registry is to take place Sept. 22.

Pat Stogran The federal government is not renewing the retired colonel’s three-year term as ombudsman because it’s time for a new advocate to offer new perspectives, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn says. “It will be good for our veterans and good for our department.”

At Tuesday press conference, Col. Stogran claimed he was mere “window dressing” for an “obstructive and deceptive” bureaucracy. He promised veterans he would use his remaining three months on the job to make sure Canadians “know how badly so many of you are being treated.”

Col. Stogran was appointed Canada’s first veterans ombudsman in 2007. His three-year term expires the day before Remembrance Day.

Munir Sheikh The career civil servant resigned as Canada’s chief statistician to protest against Ottawa’s controversial decision to kill the mandatory long-form census. Mr. Sheikh quit July 21 after Industry Minister Tony Clement created the impression he was onside with the decision to abandon a compulsory long-form census.

“It really cast doubt on the integrity of the agency,” Mr. Sheikh later told a House of Commons committee. “And I, as the head of that agency, cannot survive in that job.”

Helena Guergis As Prime Minister Stephen Harper called in the Mounties, Ms. Guergis resigned as minister of state for the status of women and was expelled from the Conservative caucus on April 9. The surprise moves happened after a private investigator passed on allegations involving Ms. Guergis’s husband, Rahim Jaffer.

In July, the RCMP announced it had closed its files on the embattled couple without laying charges. But Mr. Harper refused to allow Ms. Guergis, who now sits as an independent MP, to rejoin caucus and she’ll have to wage a major fight to run under the Conservative Party’s banner in the next election.

Others who have been fired or replaced under Tories

Peter Tinsley The contract of the former chairman of the Military Police Complaints Commission was not renewed when it expired in December. He said Ottawa’s refusal to extend his term so he could finish investigating the alleged torture of detainees in Afghanistan contributes to a “chilling effect” on cabinet-appointed watchdogs.

Linda Keen The former head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was fired in January, 2008, over leadership issues after she refused to back the reopening of a nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., because Atomic Energy of Canada had not performed safety upgrades. Mr. Harper branded her a Liberal partisan.

Paul Kennedy The term of the former chairman of the Commission for Public Complains Against the RCMP was not renewed in December. Mr. Kennedy had issued scathing reports about RCMP conduct.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/meet-the-tory-hit-list/article1677414/

Critics say decision not to reappoint military advocate shows that under Tories ‘you become a lapdog, not a watchdog’

Former soldiers from different parts of the country are gearing up to fight the impending removal of the veterans’ ombudsman. Several veterans, representing different interests, were planning a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa to protest the Conservative government’s decision not to appoint retired colonel Pat Stogran to a second term as the voice of injured soldiers and RCMP members.

Dennis Manuge, who has fought the clawback of long-term disability benefits all of the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, said the writing is on the wall and veterans will not let the advocate go without a fight. “It just seems everybody in Ottawa that tries to do their job and let the government officials and bureaucrats know what’s failing and what’s wrong and what needs improvement are being canned,” said Mr. Manuge, a former army corporal who suffered a debilitating back injury in 2000.

He’s one of up to half-a-dozen veterans who will speak and lend their support to Col. Stogran, a former ground commander in Afghanistan whose appointment three years ago as the first-ever veterans’ ombudsman was hailed by Conservatives as the beginning of new era in the treatment of retired soldiers. Col. Stogran was notified early last week that his appointment will not be renewed, according to federal government sources. Word of his anticipated removal leaked late Friday.

He met with Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn over weekend, but refused to comment about the outcome of their discussion. A spokeswoman for the minister also declined to comment. Never one to mince words, Mr. Stogran’s criticism of the federal bureaucracy’s treatment of injured soldiers and policies, such as the replacement of pensions with lump-sum payments and disability stipends, has grown more harsh. He’s said Veterans Affairs has adopted a “penny-pinching insurance company mentality” toward its clients.

Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who fought for improved benefits for wounded soldiers, said ditching Col. Stogran would be a colossal setback for veterans and accused the government of wanting to shoot the messenger. “The Conservative message appears to be: ‘You become a lapdog, not a watchdog,’ ” Mr. McTeague said.

“I’m absolutely appalled, as I think most Canadians are, that the Conservatives are throwing away the very person they appointed, someone who had some tough news to tell them. We didn’t appoint him. They did, and he happened to tell them something they found inconvenient.”

The Tories have consistently made political hay with their message of standing behind the troops, and Mr. McTeague predicted support from veterans will take a hit. “I can’t see how the Conservatives will be able to darken the door of any legion in this country with Stogran’s dismissal hanging over their heads,” he said. NDP veterans critic Peter Stoffer said Col. Stogran joins a long list of federal appointees who’ve been booted out because their views conflict with the government line. “The moment you poke your head out the sand and say, ‘I disagree with you,’ it gets chopped off,” Mr. Stoffer said Monday. “The problem is the Conservatives are so insecure and so anal in their approach to government that they really don’t know how to take criticism.”

Critics have argued that certain portions of the New Veteran’s Charter, conceived in 2005 under the Liberals but enacted in 2006 by the Tories, creates a system that is expressly meant to limit Ottawa’s long-term financial liability to soldiers. Wounded soldiers were formerly given a monthly pension payment for life and they were guaranteed payment would increase if a condition got worse. But the new charter gives disabled veterans who’ve been through rehabilitation a lump-payment and a monthly cheque that represents 75 per cent of their salary before their release from the Forces. The monthly cheque continues only until they find a civilian job.

Those who are too injured to work receive three quarters of their salary until age 65. Critics argue that someone who is too ill to work has no way of building up decent retirement savings and the cut-off will leave old soldiers destitute. There have also been complaints that young veterans are blowing their lump-sum payments.

The department recently released a survey claiming 69 per cent of veterans who received the tax-free, lump-sum payments are happy with the new system. The Royal Canadian Legion piled on to Mr. Blackburn, saying veterans are increasingly concerned that the system is being dismantled and will not be there in the end “to tend to their needs” in the future.

“It is discouraging to note that Veterans Affairs Canada while encouraging dialogue and discussion through the advisory committee process does little substantially to address those very issues that are raised during the process,” said an Aug. 10 letter, signed by Patricia Varga, the Legion’s Dominion president. Mr. Blackburn recently suggested that the department will get smaller as more Second World War vets, the biggest client base, passes away.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/veterans-gird-for-battle-over-ombudsman/article1674710/

With a little diplomatic pressure and appealing to the good nature people in all countries posses, we were able to bring home Cody LeCompte. Same goes for Brenda Martin.

Perhaps now we can do the same for fellow Canadian Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, a resident of the Beach. But if those of us involved in the first two found it challenging, this case might be the hardest of them all. Cuba and Mexico came to their senses largely because Canadians spend tens of millions of tourist dollars every year in their respective hot spots. But Hamid Ghassemi-Shall is not only detained in the Islamic Republic of Iran but he’s sitting on death row waiting to be hanged.

Martin was in prison for an alleged minor role in a fraud case and LeCompte for being in car accident. However 42-year-old Hamid, who holds dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, has been convicted under Iranian law for espionage and has been languishing for more than two years in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison. It’s not looking good.

His brother Alborz, an Irani resident who was also convicted, died mysteriously in Evin in Janurary, the same prison where Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured to death in 2003. But Antonella Mega is determined to appeal to somebody somewhere to fully investigate her husband of 14 yearscase with a view to letting him come home to her.

“I have to find some way to bring him home,” she said Monday. “He’s a great guy, great husband, gentle and kind and is the kind of man every woman would want.” And there is one other key point: “He is not a spy.” Iranian authorities, who don’t acknowledge dual citizenship, don’t agree.

They picked up shoe salesman Hamid and his brother two years ago while Hamid was home visiting his elderly mother. They confiscated his Canadian passport and all of the rights that go with it, and after a trial last November forced him to sign his own death warrant. The clock is ticking. “I haven’t spoken with him in three weeks,” said Antonella, who grows more despondant with each passing day. She fears the worst. But there are some small rays of hope.

One is there are some Iranian officials who are of the mind the case was constructed out of a conspiracy and there is no reason to suspect Hamid is any threat to the Islamic state. Another is that Canadian officials are working on it. Foreign Affairs have an open file and sources say are attempting to make contact with the appropriate Iranian authorities.

“Since learning of the arrest of a Canadian-Iranian citizen in Iran, consular officials have been in contact with Iranian authorities both politically and diplomatically, including by Diplomatic Notes, to seek consular access to the Canadian citizen,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Melissa Lantsman said in an e-mail Monday. “Consular officials at the embassy in Tehran continue to seek consular access, consistent with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” she wrote. “While Iran does not legally recognize dual nationality, Canada considers that Canadian citizens should have access to consular services regardless of their other citizenship. Canada will continue to advocate on behalf of the Canadian citizen and other Canadian citizens who hold dual citizenships.”

Liberal MP Dan McTeague told me Monday he’s offered his assistance through backdoor channels as well. He said he believes further involvement at the ministerial level could ease the stalemate and get some dialogue going. Maybe if we could throw 1% of the resources allocated to deal with the Tamil refugee boat right now and apply some pressure on Iran to do the right thing, we might get Hamid home safe. It’s true much of the world doesn’t get along with Iran.

But I also know if they want respect from their critics, they’ll take a second look at the case of Hamid Ghassemi-Shall. It’s the right thing to do.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/08/16/15042366.html

Financial Post Staff  July 30, 2010 – 10:23 pm  Re: Time For Census Reform, Terence Corcoran, July 28

Read more: http://opinion.financialpost.com/2010/07/30/fp-letters-voluntary-census-risks-trivialized/#ixzz0vjrjiyln

Toronto Star, Tue Aug 3 2010, Page: A18, Section: Editorial

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down Parliament for three months to prepare this year’s budget, he told Canadians he was “recalibrating the government’s agenda.” It was time to switch from stimulus to restraint, he said.  In his March budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty did lay out a rigorous plan to eliminate Ottawa’s $56 billion deficit in five years. “Canada has returned to economic growth following the deepest global economic recession since the 1930s,” he said. “In this budget we will take action to ensure the government lives within its means.”

 But since then the Conservatives have been running up some eye-popping bills. They spent $1.2 billion to host world leaders for a weekend in June. The original price tag was $179 million. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told taxpayers it would cost $2 billion to build new prison facilities to crack down on young offenders. Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page calculated the government would have to spend $9.5 billion to implement its plan.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced a $9 billion commitment to purchase to 65 new state-of-the-art fighter jets. A maintenance contract, yet to be finalized, is likely to add $7 billion to the price, for a grand total of $16 billion. In addition to these big-ticket expenditures, the government passed up opportunities to practise the restraint that it preaches.

 Asked if he would trim his 38-member cabinet – one of the largest in Canadian history – Harper said: “I don’t think it would be appropriate at this time.” Asked if his decision to replace Canada’s mandatory long-form census with a voluntary questionnaire was a cost-cutting measure, Industry Minister Tony Clement pointed out that the new survey would cost $30 million more.

There has been no discernible drop in foreign travel by cabinet ministers, no demonstration of frugality at the top, no attempt to reconcile this summer’s spending spree with the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about prudence and restraint. None of this means the government’s plan to wipe out the deficit by 2015 is doomed. If the economic recovery that began early this year strengthens, global conditions are benign and the government matches its words with action from now on, Flaherty’s target may still be achievable.

But the government is sending out very confusing signals. Was it really necessary to spend $1.2 billion on the G8 and G20 summits, turning Toronto into an armed camp where vandals had a field day and peaceful protesters were jailed? Was the awarding of a contract for new fighter jets without tender the way to get the best price, or could a lower price have been achieved with a proper bidding process?

 Does it make sense to pay more for a voluntary census when most statisticians, decision-makers and planners consider it too unreliable to use? This is a strange introduction to an era of restraint.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/842900–pm-s-actions-words-at-odds

The federal government is under heavy fire from political opponents and Canadians for its inability to bring home Cody LeCompte, the 19-year-old stranded in Cuba. Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who serves as the party’s consular affairs critic, said Monday the Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government could be doing more to end the nightmare the Simcoe teen and his family have endured for more than three months now.

“There’s a lot at stake here,” McTeague told The Sun. “Not just for this young man and his family, but for both Canada and Cuba.” He said it’s in the best interests of both countries to resolve the issue before the relationship is “strained.”

McTeague pointed out Cuba has more visitors from Canada than from any other country. “This concerns Canadians, so our officials should be concerned and Cuban officials should be concerned,” he said. Cody and his mom, Danette, claim that while they have heard from Canadian officials every few days since their accident in a rental car Apr. 29, they have yet to have anyone visit them in person. McTeague said someone should be meeting “face to face” with the LeComptes regularly.

If he were the foreign affairs minister, McTeague said he’d call the Cuban embassy, every day if necessary, to “politely” and “respectfully” ask for the matter to be dealt with. Cody’s plight suggests more needs to be done to educate Canadians travellers because most don’t read the warnings on the government’s website, McTeague added. Cody was behind the wheel when they were broadsided by a truck. He hasn’t been charged with anything but under Cuban law the accident is deemed a crime and he must remain in the communist country until he proves his innocence.

The vacation that was supposed to be his reward for getting into college has now likely cost Cody his school year. It has also put Danette in debt more than $30,000 and the single mom says they’ll be on the street soon if her son’s detention continues. A trust fund has been set up to help the LeComptes. Donations can be made at any TD Canada Trust bank, using the Account No. 6330413.

And a Facebook group, Bring Cody LeCompte Home, has attracted about 2,500 members. Kevin McCart, who doesn’t know Cody, started the group because he was “outraged” by the story. “Our government has sent care packages to Omar Khadr in Guantanamo Bay but they can’t seem to help this kid,” he said, referring to a Maclean’s magazine report in May that found the foreign affairs ministry had spent $2,100 on “comfort items” for the accused terrorist.

Meanwhile, the ministry maintains that while it won’t interfere with another country’s judicial system it is doing everything possible to bring Cody home “as quickly as possible.”

Veterans, Active Service Men and Women, and Police, Fire Fighters and Paramedics will be honoured in a special celebration. Refreshments and barbeque specialities will be offered.

WHEN: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 12:30 pm – 3 pm
WHERE: Ajax Legion, 111 Hunt Street, Ajax

http://markholland.libtest.ca/files/2010/07/LocalHeroesTribute_15July20102.pdf

Carola Vyhnak Staff Reporters

Drivers are getting a special Canada Day gift at the pumps from the HST. The price of a litre of gasoline is expected to be about eight cents higher in the GTA today, according to Liberal MP Dan McTeague. The anticipation of the HST gas increase caused panic at the pumps Wednesday evening as flocks of drivers lined up for cheaper fuel and some stations ran dry from the heightened demand. Gasoline is among a long list of goods and services seeing a permanent price increase because of the 13 per cent harmonized sales tax.

“The idea of getting gas in the GTA for under a buck a litre is something we will look back on fondly,” McTeague said, adding that a 8-cent jump would be the steepest spike in nearly two years. “The reality now is that we can pretty much guarantee that prices will be in this range or above in the days ahead.”

McTeague said some gas retailers he spoke with Wednesday said demand was two to three times higher than normal — likely a product of the long weekend and the HST implementation. “There is no question that we were seeing an increased demand (on Wednesday),” said Shell spokesman Jeff Gabert.

A “small percentage” of Shell stations did run out of gas, said Gabert. But as stations lost their supply, drivers seemed to lose their patience. Pat O’Neill fumed as she tried to find some gas on her way home to Riverdale. “This is my fourth gas station and nobody’s got gas!” she said at the Shell station on the corner of Parliament and Richmond Sts. “I need to fill up and I didn’t want to wait till tomorrow — you know, to save $5. It’s so ridiculous.”

Toronto resident Steve Mitchell joined the steady stream of vehicles at a downtown Petro-Canada station, where regular gas was selling for 96.4 cents a litre. “It’s because of the tax,” he said. “I’ll save $5 to $8 because the price on premium will probably go up 10 cents tomorrow. Every five bucks I can get, I’ll take, especially if it’s a tax saving.” Several blocks west at Wellington St. and Spadina Ave., Max Wang was topping up his friend’s silver Audi convertible.

“He’s in North Bay and he asked me to fill it up for him because of the HST,” Wang said. “It’s just the feeling — nobody wants to pay eight per cent more.” The car, as it turned out, was only half-empty — or half-full, depending on your perspective. “Obviously gasoline is only one area (affected by the HST), but it’s the one that is probably most readily felt by consumers and it’s one that will affect them most often,” said McTeague.

The long-term effect from the HST on gas prices remains to be seen, McTeague said, adding the only certainty is that this tax is here to stay.

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/hst/article/830809–hst-s-canada-day-gift-higher-gas-prices