The auditor-general is angry.
And, I suspect the average Canadian who has been watching Ottawa since 1995 is angry.
The report released by Sheila Fraser is here.
I honestly don’t know if Paul Martin can get away with blaming Chretien for the systemic problems in this debacle that have been part of the fabric of federalism, since, well, federalism. This will be the biggest corruption scandal this country has ever seen.

I don’t know what keeps this country glued together. France and England fought each other for this land, yet somehow a concensus was gained, one that was almost lost in the 90’s. In the scramble of the referendum, key people in Ottawa pork-barrelled their way through and got away with it for years. This goes beyond mismanagement.

If I was Ambassador (sorry, former ambassador) Alfonso Gagliano, I’d be heading to Switzerland.
So we get a public inquiry, a special counsel, and the commons committee taking a look. Big whoop.

While we watch politicans and bureaucrats scramble and spin the fallout they knew would be coming, I know there are ethical people in government that have to have been demoralized for a long time.
How will this report and how it is handled affect the next federal election?
That will be up to the voters, it is our money that was played with.
There is nothing new under the sun.

More tax dollars at work
Health Canada is due to release a several hundred page report Thursday on the federal governments plans and procedures for a pandemic. SARS was a hard lesson, hard enough for the government to finally finish this document started in 1998.
The focus of the report which has about 8 offshoots of disaster planning, is a flu vaccine.

The 448 page document does not contain a single reference to antibiotics — the drug type many experts believe is crucial to fighting the secondary infections that can become fatal in flu patients.

The plan estimates pandemic influenza will cost the health-care system between $10 and $24 billion.

It also says the federal government anticipates between 11,000 and 58,000 people would die during a pandemic in a scenario which an effective vaccine is not developed.

Between 4.5 million and 10.6 million people would become ill during a pandemic, 2.1 million to five million would require outpatient care, 34,000 to 138,000 would be hospitalized.

Little blizzard on the prairie
Saskachewan is in a white out. It’s going through one of those winter storms with winds that has shut down all the provinical highways and airports.

After posting this I went outside for awhile to pray and wind down. It’s been warm (-11C) and another Feburary cold snap is on the way the end of the week.
It is true the heavens declare the glory of God. Even with the light pollution, I could look at the northern lights which were bright white with streaks of yellow and blue. The stars are almost defiant in their brightness. Looking up is a good way to keep things in perspective.