Brian Pallister was the Chairman of the Finance Committee at the time of the Public Hearings into Income Trusts back in early January 2007.
After adamantly opposing the holding of hearings , Brian Pallister didn’t have the ethical wherewithal to have recused himself from these hearings on the basis that the income trust tax was a bespoke tax policy designed to favour the large lifecos like Manulife and Great West Life and London Life owned by Power Corp whose CEOs Dominic D’Alessandro and Paul Desmarais Jr. selfishly lobbied for, and in light of the fact that Brian Pallister is the owner of Pallister Insurance and Financial Services.
Instead Brain Pallister conducted the hearings like a kangaroo court in a third world country. Welcome to Swahililand.
Here is a good example of Brian Pallister’s utter disregard for due process and parliamentary democracy:
The testimony of William Barrowclough at the Hearings:
“Mr, Chairman, two days ago I received a telephone call from another person on the witness list for today’s hearings [editors note: Diane Urquhart]. I had never before had communication with this person, who proceeded to preach an hour long sermon on the evils of trusts and then attempted to get contact information on the other individual investors [who are testifying before this committee], while at no time did this witness directly counsel me to change my testimony, what I heard was a diatribe which through its content, tone, and timing, two days before our appearance here, was clearly an attempt to influence my testimony before this committee. That fits my definition of witness tampering Mr. Chairman, and I hope it fits yours. Thank you.
Pallister: Thank you sir, we move to questions. Mr. McCallum, five minutes”
Just like water off a duck’s back under the Chairmanship of the highly conflicted Brain Pallister Insurance and Financial Services CON MP for Portage-Lisgar.
MISSION OF PALLISTER FINANCIAL:
"To assist our clients in the creation and development of comprehensive retirement, estate and financial plans; utilizing the finest products
and techniques available; while bearing in mind that the future of our company depends on the financial success of our clients."
Conservative MP Pallister to leave politics
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
CBC News
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Pallister quits politics so he can spend more time with his Pallister Insurance and Financial Services
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
Perhaps Mr. Pallister sees a great future in selling Manulife Income Plus and annuities now that he helped destroy income trusts.
Letting the harassment of a witness pass without any comment was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice I have seen during this whole trust fiasco--Pallister let this pass like he knew that it had occurred--can we say "complicity" at it`s best.
The hearings should have been stopped at this point until this allegation was investigated--the process was tainted from this point forward.
Why has there been conflicts of interest in every level of the income trust decision making--disqualifications should have occurred in several instances.
Dr Mike
I guess you could say for Pallister "Mission accomplished".
Mary
Interesting that Urquhart, she of the falsified resume, testifies 3 times
before the Finance committee as an "expert" witness. A loser of over a
million dollars in a failed investment scheme.
She tries to influence witnesses appearing before the committee and is not
charged with tampering?
And now she is an expert helping police forces on white-collar crime! Where
is the justice?
Perhaps Mr. Pallister sees a great future in selling Manulife Income Plus and annuities now that he helped destroy income trusts.
har·bin·ger
n. One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner.
Is Brian Pallister, a perverter of the democratic process through a failure to require complete and accurate taxation and financial information to be brought to the Finance Committee of which he is the chairperson, is resigning an MP. Well that's pretty good news; not much would top it, except perhaps a similar announcement from the Manitoba Wet Dreamer, Pat Martin, of the failed Reformer Diane Ablonzky, or best of all the announcement of the Harper Tory Party defeat.
OMG, it's only 8:45 am, and I'm already having a daytime dry-dream!!! Gotta get a grip on.
Brian Pallister's resignation might be a signal that (a) an election is coming, and (b) the entrails of the polling data suggest he's a goner. He's doing what the Old Tory Titans did at the end of Mulroney's run. They quit.
So, since for months any liberal who decided to withdraw from public life was seen as proof that Dion had failed as liberal leader will we now see reports of a crumbling conservative party under Harper?
I won't hold my breath.
Please somebody defend Brian Pallister's fine parliamentary record...or at least acquaint us with it?
Or was it summed up by the following utterly lame rationale for not wanting to hold public hearings...and being, you know, accountable and transparent about a tx move that cost Canadians $35 billion and the CONs about twice that amount in credibility and trust worthiness:
Brian Pallister, the Tory chairman of the finance committee, has objected to the hearings, saying they will merely duplicate the normal work of a parliamentary committee.
"When we get the legislation, we will be dealing with the same topics and the same witnesses," he said.
He also noted that the hearings would be unnecessary if an election were held in the spring, as many expect. If that happened, the income trust bill would die on the order paper.
My gawd!
We're slow-witted. If Pallister were an professional accountant or a certified financial advisor, he'd be up on ethics charges for conflict of interest.
Why hasn't anybody thought to submit a complaint to the Ethics Commissioner?
As the ad says "IncomePlus turns retirement thinking on its head" .. well it's time to turn Steve, Jimmy, John, Tony, Bev and the rest of them on their heads .. and out of office.
Glad to see the comments increasing .. DR Mike you are a trooper.
Fighting for a just cause makes the effort an easy one for sure.
Guys like Pallister are a dime a dozen in this government where all common sense & reason has been thrown to the wind.
They seem to be able to get away with whatever they want without substantial opposition in most cases--this is the one issue where we must not let this happen.
They must be held accountable & it seems we are the only ones willing to carry that to fruition.
mike.
Social, financial, economic, personal and psychological injustice.
Treachery and treason.
Unaccountability and untrustworthiness.
Deceit and dishonesty.
Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty, Mark Carney, Brian Pallister et al:
These are thy names!
Brian Pallister: Guilty on all counts as charged........do you suppose there is something endemic about CONs who go by the given name of Brian?
CONFLICT OF INTEREST CODE FOR MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
Purposes
1. The purposes of this Code are to
(a) maintain and enhance public confidence and trust in the integrity of Members as well as the respect and confidence that society places in the House of Commons as an institution;
(b) demonstrate to the public that Members are held to standards that place the public interest ahead of their private interests and to provide a transparent system by which the public may judge this to be the case;
(c) provide for greater certainty and guidance for Members in how to reconcile their private interests with their public duties and functions; and
(d) foster consensus among Members by establishing common standards and by providing the means by which questions relating to proper conduct may be answered by an independent, non-partisan adviser.
Principles
2. Given that service in Parliament is a public trust, the House of Commons recognizes and declares that Members are expected
(a) to serve the public interest and represent constituents to the best of their abilities;
(b) to fulfill their public duties with honesty and uphold the highest standards so as to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interests, and maintain and enhance public confidence and trust in the integrity of each Member and in the House of Commons;
(c) to perform their official duties and functions and arrange their private affairs in a manner that bears the closest public scrutiny, an obligation that may not be fully discharged by simply acting within the law;
(d) to arrange their private affairs so that foreseeable real or apparent conflicts of interest may be prevented from arising, but if such a conflict does arise, to resolve it in a way that protects the public interest; and
(e) not to accept any gift or benefit connected with their position that might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgment or integrity except in accordance with the provisions of this Code.
Maybe his minister told him all about evil and made him see teh light. Or maybe Mr. Pallister found that his blind devotion to Harper and his CONS did not get teh rewards he had expected? It is that Mr. Pallister, the eternal backbencher,could no longer tolerate the ungratefulness of his boss. Going back to sell insuarnce will undoubtedly test his loyalty between ManuLife Income Plus and Great West (owned by Desmarais' Power Corp)annuities. Since he is in Manitoba he may want to consult Ms Wasylecia-Leis of the NDP in Winnipeg before he makes up his mind. Or alternatively Ms Urquhart, "independent" investment advisor.
Post a Comment