Interesting how people of integrity who hold to important principles in the face of the blow hard Stephen Harper finds themselves having to forfeit their jobs in order to remain true to principles that (virtually) all Canadians embrace.
Munir Sheikh, the former head of Stats Canada who opposed Harper's mindless move from a statitically valid mandatory long form census to a statistically invalid voluntary census is the most recent example.
Other notable persons of integrity include, in chronological order:
Garth Turner who, as a Conservative MP, spoke openly against the floor crossing of newly elected Liberal MP David Emerson who became an instant Conservative in order to fulfill his personal ambitions and ignore those who had just elected him. Garth was rewarded for his belief in principle by being booted from the Conservative caucus and forced to sit as an independent.
Michael Chong, who as a Conservative Cabinet Member spoke against the absurd construct known as "Quebec as a nation" (first advanced by Michael Ignatieff and later appropriated by Stephen Harper). Michael was rewarded for his belief in principle by being stripped of his Cabinet position.
Linda Keen, who as Head of Canadian Nuclear Regulatory Commission, refused to bend in the performance of her job as the Head of nuclear safety by turning a blind to the hazards that were unfolding at the Chalk River nuclear facility. Linda was rewarded for her belief in upholding the integrity of her office by being fired.
Bill Casey, who as the longest serving Conservative in the House of Commons, spoke against the Atlantic Accord that Stephen Harper had promised to uphold, but decided to renege on. Bill was rewarded for his belief upholding the integrity of the Atlantic Accord by being booted from the Conservative caucus and forced to sit as an independent.
Unfortunately we only have a handful of Canadians who have the integrity and personal conviction to stand up against the blow hard known as Stephen Harper.
Special mention should also go to Diane Francis of the Financial Post, who is the ONLY journalist in this wimp nation called Canada to report the truth about Stephen Harper rapacious and unjust income trust tax, while other the other journalists in the country cowered in fear, as they sold what was left of their tattered integrity in hopes of pleasing their corporate masters and hanging on to their jobs, while telling blatant lies about hard constructs like "tax leakage" in order that millions of Canadians could be fleeced of their retirement savings and their means of retirement income stolen from them on completely false pretenses.
No chance that Munir Sheikh will be working at the CBC, the Globe and Mail or the Toronto Star any time soon, is there, as he would as welcome in those newsrooms as he was working for Stephen Harper, since these organization thrive on perpetuating falsehoods, rather than reporting the truth?
Friday, July 30, 2010
In praise of Munir Sheikh and other Canadians of integrity
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15 comments:
Brent,
With respect, I think you have it wrong.
Ivan Fellegi is the man with integrity.
Best
Norman Spector
Norman:
There is no limitation (in theory) on the number of people who may have integrity. Only in practice in there a limit. I’d be happy to include Ivan Fellegi as person of integrity. I am not aware of Ivan’s contributions in avoiding the degradation of data collection as proposed by Harper, Clement & Co., although I do see that he was awarded the Order of Canada (as debased as that award has become). Any chance Munir Sheikh or Linda Keen will be getting the (much debased) OC? Didn’t think so.
Brent
PS: Am I correct about Diane Francis?
As Susan Riley said today , Stephen Harper is "bossy , bullying & cold--has low concern for people and uses threats and other fear-based methods to achieve conformity. Communication is almost entirely downward".
This is the man of the sweater vest & kittens , Mr All-Canada , Mr Tim Hortons.
Only in Canada & Columbia eh , pity.
Dr Mike Popovich
Hi Brent, there was a great letter in the Glob the other day that said that Harper's position on the long form census has nothing to do with Conservative ideology, but is just a way for him to hang leadership hopeful Clement out to dry. It's so disingenuous that it must be right!
Hope you are having a great summer.
Best, Neville
The CBC??? I take it that you never see the Rick Mercer show!!!!
Colin
Colin:
CBC has fostered the falsehoods about tax leakage (as recently as February 2010) as well as any commercially conflicted news organization out there. Except they are tax payer funded! Peter Mansbridge and Havard Gould are a couple of compromised reporters along with the entire CBC.
Look at Amanda Lang and her dutiful BS about income trusts for gawd’s sake! Then there's Kevin O'Leary who is as commercial compromised as they come.
Need I continue?
You left out one more name--Brent Fullard. Brent you have the guts to stand up for the 3 million or more Canadians who invested in Income Trusts and whose incomes were decimated by the Consevative decision (et al) to double tax trusts. I am sure that all of us investors are very thankful for what you are doing. It takes much character to stand up and be counted. BB
That makes no sense. Mr Sheikh quit his job because he believed he was right, yes he has integrity. Mr Harper refuses to back down on what he thinks is the right thing to do and he doesnt?
You cant have it both ways. Mr Sheikh answers to the govt, and Mr Harper answers to the people. President Obama has low polling numbers and an approval rating of about 30..should he change his mind on what he thinks is right?
I'd rather a leader be defiant and bold on what he thinks is right rather then look at polls and listen to whispers. billg
billg:
Now that you mention it, where is Harper in his defense of destroying the integrity of the census by making it voluntary?
Is he in hiding?
Is that how Harper "leads", by hiding?
Hear hear... well expressed.
m.
Brent
Here’s why I think you have it wrong
When Ivan Fellegi first heard about scrapping the mandatory process in late June, he immediately said he would have quit had the government of the day tried that in his time as Chief Statistician.
Munir Sheikh, on the other hand, testified that he was prepared to “loyally implement” the voluntary process.
Best
Norman Spector
Norman:
Good point!
“Loyally implement” = kowtow = compromise integrity of the data and one’s own self
In the end however, Munir Sheikh did what integrity called for, and for that he is to be commended, even though it may not have been his first instinct,
Brent
@ Norman Spector: yeah, like someone who becomes a shill for Imperial Tobacco* or who makes unfounded accusations about the opposing political party leader (supposedly rcvng a
taxpayer funded boarding school education) has any credibility on what constitutes integrity.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Spector#Corporate_career_and_newspaper_columnist
** http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/spector-vision/
I would have submitted Kevin Page, Parliamentary Budget Officer for honourable mention except he appears to have bent to the dark side of double speak. After having taken it on the chops from the PM and Conservative Ministry of Correct Information and Historical Correction, he has now released a report that the G8/G20 costs could not be determined if they were reasonable or not because there's not enough comparable data from other countries to make the assessment.
Wrong. We were told by our own government that the expected cost was to be about $178Million not $1.5billion. That dear Kevin is mismanagement by an order of magnitude.
Railhound
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