- also mentions ex-TCPL
engineer Evan Vokes who was fired
in May 2012 after raising concerns about the company's practices. Many other
reports referenced below also feature Evan Vokes. This October 28th
report also makes reference to a pipeline incident reports database - quote:-
1,000 safety-related incidents, shows database
But for industry watchers, every little problem counts — and there are
more than 1,000 "safety-related incidents" involving federally-regulated
pipelines detailed in the National Energy Board database from 2000 to late
2012.
This database appears to me to be the one referred to in the CBC report
at:- http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/pipeline-incidents/
To
me, this raises serious concerns about the safety of the Keystone XL oil
pipeline project as long as TCPL are involved. We cannot at present be assured that
the Keystone XL oil pipeline will be safe enough from major explosions and
leaks - putting workers, the general public and the environment at unnecessary
risk. The same concerns arise in connection with the proposed Energy East
oil pipeline – which is also to be done by TCPL.
Evan
Vokes and I have a common concern to see
that anything designed by professional engineers in Canada is also properly
constructed, followed by inspections properly carried out according to
professional engineers’ instructions to ensure the safety of the public,
workers and compliance with all applicable laws.
As
things are in Canada now, attitudes towards “whistleblowers” who find something
being incorrectly done, thus posing unnecessary and unacceptable risks to everybody
as well as breaking the law, are such that they risk losing their jobs and
having their lives ruined in the name of foolhardy cost-cutting thus putting
company profits before safety and compliance with the law. The attitudes
referred to amount to nothing more than social prejudice founded on office
politics, popular disinformation and attempts by big corporations and their
leaders to cover up their own wrongdoing, “aided and abetted” by weak or
non-existent Canadian legislation to protect the said “whistleblowers”.
The
point could hardly have been made clearer by Linden MacIntyre of the CBC’s
“Fifth Estate” program, in his October 31st 2013 online article, “Why whistleblowers
are crucial for democracy”.
Reference:-http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/why-whistleblowers-are-crucial-for-democracy-linden-macintyre-1.2288168
I
posted several online comments about SNC-Lavalin Inc. in response to this.
The
CBC has also reported extensively on this same Evan Vokes, and his
firing by TCPL. Reference: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/whistleblower-forced-investigation-of-transcanada-pipelines-1.1146204
This CBC report is dated May 2012, earlier than any of the 23
reports involving Mr. Vokes on the FAIR website referenced below. This
CBC report and video featuring him mentions “…concerns about the competency
of some pipeline inspectors and the company’s lack of compliance with welding
regulations set by the National Energy Board (NEB), the federal energy industry
regulator…”
Any possibility of shoddy
work by TCPL and anyone else involved in the Keystone XL project - or any other
project - putting the safety of workers, the general public and the environment
at risk, is obviously not acceptable.
There seems to me to be a
clear case here of where the standard of engineering and construction in Canada
has been lowered, at the expense of safety standards – by
deliberately-enforced bad workplace
manners and management attitudes in Canada, and project mis-management
involving un-justified ”slacking” concerning onsite inspections during construction
work, bad pipeline welds and other construction faults.
A few people know
about the office politics, bad workplace manners, wrongful dismissal and
corruption carried on at my expense by SNC-Lavalin Inc. (and The SNC Group
before them) AND OTHERS OVER THE 32 YEARS SINCE 1982, as reported on my own
website at www.exposethismuck.com Generally, however, it has been covered up
over this entire time because mainstream media have either ignored it or consistently
refused to investigate and report on it when asked, or ignored it when it was
referenced in online postings by me, notwithstanding the thorough supporting
documentation on the website. As the FAIR
Monthly Headlines: October 2013 copied
below shows, there is a huge problem in Canadian workplaces with rank
incompetence, office politics, bad workplace manners, wrongful dismissals and
workplace corruption that big Canadian corporations and their leaders are
trying to cover up. At the present time, FAIR also cannot reference / report on
/ my story on its own website because of legal liability issues (and possible
SLAPPs) arising from my story NOT BEING “OFFICIALLY” IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN - on
account of there having been no previous media investigation and reports.
Based on that, can
we trust SNC-Lavalin Inc. ?
With regard to SNC-Lavalin
Inc.’s involvement in the Keystone XL project, the only currently-available
public reference to this is at:-
http://investors.snclavalin.com/en/investors-briefcase/doc/2007_annual_report-on-operations_91.pdf/
Quote from this 2007 report
by SNC-Lavalin Inc.:-
“Preliminary engineering is complete and detailed design work is
underway on TransCanada’s Keystone oil pipeline project. Our mandate involves
engineering design for all terminals, tankage, metering and pump stations for
the new 450,000 bpd, 3,000 km pipeline between Hardisty, Alberta and Cushing,
Oklahoma.”
The website of a
major competitor to SNC-Lavalin Inc. – WorleyParsons – shows an announcement
dated March 5th 2009, concerning a contract award to WorleyParsons
for “………..the detailed engineering, commissioning and
construction support for the facilities of the Keystone Pipeline System
expansion for TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP. The expansion is
complementary to the first phase of the Keystone Pipeline System and, once
completed, will serve existing refineries and markets on the U.S. Gulf Coast in
Texas………..”
Whatever the current
situation concerning SNC-Lavalin Inc.’s work on Keystone, the question posed
above - about SNC-Lavalin Inc.‘s
conduct in general – applies, and demands satisfactory answers, and not
just from people whom they currently employ.
In addition to this,
SNC-Lavalin Inc. C.E.O. Robert Card’s press releases in December 2013
concerning progress in cleaning up corruption at SNC-Lavalin Inc. overlooked
the issues referred to above. By way of reminder, these concerned the office
politics, bad workplace manners, wrongful dismissal and corruption carried on
at my expense by SNC-Lavalin Inc. (and The SNC Group before them). Robert
Card likely over-looked this because
the said issues were deliberately concealed from him by his predecessors such
as former President and C.E.O. Guy Saint-Pierre, O.C., even though the latter’s
retirement as President and C.E.O. of SNC-Lavalin Inc. happened in 1996. The
said press releases concerned SNC-Lavalin Inc.’s record of improper payments
and bribes in Libya; one example of this was the $160 million bribe that they
paid to Saadi Gadhafi in the name of getting a contract to design and build a
new prison in Libya.
Guy Saint-Pierre, O.C., was
then Chairman of the Board at SNC-Lavalin Inc. until his final retirement from
SNC-Lavalin Inc. in 2002. Some of his successors and other people at the
company would surely have known what was going on.
Mr. Chisholm’s online article
exclusively about this is located at www.exposethismuck.com/SAMART1.htm
and it contains active links to supporting documents. The supporting documents
include, among other things, details of SNC’s office furniture seizure and bank
account seizure for non-payment to Mr. Chisholm at the conclusion of his
wrongful dismissal suit in August 1991.
Returning now to Evan Vokes,
TCPL, safety and workmanship and compliance with the law on the Keystone
pipeline project, people might want to read at least some of the 23 reports
that were referenced at http://fairwhistleblower.ca/search/site/vokes.
- until about mid-2014 when the site was transferred to new owners.
For ease of reference, I have
summarised SOME of the important points from the 23 reports referred to HERE
The selection was made based
on engineering relevance and avoidance of unnecessary repetition across the
various reports.
The sample reports just
referred to have all been verified as still available “at source”, are
available on request and copies saved for future reference in the event of
removal from the external websites involved.
In any dealings with TCPL, in
Mr. Chisholm’s view the aim should be to demand that TCPL guarantee strict
adherence to regulated safety standards, ASME codes, onsite inspection
procedures at construction sites, welding procedure specifications etc. and not
permit any more deviations of the type found by Mr. Vokes and others.
UPDATE FEB 27TH
2014
Based on a just-released
National Energy Board audit, it appears that TransCanada Pipelines have learned
some things from earlier mistakes.
Reference:-
https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/sftnvrnmnt/cmplnc/dtrprt/2014trnscnd-ntgrt/2014trnscnd-ntgrt-eng.pdf (released February 24th 2014)
But doubts still remain about
whether they have fully learned. Reference this February 25th 2014 report:-
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/nebs-audit-transcanada-leaves-whistleblower-disillusioned
Robert T. Chisholm, Ottawa,
November 28th 2014
B.Sc. Hons. (Mechanical
Engineering) – University of Bath, U.K., 1970; Associate Member - Ontario
Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE)
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FAIR Monthly Headlines: October 2013.
"This destroyed my career and my life"
A selected list of articles added to the FAIR website last month.
These are about whistleblowing, whistleblowers, and the types of misconduct
that they typically expose. "This
destroyed my career and my life"
Topics:
Government
transparency, Whistleblowers Guillaume
Bourgault-Côté – October 24,2013 For a journalist, she was a preferred source but for the government,
she was a mole waiting to be caught. And that’s what happened: Sylvie
Therrien got caught. The public servant from the Employment Insurance
Integrity Services was officially terminated this week for having revealed to
Le Devoir the existence of the quotas imposed to
investigators. Today,
she is lamenting the fate of whistleblowers. “I acted in the public
interest and I’m paying a huge price," she said. "It’s
horrible to live through this now and especially its aftermath considering
that nobody will give a job to a whistleblower. It has destroyed my career
and my life.” EI
fraud investigator axed for leaking “quota” details
Topics:
Whistleblowers,
Reprisals Donovan
Vincent – October 24, 2013 The federal fraud investigator who leaked documents exposing a
Conservative crackdown on those receiving EI has been fired from her
job. Sylvie Therrien, 53, who worked out of a Vancouver office, learned
Tuesday that she has been terminated from her position. The
letter, sent on behalf of an executive with what is now called Employment and
Social Development Canada, informed Therrien that her “reliability status’’
had been revoked, and therefore she no longer met the conditions for her job. Pipeline
flaws spiked number of leaks, says whistleblower
Topics:
Oil
& gas industry, Regulatory
oversight, Public
health & safety, Environment October
28, 2013 CBC News has learned the rate of spills and leaks involving
federally-regulated pipelines has doubled since 2000, and a whistleblower
says construction flaws — not aging pipelines — are to blame. The
National Energy Board regulates about 71,000 kilometres of pipelines across
the country, almost half of which sit in Alberta (30,628 kilometres). Evan
Vokes worked as an engineer at Calgary-based TransCanada until last year when
he was fired after raising concerns about the company's practices. Former
Edmonton Police Review Board chairman calls for whistleblower protection
Topics:
Alberta,
Policing,
Whistleblowers Pamela
Roth – October 28, 2013 A former chair of the Law Enforcement Review Board (LERB) is urging
Edmonton police to create a whistle-blower policy and address the code of
silence practice. In
a letter addressed to the Edmonton Police Commission (EPC), Patrick Knoll,
who once chaired the Calgary Police Commission and the LERB, states that the
events concerning Const. Derek Huff and Const. Jack Redlick could "very
well allow for the implementation of an Edmonton Police Commission policy
that would address the code of silence practice and serve to significantly
reduce further events of like kind." Visible
support for Edmonton's whistleblowing cop
Topics:
Alberta,
Policing,
Whistleblowers Pamela
Roth – October 3, 2013 Across the street from police headquarters on Thursday appeared a large, colourful sign directed to the
chief, Rod Knecht. It read: "Chief Knecht -- Derek Huff deserves
his job back." Huff
resigned in February, citing harassment from peers after making a complaint
of excessive force against three of his colleagues in February 2010. He was
lost for words when told about the sign. Brutality
allegation shows police transparency not always simple
Topics:
Alberta,
Policing,
Whistleblowers Brent
Wittmeier – October 7, 2013 In Derek Huff’s telling, it was a dream job that quickly fell to
tatters. Everything changed in a few seconds on Feb. 11, 2010. That’s when
Huff and another Edmonton constable pulled up in front of a downtown
residence. They
saw a trio of fellow plainclothes officers punch and kick a drug dealer
targeted in an undercover sting. Huff, a seven-year veteran had seen rough
arrests. This wasn’t a couple of punches, he says, but a planned beating. Montreal
whistleblower priest fired for raising alarm over sexual abuse
Topics:
Charities
& non-profits, Whistleblowers,
Harassment,
Reprisals,
Quebec Andy
Blatchford – October 31, 2013 A Roman Catholic priest says his attempt to raise the issue of sexual
abuse with colleagues resulted in him being ostracized and eventually fired
from a famous Montreal church. The
story told by Rev. Andre Samson suggests that the Vatican's promises of a
new, more open approach to dealing with sexual crimes has not necessarily
translated through the church rank-and-file. Whistleblower
lawsuit says CN is cooking its books
Topics:
USA,
Whistleblowers,
White-collar
crime John
Nicol & Dave Seglins – October 24, 2013 A whistleblower lawsuit in the United States is accusing CN Rail of
fudging its numbers to increase executive bonuses and to make it appear to be
North America's most efficient railroad for investors. Tim
Wallender, a former CN trainmaster based at the company's Harrison Yard in
Memphis, Tenn. has filed a lawsuit under the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act — which
was passed into law to protect whistleblowers following the Enron scandal in
the early 2000s. CN
allegedly “engaged in criminal conduct”, fired whistleblower
Topics:
USA,
Whistleblowers,
White-collar
crime Jorge
Barrera & Kenneth Jackson – September 25, 2013 Canadian National Railway was allegedly “engaged in criminal conduct
by defrauding shareholders” and U.S. “federal regulators” by “manipulating”
data to boost its efficiency and, by extension, its share price, according to
a whistleblower complaint filed in U.S. federal court. The
complaint also alleges that CN has an unwritten policy of “retaliating
against whistleblowers” and that the alleged criminal conduct was endorsed by
a senior official in CN’s head office to keep the company’s share prices
high. Scientists
muzzled: 88% want whistleblower protection
Topics:
Science,
Government
transparency, Message
control or 'spin' Andrea
Hill – October 21, 2013 Ninety per cent of Canadian government scientists feel they can’t speak
freely to the media and half say they have seen the health and safety of
Canadians or environmental sustainability compromised because of political
interference with scientific work, says a national survey of federal
scientists. “Science
is increasingly being frozen out of policy decisions and scientists
themselves are not able to provide timely, vital scientific information to
Canadians,” said Gary Corbett, president of the Professional Institute of the
Public Service of Canada union, which represents 60,000 government workers. US
whistleblower watchdog exposes Homeland Security overtime abuses
Topics:
USA,
Office
of Special Counsel, Watchdogs Emily
Wax-Thibodeaux – October 31, 2013 Federal employees at the Department of Homeland Security call it the
“candy bowl,” a pot of overtime money they have long dipped into to pad their
pay even if they haven’t earned it, whistleblowers say. This
practice, which can add up to 25 percent to a paycheck, has become so routine
over the last generation that it’s often held out as a perk when government
managers try to recruit new employees, according to these accounts. More
NSA whistleblowers following Snowden’s lead
Topics:
USA,
State
surveillance, Whistleblowers The "courage" of Edward Snowden is "contagious,"
according to lawyer and transparency advocate Jesselyn Radack, who says that
additional employees at the National Security Agency are now coming forward
with what they consider objectionable practices by their employer. In
an interview with ABC News, Radack revealed that an influx of NSA
whistleblowers, inspired by Snowden, are now knocking on the doors of her
organization. Germany
may invite Edward Snowden as witness in NSA inquiry
Topics:
USA,
Europe,
State
surveillance, Whistleblowers Philip
Oltermann – November 1, 2013 Edward Snowden may be invited to Germany as a witness against the US
National Security Agency. Action is under way in the Bundestag to commission
a parliamentary investigation into US intelligence service spying and a
German politician met Snowden in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the matter. Hans-Christian
Ströbele, the veteran Green party candidate for Berlin's Kreuzberg district,
reported that the US whistleblower was prepared in principle to assist a
parliamentary inquiry. A
Journalist With a Mission
Topics:
Freedom
of the press, State
surveillance, National
security, Government
transparency Roger
Cohen – October 31, 2013 A young American lawyer comes to Brazil in 2005, falls in love, finds
that his gay relationship confers greater legal rights than back home, starts
a blog called Unclaimed Territory focusing on illegal warrantless
eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, takes a place in the hills of
Rio with a bunch of rescue dogs... ...denounces
the cozy compromises of “establishment journalists,” gets hired to write a
column by Britain’s Guardian newspaper, is sought out by the N.S.A.
whistle-blower Edward J. Snowden, becomes the main chronicler of Snowden’s
revelations of global American surveillance, is lionized for work that
prompts a far-reaching debate on security and freedom, files repeated
thunderbolts from his leafy Brazilian perch, and ends up, in just eight
years, as perhaps the most famous journalist of his generation. UK
Whistleblowers want protection to root out wrongdoing
Topics:
UK,
Legislation,
Whistleblowers Alan
Tovey – October 31, 2013 It takes courage to blow the whistle on wrongdoing at work and those
brave enough to raise their concerns are putting their livelihood,
friendships and health on the line. In some cases they might even be risking
their lives. This
high toll is something Michael Woodford, the former president of Olympus,
knows only too well. When he exposed a $1.7bn (£1.1bn) fraud at the global
company and possible links to the Japanese mafia, he was left fearing for his
safety with police advising him not to use the balcony of his Thames-side
apartment because of the risk of assassination. UK's
top prosecutor defends journalists who break law in public interest
Topics:
UK,
Freedom
of the press, Whistleblowers Zoe
Williams & Nick Hopkins – October 18, 2013 Britain's most senior prosecutor has launched a robust defence of
journalists who break the law pursuing investigations that have a genuine
public interest. Legal guidelines had been drafted, he said, to protect
reporters. Keir
Starmer, the director of public prosecutions (DPP), insisted it "would
be very unhealthy if you had a situation where a journalist felt that they
needed to go to their lawyer before they pursued any lead or asked any
question". UK
whistleblower doctors 'punished by mafia code'
Topics:
UK,
Health
care, Whistleblowers Matthew
Holehouse – October 23, 2013 Not one senior medic raised concerns about failings of care during the
Mid Staffordshire scandal, David Prior, the chairman of the Care Quality
Commission, said. MPs
yesterday claimed the medical profession is ruled by a “mafia code” that
means whistleblowers are “finished” by their colleagues. “One of the things
I’ve learnt over the past six months is to be a whistleblower you’ve got to
be very, very brave. EU-wide
whistleblower protection law rejected
Topics:
Europe,
Legislation Nikolaj
Nielsen – October 13, 2013 The European Commission has rejected a request by MEPs to introduce EU
whistleblower protection laws before the end of year. Deputies in Strasbourg
voted through a crime report on Wednesday (23 October) to ensure, among other proposals,
greater protection for people who go public with damning evidence. The
report says an EU-wide law is necessary to protect people dealing with
national and cross-border corruption relating to EU financial interests.
Conservative Italian MEP Salvatore Iacolino, who steered the report for the
parliament, estimated that between 4 to 5 percent of the EU’s GDP is lost to
corruption alone. New
ridings may have been manipulated
Topics:
Electoral
fraud, Political
misconduct Jordan
Press – October 1, 2013 An independent commission that redrew the federal electoral map in
Ontario is suggesting two MPs, including the New Democratic Party's ethics
critic, may have manipulated a handful of communities into reversing their
positions on the redrawn map. The
allegations are contained in the final report from the Ontario electoral
boundary commission that rejected multiple recommendations from Conservative
MPs - including House leader Peter Van Loan and Natural Resources Minister
Joe Oliver - for changes to riding borders, and rebuked comments from two
Liberal MPs that the commission was corrupted in its decisions. Conservative
Party lawyer directed robocall questions during investigation: documents
Topics:
Electoral
fraud, Legal
ethics, Watchdogs Laura
Stone – September 11, 2103 The Conservative Party lawyer who attended interviews related to the
May 2011 robocalls investigation at times spoke for witnesses and directed
the questions, according to excerpts obtained by Global News. Arthur
Hamilton sat in on the interviews with the witnesses, who had all worked as
Conservative staffers, alongside Elections Canada investigators Allan Mathews
and Ron Lamothe in March and April 2012. Life
and death in Winnipeg's emergency rooms
Topics:
Manitoba,
Health
care Donna
Carreiro – September 9, 2013 It took a good seven hours before an ER nurse finally had the chance to
call maintenance about a locked-up bathroom door — only to discover the body
of a woman who had shown up at the hospital, seeking treatment. "She
was dead on the toilet, in full rigor," the nurse recalls. "She'd
been dead for a while." Welcome to life — and death — in Winnipeg's
emergency rooms. Plagued for years with overcrowding, understaffing and a
slew of casualties along the way. Winnipeg
health authority 'setting us up to fail,' says nurse
Topics:
Manitoba,
Health
care, Public
health & safety Donna
Carreiro – September 6, 2013 It was a massive heart attack in the middle of a waiting room that
scored a patient the attention he needed — and it was only after waiting more
than five hours to be seen. Is this another example of a dysfunctional
emergency room pre-Brian Sinclair? No.
It happened just two months ago — that is, almost five years after Sinclair's
death in 2008 and after the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA)
heralded changes in the ER to prevent yet another case. Former
top bureaucrat in Clarence-Rockland files defamation suit against mayor
Topics:
Ontario,
Municipalities,
Political
misconduct, Corruption Gary
Dimmock – October 22, 2013 The former chief administrator for the town of Clarence-Rockland is
suing the embattled mayor in a $350,000 defamation claim for posting private
documents online and falsely accusing him of criminal acts during a police
investigation into possible corruption. In
the statement of claim, filed at the Elgin Street courthouse, Daniel Gatien
alleges that Rockland Mayor Marcel Guibord wrongly implicated him in an
online letter he refused to delete even after the town’s top executive got
two legal opinions warning the municipality that such a posting could expose
them to a civil suit. (The Citizen has obtained copies of the internal legal
opinions.) One-man
train crews safe, says MMA chairman
Topics:
Transport
Canada, Public
health & safety, Regulatory
oversight Wendy
Gillis – October 20, 2013 The public face of the insolvent rail company implicated in the
Lac-Mégantic train disaster remains convinced that single-man crews are safe
— even more so than those with multiple workers — and maintains that one man
is responsible for the deadly accident. Edward
Burkhardt, chairman of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, told the Toronto
Star in a recent interview that he stands by his company’s use of one-man
crews, and would continue using them if Transport Canada had not passed
emergency regulation banning their use in the wake of the July
6 disaster that killed 47 people. Veterans
charter needs urgent action, ombudsman says
Topics:
Veterans,
Government
ethics Karina
Roman – October 1, 2013 Veterans Ombudsman Guy Parent says the new veterans charter is putting
the most severely wounded veterans at risk of hardship and poverty, and is
calling on the government to fix the problem. For
years, veterans have complained about the programs and compensation under the
veterans charter, which was brought in in 2006. Under the legislation,
ex-soldiers saw the decades-old pension for life system replaced with a
workers' compensation-style approach of lump-sum awards and allowances. Espionage
is a fact of life. Oversight should be, too
Topics:
State
surveillance, CSIS
& CSEC, Regulatory
oversight, National
security Colin
Kenny – October 15, 2013 Canadians ought not to be wringing their hands at the news that our
electronic eavesdropping agency is spying on the Brazilian mining industry.
Espionage — both for security and economic advantage — is a fact of
international life. What
Canadians should be anxious about is the lack of oversight of Canadian
agencies that conduct espionage. We are entitled to know that capable,
independent and responsible people are keeping an eye on how our spies — and
our military — are interfering in the lives of both foreigners and Canadian
citizens. Spy
watchdog launches probe into alleged CSIS intimidation
Topics:
CSIS
& CSEC, National
security, Harassment Douglas
Quan – October 19, 2013 The watchdog overseeing Canada's spy agency is investigating a
complaint by a Hamilton man who says he received an unannounced visit at his
home by two agents earlier this year after making public statements that were
critical of the Harper government's position on Iran. Ken
Stone, a longtime antiwar, social justice and environmental activist, said
the agents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service wanted to ask him
more about his views on Iran and his travels there. Where
did Ontario’s slots-for-horses money go?
Topics:
Ontario,
Sport,
Regulatory
oversight Mary
Ormsby – October 26, 2013 Slot machine dollars earmarked for Ontario’s struggling horse racing
industry were misspent or are unaccounted for due to lax oversight by the
provincial government, a Star investigation has found. How
much is at issue is not known, but it was fear of an ORNGE-style scandal that
led then Finance Minister Dwight Duncan last year to abruptly cancel the
long-running deal that funded horse racing in Ontario using publicly
regulated gambling revenues. In all, $4.1 billion from slot machines flowed
to the sport over 15 years. Albertans
remain out of homes in wake of CN derailment
Topics:
Transport
Canada, Public
health & safety, Environment October
21, 2013 More than 100 people remain out of their homes after 13 cars of a CN
freight train carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas went off the rails
near the tiny hamlet of Gainford, about 80 kilometres west of Edmonton, early
Saturday morning. The
area was rocked by two explosions just after 1 a.m.,
rousing residents from their beds and triggering two waves of evacuation
orders. Residents will likely not be allowed to return to their homes until
sometime Tuesday, despite earlier reports that the
evacuation order might be lifted early Monday morning. Transport
Canada under renewed fire over B.C. float-plane crash safety issues
Topics:
Transport
Canada, TSB,
Regulatory
oversight, Watchdogs,
Aviation
safety Larry
Pynn – October 23, 2013 A federal transportation safety board report Wednesday into a fatal float plane crash in Ontario is
putting renewed pressure on Transport Canada to address long-standing safety
issues raised in B.C. that could save lives. A
Cochrane Air Service de Havilland Beaver float plane stalled in flight, crashed
and flipped over following an aborted landing on May 25, 2012 at Lillabelle
Lake, north of Timmins. All three people aboard survived the initial crash,
but only one escaped the partly submerged aircraft; the other two drowned. New
Veterans Affairs minister: same old crisis of insensitivity
Topics:
Veterans,
Government
ethics, Government
transparency Sean
Bruyea – October 23, 2013 Veterans aren’t happy and recently-appointed Veterans Affair Minister
Julian Fantino is only fanning the fire with the usual parroting of
bureaucratic misinformation. How do veterans and other Canadians hold a
minister and his bureaucracy accountable for spreading half-truths and
misleading claims? The
first step to accountability is to uncover the truth. The situation in the
veteran community is so dire that Fantino wrote an op-ed for the National
Post and also sent it out on the internet addressed to “Dear Veteran.” His
open letter claims there is a “tangle of misinformation regarding how Canada
treats” its veterans. Murder
of forensic audit chief ‘only tip of iceberg’
Topics:
Africa,
Reprisals,
Organized
crime, White-collar
crime Sheree
Bega – October 26, 2013 South Africa’s forensic auditors are receiving death threats for
exposing rampant corruption in the public and private sector. The suspected
hit on top forensic auditor Lawrence Moepi last week is only the “tip of the
iceberg” for a profession that is becoming increasingly dangerous, according
to Association of Public Accounts secretary-general Hlomani Chauke. “Nowadays,
these kinds of attacks are happening to people who are unravelling corruption
and the mismanagement of public and private money,” he said. About FAIR
Federal
Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR) promotes integrity and
accountability within government by empowering employees to speak out without
fear of reprisal when they encounter wrongdoing. Our aim is to support
legislation and management practices that will provide effective protection
for whistleblowers and hence occupational free speech in the workplace. FAIR
is a registered Canadian charity. FAIR
is a volunteer-run charity with slender resources. If you feel that our work
is worth supporting, please consider making
a donation. |