Premier McGuinty should be Ashamed of Himself ... but then again He's a Politician!

Here we go again ... another government scandal .... another cabinet shuffle ... some more platitudinal damage control .... some more media frenzy ... and after the passage of time all of this is forgotten and life goes on at the public trough for the "porkers" at Queen's Park.

There's no point in re-hashing or re-analyzing the misadventures of now former Health Minister David Caplan, who can be likened to a man riding backward in a carriage, never seeing a thing until it has passed him by.

It is more than fair to say that he is a man of dubious judgement who presided over a ministry run amok with unconscionable indulgence during a time of historic economic turbulence in our country.

On his watch at least $16 million dollars were doled-out in untendered eHealth contracts. And let's not forget that under his watch David Caplan presided over the insider wins fiasco at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

What was Dalton McGuinty thinking when he appointed Mr. Caplan as Health Minister?

My problem in all of this is not David Caplan for he delivered just about what you would expect from an incompetant minister. My problem is with Dalton McGuinty himself.

In politics there is one simple rule .... it isn't whether you win or lose but how you place the blame and Mr. McGuinty fired the first salvo in the "blame game" by stating that this is not a "new problem" but something which stretches back 10 years to the the time when the Conservatives were running the Province. Interesting comment.

Let's assume that what Mr. McGuinty says is true. The Liberals came to power in 2003 so by logical extension Dalton McGuinty has had 6 years to clean-up what he himself acknowledges to be an untoward system.

What has he done other than a "song and dance" as Mr. Caplan fell on his own sword. I can not help but to call into question Mr. McGuinty's character and decision making capabilities in light of the current fiasco and all of his broken promises since being elected.

Mr. McGuinty should be ashamed of himself, but then again he's a politician, a profession which tends to ruin one's character!

By the way, this past summer, Mr. McGuinty stated that the buck stopped with him for shoddy oversight.

Well Dalton, apparently the buck didn't stop with you, it simply found its way into the pockets of consultants.

Sometimes you Hold your Nose

Ombudsman Andre Marin has stated that "unscrupulous" lottery-ticket retailers in Ontario have collected at least $100 million in fraudulent claims since 1999, under the "watchful eye" (what happened to the other eye) of the OLG which allowed the practice to persist.

Marin said that lottery officials who raised concerns about suspect claims by retailers in 2003 and 2004 - including on $12.5 million prize - were told by Brown: "Sometimes you hold your nose."

Wrong Duncan!!!!! You hold YOUR BROWN NOSE, probably as a result of walking too close behind your masters when they suddenly stopped ..... I'M KICKING BUTT!!!!

Let's go through some of Andre Marin's findings:

1. There have been at least $100 million in fraudulent claims. - Question: how many of these "unscrupulous" lottery-ticket retailers have been criminally charged? How many have been convicted and are currently serving time with big hairy men who would like to dance the mambo in one of our fine correctional facilities? Let me guess ...none...nada...zilch...WHY?
2. The OLG is "hopelessly conflicted." - Question: Conflicted about what? To steal or not to steal? Oh the dilema of multiplke choice!
3. Marin said the OLG ignored allegations of fraud because it was "fixated on profit rather than public service." Question: How many of these "fixated" public service trolls will now be dismissed? Or will Duncan Brown be the only one to walk the plank, because his high profile dismissal might mitigate some of the damage suffered by DUHlton McGuinty and the crew of The Black Pearl? Oh by the way, it didn't happen to be you DUHlton who was the prime fixator was it? Now was it DUHlton...comon, was it?
4. Customers who complained were rarely taken seriously, said Morin, who called the corporation's customer complaints department "rude and inept" when dealing with them ...not surprising Mes Amis....have you had to deal with the boys at Queens Park lately? Like government - like government agency!
5. There was too much hanky panky between retailers and the OLG. The question still stands ... how many folks at the OLG have been shown the front door and how many retailers have been criminally charged?

The Cantankerous One has a few additional questions, namely: Why does David Caplan, the minister responsible for the OLG still hold that porfolio? Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character give him power. Caplan was given power and voila ....behold his character.

Why does OLG Chairman Michael Gough still hold his position? He shows all the backbone of a chocolate eclair. In the midst of a scandal, Gough thumps his chest with pride, as he announces that despite the fact that some unscrupulous vendors stole money out of our pockets lottery ticket sales are in fact up. How stupid of me to not understand that sales increases make theft allright.

Gough goes on to say "that's a ...reflection of Ontarian's basic trust in this corporation." As usual Mr. Gough, you have mastered many things, but common sense is not one of them. Where would I go if I wanted to play big-payout lotteries which are not controlled by the government? I guess one does not deal much in facts when one is contemplating saving ones butt.

Let's go back to David Caplan for a moment. Here's the Caplan Clincher. He said that the government and OLG would try to find people who had their legitimate lottery winnings stolen by someone else and pay them the jackpot they were entitled to have. There was no mention of cleaning out the complicit vipers nests within OLG who knew what was going on and looked the other way ... can these people be criminally charged for aiding and abetting the facilitation of a crime? ...no mention of criminally charging all of those retailers involved in theft ... no mention of forcing these thieves to pay restitution ... no mention of pulling OLG kiosks from retailers directly involved with these thefts.

We need to arrange for a quick Cat Scan of Mr. Caplan's cranium to ensure that there is something of substance inside, instead of as it appears now, a resting place for his hair follicles.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, DUHlton McGuinty defended Caplan and accused the opposition parties of playing political games by demanding Caplan's resignation.

Hold the fort Martha...we need to order up another one of them there Cat Scans for that DUHlton fella. OOps forgot. With the health care system being what it is, we'll probably have to wait untill after the next election to get an appointment.