543 replies to this topic

[tjv]

I think the point was that government is not the only entity getting stiffed, and that more Canadians understand intimately what it's like to not get what you are owed or entitled to.

 

The sort of nonsense as alleged to have occurred at the Legislature and the various federal slush funds for pet projects are what raise the hackles of taxpayers, though, as there never seems to be a solution or a will to take offenders to task and stop the bad apples from being able to be bad apples.

I think the real point is that CRA needs to look at government employees (not all, but some of the top echelon) that sign for wood splitters or take lavish vacations to Europe for no apparent reason.  There are probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes, fines and interest per employee just waiting to be collected

[sdwright.vic]

I would agree, unfortunately we don't know the agreement the Federal Government has with the Province's with these types of investigations.

[tjv]

^so if you were to investigate me as President of my corporation you need an agreement with my corporation??? Woohoo, because you are never getting it lol

[sdwright.vic]

I am not saying that... i am just streatching here. You know I am.

However, I will say, government agency's do expect a level of "self policing" between them.

I just know for a matter of fact, someone at my level would of been fired about this by now.

[Mike K.]

Speak of the devil. This is the sort of stuff angering Canadians who feel like they have no recourse with a spend-spend-spend government.

“OTTAWA — Federal opposition parties have renewed their accusations that Liberals are weakening the House of Commons and its responsibility for overseeing government spending decisions by having MPs vote on $7-billion worth of budget measures all at once.

The Conservatives and NDP warn that the Liberal experiment last year of having MPs vote on the measures en masse, despite having little information about the details of the spending they were approving, undermined democracy, and don’t want to see it repeated. A committee report tabled Thursday morning has offered them an opportunity to raise fresh hell.

...

The budget implementation vote, called Vote 40, lumped $7 billion worth of programs into one decision point for MPs, but without detailed information about much of that programming being available to scrutinize. The amount was part of a broader envelope of $112.6 billion that Parliament had authority to approve, out of a total $276 billion in government expenditures for the financial year ending in March.“

https://nationalpost...o-election-year

[tjv]

Sdwright I was being sarcastic which I am sure you figured out. I am careful what I deduct thru my corporation even thou I am the sole shareholder and I would essentially be stealing from myself. Would I ever consider taking a trip to Europe to buy a power tool direct from the manufacturer in Germany of course not, but these idiots going for a trip to buy a hat makes me think about it and I am sure I am not alone.

Something better be seriously done about this and fast otherwise the flood gates will open and everyone will be pointing to this case as exhibit #1. So what's being done about it beside a 90 page report? In the private sector the person would be fired, their assets frozen worldwide including bank accounts etc (yes I had to do it once in a case of internal fraud)

[jonny]

Unfortunately fraud is a reality of life. Greed is a powerful motivator, and once a fraudster starts getting away with deceit they become bolder and bolder until all of a sudden they're expensing a wood splitter because they can. 

[VIResident]

"Liberal MLA Linda Reid, a former Speaker of the House in the B.C. Legislature, was stripped of her post as assistant deputy Speaker on Tuesday amid questions about her role in the spending scandal that promises to dominate the spring session.

Both the governing New Democrats and the Green caucus were seeking Ms. Reid’s removal in the wake of allegations about inappropriate spending, a scandal that has already led to the suspension of Craig James, Clerk of the House and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz." https://www.theglobe...nt-in-spending/

[spanky123]

^ What Reid appears to be accused of is expensing taxi fare and mileage for her vehicle on the same trip. Her response seems to be that she traveled part way by both modes of transport which would make the expense reasonable.

 

Although I am just as quick to criticize a politician as the next person, Plecas' shoot first ask questions later form of 'investigation' is going to backfire on him in a big way at some point.

Edited by spanky123, 13 February 2019 - 08:19 AM.

[Sparky]

^ I agree. No one should say that somebody is going to jail ...unless he is a judge.

 

Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

[VIResident]

^ What Reid appears to be accused of is expensing taxi fare and mileage for her vehicle on the same trip. Her response seems to be that she traveled part way by both modes of transport which would make the expense reasonable.

 

Although I am just as quick to criticize a politician as the next person, Plecas' shoot first ask questions later form of 'investigation' is going to backfire on him in a big way at some point.

"Liberal MLA Linda Reid, a former Speaker of the House in the B.C. Legislature, was stripped of her post as assistant deputy Speaker on Tuesday amid questions about her role in the spending scandal that promises to dominate the spring session.

Both the governing New Democrats and the Green caucus were seeking Ms. Reid’s removal in the wake of allegations about inappropriate spending, a scandal that has already led to the suspension of Craig James, Clerk of the House and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz." https://www.theglobe...nt-in-spending/

[Torrontes]

Fire, aim, ready.

 

New approach to political warfare. Appears to work south of the 49th.

[Victoria Watcher]

In a followup report released Thursday, Plecas alleged that an activity listed as “tsunami watch” in the Haro and Juan de Fuca straits was actually a $1,024 whale-watching trip for eight people, and an exercise in “large-scale evacuations” at Safeco Field was actually $1,073 worth of tickets to a Seattle Mariners baseball game.

 

 

In his report, Plecas raised concerns that James and Lenz seemed to be meeting with the same people about the same topics in locations around the world.  He cited a December 2017 trip to Scotland as an example. The trip was arranged to meet with an expert in “business continuity” at the Scottish Parliament, but that same official was in B.C. and attended the Washington trip four months earlier, Plecas wrote.

 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ames-1.23643498

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 February 2019 - 07:08 AM.

[rjag]

Isnt it time Plecas and his sidekick step back and let the professionals investigate this. He's a defense lawyers wet dream with all his spiteful and bumbling comments. 

[spanky123]

Isnt it time Plecas and his sidekick step back and let the professionals investigate this. He's a defense lawyers wet dream with all his spiteful and bumbling comments.

Yeah I didn’t see anything that would put someone in jail as Plecas claimed earlier. This continues to sound a lot like poorly written travel and expense policies which are even more poorly enforced. Listening to Mullen trying to explain on CFAX yesterday why they felt paying severance to a fired employee was inappropriate was painful.

[tjv]

on the contrary this is black and white fraud and will likely end up with 3-5 years in jail.  Probably 5 years before they are charged and 8-10 years before the trial.  That's based on personal experience of fraud within my corporation.

[tjv]

Isnt it time Plecas and his sidekick step back and let the professionals investigate this. He's a defense lawyers wet dream with all his spiteful and bumbling comments. 

If you expect the police to do it, you will die of old age.  If you don't do all the leg work its likely the prosecutors will just ignore it and that is from direct experience.  The prosecutor told me if I didn't organize everything in binders, properly tabbed, etc, etc and instead handed everything in a box nothing would have happened.

[rjag]

If you expect the police to do it, you will die of old age.  If you don't do all the leg work its likely the prosecutors will just ignore it and that is from direct experience.  The prosecutor told me if I didn't organize everything in binders, properly tabbed, etc, etc and instead handed everything in a box nothing would have happened.

 

Big difference collecting the information and handing it over compared to being judge jury and executioner

 

on the contrary this is black and white fraud and will likely end up with 3-5 years in jail.  Probably 5 years before they are charged and 8-10 years before the trial.  That's based on personal experience of fraud within my corporation.

 

Its a fine line, its misuse of funds and is a firing offense, very hard to prove criminal intent.  Look at all the cases where book-keepers have been caught misappropriating hundreds of thousands of $'s ... at most they get a slap on the wrist.

 

This is more like abuse of the lax rules like the Mike Duffy situation 

[vortoozo]

I think today's article in the TC is quite telling: https://www.timescol...ames-1.23643498

 

We now have an outside source (Washington state legislature clerk) corroborating Plecas's assertations that the trips were likely thinly-veiled excuses for vacations.

[VIResident]

 

In a followup report released Thursday, Plecas alleged that an activity listed as “tsunami watch” in the Haro and Juan de Fuca straits was actually a $1,024 whale-watching trip for eight people, and an exercise in “large-scale evacuations” at Safeco Field was actually $1,073 worth of tickets to a Seattle Mariners baseball game.

 

 

In his report, Plecas raised concerns that James and Lenz seemed to be meeting with the same people about the same topics in locations around the world.  He cited a December 2017 trip to Scotland as an example. The trip was arranged to meet with an expert in “business continuity” at the Scottish Parliament, but that same official was in B.C. and attended the Washington trip four months earlier, Plecas wrote.

 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ames-1.23643498

 

"..eight people" Key words....more people, with, met, did - other people.  Canadians from BC, Ontario, AB, other provinces, Scotland, British... and so on, a little more digging and one might find a pool of people who are using the taxpayers funds in this manner, coordinated and together.