Just talked to Fred--he tells me he thinks this will be taped, will talk about 15 minutes, and then use three minutes or so, that it is gathering info for the news segments. I sure hope he's right!!

Now I'm thinking I'm going to forget everything.

Posted by: JulieM at December 8, 2005 02:07 PM

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Well, I have finally stopped shaking. :)

I faxed the Post article to Mr. Dyer (and begged him to edit out my "um"s and "ah"s :), and also told him that without you, there would be no story.

Gave him your work number, too... he said he was going to give you a call Mr. Smith, who must really be feeling the heat right about now.

I said some inarticulate thing about the synergy between old and new media... :)

Posted by: JulieM at December 8, 2005 03:44 PM

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If you can crosspost any mp3 version or streaming version of this on the Shotgun, I would greatly appreciate it.

Am I not mistaken, or is your dogged reporting on this the reason it has some traction? I only ask because someone--W. Kinsella I think--said no stories have been broken by bloggers in Canada, at least on the same scale as in the U.S. (Rathergate, etc.)

Right now, your focus has been on Abotech, but is there evidence that other MPs may have operated this way with gov. contracts?

Posted by: Kevin Steel at December 8, 2005 03:50 PM

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Was it Evan Dyer? I should find his bio. I've heard of him before, but I don't really have a take on what he's like.

As for the MP3, if something goes to air, I'll definitely link it up.

Posted by: Angry in T.O. at December 8, 2005 03:55 PM

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"Am I not mistaken, or is your dogged reporting on this the reason it has some traction?"

Can't say. The Globe and Mail broke the story in October, but I think I added a few interesting twists to the story.

I suppose if any of this figures in the results of the vote in Pontiac, we'll be able to say, one way or another, if blogging has had an impact.

Other MPs? Gosh, I don't know. Problem is that I have a day job. If I could do this full time...hint...hint....

Posted by: Angry in T.O. at December 8, 2005 03:57 PM

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Oh yeah, it was Warren Kinsella who said no big stories have been broken by bloggers. The comment doesn't appear in the Canadian Press piece that is floating around, but on his blog, he adds this as an introduction to his reposting of the article:

"In this bizarre two-part election, no big political story has been unearthed by Canadian bloggers - at least not in the way the American blogs broke the Trent Lott or Dan Rather stories. But it's coming."

Posted by: Angry in T.O. at December 8, 2005 04:10 PM

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Wait for it, there was a news release from the Native Alliance of Quebec stating the Smith is a Metis. Smith also mentioned on the French language that the report from the Ethics Counsellor will be out any day now.

Posted by: at December 8, 2005 05:00 PM

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Kevin,

Well Angry's reporting is certainly what caught my eye, and once it appeared in the Post, the Citizen called my editor, and things heated up rather quickly.

So yes, I'd say that Angry's reporting is what broke the story. He did huge amounts of background work that made it easy for me. I'd consider this the first time a blogger has broken a news story in Canada.

My editor got an email from the NAQ. They say that they check out applicants. It would be interesting to find out more.

Btw, there are already charges of racism: "how dare you question anyone's ethnicity," etc.

Posted by: JulieM at December 8, 2005 05:24 PM

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One more thing, Kevin,

I don't know about MPs, but there is evidence that other companies had "irregularities," the original Globe and Mail mentioned that.

I think the corruption goes far deeper than just Abotech.

Posted by: JulieM at December 8, 2005 05:26 PM

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I have a scoop for you. Do you know why Abotech's 2 contracts were terminated? They were not being used.

Posted by: at December 9, 2005 08:20 AM

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Sorry folks, you just don't have a clue what's really happening here. So listen up.

We now know that Smith's aboriginal ancestry is not in question. So there's nothing going on there.

We also know that Smith was cleared by the Ethics Commissioner way back. He's asked the Commissioner to take another look. What if he gets cleared again? See, your assumption is that he's doing something wrong but the fact is, he has been open and transparent every step of the way. He has followed all of the rules around ethics. It will be interesting to see what the Commissioner's next report will say.

Now, take a deep breath while I learn ya what's really going on here. This is the scoop that will put your blog up in lights. I will put the bread crumbs on the path here, but it will be up to you to follow them.

Two years ago, there were audits done at CAC on the contracts put in place on behalf of CIDA and ACOA. The findings were that the contracting practices were terrible and it was up to CAC management to fix them (these contracts by the were not handled by Frank Brazeau at all. Look at the CAC website for the "international" division under the Consulting branch to see the "consultants" who really mis-managed this work).

So with these terrible audit reports, what happened? Absolutely nothing.

Then, one of the wierdest things to ever strike government, the decision was made to merge the audit side of CAC with the consulting side. This was taken at the same time as the Enron disaster was going on in the States. So while the rest of the corporate world took measures to separate the audit function from the operations, CAC decides to do the opposite! That took amazing insight and perspicacity, to do the opposite of what any accountant or auditor holds dear as a professional given.

Who do you think took that decision? It sure wasn't Frank Brazeau! It wasn't even Bill McCann, the mystery DG who has gone *poof*.

No. The person responsible for the overall management and operations of CAC is the CEO. In this case, that's Elisabeth Nadeau. She's the one who skyrocketed in her career from being a lowly bureaucrat to becoming a senior executive virtually overnight. She's the one who hired the other missing DG, Louis Vadeboncoeur. So what's really going on here? (Pay attention now).

Elisabeth Nadeau is on the hook for systemic bad practices and terrible decisions at CAC. BUT, she's married to a Liberal Senator. AND, she was hand-picked by deputy minister David Marshall to help him with the Gomery Commission defence. So, our Liberal friends have closed ranks.

When the KPMG forensic audit into the RCMP found nothing against Frank Brazeau, Marshall took over the review from CAC and decided to protect his pal Nadeau. He decided to use Frank Brazeau as the scapegoat, releasing the KPMG hounds all over the city in a desperate attempt to find anything against him.

So now we have all this attention on Brazeau and, by extension, Smith. But the reason is not what you think. This is Liberal cronyism at its finest, my friends.

Oh, and by the way, the previous poster is absolutely right about those "terminated" Abotech contracts. They were put in place for services to be provided on an "as required" basis on behalf of departments. The departments, as it happened, did not require the services. Therefore, the contracts were not being used. The suppliers and Abotech received nothing, because there was no work to do at the time. No mis-spent public funds at all. Terminating them was an administrative action. It happens all the time in government, but it sure plays well with ministers who like to pretend they're "showing leadership".

You want to see yourselves get the real story here (not the concocted one that Marshall leaked to his buddy Daniel Leblanc at the Globe)? As long as your focus stays on Smith and Brazeau, you are missing the real story, which is much more sinister. And this is exactly what the Marshall-Nadeau-Leblanc troika wants.

So, get yourself a coffee, ask yourself these questions, then go do your homework.

1. Why has the KPMG "review" not been released? Has any of you asked Marshall's office?
2. What if David Smith is cleared yet again by the Ethics Commissioner?
3. What was Elisabeth Nadeau's role in this whole mess? Surely, as the CEO, she would have some responsibility, no?
4. How close is the relationship between Nadeau, her Liberal Senator husband, and deputy minister David Marshall?
5. How bad was the contracting in the "International" division of the Consulting Branch? Remember, Brazeau had nothing to do with these contracts at all. Even McCann had nothing to do with these (you need to use the Access to Information Act to your advantage to get this information). Or pick up the phone and call some of these "consultants".
6. Since Brazeau was not a contracting officer and had no signing authority for any of the contracts in question, contrary to what KPMG alleges, why is he the only one being punished? (look up "scapegoat" in your dictionary, kids. While you're at it, look up "smokescreen".... you'll see Abotech in there).
7. Where is Elisabeth Nadeau these days?
8. What is the relationship between CAC, Lansdowne Technologies and Canada Steamship Lines?
9. Where were the ethics police when CAC consultants were handing out contracts to their friends, spouses, neighbours? This is still happening, by the way.
10. How many of those "privileged consultants" have ties to the Liberals?

Now, please, step back from the Abotech smokescreen and look at the bigger picture. I implore you to join the dots.

Posted by: at December 9, 2005 10:03 AM

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Ms Nadeau had a couple of serious jobs at the Privy Council Office (the staff of which have more government power than those in the US White House), which means she is very well-connected bureaucratically and almost certainly politically.
http://www.pwgsc.gc.ca/text/bios/cacceo-e.html

She had a lot to do with the "Government On-Line" Project at the Privy Council Office.
http://www.gol-ged.gc.ca/pathfinder-expl/contact/contact17_e.asp

Her husband is Pierre de Bané, a minister under Trudeau and Senator since 1984. Two-earner family income must be pretty spriffy.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/Senate/isenator_det.asp?senator_id=25&sortord=R&Language=E&M=M

Mark
Ottawa

Posted by: Mark Collins at December 9, 2005 02:53 PM

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I could add another question...

11. If Brazeau supposedly did so much bad stuff, why has he not been fired?

12. If Smith supposedly did so much bad stuff, why is he still the Liberal MP and candidate in Pontiac?

Hmmm....

Posted by: at December 9, 2005 07:43 PM

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I think Brazeau is in a good position to become a rich man if he plays his cards right. Total incompetence by the department of Public Works and Consulting and Audit Canada.

Posted by: at December 10, 2005 11:36 AM

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