Judge Gomery and the Amazing Explosive Testimonials

With the news of Pope John Paul's death on Saturday, mere domestic political happenings have been receiving scant attention from the public in general, or from me in particular. While this is understandable, there are other matters that matter and the Gomery Commission is foremost among them.

They say that the Canadian dream was the 19th century political decision to construct a railway to the Pacific coast. It appears that our national nightmare is the contemporary decision to construct a political gravy train to the Liberal Party of Canada.

In the Globe and Mail on Saturday we find this astonishing story.

By TU THANH HA AND CAMPBELL CLARK
Saturday, April 2, 2005 Updated at 1:47 AM EST
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Explosive new testimony at the Gomery commission has created a buzz in Ottawa that the opposition could force a quick election on a Liberal government damaged by the sponsorship scandal.

That testimony cannot be revealed because of a publication ban imposed by Mr. Justice John Gomery to ensure a fair trial for those facing charges related to the scandal. But reports from observers sent by political parties have stepped up speculation on all sides that the Liberals' minority government could fall sooner than expected.

Even insiders say it is too soon to grasp whether there will be a quick move to the hustings, a question made murkier by legal actions launched yesterday.

I can't be the only one that feels like we have been thrust through the looking glass into a bizarre proto-Canada. We now live in a place where scandalous political developments that are central to the governance of the nation cannot be revealed to the electorate. Why? A judge commissioned to hold a public inquiry into wrongdoing of the Liberal government has ordered a publication ban on the testimony before his commission.

Now I don't question the motives of Jude Gomery, as I know he does not want to prejudice criminal trials of characters who are intimately connected to the substance of issues before his inquiry. In this case, however, I do not believe that a publication ban can be realistically enforceable. As Machiavelli noted, a wise prince does not give an order he knows his troops will not obey.

Nor can it conceivably be in the public interest. Parliament and the main stream media is abuzz with talk and contingency planning for a national election which may be called as a result of this (unknown to the Canadian public) "explosive testimony." The elites are well aware of what is going on, but you, dear friend, are being denied information crucial to the functioning of this democracy. We, the people, are reduced to reading about the goings on from kindly American bloggers who are free to circumvent the publication ban and post the highlights of the Gomery testimony. Another reason to Thank the Yank, I say.

Now I don't recommend you go to an American source to find out the latest testimony respecting egregious transgressions of Canada's natural governing political party. Apparently, recommending such an action could land me in judicial hell and reading the latest details of the Gomery commission will certainly ruin your digestion.

I fully expect you, therefore, to act your given part in this sordid national drama and play the compliant serf. The Family Compact that runs the national gravy train will have it no other way. Just remember that when they drive by in their citizen provided limousines you are to be good serfs, lower your gazes and tug on your forelocks.

Whatever you do, don't demand your rights as citizens. That is not for such as we.