How anybody can still vote for these clowns when more and more theft is coming to light is beyond me. Not to mention this guy was also involved in some shady deals that are being investigated. And all Paul Martin had to say about the whole thing was praise about how well dingwell had served the country. Yeah he served us alright...

keep in mind that this is a seperate scandal unrelated to adscam. So who knows how much more theft is waiting to be uncovered?

Time for an election.

quote:

Ottawa — David Dingwall resigned Wednesday as president of the Royal Canadian Mint amid controversy over his failure to register as a lobbyist and expenses he filed while heading up the Crown corporation. Prime Minister Paul Martin said he had accepted Mr. Dingwall's resignation but stepped up to defend the former Liberal cabinet minister. He said Mr. Dingwall resigned to prevent the controversy from affecting the work of the Mint. "He doesn't want any distraction at the Mint while he replies to that kind of an accusation," Mr. Martin told the House of Commons during Question Period, about an hour after Mr. Dingwall officially stepped down. In a statement, Mr. Dingwall said he believed that he conducted himself properly during the work he did for two technology companies seeking investment from Technology Partnership Canada and during his time as head of the Mint. "I will simply say that I worked very hard on each and every one of the contracts and did, to the best of my knowledge and ability, comply with all the aspects of the Act governing the government relations business." The former Liberal cabinet minister had become embroiled in controversy after it was recently revealed he failed to register as a lobbyist for a Toronto pharmaceutical company. His lobbying activities on behalf of Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. are under scrutiny by Industry Canada. In May, 2000, Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. agreed to pay Mr. Dingwall $350,000 if the company were successful in getting at least $15-million under the department's Technology Partnerships Canada program, The Globe and Mail reported. TPC rules forbid payment of contingency fees to lobbyists. This week, the company agreed to pay back more than $400,000 to Ottawa. His officials said this week that the failure to register, as required by federal law, was an honest mistake, calling it a "clerical error." As well, Access to Information documents released this week showed that as head of the Mint, in 2004 alone, Mr. Dingwall and his top aides billed for total expenses of more than $740,000 last year. The documents were requested by Conservative MP Brian Pallister. An official at the Mint said Tuesday that the expenses were all approved by the corporation's chief financial officer and board of directors. In his statement, Mr. Dingwall defended his spending during his time at the Crown corporation. "All of the expenses were related to my responsibilities and each of them were disclosed to the board and will stand up to scrutiny as completely appropriate to my role as president of the mint." He said he would ask the Mint's board of directors to strike an independent committee to review the expenses. Revenue Minister John McCallum, the federal minister responsible for the mint, said he reluctantly accepts Mr. Dingwall's decision but respects his request to respond to the allegations fully without taking away from his position at the Mint. Mr. McCallum praised Mr. Dingwall's work. "During Mr. Dingwall's tenure at the Mint, the Crown Corporation rebounded to profitable status. 2004 marked one of the largest single financial swings in Mint history, resulting in a net surplus of $11.3-million." During Question Period, the opposition parties urged the Liberals to tighten rules governing lobbyists. They also said the Prime Minister has failed to reduce out-of-control spsnding of his ministers. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Wednesday after a caucus meeting that he was pleased that action was being taken following the controversy. "If Mr. Dingwall resigned it would put an end to this particular problem," he said. But he added that it means the government must work harder to investigate and reduce waste. "What this indicates is that the old practices go on anyway until we find out about them. What really needs to happen is this kind of culture of waste, mismanagement, corruption that the Liberal party practices needs to end. As I have said before, I don't think it will end with a few firings, I think it will end when we fire the government." Mr. Dingwall served as a cabinet minister under former prime minister Jean Chrétien. Mr. Chrétien named him president of the Mint in 2003.

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Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill