Jan. 2, 2007: Reflections ...

On the EDC, the Canada Account and Being Concise

Let me know what happens with this post, and if you're able to pull something more concise together.

That was a reader's comment on Frost Hits the Rhubarb Jan. 1, 2007: Happy New Year ... Connecting the dots ... EDC and the Canada Account

When I posted this exploration of just one Canada Account Disclosure from Export Development Canada (EDC) 2003-2004, I assumed that providing screen captures of the actual pages would be needed as proof. That, and with sections marked in colour so people could read and judge for themselves, along with my comments on why I thought these were significant, was about as concise as I could make it. Perhaps the mainstream media could fill in the breach after investigating.

I have been researching and blogging for a few years. What I have noted about those reading news and blogs in Canada is that a blog like this does not "sell". Few people will spend the time reading what I have found, but research is what I do, adding comments, sometimes at length, sometimes useful. I have had a few problems while posting and with posts being changed afterward because I post here, free, but with attendant problems, especially with certain topics. Of course, there are few ISP's actually, in Canada, and everything passes through a few choke points. Make of that what you will. I do.

The post on the EDC and Canada Account was being changed as I typed. By the next day, what I had corrected had been corrupted again, with new wrinkles added. That is an example of what happens with those who try to get information out to Canadians. It happens particularly with topics that appear to cross those who benefit from hiding information from the public. Think of that and the concentration of newspaper ownership in the East, Irvings, buttressed by the Conservative-hating CBC. Then, think of the cross-pollination between, for example, CBC and the Globe and Mail (e.g. BCE income trust story, anti-Conservative, anti-conservative ad nauseam). Canadians have to do their own investigations.

One of the salient features of a Canadian education, along with the current mainstream media concern with brevity--presenting a profusion of sound bites as opposed to much substantive analysis--is that readers expect that any news may be presented in a few sentences. It is not the case with much of what I do, at least for me. My purpose is to give enough information, including links, that others may follow what I found, read, and come to their own conclusions, though I do comment. My bias is that I tend to be conservative in many areas, though not all, and I hate what has happened to my country. I hate the assumption of entitlement, the corruption, the fact that so many have allowed governments to get away with the assumption they know better what to do with Canadians' money than those who earn it do, and to have acted accordingly. That, and the fact that preferment, perquisites, even allotting the ability to work have been the province of those who have wielded the power over many years. What has happened is an outrage, compounded by the fact that the ordinary people not included are still forced to fund the news outlet which is blatant in keeping this going ... Yes, CBC, that's you, aided by the CRTC which keeps the rest of the media in tow, as well.

The most concise statement about so much of what I have learned is that, in this instance (among others) of the Canada Account, the federal (Liberal) government in 2003-2004 used taxpayer money through a Canada Account administered by Export Development Canada (EDC) to fund various projects and that information is not transparent to the Canadian citizens whose tax dollars fund this and other agencies. EDC is Canada's Export Credit Agency and a Crown corporation (aka Export Development Corporation) Crown Corps allow much activity to be hidden from public scrutiny, partly because finding and reading what might enlighten the citizenry takes time and effort, partly because the government was able to operate in this manner, telling us we could not know. There should be outrage in the land over this lack of transparency and accountability.

The same has happened with the transparency and accountability of other groups, natives, foundations, agencies, NGO's, programs such as the Court Challenges Program, the Status of Women (SoW), and the like, all funded, in part at least, by the taxpayers of Canada. The people who pay have not been privy to much information unless they are willing to spend the time to read it for themselves ... if they can find it, which often requires a degree of computer capability which many people do not have.

The mainstream media, for the most part, have been remiss in the journalistic investigation area, presenting too little in depth investigation, with a few exceptions. Good journalism might not help the news business if it crossed government(s). Instead, journalists have become a conduit for government press releases and/or formed a claque for their favourite political party ... or they self-censor, perhaps to hang onto a job. Media and politicians working together ... for the good of those connected.

Apparently, the education system is not preparing students to protect their own freedoms, democracy and money, through reading for knowledge and, if necessary, taking considered action, even when civil disobedience is called for. This serves corrupt individuals and corrupt governments well. Many students have become adults not trained to read and to question the authorities, received wisdom, certain attitudes and whether positions or actions are wise or should be re-examined. These citizens are better prepared to be hoodwinked, readied for blunderbuss and bafflegab, for obfuscation and non-disclosure through recourse to "privacy" concerns. When the ordinary people ask questions, they don't learn much, nor, for that matter, do MP's in the House nor from agencies like CIDA (Think of comments from MP's and Sen. Kenney's committee about not being able to find out what was happening with projects in Afghanistan -- CIDA projects, I think, but it could have been others.).

Governments have, in various ways, hamstrung investigation by ordinary citizens. Learning what has been happening cannot be condensed into a sound bite nor a few bytes, nor into a quick paragraph. I have investigated in varying degrees of depth a few media-ignored topics such as the sale to CN of BC Rail and that story's many tentacles (the latest being Frost Hits the Rhubarb, Dec. 22 and Dec. 27, 06 but this goes back to posts on News Junkie Canada, Feb. 24, 2004, and Mar. 1, 2004, and more throughout that month and later. News Junkie Canada Oct. 24, 2004 comes to mind on security.). My investigations go back over three years. However, brief, they are not. They do contain information about which Canadians might be wise to learn. It is the seeming agreement among those (elites) at the top ... is it co-operation? collusion? naivete? corruption? belief in the same philosophy? political thought or aspirations? ... Whatever is at work in Canada, too much has not been examined and Canadians are gradually losing their country to those whose concern is themselves and their group ... making money, using power. The incestuous nature of judicial appointments has been another concern; see Nov. and Dec. for posts. But there I go again. Enough, already.

I see that I have failed concise ... again.