The Star Continues Its Investigation

Unless the Toronto District School Board is staffed by a raft of incompetents, it has to have known what is going on.

As I wrote in my blog post yesterday, an investigation by The Toronto Star has revealed theft on a massive scale in the form of grossly inflated charges to the board for even the simplest of routine maintenance tasks by employees under the exclusive contract enjoyed by the Maintenance & Construction Skilled Trades Council headed by Jimmy Hazel.

In Part 2 of that investigation, the newspaper reports a number of interesting aspects to this scandal, the most interesting to me being the reaction of top board officials Director Chris Spence and school superintendents and deputy operations director Penny Mustin, both of whom refused to offer any comment on this massive waste of tax dollars.

The school board is also refusing to release a copy of its internal tracking database that contains details of the annual 1.8 million hours of work the board’s electricians, carpenters, plumbers and other trades claim they perform.

Based upon my 30-year career as a teacher, having been witnesses to much cowardly political behaviour on the part of administrators, my guess is that database will never be made public, the feeble citing of 'privacy concerns' being the likely justification.

My own experience in education taught me that the last thing administrators want to do, afflicted as they are with an unquenchable thirst for advancement, is to rock the boat. It is far easier, (and certainly more politically expedient unless the truth is revealed by a crusading newspaper) to conceal or simply accept things crying out for redress. That way it doesn't get messy, and one's career-path usually continues unimpeded. (Oh, the tales I could tell.)

And so I shall end as I began. The TDSB had to have known what was going on. Wait for the next installment of this sad saga, as those in power all establish their poses of 'plausible deniability.'

I would it were otherwise.

Another Award For The Star

Despite my general disaffection with the mainstream media, I continue to be heartened by one of the few bright spots on the journalistic landscape, The Toronto Star.

Awarded a Citation of Merit on Tuesday evening at Rideau Hall for the work done by investigative reporter Kevin Donovan that uncovered the Ornge air ambulance scandal, president of the Michener Awards Foundation Russell Mills had this to say:

“Stories revealed a stunning lack of government oversight at a critical public service, in which senior managers benefited over those people the air ambulance service was supposed to be helping."

“The Star highlighted how millions of dollars were used to create everything from private companies to a charity, and to purchase new helicopters that were improperly outfitted.”

As a result of the series, whistle-blowers came forward to expose the shocking depths of the scandal.

Unlike most newspapers today, The Star continues to uphold the finest traditions of journalism that have traditionally played such an important part in protecting and promoting democracy.

Another Post Praising The Star

Most days, there is no dearth of topics upon which I could comment, but because I don't spend the entire day at the computer, I try to be selective. And although I have written many posts that involve praise for the Toronto Star, here goes another one.

Unlike any other paper I can think of, The Star's investigations get results, the latest arising from an investigative series they began last September on the Ontario College of Teachers, the body that regulates teachers in this province. That series uncovered the fact that teachers found guilty of some very serious offences were often still in the classroom, had not had their teaching certificates pulled, and their identities were being protected from public knowledge.

As a result of the legwork done by the newspaper, a review was conducted under retired justice Patrick LeSage. It was released yesterday,with the following results:

Both the provincial Education Ministry and the college have vowed to move quickly on the recommendations. Education Minister Laurel Broten is expected to introduce legislation that will, among other fixes, ensure teachers guilty of sexual misconduct lose their licences.

You can read the entire story here.

Although I am retired from the profession, I cringe every time I hear of misconduct by teachers, as it casts all educators in a very unfavorable light.

And so I rest a little easier, knowing The Star is on the job.

Another Victory For The Star

As a direct result of their investigative series, Police Who Lie, The Toronto Star is once more contributing to the social good. The following is reported today's edition:

Ontario’s chief prosecutor will probe the issue of police officers who are found by judges to have lied in court.

Attorney General John Gerretsen made the announcement Monday following a Toronto Star investigation that found more than 100 cases of police deception in Ontario and across the country.

“The most important thing is that people tell the truth in court. The question really becomes: if a judge makes a serious comment (about an officer’s testimony) what should happen?” said Gerretsen.

As a citizen, I am heartened to know that solid investigative reporting is still being done at a time when most journals have abandoned it as a costly and quixotic pursuit.

Police Who Lie Under Oath - Part 2

Part 2 of The Star series on the problem of police lying under oath is available on its website. Today's coverage examines the lack consequences for such behaviour, many departments seeming to prefer a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil kind of approach. And as per his function, the always pugnacious Mark Pugash, Toronto Police spokesman, accuses the Star of not knowing what they are writing about.

Police Who Lie Under Oath

The following suspects have walked free after officers lied in court: an accused pimp of a teenage girl, possessors of child pornography, a major ecstasy manufacturer operating out of a Scarborough house, members of an international data-theft and fake-credit-card ring, marijuana growers, and drug dealers carrying loaded handguns.

Judges have discarded as evidence at least $40 million worth of cocaine, meth, ecstasy and weed in recent years.

The above is just a brief excerpt from the start of another investigative series from The Star, the only Canadian newspaper, to my knowledge, that is upholding the best traditions of journalism in pursuing stories that really should matter to an informed populace, stories that have led to some very significance changes and reforms both locally and provincially over the years.

In reading the account in today's issue about police who lie in court about the circumstance leading to the arrest of criminals, I admit to feeling just the smallest amount of ambivalence, inasmuch as the lies were used to justify the arrests of some very bad people. On the other hand, I am very mindful of how easy it is for the police, in whom society have invested a great deal of authority, to abuse that authority. Countless videos by citizens, and the terrible violations of our Charter rights that took place during the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto, are ample testaments to that abuse.

I look forward to The Star's next installment tomorrow.

A Followup On Diana Swain's Report

My last post dealt with a disturbing investigative report done by the CBC's Diana Swain.

I am convinced that the only way to move the Ministry of Health to ensure that similar tragedies don't happen in Ontario is to spread the word of the report to as many people as possible and to subject the Ministry to a barrage of letters demanding fast action. Here is the letter that I am sending off to Deb Matthews, the Ontario Minister of Health, with copies to Premier McGuinty and my local MPP:


Dear Ms Matthews:

Having viewed Diana Swain's disturbing investigative report on the CBC about Rose McKenzie, the Ontario nurse whose negligence in California resulted in a patient's brain damage and quadriplegia, I am writing to request that the Ministry of Health take immediate action.

According to the report, Nurse McKenzie, despite having been stripped of her nursing license in California, had no trouble finding another nursing job in Ontario; she simply omitted any reference to what had happened on the self-reporting form used by the Ontario College of Nurses.

I am sure you will agree with me that, for the sake of patient safety, changes need to made with all urgency, lest a similar tragedy occur here. In this age of technology, measures to ensure the full and free exchange of pertinent personnel information internationally are undoubtedly both feasible and relatively easy to initiate.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience as to how your Ministry plans to ensure the safety of all patients in Ontario.

Diana Swain's Disturbing Nursing Report

Last night on the CBC's National, there was a profoundly disturbing report by investigative reporter Diana Swain outlining how a nurse from Ontario, Rose Mckenzie, while working in California, was grossly negligent in her care of Spencer Sullivan, who had undergone a routine surgery for neck pain. As a result of McKenzie's negligence, Sullivan was left a quadriplegic with brain damage.

The most disturbing part of the report is the fact that although she was stripped of her nursing licence in the U.S., she is now working as a nurse in Oakville, the problem being that self-disclosure of any past problems is the only way the Ontario College of Nurses could have become aware of the loss of her licence. Obviously, McKenzie did not self-disclose.

Click here to read the whole report and see the CBC news video.

P.S. Despite the Harper Regime's hatred of the CBC, such reports amply demonstrate its value.