This article was last updated on May 20, 2022
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Resignation or complacency in the face of government greed and corruption
Dr. L. George Dewar Conservative MLA denounced lotteries (photo: Journal Pioneer)
The late MLA L. George Dewar wrote an opinion piece for the Charlottetown Guardian/Journal Pioneer 3 decades ago. He denounced the government’s entrance in the Atlantic Lotto
scheme as a travesty of bad government policies.
scheme as a travesty of bad government policies.
Lotteries were “bread and circuses,” said Dr. Dewar referring to the custom of Roman emperors to appease poor citizens with shallow diversions. Dr. Dewar said the government’s reliance on lotteries was no substitute for policies that improved the lives of its citizens.
In the Guardian today, Dr. Peter McKenna of UPEI raises another cry denouncing the lack of outrage over government sponsored on-line gambling, a slide down the slope of moral turpitude.
“Now that the Ghiz government has tipped its hand that it intends to embrace online gambling,” writes McKenna, “where are the voices of civil society on P.E.I.?”
“Why have we not heard from the churches and the wider religious community on the scourge of online gambling, which will undoubtedly inflict serious harm on many of their flock?”
“Where is the P.E.I. Medical Society and its membership? Surely they have seen the damage inflicted on the health of Islanders from compulsive gamblers?”
“Why have we not heard from other groups like the Women’s Institute of P.E.I.? They were certainly outspoken before the November 1997 referendum on VLTs in Charlottetown. But where are they now — all of them? Strangely silent, it seems. Do they not care about the well-being of Islanders? What are they afraid of?”
Quite amazingly, a poll on the Eastern Graphic site says 69% (48 votes) of its readers are against on-line gambling. Even the Ghiz/Liberal supporter Tim Banks’ poll (110 votes) says 82% of Islanders oppose gambling.
Why are civic and community leaders silent?
I believe it is because in the past three years we have witnesses the almost total corruption of the Prince Edward Island middle class through the unabashed greed of our Liberal government and its leader Robert Ghiz.
Since none of the perpetrators of the PNP patronage scam have been brought to task, the public has either assumed anything goes with greed or have become resigned to a further decline in public morals.
When I first heard the PNP story – on the street and long before the papers – it seemed to be beyond the scope of any patronage scheme in PEI’s history, at least in my memory.
We heard that not only MLAs, but accountants, lawyers, judges, almost the complete ruling class of PEI had their hands dirty in a scheme of selling passports to the Chinese. It was free money for anyone on the good side of the government.
As the news broke, we discovered that the media were also implicated. CBC’s political reporter John Jeffery had to fess up he got PNP money. The Eastern Graphic got a bunch. Even long-time journalist Jack MacAndrew got a few dollops of free money.
There were no rules. 20% of the files audited by the Auditor General didn’t deserve to get any PNP but they did. Civil servants sent their wives in for a cheque. Deputy Ministers of the crown got some as did the Premier’s assistants. Some of lawyers, accountants and judges sent their spouses over for another bag full.
It was a corrupt scheme beyond any other. It permeated Island society so deeply no one in authority spoke out. Who is clean? Who hasn’t received a bribe from the government in the form of free PNP money?
The corruption of the PNP is deep in PEI society. It has feed the greed that perhaps existed but now is open knowledge. No wonder they don’t want the complete list of recipients printed in the paper. It would read like a Who’s Who of PEI.
The government is pretty well able to do what ever it wants at this stage, until PEI recovers it’s moral compass.
It’s interesting that one of the few politicians calling for a public inquiry into the PNP is Conservative leadership candidate Olive Crane.
By Stephen Pate, NJN Network
You can publish this article on your website as long as you provide a link back to this page.
I was wondering why this article started with the people of PEI and the lack of outcry in its involvement in online Gambling, and later metamorphed all of a sudden into PNP outrage.
But then I read that the author was Stephen Pate, so I don’t have to take it seriously anymore.
The reason there is no outrage, is because the issue is so stupcomment_ID. It’s online gambling…which is available to everyone with access to the internet. There is no reason for PEI to not be involved in something that makes boatloads of money…islanders will still gamble online through other means