Don’t jump to conclusions on latest GTH news
There may be political significance in the RCMP handing over its Global Transportation Hub (GTH) investigation to Manitoba Crown prosecutions, but let’s not rush to judgment quite yet.
Thursday, Leader-Post reporter David Fraser confirmed the much-anticipated news.
“We are not in a position to provide a timeline at this time as to when that process might be completed, but the RCMP is committed to advising the public as to the results when it is appropriate to do so,” according to an RCMP spokesman.
As ominous as this latest news emerging from the GTH seems to be, this matter of out-of-province prosecutions needs to be put in perspective.
For starters, there are no charges and certainly no guilt to be presumed here. Notwithstanding what you may be hearing from NDP leadership hopeful Trent Wotherspoon and others about the high threshold before the RCMP even begins to investigate an incident, there remains a distinct possibility there will be no charges.
At this point, sending it out of province is simply nothing more than the right course of action.
Since the great 1990s Progressive Conservative caucus fraud scandal that produced 21 charges and 15 convictions of MLAs or caucus staff, it’s become precedent to send matters out of province when political perceptions come into play. And charges don’t always emerge.
For example, the 2009 case of 1,100 forged party memberships from the Flying Dust and Waterhen Lake First Nations by a member of former NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter’s campaign team was also referred to Manitoba prosecutors because of the politics.
“If there’s nothing to be found, the significance of it is certainly greatly diminished,” said then-NDP president Deb McDonald. “If there is something found, and a charge laid or charges laid, I suppose it will depend on who is charged and what they’re charged with. Certainly at this point in time I have no idea who would be charged or what the charge would be.”
As it turned out, Manitoba prosecutions found charges were warranted and Ernest Morin was eventually convicted and fined $3,000.
Similarly, prior to the 2007 election, the then-Saskatchewan Party opposition alleged the NDP government had covered up a 1992 fraud involving a caucus staffer who was later fired. Then-Sask. Party justice critic and now justice minister Don Morgan stressed the importance of “the appearance of justice being done” and the need to be “absolutely arm’s-length and absolutely impeccable with the scrutiny.” It was sent to Alberta prosecutors for an outside review and no grounds for charges were found.
Moreover, given the complexity in cases of alleged fraud or breach of trust, they don’t always produce a prosecutor’s recommendation for criminal charges.
For example, after a threeyear RCMP investigation, Saskatchewan prosecutions determined no charges be laid against former Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority CEO Dutch Lerat in relation to $800,000 in questionable expenses that included renting a $43,000 Cadillac Escalade, a $30,000 trip to Paris with flights on the Concorde and a $75,000 trip to Australia that included an additional set of first-class tickets after the others were lost.
“In order to find a charge of fraud, theft or false pretences, there has to be concealment or some sort of dishonest representations,” said Murray Brown, then-acting director of public prosecutions. “While there was some evidence of poor supervision or poor corporate oversight, that does not equate to criminal dishonesty.”
Of course, it is the sincere hope of Sask. Party political operatives that no charges emerge out of Manitoba so they can try to put an end to the matter.
But we need answers to the GTH scandal and how our money was blown on land deals. We need a public inquiry as the then-Liberal and PC opposition demanded of the NDP government after Channel Lake. Failing that, we need a thorough, independent forensic audit that would allow provincial auditor Judy Ferguson full access to all pertinent information.
But for now, we simply need to respect the process and let Manitoba prosecutions do its work.