Fire Bev Oda

February 16, 2011

This is a firing offense if ever there was one. Minister of International Co-operation, Bev Oda, lied to a Parliamentary Committee.  It had to do with the government’s elimination of funding for the ecumenical international development group KAIROS in 2009.

Oda had signed off on a CIDA recommendation to provide some $7 million in funding.

But then she got orders from Stephen Harper’s PMO to deny the funding. What to do?

Incredibly, the solution Oda came up with was to insert the written word ‘NOT’ in front of the “accept” so that the intent of the CIDA report and recommendation was reversed.

The lie came on Dec 9, 2010 when members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development tried to find out who was responsible for inserting the word ‘not’.

From Hansard (http://tinyurl.com/4awxy45):

Hon. Bev Oda:
    I did not say I was the one who wrote the “not”.

Hon. John McKay:
    Who did, then?

Hon. Bev Oda:
    I do not know.

Hon. John McKay:
    You don't know?

Hon. Bev Oda:
    I do not know.

Today she admitted that she had ordered one of her officials to insert the word ‘not.’

The opposition parties are calling for Oda to be fired and are threatening to start proceedings to have her found in contempt of Parliament – first, for telling the House of Commons that CIDA staff recommended against the grant, second for illegally altering the document and third for lying to the Committee about not knowing who inserted the “NOT.”.

Harper is supporting Oda.

Such an action is extremely rare and no punishment has been meted out since 1913.

But the G&M reports: “Queen’s University parliamentary expert Ned Franks opined that Ms. Oda’s case is more obvious than most: “If I’ve ever seen a clear case of contempt of Parliament, this is it.”  [http://tinyurl.com/65tesrb]

Write a short, strongly worded letter to your local paper demanding that Oda be fired and – failing that – encourage the opposition parties to find her in contempt of Parliament.

FRAMING: This one is simple – from a government that ran in the last election on raising the standards of transparency and accountability, Minister Oda must be fired. If the rule of Parliament means anything, she must be held in contempt of Parliament if she is not fired.

• Stephen Harper won re-election in 2008 by pledging to create new rules for Parliament which would make government more transparent and accountable. The actions of Oda – and of the Prime Minister supporting her – show that we are going rapidly backwards on this front.

• Bev Oda, a Minister of the crow has effectively lied to Parliament twice and ordered a legal document altered to make to reverse the recommendation it made. This is disgusting/reprehensible/shameful/contemptuous behaviour

• In Dec 2009 – just after Oda doctored the document recommending funding to KAIROS – Foreign Affairs Minister Jason Kenney told an Israeli audience in that KAIROS‘s funding was cut because the government didn’t like Kairos’ views on Israel. Ms. Oda stated in the House it was a routine CIDA decision.

• If Stephen Harper has any genuine respect for the Parliament of Canada he will fire his minister

• Congratulations to the opposition parties for making this important issue front and centre in their questioning

• If the PM does not fire Ms Oda the opposition parties must vote to find her in contempt of Parliament – or they will be guilty of allowing it to happen and set a terrible precedent.

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