MPs Denied Information, Bankers Sale!

Unfortunately, the current prime minister is trying to pull the same number on Parliament itself. And the Buildings Caper is a great example. Thursday night I posted an MPtv interview with fellow MP Diane Marleau, one of the toughest women I have ever met, and gave you a little info on the government’s current plan to sell off buildings we all own. There is a great deal more information to share with you on this deal, and one overriding main point. For the record, Public Works minister Michael Fortier, who answers to no voters since he was appointed by Stephen Harper, wants to dispose of many of the 350 buildings taxpayers own across Canada. To do this, he hired two banks – Montreal and RBC – to do a feasibility study on the potential sale of 40 of them. For this, each bank was paid $100,000. The study concluded (not surprisingly) that buildings should be privatized, and the banks picked nine of the best office towers to market as a pilot project. These buildings are currently used to house federal civil servants, plus rent to some other tenants, and the suggestion was that they be leased back for terms of up to 25 years. By the way, both banks have fairly strong CPC connections, including Rick Byers, at BeeMo, who heads up the division involved. Mr. Byers worked as an assistant to Michael Wilson, when he was finance minister, and most lately ran as a Harper candidate in Oakville. I have no evidence for you that he stands to profit form this personally, or that any improper association has been struck with the current government. More: http://www.garth.ca/weblog/2007/06/22/crossroads/

Note: http://www.garth.ca/web...