EPISODE #1: Compton’s Question to MacLauchlan Now Needs an Answer from King!

PREAMBLE

This is the first of  25 posts in this new series. A quick recap of the format:

1. A KEY ISSUE in the CMT v. PEI Government lawsuit and appeal will be identified and briefly summarized.
2. JUDGE CAMPBELL’S POSITION on the issue will be succinctly stated.
3. Information will be provided to show how the KING GOVERNMENT’S CURRENT POSITION on the issue supports Judge Campbell.
4. A VIDEO CLIP FROM PC MLAs expressing a contrary position on the issue from that of Campbell and the current King Government is provided.

It is now possible to say a lot more in far fewer words about the e-gaming scandal and Government coverup.  The conclusions and proven facts uncovered, verified and documented in approximately 800 pages of previous research can now simply be stated. Consequently, the “style” of writing in this series will be decidedly different from all my previous published research. It is no longer necessary for me to provide pages and pages of background documentary evidence and explanations proving the legitimacy of those facts and conclusions.

With this inaugural episode, I’ve chosen a relatively short clip from our current Deputy Premier, Hon. Darlene Compton.  I’m not going to follow the format outlined above that I’ll try to adhere to for the remaining episodes. Rather, this first clip looks at the core issue of deception and coverup at the foundation of a number of the other issues and legal matters that will be dealt with in subsequent episodes.  

Finally, you’ll find an “updated” APPEAL OF MISFORTUNE contest board and episode tracker at the end of this article with the 16th letter added – an “a”.  If you think you might be getting close to figuring out the phrase and winning the $100 prize, and you need “just one more letter” to be sure…then you might want to get that letter as soon as a new episode is posted.  If you type in your email address in the subscribe line on the right-hand side of this page, near the top, and click “Follow” (I don’t share emails with anyone) you’ll get an email notifying you of each new post as soon as they are published.

ISSUE

There were numerous Defendants in the CMT lawsuit dismissed by Judge Campbell.  The claims that CMT is making against each of the Defendants fall into several categories or types, one of which is “spoliation”. I’m not going to go into the law or details of what constitutes “spoliation” other than to say that it involves the willful destruction of records for which there are legal consequences.

CMT’s claim of spoliation is directed primarily against former Premier Robert Ghiz and Neil Stewart, who were responsible for ordering the destruction of all the electronic and paper records of the Chief of Staff, Chris LeClair, (Robert Ghiz) and the Deputy Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning, Melissa MacEachern (Neil Stewart). 

PC MLAs had a lot to say in the Legislative Assembly about the destruction of Chris LeClair’s and Melissa MacEachern’s emails and government records. I’ll present clips in subsequent episodes that zero-in on the particulars of Ghiz and Stewart ordering records destroyed, and the PC’s awareness of the “illegality” of their doing so and the need for Government to recognize that and ensure there are appropriate consequences.

In this kick-off video, however, I want to give you a sense of the raw, visceral outrage that our current Deputy Premier, Hon. Darlene Compton expressed on behalf of the PC Caucus, and all Islanders, to Premier MacLauchlan for his Government’s coverup of the hiding, destroying and withholding of documents related to the e-gaming scandal. She delivered this powerful message during the afternoon Question Period on May 3, 2017.

What has changed Minister Compton? Are these fundamental issues of injustice, coverup, deception, and corruption no longer of interest to you and your Government? Why has your Government now embraced the Liberal position on each and every one of these issues and gone completely silent on these matters?  Why has the King government abandoned the action the PC Party demanded so passionately and unreservedly from the MacLauchlan Liberal Government?

The answers to such questions may not be obvious, however, what is clear is that the PC Party has – since becoming the King Minority Government – taken the “withholding of information and documents” related to the very same information and documents Minister Compton is referring to in this video clip to a whole new level with:

1. Multiple, illegal FOIPP Act breaches (there was a new illegal “deemed refusal” as of February 20, 2020);
2. Multiple reviews underway with the Information Commissioner;
3. Multiple breaches of PEI Supreme Court-enforced Orders, and
4. A PEI Supreme Court Hearing scheduled for March 11, 2020, where three Contempt Motions filed against the PEI Government by Paul Maines will be heard.

There once was a very powerful opposition willing to do some research, search for information and answers, submit FOIPPs, and ask tough questions of the government in power orchestrating and managing the e-gaming coverup.

Such an Official Opposition has unfortunately disappeared from the political landscape.

The good news is we humans usually are inclined to take our own advice over others –that is, when we don’t allow our attention to somehow never be turned in that direction – so the best possible message the King Government could take to heart as it ponders a go-forward action strategy is its own Party’s message which has apparently been forgotten.

I honestly don’t know how this collective amnesia affecting all PC Government MLAs happened, however, I’m making no judgments. I’m treating the lot of them like family members emerging from comas after a totally “off-the-rails” and bizarre accident that no one can even explain, with memory loss. They may no longer remember me, what they believed, or even who they really are, but I’m not giving up on them!  Miracles can happen.

I believe that by showing these old (not that old actually) family videos, something will “click” that will reignite that sense of moral awareness, realign the attention, rekindle the spirit, and put the whole PC crew on the road to recovery from this all-too-common and debilitating communicable bacteria called “Comatosia Silencethecaucus” causing calamitous consequences for calculating Conservative characters who get a little too crafty with constituents.

The phrase has exactly 51 letters and one comma, with NO spaces between words. You only get one guess – email your guess to kja321@gmail.com