A lot has happened with the ongoing e-gaming scandal and the King Government cover-up of that scandal since my last article way back on March 13th. Now that CMT’s Appeal will happen as scheduled on May 19th and 20th, 2020, I want to share additional findings from my previous research in the coming weeks leading up to the Appeal, as well as some shocking new revelations that have come to me since the Covid-19 lock down, mostly as a result of the release of a few more really important government records in targeted FOIPP requests.
In this short “let’s get back into it” article I want to bring you up to speed on some developments over the past six weeks. I also want to outline how that lost time – coupled with the short amount of time left before the Appeal – has affected my initial plan to publish 52 articles (25 from my “Then and Now” series; and another 25 other random CMT-Court and/or FOIPP-related articles). I’ll explain how I will reduce the findings into fewer articles in the last section of this article. But first…..
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We have a winner!
About a week or so after things got shut down and I stopped publishing articles in this series, Tony “the Troubadour” Reddin contacted me via email saying he thought he had the correct answer. He did.
In his typically gregarious and gloriously generous way, Tony told me to put the money back into the work I’m doing. Thanks Tony! I’m going to set that aside for another possible contest down the road but I don’t have any ideas just yet.
I put the answer at the end of this article. Don’t scroll. See if you can figure it out first. Try using a quite counter-intuitive investigative technique I often employ in a slightly different way. Rather than making the “puzzle” the primary framework for insight and interpret ion, just take a quick glance at the puzzle to get a sense of the length and emerging structure of the phrase, but don’t look for words, then close your eyes and try to think of two words that are especially the kind of words that I’d likely use in a phrase in a puzzle in a series such as this one targeting the government on these kind of issues – that’s the context……then open your eyes and see if either of the two words you came up with fit anywhere. Good luck!
The Upcoming CMT Appeal
I called the Appeal Court the other day to get some additional information about how the CMT Appeal is going to happen, given the ongoing social distancing health directives.
Given the inter-provincial travel restrictions that will likely still be in place in May – and the fact that a number of the lawyers are from Ontario – I assumed the Hearing will be happening, at least in part, via video conferencing, and that is indeed the case.
I asked whether there will be physical access to the Hearing. I was told that the Court will be taking the lead from the Chief Health Officer on that, and the particular health directives in place at the time of the Hearing. Whether people will be allowed to attend is yet to be determined it seems.
I asked whether the hearing might possibly be “streamed” for the public’s benefit, but given the response I received, that seems unlikely. Ms. Gallant indicated that the Court doesn’t have the equipment to live stream. I mentioned that lots of organizations use a smart phone, and as far as I knew, that’s all that was required, but I didn’t push the issue.
Based on the interview I watched on CBC with Chief Justice David Jenkins and Louise Martin a while back about the importance of maintaining our justice system through this difficult time, I’m sure if there’s any way Justice Jenkins can provide public access to this important Appeal – with so much “public interest” stretching over so many years, especially given that it’s OUR government and OUR tax dollars at issue here – then he will.
As the Appeal Hearing date approaches, I expect the issue of public access will be clarified by the Court. I’ll provide an update if and when new information becomes available.
Contempt Motions Against the King Government
I’ll keep this short.
Paul Maines has three Motions sitting on Justice Gregory Cann’s desk. You may recall that a Hearing took place on one Motion back in March, which I wrote about here “Yesterday’s Supreme Court Motion Hearing was a Good Day for Democracy in PEI!”
Judge Cann asked Paul Maines at that time if additional Motions would be filed. When he heard there would be more Motions, Cann decided he’d hear all three Motions together.
Maines has since filed two additional Motions. Judge Cann then set a date for the PEI Government (represented by Deputy Minister of Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture, Erin McGrath-Gaudet) to file defenses for the 2nd and 3rd Motions.
Judge Cann then set March 26th and 27th for the Hearings, but that was subsequently postponed due to Covid-19. Those Hearings will not take place until at least after the CMT Appeal. Like most plans these days, it’s any body’s guess at this point when they’ll be scheduled.
Given that this legal matter remains in Limbo for the time being, my focus in my writings for the coming three weeks will be on the Appeal. Nonetheless, it will be an unprecedented legal situation in Canada when those three Motions are finally heard. Take a really deep breath and read the following s l o w l y.
The King government is now allegedly in contempt of Supreme Court-enforced Orders issued by the PEI Government’s very own Information and Privacy Commissioner THAT THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT REQUESTED, and Paul Maines agreed to, concerning sensitive and materially-relevant Government e-gaming documents Maines is seeking through FOIPP, which the King government’s legal counsel FAILED TO DISCLOSE to Maines or the PEI Supreme Court leading to the dismissal of CMT’s lawsuit. How bizarre is that? The President of CMT who launched the lawsuit (Paul Maines) is also the applicant in the FOIPP applications. Using the “Defendant’s” own provincial law to get documents it wouldn’t produce for the Court is certainly a unique strategy in Canadian Jurisprudence…and it worked!
I sense that Judge Cann recognizes the importance of this case since he set two days aside for the Hearings. That is significant. Maines represented himself at the first Hearing, that didn’t happen. A high-profiled Bay Street lawyer, John Philips, will be representing Maines when these Motions are eventually heard.
What’s Coming Next?
With little time remaining before the Appeal my plan is to present shorter articles that focus on one or two really important points or issues. Thinking about how to best frame things so they’re still clear and convincing, I decided to present two types or “categories” of posts, for the most part. Some articles will be spontaneous responses to yet unforeseen circumstances and events.
The two categories will be as follows:
- More short pieces like I was doing in the “Then and Now” series, with video clips of our PC Government Cabinet Ministers. The “then” and “now” contrast highlights the flip flop, and the way the PC Government has now abandoned the truth they know about the injustices and crimes committed with the e-gaming, and have been actively engaged (in silence) in continuing to lie, deny and cover-up the same false claims and legal arguments the Liberal governments (Ghiz and MacLauchlan) put forward which all the PC MLAs (Cabinet Ministers now) previously condemned in the harshest possible way. These episodes will feature these friends of the PC flip-flop fraternity [FFFF].
- Other episodes will feature the defendants – Robert Ghiz, Neil Stewart, Chris LeClair, Billy Dow, etc. Again, these will also be short episodes. No video clips, but like the flip-flop fraternity features, I’ll take one key issue or “claim” made by CMT and then present (a) what that particular defendant said under oath, in sworn testimony, either in an Affidavit or in Cross-Examination, then I’ll provide (b) new evidence proving unequivocally the Defendant lied under oath. These episodes will profile professional people proficient in perjury [PPPPP}.
There will also be a few articles in coming weeks with related information as well, as active FOIPP files and Information Commission Reviews are moved along and/or finalized. I’ll provide updates of some previous stories – such as my efforts to obtain a copy of the infamous Auditor General’s Management Letter” which former Premier MacLauchlan spoke to in the Legislative Assembly. I’m saving that story for my comedy series.
So buckle up! There have been a lot of shocking revelations to date in this investigation, and there are a good few more to come in the next few weeks.
My next episode will feature one of the key defendants in the PPPPP group – Brad Mix – who still heads up the recruitment division of Minister Matthew McKay’s Economic Growth Department (where Neil Stewart also resides). Mix gets the absolute premium prize for perjury.
That Premier King continues to leave Mix with all his power and position with no penalties is pretty perplexing and potently pathetic. I’m sure you’ll agree when you read the next article.
The winning phrase Tony guessed is: