The past week has proven an invaluable lesson for listeners about the true meaning of "transparency"- especially after it was defined by leading health officials and their real boss, Health Minister Theresa "dusk till dawn" Oswald.
Our request to interview Oswald about the WRHA's brown envelope addiction was ignored until by her office after our deadline on Monday.
Then we were told to make the request through Cabinet Communications, whose perfect record in producing cabinet ministers for our show
remains unblemished- they did not respond even after we were told on Tuesday "Dave (Leibl) will get back to you".
We left another reminder for Dave on Friday and were told "I'll put it forward", which must be spinner-talk for "don't hold your breath".
Meanwhile, our search for the missing public documents that would guide the WRHA's controversial value-added policy was ignored by 2 officials, then the next 2 on the chain were away on vacation (how con-veeen-ient).
Finally on Friday, we called on their Chief Privacy Officer, Landis Esposito. She said she'd go back to the first 2 and see if they are working on our request, and get back to us on Monday.
To be clear, the Ombudsman's privacy investigators have repeatedly told us in the past, always ask the co-ordinator to verify the documents being asked for are available to the public -- WITHOUT forcing citizens or media to file a formal application for access unnecessarily.
Since potential suppliers were told to read all procurement policies including the Conflict of Interest/Personal Gains policy before tendering a bid, we are mystified why it disappeared from the internet and has not been found. We have googled in vain for all of the bid and privacy policies dating back to Dr. Brian Postl's arrival in the command chair at the WRHA in 1999, to no avail. We'll see what Esposito can do about bringing the documents out of their hiding place.
Meanwhile, Health Sciences Centre Chief Operating Officer Adam Topp entered the fray, defending the WRHA (despite their refusal to produce
records of who gave how much and what it was spent on,) and - surprise ! - repeating the talking points of his boss, Oswald.
"It is ironic that the WRHA is vilified for trying to change a culture that has existed for so long, for trying to be transparent."
We'll have more about with Liberal leader Dr. Jon Gerrard at 4.12 PM today, on brown envelopes, brown nosing, the definition of transparency, and the startling Free Press expose that the late Brian Sinclair was seen vomiting and was denied help by Topp's HSC emergency room staff.
Also, we'll follow-up on the continuing HSC plan to block-bust the West Alexander neighborhood and displace residents of up to 300 homes, ask why city police didn't know the law about construction-zone photo radar and have seen 9 tickets tossed out of court, and talk to Scott Taylor of the National Post about the Manitoba Boxing Commission's latest scandal, the near-death of MMA fighter Dean Lewis under the watchful eye of MBC honcho Dr. Henry Janzen.
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Special thanks to all our guests in January:
Scott Taylor, National Post
Stacey Ashley, CTV News
Ron East, Canada Sheli
Chris Jericho, WWE superstar, RRC alumnus emeritus
Councillor Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan)
Jon Waldman, SLAM Sports
Mike Sutherland, Winnipeg Police Association
Kelly Dehn, CTV News Crimewatch
Danny Duggan, Canadian Wrestling Elite promotion
Geoff Currier, CJOB host turned civic candidate
Joan Wilson, Unicity Taxi
Kelly Holmes, Resource Assistance for Youth (RAY)
Bryan Danielson, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestler of the Year 06/07
Hugh McFadyen, Manitoba PC party leader
Colin Craig, Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Andrew Allentuck, author When Can I Retire
Ken Klassen, engineering technologist/ Route 90 upgrade analyst
(Plus -- the girl caller who explained the meth problem in Winnipeg and provided insight into the suicide death of D.J. Van Den Bosch after a confrontation with police. Thank you very much.)
