Selinger was also the Minister of Finance when Manitoba Hydro fired a consultant, who was ordered not to put anything more in writing after she alerted officials that the Utility had blown $1 Billion, and was facing potential catastrophic consequences as a result of faulty market forecasts and revenue projections.
Now Selinger has a new headache - today, CBC News trapped Hydro CEO Bob Brennan into the most blatant violation of the whistleblowers' right to remain anonymous.
Brennan had claimed she refused to explain the basis for her dire predictions.
In turn, she produced to CBC an email offering to tell him directly, " line by line all the errors in the financial projections so you can see for yourself and with your own eyes what is being done incorrectly”.
A panicked Brennan spun the story -- right into himself.
CBC reported "He said Thursday that each time the whistleblower contacted Hydro to discuss the alleged mismanagement, more money was requested as payment for discussing the claims."
* By even mentioning that she had discussed compensation with him, he breached her personal information. Worse for Selinger, last week Brennan confirmed she had been fired.
* That means that her asking for payment to discuss her report was not an act of extortion or greed, as Brennan wants you to believe. She had already been fired. Of course she would ask to be paid for her work.
* Brennan wanted the benefit of her research without paying her for it.
* Last week, Brennan identified the risk management consultant as a female. Today, he backtracked and called the whistleblower "an individual". Too late.
That was another example where her promised anonymity was thrown under the bus.
* He also had complained about her $500,000 contract -- another breach of her right to privacy.
Let's face it- the number of female risk management consultants who work in the Utility field is by definition, a small crowd. Reduce that to the number of female consultants retained by Manitoba Hydro. Certainly, anyone who has worked within their office in the last 5 years could figure out who had been fired.
Isn't this exactly what the legislation was intended to prevent? And here we have Brennan deliberately going out of his way, to tell everyone within the business, who it is (a female), why he fired her (which is in itself a separate breach of the Privacy Act), how much she was paid, and that she wanted another contract or compensation arrangement.
All of that is, at the very least, a breach of the Privacy Act -- and on the surface, appears to totally undermine the goals Selinger himself claimed he had when introducing whistleblower protection.
"All supervisors, designated officers and employees, including disclosing employees, are responsible for maintaining confidentiality."
Now the question is, what sanctions will be taken against Brennan and the Hydro Board, and will the Ombudsman step in and enforce the protections and penalties of the Public Interest Disclosure Act?
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Our special series that started Monday, explained the issues behind the Hydro scandal - the whistleblower firing and smear job; what is risk management; preparing for Black Swan Events such as the emergence of LNG as a fuel source; and the matters of third-party oversight and best practices principles under a Board of Directors who are largely unqualified to assess a potential $20 Billion dollar Hydro debt.
They are available through our audio archive, at
http://www.archive.org/details/TheGreatCanadianTalkShow-MondayOctober192009
http://www.archive.org/details/TheGreatCanadianTalkShow-TuesdayOctober202009
http://www.archive.org/details/TheGreatCanadianTalkShow-WednesdayOctober212009
http://www.archive.org/details/TheGreatCanadianTalkShow-WednesdayOctober222009
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More about Hydro on Friday's show, which will also feature Today in History with Professor Levinski, Jon Waldman of Slam! Sports- win a copy of his new book ! ( make sure to plan to come to the November 5th book launch -- http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-9081/Jon-Waldman-&-Greg-Oliver---Book-Launch )- and of course, commentary from our usual Friday co-pilot Spirited Kenny.
Our guests this week have included Liberal MLA Kevin Lamoureux, chiropracter "Dr. Dave" Newsham, and MMA fighter Jason Geiger and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach Curtis Brigham. Thanks to them for helping keep our audience informed and entertained.
Next week we have already scheduled interviews with Mal (not Hal) Anderson of the Exchange District Biz on Monday, about the unilateral Parking Authority plan to eliminate the 2 hours free Saturday parking program; retired hockey star Theo Fleury on Tuesday in a joint broadcast with the Illegal Curve radio show; and Sean Crawford of MYS (also on Tuesday). Plus as usual, Frank the Italian Barber and Brad Harrison analyze NFL Football on Monday.
Don't forget to listen to our 5 episode Sunday night replay block, kicking off at 7PM with the Oct. 16th 2-hour appearance of Winnipeg Free Press political reporter Dan Lett.
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If you are an old-school wrestling fan, please consider helping us support the family of Kerry Brown, who passed away last month.
We are producing a tribute event at the beautiful Skyview Ballroom at the Marlborough Hotel at 331 Smith Street, on Tuesday night November 10th.
Some of Canada's finest professional wrestlers, such as Chi Chi Cruz, Brian Jewel, EZ Ryder, Outlaw Adam Knight, Showtime Robbie Royce, and Gene Swan will gather to show their respect for the former Stampede Wrestling and Quebec champion, and a great silent auction, cash bar, and special surprises are also in store.
The event website, with comments from Chris Jericho and Lance Storm, video of Kerry in action, and links to personal stories from SLAM! Wrestling about Kerry, is found at http://www.kerrybrowntribute.com/
Tickets are only $15.00, group rates are available. Feel free to email martygoldlive@gmail.com for more information.
