Monday, October 01, 2007

Half the truth

EDMONTON -- The head of Alberta's energy regulator has scrapped a scandal-plagued application for a proposed power transmission line between Edmonton and Calgary in an attempt to restore public trust in the government agency.

"This [Alberta Energy and Utilities Board] decision is the equivalent of a mistrial," EUB chairman William Tilleman said in a statement released yesterday. "Mistakes have been made on this file, and I believe the only way to re-establish public confidence is to go back to square one on this process."

More precisely, Mr Tilleman, it's the equivalent of a mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct. Generally speaking when that happens independent investigations are launched, careers are ended and people sometimes go to jail.

Plus, the phrase 'mistakes were made' is the ultimate in passive aggressive blame evasion. Borderline - arguably over the borderline - criminal acts were committed by specific people and a specific agency under the authority of a specific government Minister named Mel Knight. They weren't acts of God appearing out of a clear blue sky. There are doors these actions can be laid at and haven't been, yet.

Saying 'Okay,we screwed up, forget the whole thing and can we stop talking about it now?' is nowhere near enough and this isn't going away.

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