Martin's passion for Canada

[justcrowing]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/martin_p...sinterests.html

In January 2004, Ottawa said CSL had received $161 million in government contracts, grants and contributions since 1993. That figure was more than 1,000 times higher than the figure Don Boudria, then government House leader, gave in 2002 when Canadian Alliance MP James Rajotte asked about the government's dealings with the company.

http://w3t.org/?u=fzp

How passionate is Martin about Canada - well this flag of convenience says it all.

After Paul Martin took Canada Steamship Lines international in the 1980s, the Canadian flags came down on three of its ships, replaced by the flag of the Bahamas – what's often known as a "flag of convenience" country. CSL International (a division of the CSL Group) now owns 18 ships that fly foreign flags. CSL ships have, over the years, flown the flags of Liberia, Cyprus, the Bahamas and the tiny South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. CSL Group also owns 18 ships that fly the Canadian flag, pay Canadian taxes and employ Canadians.

There can be several other reasons why ship owners will choose to fly a flag of convenience:

1. Ease of registration:

Registering a ship in an FOC country typically involves much less paperwork than in countries with national registers. Sometimes the registration can be done in as little as a few hours – in Panama's case, by fax.

2. Looser environmental laws and regulations:

Registering a ship makes it subject to the laws and the country of its flag state, regardless of the nationality of the ship's owner. In FOC states, those laws can be substantially weaker than those in Canada, the U.S. or Europe. The Bahamas, for instance, does not require oil tankers to have a double hull – a deficiency that became painfully evident after the single-hulled, Panamanian-flagged Prestige sank off Spain in 2002, fouling beaches. The Seafarers International Research Centre at the University of Cardiff points out that some FOC countries, like Cambodia and Equatorial Guinea, have virtually no regulations of any kind. FOC countries have registered about 23 per cent of the world's 88,000 seagoing vessels. But 58 per cent of the vessels lost at sea in 2001 flew flags of convenience.

3. Lower labour standards:

The International Transport Workers' Federation has lobbied against FOC registration for half a century. Ships registered in FOC countries typically do not need to employ nationals from that country. Owners are free to hire the cheapest labour they can get. And they usually do. Popular sources of cheap labour include the Philippines, India, Indonesia, and Eastern Europe. In some FOC countries, working conditions aboard ships are seldom monitored and international maritime conventions are rarely enforced. The ITF has documented cases where workers on board some FOC-flagged ships haven't been paid for a year, or lived in substandard conditions aboard ship with no shore leave. When they complained, some seafarers were blacklisted. The ITF admits those horror stories come from a minority of owners. Typically, the benefit for the ship's owners from flying a foreign flag is simply in not having to pay the higher wages of the industrialized countries where the ships are owned. Seamen on some FOC ships are paid as little as $1.50 US an hour. CBC Disclosure documented last year how the Canadian crew aboard one Canada Steamship Lines vessel was replaced with a Filipino crew after the ship shed its Canadian flag and was reflagged in 1988. The Canadian crew earned $11.68 an hour. The Filipino workers earned $1.74 an hour.

4. Secrecy:

Some FOC countries allow ship owners to effectively hide or muddy their true ownership in their registration documentation. Authorities have long complained that lax registration requirements make it more difficult to prosecute people smuggling, money laundering and drug trafficking.

[JOVIAC]

All I have to know about Martin and his loyalty to Canada is that on his Financial watch Millions of dollars where stolen from Canadian tax payers.

Hmmmm?

[err]

All I have to know about Martin and his loyalty to Canada is that on his Financial watch Millions of dollars where stolen from Canadian tax payers.

Hmmmm?

I'd be careful what you'd say... Martin may have learned from Mulroney, when Mulroney was going to be investigated for the huge airbus scandal, he just sued the Canadain government for $50 Million for slander... and they shut up...

[lovecanada]

All I have to know about Martin and his loyalty to Canada is that on his Financial watch Millions of dollars where stolen from Canadian tax payers.

Hmmmm?

I'd be careful what you'd say... Martin may have learned from Mulroney, when Mulroney was going to be investigated for the huge airbus scandal, he just sued the Canadain government for $50 Million for slander... and they shut up...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, Mulroney WON!! Shame on you Liberals, could you give us back our millions please? Or are you using them to fund this election cause you can't raise any funds now that BIG business can't contribute to your election?

[justcrowing]

All I have to know about Martin and his loyalty to Canada is that on his Financial watch Millions of dollars where stolen from Canadian tax payers.

Hmmmm?

I'd be careful what you'd say... Martin may have learned from Mulroney, when Mulroney was going to be investigated for the huge airbus scandal, he just sued the Canadain government for $50 Million for slander... and they shut up...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, Mulroney WON!! Shame on you Liberals, could you give us back our millions please? Or are you using them to fund this election cause you can't raise any funds now that BIG business can't contribute to your election?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nor did Mulroney keep the money he won in the settlement - he donated it to charity.

I guess the Liberal way is "guilty until proven innocent and still guilty even if proven innocent" rather than " innocent until proven guilty". Do ya think they know the difference? I know Mulroney is guilty because he is a Conservative.

[Riverwind]

I guess the Liberal way is "guilty until proven innocent and still guilty even if proven innocent" rather than  " innocent until proven guilty".  Do ya think they know the difference?  I know  Mulroney is guilty because he is a Conservative.   

The evidence connecting Mulroney to Airbus was pure heresay and has as much substance as the evidence connecting Martin to sponsership. You can't have it both ways: they are either likely both guilty or both innocent.

[Kula]

The title of this thread should be "Martin's passion for power".

If Paul Martin didn't know about AdScam he is either stupid, incompetant or both. I think it's the latter. As the head financial officer fo Canada he is responsible for the money. Paul "Show me the money!" I believe some $40-50 million is still unaccounted for.

Vote Conservative and stop the insanity.

Kula

[Argus]

I guess the Liberal way is "guilty until proven innocent and still guilty even if proven innocent" rather than  " innocent until proven guilty".  Do ya think they know the difference?  I know  Mulroney is guilty because he is a Conservative.     

The evidence connecting Mulroney to Airbus was pure heresay and has as much substance as the evidence connecting Martin to sponsership. You can't have it both ways: they are either likely both guilty or both innocent.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not quite. The whole Airbus "scandal" was rumour. Sponsorgate is no rumour.

[justcrowing]

I guess the Liberal way is "guilty until proven innocent and still guilty even if proven innocent" rather than  " innocent until proven guilty".  Do ya think they know the difference?  I know  Mulroney is guilty because he is a Conservative.   

The evidence connecting Mulroney to Airbus was pure heresay and has as much substance as the evidence connecting Martin to sponsership. You can't have it both ways: they are either likely both guilty or both innocent.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Martin was the watchdog. If he did not smell a rat then he is incompetent. Perhaps he should be investigated for competency. He had his own fingers dipping in the trough by cutting himself cheap loans for CSL. and not a peep about it. They all had a good thing going and protect one another.

Re Mulroney, he was exonerated and years of investigation found no connection or wrong doing. I believe the Liberals are still quietly investigating and nada. Sure there were a few scandals during the Mulroney reign but the Liberals top them all by a long shot and my guess is if they are re-elected they will continue with corruption and arrogance - after all, we said it is okay at the polling booth.

[wellandboy]

The title of this thread should be "Martin's passion for power".

If Paul Martin didn't know about AdScam he is either stupid, incompetant or both. I think it's the latter. As the head financial officer fo Canada he is responsible for the money. Paul "Show me the money!" I believe some $40-50 million is still unaccounted for.

Vote Conservative and stop the insanity.

Kula

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe if the Liberal Party of Canada simply cut a cheque to the Government of Canada repaying the millions. Wouldn't that be the honourable thing to do?

[southerncomfort]

The title of this thread should be "Martin's passion for power".

If Paul Martin didn't know about AdScam he is either stupid, incompetant or both. I think it's the latter. As the head financial officer fo Canada he is responsible for the money. Paul "Show me the money!" I believe some $40-50 million is still unaccounted for.

Vote Conservative and stop the insanity.

Kula

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe if the Liberal Party of Canada simply cut a cheque to the Government of Canada repaying the millions. Wouldn't that be the honourable thing to do?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly ! Martin's losing it boy, his rants and wrapping himself in the flag isn't fooling most people. I hear the latest poll says his MP seat is in jeapordy.

Get power at all costs; keep power at all Paul Martin translated this recently into embarrassing outbursts of anti-Americanism. A little bit of American bashing to boost his chance of holding onto power. Martin just played shamelessly to Canada’s anti-American crowd - and so the beat goes on.