Sport bill tip of the iceberg

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Paul LeMay works inside the system and is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, but that hasn't stopped him from coming to the conclusion that the party is in need of serious reforms.

The bureaucrat lobbied hard against the government position on Bill C-12, which seeks to modernize the legislation governing Sport Canada, because he sees it ignoring the constitutional provisions that guarantee equal rights to minorities. He described the response from government officials to his efforts as thin-skinned and bullying.

"I've been a Liberal all my life and I have to tell you there's a lot of Liberals who feel that way about the style of leadership that's been used on Parliament Hill. And it's no coincidence that Paul Martin came out with his agenda to reform the way things are done in terms of more democratization of the process."

Paul LeMay said Prime Minister Jean Chretien rules with an iron fist and that has alienated a lot of party members. Chretien loyalists, like the secretary of state for amateur sport Paul DeVillers who is trying to get Bill C-12 passed without amendment, have adopted their leader's style, LeMay added.

"Yeah, and Mr. DeVillers was, in the last session of Parliament, the Liberal caucus chair. At the time the Liberal caucus chair was not selected by the body of MPs. It was selected by the Prime Minister. So he was a hand-picked soldier for the PM. You already have a parliamentary whip who manages the voting patterns of Liberal members in the House chamber. The caucus chair is supposed to be the representative of the caucus and not the Prime Minister. This caucus chair is basically an extension of the PMO. And that's what exists to today still in the Senate. The same pattern," he said. "Prime Minister Chretien had a Cabinet shuffle last year at this time and nominated Paul DeVillers to the secretary of state for amateur sport portfolio. At that point MPs in the House of Commons collectively decided that this was their moment to insist on a democratic selection of the next caucus chair, which they did, and then they got Stan Keyes. That process was because of the strong-arm tactics that were being used. Back-bench MPs were being told how to vote, not to think, don't ask questions, follow orders. That's the way we do it according to the Chretien playbook. So there was a lot of alienation."

With the party split between Chretien and heir apparent Paul Martin, Windspeaker suspected a Liberal who would criticize his leader so openly must be a Martin man.

"I didn't go into this with that viewpoint," he said. "I came into this process with that bill completely independent of whatever was going on in that score. Actually, this whole Martin blow up happened in June. I got into this bill reformation process back in April. This had more to do with me being a person who was involved in sports for many years."

Many of his complaints about the sport bill process resemble complaints heard from First Nation chiefs about the First Nation governance act. LeMay agreed that, based on his experience, the processes appear similar.

"The Liberal Party at the moment just continues to do the same old, 'We don't really care about the democratic process. We have our agenda. We're moving ahead with it. Get out of our way,'" he said. "I think it's ubiquitous in the process thinking of this government. They have token consultations and they go around saying 'we consulted.' But the consultations, you often find, result in having had minimal impact. When I think of the lobbying campaign the women in sport put together in the spring. And they did something very effective; they got lots of good press. Stuff in print in the Toronto papers, CBC Radio, As It Happens and on and on . . . we're talking 50 per cent of the population. That is a constituency you should not screw around with if you're in power. Yet they still disregarded what they were saying. They still played politics with them. So if that's what they do to women how much more difficult is it for the Aboriginal community to have inroads?"

The sport bill itself could have serious negative consequences for Aboriginal people, he said.

"You don't have to have a bill that's strictly pertaining to Aboriginal issues to have impact on Aboriginal interests. This is one such bill," he said. "There's going to be millions of dollars spent on a new health promotion initiative by the Prime Minister. He's going to be channelling a lot more money into these programs through this legislation. And because of the way this legislation is written, he won't have to pay [anything] to anybody according to the charter. He won't have to have any kind of equity to minority groups whatsoever. To me, that's unacceptable."

The United States has Title 9, a law that has mandated equal funding for women's sports in the U.S. for 30 years; the European Union also has legislation that protects minority rights in this area.

"We don't look upon the United States as the most progressive nation in the world when it comes to human rights, but here we have the European Union and the United States both out-performing Canada in relation to its sports," LeMay said. "And they call this a modernization of our bill? Who are they kidding? "

A Liberal senator, who he wouldn't name, told LeMay he might propose an amendment to the bill.

"And while it may not actually pass, given the way the voting process works-they do what they're told-it will be of some satisfaction to see it on the record that there was some Liberal senator who said, 'Sorry, this is bull.' I do need to see that. Otherwise, I've lost my faith in what this party stands for. Either I have to think about joining another party or really endorse what Mr. Martin . . . and hope that Mr. Martin is sincere in what he's talking about. And if he is sincere I think it's a really important development," he said.

LeMay said it's ironic but Chretien's strong-arm tactics and the back-bench revolt in response mightbe the prime minister's lasting legacy-by triggering a move to a more democratic system of government in Canada that doesn't leave so much power in the hands of the prime minister.

"Well, I hope so. If it results in a greater democratic House of Commons and Parliament Hill, hey, that's great. I think that's the direction we needed to have been going in for a long, long time," he said.

Critics of the sports bill say the bill is proof that minorities are not getting the proper respect from the federal government. LeMay agrees.

"It's racism with a smile. I wrote something to one of the senators, just before Christmas when it looked like the bill was going to pass, I got desperate. I wrote a letter to one of the senators who's known for being very forthright in his views and I just let him have it. And he responded and I was surprised because I thought he would have been insulted like I was attacking him and the process. He understood very clearly what was going on. Yes, I think there's a subtle racism that's moving, is part of this process. Call it racism, sexism, whatever you want. Group them together."

He said it's also an indication that the government really doesn't get the concept of accountability.

He recalled a recent conversation with a friend about the bill.

"Oddly enough, he seemed to favor the government's position on using the word 'may,' which shocked me. He said it's about government liability. If we say 'shall' and we fail to deliver on it, then we are accountable and liable for our decisions in a court of law," he said. "And I said, 'That's the point! Yoo-hoo? That's what we want! The government is required to follow the Charter. The government is required to follow the rule of law. You're not above the rule of law.' So when they use those weasel words, those weasel words are designed so that they're not on the hook. Now, I don't know why politicians should concern themselves so much about that because, quite frankly, if there's a court case on th subject and it comes down to a settlement, the money isn't coming out of that guy's pocket. It's coming out of the collective basket of funds that belong to the country. If it's supposed to be running according to those rules that they themselves have passed, then so be it."