And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (S.I.S.I.S.) writes:
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SETTLES LAWSUIT WITH FORMER CABINET MINISTER
Canadian Press, May 10, 1999
[S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased
or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context.
It is provided for reference only.]
OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government paid nearly $1.4 million Monday to
former Liberal cabinet minister John Munro to settle a long-standing
lawsuit. The former minister of Indian affairs personally gets $225,000,
the equivalent of the life savings he spent to clear himself of fraud and
corruption charges eight years ago. The rest goes to pay back taxes,
lawyers and other creditors.
"This is the end of a very brutal journey for me," Munro told a news
conference where he expressed disappointment that the government, under the
settlement, admits no negligence by the RCMP. He also took a swipe at
former Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, who held office when the
charges were laid and whose government later refused compensation to Munro.
Mulroney himself has since won a $2-million settlement from the current
Liberal government for unsubstantiated RCMP accusations that he
participated in a kickback ring in the purchase of Airbus jets. "Now is the
time for him to regret that he refused to consider a fair and just handling
in my case," said Munro.] The former minister also expressed regret that
none of the others charged with him have been able to win compensation. It
is "entirely beyond their means" to keep fighting the government in court,
he said.
Munro was charged in late 1989, after four years of RCMP investigation,
with more than 30 counts of fraud and corruption stemming from his years as
Indian affairs minister in Pierre Trudeau's cabinet.
The core of the case was an allegation that part of a $1.5-million
government grant to the National Indian Brotherhood - now known as the
Assembly of First Nations - was funnelled back into Munro's unsuccessful
1984 campaign for the federal Liberal leadership. A trial that began in
early 1991 dragged on for 11 months before most of the charges were thrown
out.
"Theory is one thing but evidence is everything," said Ontario Court
Judge Jack Nadelle, who dismissed the bulk of the prosecution case as
circumstantial and troublesome.
The remaining charges were later withdrawn by the Crown. Charges were
also dropped against eight other men, most of them native leaders. One of
them, Sol Sanderson, former chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian
Nations, said Ottawa can't pick and choose which defendants to compensate.
"If they settled with a white person then they're going to have to settle
with Indians," he said. "We'll certainly want to meet with the prime
minister." Sanderson and the others have been claiming $1.7 million each.
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SOVEREIGNTY IS THE ANSWER - CANADA IS THE PROBLEM
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
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research and educational purposes only.
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S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
EMAIL : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
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