| ... Ottawa, Ontario ... September 20, 2010 Mr. Pierre Poilievre Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 Dear Mr. Poilievre, Last year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, but more likely his officials, dismissed out of hand a heart-felt request from a former Secretary of State and Peace Prize nominee, a man respected around the world for his integrity and interest in justice for all. In March 2009 the Honourable David Kilgour wrote, on both his and my behalf, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Dear Minister Cannon, During 1985, I informed the then Secretary of State for External Affairs, the Right Hon. Joe Clark, of potentially serious breaches of ethics and the public trust at 125 Sussex. I was only made aware of these violations after the writer of the attached letter had become the target of unconscionable reprisals for informing his superiors of what was going on. Bernard Payeur has included with his letter a book he has written, which documents carefully everything that happened to him following his discovery of the abuses. It’s not a pretty chronology. In his letter, he asks for an apology and requests the pension that would have been his, had he not been summarily dismissed on bogus insubordination charges for simply trying to do what Canadian taxpayers expect from their public servants. I believe it’s the very least a responsible government can now do. Your government was elected to lead our country towards more transparency and accountability. To your credit, you have taken some encouraging measures to this effect for which I thank you as a citizen. As Bernard writes in his letter, “There is no way to undo the harm that was done.” Granting his modest request now would not only bring some closure, but also speak well about your government's commitment to “Good Governance.” I have enclosed a copy of Shooting the Messenger, the book mentioned in the Honourable David Kilgour’s letter. Read it, if you can find the time, or take David’s word about “unconscionable reprisals … for simply trying to do what Canadian taxpayers expect from their public servants” and talk to the Prime Minister about getting his Minister of Foreign Affairs to do the right thing. Sincerely Yours
________________________ Bernard Payeur P.S. I have sent your Ottawa Conservative Party colleague John Baird the same letter and book in the perhaps forlorn hope that two voices from my city will convince the Prime Minister to bring an end to this sad and sorry affair.
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