PUBLIC INQUIRIES, JUDICIAL INQUIRIES AND THE LIKE

Everybody wants to believe in them. Some sort of very public investigation in which everything is explored and put out on the table for public consumption. There have been inquiies into disasters (Westray), deaths in custody ((Ashley Smith), violation of aboriginal rights (& death) ie. Dudley George and the Ipperwash Inquiry. My understanding is that those three I've mentioned were the real deal. Names were stated and fingers pointed at the guilty parties. In the Ashley Smith Inquiry most of the fingers were pointed at Corrections Service Canada. And on and on. So what's the catch? Do charges ever stem from the conclusions reached?

I'm a skeptic based upon decades of watching corruption, Canadian style. I've never found an institution or a set of rules or laws that cannot be overcome by human beings with ethical challenges. Money always seems to rule and to win with but notable exceptions merely underscoring the vast odds against honesty and truth beating money.

Codes of Conduct, Mission Statements, Corporate Goals and all the rest are merely windowdressing and puffery. Some say three leaf clovers are rarer than honest politicians. I disagree. I believe that three leaf clovers are far more common than honest politicians. We came close to a Public Inquiry in Elmira over Ministry of Environment corruption twenty-five years ago. The evidence now is even more overwhelming. Would it be an honest process if it happened later than never? Would it have been honest twenty-five years ago. I doubt it but I live in hope.