“THEY SHOULD not have asked me to come in in the first place i they didn't want me to fir it “Ron Huntington on the troubles he ran into when he tried to flex musele as Chairman of Ports Canada. When he was Tory MP. fo: Capilano, Ron Huntington was frequently in the news for fighting bureaucracy and acting on principle, He didn’t change when he got the Ports Canada job, So when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney gave a close triend the job of president and chief executive of- ficer of the crown corporation, and the man acted as if the board didn't exist, Huntington objected. The friend was Denis de Belleval, a former minister in the Parti Quebecois separatist government. De Belleval believes in cen- tralization. Huntington doesn't. De Belleval also believes in signing contracts which, according to Ports Canada’s former top legal officer, he had no business signing. } Huntington is no longer talk- ing. But the story was blown open by the Ottawa Citizen. } ‘he newspaper has also describ- ed how Don Mazankowski, minister of transpeurt when all this was going on, inteifered in the af- fairs of the corporation to protect B the prime minister’s boy. Mazankowski is now deputy prime minister and denies having interfered. But if parliament were sitting he would know no more peace than John Fraser knew in the stinking tish scandal. The Citizen has documentation for its stories, including the minutes of board of directors’ | meetings. And Huntington is | quoted as having told the paper: “What power does a board 1 have in a corporation when the | chief executive officer continues to be appointed by the prime minister?”* The boards of crown corpora- tions are responsible for ‘‘the business, activities, and other af- fairs’’ of their organizations. The government may issue policy directives, but these must be sub- mitted to parliament for ap- proval. The minister does not have the right to meddle in per- sonnel matters. The Ottawa B Citizen has shown, however, that Mazankowski did that. In addition to protecting de Belleval, the minister tried to negotiate a deal with Michael Swinwood, the Ports Canada vice-president for legal affairs who fingered the Quebecker for a number of irregularities he claim- ed de Belleval hac committed. Swinwood later lost his job. Those aren't the only points of difference between the Ports Canada board and the govern- ment. The Liberals had removed the corporation from the auditor gencral’s jurisdiction, and Hun- tingion wanted him to have it back. Instead, Mazankowski gave the job to Coopers & Lybrand, the private accounting firm. Auditor General Kenneth Dye, meanwhile, has stated that “auditing and patronage’? make bad bedfellows. office should examine Canada’s books. The evidence indicates that de Ports Belleval has kept his job only] because of political influence. The board wanted to get rid of him. It did not ask for his resignation, but that was only because of Mazankowski’s persuasion. Ed Broadbent has stated: ‘*On the surface...Mr. Mazankowski stopped corrective action being taken because the person in question was a Fran- cophone appointed by the prime minister.’’ This even though Broadbent is no more anxious to upset Quebec than any other federal politician is. The Liberals have called for an independent inquiry, and Mazankowski has rejected the de- mand. According to him, depart- ment of transport lawyers say de Belleval did not exceed his authority. But the critics are shouting ‘‘Cover-up!’’. What will Huntington do? He has made no further public statements, but last week the Citizen was expecting him to resign. His chairman's job carries a salary of $25,000 a year plus $350 a day for working days. But money is not likely to be the main factor in any decision that Hun- tington makes. 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