When vindication is a little bit sweet

There are, on some occasions, where I like to give myself a pat on the back otherwise known as vindication on something that I have questioned our law enforcement agencies about but they have chosen to fluff off. That vindication usually comes by proof of an audit report.

In this case the audit comes from the United State’s Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General – Audit Division from their March 2006 audit report on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Efforts to Protect the Nation’s Seaports.

Do you remember when American politicians were up in arms over Bush’s decision to allow a company from the United Arab Emirates run American ports? Well the Hamilton Spectator knew about the breaches in our own port security at Pier 8 but instead chose to print an article that made American politicians look racist.

The ignored reporting on the fact that the federal Ministry of Transportation was investigating the Hamilton Port Authority for not having security in place to account for the ships crew when leaving the ship – in violation of Canada’s accountability to the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code or the ISPS Code. (details in this post)

A former C.S.I.S agent and a Liberal Senator pointed out on national television that what the Americans should really be concerned about is if their ports didn’t comply with the ISPS Code, not who runs the company that runs their ports.

But reporting that Hamilton’s Port Authority wasn’t complying with the ISPS Code wouldn’t have been good politics for The Spec since two high profile politicians – ex-Liberal M.P.P Toni Valeri (see post Income…Trust?) and the Mayor of Hamilton, Larry Di Ianni, have political donors that sit on the Port’s board. The one individual was named in the Valeri’s real estate deal and the other donated to Di Ianni’s mayoral campaign. Mayor Di Ianni has been recently charged under the Ontario Elections Act from obtaining money from donors over the donation amount.

As a response The Spec’s editors tried to convince it’s readers that Di Ianni, even though he committed an illegal act, still had integrity in order to protect their political investment as they had supported his candidacy.

But in this post last year, I asked the hypothetical question based on evidence reported in various news media, including The Spec, what if these individuals had access to the individual who was purportedly looking for nuclear material at McMaster’s nuclear facility - as reported by the F.B.I - and attempted to smuggle the material on board a ship that had no security detail on who reported off and on the ship?

As the U.S. Department of Justice's audit says on page 9:

"We are concerned that the FBI may not be devoting its intelligence resources to assessing high-risk maritime areas. For example, although terrorists have indicated a strong desire to use a WMD and vessels can be used to transport a WMD for detonation in a port or elsewhere, none of the FBI’s intelligence reports assessed the threat and risk of terrorists smuggling a WMD in a shipping container aboard a cargo ship."

It gives me some piece of mind to know that at least the American Department of Justice and I think alike. It gives me no piece of mind to know that our law enforcement agencies in Ontario - including the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services - are more than happy to treat these concerns with indifference.