by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
May 10, 2004
a supposed "news" item appeared on CBC’s website on May 4
under the heading, "McGuinty pressured to order inquiry into Toronto cops." The day before, four Toronto police officers were charged with 26 criminal offences that arose out of a continuing corruption scandal that broke in april. according to the CBC, "Pressure is building on Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to order an independent inquiry into problems within the Toronto Police Service."
after setting out the nature of the charges and the fact of the May 3 arrests of the officers, the article goes on to say that "McGuinty faced tough questions in the provincial legislature about how many more charges need to be laid before the province steps in."
The CBC piece never mentioned when the premier was questioned in the legislature about the need for an inquiry. The article implies however that the "pressure" was being applied in the wake of the criminal charges being laid against the officers. a check of Hansard for May 3 and 4 reveals that there were no questions asked of McGuinty concerning the Toronto police; nor was the matter even discussed in the legislature during that time.
The quotation from McGuinty where he said that, "We stand by the ready when invited…to do so", must have been taken from an earlier occasion after the alleged wrongdoing became public in april. a lot of things happened since april including the making the fact public that the RCMP are leading the investigation and not the Toronto police.
and what facts did the CBC offer in support of this "pressure"? One quote from NDP MP Michael Prue. The last line of the piece says that the Conservatives "won’t support a public inquiry at this time." So the only ones who wanted an inquiry were the NDP. It is difficult to see how questions from Prue, a member of a party that holds 7 out of 103 seats, constitutes "pressure".
The CBC was merely expressing its own opinion that an independent inquiry is necessary.