Five years ago, as the Ontario Provincial Police were investigating the Liberals' gas plants scandal, the former top public servant in the province gave a quote that would become legendary.
“The only organizations that did not maintain records were criminal organizations,” Peter Wallace, secretary to the cabinet duringLiberal Premier Dalton McGuinty’s tenure, told his police interviewer.
Yet the practice of leaving no paper trail is a well-known strategy among political staff and bureaucrats. The Liberals' gas plants scandal was an extreme case in that it led to criminal charges, but the underlying idea of avoiding the creation of written records is deeply embedded in governments across Canada — and it has been exposed time and time again. Not all cases are illegal, but the practice violates the principle that governments are supposed to be accountable to the people who elect them.
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