Cornwall Inquiry Staff

Sylvia’s Site  (my blog)

One of Justice G. Normand Glaude's first undertakings as commissioner for the Cornwall inquiry was hiring.  And, as commissioner of a presumably independent and impartial inquiry the choices were his. 

First on the Sudbury-based commissioner’s list of favourites was the Ottawa-based G-4 (group of 4) communications. 

In short order G-4’s Marie-Josee Lapointe (daughter of Liberal Senator Jean Lapointe) was on the job, and shortly thereafter at an inquiry press conference those dealing with the media and public identified themselves either as G-4 staff working for the inquiry or security staff retained by G-4. 

So, G-4 was Justice Glaude’s pick.  The question is:  why?   

I doubt that Ms. Lapointe's questionable tenure with Ottawa's City Hall was the draw.  And I would hate to think that Justice Glaude did the picking cognizant of the fact that Ms. Lapointe and her colleagues are gay rights activists.   

So, why?  I personally wonder if it has anything to do with Ms. Lapointe' and G-4's copious political connections.  All the political connections here are intriguing, but under the circumstances those related to the Belinda Stronach campaign in particular evoke a second look, specifically because former Ontario Conservative Premiers Michael Harris and Bill Davis  were (are?) Belinda fans and both helped Belinda in some fashion to cross the floor to nestle into a cosy cabinet post with Paul Martin's Liberal's. 

And, it becomes even more intriguing when we discover that also on the hustings campaigning for Belinda was Ed Lumley, former Liberal MP, long-time friend of former Prime Minister Paul Martin, former cabinet minister and former mayor of Cornwall who has allegedly told Cornwall folk in no uncertain terms that there is no ring and there is no cover-up. 

Now add to all of this the fact that Lumley, Harris and Davis are Board members with the Stronach auto parts empire Magna International, and the fact that Ms. Lapointe was a select member of the small elite Harper transition team early this year, and the fact that the transition team is instrumental in choosing the who’s who for cabinet, and the fact that Jim Flaherty, Attorney General under Michael Harris, was named Minister of Finance.  

And then there are the whispers that the “alleged” cover-up might even go right back to the days of the Bill Davis government.

So, yes, I do wonder why Justice Normand Glaude plucked G-4 communications and Marie Josee Lapointe out of the hat to help him stage the Cornwall Public Inquiry

Lead Investigator & former RCMP officer

John Spice

Who is

Marie Josee Lapointe?

Lapointe and G-4

Communications in the news

01 October 1992: Marie Josee Lapointe Deputy Press Secretary to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

2001:  Marie Josee Lapointe Salary disclosure   

25 June 2003:  Lapointe gone from City Hall 

 More on Marie Josee Lapointe gone from City Hall 

25 January 2004: G-4 Communications member Andrew Skaling works for Belinda Stronach compaign 

12 April 2005: Marie Josee Lapointe press release 

23 April 2005: Lapointe & Canadians for Equal Marriage 

May 2005: G-4 Communications website 

28 January 2006: more on Marie Josee Lapointe with Harper transition team 

07 April 2006: Harper government forced to cancel untendered contract with Marie Josee Lapointe  

08 April 2006: National Post profiles Marie Josee Lapointe re her years working for the Canadian tobacco industry.

Shortly after theinquiry.ca posted this information on Marie Josee Lapointe, Lapointe was suddenly and mysteriously listed on the Cornwall Inquiry website as spokesperson for the inquiry “on an interim basis.”  After questions were raised about the “interim” designation, the posting disappeared.  Lapointe however has been seen much less frequently at the Weave Shed.  Until September 2006 Press Releases emanating from the Cornwall Public Inquiry continued to be issued in Lapointe's name with her contact phone number that of G-4 Communications in Ottawa.

Update: As of 20 September 2006 Marie Josee Lapointe is still listed on the Cornwall Public Inquiry website as Communications and Media Relations Coordinator.  Press releases have however been sparse and the communications team unusually silent about the goings on at the Cornwall Weave Shed, the most recent one signed off by another member of the G-4 Communications team.  But there has been no Press Release from the communications department announcing the sudden 11th hour cancellation of Jesuit Father John Loftus's testimony as an "expert" witness, none announcing Justice Normand Glaude's medical ailment which allegedly caused the Loftus cancellation, none announcing the cancellation of the 19 September '06 hearing and none trumpeting the 15 September release  "Commonly Asked Questions About Phase 2 of the Cornwall Public Inquiry." 

April 2007:  Father John Loftus has not been called to testify but continues to sit on the Advisory Panel. Marie Josee Lapointe’s name is nowhere to be seen.  G-4 Communications continues to handle communications for the inquiry.