Boreal
Shooting the Messenger
Till Death Do Us Part
A Penultimate Hope Belatedly Dashed
I had actually started working
on the first edition of Shooting the Messenger in 1995, after
discovering that Gordon had receive a boost to his pension on retiring while
I had lost mine after he orchestrated my firing on bogus insubordination
charges. Following its publication, after every election, I would write to
whoever was appointed Minister of Foreign Minister—in 2015 that was Stéphane
Dion—enclosing a copy of Shooting the Messenger - A Whistleblower's Tale and asking for my government
pension to be reinstated.
Ottawa Ontario
...
The Honourable Stéphane Dion
Minister of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive Ottawa,
K1A 0G2
November 11, 2015
Dear Mr. Dion,
I will shortly be turning 65 when I am told by Service Canada my pension will be increased to $ 940 per month, or thereabouts.
Lucky me!
Why such a pitiful amount you may wonder?
It wasn't all my fault. You can ask your officials, or you can read the book which I have enclosed.
You will probably be the last Minister of Foreign Affairs whom I will ask to do the right thing and reinstate my pensionable time before I was summarily dismissed from the Public Service after discovering that Canadian diplomats had helped themselves to tens of millions of dollars to which they were not entitled.
Sincerely Yours
Bernard Payeur
A month on and having not received even a perfunctory acknowledgement from Foreign Affairs, I decided to test my Lucette’s faith in our new Member of Parliament and Minister of the Environment.
....
Ottawa Ontario
...
The Honourable Catherine McKenna
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
December 15, 2015
Dear Ms. McKenna,
With so many honourable people to whom I have written to over the years refusing to do the honourable thing, I did not intend to cast a vote in the last election.
My wife, who still believes and remains hopeful, but could not get to the polling station that day because of a debilitating chronic condition, insisted that, if I was not willing to cast a vote on my own behalf, then I should go out and vote as she would have voted, for Catherine McKenna.
I love my wife, so I did it for her, as is my writing to you now.
Please find attached a self-explanatory letter to your honourable colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a book.
I have yet to receive an acknowledgment or the predictable perfunctory notice to abandon all hope, that a change of government does not mean a change of heart.
Prove me wrong or prove me right, but please don't ignore me; that would be the deepest cut of all.
Thank you
Bernard Payeur
Seven months later:
My dear Lucette’s trust was obviously misplaced. I would write Ms. McKenna one last time.
Ottawa Ontario
...
The Honourable Catherine McKenna
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
July 20, 2016
Dear Ms. McKenna,
I must admit to being somewhat disappointed in the perfunctory indifferent somewhat callous response to my letter of December 15, 2015 which, for some reason, took seven months to prepare.
How else would you describe a facetious reply from an elected official who is in a position to do something positive for a constituent "who still believes and remains hopeful, but could not get to the polling station that day because of a debilitating chronic condition" who dismisses her plea with a trite "best regards".
We are not in Parliament and this is not Question Period. Words and actions have consequences. If you had nothing to do with this insulting letter and you are the honourable person that your title implies, I expect a timely, in my wife's lifetime, answer to why you will not do the honourable thing.
Thank you
Bernard Payeur
cc: Prime Minister's Office
No response was forthcoming.