Angry in the Great White North

From the Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegam (free registration required):

FBI agents searched the Washington, D.C., and New Orleans homes of a Louisiana congressman Wednesday, hauling away boxes and bags from one of the residences.

The Justice Department refused to say what agents were looking for during the searches of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's homes and vehicle.

Here's the judicial link:

His name surfaced earlier in a case involving his brother-in-law, a former state judge convicted in June of mail fraud in a wide-ranging probe of bail bond corruption in suburban New Orleans.

According to federal court documents, the lawmaker asked Alan Green in a recorded conversation to raise money for his daughter's successful 2003 campaign for the Legislature. The records show that Green agreed to help.

The Louisiana Code of Judicial Conduct bars judges from asking for campaign donations on behalf of political candidates.

Sounds like they take the separation of the different branches of government very seriously in Louisiana, seriously enough to take on an eight-term Democrat and the first black House member from that state since Reconstruction.

I wonder just how much grime we would find in Canada if there was a serious investigation by the RCMP on the topic of judicial appointments and Liberal Party support.

But it'll never happen. That's the real difference between Canada and the US. Not universal health care. Not defence spending. A commitment to integrity in government as an ideal, and a real effort to turn that ideal into a reality. You get that in the US, not always perfect, not always consistently applied, but it's there. In Canada, you get a tired shrug and indifference from the public, and more of the same corruption from government.

In the United States, a Louisiana congressman is caught talking to a judge about helping out his daughter in an election campaign. The FBI is at his house hauling boxes and bags of evidence away.

In Canada, a Commission of Inquiry into corruption in the highest levels of Canadian government uncovers hints of unsavoury connections between party brass, Cabinet, and judicial appointments, supported by evidence uncovered by bloggers and the main stream press, and nothing happens.

Nary a peep from the RCMP. A weak reference by the Justice Minister to review a system he insists is not broken.

Hardly seems fair. But sadly, I'm not surprised.