There is a politician at Queen’s Park whom they say has never let a pork barrel pass him by in his life. But it is not just politicians who have their arms deep into the pork barrel – they are joined by lawyers and recently retired Queen’s Park bureaucrats who are now slobbering consultants. Last of all, but not least, are hungry abortionists who can never be satisfied at the public trough. One of them is a certain Dr. Henry Morgentaler.

“Doctor Morgentaler: $5-million man – Oh, Henry! … Why must Ontario taxpayers pay $5 million in rent for Henry Morgentaler’s Toronto abortion clinic, when it’s the only one subsidized by the taxpayer?”

That headline appeared in the Toronto Free Press Sept. 17-19, 1999 and was repeated in the Ottawa Citizen. Did you see any news about it in other mainline media? No – and chances are, you never will. Many thoughtful people have been hijacked into buying the anti-life agenda because that’s all there is out there for them.

Maybe Morgentaler’s ripoff falls into the category of all the news that’s too hot to handle – such as Premier Mike Harris’s wife leaving him because he was running around with a trophy widow in their own neighbourhood. This was common knowledge to Frank magazine – theGlobe and Mail and Maclean’s magazine. As Frank put it, mainline media would much rather feast on the sins of President Clinton.

Oh, how quick the mainline media are to denounce secrecy when an information commission won’t give them the information they want or stonewalls them!

The two get into the same bathtub, however, when they want to keep the public from learning the facts. The media bellow for openness, but themselves practise censorship, when they want to protect their icons and puff their anti-life philosophy.

Front-page newsWhy wasn’t it front-page news when Ontario taxpayers paid Clayton Ruby and his lawyer-wife $3.5 million out of the Queen’s Park Pork Barrel (QPPB) for prosecuting pro-lifers who violated an injunction in order to save the unborn from death? What did our team of talented lawyers get for defending the unborn? Zip. Why? Former Justice Adams hinted that it was because pro-lifers had caused all the “trouble.”

What about the $500,000 paid from the QPPB to settle out of court in 1996 former speaker Al McLean’s sexual harassment case? The media must have forgotten about this because he’s back getting $34 an hour for a part-time job. And Dave Johnson, a former defeated Harris cabinet minister, gets a three-figure income from the the QPPB for what is largely a fundraising post involving three old Toronto hospitals. Poor Dave – death by boredom. There is a never-ending lineup at the QPPB.

Now we take you behind scenes to tell you the trials and tribulations of The Interim’s so-called “ace reporter.” (Please remember, editor, the word is “ace.”)

In order to protect his identity, we will refer to him as “A.R.” A.R. was the investigative reporter who pursued the rumour that Henry Morgentaler had a 10-year lease on his abortuary paid for by the Ministry of Health.

Two hundred phone calls, a slew of letters – some threatening, some poignant, some witty, some half-witty – and reams of paper. Turned down initially by a Ms. Mary Catherine Lindberg, assistant deputy of Health Insurance Related Programs.

One time, the file had to be reactivated after it had been filed away as completed. Then A.R. was told that Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy had to re-investigate after using an incorrect legal argument.

Another time, A.R. was told that he was 23rd on a list and his inquiry was not “considered important” and that it would be six weeks before they got around to it. To A.R., it was like jumping over hurdles in a gym after someone had shut off the lights.

After months of pestering, he was told by an angry mediator: “Don’t you understand? They don’t want to tell you!”

“Always, a new obstruction was put before him: “Hey! There’s another third party involved!

A year later, the news finally came out: the QPPB (also known as the Ministry of Health) paid Morgentaler $2,811,828. The mainline media ignored it. They seemed more concerned about Adrienne Clarkson’s neighbour, who doesn’t like her.

When Morgy can tell the lapdogs in the mainline media what to say and what to print, it’s time to make Morgentaler the next governor-general of Canada.

Let’s keep him busy doing something useful.