The usual operation

The Business Development Bank has accepted a judge's ruling that senior executives at the Crown-owned bank carried out a "vendetta" against its former president, Francois Beaudoin, after he tried to foreclose on the notorious Auberge Grand-M�re loan. (For those just joining us: that's the failing hotel Jean Chr�tien, while prime minister, pressured the bank into lending several hundred thousand dollars. The hotel (of which he was once part-owner) was nearly bankrupt, the owner, a friend and political supporter, had a history of business failure � not to mention a criminal record � and Chr�tien had a financial interest in the golf course next door at the time he was lobbying the bank president, a federal employee. The interest was not declared, either to the public or to the requisite authority; indeed, according to Beaudoin, Chr�tien specifically told him he had no interest, direct or indirect, in the hotel. The Prime Minister's repeated personal interventions on the loan file only became public knowledge after months of denials that he had had any contact with the bank on the matter. Caught out by the appearance of incriminating documents in the middle of an election campaign, the Prime Minister shrugged it off. He was simply doing his job as a Member of Parliament representing a constituent: "the usual operation.") The National Post's Andrew McIntosh, whose reporting single-handedly broke the story in the face of widespread media indifference, takes up the thread:

Quebec Superior Court Justice Andre Denis' ruling denounced the BDC and Michel Vennat, the current president, and Jean Carle, a former aide to Jean Chretien, for trying to discredit Mr. Beaudoin with false civil and criminal allegations of fraud after they forced him to leave the BDC in September, 1999. Judge Denis ordered the BDC to reinstate Mr. Beaudoin's $200,000 annual pension and the $250,000 severance package he was given upon leaving, saying several BDC witnesses, including Mr. Carle, had lied on the stand and Mr. Beaudoin had suffered "an unspeakable injustice."

The Globe and Mail has more:

But the board decided to keep current president Michel Vennat, a long-time Liberal and close friend of former prime minister Chr�tien, who was harshly criticized in the ruling. In his Feb. 6 decision, Justice Denis found the bank pushed Mr. Beaudoin out and then unfairly refused to pay the severance. He added that the BDC -- where Mr. Vennat was then chairman, and another friend of Mr. Chretien, Jean Carle, was a vice-president -- also launched a nasty campaign that included pushing the RCMP to investigate unfounded criminal complaints. Mr. Vennat even had the BDC hire a criminal lawyer to push the case when Crown prosecutors decided charges were unwarranted, the judge noted.... Judge Denis also had harsh words about Mr. Vennat's testimony: "The court cannot help but note that the witness contradicted himself and is contradicted by the evidence in numerous instances, greatly undermining his credibility," he wrote.

Two questions. One, why is Vennat still employed? Two, why haven't perjury charges been filed? POST-SCRIPT: Oh, by the way � police now have evidence the fire at the Grand M�re two weeks ago was deliberately set. Quelle surprise. UPDATE: Still, no big deal, right? I mean, it's not like anyone's fearing for his life or anything.