I am no fan of hiring quotas, but I disagree that they can be blamed for the incompetence in our public sector. I have done work for both public and private sector organizations and there are distinctive cultural differences between them. In the private sector, through competition and the drive for profits, there is a natural accountability that doesn't exist in the public sector. Government organization therefore attract lazy and corrupt management types, or people with credentials on paper who can't follow through in the private sector. I've watched these management people move from one government organization to another without accomplishing anything. You'll rarely see people move from high management positions in the public sector to private sector jobs. Either they move to other government organizations, or they open up consulting practices to get lucrative contracts from the government. Watch where this Sarah Kramer goes next.

Submitted by Lagavulin at 10:00 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

"no possible way to explain the loss ... thru bureaucratic foul-ups or missteps ???" ... sorry, but there seems to be no limit to bureaucratic fumbling ... it's becoming as canadian as hockey, which also has bureaucratic issues ... and here's another good one ... "how long does it take for this government to figure out what is going on?" ... ha ha ... good one ... can you say "mulroney inquiry" ... it's getting tough for comedians to compete with our governments ...

Submitted by MLB3 at 9:57 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

Gee...can I get a job there? Love the perks!

Submitted by batgrl at 9:45 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

This says little for the financial safety of Canadians’ tax dollars if the Government cannot adequately protect its stock of gold in secured surroundings. Even if the gold is no’ tat physically lost those accountable for the bookkeeping records should be severely reprimanded by termination irrespective of their position. MJT, Etobicoke.

Submitted by MJT at 9:44 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

Is there no Canadian Institution that is free and clear of corruption in this country? We've heard of sponsorship scandals, money stuffed envelopes given to our 'so called esteemed leaders' who didn't have the common sense to refuse it, auto bail-outs when hospitals are left to lay off staff, CEO's getting obscene wages and bonuses and even if they're fired they get a s---load of money from their 'so called contracts.' I believe the time is now for our country to begin to implement the basic rules of governance. Honesty, truth, humility, respect, caring, love and courage. These are the Seven Sacred Teachings of the Ojibway peoples, is anyone surprised? I also think 'that the meek shall inherit the earth' what evers left of it after the collapse of the world financial system and wars..

Submitted by Yukon Jack at 9:43 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

Your dead on. My only question is when it comes to the "Change" who will dictate it?? We all sit and complain about it, but no one ever does anything. As Rick Mercer said the one thing in the last US election that has been missing from Canada for yrs is the outlook of "Hope and Change". Wow what a great platform!!

Submitted by Musclehead at 9:35 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

I don't want to sound too naive, but I believe that people are 'generally' good and in my life I've met very few really unscrupulous people. Perhaps it is a good idea to wait for the results of the audit before throwing accusations. Who's to know if somewhere down the line a decimal point wasn't transposed or some other accounting error was made? Assuming the worst right away and then calling for people to be fired, claims that our country is going to hell in a hand-basket; there seems to be a lot of negativity and quick judgments going on here.

Submitted by thisnthatgirl at 9:34 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

Watch Zeitgeist.

Submitted by Optimist74 at 9:31 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

Rick Mercer made off with a stapler from the mint a few years back, and was repeatedly caught on camera trying to hide gold bars in his pants.

Submitted by Civil Ian at 9:30 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

...they'll find some non-Conservative-member chump to take the fall for this, if they don't sweep it under the rug entirely and write it off as a book keeping error. Why isn't the auditor *automatically* involved when significant amounts like this are involved?

Submitted by Steve7221 at 9:29 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

Sorry but, I can't swallow that our government doesn't know what happened. You don't suddenly discover a loss of this size and have no idea what happened. Either there was a theft which would mean a sudden change in the inventory records or an accounting error which should be found rather easily by anyone who can read a ledger. A slow, systematic theft would be easily remedied every time they did inventory and so a sudden dramatic find that something is amiss would not occur. The only reason there would be a delay in announcing this is that our current government has given this over to their newly-formed and rather-busy-as-of-late department which should henceforth be called the Ministry of Cover-ups. When can we expect the police to be engaged?

Submitted by circuitman at 9:23 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009

But should a firearm owner missplace a $50 'steel' handgun... you can be certain that the police will be called right away! (Maybe we need a gold registry?)

Submitted by Michelt at 9:07 AM Tuesday, June 09 2009