Dear Editor,

The recent open letter of the contractor general to the prime minister and the opposition leader reveals a lot about the writer. None of the people who have taken the contractor general to court are frivolous or known to be corrupt by anyone.

After seven years on the job, Mr Christie at best appears confused by what exactly are the powers of the contractor general, or at worst is worried that the courts may have a different interpretation than he does.

The Separation of Powers exists precisely because of public servants like Greg Christie who, although well intentioned, will overstep their mandates and go off on a frolic whenever they feel it suits their professional interests. In my view if you want to understand Greg Christie and his actions, simply study McCarthyism of the 1950s and some of the motivations for the writing of the open letter will be clearly understood. Greg Christie would never write that letter unless it could be made public.

The reputation of our leaders will be sacrificed on the altar of transparency as he cajoles them to do what he fears the court may not support him on. If he fails there, then it will be they who refused to act. If he is so sure of his legal positions, then why is he running scared? As some love to say: "Save it for the judge!"

Our legal fraternity must be appalled that a public servant would behave in this way; some may even feel his public exposure of this letter is a not so subtle way of seeking to influence the decision of the courts. It is in essence a corruption of our processes and our system of laws. Does he expect them to bestow on him retroactively the powers that he claims he already has? Forgive my loose quote, but the gentleman "doth protest too much".

Elliott Penn

Kingston