This week, former city councillor and current mayoral candidate Tom Jakobek was caught in a lie. He had claimed he was never on the MFP junket flight to watch hockey in Philadelphia. Investigators, taking their job seriously, tracked down the truth and made him confess.

That Jakobek has been turned out as a liar, trying to save his skin by minimizing his connection to the fraud that has cost the city tens of millions of dollars, is not surprising. What makes his confession interesting is that it now implicates several others as liars, as well:

• Dash Domi, the salesman who netted a million dollar plus commission on the deal lied
• Vince 'I don't remember anything specific about anything in general' Nigro, Mel Lastman's former aide and now MFP salesman, probably lied when we said he couldn't remember if Jakobek joined him and 5 others on the trip
• Harold Peerenboom, founder of Mandrake Consulting and former chair of the harbour commission, lied when he said Jakobek was definitely not on the flight

What makes this all serious isn't the simple fact that people lied about attending hockey games. It isn't about that at all. Here's what it's about, as reported in Now Magazine, in 2001:

It was Jakobek who moved a motion that allowed the MFP contract to be extended from three years to five years without further council approval. The interest rate charged on the leasing contract also increased from around 4.5 per cent to 12 per cent. That, apparently, is what caused the city's costs to skyrocket.

So, Jakobek can apologize all he wants about what allowed this lie to slip out. What matters isn't so much the lie, but the truth... that many people with power at City Hall are closely connected to a scandal that has cost the city tens of millions of dollars, and then tried to cover it up.

(For an early part of the coverup, read that Now Magazine article, in which Michael Walker tries to extract testimony that would enlighten us about the scandal and Deputy Mayor Case Ootes does everything in his power to block him.)

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