If you look up the term "whitewash" in the dictionary, it says "a means to conceal mistakes or faults in order to clear a person or institution of undesirable conduct". It should simply say "see Channel Lake".

In a surprise move, the NDP members on the Crown Corporations Committee recently made public their 90-page draft report into the botched operation and sale of Channel Petroleum Ltd. by SaskPower. The report heaped scorn on senior SaskPower officials but absolved their political masters from sharing any of the blame. The report also suggested the government take no further legal action.

Immediately, the report was condemned by opposition politicians and media commentators for its complete lack of political culpability in its findings.

The next day, before the ink on the draft report was even dry, SaskPower fired senior company officials, Larry Kram, and Ken Christensen, for their role in the affair. Of course, each received severance packages worth between $125,000 and $175,000 courtesy of taxpayers.

But what are we to make of the report Let's leave aside the fact that the government promised to co-operate with the opposition, then did an end-run around its own process by releasing the draft report before the Liberal and Sask Party members of the committee even had a chance to see it.

More importantly, where is the political accountability What about Ministerial responsibility If Kram and Christensen were culpable, what about their political masters Sadly, its becoming second nature for politicians in Canada today to blame everybody but themselves for mistakes or "errors in oversight" that happen on their watch. Pass the buck and stick taxpayers with the bill has become the politicians' credo.

In any case, this whitewash shouldn't surprise taxpayers. Just as expected NDP backbenchers on the committee neglected to hold NDP cabinet ministers and NDP political appointees accountable. In other words, the proverbial fox was left to report on the state of the henhouse. Similarly, the views from the opposition parties will be just as one sided - pointing fingers and slamming their political foes at the expense of the truth.

If there was any doubt before, this whitewash clearly illustrates that from day one the partisan committee environment was entirely the wrong forum to conduct the investigation. Politics and the politicians were the reason for this fiasco in the first place. Instead, an independent public inquiry should have been established with the politicians and their patronage hacks being called in to give testimony under oath.

But as it stands now, the government has its whitewash report, the hired help has taken the hit, and the fact that it's summertime and the start of harvest season gives the politicians the perfect opportunity to sweep the entire mess under the rug.

Ultimately, the only way to remove politics from the Crowns is to remove government ownership and control by selling them in whole or in part. Until that day comes, however, taxpayers must insist their government set up an independent utility watchdog to assess each Crown's investment decisions and the rates they charge. Only by replacing the fox with a watchdog can we put an end to these scandals once and for all.