I am not a big believer in Public Inquiries for the most part.

Too often in our political system, members of the opposition and media scream for a full Public Inquiry into minor or even unimportant issues. Tens of millions of dollars were spent on a Public Inquiry into the Pepper spraying incident at an international conference held in British Columbia years ago.

What did we find out? The police overreacted. Millions were spent on a Public Inquiry into the Ipperwash situation at which a native protester was killed. What did we find out that we didn't already know? Then Premier Mike Harris used inappropriate language during a tense situation.

Ottawa is gearing up for a full Public Inquiry into former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's relationship with a German businessman. Millions will be spent and I'm willing to bet right now at the end of the process we'll know exactly what we know now: Mulroney made a poor decision that he regrets.

However, with all that said, there are times when a Public Inquiry is needed. I have always believed any government should be very judicious in calling such an Inquiry. The Walkerton water tragedy was a perfect example. Answers were needed. People across the province needed to know when they take a sip of the water coming out of their tap that it wouldn't make them sick.

When the situation is a matter of public confidence in government institutions meant to serve and protect us a Public Inquiry is necessary to tell the public what happened and to recommend changes to stop the problem from happening again.

Last Tuesday, the biggest news story of the day was the shocking acquittal of Robert Baltovich. A Toronto courtroom was stunned when the Crown prosecutor in the case stood to make his opening statement and instead announced he would present no evidence and asked the jury to acquit Mr. Baltovich.

In 1990, Mr. Baltovich was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bain. He was convicted and served eight years in prison for the crime. He always maintained his innocence and in 2004, the courts reviewed his case and ordered a new trial. During that time Baltovich's defense team found evidence that points to another perpetrator in the murder - Paul Bernardo. Investigators didn't ever find Bain's body, only her blood-stained car.

After reading about Baltovich's sudden acquittal, I did an Internet search to find out more about his case. I was flabbergasted by what I found. I read through page after page of stories and reports about the case.

From my seat, I could see that there was virtually no evidence whatsoever to convict Baltovich of this crime. There was no evidence of motive. There was no evidence linking Baltovich to a crime scene. It's not a surprise the Crown didn't present any evidence at the new trial - they didn't have any.

Baltovich is now calling for a Public Inquiry to probe why he was considered the only suspect in the case. I agree that an Inquiry is needed. The public needs to know that every step is being taken to ensure this doesn't happen to another innocent person in the future.
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I hope you can join me this Thursday night at 7 p.m. for Politically Speaking on Rogers cable channel 53. This will be my second last appearance on the program, my last show with MPP Bill Murdoch.