Group led by John Baird’s ‘dear friend’ gets $1 million grant
despite sub-par bid  Human Resources Minister Diane Finley
overrode the recommendations of her own department to approve a
$1 million grant for an organization led by a close ally of
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. What’s more, Baird
personally spoke to Finley about the project, which was twice
deemed sub-par by bureaucrats, according to the Globe and Mail.
From the Globe:  The funding request for the expansion of a
Jewish community centre known as a Chabad was submitted by Rabbi
Chaim Mendelsohn of the Canadian Federation of Chabad Lubavitch,
who serves as the Canadian face of the international Hasidic
outreach movement.  The Ottawa-based rabbi recently joined Mr.
Baird on a tour of Israel. During that January visit, Mr. Baird
repeatedly joked in his speeches that while he was not Jewish,
he did have a rabbi.  More than 300 organizations applied for
the grants, which were earmarked for
improving accessibility. Bureaucrats then ranked the app