Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

PM ultimately responsible for the conduct of his office

MONTREAL — Nigel Wright did the right and honourable thing in resigning as Stephen Harper’s chief of staff for writing a personal cheque for $90,000 to Senator Mike Duffy so Duffy could reimburse the government for disallowed travel expenses.

It’s never a good thing when staff becomes the story, least of all the head of the Prime Minister’s Office. In jumping on this grenade, Wright was observing a code of honour in accepting responsibility for his own actions. He was also doing his job: protecting the king.

As someone who has known Wright for more than 25 years, I can attest that his lapse of judgment in this matter was entirely out of character. In both the public and private sector, he has led a life above reproach. He was always more interested in policy than power, and his only motive was to serve.

But while his resignation removes him from the line of fire, it does not end the story of the Senate expense scandal, the whiff of which has now reached the highest office in the land.

And here begins the tick-tock, of who knew what and when; of what the prime minister knew and when he knew it.

Wright himself raises this, somewhat obliquely, in his statement of resignation, released on the Sunday morning of a long weekend.

He says he “did not advise the prime minister of the means by which Sen. Duffy’s expenses were repaid, either before or after the fact.”

Well, to paraphrase Bill Clinton, that depends on what the meaning of the word “means” means.

There are some things a prime minister shouldn’t know. It’s another way of protecting the king: providing plausible deniability.

But CTV has also reported that lawyers were involved in drafting an agreement with Duffy before the cheque was cut.

This would be back in February, when the Senate expense story was breaking around three Harper appointees — Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau — and Liberal Mac Harb, all of whom have left their respective caucuses over contested travel and housing claims.

CTV also reported that there are before-and-after versions of a Senate internal board of economy report as it relates to Duffy — that is before and after the cheque was cut. Moreover, the cheque was written during a forensic outside audit by Deloitte.

All of which just raises more questions about who knew what and when, and of whose idea it was to make it all go away by writing a cheque for $90,000. While it may have been legal, it wasn’t right.

Stephen Harper tried to hit the reset button Tuesday morning when the Conservatives allowed cameras into their caucus while he tried to rally the troops. Exceptionally, the caucus met a day early because the prime minister was leaving in the afternoon on a scheduled trade mission to South America, which allowed him to skip facing the music in Question Period.

Harper did get the sound bite of the day. He declared: “I’m very upset about the conduct we have witnessed, the conduct of some parliamentarians, and the conduct of my own office.”

But Harper is ultimately responsible for the conduct of his own office, and he missed an opportunity to apologize for it. He then went on to reiterate that the Conservatives are the party proposing reform through an elected Senate, that they came to office promising to clean up Ottawa, and that they were the authors of the Accountability Act, “the toughest accountability legislation in the history of this country.”

Which is kind of the point.

There are two fundamental pillars to the Conservative brand. The first is the economy, which is a very good story. And the second is accountability, which is now a very bad story.

And don’t think the Conservatives don’t know it. A political party is an extended family, and the Conservative family gathered at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa Monday evening for a memorial service to Senator Doug Finley, the party’s former campaign director who died last week of cancer.

The evening was an upbeat celebration of a man whose organizational skills played an important role in bringing the Conservatives from opposition to government. Harper himself delivered a classy tribute that was full of good humour.

But the other topic of conversation was about the Senate expense scandal, and how the stain had now spread to the centre. In their ridings and districts last week, MPs and senators got an earful.

This is not a one-off story about an expensive glass of orange juice or an airport-limo charge. It’s about character and judgment in government. Which, in the end, is a test for the prime minister. To be continued.

Original Article
Source: montrealgazette.com
Author: L. Ian MacDonald

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