So, when the prime minister stood in front of his caucus Tuesday morning to offer some words on the Mike Duffy-Nigel Wright-$90,000 cheque imbroglio, it was going to matter what they were and, equally, what they were not. In his speech, Prime Minister Harper talked about the Senate, about accountability and about reform. He also talked about himself, and other words he used to say. He never uttered the name Nigel Wright. He never said “Mike Duffy.” He didn’t mention the word “cheque.”
“Obviously the reason I’m speaking to you this morning is I want to talk about some events that have transpired recently, and I don’t think any of you are going to be surprised to hear that I am not happy, I am very upset, about the conduct we have witnessed – the conduct of some parliamentarians and the conduct of my own office,” Harper began.
However, rather than actually get into the details of the reasons for his unhappiness, or exactly what the conduct in question really was, or the specifics of those events that recently transpired, the prime minister spoke of other things. Better things. Happier things.
“We’ve worked hard collectively as a party, as a caucus and as a government, to dramatically strengthen accountability words in Ottawa and apply those standards to ourselves. I need not remind you that in 2006, this government was first elected to clean up the Liberal sponsorship scandal, to ensure the rules are followed and to ensure there are consequences when they are not,” he went on. “Our federal Accountability Act, the toughest accountability legislation in the history of this country, forever changed the way business is done in Ottawa.”
He then harkened back to something he said in 2005, before his party took office, when he first proposed the Accountability Act – that “no government will be perfect because none of us are perfect. WE cannot dream a system so perfect that no one will have to be good.” Therefore, he said, there must be an effort to toughen rules and uphold accountability.
“Let me repeat something else I said in that speech in 2005, let me be very blunt about it,” Harper said a moment later. “Anyone – anyone who wants to use public office for their own benefit should make other plans or, better yet, leave this room.”
For this, he received sustained applause from his caucus.
It is not at all surprising that, as a modern (or postmodern, in this case) politician, Harper understands the importance of words, what they mean, and how that, when completely separated from their original reference points, aims, or concepts, they “embark up on an endless process of self-reproduction,” as Jean Baudrillard once put it. And yet, even bereft of those kinds of things, words still continue to function – perhaps even more effectively.
So, politics can disappear, but “the game of politics continues in secret indifference to its own image.” Or, perhaps, as Calgary-Centre MP Joan Crockatt demonstrated so deftly Monday on Twitter, accountability can disappear while ‘accountability’ continues. Tuesday’s speech from the prime minister was therefore devoid of any serious meaning, and merely a conduit for words with opaque reference points and blurry values. The whole thing was what Daniel Boorstin might call a pseudo-event – a mock-up of “news” designed only for transmission of an image to the masses of the prime minister speaking to a controversy. It was never supposed to matter what he actually said. Even if it should.
But, aside from actually taking steps to show real accountability (like calling for a Commons committee investigation, for instance) what choice did Harper have? After all, the world of pseudo-events is one in which “the image has more dignity than the original.”
“When distractions arise, as they inevitably will, we will deal with them firmly. But we cannot lose sight of our top priority,” Harper told his caucus as he drew the speech to a close Tuesday. “The world we are in remains a deeply uncertain place. Canadians are looking to us to protect them – protect their jobs, their families, their communities.”
Then, he fell back on some more familiar words, ones we’re more used to hearing than “Senate committee whitewash,” for instance.
“That is what we must be focused on and what will continue to do – continue to implement our economic action plan, continue to work on expanding trade, continue our focus on jobs, growth and long term prosperity,” Harper said.
He took no questions from the press, who shouted some from the back of the room, using words like “cheque” and “ninety-thousand dollars.” His foreign minister was one of three MPs who stood up to talk to him at his spot at the table at the head of the caucus, shielding him from photos and eyeballs.
His caucus chanted one word – “Harper!” – over and over as the media was ushered out the door.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca
Author: Colin Horgan
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