Mike Duffy’s claims of confusion over Senate residency requirements and expense rules were bad enough before CTV broke the news that Nigel Wright, the prime minister’s chief of staff, wrote a personal cheque to Duffy to help the senator pay back about $90,172 in expenses he should not have claimed. This happened before an audit was completed — an audit that confirmed Duffy did owe Canadians the money.
Of course, friends are allowed to give or lend money to friends. This isn’t taxpayer money we're talking about. But when the friend in question works in the PMO, and is using his money and influence to make it look like his political colleague paid back the money voluntarily out of the goodness of his heart, that looks sneaky at best. When the other friend is a member of the Senate, voting on legislation, any gift of that size is inappropriate. When Conservatives then praise Duffy for his ethical leadership, in contrast to other senators who have not yet paid back what they owe, that looks downright dishonest. When Mike Duffy fails to disclose a $90,172 gift, that’s just wrong. It looked for all the world as if the money was his own and he fed that impression. He told the CBC in February: “So my wife and I discussed it, and we decided that in order to turn the page, to put all this behind us, we are going to voluntarily pay back my living expenses related to the house we have in Ottawa.”
To make matters worse, the gift might have come with strings; CTV reports that in one email, Duffy wrote “I stayed silent on the orders of the PMO.”
It’s especially ugly because the Senate and its old-boys-club perks was once a potent symbol for the Reform party. To think that a Conservative government that grew in part from Reform roots, would one day protect a senator like this is enough to make anyone cynical about politics. It is apparently still true — more true than ever, perhaps — that power and influence, even personal financial comfort, depends quite literally on who you know in the PMO.
This comes when the Conservatives are sliding in the polls, when their attack ads have done more to solidify a Conservative reputation for nastiness than to damage the Liberals. It comes after years of accumulated evidence that suggests the Conservative government is not fond of keeping the public and Parliament informed — whether it’s about the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan or the costs of F-35 fighter jets. The unnecessary and baffling bad habit of arrogance and secrecy distracts from the real achievements the Conservatives can claim. For years, the party has got away with pointing fingers at its opponents instead of governing better. That might not work for them for much longer.
Perhaps the most astonishing thing in this whole affair is the Conservative determination to protect Duffy rather than cut him loose to deal with his problems himself.
It was the stench of arrogance, entitlement and dishonesty that brought the Liberals down. There are still two years to go before the Conservatives face the test of an election. If they hope to win that election, they would be well advised to, first of all, stop protecting Duffy and clean up this mess as much as possible. Then, they should start dealing with the public more honestly, and re-commit to their agenda of accountability and transparency that was so quickly shunted aside. In short, they have two years to convince Canadians they can be trusted. That won’t be easy. Luckily for Canadians, the best way the Conservatives can do that is to govern the way they should have been governing all along.
Original Article
Source: ottawacitizen.com
Author: Ottawa Citizen
No comments:
Post a Comment