A Liberal time, when, according to Government Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton, the Ottawa media and the political elites were clearly in the pocket of the governing party.
LeBreton is living in la-la land if she actually believes that the current Senate spending scandal only came to light because of her party’s new commitment to transparency. The fact that she would even posit that argument in a Parliamentary speech shows just how badly the Conservative communications strategy has spun out of control.
This is the same member of Stephen Harper’s Cabinet who sees nothing wrong with redacting documents to ensure that one Tory colleague gets represented in a more positive light while two other Senators (including a former Tory) are offered no such editorial privilege.
LeBreton’s speech in defence of her party’s handling of the Senate spending scandal was truculent and defensive.
“I am not surprised. I am a Conservative and I know more than most that around this town populated by Liberal elites and their media lickspittles, tut-tutting about our government and yearning for the good old days, that we are never given the benefit of the doubt and are rarely given credit for all the good work that we do.”
LeBreton has been around the game long enough to know that few governments are rarely given the credit for the good work they have done.
Yesterday’s good news is today’s fish wrap. The media and public are a lot more interested in what is going to happen tomorrow.
If LeBreton’s victimization defence is a sign of how the government intends to handle this crisis, get ready for more resignations this week.
Nigel Wright’s head on a platter is not going to satisfy the news frenzy that has been mounting in the face of multiple, contradictory explanations from the Prime Minister’s Office about Senator Mike Duffy’s expenses.
Merely blaming media bias will not make the issue go away.
Even the prime minister was forced into an unprecedented quasi-apology during a joint press conference with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala Tasso.
But his sorrow was framed in unusual terms.
“I’m frustrated and sorry and angry about all of this. I don’t think there’s any better way to put it. In terms of my own office, it was Mr. Wright’s money, it was his personal money that he was repaying to the taxpayers on behalf of Mr. Duffy, it was his personal decision and he did this in his capacity as chief of staff, so he is solely responsible and that is why he has resigned.”
If Wright made the contribution in his capacity as chief of staff, it is not credible that the matter was kept secret from his boss. Before Wright resigned, he claimed the gift was offered simply because of his personal friendship with the Senator.
The transferring of $90,172 to mitigate damage from a parliamentary spending audit is certainly worth a conversation with the prime minister. If Harper was not informed, a more egregious explanation lurks. Does the prime minister regularly provide carte blanche for his own staffers to be involved in unethical activity? Does he deliberately refrain from being kept abreast of the details to be shielded from responsibility? See no evil etc.?
The redacted Senate documents cast a pall on the integrity of the whole Senate process. As an institution, the Red Chamber should be able to undertake spending reviews with a modicum of fairness. When one Senator is tipped off, and paid off, to make the problem go away, the Senate as a whole has the responsibility to deal with it.
LeBreton sits in Cabinet as the Prime Minister’s appointed leader in the Senate. Her participation in fudging the facts cannot be overlooked. Neither can that of Harper’s ex-press secretary, Senator Carolyn Stewart-Olsen. Both should resign. If they don’t, the Prime Minister should fire them.
LeBreton currently sits as an ex officio member of every Senate committee. She has proven she can’t be trusted. Under her leadership, the Senate has zero credibility. It should turn the matter over to the police.
Harper’s Latin American travel schedule has actually forced the prime minister into open press conferences. When the leader should be sharing ideas about economic partnership, he is busy apologizing for a spending scandal to Latin American hosts. What a collective embarrassment!
Harper has lost his moral compass. He needs to reset it, and quickly. Getting rid of LeBreton would be a good start.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: SHEILA COPPS
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