It’s a cynical reality that politics and corruption go hand in hand. The recent conflict of interest scandals surrounding the federal Liberal party, for example, don’t come as much of a surprise to the jaded Canadian public.
But shouldn’t it? Shouldn’t we be surprised when the trustworthiness of our elected representatives is in doubt?
It’s easy enough to blame the outgoing administration for awarding contracts to friends and relatives. Chretien is a convenient scapegoat, certainly with a lot less to lose politically now that he’s no longer PM, but he can’t be blamed for everything.
Paul Martin pleads constant ignorance-and do we really want a Prime Minister who has no idea what’s going on? In the meantime, Canada Steamship Lines, the company Martin owned until last March and which is now owned by his sons, takes full advantage of the mile-wide legal loopholes he himself had a hand in creating. Just because it’s legal for a company to operate out of Barbados so it can get away with paying a fraction of the taxes other Canadian companies have to pay doesn’t make it right. A man really would be ignorant if he thought this wasn’t a conflict of interest
But this sort of thing isn’t limited to the Liberal party. Belinda Stronach recently resigned as president of Magna International-which was created by her father-so she could run for the leadership of the Conservative party.
Is it just us, or does the thought of trading one leader with corporate connections for another fail to inspire confidence in the Canadian political system?
How can we know our leaders can be trusted? Is it too much to ask that our elected leaders actually live up to the title of “honourable” that they receive when they enter office?
Come on, folks, it’s not that difficult to be honest and do the right thing. It’s less profitable, but what the heck do you need all that money for anyway when you’re already making over a hundred grand a year (plus pension, benefits, expense accounts, and lots of perks) on the backs of taxpayers who generally make a lot less than you do?
