In a week marred by natural disaster and yet another federal political scandal, there was at least one thing to cheer about. On October 13th, Independent MP Carolyn Parrish announced in a letter to her constituents that she would not be seeking re-election in the riding of Mississauga-Erindale. As a long-time Mississauga resident, I took in this bit of news with great pleasure.
It goes without saying that Parrish has continuously embarrassed the residents of Mississauga at both the national and international levels. Her trademark “tell-it-like-it-is” approach to political affairs was, at best, undiplomatic, and, at worst, undemocratic. Ironically, her often-obscene remarks displayed the same unjust and unfair attitudes of the people that she claimed to be battling against. Hers is a logic that justifies the use of discriminatory slurs to somehow promote “justice”-that competing ideologies of hate can somehow cancel each other out.
She represented a small, inconsiderate group of Canadians who believe that a key element of “Canadianness” is being anti-American. Still, even after her departure, this obstinate attitude will survive unnoticed in the highest echelons of our federal government.
Her constituents rewarded her with another mandate in June, 2004, only to see her stomp her way back into the headlines. Speaking in November, 2004, on the re-election of George W. Bush, Parrish said, “I wouldn’t guess what’s next on his agenda, but it’s probably not peace and love.” This kind of rhetoric epitomized her standard formula of incongruity. For how could she have possibly spoken about “peace” and “love” in the wake of her overtly “unpeaceful” and “unloving” rants on everything from missile defense to Liberal election strategy?
Again in November, 2004, she claimed, “I do not seek any approvals from my leader or my party.” At this stage, she was beginning to fashion herself as representing a new, independent-minded, non-partisan kind of politician. But that too failed. One wonders, for example, whether Parrish would have made these seemingly rebellious remarks if the Martinites had actually accepted her into their fold-giving her, say, a low-level cabinet position or membership on a parliamentary committee. Instead, the system of political patronage obscured her pursuits from the start, and in the past two years she has been relegated to the role of powerless backbencher.
Parrish is a politician who self-destructed before the eyes of Canadians, and didn’t achieve a single piece of positive reform while in office. I say this because her encouraging advocacy for the Palestinian and Arab communities-of which I am a member-was eventually underscored by her anti-American racial slurs. Having worked on Parliament Hill as an intern, I found it easy to see how her off-the-cuff remarks undermined, rather than elevated, the legitimate concerns of these communities. In the realm of political dialogue, what Canadians desire is a civil, respectful discourse. Parrish let down her constituents by failing to display the kind of professionalism of which our Parliament is, at least these days, in dire need.
The reputation of Mississauga-Erindale on the national level-indeed, Mississauga as a whole-will benefit greatly from Parrish’s departure. As for her future, a rumoured stab at municipal politics, she would better benefit the residents of Mississauga if she remained out of the public arena.
