DUFF Conacher of the Ottawa ethics watchdog lobby group Democracy Watch likes to promote what he calls “truth in politics” in any political ethics package.
Good luck with that.
If politicians were not able to stretch the truth to the breaking point for partisan advantage, many of them would be rendered speechless.
But sometimes, even by the flexible rules of connecting political argument to fact, it is hard not to shake your head. Heading into Canada’s 39th federal election campaign, there will be more of this.
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So let’s take a moment to see how the truth-stretchers are preparing for the hustings. Consider these warm-up exercises before the launch of the season.
From the past week, here are the top three contenders for first annual Pinocchio Awards:
- Number 3: After the unveiling of a Conservative party ethics package, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate turned Liberal-apologist and cabinet minister Scott Brison accused Conservative leader Stephen Harper of having been an unregistered lobbyist when he headed the National Citizens Coalition.
He was wrong and on Nov. 21, apologized in the House of Commons. Harper responded churlishly: “We accept his apology and hope that this makes all politicians more aware that false and baseless accusations have no place in the politics of Canada,” he said in a statement.
Please. This is the leader of a party whose MPs have been slagging every Liberal in sight, describing the Liberals and their appointees as corrupt and using parliamentary immunity to make accusations that could lead to libel charges if repeated outside the House.
A little less sanctimony might be in order.
- Number 2: In his Liberal-sponsored pre-election radio address Nov. 20, prime minister Paul Martin said if only the opposition allowed the government to survive until his preferred election date in the spring, beef farmers would get more money.
Opposition MPs are denying farm support because spending estimates tabled in Parliament will not be approved. “We can make sure our cattle farmers get government relief related to the BSE crisis.”
That simply is not true.
The $23.5 million in the estimates is not compensation to producers but money for programs that may never pay out – money for farmer-proposed new packing plants and money to livestock associations working on genetic preservation and enhancement.
It’s hardly a denial of farmer BSE aid.
- Number 1: Bill C-27, new rules for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, will die if Parliament is dissolved.
The reason is that MPs, without thinking it through, added dairy labelling provisions that raised a firestorm of opposition in the food industry. The Liberals refused to call the bill forward for further and final debate.
Yet Prince Edward Island Liberal Wayne Easter last week told the Charlottetown Guardian that the opposition are to blame.
The opposition are denying modernization of CFIA, he said. “Because of the way the opposition is acting these days, we could just lose that three months of work and all of the potential that Bill C-27 would have been given the CFIA in terms of its ability to do its job for society.”
In the Pinocchio awards, hard working and effective MP Wayne Easter is a winner.
