Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Political honesty a fading value

Has lying become acceptable behaviour for politicians? It's a serious question. Society is, at its core, a network of relationships. Relationships rely on honest communication for survival. If dishonesty and amorality become the norm in politics, than democracy and society are threatened.

And recent behaviour by federal Conservatives raises questions about whether the governing party considers dishonesty normal and nothing to apologize for.

Start with Defence Minister Peter MacKay's use of a military helicopter last year to ferry him from a Newfoundland fishing camp to catch a plane for a government announcement in Ontario.

When MacKay's use of the Cormorant helicopter was reported this year, he maintained the trip was a "rare" chance for him to observe a search and rescue exercise.

"After cancelling previous efforts to demonstrate their search-and-rescue capabilities to Minister MacKay over the course of three years, the opportunity for a simulated search and rescue exercise finally presented itself in July of 2010," a statement from his office said.

One can split hairs about whether MacKay lied. But emails released under freedom of information requests show he didn't tell the truth.

In fact, his office requested the flight three days in advance to get him to the airport more quickly. The military recommended against using the helicopter, noting it was unnecessary and would look bad if the public found out. (As it did.) When political pressure continued, an email said the flight would be under the "guise" of a search and rescue exercise. MacKay observed for 35 minutes - the time it took to pick him up and fly him to the Gander airport. And MacKay had flown in a search and rescue helicopter in the same location a year earlier.

Leave aside the sense of entitlement demonstrated by the extravagant use of a search and rescue aircraft - the cost of the short trip was about $16,000 - to avoid a boat and car trip that would have taken two hours.

MacKay did not tell the truth when caught. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has defended him. Honesty has been abandoned.

Then consider the case of Treasury Board president Tony Clement, who used $50 million set aside for improved border security for pet projects in his riding in advance of the G8 summit. The federal auditor general criticized the spending on gazebos, rinks, bathrooms and other projects, and noted that there was no documentation showing how the $50 million was allocated.

Clement claims he had nothing to do with the decisions. He said initially that Infrastructure Minister John Baird selected the projects, without noting that Baird had approved all 32 projects Clement had submitted.

Then Clement said the mayors made the decision without any input from him. They started with $500 million worth of proposed projects. He asked them to pare them down and submitted their wish list to Baird, who approved them all.

That's not credible (and if true would show a reckless irresponsibility in handing $50 million over to a group of mayors to use as they chose). Clement sent rejection letters to mayors whose projects didn't get funding, something that would have been impossible if he wasn't involved in the selection process. Before the spending became a scandal, he told the local paper he had made decisions on which projects should go ahead.

Harper also defends Clement.

Finally, there is Conservative house leader Peter Van Loan, who defends a party operation that has flooded the riding of Liberal MP Irwin Cotler with calls telling people he is resigning and there will be a byelection and asking for their support. Cotler has not resigned. The calls are sleazy and dishonest. Yet Van Loan maintains his party's right to free speech includes spreading misinformation.

The point is not to single out the Conservatives. Their supporters would argue that other parties are just as bad. That lame justification simply highlights the problem.

Dishonesty is corrosive. When it becomes the norm, when morality is abandoned, we are entering dark and dangerous times.

Origin
Source: Times Colonist 

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