All’s fair in love, war and politics?
We’ve all heard it before, and it seems every couple of months or so, one or more politicians and one or more level of government get caught breaking some rule, saying something stupid or otherwise making an ass of themselves.
The ongoing news coverage of Progressive Conservative riding associations accepting donations from illegal sources doesn’t come as too much of a surprise when put in this context. But what does it say about us, as an electorate, that these sorts of dirty tricks and shenanigans go virtually unnoticed?
We have laws governing how campaigns are supposed to be run, and these laws are meant to help ensure we have free and fair elections. When these laws are circumvented we should be outraged.
Yet, we’re not.
After the federal Conservatives got caught illegally shuffling money around in the hotly contested 2006 election, which saw Stephen Harper earn his first minority government, Elections Canada and the RCMP actually raided party headquarters. Years later, four senior party members were charged under the Elections Canada Act. Where’s the outrage? Instead, we elected them again and again.
Now in Alberta, we learn that 10 Progressive Conservative riding associations are under investigation for illegally accepting donations from municipalities, universities, and a government-owned financial institution.
Where’s the outrage? Muffled, if it exists at all.
This is shocking, since there is a possibility Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock is one of the associations under investigation — several local municipalities donated money to a golf tournament fundraiser over the years.
It should be noted that the right-wing political parties are not the only ones that get caught engaged in deceiving the citizenry. Jean Chretien’s Liberals got caught in their fair share of money-related scandals, as have any governments that held power for any period of time.
So is this just a case of power corrupting, or are there deeper flaws in the system that need to be addressed? If there are, what are the chances of a governing party actually addressing these shortcomings in any meaningful way?
Democracy in this country is in a sorry state indeed when people let these sorts of things go unnoticed and unpunished. Ultimately, these people get paid big bucks to represent us and we simply can’t afford to ignore their financial improprieties.
