Double standards
It appears that the NDP has had enough of being told that they have two sets of standards, one for right-wing parties and one for left-wing parties. Or perhaps one for temporary allies and another for everyone else.
Whatever.
In any case, while the NDP was calling for an ethics investigation into former cabinet minister David Emerson crossing the floor to join the Conservatives and so join Stephen Harper's inaugural cabinet, not a word was heard from the NDP about neophyte MP Belinda Stronach crossing the floor to join the Liberals and enter cabinet on the eve of a confidence vote.
The fact is, as I've argued before, neither are really matters of ethics, but of political calculation. Politics can be ugly, but in the end, it is up to the voters to pass judgment.
Still, it appears that the NDP is now trying to be retroactively consistent:
The NDP is asking ethics commissioner Bernard Shapiro to expand his investigation into parliamentary floor crossing to include Liberal Belinda Stronach.
Shapiro is already looking into the decision by David Emerson to leave the Liberals for a Conservative cabinet post just after the January election. Stronach crossed the other way last year, abandoning the Tories to sit in Paul Martin's cabinet.
New Democrat MP Pat Martin says the two incidents are so similar, they cry out for a joint investigation.
Joint? Does that mean a joint judgment too?
I'd say there is a 50-50 chance that Shapiro will refuse to investigate the Stronach situation. He'll come up with some excuse, like that it happened too long ago, or that the election cleans the slate, or that since she is no longer in government and no longer in cabinet, the issue was rendered irrelevant.
Part of me hopes he does come up with an excuse. Just one more reason not to trust him. On the other hand, things could get interesting if he does investigate Stronach.
Consider this. Stephen Harper is refusing to cooperate because, frankly, choosing ministers is the prime minister's prerogative. It is a matter of his judgment, not of his ethics. If Shapiro agrees to investigate the Stronach case, will Paul Martin agree to cooperate? Will Belinda Stronach? Which is more important -- keeping the Stronach situation under wraps and in the past, or putting Harper on the hot seat?
Since Belinda Stronach is vying for the leadership of the Liberal Party, you know that she would rather give Emerson and Harper a pass than submit to an investigation. Of course, a few Liberal contenders for the leadership might see this as a way of taking out the potential front-runner, and might join the call for the investigation to include Stronach. It'll be interesting to watch what happens.
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Comments
Curtis, just another case of the NDP not having a clue as to what they are doing, it still amazes me that they can garner the amount of support that they do.
Posted by: Platty at March 10, 2006 12:46 PM
It's too bad that the third party has to lead in this search for ethic truth. It shouldn't be of course, especially with Harper who invested so much political capital in ethics. Whether he has actually broken or stretched any ethical standards is now becoming secondary to his "huffy" stonewalling response to his first ethics question. Does he have political advisors? If someone needs firing I would say it is the person who advised him to respond in what appears to the casual observer to be an immature manner. I know this is hard to read but I have no political affiliations or favourites. I do love politics though, all of it. It just blow my mind that he would allow this ethics banner to fly from his hands over an issue that would probably have him landing on his feet. Unbelievable!
Posted by: steve d at March 10, 2006 01:20 PM
ANy investigation by the ethics commissioner would have to be supporteed by the assumption that there is credibility in that office.
There is none. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Nietz.
So what if a fool calls on another fool to act on a fools errand?
Posted by: PGP at March 10, 2006 01:57 PM
You rubes have been outmaneouvered again by Jack. Belinda will co-operate with the investigation and this will make Harper look more foolish and petty than he already does. Face it, Layton is simply too far out of your league.
Posted by: Robert McClelland at March 10, 2006 02:42 PM
I see Jack as very clever in his manipulation as the heavy hand in the opposition. He is learning from Ed Broadbent, who was the only NDP'er who ever had a clue. I am impressed that Jack started this, but he is still on the political periphery.
Now that I re-think that last paragraph, Jack was really the only one who could call for the inclusion of Belinda Stronach's crossing. The Harper conservatives don't trust the (Liberal) bought off "ethics" investigator and the NDP have nothing more to lose. The Bloc is too instrospectively ethno-centric and the Libs are too corrupt.
Upon reflection, Jack is not out of the Conservative's league. He is out of his own.
Posted by: JimC at March 10, 2006 02:53 PM
The Liberal in charge of letting the gun control registry contracts should be placed under an ethicks investigation as well.
Info-Tech consultant, John Hicks, Orillia, Ont, says a 13 year old could hack into the gun registry which cost canadians $2 billion!
This is beyond a scandal. This makes adscam a minutea, by comparison. Yet, this story, in our stalwart media, gets back page mention. The little adcam scandal gets front page for months. Why? Because the media only acts when someone else (Sheila fraser) has done the spade work for them. Without an active (rather than reactive) media, there is no functioning democracy.
Posted by: brock at March 10, 2006 03:21 PM
go for the gusto . get Scott Brison investigated as well.
Posted by: Fred at March 10, 2006 03:43 PM
Water under the bridge... Bridge over troubled waters... Like sand thru the hourglass...
In life, Timing is everything. Its simply too late to investigate Belinda, the liberals are out of power, PMPM quit. If you want to investigate a liberal parliamentary ethics scandal, how about the lost May non-confidence vote, that wasnt?
Posted by: Curtis at March 10, 2006 03:44 PM
Hey Mr. Shapiro, what about the big furry comfy rug?
Posted by: lackofethics at March 10, 2006 04:21 PM
To be fair, if Shapiro takes on Stronach, he should do her first, since she crossed first, not Emerson.
Posted by: Mark-Alan Whittle at March 11, 2006 06:08 AM
I am still waiting for the NDP to go after Jack Horner.
Man that would be sweet.
Posted by: eastern capitalist at March 11, 2006 11:27 AM
The NDP and ethics in the same sentence? Does anybody remember the story of the thief and the $50,000 ring? Oh, I forgot, he wasn't convicted because he was gay, an NDPMP, with a mental disorder (somehow this sentence sounds redundant). So happily, says Jack, lets get him to run for us again.
Posted by: Irwin Daisy at March 13, 2006 01:01 PM
 
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