Svend Robinson has had it tough. A long-time member of parliament, he was forced to resign his seat when he was caught pilfering a very expensive ring for his boyfriend, who presumably is has very expensive tastes needing to be filled. What Svend discovered to his horror, of course, is that though an individual judge could be fooled by crocodile tears and expensive lawyers into giving him a pass when the rest of us would have a record and a government-funded visit to one of Canada's fine pentitentiaries, the Canadian voting public is far wiser:
Liberal Hedy Fry won Vancouver Centre, beating star NDP candidate Svend Robinson.
"I didn't allow Svend Robinson to be my challenge," Fry said.
"My challenge was that I was running in an election. I've done the same things every election and I've had the same team."
A former MP for Burnaby, Robinson gave up his seat in 2004 after a scandal involving theft of a $60,000 ring. He pleaded guilty to theft charges and left politics. His return was controversial.
"Of course I had hoped to make history here in Vancouver, but it will have to wait until next time," Robinson told supporters.
He added that he is proud of NDP Leader Jack Layton's campaign, and said that the NDP will continue to stand against the Conservatives in Parliament.
"We know that that with Jack Layton and a bigger NDP caucus in Ottawa, that if Stephen Harper dares to roll back equality rights, or turn Canada into some kind of 51st state of the United States of George Bush, Jack Layton and the New Democrats will be there to fight back," he said.
"Perhaps this was a referendum on Svend Robinson himself as much as it was a contest against Hedy Fry," said CTV's Todd Battis.
But you have to give Svend credit. Whereas other failed MPs would have retired from public life, realizing that they had lost the support of a riding as expressed by an exercise in Canadian democracy to give credibility to their demands for changes in public policy, Svend has discovered that you don't need the legitimacy earned from convincing the plurality of the voting public to support your candidacy. Really, it's optional. Just like offering up money in exchange for jewelry.
Former Burnaby Member of Parliament and confessed ring thief Svend Robinson is leaving Canada for France.
In an e-mail passed on to The Canadian Press, Mr. Robinson says he is both sad and excited to take on a new job with Public Services International, based in France.
PSI is a trade union federation that represents public sector unions in more than 140 countries.
Mr. Robinson tells his friends and co-workers in the e-mail that both he and his partner Max are looking forward to the big move.
You see, Public Services International advises that most august of undemocratic bodies, the United Nations:
Public Services International (PSI) is a global union federation of public sector trade unions. It has 620 affiliated unions, in 160 countries, representing 20 million workers. PSI is an officially recognized non-government organization for the public sector within the International Labour Organization, and has consultative status with the United Nations' ECOSOC and observer status with other UN bodies such as the UNCTAD and UNESCO.
Now does PSI restrict itself to advising the UN on how democratically elected governments ought to better treat their public sector unions? Of course not. PSI makes statements on whether a democratically-elected government is legitimate, and provides advice on whether a govermment needs to be changed:
The Canadian Conservative government of Stephen Harper is very right-wing and aligning Canada closer and closer to the policies of George Bush and neo-liberal globalization. The impact of this realignment affects our sovereignty and our access to quality public services.
A federal election is in Canada's future. Stephen Harper will want a majority government, to accelerate his neo-liberal policies of privatization, deregulation and inequity. Anyone who wants a more inclusive, progressive Canada is going to need to mobilize to ensure that a Conservative majority government doesn't happen.
Now I'm not worried that the UN is going to listen to the opinion of the PSI on interfering with our electoral process. I bet senior people at the UN will give PSI officials the time of day if asked very politely, but not much more than that.
Nor do I think PSI ought not to be expressing any opinion decided upon by its executive. Of course, if it is shown that PSI spends foreign-raised funds inside the borders of Canada in an attempt to influence an election...but I'm not saying that this has been happening. As long as PSI has not crossed that line, then no one has done anything illegal. Which is an improvement for Svend.
Having said that, it is interesting that the presentation to the PSI's Inter-Americas Regional Executive Committee (with members from nations all over the Western Hemisphere) called on anyone who is against "neo-liberalism" to mobilize against Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, and not just Canadians who are against these policies.
Maybe it was a slip of the tongue. But then again, maybe not.
In any case, you'd think a person like Svend Robinson who has served in Canada's most senior democratically elected body for such a long time would have thought it inappropriate, or at least unseemly, to join a bunch of outsiders who seem to have no respect for the decisions taken by Canadians about the manner in which they wish to be governed.
Or maybe I'm the only who thinks that.
