It is difficult to not be upset over the apparent messing about with people’s right (and obligation) to vote. If half of what is alleged to have occurred did in fact happen, we should all be outraged. It is unfortunate that there does not appear to be an even stronger reaction on the part of the public. Maybe it is because we don’t know who to blame. Personally I don’t have enough information to clearly lay the blame at the feet of the Conservatives. I suspect however, that all of us who are deeply concerned by their attitude around so many things – really want them to be guilty of this too.
However, perhaps even more disturbing than the possibility that there was yet another interjection of US style manipulation of the voting public, is the outrages responses of the Conservative spokesman. Dean Del Mestro happens to be the MP for the Peterborough. I am embarrassed by his approach which quite simply appears to be – if asked a question- attack the questioner. Last night on the news I heard him say that the Liberals should be forced to release their phone records but not the Conservatives. The reason – he knew the Conservatives were innocent and therefore their records were not needed, but as he knew the Liberals had in fact perpetuated this upon the Canadian people (I paraphrase here), they should release their records. I am sure there are a number of criminals in Canada who would like to use this offense. I am innocent – you should believe me because I say so.
It would seem to me that they are protesting far too much. If all parties have nothing to hide – then for heaven’s sake all of you should lay your cards on the table, let the police do their job and get on with the job you get paid for – governing the country. Failure to voluntarily produce the necessary records should be seen as admission of guilt, for both sides of the House. This silliness of people taking shots at each other across the aisle is not productive.
Surely there can be no doubt that calling people and telling them their poll has been moved is wrong. Can we just get on with it, find out who made the calls and then prosecute those who did? I don’t mean to just prosecute the person who signed the check, but as well the people who said it was okay to do so. And that must mean some senior management people. In the corporate world that conservatives are so keen on referring to as the ideal governance model, the managers are held responsible for what their teams do. That should be true in government as well.
However in spite of my fantasy of having a parliament that is effective and useful, I suspect that this will drag on for months. We, as a people, need to be careful that we do not tire of this, that we do not reduce the pressure on Parliament to find the truth. If want the youth of this country to become politically engaged, they need to know that their vote means something. This is not the way to do that. On the other hand – perhaps the anger over this issue will motivate them to vote in larger numbers.
On a side note…. I can only hope that where there is smoke there is fire. If nothing happened, or if something untoward only happened Guelph, then much of the Liberal’s (and to a much lesser extend the NDP’s) reputation and energy will be shattered for some time. I sure hope they know what they are talking about.
