I think maybe it is about time to say the obvious. Taping the phone call of a public servant who is really trying to explain how government works best to support jobs and the Canadian people is enough really for me. It is unacceptable to do so; no crime was committed; nothing can justify this taping of a phone call where one member was unaware that he was being taped. What is even worse is that we have to hear it as well.
Going back to the elementary politics with which I am most familiar, the Prime Minister, once elected, names his Cabinet. He gets to choose the people that he wants to work with him to make a better life for Canadians. Probably if we knew all the inner workings of government we would be appalled on occasion but the intent, unless a criminal act occurs, is to benefit Canadians without actually breaking any of our laws. The Cabinet is there to assist the Prime Minister not to set up a separate camp within the Cabinet. The leader of the Conservative Party is treading on very shaky ground getting involved in this at all. He should absolutely not comment and that is coming from me a Conservative supporter. Conservative Prime Ministers also have Cabinets and permitting Cabinet Members to become more powerful than the Prime Minister in terms of deciding policy is just basically wrong. They were not elected to that purpose.
If a member of parliament is not happy with the party for whom they ran then the answer is, to me, quite obvious. Mind you if there had been a wholesale insurrection with everyone lining up behind Ms Wilson-Raybould this would be a different story. But the caucus did not do that not even with the defection of Dr Philpott. Prime Minister Trudeau has the support of his caucus.
SNC-Lavalin wanted the contract to complete our light rail here in Ottawa. Personally I think they lied to protect that process by saying that there wasn't any threat to the company remaining in Canada or that jobs would be lost. The truth on that has flowed to the surface and for once that was a good leak. I liked it. Now if they would just finish the light rail; it is taking much too long.
The First Nations and Inuit Peoples of Canada deserve to have a representative as clever and respected as Ms Wilson-Raybould and I, for one, was most disappointed that she refused to do what the Prime Minister requested. In her hands would have been the ability to make true change for her people. The Acts that manage life for them need to be reviewed, revised and updated so that the monies that are accorded to them are used in the best possible way to increase their livelihood and the livelihood of their children.
It is after all the right of the Prime Minister to choose his advisers and to change them at any time; he doesn't need to explain himself in that regard. Although I never voted for his father, I did respect him. He was deeply concerned about Canada and gave the best years of his life to Canada.
I am very concerned that a Cabinet Minister did not listen to the idea of consulting with other jurists but chose to make a decision that has had such a profound result. There are no precedents to fall back on; this was new legislation. Personally I think the Prime Minister should have shuffled his cabinet (moving Ms Wilson-Raybould) last September when Ms Wilson-Raybould says that she had decided on the issue of a deferred prosecution agreement and would not change her mind. I personally do not care if SNC-Lavalin bribed someone in Libya; that is how they do business over there from what I understand.
No comments:
Post a Comment