So this post is about two recent defections from political parties that have stirred conversations at watercoolers everywhere in New Brunswick. One defector is a national figure who, thorugh his actions, showed political opportunism is running rampid through his veins. The second showed that even the "nice guys finish last" guy can only take so much crap before saying enough is enough.
David Emerson, in an interview Saturday stated he coninues to have a clear conscience after leaving the liberal party banner he was elected under to become the Minister of International Trade.
I read a great analogy lately that said its the same as Team Canada arriving in Torino and, because he didn't like their chances, Manager Wayne Gretzky runs over pulls off his Team Canada sweatshirt and throws on a sweater for Finland.
What Emerson did was just plain wrong and he should belly up, resign and go back to the people that elected him to ask for thier support again, under a different team. He says he entered politics to make a positive contribution to Canada. Start by becoming a politician with integrity - that would be a very positive contribution to Canada.
Speaking to CTV's question period Emerson stated; "The truth of the matter is, when I came into politics I came in as a Paul Martin Liberal, I was not a political person. I'm still not much of a political person, as perhaps you can now tell . . . . I'm not the sharpest political knife in the drawer, I quite freely admit that."
Maybe he is starting to get it.
The second defection came Friday when Mike "Tanker" Malley quit his progressive conservative caucus in New Brunswick to sit as an independent. This is a man, no matter what you think of him, who showed loyalty beyond the call of duty a couple of years ago facing angry mobs - upset over decisions made by the Lord Government.
Now, continuing with his wild political antics that have made him one of the more colourful provincial politicians, he has made a decision that has taken the Lord government from Majority to Minority - literally overnight.
Malley quit after being passed over again for cabinet positions and other political prizes.
And while Lord really had no political choice in his recent cabinet shuffle leading in to an already anticipated election, it's a tough position to be in.
While Malley may soon regret his decision, the reaction by Premier Lord now forces Malley to remain an independent and probably vote against the government is its upcoming budget speech. That will force an election which very well may end the Lord government's seven year run.
Do you show loyalty to those who stood by you - even if it is not the politically correct thing to do?
So we have David Emerson who wasn't loyal to the party that got him elected trying to stave off ongoing calls for his resignation and Bernard Lord, who by not showing loyalty to the friends that stood by him, may pay the ultimate political price.
Seems like being disloyal is a sure fired way to end a career.
At least those who remain loyal are sleeping each night.
1 comment:
Well, as I watch the various political comedies unfold in this country, I can't help but wonder at whose knee these people learned about honesty and integrity.
There seems to be a considerable grey area when it comes to the interpretation of these words, and in politics especially, it seems that, no matter what kind of treachery is practiced, they still think they can hold up their heads and claim to be "honest" and to have "integrity". What a joke!
I have come to realize that no matter how we measure our success in life, be it money, or power, all we really have as we make our trip from cradle to grave is our honesty and our integrity, and the ethics with which we apply both. Right is right because it is, and wrong is wrong for the same reason. There's little or no grey area between them. Those who chose to create vast areas of grey around them are simply trying to justify a lack of them in themselves. That's when the "whatever it takes" and "anything goes" mentality takes over, and, surpriseingly at the same time in politicians they start to adopt the idea that they were elected to office by divine intervention, conviently forgetting the people at the grass roots level who put them in office in the first place. Politicians don't get themselves elected! Their supporters do that, and they would do well to remember it. If they had a real sense of honesty, integrity and ethics, we wouldn't be having this discussion! We must remember this the next time we're asked to mark a ballot. Perhaps we will pay more attention to the depth of the people trying to get elected, and less to the issues at hand, which are always fleeting at best. People who have a strong work ethic, are inherently honest and refuse to comprimise their integrity, will almost always do the "right" thing for the "right" reasons, and will be prepared to live with the cost of those decisions. That's the kind of people we need to attract to politics!
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