ADAM OLSEN - If that is the precedent he is setting, then I guess nobody needs to be accountable for anything under his leadership
I tend to stay away from federal political stories in this blog. Mostly
because there are so many provincial stories that it keeps me busy enough.
However, I’m a Canadian and a politician. So, I feel it’s impossible to
let the latest chapter in the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau / SNC-Lavalin
affair go without a comment.
Like many Canadians, I’ve been watching this affair unfold. I held my
tongue as our Members of Parliament worked to expose the truth from one side of
the issue and the others. Without being in Ottawa I decided it's best to let my
federal colleagues do their work.
So why comment now ... what has changed?
The release of the Ethics Commissioner’s report and the Prime
Minister's reluctance to be accountable or even apologize. The findings are
deeply troubling and Prime Minister Trudeau’s response is what drove me to feel
the need to plant a flag here.
Ethical leadership
While the Liberal Party of Canada is going to try to spin this situation
into an election imperative: are Canadians really okay with a Conservative
government? (Because they would like you to believe that would be the result of
undermining Trudeau.) Or, as the Prime Minister stated himself, do we believe
he was just doing his job of protecting Canadian jobs.
I’m sorry, but his job is to lead our country and to do it ethically. It
is also his job to maintain the honour and integrity of our government.
As an elected official myself, I am vitally aware of the fact that my
actions, and how I undertake my duties, is a reflection of the institution of
our government.
If it is okay for the person holding the highest office in the land to
“disagree” with the Ethics Commissioners ruling ... but accept “full
responsibility” for a situation that cost him two highly competent and
celebrated Cabinet Ministers ... if that is the precedent he is setting, then I
guess nobody needs to be accountable for anything under his leadership.
If he is taking responsibility, then why is he not accountable? Further, why is it that his former Justice
Minister is the only one who is paying a price for an ethical breach that the
Prime Minister is accepting responsibility for?
Wait it out?
As a Canadian it's appalling, and as an elected official it's deeply
troubling. There was a time that Prime Ministers, Premiers and Cabinet Ministers
were accountable for their actions, the actions of their staff and the
activities that occurred under their supervision. In order to preserve the
integrity of our government, to ensure people could still trust their
politicians when scandals were uncovered, leaders publicly fell on their sword.
The integrity of government was maintained because somebody in a
position of power and authority paid a price, allowing the government to move
on.
That principle appears to have gone extinct in Canada and now there is a
new approach, hunker down and wait it out, apparently with the hope we will all
forget it ever happened.
This is about accountability for unethical behaviour. If we can’t have
that then what have we?
Adam Olsen ... is a Green Party Member of the Legislative Assembly
of British Columbia for Saanich North and the Islands.
Born in Victoria, BC in 1976, Adam has lived,
worked and played his entire life on the Saanich Peninsula. He is a member of
Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP), where he and his wife, Emily, are raising their two children, Silas
and Ella.
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