Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
19 November 2010
Canadians Don’t Trust Politicians
Those who seek elected office
are held in very low esteem
The difficulties of former cabinet minister Helena Guergis and her husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer are the latest examples of bad behaviour that bring all politicians into disrepute.
Rahim Jaffer Testifies to Commons Committee
On April 21, 2010 appeared before a House of Commons committee to answer allegations that he lobbied government illegally.
Mr. Jaffer and his business partner Patrick Glémaud said they had met with bureaucrats seeking government grants to advance green technology projects. Jaffer acknowledged meeting with Conservative MP Brian Jean to urge that the project be pushed ahead. But, he said this was not actual lobbying, something he could not do because he was not a registered lobbyist.
Writing in the Globe and Mail (April 21, 2010 John Ibbitson reported that Mr. Jaffer said “He never lobbied anyone over anything. He was never in a business relationship with Nazim Gillani (a Toronto businessman connected to the issue). He never used his wife’s office improperly.”
All three statements subsequently turned out to be untrue.
Politicians Can Blame Themselves
Towards the end of Mr. Jaffer’s testimony Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski asked him,
“Do you believe and understand that your actions have tarnished the reputation of
politicians from all parties -
As Keith Beardsley commented (National Post, April 27, 2010), “If the public didn’t already have enough reasons to turn their backs on Parliament and our MPs, this sad episode has given them one more.”
Politicians have sunk to a low level in the public’s mind to a large extent because of their own antics:
- Countless election promises are made only to be broken after the vote;
- MPs can be encouraged to cross the floor and join the party they opposed with the reward of a cabinet position;
- The few who turn out to be common criminals taint the reputations of all; and,
- The behaviour in the House of Commons is worse than anything that would be tolerated in the unruliest classroom.
A Globe and Mail editorial on May 13, 2005 pointed out that the non-
The Power of Negative Advertising
During the January 2006 election campaign Liberal Party ads grossly distorted some quotes of Conservative Stephen Harper and added the tag line “We’re not making this up.”
While some of the quotes were accurate, others were not. One Liberal ad, for example, quoted Mr. Harper as saying, “You won’t recognize Canada when I get through with it.” In fact, Mr. Harper said in 2004, “We can create a country built on solid Conservative values, not on expensive Liberal promises, a country the Liberals wouldn’t even recognize, the kind of country I want to lead.”
The Conservative Party is just as willing to get down in the mud. Within a few weeks of Stéphane Dion becoming leader of the Liberal Party, the Tories started running ads portraying him as weak; “Just Not a Leader” they said.
Likewise soon after Michael Ignatieff succeeded Dion, the Conservative attack machine went to work. Because Mr. Ignatieff had spent a large part of his career teaching in universities outside Canada, the Tories claimed he was “Just visiting” and would soon leave if he didn’t become prime minister.
Negative advertising brings politics in general into disrepute. However, can the parties be blamed? They say they do it because it works. If voters didn’t buy into the negative ads they would not be used.
Mulroney and Schreiber
The 2009 inquiry into the Mulroney/Schreiber affair turned over some rocks and found
unsavoury stuff underneath. Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney admitted taking
$225,000 in cash from a German-
The former Prime Minister maintains the money was not a bribe, but a Canadian Press
story in December 2007 reported that, “A new poll suggests only one in 10 Canadians
believe Brian Mulroney is telling the truth about his business relationship with
German-
Mulroney said he only met Schreiber “two or three times for coffee.” Evidence came out at the Oliphant Commission that looked into the affair that the two met far more frequently. Many other inconsistencies emerged during the inquiry.
During earlier Parliamentary hearings into Mr. Mulroney’s behaviour Kathleen Harris of The Toronto Sun interviewed pollster Nik Nanos. Ms. Harris quoted him as saying, “What we might be seeing is collateral damage from the Schreiber affair, where it’s turning people off politicians in general. Voters are very grumpy right now.
“I think this is not good for democracy. It touches a raw nerve and makes people think there’s really no difference between any politician.”
Sources
“Parliament Approaches Tipping Point in Public Credibility.” Keith Beardsley, National Post, April 27, 2010.
“Rahim Jaffer Denies Lobbying, Drug Use.” John Ibbitson, The Globe and Mail, April 21, 2010.
“Schreiber more Believable than Mulroney: Poll.” Canadian Press, December 12, 2007.
© Canada and the World, May 2010
Updated June 2010
All rights reserved
LOBBYING IS LEGAL
Lobbying is trying to persuade a government official to take a certain course of action such as awarding a business contract to a particular firm. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as the person doing the persuading is registered with the government.
All of the activities of lobbyists are governed by the Lobbying Act.
There are almost 5,200 registered lobbyists in Ottawa. They navigate through the maze of the federal bureaucracy on behalf of clients who may want a bill before Parliament to be tweaked a bit. Lobbyists also keep MPs informed about issues from their clients’ point of view.
Conviction for lobbying without a license to do so could result in a fine of $50,000.
Politicians took last place for trustworthiness among 22 professionals in a 2006 poll taken by Leger Marketing of Montreal.
Only 14% of those surveyed said they trusted politicians, five percent below the figure for car salespeople.
Firefighters were at the top with 96%, followed by nurses at 95%, farmers at 92%, teachers at 88%, police officers at 81%, judges at 78%, and church representatives at 64%.
"The conduct exhibited by Mr. Mulroney in accepting cash-
Justice Jeffrey Oliphant in his inquiry report
May 31, 2010