June 14, 2005
Kamloops Daily News


Federal politics have been entertaining in the last year.  

In the tradition of gangster movies, Liberals left wads
of money on the tables of Italian restaurants to pay for
shady sponsorships deals.  

Then there was the showdown on parliament hill.  On May 19, 
the survival of the government came down to one man.  The
gum-chewing Chuck Cadman voted to save the government and
spare us from an election that no one wanted.

Now we have the comic bungling of Gurmant Grewal.  His
amateur attempt to embarrass the Liberals by a secretly
recorded conversation has ended badly for the Conservatives.

It may be entertaining but it's bad theatre. The plots are
unoriginal, the scripts clichéd,  and the acting  bad. 

Canadians are not amused, according to a poll done by
Environics.  Farcical politics do not make for good
government.

The opinion of politicians hasn't been this low since the
Mulroney government in 1992.  The poll confirms that
confidence in political leaders has dropped significantly
the last year with the exception of NDP leader Jack Layton.

One question on the survey is particularly telling.  It asks
"If you lost your wallet and it was found by one of the
federal political party leaders, which one do you think
would be the most likely to return it to you?"

Jack Layton was picked most likely, ahead of Stephen Harper
by 8 per cent and Paul Martin by 9. 

It's easy to dismiss trust in Layton as being safe idealism,
charitable support for a leader of a party that has never
held power.  But Harper and his Reform/Alliance/Conservative
party have never held power either.  All things being equal,
you would think that both leaders would share the same
advantage of the benefit of doubt.

Harper has missed an opportunity to capture the moral high
ground.   As leader of the opposition - - the government in
waiting - - it should have been easy for him capitalize on
Prime Minister Martin's vulnerability.

Instead, it is Layton who has gained the confidence of
Canadians.   Unlike Harper, he is trying to make parliament
work.  Layton has been able to lever the influence of his
small band of MPs into a $5 billion deal on behalf of
Canada's poor and working poor, while keeping the budget
balanced.

Despite Canadians low opinion of Martin and Harper, we are
not completely disillusioned about politics.  Canadians
still believe that political parties can solve problems of
the country - - health, immigration, national unity. 
Despite the sagging popularity of leaders, the backing for
parties remains about the same as the last election.

We still think Canada is relatively corruption-free compared
to other countries. When asked about corruption, one-half of
those polled think it's worse in the U.S., followed by
Italy, France and Great Britain.

The danger is that distrust in politicians erodes trust in
government.   Loss of confidence in our political leaders
leads to dangerous doubt in our political institutions.

Warts and all, government is all we have to protect the
interests of common Canadians against forces that would
lower our standard of living in the name of corporate greed.  
A weak Canadian government makes us more vulnerable to the 
hyperpower we nervously call a neighbour.

If we don't have a strong government, who will best
represent our interests?  Wal-Mart?  President Bush and his
gang of Republicans?

Laura Penny likes to lampoon the phony hucksters of the
world.  She's the Canadian author of Your Call Is Important
to Us: The Truth About Bullshit.  Penny lampoons corporate
bafflegab, political dishonesty,  toxic food that passes as
the real thing, and miracle pills that clutter our lives.

But even Penny is worried.  When politicians put personal
power before the truth, "government is damaged," she says.  
A weak government means that we are at the mercy of the
charlatans of the world.

Politicians are giving government a bad name.

Current politicians aside, Canada has an international
reputation of having good government.  We send advisors to
other countries to help build torn countries' judiciary,
police forces and political bureaucracies.

Good politics is rather mundane.  When government works
well, you won't hear about fantastic sewers being built, our
dedicated civil service, or our enviable way of life.

Good government, like our national symbol the beaver, toils
away in relative obscurity and is only noticed when it makes
a warning splash.  Now is the time to listen to the beaver.

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