He ain’t heavy….he’s my brother
The old man in the hat
Shawn Graham has recently resigned his seat as MLA, a seat that for many years was held by his father, Mr. Alan Graham.
Shawn has been recently found to be in a conflict of interest with respect to his politically motivated decision to authorize, over the objections of more financially prudent heads, the 50M loan to Robbie Tozer and his ATCON group, a New Brunswick businessman with a passing familiarity with the levers of government assistance. After receiving the loan, the Atcon group promptly declared bankruptcy.
The ruling resulted in a recommendation, that needs approval of the legislature, to fine Shawn $3500.00. It is my understanding that this fine is only payable if Mr. Graham remains a MLA. Once he resigns, NO Penalty. No garnishment of his MLA pension. No consequences. No worries. Although Mr. Graham has indicated that he will voluntarily pay the fine, if levied, he has yet to do so.
No surprise, then, of his resignation announcement. If this wasn’t all so sad, it would be funny.
The accusation and later confirmation was that Shawn had made a decision that conferred a benefit on his father and that he should have known that this decision placed him in a situation of conflict with the best interests of his real constituency, the people of the province of New Brunswick.
We have also been told that in addition to the routine costs of the investigation into this mess, we the humble, bankrupt populace of the duchy of New Brunswick has paid on the behalf of Shawn of the Dead, a $72000.00 legal bill occurred in defence of his now soiled, good name. Oh hum.
This sum, of course, does not cover the whole cost of the inquiry. Such is the price of justice, even if avoided by the guilty party!
This raises the age old question as to the utility of protecting politicians against legal costs for unlawful or unethical actions undertaken in performing their constitutional duties.
To add insult to injury, recent poll numbers have confirmed Shawn’s judgment, that with him out of the way, his party will shine. New Brunswickers, if nothing else, are at least blessed with short term memory loss.
In the last 75 years, between 1935 and 2010, New Brunswickers have elected the Conservatives for 9 terms and the Liberals for 11 terms. No one else. No NDP, no Green Party governments. Not one. Two parties. That’s it. The net provincial debt now stands at over 10 Billion Dollars (ie the mortgage), and the current account spending is at a deficit of over 300 million (ie the yearly family budget).
A famous quote attributed to Albert Einstein goes something like this, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
To get back on point, I would like to emphasize the following. The current cabal, be it Liberal or Conservative, have looked after themselves for 75 years and we are deep in the hole and the water is rising. It’s time to float a new boat. Read for yourself. Try to envision a province that works for all New Brunswickers, just not the few. You may think you live in a democracy, but really it resembles an oligarchy. The next election is all set. The fourth Monday in September, 2014. You still have time to change the outcome and there are more choices than RED or BLUE!
