“If you can’t beat’em, join’em!”
The old man in the hat
Politics is always a little strange. Lately it has been downright weird. If I understand the situation correctly, the leader of the federal Liberal party is being castigated by our morally superior Conservative Party of Canada for….wait for it……for earning money outside the political arena. Considering the current ethical state of the Ruling Party, Mr. Trudeau apparently was expected to increase his wealth the Conservative way, by stealing it from the people of Canada.
Mr. Trudeau has been accused of taking money from the poor and defenceless charities that hired him to give motivational speeches as part of a fundraiser drive for the involved charity. To put this on the same moral playing field as the Conservatives indiscretions (aka theft), Mr. Trudeau is being accused of poor judgment (a continuing Conservative theme- I guess from their intimate knowledge and experience of the practice), purse snatching and other alleged crimes so intolerable that I dare not mention.
The facts would appear to be a little less salacious. Mr. Trudeau, as far as I can understand, as a Canadian citizen in good standing, may, in fact, without penalty or violation of the statutes of parliament, be paid by groups to speak to them for motivational purposes, report said income and pay the levied income tax. Sounds like a solid citizen to me.
To add flavour to the pot, we introduce a small New Brunswick charity, The Grace Foundation, that invited Mr. Trudeau to speak, paid his fee, and apparently, initially, was satisfied with his performance. Unfortunately the speech did not open the wallets of the attendees to the extent desired by the charity. In a fit of buyer’s remorse, the charity apparently wrote a letter to the company representing Mr. Trudeau, requesting a refund. This is where it gets interesting.
It is convenient chain of individuals that links the Grace Foundation with the Conservative Party of Canada. It appears that a board member, Judith Baxter is married to a gentleman who is on the executive of Fundy-Royal Conservative MP Rob Moore’s riding association. Mr. Moore insists he was asked to “pressure” Mr. Trudeau to return the speaking fee. One has to wonder of Mr. Moore’s interest had the speaker been Joe Blow from Anytown.
My point is this: much has been made of the upright moral character of the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Mr. Harper. Despite this, we seem to have daily reports of questionable behaviour of the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office). Clearly, the Conservatives are mortally frightened by the young Liberal pup and are willing to use any and all resources of the Government of Canada (our money) and the Conservative Party of Canada to tar and feather any threat to their hold on power.
Famous is the control the Prime Minister has on his caucus. It is hard to comprehend that he is “out of the loop”. I guess there is much truth in the old adage, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Hang in there Justin. Wait till you write your book. The Conservatives are giving you so much material, you will make a fortune!
