Will the Real Stephen Harper Please Stand Up?

Now, before I go on to say what I have to say, let me clarify that I, for one, welcomed the recent change of government, even if I don't share the Conservative party’s views on such things as the environment, gay rights, crime, well, most everything. Nevertheless, the Liberals had grown old and stale in power and it was time to remind them that we lend them the keys to Sussex drive; it isn't their right to squat.

For his part, Stephen Harper wanted Canadians to believe that he and the Conservatives were ethical uber-politicians. Unlike the liberals, the Conservatives were born without the gene that makes one prone to corruption and arrogance. It's hard to believe that he is the same guy we saw desperately trying to convince Canadians that a vote for his government was a vote for a new way of doing politics.

I need not recount the hypocrisy of the Fortier debacle. Harper said he would never use the senate for partisan reasons, and that the senate would be elected. He did the opposite, although he will probably try to redeem himself by never again appointing anyone, hoping that we’ll forget, and allow for the election of senators.

The Emerson switch made many in the Conservative party a bit weary, as it seemed like such a "liberal" thing to do. What has happened since then, in my opinion, is the real kicker, the pipebomb, if you will, that has torn down the wall between perception and reality.

The ethics commissioner, Bernard Shapiro, decided to launch an investigation into Emerson and the Prime Minister. His reason: if David Emerson was offered an incentive to cross the floor, the prime minister may have breached the ethical constraints of his office.

The Prime Minister's response was dished out of the barrel of arrogance left over from when the liberals moved out in a rush. Stephen Harper said he was "loath" to cooperate with an individual whose credibility had been called into question. The ethics commissioner was a "liberal appointee" who, as an 'unelected' official had no right to interfere with the Prime Minister's sovereign duty to appoint cabinet ministers.

First of all, let me say two things in the Prime Minister's defence. Yes, the ethic commissioner was censured by parliament because he spoke to a reporter about an ongoing investigation without notifying the target of that investigation, MP Deepak Obhrai. The Prime Minister would have been right to speak out about the credibility of the issue, had he done so at the time instead of waiting until he won an election to announce that he was above parliament. Secondly, the Prime Minister ultimately holds responsibility to appoint whomever he wants to cabinet, and yes, he can appoint people from other parties, so long as they are sitting members of parliament or the senate. From what I can gather from the constitutional experts who have spoken out on the issue, despite the fact that Emerson's defection was cynical and all the rest, it probably wasn't illegal.

Discredited the ethics commissioner seems a poorly thought out plan if the Conservatives really want us to believe that they are our ethical superiors. Harper may easily forget, but in the pre-Shapiro age, the ethics commissioner reported only to the PM. Shapiro is the first to be responsible only to parliament, and as such all members of parliament, including the prime minister, fall under his jurisdiction. Stephen Harper fought his this post, and now he has to accept it. He might well get used to lots of ‘unelected’ officials investigation his office, like the auditor-general, who are hired by the Canadian people to protect us from the politicians who abuse their office.

The nastiness of this episode was revealed this morning in the Globe and Mail, where conservative Mp Deepak Obhrai accused the Ethics Comissioner of being responsible for his brother's suicide after he went under investigation for allegedly offering a bribe to fast-track some visa applications. He stated that the ethics commissioner was a "Gestapo chief," and has since refused to retract his remarks.

Since arriving in power Stephen Harper has been very careful to keep a tight muzzle on his cabinet ministers and caucus. With comments like these, it is no wonder he'd want to. I mentioned earlier in a post that the Conservative party was bursting at the seems with people waiting to say something distasteful or politically incorrect. The floodgate appears to be ajar, and whether or not the PM opens it more or closes it tight will probably determine whether or not Canadians continue to hold Harper in any sort of esteem. We'll have to wait and see.