When rumours were running wild yesterday about the explosive Lisa Raitt audio tape, I was expecting a whale of a scandal.
Instead, it turned out to be a minnow.
OK, so she made some mildly disparaging comment about a fellow cabinet minister. Big deal. That's hardly a shocker.
But wait a minute, you might be asking, didn't she call the medical isotopes crisis "sexy"? Isn't that a horrendous scandal?
No, that's just the way people talk while engaging in a private conservation. I am sure if we could eavesdrop on Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's private discussions with his advisers we would hear him utter comments from time to time that might be considered unHarvard-like.
And finally, there's the charge that Raitt just viewed the crisis as an opportunity to advance her career.
Well if cynical political ambition is a resigning offence, then the House of Commons would be an empty building.
Of course, none of this will stop the Liberals from trying to build this up into a scandal. As they might admit in private, this is an opportunity that's too sexy to pass up.
All true, Gerry, but all put together? More than a little callous if the lack of isotopes is a "life and death" matter.
ReplyDeleteTo me the most damning comment was her comment that she is willing to "roll the dice" on the Chalk River fiasco. And not just because great risks must be taken to accomplish great things; no, she says she wants to "roll the dice" so she gets all the credit if they win.
That is worse than callous.
Put it all together and you have a government exposed for seeing health crises as political opportunities, not emergencies that imperil ordinary Canadians.
Everybody is missing the real scandal:
ReplyDelete"You know what solves this problem? Money. And if it’s just about money, we’ll figure it out. It’s not a moral issue."
If you want to create a scandal, always go with the money quote. Ask Dalton and Duncan.
Sorry, Gerry. This may be a tempest in a teapot to most sane people, but if you judge it by the response of the MSM it is akin to 9-11. This is the lead story on both the national all news outlets.
ReplyDeleteIn the House of Commons, the Liberals, who like to boast about how they have been the party in power for the majority of the time, are certainly raising hell over an issue that they failed to correct during all those years when they were steering the ship of state.
Powell:
ReplyDeleteYou may be right; I think it was a mistake to seek an injunction, that just made it a bigger story. We will see if it has legs.
Brian: Good point.
Ted: I still think it's ingrained in politicians to see political opportunities in whatever they do.
Good points. In more than five hours of recorded talk, this is all they could find? Everything that I've heard is water cooler or café talk. The silly season has come about 6 weeks ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteGood old Ted - the sanctimonious little snot - would like us to believe that this government is unique in considering the political aspects of the issues with which it deals. Anyone who has moved on from reading "Good Night, Moon" knows better.
Finally, I am wondering if the Halifax Chronicle-Herald has released the full tape and or transcript of the tape to public scrutiny. If not, did they go to court to protect the public's right to know what is on the recorder or just the public's right to know just what the Chronicle-Herald wants it to know?
Oh yes, the Conservatives are so callous on this issue...they are actually fixing the Isotope problem that the Liberals ( through two majorities no less..) failed to lift a finger on.
ReplyDeleteIf the Conservative's can be considered 'callous' in their actions, the Liberals should be derided for their criminal handling of the issue for the better part of 15 years.
Who is really the incompetent player here?