You couldn’t pay me to be a politician. There’s not enough money in the world.
Well, I shouldn’t say that. I’m sure there’s some dollar amount that would get me to take the plunge, but it would have to be ridiculously high.
And even at that point, I’d be looked at as the proverbial ‘fat cat politician’ who spends his time counting his millions and avoiding the issues amongst his constituents.
So yeah, in the end I still don’t think I could do it.
I guess that’s because the political scene is so much of a whirlwind, dizzying, deceitful, passive-aggressive, aggressive-aggressive arena these days. Everyone’s got their scandals, everyone’s got the right solution, and we’re all just throwing barbs at each other left and right over the whole ugly thing.
Down South, the United States has undeniably the most polarizing figurehead as its sitting President. There’s no grey area when it comes to Donald Trump; people either have a definitive positive stance on him or a definitive negative one, with no middle ground.
As far as scandals and bad press go with Trump, my God, where do you even start? Payouts to porn stars who ‘The Donald’ may have slept with? FBI investigations? That audio that leaked before the 2016 presidential election even arrived in which he said he grabbed women by their private parts?
Probably something else that’s hit the Washington Post or the New York Times before you finishing reading the end of this very sentence?
Donald Trump – living and breathing heat magnet.
Then there’s our very own courtroom drama unfolding here up North. Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government have been taken to task lately over their involvement in allegedly pressuring now-former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to reach an agreement with SNC-Lavalin to help the engineering firm avoid criminal prosecution.
For anti-Liberal Party Canadians, Wilson-Raybould’s testimony last week was a critical hit to Trudeau’s future in politics, with Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer calling on him to resign as Prime Minister and for the RCMP to launch a criminal investigation.
On top of that, Justin has been losing friends left and right, with his right-hand man Gerald Butts ducking out, and Treasury Board President Jane Philpott resigning from Cabinet just this past Monday, stemming from what is said to be Trudeau’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
A more cynical, Justin-bashing person would say the rats are fleeing the ship, but politics are not so cut-and-dry like that. I’m no fan of the guy either, but he sure isn’t going to resign and I can’t see an official criminal investigation being launched into this.
But I think one person deserves the adulation and praise from Canadians coast to coast, and that’s Ms. Wilson-Raybould.
The words 'strong' and 'brave' are perhaps thrown around far too much these days and applied to people who may not live up to such high praise.
In my view, Jody Wilson-Raybould is not one of those people. She is very deserving of those two words, particularly after what she did in testifying on her involvement in this SNC-Lavalin affair, speaking from her post as the Attorney General, and as someone on behalf of all Canadians who want their elected officials to be honest, truthful, and held accountable for their actions; a desire held by everyone, regardless of where we all fall as far as political parties are concerned.
I have no idea what the days, weeks and months are going to bring stemming from all of this, but I do hope that Jody comes out of this storm with her head held high and a future still in front of her.
What this woman did for Canadians stretches across all party lines. We want the people in the highest positions of power to be held accountable, and we want them to operate honestly, truthfully, and without bias. If the person who may have acted dishonestly and with obvious bias happens to be the Prime Minister, so be it.
One way or another, Canadians will remember when they head to the polls this fall.
As for the local political scene, I think it’s up to taxpayers to say whether or not there’s any sort of “scandal” or wrong-doing going on. Granted, there’s no one testifying to the actions of anyone in charge, and I’m not sure there’s anyone who is as polarizing as the American President, but there are certainly issues, not unlike the ones that any other community faces. As always, the taxpayers will let their voices be heard one way or another.
Perhaps the upcoming public meeting later this spring in Outlook will be just the stage for it. Time will tell.
In the world of politics, whether it’s in the national scene, around the province, or even right here at home, I think there are interesting times ahead, friends.
Buckle up and let’s ride.
For this week, that’s been the Ruttle Report.
