To the Editor,
That sound of escaping air emanating from back East on June 18 was unmistakably the collective sigh from about 164 MPs and 60 Senators who make up the Conservative caucus.
All are delighted to flee the constant grilling from the Opposition during Parliament’s question period, and from those in the national media.
Instead, the 224 torrid Tories are insanely happy to face the constant grilling on the rubber chicken circuit at their summer fundraising barbecues.
The seamy, sordid Senate scandal leaves many Canadians with a nasty taste in their mouths over how the nation’s business is carried out.
During the past few weeks there have been many lows in Ottawa, with revelations that only got worse on a daily basis. The lowest low came on May 21 when just prior to jetting off for somewhat meaningless junkets to Peru and Colombia, the Prime Minister invited the media to the opening of a special Tory caucus meeting to hear his statement concerning the abrupt resignation of his chief-of-staff.
It turned out to be a pathetic non-statement, so media members attempted to do their job of questioning the PM, and obtain answers for a bewildered populace.
Totally ignoring the cogent questioners, the PM sat tight-lipped and members of his caucus turned toward the media assembled at the back of the room, and clapped ever so loudly in unison to drown out any more questions.
Would these Conservatives ever again be respected as representatives of the people of Canada, or simply as knuckle-dragging-forelock-tugging-toadies for the PM ?
I seldom quote catholic priests, but make the exception with Erasmus of Rotterdam who about 600 years ago said, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
Bernie Smith
Parksville