A kettle and pot case all around [editorial]

Oh no, the Prime Minister of Canada is again being distracted by party politics. You know what that means for the Aboriginal agenda? It’s backburner time.

The debate in the House of Commons at the end of February was dominated by scandal. The thrust and parry of federal politics has reached an all-time new low with dirty tricks surrounding voter suppression being the main, but not the only, accusation being hurled.

Core to the complaint raised by Opposition parties is the use of so-called ‘robocalls,’ machines that called voters in a variety of ridings to direct them to non-existent voting stations. There were accusations of callers impersonating Elections Canada representatives that sent voters off in wrong directions, and crank calls made well after hours that were harassing and annoying.

In the House of Commons on Feb. 28 was the bizarre back and forth between the Liberal leader Bob Rae, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper trading barbs and a ‘you show me yours, then I’ll show you mine’ call for evidence. Rae prefers the fishing expedition approach.

“The only way of finding out whether there is evidence is if the people who have the evidence actually come forward,” he said. “It is the Conservative Party that has the access to the contracts. It is the Conservative Party that has the access to whomever was making the calls and when they were making the calls.” Rae urged the Conservatives to open its books to Elections Canada which is investigating, at press time, at least one riding for unusual activities—Guelph.

And Harper responded with a ‘did you see me steal the cookie out of the cookie jar’ defense.

“It is the leader of the Liberal Party who is making these allegations. Surely, he has the evidence for the allegations he is making.”

So much for transparency, right? In fact, if this is the kind of transparency being modeled by the Conservatives, it’s a wonder why the chiefs in assembly are having such a hard time embracing it.

What’s at stake for the Conservatives that might be at the root of their public coyness? Only their government majority, that’s all. If it’s found that there was some funny-business around the 2011 election which impacted results in close ridings, by-elections are in our future, and perhaps a few jail sentences just for fun.

And someone should be held accountable for messing with election results. Just ask the Saskatchewan Métis, who had their own election fixing fiasco in 2004. We remember all the protestation around the inquiry into that event, with at least one key individual sentenced to one year for his part. We remember how appalled Canadians were with the corruption of that vote, so now they have to look to their own and wonder just what kind of assurances they have that Canadian elections are free from tampering.

Harper told the Opposition parties that they had no credibility in making the accusations and the high horse they were riding in on was called “Bluster.”

And it’s hard not to take that to heart. Rae had earlier apologized to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews after a Liberal parliamentary staffer launched a twitter attack against him, prompted by the issuing of legislation that would allow officials to snoop into internet activity of any person without the need for a warrant. The minister’s messy divorce was the fodder that fueled the attack, and it was coming from a Liberal researcher. Why the person was researching divorce documents, we’re unclear, but that’s for another debate. And incidentally, just because someone lacks credibility doesn’t make the accusation untrue.