Back in the days when Canadians could sell their vote for $5 or a mickey of Rye, the argument was often whether the Conservatives or the Liberals were more corrupt. As late as the 1960s, we had impromptu fistfights between the gangs that used to put up your signs during the day and take the competitions’ down at night. What we are seeing today is that too much money is the corrupting factor. And the changing technologies are tempting those with the deep pockets to ensure their winning.
Nothing makes this point better than the robocall scandal. Our federal courts are hearing the first case this week against the Conservatives for using automated telephone calls to suppress non-Conservative voting in the 2011 election. This was cheating on a wide scale. It is also a criminal act.
The only problem is that it has taken almost two years to get to court. During this time, the Conservatives have been in power. One of the first things they did when they had a majority in the House was to stop public money from going to the other parties. They wanted to make sure there was no longer a level playing field in Canadian politics.
Not that the Liberals or New Democrats are more law abiding. They have little choice. When you have no money to spare, you concentrate on spending it effectively. Poverty promotes piety.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, have more money from the rich and business friends than they can legally spend. It is like the Conservative MP from Babel. He rented a bus for the duration of the campaign. It was decked out with signs and party identification. It was driven here and there in the electoral district (an urban area) and parked wherever they thought they needed a presence. (When they tried to park it at polling places, they were told to move.) The point is that for any other party to rent that bus (with driver) would have cost at least $3000 for the campaign period. An experienced campaign manager could never find where that figure is included in his campaign expense reports.
The Conservative Party is guilty of too many “Oops” these days. It is not that the Liberals or New Democrats or any other party obeys the law any more precisely. They just cannot afford to be arrogant about it.
-30-
Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]