The sordid, bumbling ethnic outreach scandal has sealed the Liberals' fate in the coming election.
It has also finished Christy Clark’s leadership. She is responsible for the actions of the government, for choosing the senior managers, for not demanding to be kept informed, for remaining willfully blind.
She failed as a leader. She failed the citizens, and the people who put their trust in the Liberal party.
But what about the Liberal MLAs? This is supposed to be a system in which citizens elect representatives who speak for them and share in responsibility for governing. MLAs are responsible for the conduct of government, or the opposition.
Liberal MLAs also failed. They abandoned their responsibilities and let the premier’s office and political staffers run amok. They didn’t ask questions about who was hired or what they were doing, or set standards.
These are $100,000 a year jobs, representing voters who have placed considerable trust in the men and women they send to Victoria.
Instead, MLAs vote the party line. They defend the indefensible. They inexplicably give up their right and responsibility to represent their constituents, and cede all power to the premier’s office and political operatives.
Which is not why most chose to run.
All the candidates in the coming election should think about this scandal, the failure of Liberal MLAs to exercise their responsibilities and the dire consequences - not just for the party, but for democracy.
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4 comments:
The saddest part is the soft pedaling and neglect shown by the corporate media.
"It has also finished Christy Clark’s leadership. She is responsible for the actions of the government, for choosing the senior managers, for not demanding to be kept informed, for remaining willfully blind."
Though I agree with almost all of this post, I think this falsely gives the impression that Christy (and her office) were "exonerated," to use the term used by Chris GALLus, Stephen (not so) Smart and Billy Bob Bennett, among others. Dyble's terms of reference (provided by Christy herself) did not allow for his investigation to look at her, her office or cabinet. John Horgan's first paragraph in QP yesterday makes this perfectly clear - though Billy Bob, Shirley (not)Bomd (able) and the (not)Premier herself were too busy trying to imply the NDP were guilty of worse to answer any questions.
After all it isn't called "Answer Period!" The NDP were exonerated even by the AG once he was made aware of how the fund had been set up and administered! He only voiced concerns in his DRAFT report, which were then amended in the final version!
Paul,
It would be hard not to disagree with the observation that Christy Clark's regime has had a corrosive effect upon the institutions of democracy...
Whether this effect was simply a result of Ms Clark's own re-entry into politics at a level for which she was clearly unprepared to function in a responsible way or a consequence of a direction and an attitude of mind which was already in place from the Campbell years is more difficult to evaluate.
Given the fact that several of her closest advisers have not, seemingly, been able to redirect Clarks's talents into areas where she is at least marginally competent and to engage the professional public service in the governing of the province (as opposed to fighting the next election) it's hard not to wonder if Ms Clark is simply incapable of doing anything more onerous than answer the phone at CKNW.
It is, further, a sad day for the many excellent, hard working, intelligent and visionary women whose leadership qualities and abilities will now be discounted simply because of the bad taste Ms Clark has left in the minds of the public.
Clark would do herself, and the future of women in positions of power, a real favour by resigning now...
I find it hard to believe Clark is capable of organizing this clusterfuck she's found herself in, much less able to extricate herself from. Her handlers are much more culpable, and yet seem to have escaped any of the stench.
Follow the money. None of that seems to have stuck to the would-be premier; yet.
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