A Sordid Little Affair

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
  - George Orwell

The break-in at the Watergate Hotel in 1972 was not necessarily a big deal.  One political party spying on another prior to an election was but a sordid little affair.  That was until there appeared the spectre of a cover-up after the fact.  Who was behind it all?  Was it directed by the White House?  If so, who in the President’s office knew about it?  The initial affair became irrelevant.  Rumours and hints begat a Special Prosecutor.  A White House staffer started to talk.  The President’s two main advisors resigned.  Then came more revelations and denials. Do any of you remember Richard Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech?  And everything ended when a sitting President of the United States was forced to resign, something that had never happened before or since. It was undoubtedly the biggest scandal to ever hit Washington. All because of a sordid little break-in at the Watergate Hotel.

Another sordid little affair, this time involving improper expense claims by a Canadian Senator, is now demanding our attention.  And as with Watergate, the revelations of wrong-doing now go far beyond the two or three Senators originally implicated.  The focus of the scandal has now shifted from the Senate to the Prime Minister’s office.  The PM’s Chief of Staff has already been forced to resign.  And the PM keeps on repeating his version of the “I am not a crook” theme. 

Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.
  - Claud Cockburn

What finally got at the truth in the Watergate case was when the Special Prosecutor got the courts involved and people had to start answering under oath.  Although lies were still made and facts not revealed, eventually enough of the truth came out to identify those responsible for the cover-up.  And this in turn, eventually led to the President himself.  And in my opinion, this is what must happen in Canada.  However, it will be harder to accomplish in our form of government.  With all power in the hands on the PM, who may or may not be implicated, there is no one else to call in a special prosecutor or convene a judicial inquiry.  Nor does it seem that there is any way of getting in front of the courts unless a criminal indictment or a civil suit is brought forth.  The only one who may raise a civil case is probably Senator Mike Duffy, but I suspect that he isn’t too keen about the idea since he does not know who the defendants might be or what they may throw back at him.  So the only avenue left would be a criminal matter.  The RCMP seems to be heading that way with the recent disclosure of their Information to Obtain (ITO).  The most likely target for this is probably Nigel Wright.  They may also include Senator Duffy.  This would be a good thing no matter the outcome of these court cases.  This would at least force people to answer under oath and may get answers much closer to the truth than we have now.

For those of you who like conspiracy theories, how’s this for a scenario.  The PM and his staff, in order to get his plans for Senate reform moving (it has been sitting in limbo for two years), come up with a scheme to embarrass a few Senators and make the whole Senate look bad.  Question some Senators’ expanse claims because the public thinks only about money matters.  Everything is to be done quickly and quietly except for controlled disclosures.  And then things start to go wrong.  Someone comes into information they were not supposed to.  One of the Senators baulks at playing along.  He doesn’t want to be out of pocket.  And then things went even more horribly wrong.  Think about it.  The Watergate break-in was only supposed to get a bit of intelligence information about the opposition’s strategy.

Politics is made up largely of irrelevancies.
  - Dalton Camp