Have you been following the MP expenses scandal? I know I have, if not particularly closely.
Well, I suppose it's not really a scandal. Not yet, anyway. The issue is that most of our elected federal politicians don't want to open up their books for a performance audit by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser.This doesn't constitute a scandal in and of itself.
That said this issue does have the potential to be scandalous ... eventually. When you look at some of the lame excuses offered up by a variety of MPs as to why their books shouldn't be opened, you start wondering what these people have to hide.
Perhaps it's nothing. Fraser doesn't seem particularly eager to investigate every individual expense—she appears more interested in the big expenditure picture. Still, she’s gotten so many MPs in an uproar their concern should be worrying to us.
After all, these people work for us. There isn’t a single MP in office because they're God's gift to Parliament. We put them there and we can take them out just as easily, come the next election. MPs are public servants, and their time is our time.
I think that intuitively, we understand this. While outrage over the Fraser investigation has been pretty high, I don't think it's just about MP expenses. Over the past few months, Canada’s political scene has been dominated by issues of trust:
The Afghan detainee issue, where the question arises as to what Ottawa has to hide and what information the government must disclose to Parliament upon request.
The Rahim Jaffer issue, where the question arises—rather unfairly—of what influence the federal government has over the provincial court system.
The Helena Guergis issue, where the question arises—again, perhaps unfairly—of what influence may have been peddled and where government resources are being allocated.
The access-to-information issue, where the question arises of how our government shares what should by all rights be public information with, well, the public.
And let's not forget the grand daddy of all trust issues: prorogation. That was the real trust buster, the one which the PMO got called on even by citizens who don't often make a habit of raising political hell. That was the issue where the great question arose of who—the PMO or the Commons itself—is calling the parliamentary shots these days.
Again and again the public has had these issues thrust in its face. Openness and transparency seem to have been misplaced by an ill-earned sense of entitlement by our elected officials.
But then Fraser enters the picture. This should be a relatively non-controversial development: let her look at your books and move on, already. But once again, our political class—with a variety of exceptions across party lines, mind you—has dragged their heels. And public outrage has ensued.
Well, duh. That was bound to happen. Raise enough doubts about your credibility, and all it takes is one little issue to push people out of their passivity. The audit 'scandal' is emblematic of other political issues we’ve been facing lately and I think the public's frustration with our government is coming to a head.
To which I say, good. I would personally like nothing more than to open a national debate about openness. I'd love to see transparency become something beyond a talking point at election rallies. Let's keep up the anger and the frustration.
But it should go beyond the audit issue. We should send the message that this isn't just about the audits: this is about a pattern of behavior that is simply unacceptable. Hopefully our political parties are starting to wake up to this fact, but until we're sure we should keep the pressure on.
No mercy. Viva la Fraser!
Any comments, hate mail, or love notes? Drop me a line or four at dresdenmorrow@gmail.com, or give me grief on Twitter @wmorrow1.
