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And so it goes…. |
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 20 December 2008 |
I really do not enjoy taking a shot at Michael Baker. The man has enough on his plate. To say he is a courageous individual is to grossly understate the example he has set without ever referring to his illness.
However, his misdial last week where he contacting the wrong John MacDonnell opened another major can of worms for the MacDonald government, and cannot go unnoticed..
The thought of Ernie Fage going to the Senate is enough to make a thinking person barf. You remember Ernie? His favorite song is “Jesus Take The Wheel.”
Senator Fage? Little wonder the younger generation can’t be bothered to vote. And guess what folks, I am beginning to believe that is just what these folks at Province House and in the House of Commons want. Let apathy rule and they can get their way.
Treat us like mushrooms; keep us in the dark and feed us horse manure.
In Cumberland North, where Fage rules, a local businessman, Willie MacDonald announced his intention to seek the Conservative nomination on Thursday, and by Friday he had to withdraw. He withdrew because of the threatening letters and telephone calls he received.
And so it goes….
Want further proof? A couple of months ago the citizens of Southwest Nova, those who bothered to vote, elected Greg Kerr as their Member of Parliament. Greg Kerr, John Buchanan’s Finance Minister and the architect of the most horrendous debt load ever amassed in the history of this province. I recall those days, sitting in the gallery, listening to the questions, the debate and hearing the response. “Don’t worry, be happy,” the premier of the day would chide. And the masses did not worry and they were happy, and they re-elected him three times following his initial win in 1978.
Note to Stephen Harper; “Dump Jim Flaherty, Kerr is a whiz with figures. And very good at giving away money.”
The man who came behind the Buchanan/Kerr team (well, right after caretakers Roger Bacon and Donald Cameron), John Savage was chased from office by his own party for saying no to patronage. He attempted to do the right thing and was vilified. Granted, he was ill-advised to freeze and roll back the wages of civil servants, many of them underpaid to start with. But that was his biggest problem, listening to a small cadre within his cabinet. He trusted them and they led him down the garden path.
And so it goes….
Let me tell you a short story, and, as we used to say in the army (our side), no names, no pack drill.
A certain MLA, who had a slight problem with the bottle, kept pestering his premier for a seat at the cabinet table. One day, as the premier was preparing to shuffle his cabinet, he inquired about the welfare of this anxious MLA. “He’s in his hotel room and into his cups,” he was told. With that,m the premier picked up his phone, called the renegade member, and asked him what he wanted.
The next morning, the MLA awoke, surrounded with containers of Chinese food and a copy of the morning paper. The headline read, “Premier shuffles his cabinet.” In a blind rage he grabbed the telephone and called the premier. The premier said, “I called you last night and asked you what you wanted. You said Chinese food.”
True story, so help me.
And so it goes….
Perhaps the most telling moment in my three years inside the political realm came when, as a staff member, I sat in a caucus meeting and listened while the Leader talked about human rights, and in particular the recognition of the gay community. Each MLA spoke to the topic. Finally it came to a member from Cape Breton, who looked up and said, “We still beat them up down home.” Later, sadly, he became the Minister of Education.
And so it goes….
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and broadcaster)
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