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THE LEADERS JUST DON’T GET IT |
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Written by Alex J. Walling
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Monday, 22 February 2010 |
By Alex J. Walling
Our provincial political leaders from Premier Darrell Dexter, who promised ‘a new kind of government’, to fairly new Liberal leader Stephen MacNeil and the interim PC leader Karen Casey simply don’t get it. In fact, their conduct and deportment over the last few weeks on the MLA’s expense scandal pathetically shows that they haven’t a clue how the so called average Nova Scotian feels.
Even though the Chronicle Herald has received more letters on this topic than ever, that CBC News 5-5:30 and 6pm editions are getting 50-80 calls a show on this topic and even though it is the item in coffee shops, barbershops and probably welding shops, these leaders still struggle with the word, open and/or transparency. They just don’t get it and refuse to reveal what the public, who pays their salaries, expenses, generators and digital cameras, etc, wants to know. They either refuse or it takes lots of pressure to get some information from them, why? What are they hiding?
I got here in 1972 when Gerry Regan was looking at Mercator and the NB government was talking about the ‘Bricklin’. We’ve had the tragedies of Westray and the downing of the plane around Peggy’s Cove. Both of these stories being more serious and important but nothing, and I mean nothing, had stirred the minds and wallets of Nova Scotians than this MLA expense scandal story.
There are many reasons why this is upsetting voters. In a way it is a perfect storm of events from the auditor general’s report, to the constant revelations, almost on a daily basis of new improprieties, alleged or other wise, and if one has to break it down to one word, how about greed!
Yep, good old greed.
No one minds any MLA buying a photocopier, or printer or a serviceable computer or office furniture. But to buy 11 printers (a la Len Goucher) 12 laptops (Goucher again), to digital cameras such as Brook Taylor who declared he wasn’t running for election but in the middle of the election campaign, on our money, he buys a $700 camera! Or patio deck man Dave Wilson, or Judy ($700 or more bucks Expresso machine) Stretch. Give me a break. Give us all a break.
But, through all of this and I have been glued to the TV suppertime news it seems every day from the very beginning the leaders and especially Mr. Speaker Charlie Parker, don’t get it.
Where do we start?
How about with the auditor general, Jacques Lapointe’s report but he and Speaker Parker didn’t want to release names.
“It’s not up to me to embarrass people” or some line like that came out of Speaker’s Charlie Parker’s mouth. Sir, what’s wrong with embarrassing people when it needs to be done. Or, what does it take to embarrass them, jail sentences?
And, on the first day the auditor general himself didn’t want to give names stating “let’s work on the solution.”
In other words Parker was protecting his buddies and no one was protecting the public.
Within hours Art Donohue became a white knight with people saying this trusted former MLA will handle matters and change the system.
Ridiculous.
He comes from the same MLA pact, respected or not but more important he was going to deliver his report in late July. That‘s just the report and by the time the MLA’s meet to discuss this and revisions, etc we are nearly a year away. Not good enough.
Ladies and Gentlemen MLA’s, get an accounting firm in and they can give you common sense recommendations in a weekend like receipts for everything and everything made public. These are things that the smallest business knows about. It is not rocket science.
This is now a live daily soap opera that beats General Hospital or any of these daytime programs. And a few of the characters have been hurt starting with Hulburt the Generator Man.
Hurlburt claims he bought a generator for the senior citizens and as Bill Cosby would say “Right”.
It’s a real shame that Darrell (I promise a new kind of government Dexter) got caught in this mess.
$2100 for a camera. I shoot photography for a living and I can recommend cameras from $125-500 that will do the job.
And, why should the taxpayers pay for his legal fees? Anyone paying for yours if you belong to an association?
And, Dexter probably thought by being in Arizona he would miss the fireworks. He only added to it.
The most disappointing thing about our new premier is that he doesn’t want to deal with the issue. All he keeps talking about is “let move ahead or let’s move forward”.
No, sir. Let’s find out what caused it. That’s what we want to know and deserve. Let’s bring in the police and go back 10 years and if there is fraud or egregious abuse then charge people and if they end up in jail like in Newfoundland and some of their members, so be it.
Dexter then runs away to the Olympics instead of showing leadership that he has waited ten years for to demonstrate. Leaders don’t run. Did Patton, McArthur or Schwarzkopf run?
Karen Casey has blown her chances to become the full time leader of the PC’s. The lady who made a name for herself in scrapping the HRM school board blew it in the Hurlburt affair.
She will be remembered as the lady who stood by (her man) Hurlburt’s side when the Yarmouth MLA got confrontational with the media in the opening salvo of this mess. Hurlburt defiantly, arrogantly stated he was not sorry for buying an $8000 generator. And, when Hurlburt was choking himself with his words, Casey also knew that he had a 42 inch TV bought with our money but kept silent.
Again, she was protecting Hurlburt, not the public.
BTW, Hurlburt, in addition to paying around $2000 for the TV also made around $570 to have it installed. Heck, my last TV (4 years ago) cost less than his instillation cost.
To add to her lack of credibility when the TV purchase was revealed and she knew about it, she ran to Truro and wouldn’t talk to reporters. I believe TV crews were left to show a picture of a speaker phone as she answered a day or two later, some questions from her bunker outside of town.
Talk about running away.
Stephen MacNeil had a goldmine of an opportunity to set himself apart from Runaway to Truro Casey and Gone to the Olympics Dexter. He was asked last Wednesday night on CBC TV news with anchor Tom Murphy about constituency expenses.
After telling Murphy that he believes in openness and transparency he, but a few minutes later, didn’t want to reveal constituency office matters saying that was a “contract between employer and employee”.
Excuse me Mr. MacNeil, we, the public of Nova Scotia are the employer.
Could you imagine if MacNeil had stated to the CBC anchor:
“Tom, you are right. I and the liberals believe everything is open. All receipts but be shown and all matters accounted for and that is for everything.”
Had he done that I think the province would have stood up and applauded. Golden opportunity missed and never to be regained.
But no. MacNeil also ‘wants to move on’. For some reason all three leaders seem to think that they have the right to hide facts and names from us.
As a few lines from the song by the Kingston trio (Where have all the flowers gone) states: “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn.
Party leaders are to provide leadership. They all are ignominious failures at it.
Alex J Walling can be reached via email at:
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