If Dragnet detective Joe Friday was assigned to investigate the senate scandal he probably start with this, “Just the facts, ma’am.”
But, what are the facts?
Is the situation simply this: three, and possibly more, senators are guilty, on prima facia evidence, of inappropriate and/or criminal transactions relating to their residency and travel claims?
Apparently, the Prime Minister believes this to be true, and, has led to Mr. Harper orchestrating the senators’ suspension without pay — tantamount to outright dismissal.
Notwithstanding, if detective Friday took an investigative step backward, he would find that the scandal is not the actual malfeasance of the senators, the scandal is due to the fact that the expenditures had been reviewed and approved by the Prime Minister’s Office and others in authority, and, now, Mr. Harper has turned on his own senators as they have brought ‘an appearance of evil’ to the Conservatives and they have to go.
It appears everything was fine until the media reporting on the senators became troublesome to the Prime Minister, and in his mind, the only way out was to axe his own people, even though one was very active and successfully involved in Conservative fund-raising while traveling on the senate tab.
This scandal may ultimately lead to a show-down between Prime Minister Harper and MPs and other party members who support due process and transparency in government, which was the main reason Mr. Harper was elected after the Liberal’s in and out scandal.
No one in the Conservative Party knows who may be next, as the back-stabbing will continue until the party determines who will be left in charge.
It appears the clean broom Mr. Harper rode to power on is now worn out, dirty, and needs replacing.
Murray Mason
Penticton
