Politicians behaving badly seem to be dominating the discussion these days, diverting attention and resources away from important public issues. Wouldn鈥檛 it be better to just ignore the shenanigans and get back to the business at hand?
No 鈥� integrity and public trust are essential to good government. The taxpayers need to be assured that the management of government is kept as clean and correct as possible.
Senate officials revealed last week that the independent audit of Senator Pamela Wallin鈥檚 expenses cost $390,000, nearly three times the amount of ineligible expenses she was required to pay back. The costs will be even higher as the RCMP continue their investigation into Wallin鈥檚 expenses and the expenses of other senators.
The Senate expenses issue is nickel-and-dime stuff compared to the $100-million Liberal government sponsorship scandal of more than a decade ago, so why bother worrying about it?
Why be concerned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems intent on shoving the Senate expenses scandal under the rug in hopes it will fade from public attention by the next election? Why should Torontonians care what Mayor Rob Ford does in his private life?
Because to ignore wrongdoing by public officials is to condone and encourage it. Cynics might say that鈥檚 just politics, but that doesn鈥檛 make it right. Yes, these kinds of things happen regularly, but if the system is not periodically disinfected by public scrutiny and investigations, the rot will grow; uncorrected errors have a way of compounding.
As for Ford, public figures are entitled to privacy, but only to a certain extent. A politician whose private life is in shambles cannot provide good leadership and effective government.
Exposing errors and wrongdoing to public light is part of the process of steering things straight when government affairs go off course. Those corrections are best made before a major wreck happens.
