Archive 1997-2016
All right class, pull out your pencils and a piece of paper — we’re going to do some quick math.
Now, I know you all had to learn your long division last week, but we’re going to scrap that for now. The provincial government has come up with this new math and we’ve got to learn it as a part of the brand new curriculum.
Alan Neal didn’t have a job when he graduated from Carleton University three years ago. Armed with a journalism degree, Neal went to CBC Radio in Ottawa and offered to work for free for one week. He threw himself into each task and, when the week was over, the producers asked him to stay.
Is accountability among elected politicians dead? Recent news headlines would lead many to believe the answer is yes.
Consider the following:
• In 1963, John Profumo, then British war minister, resigned because he had a relationship with a prostitute who also had Russian officials as clients. He then lied about the escapade to the House of Commons.
Today, U.S. President Bill Clinton has decided to remain in office after lying under oath about a sexual affair with a White House intern.
• In 1990, Jean Charest resigned from Brian Mulroney’s cabinet after trying to talk to a Quebec Superior Court judge about an active case.
Today, Solicitor General Andy Scott has made no attempt to quit after allegedly speaking too loudly on a jet plane. Topics overheard on the flight included the Airbus investigation, the APEC inquiry, and the finances of a member of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission.
• In 1873, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald resigned after accepting election funding from a team of prospective railroad tycoons.
They still call themselves a party, but federal Progressive Conservatives are no fun. They’ve taken the excitement out of their leadership race by breaking a tradition dating back to 1927, when R.B. Bennett was elected Tory leader, and doing away with the leadership convention. They’ve taken the party out of the party.