In our Jan. 24 edition I wrote a short news item about two recent breaches of parliamentary protocol by Conservative MPs Julian Fantino and Jim Flaherty. In an interview for the article, Wascana Liberal MP Ralph Goodale sharply criticized the Harper Conservatives for confusing their interests as a political party with their current status as the government of Canada.
“When you deliberately muddle together the well-being of a political party with the government you will inevitably abuse the public’s trust and use money for improper purposes,” Goodale said.
Goodale also suggested that with an ever-growing string of scandals and missteps, government MPs seemed to be of the opinion that “the rules don’t apply to them. They apply to everyone else, but not them.”
You can add another name to that list of MPs with today’s announcement that Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan (pictured) was resigning from cabinet for writing an “inappropriate” letter to the Tax Court of Canada in 2011 on behalf of a constituent. You can read more in this Globe & Mail report.
