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This is the Life: Political shenanigans provide wealth of entertainment

Alison Redford and Jim Flaherty resignations, Jenny Kwan leave of absence, Rob Ford antics, Greenwood councillor are entertaining...
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Lorne Eckersley is the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance.

Let’s just say we are at a low point in Canadian politics. And who’s to argue, given the sudden resignations of Alberta premier Alison Redford and federal finance minister Jim Flaherty, the self-imposed leave of absence taken by MLA Jenny Kwan, the continued absurdity of Rob Ford staying on as Toronto’s mayor, even the great brouhaha surrounding a councillor in the tiny B.C. town of Greenwood?

Granted, shenanigans are harder to hide than ever before, given that most bipeds now carry cellphones-cum-audio recorders and cameras, and with them the ability to post their findings onto the Internet within seconds of events that traditionally rarely saw the light of day.

Redford’s demise might not have been a huge surprise if she had been brought down by a party in which she never did seem to really fit. But that her own hubris, in the form of a trip to Nelson Mandela’s funeral (in the company of an aide who presumably was along to tote luggage and provide security from her boss’s legions of admirers in South Africa) provided the tipping point. How to explain the utter stupidity, first to run up a large expense, then to refuse acknowledgment of the bad decision, then to flip-flop and agree to pay it back?

Strangely, the biggest surprise, Flaherty’s resignation, hasn’t generated much controversy. He has been a remarkably steady finance minister, who survived an early brouhaha in his early years at Canada’s top financial post when he broke an election promise to impose a tax on income trust. He leaves with a balanced federal budget in the offing — at long last — but his long string of deficits and increases to the national debt were pretty much entirely orchestrated by his boss when Harper lowered the GST.

Machiavellian by almost any definition (including the Oxford English Dictionary’s: “the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct”), Harper was certainly pandering to the general public when he made the cut. More important to his own agenda, though, was that it “forced” his government to make cuts to federal programs and jobs when it led to annual deficits. If there has been one clear message from Harper in his years as prime minister, it is that he doesn’t like government except when it serves to grease the wheels of industry or can be used to reward his loyal followers (former senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin come to mind).

I bring the Greenwood local government situation into the mix only because I was recently asked to provide my editorial opinion on some stories written about a controversy that flared up, leading to the removal of a city councillor from his role as Greenwood’s representative on the regional district board. With a population of only about 700, this tiny Highway 3 speed trap is the country’s smallest city, but not immune to controversy.

“I didn’t realize things could get so exciting in Greenwood politics,” I said to someone familiar with the community.

“It’s always like this,” he answered.

Last I heard, the councillor in question had said he would refuse to attend his council’s in camera meetings without a legal representative, an odd stance considering that in camera meetings would normally only include staff and elected representatives.

Meanwhile, apparently not having tired of his role as Canada’s our goofiest politician in recent memory, Toronto’s Rob Ford has taken his act on the road to become a star of late night American TV shows, which have taken this human train wreck to their not insubstantial bosoms. Having shown no great sense of judgment to this point, it is hardly surprising that he’s taken to the talk show circuit like Redford and Kwan did to free travel. They might have been elected using the theme song Born to Run, but a new version, Born to Run Off as Long as I’m Not Paying the Tab, seems to have taken over.

Strange times, but not without their entertainment value.

Lorne Eckersley is the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance.