The Transparent Credibility Gap

When I was younger, one of my preferred reading materials was “Mad Magazine”, a glorious combination of humour and satire.

One thing sticks in my mind from those days, from those magazines… Why is it when your child tells a fib it’s called lying, but when the President does it, it’s called a “credibility gap”? (I’m running off memory here, forgive me if I messed that up.)

The reason it popped into my head again, is the ongoing nonsense from Ottawa. Why does it seem that it is impossible for any member of the Stephen Harper Party (SHP) to fess up when they make a mistake or if they screw up?

The standard operating procedure for the SHP seems to be lie about it create a credibility gap.

A while ago, Bev Oda signed a document she (according to the SHP) shouldn’t have signed recommending funding for a group. So rather than just step up and say “I did it by mistake”, she fudged. Someone using “the arm”, the auto signer for important people, signed it for her. In the recommendation someone stuck in a caret and the word “not”, except the two bureaucrats that signed it were in fact sending a recommendation to pay, so an unknown staffer stuck the ^not in on their own accord then later on Bev Oda’s say so.

She got a promotion instead of a kick in the pants.

Tony Clement and the G8/G20 spending fiasco. The tapes say one thing and Hansard says another. Someone changed something, no one’s saying who.

Peter MacKay and his rescue “training mission”. Now we get the emails that the military was hesitant about picking him up and developed the cover story about how MacKay wanted to see them in action. Here’s a thought, in the real world, where we don’t get free helicopter rides, we plan our vacations to not interfere with our work.

Now we have the Stephen Harper talking heads pop up and say “It was OK, it was business”. No. He knew full well that he had an appointment and could have arranged to leave his buddy’s fishing lodge two hours earlier, but instead he misappropriated a military helicopter and then has the gall to lie about it create yet another SHP credibility gap.

Supposedly, when we have elections, we are choosing from among our best people to choose the very best to represent us in the House of Commons. It ain’t happening kids… adults suck it up when they screw up, the SHP crew cover up and fib.

You see where I come from, a person’s word is their bond. If I tell you I will do something, I will do it. If I screw up, it is my responsibility to admit it.

Now if my memory isn’t too far off, Stephen Harper said there would be transparency and accountability on his watch. Ministers would answer for their decisions.

I also recall Stephen Harper saying that the SHP would be better than the Liberals. He preached honesty, integrity, transparency, and accountability.

Or was that all one big credibility gap?

Oh, the guy on the right is Balok the puppet from Star Trek.