This is a comment I left in a thread on police allegations of Liberal malfeasance in yesterday’s Sudbury provincial by-election. I wanted to reprint it here, because I often hear people saying that everyone in politics is corrupt and in it for themselves, and stories like this fuel that kind of sweeping cynicism.
I know good people who serve at all levels of government, and not just from my own political background. One of the worst effects of this kind of manipulation is it comes to define politics and politicians, and that’s toxic to a healthy democracy.
Remember the shooting in Ottawa last October? The next day, parliamentarians were back on the job. Here’s what I wrote on the NOW blog that day:
Of course there are corrupt individuals, mixed motives and bad behaviour. But as anyone knows who has worked with those seeking elected office, and those they employ, there are an overwhelming number of people in public life with a passionate desire to build a better, fairer society. The stress on their families can be enormous; the incessant criticism and personal attacks can be corrosive; the knowledge that progress is all too often incremental can be discouraging. And today, add to that list the threat of physical danger.
We are proud that we work with good, decent people who take on tough, challenging jobs. And we are proud to know that, once the dust settles from today’s horrors, they’ll be back on the job: in Parliament, in provincial and territorial legislatures, in city and town councils and on school boards across the country.
I’m not arguing that we should cut corrupt behaviour some slack. I’m arguing the opposite: the moment we throw up our hands and say this kind of thing is par for the course, we let those who engage in it off the hook.
There are many good people in politics. If anything, they deserve more of our support, not less.
