It’s down to the wire now. One more week and we will know who will form the next government of Canada…or maybe not. The results may be so close that a lot of political maneuvering may take place before we really know who is first up to bat.
In spite of the unexpected closeness of this race, I still believe that Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party will form a minority government. Post-debate polling results support this, giving the Liberals a slight lead over the Conservatives. As most readers of this column will know, this would not be my outcome of choice but as things stand it is what I believe will occur.
However, there is always that “oh, shit” moment that sometimes comes toward the end of a federal or provincial campaign that changes everything.
It happened to former-Premier Frank Miller when, toward the end of his campaign, a junior member of his cabinet from Northern Ontario made an intemperate and anti-Indigenous remark that almost instantly moved Miller from a sure-win to a nail-biter that consequently cost him the government. It also happened to Prime Minister John Turner in that “you had a choice, sir” moment between him and Brian Mulroney.
One thing I am sure of is that every senior campaign official in both the Trudeau and O’Toole camps is cringing over the thought that a last-minute shoe will fall that would change the course of the election for their candidate.
One such moment for the Liberals may well be the publication of former Trudeau attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould’s book, Indian in the Cabinet. It will be in bookstores on Tuesday.
There is a difference between this and former “oh, shit” moments, as the Liberal backroom boys and girls would have seen it coming and surely are prepared for it.
But I wonder if that will be enough. Some of the advance quotes from Wilson-Raybould’s book are pretty compelling. This one, in relation to the SNC scandal, especially:
“I knew what he [Trudeau] was really asking. What he was saying. In that moment, I knew he wanted me to lie — to attest that what had occurred had not occurred. … Lie to protect a Crown government acting badly; a political party; a leader who was not taking responsibility.”
And again: “I thought he would be a good prime minister and create a good team. … I found myself wondering exactly when I first realized I had been wrong.”
It remains to be seen if Jody Wilson-Raybould’s book will resonate, become a seminal moment that affects the outcome of the election. But if it does, how ironic it would be if the person who delivered the coup de grâce to this prime minister is an Indigenous woman and one of two very talented women who left his cabinet and weakened his government because of his antics.
In my view, there was another pivotal moment in the past few days, yes, another “holy crap” moment, which has been largely ignored by the mainstream media but in my view should be a real concern to all Canadians, including Indigenous people.
The raising of our Canadian flag to full-mast, having been lowered for many months in recognition of young Indigenous deaths in residential schools, has become a political issue exacerbated by the prime minister’s recent statement that our national flag on federal buildings will remain at half-mast until Indigenous leaders decide it’s appropriate to raise them again. Think about that.
First of all, think about the onus and unfair burden of responsibility put upon Indigenous people to decide when our national flag, a flag belonging to all Canadians, can fly with pride again. How can they do this when they have so many issues with the Canadian government, from lack of clean water in many of their communities, to the Trudeau Government appealing a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision that affects First Nations children, to ongoing land claims and so on?
How, under these long-standing circumstances, can First Nations leaders just shrug and say, “Okay, let’s put the flag up again?” What a terrible and frankly untenable and potentially antagonistic position to put Indigenous people in.
Next, think about what it means to have our Canadian flag held hostage. One cannot blame Indigenous people for this. The blame lies with the Trudeau Government who have granted to one group of people, albeit an important one, the right to decide when our flag can fly with pride again, as do all others in the world. How is that fair to all Canadians? And why wouldn’t we expect First Nations to use this opportunity that was handed to them to negotiate their differences with the Canadian government?
A good friend of mine recently said to me, “My heart aches today for our country. There is so much anger hate, conflict, even in individual families, never seen before.”
He is right. Canada today, on many fronts and for many reasons, is a divided nation. Trudeau’s most recent statement about our flag simply divides us further.
It is time for that to stop.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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The Scene: The wheel-house of a Canadian vessel, inbound for Sept-Isles.
“Ship coming hard on the port bow sir.” The helm waits for instructions.
“Visual Billie?”
“The SNC Lavalin sir. Bone in her teeth ( the white welter at the bow of a ship at speed). A pennant is up sir. It looks like….. the Jolly Roger!”
“Steer well clear helm. Billie, inform the crew to keep their valuables close.’ The captain looks to his screen again and the ships pass well away from each other.
Billie asks “Where is she going in such a hurry sir?”
“Arrr Billie. The government just announced further funding of Muskrat Falls. 5 billion dollars! There may be some lootin’ and pillagin’ to be done.”
The End
Curious this latest act in the SNC story is announced in the news, safely clear of the election.
But this time, the PM won’t have a recalcitrant Minister of Justice to deal with.
And same as last time, 9,000 jobs will not be lost and stock-holders will not become destitute: SNCs’ ordinary Joe and Jane will continue with their work.
It is noteworthy though, that the members of the upper echelon of this corporation must have the worst retirement package ever for a ‘world class’ organization. Jail just doesn’t have the same appeal as a condo and yacht on Riviera.
In my mind anyway.
To lie, cheat and steal may well be the way of doing business internationally, but I’m sure most folks don’t want companies to bring the practice home. When SNC drew the attention of the lawmakers and enforcers in Canada, some saw it as a debacle. Thousands of jobs would be lost! Shareholders ruined! They(SNC) must be given a deferred prosecution agreement. Under such a deal, it’s kinda like, you are guilty, but you don’t have to admit it; just promise you won’t do it again.
When the crap settled, SNC got a fine of $280 million dollars, to be paid over 5 years and a retired SNC executive went down for 8 1/2 years on a bribery charge. Imagine!
Reports by Osler, Hopkins and Harcourt LLP records some of SNCs’ antics internationally, in countries such as Bangladesh, India and Libya.
9,000 jobs (a number reported in some circles) weren’t going to disappear; SNC has other contracts here and around the world where the work would still go on. There was the suggestion that the company might flee across the border (where it is easier to lie, ….. and..????.).
The World Bank had already imposed an 8 year ban on SNC bidding on any international projects that the WB funded. The big sticker in Canada was if the company would be barred from bidding on Canadian government projects. Government projects in Canada are very lucrative and you dispense with all that travel, foreign languages and stuff.
So now a book has been released that will spin this very story ’til the tires sing and at such an “inopportune” time. But you know what they say about karma.
For me, the interesting part now, is the recent announcement that we tax payers are on the hook for a further 5 billion dollars or so, to fund Muskrat Falls. And guess who is a major player in construction there? No peeking or second guesses.
Maybe a few shares in SNC might be in order. Not mentioned in an advisory capacity; just saying.
To Hugh Holland: I agree; how “convenient…” indeed. I call it – ‘Taking Revenge’. It’s neither kind, helpful, nor necessary.
Mr Holland, your liberal partisanship is palpable. If you took any time to research the sordid SNC affair without your rose colored glasses, you’d find widespread corruption and ethical violations galore. Your smear attempt on Ms. Wilson-Raybold is pathetic…her book was scheduled for publication on the release date before the election was called.
Perhaps your focus should be on why the current prime minister called an election in the middle of the pandemic, after publicly saying he wouldn’t, and wasting 600 million dollars of taxpayer money in the process.
Jody Wilson-Raybold’s book is yet another attempt to justify what is arguably her bad judgment on the SNC Lavalin case. SNC (formerly Dominion Bridge) is one of possibly two world class Canadian engineering and construction companies capable of competing in the very competitive international market. A deferred prosecution agreement is a legal remedy that allows individual in a company to be prosecuted for bad behaviour without damaging the entire company and its hundreds of employees, suppliers, and shareholders.
What would be the legitimate reason that SNC should not be afforded a legal remedy that is available to every one of its international competitors? But for some unknown reason Ms. Wilson-Raybold stubbornly supported her prosecutor who stubbornly refused to consider a remedy that was clearly in the best interest of Canada. And of course, the opposition parties piled on like a pack of vultures to make it an issue that took up months of valuable time for all concerned. You can bet the Conservatives would have taken a very different position if SNC had been based in Calgary instead of the PM’s home city.
How convenient that Ms. Wilson-Raybold would rush her book launch into the middle of an election campaign. But hopefully people are more concerned about the future than the past.
Here, here Susan Godfrey; looking for Canadians to “catch up” to move forward is wise.
My thoughts are that those who are concerned about the flag raising may need it so to have a sense of personal recovery and resilience. If that is the case, I can understand their point of view, one which pushes hope.
How much patience can we have with the suffering of Indigenous communities? My answer is, I hope Canadians can have enough patience for other members of our country to acknowledge, feel, and deal with their pain, so we can collectively move forward. Otherwise, it seems a bit like prescribing how long a community can mourn. What happens when one person prescribes how long a mourner can mourn, especially if one does not/has not walked in the shoes of another?
Have patience Canada.
In my opinion, I can’t think that deciding on whether the flag should remain at half-mast would be top of mind for Indigenous peoples. That suggests a superficial existence when issues of basic, human rights and services are at stake.