as we are moving quickly towards a winter election, the sponsorship scandal will once again be put front and centre before the Canadian electorate. But some recent polls have shown that the scandal that concluded with the release of Justice Gomery’s report earlier this month is fading from public consciousness. When the election campaign reaches full throttle, the Martin Liberals will revert to their "Scary Stephen" tactics in an attempt to make Canadians forget all about adscam. Unfortunately many Canadians, especially in squeamish Ontario will buy the Liberal line about how a Stephen Harper government will end Canada as we know it, the sponsorship scandal notwithstanding.
What may be lost in the campaign rhetoric and what seems to have now totally disappeared from the radar screen are the circumstances surrounding the resignation of David Dingwall as head of the Royal Canadian Mint.
Dingwall, a former cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrètien resigned his plum patronage position after it was revealed that his expenses for the year 2004 totalled nearly three quarters of a million dollars. Some of the expenses that Dingwall dinged the taxpayers for were parking although he had a generous car allowance and lived within walking distance of work, memberships in prestigious clubs, and trivial amounts for doughnuts, coffee and bottled water.
When an audit was completed, Dingwall beat the rap for charging a package of chewing gum worth $1.29 to the taxpayers. He had submitted a receipt for that amount to be reimbursed for his favourite brand of chewing gum but it was removed from the stack of receipts by a person whose job it was to oversee his expenses (who knew the Liberals had such people). It seems that the $1.29 was supposed to be covered from the per diem amount that Dingwall was given to cover these types of incidentals.
The fact that the taxpayers were saved from having to pay for this particular package of gum does not alter the fact that Dingwall went to the trouble of getting receipts for things that receipts are not normally prepared for and took the time to submit such receipts. David Dingwall told us a lot about himself when he told a Parliamentary Committee, "I’m entitled to my entitlements".
Things would be different if David Dingwall was somehow an aberration within the Liberal Party; but he’s far from that. The notion that Liberals are entitled to certain things simply because they are Liberals is firmly entrenched within the party. after Dingwall tendered his resignation, Paul Martin sang his praises in the House of Commons, totally oblivious to how hard working taxpayers across the country felt about having to pay for Dingwall’s bottled water and doughnuts. all that mattered to Martin was that Dingwall was a good Liberal and did a good job while heading the Mint. In other words, in Martin’s opinion Dingwall was entitled to his entitlements.
There have been other examples besides Dingwall. Immigration Minister Joe Volpe, who purports to care about immigrants, doesn’t seem to be the least bit concerned that some immigrants who are struggling to support their families by driving a cab at a time of rising fuel prices see their hard earned tax dollars go for his $200 pizza dinners. He works at these dinners. He’s entitled. He’s a Liberal. The hell with them.
When the adscam revelations first surfaced in a big way, Paul Martin tried to put an optimistic spin on the scandal by saying that it was limited to a few rogue public servants. While Justice Gomery found improper procedures being employed throughout the Department of Public Works and Government Services and improper conduct reaching up to the highest levels of the PMO and the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada, the fraud and corruption was not as pervasive as the culture of entitlement that is found throughout the governing Liberals.
The Liberals have been in power too long. They actually believe their own spin that they, and only they, represent Canadian values and are fit to govern the country. To the Liberal Party of Canada, public service means that the public exists to serve them because they are entitled.
During the campaign, Canadians might very well forget the sponsorship scandal. But the voters should never forget Dingwall’s gum — it defines who the Liberals really are.