by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
april 26, 2004
NDP MP Svend Robinson held a news conference in his riding office on april 15. Surrounded by his same sex partner and MP Libby Davies, the long-serving Member of Parliament made a tearful statement about how he spent his Good Friday weekend. Robinson attended an auction where he "pocketed" an expensive ring. after he left he realized that he committed a boo-boo but was too afraid to go back and return the jewelry. He fretted all weekend and then went to a police station the following Tuesday. at his news conference, Robinson admitted that the venue where the auction was held had surveillance cameras everywhere and many, if not most, people in attendance knew who he was.
Occasionally sobbing uncontrollably on his partner’s shoulder, Svend gave the greatest performance since Jimmy Swaggart confessed to trying to obtain the services of a prostitute for $15. Socialist Svend has much more exquisite taste than Swaggart, although at least the latter was willing to part with a few bucks.
The outpouring of sympathy for Robinson’s theft of a $50,000 ring that came from Prime Minister Paul Martin and much of the mainstream media showed that when you are a committed lefty you can get away with just about anything. Even so, it is hard to understand the broad sympathy for Svend.
Political views aside, he is not a very nice person. He despises anyone who doesn’t think the way he does, even if those people are fellow NDP members. He was the guy who heckled former U.S. president Ronald Reagan when Reagan addressed the House of Commons in 1987. Robinson is aggressive but when his aggression is repelled, he whines and cries. He protested at the 2001 Summit of the americas in Quebec City and then cried because his pants got damaged. The anti-Israel MP provoked an Israeli army soldier into pushing him back when Svend insisted on going to Ramallah to see his idol, Yassir arafat. From the right-to-die, to gay rights, no matter what cause the arrogant Robinson takes up, it always ends up being just about Svend.
and that’s the way it was at his press conference. He cried and cried but never did, as much of the media reported, apologize to the capitalist pig that owned the ring for depriving him of his property. all Robinson talked about was his legal problems and his medical problems and ended up portraying himself as the poor victim in this. With tears streaming down his face, it was me, me, me, while partner Max and MP Libby put their hands gently on Svend’s shoulder.
Robinson received a lot of kudos for going to the police, giving them the ring and confessing. His confession is suspect. He knew he was filmed and recognized and that it was only a matter of time before the police went to him. Not unexpectedly, the auctioneers reported the theft to the police 48 hours before Robinson showed up. Why did Robinson wait until the end of the long weekend? Did he think that the police station was closed until then? Not likely considering his prior dealings with police.
No Svend’s tearful and carefully orchestrated press conference was pure politics. He drew rave reviews for admitting that he is a thief, even though he used words like "pocketed" to describe his actions (and yes Virginia, shoplifting is stealing). The public contrasted Robinson’s admission of his actions with Paul Martin who as the Finance Minister for nine years, saw nothing, heard nothing and knew nothing about what was going on around him. Svend Robinson has probably lost more political instinct than Paul Martin could ever dream of having. Had Martin admitted knowing what was going on, blamed Jean Chrétien while accepting some responsibility, adscam would have been forgotten by now and we would be in the middle of an election campaign with the Liberals headed for another majority government. Even though Robinson may face charges, his press conference effectively became the climax of the melodrama and he’ll miraculously recover from his medical and legal ills.
This is not the end of Svend. He’ll be back. Probably proposing amendments to hate crimes legislation to include thieves as an identifiable group .