by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
December 7, 2004
For the past few weeks, the Conservatives have been hammering away at Judy Sgro, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. While the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have been questioning the government Liberals about joining the United States in their missile defense program, the Official Opposition have been attacking Sgro over "Strippergate". Well, Stephen Harper and his gang have to have something to question the government on. They can’t challenge them over missile defense because the Conservative Party’s policy on the issue is the same as the Liberal Party’s--one of total and utter confusion.
Sgro is accused of fast-tracking the permanent residency status of a 25-year-old Romanian stripper who, along with her husband, just happened to volunteer in the Minister’s campaign office during the last election. Sgro’s main defense is the one that is used by Fearful Leader--gosh, darn, I didn’t know anything about it--never met her, never talked to her, didn’t know who worked on my campaign, yada, yada, yada.
It is also alleged that Sgro’s ministerial assistant, Ihor Wons, met with the peeler in Sgro’s Toronto campaign office to discuss her immigration problems. Calls then rang out from the Tory benches for Wons to be fired. Wons eventually ended up in the in-between world of employment and being fired that is affectionately known as "stress leave".
Occasionally Sgro defends her actions by dumping on the Official Opposition for picking on the stripper because, well, she’s a stripper. It is entertaining to watch the Minister and the government squirm as they defended the exotic dancer program that allows foreign women easy entry to Canada if they undertake to take their clothes off while at the same time, upholding the view that the adult entertainment industry is demeaning to women.
assuming that the allegations against Judy Sgro are true, that is no reason that she should be fired or resign from cabinet. all she has been accused of doing is allowing someone who worked on her re-election campaign to jump the immigration queue. She gave a benefit to someone who worked for the Liberal Part. That’s the Liberal Party way. We all know that.
Paul Martin and the Liberals were re-elected albeit with a minority after the details of adscam became known. Canadians marched to the polls and put their "x’s" beside the names of Liberal candidates knowing full well that the government is probably the most corrupt in the history of Canada. adscam saw the Liberals dish out hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars to Liberal-friendly Quebec advertising firms for doing little or know work. The Liberals take care of their friends. To feign shock over the fact that Judy Sgro benefited someone who stuffed envelopes in her campaign office is laughable. Sgro should get a statue of herself erected on Parliament Hill in recognition of the fact that she favoured a citizen of Romania rather than a Quebecker. She truly does believe in multiculturalism. Sgro should also receive an award for the fact that she upheld that great Liberal tradition of rewarding friends without costing the taxpayer any money. and those on the opposition benches who whine about the fact that some foreign doctor has been kept out of Canada to make room for a lap dancer should really go out and get a life.
after Jean Chrétien appointed Howard Wilson as his ethics counsellor, the opposition were yipping and yapping about the fact that Wilson, who reported to the prime minister, was laughed at for being nothing more than the PM’s lapdog. They demanded an independent ethics commissioner and now they have one. and now, Judy Sgro doesn’t have to be responsible to the House for her actions. "Let the Ethics Commissioner do his job" has become that battle cry of the Immigration Minister and those other members of the Liberal caucus who jump up in the House to defend her. The fact that the Ethics Commissioner is investigating the allegations means that Sgro need not be accountable for her actions unless he, the Ethics Counsellor, determines that she was wrong.
No one is alleging that Judy Sgro broke the law. The notion of ministerial responsibility and doing the right thing by resigning after acting improperly is a thing of the past. MPs wanted an independent ethics commissioner and now they have one--the Liberals are right; they should wait for his decision. We live in an era where the courts legislate and ethics counselors decide who should stay or go in cabinet.
In the meantime Stephen Harper and his boys and girls should make up their minds about missile defense and forget about strippers.