‘Trudeaugate’ vs. Watergate

Re: Damning testimony from principled witness, Andrew Coyne, and Is that blood on the floor of the PMO? Colby Cosh, Feb. 28

Having covered Watergate for the London Observer and Montreal Star, I may be qualified to suggest that former justice minister Jody Wilson-raybould was correct to draw a parallel with the “Saturday Night Massacre” of Watergate in refusing to surrender to pressure from Trudeau to drop criminal charges against a Quebec corporation.

In the Watergate scandal and what I now call Trudeaugate on Twitter, it was the media, not the political opposition, that uncovered the scandal — The Washington Post and The Globe. In both cases, senior officials in the administration resigned because they felt the rule of law may have been abused by their leader.

Richard Nixon and Justin Trudeau compounded their distress by dismissing initial news reports of the scandals as fake news, confirming the adage that the coverup can be worse than the crime.

But there is a big difference between Watergate and Trudeaugate. Nixon resigned in disgrace when most members of his Republican party joined the Democrats in demanding his impeachment. In Canada, it seems Trudeau will be safe until the October election because so few Liberal MPS are prepared to support meaningful Parliamentary inquiries into his alleged crimes of commission and omission. Raymond Heard, former communications director to the Rt. Hon. John Turner and the Liberal Party of Canada, Toronto

GEORGE TAMES / THE NEW YORK TIMES FILES Richard Nixon waves as he leaves the White House following his resignation on Aug. 9, 1974, after Watergate.