Wyant neglects public interest with GTH stance
Meanwhile, Wilson-raybould gives voters reason to hope
Why Jody Wilson-raybould’s testimony last week has so much traction with the public has much to do with the notion that hope springs eternal in the ranks of those who truly care about our governance.
Perhaps it is naive hope, but the hope always exists that we have elected good people who — as Wilson-raybould claims to have done when she was federal justice minister and attorney general — draw a line in the sand that they will not cross.
What Wilson-raybould represents right now is less about being Indigenous or a woman than it is about an elected person doing the right thing when, according to her highly believable testimony, those at the highest echelon of power pressured her to do otherwise by considering deferred prosecution of Snc-lavalin.
Defenders will continue to claim that she “misunderstood” her conversations with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or former principal secretary Gerald Butts or that she couldn’t handle the stress that accompanies seeking compromise in politics. It comes down to the ever-cynical notion we should just accept that all parties behind closed doors do (or at least consider doing) morally objectionable things because they need to do those things to stay in power.
Sadly, Wilson-raybould reminded us that moral fortitude is the goal, not the way things are. The political game is still about keeping the other guys out of power. Or so Gord Wyant reminded us last week.
Saskatchewan’s deputy premier has long been considered one of the good guys in Saskatchewan politics. Certainly, he was credited for his principled Saskatchewan Party leadership run last year that may have ended in a distant fourth-place finish, but had a profound effect on Scott Moe’s eventual win.
As a former Liberal (he says he tore up his federal membership card over the carbon tax), Wyant’s very presence in the race said something about the Sask. Party being more than the old Progressive Conservative party financially backed by the province’s business community.
To reiterate this, Wyant was, by far, the most adamant among the leadership candidates on the need to address the Global Transportation Hub (GTH) scandal. In a Jan. 20 article in the Leader-post outlining candidates’ positions on all issues, Wyant boldly responded to the question of an examination into the GTH land purchase: “Yes. I have made an unequivocal commitment to a public inquiry into the GTH once the RCMP investigation had concluded.”
And in an interview with the CBC’S Geoff Leo around the same time, Wyant was even more pointed about why he felt it necessary to take a hard-line stance on cleaning up the GTH mess:
“We need to shine a very, very bright light on this,” Wyant said. “And the only way to do that is to give the commissioner the power that he needs not only to compel witnesses and compel documents and testimony but to make some findings and so that we can put this whole thing behind us as a party.”
Wyant went on to say in the 2018 leadership race that the Sask. Party government — regardless of the RCMP findings — needed to be unequivocal because the only way his government could have true renewal was to eliminate the “cloud of suspicion” that was causing even Sask. Party members to question the GTH. Moreover, a closed RCMP investigation “which isn’t going to be made public ... doesn’t do anything to clear the air.”
Well, fast forward to last week and we hear Wyant — now deputy premier and education minister — say he’s now satisfied with the RCMP investigation and supports the government’s position. Similarly, Wyant also addressed last week the controversial Brandt Development in Wascana Park, saying that “processes were followed.”
Again, we suffer the disappointment of a politician putting their interest ahead of the public interest ... even after stating he would do otherwise.
Maybe that’s why voters cling to the glimmer of hope they saw in Wilson-raybould’s testimony last week. That glimmer of hope still burns bright.