I think Trudeau et al should fear the Ghost of Scandals Yet to Come more than any spectre they have yet seen.
The name Ebenezer Scrooge is more apt to conjure up images of an old- fashioned snowy Christmas than a political scandal in the middle of a July heat wave. But the lessons of A Christmas Carol do not live only one day of the year.
As you recall, and if not you need to read the story or watch the 1951 classic with Alastair Sim, not George C. Scott’s 1984 made- for-tv disaster or the unspeakable musical with Alec Guinness’s Marley’s ghost from hell, after a series of negative experiences turn the sensitive young Ebenezer Scrooge into a hard- hearted if sharp-witted miser, the visit of the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future recall him to his senses and he apologizes to all and sundry for his misdeeds. And becomes a better man.
And becomes a better man.
Yes, I said it twice. And no, it’s not a copy- and- paste error. It’s the core of the story. “Scrooge,” Dickens wrote, “was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.”
What has this sentimental rubbish to do with hard modern realities, you ask? And I’m glad you did, because the answer is “Everything.” In the past few days we’ve seen some spectacular entries in the non- apology genre over the WE funding scandal. And it’s tempting to dwell on the slippery words and evasive techniques that fill us with queasy admiration.
There’s Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who earlier forgot he had a French villa, saying he should have recused himself from the gigantic sole- sourced handout to a charity his daughter worked for “to avoid any perception of conflict.” Although she works in “an unrelated branch.” And “I now realize.” So he wasn’t really wrong. But here’s the kicker: “I apologize for not doing so, and moving forward, I will recuse myself from any further discussions related to WE.” Just that? What of other things where there might be that blasted “perception of conflict” from the rabble not to the manor born?
Then there are those fullpage newspaper ads from well- heeled WE saying how great they are including checking the identity politics box. “Our team worked hard. In the first week after launch, there were 35,000 applicants. Students across the country joined, and 64 per cent were visible minorities.” But when the controversy erupted, WE piously handed it back to the government, “hoping to save the opportunities we had created for students.” Despite which “Valid questions have persisted, and we want to answer them.”
Just not accurately. For instance “the public service has openly stated that it was their recommendation for WE Charity to receive the contract for this project.”
After more self- congratulatory prose they say “We have made mistakes that we sincerely regret.” But you can look over their “Message” ‘ till your eyes ache and not find anything specific. ( The thing ends “No charitable funds were used for this message” even though it’s from something called “WE Charity and its Co- Founders.”)
Then there’s the PM who, after trying hard to change the subject “like an octopus squirting ink” in the words of one colleague, managed to produce what another colleague called his best apology yet and “He would have nailed it if he’d just stopped there. He didn’t, going on at some length about his commitment to youth issues and how unprecedented the pandemic is, and so on and so on.” Which might work if we all forget about it over an August Bank Holiday whose name we can’t even now agree on ( Regatta Day, anyone? Colonel By Day? Benjamin Vaughan day?). Or it might linger on if “the shoes keep dropping.”
It could happen. They seem to have quite the closet full. But I think Trudeau et al should fear the Ghost of Scandals Yet to Come more than any spectre they have yet seen. For imagine if Scrooge, after all he’d been through, had gone back to being a cleverly mean, self- absorbed wretch. ( Like Scott’s Scrooge, who changes his ways but not his smugness.) The last state of that man would have been worse than the first.
Words expressing genuine contrition sure beat “if anyone is offended” blame-shifting or drivel about perceptions. But remember that after Scrooge’s redemption “it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!”
Including a new Trudeau, ethical, transparent and humble. Because the old one’s “sunny ways” were cold, bleak and biting.
FOCUS MAY BE ON RECOVERY BUT ... IT IS REALLY ABOUT SURVIVAL. — BURNEY