We have a crisis of ethics to deal with

Re: Morneau to donate shares — Oct. 27

There is a crisis in Spain, brought about by Catalonia separatists. There’s a worldwide nuclear war crisis, created by two inept national leaders. We have the crisis of opioid abuse deaths on our hands. And then there’s the environmental crisis, and more.

Well, here’s another crisis for us to worry about, a crisis in ethics, as currently evident in both the provincial and federal governments.

At the provincial level, we have Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal cohorts at Queen’s Park desperately trying to improve their sagging voters’ appeal ahead of the looming elections. They are attempting to deceive us about the real costs of hydro, hoping this unethical piece of cynicism will help us temporarily forget about the royal mess the government has made of the hydro file, turning it from an asset into a huge public debt, all in the name of political expediency.

And at the federal level, we have Finance Minister Bill Morneau attempting to ransom his way out of deceiving us and the Ethics Commissioner about his financial affairs. This, while he demonstrated that he and the Liberal government’s mantra about concern for “the middle class and those striving to join it” is disingenuous at best, as we learned from recent income tax reform proposals. Mr. Morneau is hoping that the electorate will be distracted enough to overlook his unethical and cynical view of politics, while he uses his “pay $4 to $5 million to get out of jail” card.

These are only two of the latest examples of a crisis in ethics among our political leaders. Small wonder that a growing number of us become disgusted and disillusioned with politics and don’t bother to vote. Ed Grootenboer Waterloo