Starting from a Globe & Mail news story shortly after Jody Wilson-Raybould was moved from the office of Justice Minister and Attorney General to minister of Veteran’s Affairs, the news has been abuzz with a possible scandal involving members of the government perhaps attempting to pressure Ms. Wilson-Raybould into changing a decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions to allow SNC-Lavalin the option of, essentially, a plea deal rather than having to face a criminal charge and the resultant penalties for actions they took in Libya.
And, in all honesty, that’s all that we know for sure.
The Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer has said the testimony of Jody Wilson-Raybould at the justice committee clearly indicates that an illegal obstruction of justice has taken place, must be investigated, and Prime Minister Trudeau must resign for his part in it.
Prime Minister Trudeau, on the other hand, says that nothing illegal has happened, and he is backed up on this by several people, including the Privy Council Clerk and the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice herself.
And, unfortunately, the he-said she said gets us nowhere. We have already become so tribalized that the natural bias is to think that everybody on the Liberal side is just saying what they’re saying to protect their position, and that everybody on the opposition’s side is just saying what they’re saying to advance their position. And between the two of them, a desire for the actual truth is something that is irrelevant at best.
It shouldn’t be that way, obviously. But we can’t blame the politicians for it, they’re just doing what plays well in the media. We can’t really blame the media for it either, they’re just doing what keeps viewers in their seats available for the advertisements to be broadcast to them. We have to blame us. We have to look at ourselves and realize that our fascination with the politics, our natural desire to be among the winners and if doing that means denigrating everybody else, well then that’s what it takes, is simply something that has to stop.
I sometimes wonder if what we need to do is become ostriches for a while. Any time something negative comes on the news, about anybody, we simply shut it off and choose not to watch or listen. Kill the ratings of those who post negative news, and while that has its own dangers (because negative things do happen in the world), it might shock the news agencies into changing how they report, which would in turn adjust how the politicians act, and wouldn’t it be nice to see politicians trying to push their own positive message rather than simply trying to warn us off voting for anybody else?
Meanwhile, fake news, biased news, and the like continues, so our feature article might give you a little advice on how to deal with it. Unfortunately, it’s not a quick fix, so most of us won’t, but hey, I can dream right? Also, scholarships, events, advice, finances, and more! Enjoy the read!
