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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political fundraising habits are no worse than any other politician’s, which is a problem for him.
He’s supposed to be cleaner, more open and transparent, more honourable. Instead, he’s going to dinners with rich people who want things from him and holding out a bag.
Trudeau’s provincial cousins in Ontario have been through this, with a leader — Premier Kathleen Wynne — in much the same position. Decency is part of both Trudeau’s and Wynne’s brand, but they’ve behaved indecently.
Trudeau, like Wynne, has headlined private fundraisers where people pay many hundreds of dollars to be in the presence of the powerful. Trudeau, like Wynne, vehemently denies any impropriety in attending $1,500-a-ticket receptions, with the money going to the Liberal party. Nor is there anything surprising about the sudden rise in donations to the Trudeau Foundation, named for the prime minister’s father, since Justin became prime minister.
Why, there’s nothing wrong with it — parties in a democracy need money to function, you know. We’ve always done it. The other guys do it. I talk to lots of people, whether they give me money or not. I can’t be bought. OK, maybe people perceive a problem, even though there isn’t one, and we’ll address it. Here is our plan, which solves all the problems.
You don’t think it solves all the problems? It does. OK, it doesn’t. Here is our new plan, which also cuts the opposition off at the knees. Let’s stop talking about it.
That’s the path the Ontario Liberals followed, concluding with barring politicians from fundraisers, period. It’s a harsh measure but maybe the best option in this fallen world, which contains both politicians who need money and events that raise it for them. The new rules kick in at the end of the year, so sitting politicians are jackrabbiting around Ontario with their sacks.
Meanwhile the federal Liberals are between “I talk to lots of people” and “I can’t be bought,” so there’s a lot of damage yet to self-inflict.
Of course no politician believes he or she can be bought. But outside Montreal, it’s not as simple as a rich guy sliding a briefcase of bills across a table and saying, “I’m buying you.” The money doesn’t go into the politician’s pocket, it goes to some cause he or she cares about, whether that be a hospital or the next election campaign. It buys a chat. Warm feelings when the next thing comes up that’s important to the rich guy. This is a matter of social psychology, even hormones. When you spend time with someone, unless they’re really foul, you become better disposed toward them.
Politicians see the ugliness of moneygrubbing when they’re in opposition, then develop severe cataracts upon assuming power.
A few years ago, Coun. Jan Harder was outraged by the idea that her annual charity golf tournament, heavily sponsored by developers whose business the city closely regulates, might have anything improper about it — it raised money for the Queensway-Carleton Hospital! When Rob Ford was mayor of Toronto, he hit up companies that did business with the city for donations to his personal foundation, which supported high-school football programs — for the kids! Good causes, sure, but if the donors wanted to give money to them, they’d do it directly.
At the other end of the power rankings, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump says he’ll avoid conflicts of interest by having his children manage the business with his (and their) name on it and by doing “no deals” while he’s president. Anyway, what’s good for the Trump Organization is good for the United States, right? No?
Here in Canada, Trudeau protests that he’s not part of the Trudeau Foundation any more, which is absolutely true in a technical sense. But his brother remains a director and so do several family friends. The foundation — tiny compared to the Trump Organization, but a real thing nonetheless — will still be there after his political career is over. Surely he is not indifferent to its fortunes.
The people with the money are not there for the food, the golf, the beautiful venue or the scintillating conversation. They’re not giving money to your favoured charity because they love it. They’re doing it, politicians, because they want you to like them. If you didn’t have power, they would not pay hundreds of dollars to be with you. You are not that great.
dreevely@postmedia.com
twitter.com/davidreevely
查看原文...
He’s supposed to be cleaner, more open and transparent, more honourable. Instead, he’s going to dinners with rich people who want things from him and holding out a bag.
Trudeau’s provincial cousins in Ontario have been through this, with a leader — Premier Kathleen Wynne — in much the same position. Decency is part of both Trudeau’s and Wynne’s brand, but they’ve behaved indecently.
Trudeau, like Wynne, has headlined private fundraisers where people pay many hundreds of dollars to be in the presence of the powerful. Trudeau, like Wynne, vehemently denies any impropriety in attending $1,500-a-ticket receptions, with the money going to the Liberal party. Nor is there anything surprising about the sudden rise in donations to the Trudeau Foundation, named for the prime minister’s father, since Justin became prime minister.
Why, there’s nothing wrong with it — parties in a democracy need money to function, you know. We’ve always done it. The other guys do it. I talk to lots of people, whether they give me money or not. I can’t be bought. OK, maybe people perceive a problem, even though there isn’t one, and we’ll address it. Here is our plan, which solves all the problems.
You don’t think it solves all the problems? It does. OK, it doesn’t. Here is our new plan, which also cuts the opposition off at the knees. Let’s stop talking about it.
That’s the path the Ontario Liberals followed, concluding with barring politicians from fundraisers, period. It’s a harsh measure but maybe the best option in this fallen world, which contains both politicians who need money and events that raise it for them. The new rules kick in at the end of the year, so sitting politicians are jackrabbiting around Ontario with their sacks.
Meanwhile the federal Liberals are between “I talk to lots of people” and “I can’t be bought,” so there’s a lot of damage yet to self-inflict.
Of course no politician believes he or she can be bought. But outside Montreal, it’s not as simple as a rich guy sliding a briefcase of bills across a table and saying, “I’m buying you.” The money doesn’t go into the politician’s pocket, it goes to some cause he or she cares about, whether that be a hospital or the next election campaign. It buys a chat. Warm feelings when the next thing comes up that’s important to the rich guy. This is a matter of social psychology, even hormones. When you spend time with someone, unless they’re really foul, you become better disposed toward them.
Politicians see the ugliness of moneygrubbing when they’re in opposition, then develop severe cataracts upon assuming power.
A few years ago, Coun. Jan Harder was outraged by the idea that her annual charity golf tournament, heavily sponsored by developers whose business the city closely regulates, might have anything improper about it — it raised money for the Queensway-Carleton Hospital! When Rob Ford was mayor of Toronto, he hit up companies that did business with the city for donations to his personal foundation, which supported high-school football programs — for the kids! Good causes, sure, but if the donors wanted to give money to them, they’d do it directly.
At the other end of the power rankings, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump says he’ll avoid conflicts of interest by having his children manage the business with his (and their) name on it and by doing “no deals” while he’s president. Anyway, what’s good for the Trump Organization is good for the United States, right? No?
Here in Canada, Trudeau protests that he’s not part of the Trudeau Foundation any more, which is absolutely true in a technical sense. But his brother remains a director and so do several family friends. The foundation — tiny compared to the Trump Organization, but a real thing nonetheless — will still be there after his political career is over. Surely he is not indifferent to its fortunes.
The people with the money are not there for the food, the golf, the beautiful venue or the scintillating conversation. They’re not giving money to your favoured charity because they love it. They’re doing it, politicians, because they want you to like them. If you didn’t have power, they would not pay hundreds of dollars to be with you. You are not that great.
dreevely@postmedia.com
twitter.com/davidreevely
查看原文...
