The media just can’t stop itself from publishing the dirt they see all over an NDP MP in Quebec who happens to be an attractive, young, single mother and barkeeper before she was cast onto the national stage due to a pre-booked Vegas vacation and then the Orange Crush election event. If the media is onto a scandal, what does it prove except what every cynical Canadian already suspects: that their MPs are liars and worse than liars? In other words, it costs nobody anything if this is true, except the reputation of a young MP.
To those concerned about one NDP MP being caught with either a mistake or a lie on her (auto)biography CV, please read this: A likely 25-42% of government applicants will lie on their resume, meaning of 308 MPs, one is an unlikely number (seventy seven, is more plausible). Who else will be caught? Who cares? It’s a drop in the unethical ocean of parliament!
How Not to Lie on Your Resume: Don’t write one, and especially don’t let a political staffer write your bio for you.
I’m much more interested in how the media has such very poor perspective, because that’s a really hot story that won’t make it to print. It’s obscene to put more energy into burying a backbench MP who has never even voted on a bill, while the newspapers and TV reporters, and radio talking heads let important issues like Contempt leave the front burner. Do we have an accurate price estimate for the ENGINELESS F-35 jets that the US government is balking over buying due to obscene cost overruns? No, and we won’t get one either because our government was just re-elected after contemptuously violating the rules of Parliament in hiding the true costs from us and journalists alike. Well, I guess following the money doesn’t sell newspapers or ad space, so who gives a fig, right? It’s only tax dollars going to weapons companies.
ADDED: Macleans wonders what is worse: Placeholder MPs, or Placeholder candidates?
We’ve got price estimates for the F-35. Just look at what other countries are budgeting for it. We aren’t going to get a better deal than they do, no matter what 4 of 10 says. (4 of 10 is my new nickname for Harper — it keeps the narrowness of his political foundations front and center.)
It’s a problem that we have to look to other countries to do the homework that our MPs are tasked with. The media could possibly spend more time discussing that than a doctored resume that means little now that she’s “hired” and the NDP has apparently apologized for incorrectly padding it.
Presumably the same nickname was applied to Chretien?
What nickname? Barkeeper?
thank you!
Oh oh, I may have gone too far if the NDP partisans are happy with something I wrote ;-)
Oh wait, hang on, Jeff to the rescue ;-)
Jeff Cliff: “Lying on your resume is not acceptable to me. But then again, she isn’t my MP.”
Yeah, I hate the NDP as much as the next sane person but I feel bad for this chick, the NDP isn’t the first party to run a placeholder candidate and they won’t be the last.
Move on media, move on to the question we all need an answer to: WTF were Quebecers thinking!?!?