Rahim Jaffer
Ethics Commissioner finally rules properly in Paradis case, but what about others involved?
| March 23, 20122.jpg "David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, is a journalist, author, journalism teacher, poet and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions with the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. His 1995 book, A Poke in the Public Eye, explores the relationships among Canadian journalists, public relations people and politicians. He left journalism after the strike at the Calgary Herald in 1999 and 2000 to work as Communications Director of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which with more than 73,000 members is Alberta’s largest union and Canada’s 10th largest. Alberta Diary focuses on Alberta politics and social issues. Contact: albertadiary @ gmail.com")
In Stephen Harper's 'Albertanized' Canada, being Conservative may soon mean never having to say you're sorry
| April 1, 2011![Murray Dobbin](http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/imagecache/thumbnail/category_pictures/murray dobbin.jpg "Murray Dobbin is a guest senior contributing editor for rabble.ca. Murray has been a journalist, broadcaster, author and social activist for 40 years. A board member and researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, he has written five studies for the centre including examinations of charter schools, and "Ten Tax Myths." Murray has been a columnist for the Financial Post and Winnipeg Free Press and contributes guest editorials to the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and other Canadian dailies. He writes a regular "State of the Nation" column for the on-line journal theTyee.ca which is published simultaneously on rabble.ca.
Murray has written five books, including critical profiles of Preston Manning, Kim Campbell and Paul Martin. His "The Myth of the Good Corporate Citizen" has been described as a citizens' guide to globalization. He has also prepared radio documentaries for the CBC Radio's Ideas series on subjects including taxes, human rights and the right-wing regime in New
Zealand.
A long time social activist Murray has been involved in many movements from the anti-nuclear movement, to the fights against so-called free trade and public private partnerships. He is the founder of Word Warriors, a project which co-ordinates letter-writing to the editorial pages of newspapers across Canada. He is a Senior Advisor to the Rideau Institute on International Affairs.")
Media goes berserk over 'a run-of-the-mill scandal'
Think about this. A troublesome junior minister gets kicked out of cabinet. Her mischief-prone husband, an ex-MP, has been bragging about his government connections to business associates, although no deals have apparently come of it. In other words, a run-of-the-mill scandal with minor implications, of the type suffered occasionally by every government.
Yet the Parliament of Canada has been paralyzed for weeks over it, and the newscasts and political panels revved to the max chasing every trifling rumour. Why would this be?
Checking the dispatches and the pundits, I find references to a "disenchanted electorate," parliamentary committees not having enough resources to investigate, a tendency to political furor, and not much else.
Jaffer hearing an edifying amateur hour
Wednesday's parliamentary hearing with Rahim Jaffer and his partner was inept and embarrassing compared to a Canadian royal commission or a U.S. congressional committee. That's what made it edifying. You could see things happen precisely because the players were so unpractised.
