Reader-submitted Article :
Lying is by omission, too

Isn't it rather disingenuous, to say the least, that Premier Kathy Dunderdale and Natural Resources Minister Shawn Skinner, in particular, kept hush-hush about Danny Williams' former right hand woman, Elizabeth Matthews, and her appointment to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) which actually happened in December?

With CBC breaking the story earlier this month that Matthews was the province's nominee for vice-chair, what they didn't break (didn't know?) was that Matthews was already on the board, effective almost three months ago AFTER, a mere two and a half weeks after, her boss curiously packed it in.

It took the Liberal Opposition's release late this week of Minister Skinner's letter to the feds, informing them of the board appointment, for the public to learn the truth of matters.

Skinner claims that she had to be appointed to be nominated for vice-chair. Well, why wasn't that volunteered when CBC broke this on March 3rd? Why not be upfront back in December? And why the lame explanation, the lame attempt to explain away this blatant patronage??

Because it cannot be explained away.

And the utter poppycock that Matthews is the nominee for vice-chair given her communications experience and apparent fast learning is an insult to our collective intelligence. The only reason she is, we learned this week, on the C-NLOPB right now and is the province's choice for its vice-chair is because of who she was to the former Premier. If she wasn't that, and some other communications person in some other department, or someone other than a close associate and friend of the former Premier, forget it. 

This government, past (Williams) and present (Dunderdale), is a bunch who operate in the most secretive and hypocritical of ways. Most politicians, political parties, partisans, are hypocritical, at least, and disingenuous as I stated above regarding Shawn Skinner. But this bold-faced deception about Matthews' actual appointment in December and why the government made it - so that she'd be able to be appointed vice-chair already being on the board, or some such rubbish - well, that makes no sense and insults us all.

When it reaches the point where our politicians are lying to our faces before the cameras like Shawn Skinner has and there is no consequences for it, such as in the past perhaps a demotion, resignation, or a defeat at the polls, then this is the kind of lying and deceit we can come to expect and accept.

It's not only a sad commentary on the duplicitous politicos, but on us, the electorate. But we get what we deserve for our apathy, and our idolatry of false gods.

When we do not demand accountability, this is the result. And we have no one to blame, ultrimately, but ourselves.