I’ve got to say I’m sensing a theme here.
And it’s not a pretty one.
The most egregious example is in Ontario.
There, Finance Minister Rod Phillips left for St. Barts in the Caribbean on Dec. 13 after setting up a stream of Twitter photo-ops designed to show that he was still in the province. A Zoom call made from St. Bart’s by the minister on Dec. 16 featured a pasted-in backdrop of the Ontario legislature — made-in-Ontario wallpaper for a fun-in-the-sun minister. Some viewers argue you can hear the distinct sound of surf breaking on a beach on the call. (Listening to the call, I’m not sure the sound was waves. More disturbing was Phillips waxing poetic about we all having to give up things that are “the spice of life, the things that make our lives worthwhile.”)
As of Thursday, he was Ontario’s ex-minister of finance, after tendering his resignation.
But Phillips is not the only politician who seems to believe health advice is meant for others.
In Quebec, former Liberal Party interim leader and MNA Pierre Arcand decided this was the best sort of time — despite warnings from the federal and provincial governments against non-essential travel — to head to Barbados for a holiday vacation. Another Quebec MNA, the Coalition Avenir Quebec’s Denis Tardiff, left his party’s caucus after video surfaced show him not respecting social distancing rules at a bar.
Saskatchewan’s highways minister, Joe Hargrave, headed to Palm Springs to tie up the sale of property over the holidays, despite the advice against non-essential travel by his own government. Thursday night, CBC News reported that Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs Tracy Allard visited Hawaii in December on a family vacation.
Then, reporters started taking a hard look at all sorts of politicians, and the floodgates opened.
This isn’t new: when the pandemic was just starting, Newfoundland and Labrador’s current justice and public safety minister Steve Crocker was winging his way south with his wife for a Florida vacation during a week set aside by the legislature for meeting with constituents — he later said it was “clearly the wrong decision.”
P.E.I.’s health minister, James Aylward, came back from a business trip in Ireland and was told by public health officials that he should self-isolate, but made two stops on his way home, including a grocery store.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Minister John Haggie and Labrador Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster held Liberal campaign fundraising events that were within the bare letter of the rules, but hardly set a good example for limiting public interactions. Premier Andrew Furey said the fundraisers would stop.
New Brunswick’s government urged people to stay home and follow COVID-19 restrictions — and the government then called a snap election.
Before the pandemic? It’s hard to count the examples of politicians — from federal ministers to the premier of Manitoba on down — making it appear they were at home at work among the people, when they were actually far away.
It’s like there’s one rule for the little people, and something else again for everyone else.
“You shouldn’t do it — but it’s OK if we do.”
Do we hold politicians to a higher standard? Yes, of course we do. And we should — at times like this, they should be leading by example, even if that means sacrifice. Because we’re all being asked to sacrifice.
“There can’t be rules for elected people and non-elected people,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters when he was asked about Phillips’ trip.
So why does it keep happening? Why break the rules, and then apologize and hope it goes away? Why not think about the ramifications first?
Is it just the type of people we keep electing?
Russell Wangersky’s column appears in SaltWire newspapers and websites across Atlantic Canada.
