Conservatives fail to deliver on election promise of accountability and transparency in Ottawa

Imagine if a leader was elected on a free market platform, and then after elected nationalized core industries. How would people react? What if a leader was elected promising a passive foreign policy, diplomatic engagement, and then after taking power suddenly starting declaring unilateral war and invading neighbours? How would people react? Okay, now imagine a leader was elected promising to bring openness, accountability and transparency to Ottawa and then upon taking power becomes the most secretive, controlling, resistent to shed light, least accountability regime of recent memory. How would people react, or more rightly, how should they?

Ibbitson piece today highlights the absurdity of withholding basic expenditure, revenue figures, in the name of "cabinet confidence". What the Conservatives have done on the prison, corporate tax files, is a complete affront to the most basic and fundamental tenets of our democratic system. That this obscene example of secrecy isn’t a "one off", all the more alarming.

Ibbitson is right to note a vulnerability for the Conservatives moving forward, but I find it concerning that this government can still mention accountability with pride and not be laughed off the stage. In other words, it remains to be seen if voters will hold these complete failures accountability at the voter box, or if we are such a detached lot, nobody even notices. We have a government that personally mocks watchdogs they’ve campaigned for, has put a "chill" across the public service, has done everything in their power to withhold, frustrate, oppose, every attempt to extract even the most basic of information. What is happening, has happened, gives every indication will happen in the future, simply astounding and yet…

Enjoy your deep sleep Canada, because while you slumber, these bandits are robbing all of us blind.

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