Monday, February 27, 2012

The voter interference scandal

It is going to happen sooner or later and it seems to TC this might be the one, the scandal that finally damages the Harper government's reputation as being essentially straightforward and honest.  They don't deserve that reputation,  but so far they have retained it.

However, as Lawrence Martin reminds us in the Feb. 27 edition of iPolitics, the vote suppression scandal is really nothing new for the Harper government:
The Conservatives have been caught up in many shady activities since coming to power. The revelation that they may have been behind a robocall operation to suppress voting for opposition parties would rank, if proven, among the more serious offenses....
In giving or not giving the benefit of the doubt on matters like these, the question of the track record figures prominently. To the misfortune of team Harper, its record on duplicitous activities is hardly one to inspire confidence that its hand are clean.
Be sure to read Martin's description of all the other activities. He lists 22 examples and notes that it is not exhaustive.  To be sure.  After publication came this new revelation in the Toronto Star on the voter interference scandal. That latter phrase, in TC's view, is what this scandal should be called. "Robocall" sounds far too neutral.