Bad Day at the Office ? Conservative MPs Outbursts, Private Remarks reflect on Harper

How do you feel when you see somebody making a scene in public ? Do you cringe while he or she yells and stomps their feet ? Do you avert your gaze when they curse the world and everyone within spitting range ? Do you feel bad that others sharing the temper tantrum thrower's space have to put up with such juvenile behaviour ?

What if the tantrum thrower in question was a federal cabinet minister ?

That's exactly what happened last Friday at the Charlottetown airport on Prince Edward Island. Helena Guergis, Minister of State for the Status of Women, threw a massive tantrum (with help from an assistant) when she arrived 15 minutes before her flight was due to depart. According to the Globe and Mail's story about the incident, Guergis threw a mother of a tantrum (aided by the assistant) after arriving 15 minutes before her flight was due to depart. Apparently, Guergis and her lovely assistant kicked at the gate's glass security doors while the junior minister made a fool of herself.

Even before the pair reached the flight's boarding gates, "When (Guergis and her assistant) reached security, she ran through the metal detectors, (the source) said, setting off the bells. 'She took her boots off and she threw them at a security official, he said, berating them the whole time."

Guergis has since apologized, although her contriteness hasn't stopped the opposition Liberals from calling for her resignation. As a happy coincidence, this was the same day that Transportation Minister John Baird announced the introduction of a new airport security fee. Of course Baird had the inside scoop — he knew the tax is intended to protect Canadian travelers from mean-spirited federal Conservative MPs.

If Helena Guergis's lapse in judgment had been an anomaly I wouldn't be writing this post. But it wasn't. Since Stephen Harper came to power there's been a string of incidents, probably more than I could count on both hands if I chose to, where his MPs and cabinet ministers make asses of themselves in public. But it's more than that — these instances show what kind of office culture flourishes in Harper's government.

I'm sure most people reading this have had an experience with a boss from hell they would like to forget. Working in an office where you're berated constantly, or where the boss is just a garden variety bully, is unpleasant. And if the person is running a company (or a government) that attitude could easily trickle down. Why, it might even be adopted by his or her top lieutenants (in this case, cabinet ministers)

Canada is not alone here. Recent news from Britain has revealed that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a rather nasty temper.

Here's a few examples of Conservative ministers who thought they were speaking 'off the record':

1) John Baird's infamous telling off of Toronto. While attending a meeting in British Columbia, Baird wandered into a meeting room. Speaking to aides (and unaware of a reporter listening in) Baird vented about Toronto mayor David Miller's desire to use stimulus funding from Ottawa for the purchase of new TTC streetcars. Toronto's plans for these federal dollars didn't match the Conservatives' guidelines for how the money would be allocated.

"Twenty seven hundred (cities) got it right. They didn't. This is not a partnership and they're bitching at us. They should fuck off," Baird said.

2) MP Lisa Raitt, formerly the Natural Resources Minister, was caught on tape dishing to aide Jasmine MacDonnell about Canada's medical isotope shortage. Said Raitt, "(the isotope issue is) sexy. Radioactive leaks. Cancer." That embarrassment lost MacDonnell her job, but Raitt held on, at least until Harper shuffled (demoted ?) her to Minister of Labour.

What a nasty work environment these people must have to deal with to behave in this fashion. And despite the fact that apologies were forthcoming in all cases, I firmly believe that what somebody says in private is more truthful than any public remorse that might follow.

I, for one, can't wait until the next federal election comes. I eagerly await a Liberal platform. And I'm also going to be closely following the party's conference in Montreal at the end of March, Canada at 150: Rising to the Challenge.

On another topic, U.S. President Barack Obama held a marathon 6 hour meeting on health care with powerful Democratic and Republican politicians yesterday at Blair House in Washington. I continue to be impressed that Obama is reaching out to his political opponents and asking for their constructive contributions to reforming America's health care system. I hope those who cared enough to pay attention came away from viewing the debates with an understanding of the stubborn and exhausting opposition to his legislative proposals that Obama has to put up with every day from Republicans.

One more point of interest; in yesterday's Toronto Star fire-tongued columnist Rosie DiManno published two 'Babes of the Games' lists — one for the men and one for the women. I'm quite pleased that U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir, an inspiring human being, made Rosie's list. Weir deserves the praise for his poise, thoughtful quotes, and overall class and dignity.

Conservative Ministers' Mistakes Reveal Something Darker than Tory Blue

Well, it's certainly been an interesting week for federal politics in Canada.

First off, we have Lisa Raitt, the federal Natural Resources Minister. She was recorded on tape, a tape that was later made public by a Halifax reporter, saying that a medical isotope crisis involving the Chalk River nuclear reactor (which had to be shut down) is a "sexy" issue. She also took apparent delight that federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq was mishandling the situation. Raitt made comments on the tape suggesting that she could benefit politically from the crisis.

NDP leader Jack Layton's response to Raitt's words sums up many of my feelings nicely, so I'll quote Jack: "There is nothing sexy about thousands of suffering Canadians on waiting lists for cancer treatment. There is nothing sexy about radiation. There is nothing sexy about losing a family member to cancer. Why will the minister not resign and the Prime Minister accept it?"

Granted, Question Period in the House of Commons is full of carefully planned sound bites and lots of artificial, blustery political 'outrage,' but in this case Layton's criticism hits the mark. Raitt's comments on the tape show someone willing to use an issue that causes suffering to others (cancer) to further her political ambitions. That makes me sick. Naked self interest should have no place in a situation where peoples' lives could be changed by the outcome. What if it was your mother or brother who needed those isotopes so a doctor could check for cancer in their bodies? What if there weren't enough isotopes to go around and they had to wait months to find out whether they had cancer?

Onto our government's next foot-in-mouth moment of the week. Transport Minister John Baird was overheard at a conference in Whistler, B.C., telling Toronto to fuck off. Baird was referring to federal cash that's marked for infrastructure spending — all $4 billion of it. Baird was complaining to aides, in what he thought was a private moment, that Toronto doesn't meet technical criteria for the money. "Twenty-seven hundred people got it right. They didn't. This is not a partnership and they're bitching at us. They should fuck off," Baird said.

Lovely.

The Toronto Star's Thomas Walkom wrote a good opinion piece about both of these gaffes in today's issue. You can read it online here.

John Baird and Lisa Raitt have since apologized for their words, but I'm not exactly convinced of their sincerity. Words spoken in private, and not before rows of television cameras and whirring tape recorders, seem truer to me than the latter kind. The mistakes of Harper's ministers are only going to feed public perceptions that federal Tories are all emotionally cold and hostile. I'm sure this isn't true, but that's the impression these remarks create. It's only going to hurt them come the next federal election.

And seats in the 416 area code? They can forget about touching those (again)

Every once in awhile it would be nice if individuals in power showed a little compassion and pity. Maybe I'm asking too much.