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Monday May
12, 2008 BACK | NEXT
More dangerous in Afghanistan than
in bed by Angelo
Persichilli
THE HILL
TIMES
From the Queen of
England to the former wife of a biker gang leader: what a single-day
tumble for the leader of the Bloc Québécois Gilles Duceppe. I'm not
surprised by the reaction of the Liberals. It's been several years
now since the glorious p
arty, once led by people like St. Laurent, Pearson, Trudeau and,
Jean Chrétien, have thrown themselves onto piles of mud and tried to
take everybody with them.
Duceppe's Bloc and Jack Layton's
NDP have always tried to be on the issues that, whether you agree
with them or not, were always of great relevance to the people of
Canada (and Quebec).
However, since last week, it looks like
the Bloc has decided to join the Liberals, bringing together the two
"desperations." There is no other explanation for the sudden loss of
class by the Bloc: desperation. Now we are left only with the NDP to
count on to keep the government to account.
On Wednesday of
last week, Duceppe resorted to a distasteful tirade against the
British monarchy, the day after he resorted to questioning the
private life of a former wife of a biker gang leader, hoping to
refill the electoral separatist tank, which has been running on
empty for months.
The first issue put the dignity of Quebec
on the table. He said in Parliament, "We're not celebrating Canada,
we're celebrating the foundation of Quebec," and, he stressed,
"First of all, I don't feel I'm being represented at all by someone
who represents the Queen. It says that this is not a democratic
system. She's representing the Queen of England." Indeed.
I
happen to share the opinion of Duceppe about the outdated
institution of the monarchy. But we owe respect to the institution
and to the country. The problem for him is that he doesn't believe
in either, even though I assume, as a member of the Canadian
Parliament, he has solemnly pledged loyalty to both in an official
swearing-in ceremony, and, having done so in French, I assume he
knew what he was doing.
But let's skip comments about the
meaning in the Canadian Parliament of words like loyalty, respect,
hypocrisy and consistency, and let's move from the Queen of England
to the former "queen" of the bikers.
In this case, Mr.
Duceppe wants the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime
Bernier because the leader of the Bloc is, get this, concerned about
the national security of Canada. That's a first for a leader who
wants to destroy it.
Bernier's ex-girlfriend 38-year-old
Julie Couillard had relationships in the 1990s with some, at the
very least, controversial figures. She dated Hells Angels member
Gilles Giguère until he was killed in 1996. He was facing charges
for weapons and drugs. Then she married Stéphane Sirois, a member of
the Rockers biker gang who later became a police informant who
testified against his former gang members.
Does this make
Couillard a threat to the security of this country? Unless there is
something specific, I don't think so; especially if the past of any
individual, like Couillard, has no criminal record. And even with a
criminal record, a Canadian citizen has the right to be elected in
the House. In fact, a former convicted bank robber, who paid his
debt to society, ran as a Liberal and got elected, only a few years
ago.
Duceppe might argue that this individual was elected by
the people. That's right, but Bernier has also been elected by the
people too and, in his "contract" with his voters, there is no
clause that stops him from dating someone who was married to a biker
leader 10 years ago. She has no criminal record pending and has
never broken the law.
Is there a possibility that she could
be a mole for organized crime? Of course, the possibility is there,
but this could be true for anybody.
In fact, Ottawa is the
most "moled" place in the country. Everybody spies on everything.
Journalists and MPs are even afraid to exchange confidential
information over their cellphones when they are in the "Ottawa
area." There are rumours that police have more moles inside each
caucus on the Hill than all the members of the Parliamentary Press
Gallery.
What about organized crime? Of course they have
moles on the Hill. They have more than the Canadian police and the
press gallery put together. And organized crime definitely doesn't
use former girlfriends of their bosses as spies, but people like you
and me and the girl next door. They use "invisible" people, not
someone like Couillard, who is very much ... visible.
Is
Bernier's questionable, yet personal, taste in choosing his dates
enough reason to remove him from the government? My mother
definitely wouldn't agree with his choice, but she is not the prime
minister.
If I were Harper I would be more concerned when
Bernier goes to Afghanistan than when he goes to bed.
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