Initially published in the Alliston Herald on September 12, 2008
With a premature federal election now upon us, I am especially curious as to the strategy that will be pursued by those who seek to unseat our current Member of Parliament, Helena Guergis.
In particular, will the contest follow Marquis de Queensberry rules or will it digress to a "down and dirty" battle the likes of which haven't been seen in this region since George McCague snagged the provincial conservative nomination from Wally Downer back in the 1970s?
One politically active friend recently mused that if he were running a campaign against Guergis he would almost certainly "go negative".
There is no question that over the course of the past year Guergis has taken a rather severe thumping in both the national media as well as the increasingly prominent "blogosphere".
Back in March Don Martin, the respected national affairs columnist for the The National Post, described Guergis as the Conservatives' "greatest lost cause" and "over her head as a Cabinet member". Remarkably, it got worse. Martin added that Guergis should be removed from Cabinet before her "...amateur antics and strange behaviour trigger an international incident."
Perhaps concerned that he hadn't yet made his point, Martin referred to Guergis' "many gaffes" and "diplomatically stunted behaviour" before concluding that the Prime Minister should return Guergis to the backbench as a place better suited to her abilities.
The national television media have not been any kinder. In a W-5 feature related to Guergis' handling of the Brenda Martin affair (the Canadian woman who languished in prison in Mexico on rather questionable criminal charges), Guergis was not, to put it mildly, cast in a favourable light. In fact, those who viewed W-5's "attempted" interview of Guergis during a press conference at a Canadian Tire store might legitimately wonder whether she was moving faster than Donovan Bailey circa 1996 in her effort to avoid the television cameras!
As the result of her "hot-foot" from the cameras Guergis did not proceed with an announcement of funding for sport for underprivileged children. Nevertheless, the botched announcement cost taxpayers in excess of $3,000.00.
Perhaps the most vicious criticism of Guergis has come from numerous internet blogs which are loaded with uncomplimentary adjectives. One individual has gone so far as to post a "YouTube" video that shows an authentic video clip of Guergis answering a "kwestion" (satirically spelled) in the House of Commons. However, the voice dubbed over the video is not that of Guergis but rather the infamous contestant from South Carolina who, in the course of 2007's Miss Teen USA, notoriously bumbled (to be kind) a question on foreign affairs.
Much criticism of Guergis relates to her apparent unwillingness and/or inability to depart from a partisan script. Those who attended the local debates in the course of the last election will recall that the Conservative policy book was never far from hand. Spontaneous she was not!
From the cynical perspective I am not particularly bothered by a politician's fervent adherence to partisan rhetoric. Guergis is not the first politician to conduct herself in this manner and she certainly (unfortunately) won't be the last.
However, my personal trepidation with Guergis relates to a concern that she is too willing to compromise her own values and beliefs if they might interfere with the advancement of "her career". Indeed, if Guergis is prepared to place personal advancement in priority to her own principles, there is no reason to believe the values and principles of the residents of Simcoe-Grey will fare any better.
Two examples in particular highlight this concern. In 2003, when Guergis was a provincial Progressive Conservative candidate in the Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina, she was quoted at an all-candidates debate as being in support of same-sex marriage. However, as the Simcoe-Grey Conservative candidate in 2004 (a more socially conservative area) Guergis reversed this earlier position and asserted her opposition to same-sex marriage.
Once again, when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor of the House of Commons in 2005 to join the Liberals an indignant Guergis expressed her outrage and advised of her intention to advance a private member's bill to prohibit future floor crossings. However, when David Emerson crossed the floor to join the Conservatives in 2006, Guergis' indignant outrage rapidly dissipated. In a twist of irony worthy of a Monty Python skit, Guergis abandoned her previously stated beliefs and chose personal advancement as a junior minister to Emerson.
To borrow (and slightly alter) the gist of a quote from Winston Churchill: Some change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of personal gain.
