Rough, tough Rob was right

Toronto City Hall was a cushy cesspool of excess and privilege when the late Rob Ford stormed into the mayor's office.  Bloated and corrupt, the place was due for a clean-out and Rob did it with gusto.  He cut the number of councillors by half and did away with a number of unnecessary perks and goodies that were eating up taxpayer dollars -- including slashing councillors' $200,000 office budgets, eliminating private club memberships and doing away with limos and chauffeurs.

He left office in 2014 due to illness and died in 2016.  Yes, Ford was a crazy son-of-a-bitch, but his base loved him.  The guy who succeeded him, John Tory, was the polar opposite.  Descended from a upper-class, patrician family, he ran on a platform of restoring "decorum and dignity" to the office, but he has just slipped on a carnal and unseemly banana peel and fallen flat on his letter of resignation.  Seems Tory, the suave devoted "family man", has been caught with his pants down secretly entertaining a female staffer.  Oops!  

Of course, he wouldn't have resigned, had 'The Toronto Star' not got wind of his peccadillo.  And his "apology" actually threw his paramour under the bus, as he said it was wrong for "me to allow this relationship to continue", implying that she was the aggressor.  Typical.  It's all so familiar and indecorous.  The sad part is that he was a fantastic mayor on so many files, but those (monkey) business trips and late nights at the office cadoodling with his "Girl Friday" tripped him up.  

I mean, come on.  Everyone knows office romances and affairs happen all the time; some with married participants, others not -- or as Catherine Deneuve put it, "Some men are available, others not, but it has nothing to do with marital status."  Office affairs are ubiquitous and bound to happen.  As I have said, it I could have a dollar for every co-worker who hit on me, I'd be much richer.  But he did the prudent thing and resigned immediately, cutting off continuing coverage of the mess.  However, now I hear he is being pressured to stay on.  I hope he does for the city's sake.  In the meantime, it may unfortunately be bye bye Mayor Tory....

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Next we have Mary Ng, federal minister of small business, export and international development.  Her transgression, which she claimed (gasp!) she had no idea she was committing, was to let a lucrative contract to her BFF, Amanda Alvaro of 'Pomp and Circumstance Communications'.  Yep, it seems Mary was absent the day they gave all new MPs the ethics course on the do's and don'ts of life as a minister with money to hand out.  

And what does Ms. Ng say?  I made a mistake and it won't happen again.  Of course she should resign, but she won't and Trudeau -- master diddler and ethics breacher himself -- will never ask her to.  His own transgressions are too varied and vast to list.  The other reason, of course, is that Ms. Ng is an ethnic woman and he is a inclusive "feminist".  So, Mary gets to slip one by the boss again.

All these transgressions have been investigated and called out by Ethics and Integrity Commissioner Mario Dion, to neither avail nor consequence.  My question is, why do we even need an ethics commissioner in the first place?  Do people no longer know the difference between right and wrong -- a difference one would hope is learned at a mother's knee?  Apparently, politicians don't, which is why they seek office in the first place.  Power, influence, the chance to reward your friends and have extra-marital affairs seem to trump ethics at every turn.  

Here's Mary testifying to her innocent ignorance of rules at a parliamentary committee this week, all smiles and smugness.  What me worry?!

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A word about Vicky Mochama, a freelance columnist who penned a doozy in today's 'Globe and Mail'.  She actually bragged about how she has been a non-filer of taxes for many years and didn't think she'd file this year either.  

I guess Vicky is another who doesn't get the connection between filing taxes and the law.  She also doesn't get that tax money is what pays for societal infrastructure and health care.  Taxes are what make the country tick.  That she could write in a national newspaper about her illegal behaviour is stupefying.  I sent her an email:

"Good morning, Ms. Mochama.  I was shocked to read your column in ‘The Globe and Mail’ today, bragging about being a non-filer.  As a retired employee of the Canada Revenue Agency, I am a staunch supporter of Canadians paying their taxes.  Afterall, where do non-filers think the money comes for community infrastructure, health care and all the other benefits that make living in Canada so attractive?  Taxes, that’s where – not the nefarious underground economy.

"It always astounded me that those we had to chase to pay their fair share never made these financial/societal connections.  I was disappointed at your glib treatment of not paying your taxes; I hope it won’t encourage others to be similarly delinquent and laissez-faire.

"I always enjoy your appearances on television, but I will now watch through a new lens.

"Sincerely

Nancy Marley-Clarke"

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I'll let you know if she responds.  Miss Vicky: