{"id":114,"date":"2004-02-16T07:56:58","date_gmt":"2004-02-16T07:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/34.95.25.178\/maggie\/2004\/02\/16\/conspiracy_theory\/"},"modified":"2004-02-16T07:56:58","modified_gmt":"2004-02-16T07:56:58","slug":"conspiracy_theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.golding.ca\/maggie\/2004\/02\/16\/conspiracy_theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Conspiracy theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s a first – L. Ian MacDonald<\/a> made me laugh this morning, and not in the usual derisive, cynical way:
\nPaul Martin said he was unaware, because as finance minister and chief financial officer of the government at the time, he was out of the room when it all happened. <\/i>
\nThis is, of course, in reference to the so-called Quebec Sponsorship Scandal. What I love about this scandal:<\/p>\n


\n1. It conveniently makes people stop talking about Paul Martin’s steamship company.
\n2. It generously adds to the western Canadian perception that Quebec is the centre of the federal universe, that Quebec is one big scandal-ridden mass of corruption, and that Quebec is bad, bad, bad.
\n3. It gives the media an excuse to print yet another unfortunate close-up of Paul Martin, complete with large, cavernous nostrils.
\n4. It lends itself rather well to my personal theory, which is that the apparent rift between Martin and Chretien is really a well-orchestrated political manoeuvre* designed to ensure the re-election of the federal Liberal party.
\nBut here’s the thing – as MacDonald points out, how happy should we be that the guy who was the Finance Minister and essentially responsible for government spending knew nothing? Sure, it can be argued that the Finance Minister can’t be expected to personally account for every penny spent by every department, but when we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars, spent by the PM on potentially shaky deals, do we really believe that no one stuck a head inside Martin’s office and said “you might want to check this out.” After all, isn’t that what the Finance Minister is supposed to do? Check the finances?
\nOh well, at least no one’s naked or pierced.
\n*The theory:
\n-In an effort to make the same old Liberal party look different, Martin stages a grandiose exit, full of huff and puff.
\n-Having established a very public rift between himself and the current PM, Martin meets ‘unofficially’ with the provincial leaders – thus killing two birds with one stone: it makes Martin look like a real Maverick who is a thorn in Chretien’s side, and it makes him look like an unstoppable workaholic who works well with the provinces.
\nThe rationale:
\n-This is not your father’s Liberal party – despite the fact that Martin is only four years younger than Chretien.
\n-Whatever bad stuff we dig up was the other guy’s fault, and since everyone knows they hated each other, how can the current guy be responsible?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a first – L. Ian MacDonald made me laugh this morning, and not in the usual derisive, cynical way: Paul Martin said he was unaware, because as finance minister and chief financial officer of the government at the time, he was out of the room when it all happened. This is, of course, in … <\/p>\n

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