pass the pork, the violin, and the golf balls...
--------------------
the "little guy from shawinagan", at his rhetorical best:
"Mr. Commissioner, I welcome the opportunity to appear before you today. Government is serious business and democracy requires that the trust that citizens confer on those they elect must always be respected. I have been looking forward to this occasion because it gives me the opportunity to try to put certain things in their proper perspective for you and the Canadian public, and to set out clearly on the basis of 40 years in Parliament, 27 years around the cabinet table, and 10 years as prime minister of Canada my views on how government works in practice.
[. . .]
The question is not whether some action is unusual. The question is whether it is necessary and whether it is right. I am firmly convinced that our national unity strategy was necessary and right. Were some mistakes made in everything we did? I am sure they were. After all, we are all human.
Mr. Commissioner, you and I are both trained in the civil law. One of the first things we both learned at law school was the article of the Quebec Civil Code that provides a presumption of good faith. I have explained that the sponsorship program was conceived in good faith. Its objectives were noble. When there is a presumption that a program is designed for sinister or corrupt partisan reasons, it is easy to draw all sorts of conclusions about ulterior motives of anyone associated with it particularly when there are hazy recollections of long ago meetings or memos.
[. . .]
Sometimes, like every prime minister, I did not accept the advice I received. The job of a prime minister, or a minister or a chief executive officer is not to rubberstamp every memo he receives.
In all my years, I never ceased to marvel at the professionalism of the public service of Canada, at the dedication to country of public servants and those in all political parties who operate at the political level. The public service and those on political staffs who work on government programs do so in good faith and for the best of motives. Like all of us in all sectors of society, they may make mistakes in the course of their work. Their good faith should not be doubted unless there is solid evidence to the contrary. But if you find any wrongdoing, Mr. Commissioner, I hope you allocate individual responsibility and do not tar our entire institutions with the inappropriate actions of the very few."
--------------------
this is how this man, who many have mocked for years as "simple" and "unrefined" and having a poor command of English (not to mention the disparaging remarks about his facial deformities), was able to maintain a stranglehold on Canadian politics for over a decade, winning convincing majorities in 4 straight elections (an unprecedented feat)... call him what you will -- an egotist, a liar, a political scoundrel -- but above all else, call him a great leader...
he pulled this country together after its near combustion in 1995...
he commanded a government that turned Canada's economy around...
he trimmed the fat and slew the deficit (yes, thanks to paul martin too)...
even now, still with his raspy quebecois twang, his speeches bring a chuckle to many... but don't be fooled: chretien was - and still is - the man!
* dislodges tongue from cheek *
--------------------
the "little guy from shawinagan", at his rhetorical best:
"Mr. Commissioner, I welcome the opportunity to appear before you today. Government is serious business and democracy requires that the trust that citizens confer on those they elect must always be respected. I have been looking forward to this occasion because it gives me the opportunity to try to put certain things in their proper perspective for you and the Canadian public, and to set out clearly on the basis of 40 years in Parliament, 27 years around the cabinet table, and 10 years as prime minister of Canada my views on how government works in practice.
[. . .]
The question is not whether some action is unusual. The question is whether it is necessary and whether it is right. I am firmly convinced that our national unity strategy was necessary and right. Were some mistakes made in everything we did? I am sure they were. After all, we are all human.
Mr. Commissioner, you and I are both trained in the civil law. One of the first things we both learned at law school was the article of the Quebec Civil Code that provides a presumption of good faith. I have explained that the sponsorship program was conceived in good faith. Its objectives were noble. When there is a presumption that a program is designed for sinister or corrupt partisan reasons, it is easy to draw all sorts of conclusions about ulterior motives of anyone associated with it particularly when there are hazy recollections of long ago meetings or memos.
[. . .]
Sometimes, like every prime minister, I did not accept the advice I received. The job of a prime minister, or a minister or a chief executive officer is not to rubberstamp every memo he receives.
In all my years, I never ceased to marvel at the professionalism of the public service of Canada, at the dedication to country of public servants and those in all political parties who operate at the political level. The public service and those on political staffs who work on government programs do so in good faith and for the best of motives. Like all of us in all sectors of society, they may make mistakes in the course of their work. Their good faith should not be doubted unless there is solid evidence to the contrary. But if you find any wrongdoing, Mr. Commissioner, I hope you allocate individual responsibility and do not tar our entire institutions with the inappropriate actions of the very few."
--------------------
this is how this man, who many have mocked for years as "simple" and "unrefined" and having a poor command of English (not to mention the disparaging remarks about his facial deformities), was able to maintain a stranglehold on Canadian politics for over a decade, winning convincing majorities in 4 straight elections (an unprecedented feat)... call him what you will -- an egotist, a liar, a political scoundrel -- but above all else, call him a great leader...
he pulled this country together after its near combustion in 1995...
he commanded a government that turned Canada's economy around...
he trimmed the fat and slew the deficit (yes, thanks to paul martin too)...
even now, still with his raspy quebecois twang, his speeches bring a chuckle to many... but don't be fooled: chretien was - and still is - the man!
* dislodges tongue from cheek *
--------------------
posted by þΛųL jØŋαŦhΛŋ @ 01:35
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home