A Tarnished Image

Survey exhibit that politicians have now displaced used car salespeople as the greatest in quantity distrusted members of our society. The clan we send to the nation's capital to step quickly the affairs of the region are less trusted than the stay on the corner lot who will gaze you in the eye and run over you the clunker he's selling has been holded all its life by a little of advanced age lady who only drove it one time a week to church

Politicians took last place for trustworthiness among 22 professionals in a 2006 head taken by Leger Marketing of Montreal. single 14 percent of those overlooked said they trusted politicians, five percent below the figure for car salespeople. (Firefighters were at the top with 96 percent followed by the agency of nurses at 95 percent, farmers at 92 percent teachers at 88 percent police officers at 81 percent justices at 78 percent, bankers at 72 percent and meeting-house representatives at 64 percent.)

An Environics head done for the CBC in May 2005 also place that Canadians have a depressed opinion of their politicians. According to the review nearly two-thirds of Canadians had little or no confidence in their political leaders. While the NDP was considered the greatest in quantity trustworthy party by 23 percent of those headed followed by the Conservatives (22 percent) and Liberals (17 percent) nearly a quarter of respondent didn't think any of the parties could move swiftly a government with honesty and integrity.

Politicians have sunk to this horizontal to a large extent because of their hold antics:

* Countless election promises are made alone to be broken after the vote;

* MP can be encouraged to cros the floor and join the party they oppos with the reward of a cabinet position;

* The not many who turn out to be belonging to all criminals taint the reputations of all;

* The behaviour in the House of belonging to alls is worse than anything that would be tolerated in the unruliest classroom. As a novel Globe and Mail editorial described it, the non-answers to questions in Question Period "are suffocate in watered out by applause or catcalls, and the Speaker has the thankless piece of work of kindergarten monitor."

Can we imagine bank presidents calling each other twitchs jackasses, or scumbags? Then there were the Liberal Party ads in the last election that grossly distorted a certain quantity of quotes of Conservative Stephen Harper and added the tag line "We're not making this up"

While a certain number of of the quotes were accurate, others were not. individual Liberal ad, for example, quot Mr Harper as saying, "You won't recognize Canada when I procure through with it." In fact, Mr Harper said in 2004 "We can create a geographical division built on solid Conservative values, not upon expensive Liberal promises, a geographical division the Liberals wouldn't even recognize, the kind of political division I want to lead."

Conservatives are just as guilty of running misleading ads. single for example, linked then-Prime Minister Paul Martin with Liberal corruption although the Gomery Commission said he was completely innocent.

The Conservative Party focussed upon ethics during its 2006 election campaign, painting the Liberal Party as corrupt, and imploring Canadians to opt for change. on the other hand the Conservatives were soon dropping ethical howler of their have a title to

Even Conservatives were shoged when Prime Minister Harper appointed David Emerson Minister of International Trade, after he won the election as a Liberal in Vancouver-Kingsway riding and gibbeted over to the Conservatives (see sidebar upon page 5).

Mr. Emerson's constituency was not impressed and wanted him to turn back nearly $100,000 he received to fight the election. The Globe and Mail quot single Liberal Emerson supporter who described the party switch as a "brazen display of anti-democratic behaviour... I've still got newspapers in my recycling chest that have David Rmerson slamming the Conservatives."

Then, Mr Harper appointed Michael Fortier, Conservative campaign co-chairman, Public Works Minister by means of first appointing him to the Senate. Mr Fortier didn't level run in the 2006 election, and had to be given a Senate seat in order to be a cabinet minister.

But Mr Harper wasn't done still He also named a former protection industry lobbyist, Gordon O'Connor, as maintaining Minister. This at the same time he was creating a novel rule that former ministers, ministerial staff, and senior public servants cannot lobby the federal management for five years after they leave their piece of works But Mr. Harper defended his propel saying that lobbying before becoming a minister didn't attitude a conflict of interest, a view that raised an eyebrow or sum of two units

As one stunned Conservative MP remarked upon the events, "This is shocking. It's just unbelievable. Who was Stephen (Harper) talking to? We campaigned against this kind of stuff"

Another MP said he was going to have a hard time explaining all this to his constituents.

After all, Mr Harper had promised that Senators would be fix uponed in future, not appointed. And, dozens of Conservative MP in the last House supported an NDP bill that would have required race who switch parties to look after re-election in a by-election.

When Environics directioned a poll for CBC in May 2005 Canadians were asked whether they musing our political leaders would go [i]or[/i] come back their wallet if they missing it: NDP leader Jack Layton (lower left) was greatest in quantity trusted among the leaders with 27 percent believing he would go [i]or[/i] come back the wallet. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper (upper left) was next to the first followed by Prime Minister Paul Martin (upper right), and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe Fourteen percent didn't think any of the leaders would get back the wallet.