My younger daughter and I commute to and from downtown together every day, and lately many of our conversations have been about politics.
Yesterday, I told her what I thought about Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott remaining Liberals in the wake of all that's happened. I was surprised that she a had a completely different take, and it's shifted my perspective some.
My daughter doesn't believe these two MPs should be chased from their chosen vocation by men in authority trying to push them around. She believes that they showed their principles and integrity when they resigned their cabinet posts and elected to sit as backbenchers on the basis of their convictions.
She believes that if they had quit the Liberal Party, despite identifying with the tenets of their policies, they would be depriving their constituents of the representation they deserve, and undermining their own futures.
She believes this scandal will pass, and should these women remove themselves from the Liberal Party at this stage, they would have no standing going forward. By forcing Trudeau to either put up with them, or kick them out, they have asserted their voices as moral compasses of the team, and despite some lingering animosity in the short-term, the party will need to renew, and it's people like Wilson-Raybould and Philpott with their positive images, and their moral fortitude that will be the force to drive that change. If they leave now, they lose out on that opportunity and it won't come around again.
My daughter believes that by persevering in what must be a very uncomfortable environment, these woman are forcing a mouldering party to take stock. Every Liberal MP will at some point, face a reckoning about the events of the past few months, and will be forced to stand with the status quo, or step away. Whether the Liberals get re-elected or not, the behaviour of individuals during this time will matter - if only as part of the historical record. Honour matters.
So, despite my own concerns about Wilson-Raybould and Philpott appearing to try to serve two masters, I see where perhaps the only masters they are trying to serve are their own consciences.
canadianna
Yesterday, I told her what I thought about Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott remaining Liberals in the wake of all that's happened. I was surprised that she a had a completely different take, and it's shifted my perspective some.
My daughter doesn't believe these two MPs should be chased from their chosen vocation by men in authority trying to push them around. She believes that they showed their principles and integrity when they resigned their cabinet posts and elected to sit as backbenchers on the basis of their convictions.
She believes that if they had quit the Liberal Party, despite identifying with the tenets of their policies, they would be depriving their constituents of the representation they deserve, and undermining their own futures.
She believes this scandal will pass, and should these women remove themselves from the Liberal Party at this stage, they would have no standing going forward. By forcing Trudeau to either put up with them, or kick them out, they have asserted their voices as moral compasses of the team, and despite some lingering animosity in the short-term, the party will need to renew, and it's people like Wilson-Raybould and Philpott with their positive images, and their moral fortitude that will be the force to drive that change. If they leave now, they lose out on that opportunity and it won't come around again.
My daughter believes that by persevering in what must be a very uncomfortable environment, these woman are forcing a mouldering party to take stock. Every Liberal MP will at some point, face a reckoning about the events of the past few months, and will be forced to stand with the status quo, or step away. Whether the Liberals get re-elected or not, the behaviour of individuals during this time will matter - if only as part of the historical record. Honour matters.
So, despite my own concerns about Wilson-Raybould and Philpott appearing to try to serve two masters, I see where perhaps the only masters they are trying to serve are their own consciences.
canadianna
3 comments:
It's interesting to hear the take on a story by the younger generation. Her take,of course, differs from mine which is natural as we are undoubtedly two generations removed.
My more cynical take is that JWR and Philpott still want to take advantage of the opportunities membership in the Liberal Party brings, though I have no idea how they intend to use their position. There have been suggestions Philpott might run for leadership of the Provincial Liberals,though she denies it.
If they are as honorable as your daughter suggests, they could have done what MP Caesar-Chavannes just did, leave the caucus and sit as an Independent.
But I agree with YD, they shouldn't allow the Old Boys Club to push them around,and maybe they are just sticking around to make life difficult for the OBC.It must rankle Trudeau every day that the two are still around and he can't do a damned thing about it without losing the election, badly.
It's interesting how all of the Liberal MPs going rangy about this in the press, the 'put up or shut up' ones -- all women. The men have holed up, and are waiting for the storm to pass and the press doesn't seem to be asking them questions.
I wrote to my own MP a few weeks back, and asked his opinion in a very generic way, while not expressing one of my own -- I wrote a second time when I didn't hear back. Still not a word.
Finally heard back from my MP. Apparently, the Liberals are committed to justice and have done nothing wrong. Well, that settles that.
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