More reflections on the sponsorship scandal

There is widespread disgust with the Liberals on the sponsorship scandal. Of course, everyone has their own spin and view on what’s going on, and much of this is influenced by their political outlook and which party they support. But on the whole, it seems that the disgusted people fall into three broad categories:

• People who are disgusted with political corruption in general.
• People who are disgusted by the Liberals’ corruption in this particular case.
• People who are disgusted that the sponsorship program existed in the first place, regardless of the fact that it got corrupted.

I think it’s a critical distinction, because it can have an enormous impact on our country’s future.

The second category of people – of which I am a member – despises the way the sponsorship program turned into a palm-greasing, pocket-lining program for the Liberals and their friends. But they believe that the basic idea of fighting to promote Canada and keep the country together is a good one, and was worthy of government spending.

The last category splits between Quebec separatists who hate the fact that the Federal government is spending money to deny them their independent nation of Quebec, and people in the rest of Canada who are fed up with Quebec’s whining and wish that we’d just separate already so they can get on with their lives.

Why is this important? Because as a federalist Quebecer, I’m – according to the last two referendum results – in the majority. But I often feel like I’m in the minority. With so many people in Quebec pushing to leave, and so many people in the ROC wishing us a good riddance, I sometimes wonder who will be fighting alongside me when the next referendum is inevitably called.

The Charest Liberals are in freefall, the PQ is almost certain to get back into power in a couple of years, and Gilles Duceppe’s Bloc holds a virtual lock on most of Quebec’s seats in Ottawa. All the strongest politicians right now are separatist. And with the fallout from the sponsorship scandal, the Federal government – whoever they are – will think long and hard before spending more money on any kind of sponsorship, scandalous or otherwise.

One of the reasons we won the 1995 referendum with such a razor-thin margin was that, the weekend beforehand, thousands of Canadians poured into Quebec to show their support and solidarity. People suddenly felt wanted. Obviously this had little effect on staunch federalists like myself, but it made some fence-sitters think twice about a yes vote.

But with Quebec thinking this is a Canadian problem, and the ROC thinking this is a Quebec problem, I see the chasm between the Two Solitudes widening again. Only a couple of years ago, sovereignty almost seemed passé. But suddenly, it’s a looming threat again.

We cannot stand for corruption in government. There’s no doubt that the sponsorship program went horribly wrong. But the risk is that the fallout from the scandal will make the Federal government gun-shy about fighting for national unity in the future.

It worries me. A lot.