Just over a year ago, in the middle of the federal election campaign, the RCMP took the unusual and questionable step of publicly announcing its intention to pursue the Income Trust probe.
RCMP Commissioner, Giuliano Zaccardelli, who oversaw the probe, was later ousted from his job over his mishandling of the Maher Arar case.
The Income Trust probe was seized upon by the Opposition to launch searing attacks on the character of then Finance Minister, Ralph Goodale, and to claim corruption in the Liberal ranks. The attack was effective. Within days, the Liberals' lead in the polls had dropped precipitously, especially in Ontario where a 13-point lead became a 6-point deficit. There's little doubt that this made the difference in many ridings where the Liberals lost by a narrow margin, including Simcoe North.
The RCMP has now closed the probe into the leak, laying criminal charges against a lone bureaucrat in the Ministry of Finance with no connections to any political party. The RCMP probe did not link Ralph Goodale or the Liberals to the leak.
One would think that Stephen Harper would now cancel the Conservative attack ad that smears Ralph Goodale and the Liberals over the Income Trust Probe.
Instead, he insists on keeping the ad on the air with the full knowledge that it is fundamentally false.
Even worse, Stephen Harper and the NDP's Judy Wasylycia-Leis perversely insist that Ralph Goodale should issue a public apology for his handling of the matter.
If an apology is owed by anyone, it's from Stephen Harper and Judy Wasylycia-Leis, not the person they cruelly smeared for nothing more than political gain. Regrettably, neither one of them have the common decency to call off the attacks, much less issue an apology.
The Conservatives are confusing partisan resolve with leadership. They are portraying Stephen Harper as a strong leader, but a true leader would not need to run negative ads attacking the character of an opponent. A true leader would know that it's wrong to run ads that are fundamentally false.
A true leader doesn't view the world through the self-serving lens of political gain. And a true leader would try to bring out the best, not the worst in Canadians.
Gerry Hawes, Orillia
