Don Martin: Three ethical lapses tarnish the brand of all politicians

There’s been a sudden outbreak of queasy and sleazy ethical shortcomings as three senior politicians recently made headlines for having stretched, bent or broken the rules.

The premier of Canada’s most populous province, one of the prime minister’s favourite cabinet ministers and Canada’s biggest-city mayor faced difficult questions over their ethical conduct. One denies all wrongdoing, one admits to an oversight oopsie and the other quits over lousy moral judgment.

But ethical breaches are not all equally egregious. Some are slap-on-the-wrist mistakes, others are worthy of the pink slip and most rate somewhere in between. Here’s my take on this trifecta of questionable behaviours, ranked from least to most severe.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is facing questions over the guest list at his daughter’s pre-wedding event and concerns that lobbyists and developers were pressured into donating up to $1,000 toward a fundraiser for the wedding. Some of the attending developers will benefit handsomely from Ford’s recent decisions to open up protected green space to highway and housing development.

Alerted to reporters digging around the story, Ford had asked the province’s integrity commissioner for a ruling on his actions and was told that, because he says he was unaware of the wedding support and gifts, he was in the clear. That settles it, the premier fumes, so stop asking questions.

But the commissioner didn’t investigate the issue beyond information the premier and his staff provided, so it’s hardly a complete exoneration if there are still big blanks to be filled in.

While there could be trouble ahead if fresh revelations surface, without a stronger connection between the premier, his developer buddies and the arm-twisted generosity of their wedding gifts, the controversy will linger as the perception of Ford’s old-school cronyism instead of an actual conflicted interest.

International Trade Minister Mary Ng used to be one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top aides as former director of appointments before successfully running for office in 2017 and being elevated to cabinet a year later.

With 20 years in public service at different levels, it’s hard to fathom why Ng didn’t spot the obvious conflict in giving her close friend Amanda Alvaro a couple of little-effort-required communications contracts without actually bidding for the jobs. The ethics commissioner had no difficulty seeing it as a straightforward no-no.

But to watch Ng at a House of Commons committee on Friday was to see only scripted sincerity and retroactive regret on display. And to throw her staff under the bus for failing to flag such a clear ethical breach was a pathetic dodge of political accountability.

What’s also questionable is giving Alvaro a contract to “focus on key skills required to communicate effectively in media interviews,” which is precisely what her well-paid communications staff are supposed to provide to a minister who was, until this issue surfaced, not in high demand for interviews.

It's hard to howl for her head though, when she works for a prime minister who has already been found guilty of two ethical infractions without suffering any penalty beyond short-term political embarrassment.

Still, if the Oda litmus test – as in, former cabinet minister Bev Oda, who resigned ahead of being dumped by Stephen Harper for expense-billing a $16 orange juice, among other ethical concerns and expensing oddities – for an ethical firing was applied to Ng’s case, she would be gone as a cabinet minister.

And finally, Toronto Mayor John Tory’s resignation after the Toronto Star broke the story of his office romance was a shocker at first, because adultery is not exactly a stranger in high political circles.

But when Tory had a long-term affair with a staffer less than half his age, it violates every modern office protocol against personal entanglements creating power imbalances in the workplace. Unless Tory had the stomach to spend the rest of his term facing that ugly smear on his record, a resignation was the obvious price to be paid.

Had Tory quit over a standard arm’s-length affair, other unfaithful politicians would be squirming at the prospect of triggering byelections. As it was, a mayor elected partly on his personal integrity leaves with an all-anyone-will-remember legacy of office infidelity to now face a daunting family reconciliation. It’s hard to imagine a worse punishment.

Still, be they minor or major, the sum of so many ethical concerns on so many political levels in such a short time frame will likely tarnish the brand of all politicians, most of whom are honest, upstanding and hard-working.

A premier allegedly helping land developers who, in turn, helped his daughter finance her wedding, a minister giving questionable contracts to a close friend, and a powerful, married mayor romancing a much younger adviser could give the public pause to wonder if politicians are increasingly driven by the worst of motivations: They’re in it for themselves.

Those are the bottom line.