No principle and no shame
Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes
Canadians were scratching their heads on Monday trying to make sense of the way that Eve Adams was welcomed with open arms into the Liberal caucus. What might seem like a real coup at first blush – poaching a member from the ruling Conservatives – looks more like an act of desperation under further examination.
Adams had recently learned that she had reached a dead end in the Conservative party and was looking at the prospect of leaving federal politics altogether when she suddenly realized she was a Liberal after having been a member of the Conservative Party since she was 14 years old. The precipitating factor in her defection was said to be her uncomfortableness with a party plank that she ran on quite comfortably in 2011 – namely income splitting – but it likely had more to do with covering her tracks so that she can either remain an MP or have a softer landing if she is defeated.
Know this; if she runs and loses in the upcoming election, Adams will receive an additional six months of severance that she won’t be eligible for if she doesn’t run at all. Given that she had been barred from seeking a Conservative Party nomination based on improper conduct in one nomination race this year, it seems too convenient that she suddenly realizes she is a Liberal after all. On top of the nomination shenanigans, Adams has a spotty track record of self-serving action in her time as MP.
As parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Veteran’s affairs she bailed on Remembrance Day Ceremonies to go shopping in New York for a week. She also received negative press for blocking the pumps at an Ottawa gas station while demanding a refund for a 6 dollar car wash. Not to mention how she was barred for running for the Conservatives after verbally abusing board members of the newly formed Oakville North-Burlington association during a meeting (she was not a member of the board herself) and then refusing to leave.
With all that in mind consider again why Justin Trudeau would even want her in his caucus or bearing the torch for the Liberal brand in the quickly approaching election? In this case, the lure of the photo-op won out over any kind of reasoning. In addition to that it further shatters the promise of open nomination processes for that party’s candidates. It is said that Adams will be parachuted into the Toronto riding of Eglington Lawrence to take on Finance Minister, Joe Oliver. To date and since promising open contests, the party has run roughshod over the process in Toronto Centre, Trinity Spadina, Ottawa Orleans, and Vancouver South, while also barring would-be candidates like Jody Emery (the wife of Canada’s so-called Prince of Pot Mark Emery). It would seem the policy is in place when it is useful and dismissed when it isn’t.
The issue is not the appointment of candidates either, it is the grand gesture news conferences that are done all for the moment and the current news cycle – much like Adam’s defection – only to then be ignored when expediency demands it. Either a policy is in place, or it isn’t. It seems they are trying to have both and hope no one notices. Much like they probably hope no one notices just who Eve Adams really is. It sounds like a great story, until you scratch the surface.
