Ruby Dhalla
It just doesn't seem worth it, unless you're in it for pure entertainment.
As newspapers and media outlets continue to report on the Ruby Dhalla and the Oliphant Inquiry, it becomes more and more apparent that public inquiries and investigations are often times nothing more than long drawn out comedies or verbal wrestling matches that sees no one win and the tax payer come out as the lone loser. They are entertaining, certainly, and while Mulroney might very well be guilty of some shady business dealings, boy did he have it right when he told reporters last week that in the end all the inquiry will do is cost the tax payers of Canada big time. No truth will be gained and money will be lost.
The basic facts of the two cases are simple enough. What faces Ruby Dhalla, the Liberal MP from Brampton, are charges that she employed illegal immigrant caregivers and that these former employees were demeaned in numerous way such as having to sit on the floor while in the same room as the Dhalla family and having to shovel snow and shine shoes, something they said they didn't sign up for. Throughout the Oliphant Commission, former Prime Minister Brain Mulroney's credibility continues to hang in the balance as more information is revealed about his business dealing with German businessman Karlenheiz Schreiber.
Canadians whose perception of Mulroney as an opportunistic Prime Minister will find little that redeems the former Prime Minister..
On the other hand, supporters of Mulroney will argue how well he stood up to cross-examination; he hardly flinched and this they say attests to his credibility.
Opponents of Ruby Dally are surely salivating at her demise, while her supporters claim it is just a smear campaign.
But has all of this- the testimony, the news articles or the commentary- really provided Canadians with anything substantial to walk away with? Has it led them closer to the truth?
The media's decade and half long investigation on Mulroney has concluded little more than that the media doesn't fancy the former prime-minister. Despite what some might believe is hard evidence, no charges have been filed against Dhalla. In both the Dhalla affair and Oliphant Commision, Canadians have been subjected to the constant 'he said she said' scenarios. In the absence of being the flies on the wall, it is next to impossible to see who is telling the truth.
The fact of the matter remains; regardless of how in touch a person thinks they are with those who walk in the corridors of power, truth in Ottawa is only known by those who play the game, and at the same time, this game is something the public will never let those who play it walk away from. Ruby Dhalla is getting her first taste of the big leagues. Twenty-six years after the man took control of the country, journalist, report on him, columnist rip in to him and we the taxpayers pay to watch. For them: a game. For us: a form of entertainment..
It would, however, be nice to be that fly on the wall.
