Duffing It

Newly-crowned Conservative Senator Mike Duffy is at it again. At a speech in Sudbury a few days ago, he professed to have spoken to some Liberal senators who are bailing on Michael Ignatieff as the party's leader.  In doing so, Duffy is perpetuating the "unnamed sources" narrative that's been running through Ottawa these days. When such sources are trustworthy, it's understandable journalists would use such information to build a story based on as much fact as they can acquire.  But as the recent comments from a Conservative aide to Minister Jason Kenney have shown, journalists can be used for propaganda purposes unwittingly. Of course it would have been a fascinating discovery to learn which Liberal MPs were thinking of crossing the floor. Trusting that source in Kenney's office became an embarrassment because in the end it wasn't at all true. The Conservative machine had attempted to co-opt the media through a kind of falsehood that made them culpable. Most of the good journalists in Ottawa won't forget this blatant use of misinformation and hopefully will balance the scale.And now there's this tidbit from Duffy. The senator is merely maintaining his partisan slant he continued to evidence as a media figure. When I first arrived in Ottawa as a new recruit, MPs from all parties informed me that he was a closet Conservative and that this was just accepted in the nation's capital. His appointment to the Senate has not only validated that fact but actually provided him with just another soapbox to espouse his Conservative ways. That's fine as far as it goes, but it does put to the lie his pre-Senate claims to have been "non-partisan" or "objective."I have attempted to be as balanced an MP as I can, given the hyper-partisan stuff that goes on in Ottawa these days. I've alluded to the culpability of all us in the House to "play the game," thus demeaning the kind of politics that should matter. But Duffy's recent claims are different. We all know Conservative MPs who are disillusioned with their leader's brand of political gamesmanship, but they're part of that team and it's accepted. I know the Liberal caucus well. I attempt to keep a low profile, but I really like people as a matter of course and this has provided me the benefit of holding pleasant conversations with most of them, including Liberal senators. I'll state here clearly that Mike Duffy is just blowing smoke. Michael Ignatieff still maintains the loyalty of his entire caucus, despite the poor poll numbers.   Not one person has ever expressed to me any kind of desire to switch leaders. That always possible in Ottawa, but it's no happening now.  I have not been approached by anyone in the Liberal party to write this post; I'm on my own, but I'll bet I'm right.So, what we have now is a senator spouting unnamed sources to substantiate his false claims. And as we've learned from the "floor-crossing" Liberal MPs story, we're all demeaned when falsehood is used to belittle others. Now we have a former media personality doing the same thing. He should know better, but, after all, he loves this pit-bull stuff. Duff, name who they are. I'll bet you can't, because they don't exist. You're kicking a good man when he's down, but you're using fabrication to do it. Name them, or cease and desist. Spout your political preferences in established venues, using verifiable information. This particular way of operating has now successfully transferred the uber-partisanship of the House to the Senate. How much longer can the institution last when both sides of Parliament have decided that the time has arrived to replace decency and respect with slander and vitriol? Name them, Duffy. If I'm wrong, I'll apologize in these pages. In the meantime, show some respect.