WE scandal thoughts

There are a few news outlets which seem to have a journalist or two which won't let this die.

It isn't that I don't think it is newsworthy or that people don't have a right to report on it. But, nothing new has happened, and yet a small and vocal group continue to scream bloody murder.

Personally, to me, it seems extremely overblown.

The PM's conflict of interest seems minimal. The finance minister certainly looks worse. But, this scandal seems to be about as minimal as could be.

Why? Well, firstly, there appears to be no promise of direct renumeration to either the members of parliament who voted on this, nor even those with direct relationships. For instance, while Trudeau has connections in the form of a wife and mother who have done paid speaking gigs, fulfilling this contract doesn't inherently get the PM or his wife/mother additional gigs. Similarly, for Morneau's daughter. How is her positioned enriched by this deal?

Yes, they both should have recused. Yes, there should be an inquiry, and there is. And that is where this should end.

At present, there is absolutely nothing to indicate that the deal held quid pro quo for those involved. And thus, no obvious proof of a true conflict of interest. In short, there is, at this point, only the potential for a conflict of interest to exist. There is the appearance of one. Period. Yes, as I said, political figures are public servants and should even be striving to avoid such a perception.

The other problem appears to be the popularity of the WE charity itself. Basically, after this story broke politicians and famous people globally started publicly jumping ship. But, this means that all of these people and more were already actively engaged with the charity. Which in turns backs up claims of their capacity to handle the program. And, also speaks to a deep reach which may include members of the opposition. 

In short, even with a recusal, it seems quite likely that the influence this organization has might have lead them to winning the contract anyway.

Basically, I'm not sure exactly where I stand. Perhaps because the inquiry hasn't wrapped up yet. What I do know is that I find it EXTREMELY fishy that writers like Rex Murphy seem to find a reason to be enraged by this every other day despite nothing actually changing. It feels like an agenda driven rant. And it makes me feel much more strongly that this whole thing is simply being exploited by certain news outlets. 

But the worst part is that I know many are influenced by these arguments without considering the merits.