Gomery, in Two Excerpts

Two excerpts from our very best columnists, on why the sponsorship scandal holds (or should hold) consequences for the Liberal Party of Canada:

Ibbitson:
"...The Gomery report describes what it calls a "culture of entitlement" among senior officials in the Liberal Party, the same culture that finds it acceptable to ship cronies into the Senate, that treats appointments to Crown corporations as a reward for good and faithful service, that accepts the right of the perpetually governing party to use the grease of patronage to lubricate its rusty machine.

Mr. Martin shows not the slightest discomfort with that culture, which is why he recently sent his former principal secretary, Francis Fox, to the Senate without even blushing. Every Canadian who doesn't call the Prime Minister by his first name turned away in disgust.

That is why healthy democracies rotate political parties: to exploit the brief period of probity that accompanies a new party's arrival in power, until the culture of entitlement seeps into their souls as well..."

Coyne:
The personal responsibility or otherwise of Mr. Martin is irrelevant to the question of whether the Liberal party should be held accountable. Suppose a corporation were discovered to have dumped toxic waste in the local river. And suppose, in the wake of the scandal, the corporation brought in a new CEO -- not just promoted the senior VP, but hired someone wholly unconnected with the firm. The new CEO could protest with absolute justice that he could not personally be held to blame for the misdeeds that had gone on under his predecessor. But would that absolve the corporation as a whole of liability? No it would not.

The corporation would still be legally liable, that is, with all of the rules of evidence and standards of proof that implies. But the Liberals, whatever their legal liability, may be held to another standard, that of political responsibility. The public does not need to know, to form such a judgment, which persons broke which laws. It is enough to ask: How did it occur to so many people to do so? And, as important, how did they think they could get away with it? It wasn't only a "culture of entitlement" that was at work here. It was -- is -- also a culture of impunity.