{"id":9266,"date":"2023-12-09T21:07:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T02:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=9266"},"modified":"2023-12-09T21:07:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10T02:07:59","slug":"even-politicians-are-not-free-to-speak-their-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=9266","title":{"rendered":"Even Politicians Are Not Free to Speak Their Minds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even Politicians Are Not Free to Speak Their Minds<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Politicians Are Not Free to Speak Their Minds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada is a nation choking on political correctness. Even politicians, elected or otherwise, are told what they can say and not say. Canada suffers from a lack of frank discussion, especially on issues displeasing to privileged minorities. This leads to a justified cynicism about our governing institutions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator censured for \u2019insensitive\u2019 comments during pro-Freedom Convoy rant<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

‘This is the capital of the country. It’s not your goddamned city just because you have a six-figure salary and you work 20 hours a week’ Sen. MacDonald said during his rant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of the article:\"TheThe Canadian PressDylan RobertsonPublished Dec 05, 2023  \u2022  3 minute read <\/a>141 Comments<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Conservative
“This is definitely not an ethical issue,” Conservative Senator Michael MacDonald is quoted as having written about his video rant. Photo by Christopher Katsarov\/The Canadian Press\/File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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OTTAWA \u2014 Senators have voted to condemn one of their own, following a colourful rant covertly recorded during the Freedom Convoy protest last year<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate ethics watchdog found this spring that Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald violated the code of conduct.Article content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nova Scotia senator was caught on video in February 2022 castigating downtown Ottawa residents who complained about the protests, saying locals were overpaid and underworked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacDonald apologized for his remarks in the Senate, and he told media he had been drinking on the evening in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate\u2019s ethics officer ruled he had breached six sections of the code that governs senators, including two related to his conduct and four others for a lack of compliance in the investigation itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ethics officer determined that the Red Chamber must formally censure members whose conduct undermines the Senate\u2019s reputation, and senators recently voted to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Nov. 30, the chamber voted on division to issue the sanction against MacDonald, which does not come with any penalties but holds symbolic value.Related Stories<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Sen. Dennis Patterson spoke out against the censure, saying the scope of the ethics code seems to go beyond other parliamentary rules that only focus on senators\u2019 conduct while they are carrying out their Senate-related duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cNot agreeing to the remediation recommendations of the (ethics officer) is quite different than not co-operating,\u201d Patterson added, in remarks right before the vote last week.Article content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He said at the time that he was \u201cappalled that we appear to be associated with extremists,\u201d whom he argued undertook a \u201chostage occupation of the heart of our Canadian democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    MacDonald apologized again last week for his \u201cinsensitive\u201d remarks, and added that he regretted his conduct during the investigation. He said a parliamentary committee had treated him fairly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI was eager to move on, yet felt embarrassed, isolated and frustrated by the process. But I could have handled it better; that is entirely on me,\u201d he told the chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The watchdog\u2019s investigation had been prompted by complaints from nine of MacDonald\u2019s peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Shortly after the video footage emerged, MacDonald apologized in the chamber, and stressed that the conversation wasn\u2019t meant to be recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the recording, MacDonald is heard saying he doesn\u2019t want to be recorded. The videographer responds by saying \u201cOK.\u201dArticle content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    MacDonald then goes on to some frank remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s everybody\u2019s f\u2013king city, this is the capital of the country. It\u2019s not your goddamned city just because you have a six-figure salary and you work 20 hours a week. You haven\u2019t worked a full week in two years. It\u2019s sickening,\u201d MacDonald says in the recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the video, MacDonald refers to his wife as \u201ca Karen\u201d \u2014 a derogatory term for a self-entitled woman \u2014 for opposing the protests. Despite police ordering protesters to clear the scene, MacDonald says that \u201cI don\u2019t want them to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Senate ethics officer Pierre Legault said the senator\u2019s request to not be filmed showed \u201can intentional failure to exercise dignified reserve and restraint,\u201d and that his comments left a \u201csignificant impact\u201d on the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The watchdog added that the senator\u2019s initial apology was undermined by his comment that his comments weren\u2019t meant to be captured on video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cSenators are expected to represent Canadians, not denigrate, mock and demean them, while encouraging illegal activities at a time when a state of emergency had been declared,\u201d Legault said in a July report.Article content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The ethics officer and MacDonald argued over the mandate of his office, such as pushing back on a request to know whom MacDonald was dining with before the video, to tell whether he had been conducting Senate business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Senate ethics committee, staffed by MacDonald\u2019s peers, issues a report in September finding that he had not appropriately complied with the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt was a direct challenge to the integrity and mandate of the Senate-approved process by which senators \u2014 and the Senate itself _ are to be held accountable,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Even Politicians Are Not Free to Speak Their Minds Even Politicians Are Not Free to Speak Their Minds Canada is a nation choking on political correctness. Even politicians, elected or otherwise, are told what they can say and not say. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5325,5324],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9267,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9266\/revisions\/9267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}