Human rights are not just a liberal cause; the legacy of Tainted Tuna and Caesar’s Wife Rule
In 1985, large quantities of possibly tainted tuna were sold to the public. Fishery Inspectors found StarKist tuna, made in a New Brunswick plant were spoiled and declared that is not fit for human consumption. The owners of the NB plant fought back by lobbying then Conservative Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, John Fraser. The owners claimed the inspectors were ‘too strict and severe’ – possibly even making mistakes in their zealousness. John Fraser decided to sign off and issued a public order allowing the tainted tuna to be sold to unsuspecting consumers over the direct orders of his federal inspectors.
When the scandal first came to light, Fraser claimed that the PMO’s office had been advised about the release of the tainted tuna for sale and Mulroney appeared to concur. Eventually, both recanted initial statements. Six days after the scandal broke, Fraser resigned in disgraced but the stonewalling and callous indifference or apathy towards the Canadian public which was so evident in Tunagate was to be a common theme repeated, over and over, in scandal upon scandal, by the Mulroney Conservative government.
The Conservative party in Canada was devastated by the Mulroney years and was almost completely wiped off the political board. Its’ been a long road back from political Coventry for the Conservatives, but if anything, the Harper Conservatives are upholding the Mulroney tradition rather learning from Mulroney government’s mistakes. I realize Conservatives support numbers looks fairly strong today but I would caution the Conservatives to take a good look in the mirror and remember political Coventry is not necessarily a distant memory. Mulroney had two fairly decent election wins but eventually his government could not stand under the weight of scandal and crashed the conservative party in the process.
If Conservative governance is going to mean anything more than callous indifference to the public good and health than the Conservative’s must demand their political party apply the Caesar’s Wife Rule to governing. Sad to say it, but since a classical education is rarely in the modern education agenda’s lexicon; there are no doubt many of you who are scratching their heads wondering what Caesar’s wife rule has to do with governance so I will digress with a little history lesson.
Julius Caesar’s second wife, Pompeia was inadvertently caught up in a scandal that sent the maligning tongues of Rome wagging. It fell to Pompeia to preside over the ritual of the annual Bona Dea festival. Unfortunately for Pompeia, an unwelcome and unprincipled suitor used the mystery of Bona Dea festival as an opportunity to get gain unsupervised access to Pompeia disguised as a woman. Not only were the rituals desecrated by the attendance of a male at the women only festival but Pompeia’s character was called into question for attracting this kind of male attention. Though there was no evidence that Pompeia acted injuriously in any way but Julius Caesar immediately divorced her on the grounds that Caesar’s wife must be beyond suspicion or reproach. And so it should be for any governing body in Canada. Apply the lessons from the Mulroney years or crash and burn in political Coventry.
The Afghan Detainees Scandal has all the makings of the Tainted Tuna scandal of the Mulroney years; learn the lesson and govern yourselves accordingly.
