OpinionLack of respect caused Conservative Bev Oda’s resignation

Lack of respect caused Conservative Bev Oda’s resignation

This article was published on July 20, 2012 and may be out of date. To maintain our historical record, The Cascade does not update or remove outdated articles.
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By Joe Johnson (The Cascade) – Email

Print Edition: July 18, 2012

I’m a little curious how many people know who Bev Oda is. Within the world of federal politics she has quite a prominent name. But she may wish it wasn’t so.

Oda is a Harper Conservative through and through and represents the riding of Durham, located in Ontario. She’s been a public servant since 2004, first with the Progressive Conservative Party and then with the Conservatives after the merger of the Alliance and Progressive Conservatives. She became Minister of International Cooperation in 2007.

But controversy after controversy plagued her, so much so that on July 31 she will be stepping down from government. And although I’m certain she’s done some good work and has given much for her country, she needed to go.

Personally, I’ve never been her biggest fan. Not because I don’t share her political beliefs, (of which I may or may not) but because she’s played a part in an issue dear to my heart: copyright reform. In the past she has taken money from both American and Canadian copyright lobby groups, and having been in the position of Heritage Minister early on, that was a gross conflict of interests.

Let’s get a little more relevant to current times. In what must have been an embarrassment to the Prime Minister, Oda as a minister made some seriously novice mistakes. It’s been speculated that the reason she did decide to leave is that a cabinet shuffle is coming up, and she would likely find herself left on the back bench.

In the past few months much has been made of Oda’s use of taxpayer money. The biggest uproar, in which the opposition was right in pressing relentlessly on, came about when the revelation was made that Oda had shown blatant misuse. While the actual expenses she incurred are negligible, this is about principle.

Last spring when she was attending a conference in London, which had a preplanned itinerary and accounted for costs, Oda opted for her own accommodations. She decided to stay at the much more upscale Savoy Hotel than the arranged Grange St. Paul for $665 a night, ordered orange juice for $16 a glass, and hired a limo to transfer her between the two hotels. Upon a weak excuse, she finally admitted to being in the wrong and did pay back the additional expenses.

And most recently she has purportedly shown even more disregard. It’s coming forward that she used tax payer money—once again incorrectly—in purchasing an air purifier to mask the smell of smoking in her office.

These are just a few of improprieties she has committed over the years. One does begin to wonder if this is a reflection of the larger governing body, and while that may not be here nor there, it does show one bad decision by the Prime Minister in choosing somebody of her qualities to fill two large cabinet positions.

Ultimately though, at the end of this month, hopefully her exodus will set some examples: our Canadian politicians should be more respectful of those they represent.

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