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NEWS |
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| ELECTORNIC EDITION |
| 2006-12-03 |
| ·WEST ·EAST |
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GLOBAL CHINESE PRESS |
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The price of integrity in politics
GREG MERCER 2006-12-03 01:03 GUELPH MERCURY | Joe Clark advised Michael Chong not to leave the cabinet of Stephen Harper now, Garth Turner says Michael Chong will be ostracized for his action. But political insiders Perrin Beatty, Hugh Segal and John Tory guarantee that the future is bright for Michael Chong!
 Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong holds his son William last June at a riding association barbecue near Belwood Lake. Chong's resignation from Stephen Harper's cabinet this week over opposition to a Conservative motion on Quebec nationhood has won him both admiration and animosity.
WELLINGTON (Dec 2, 2006)
 Michael Chong
The former Progressive Conservative prime minister, a close ally, told the young cabinet minister not to worry. Clark said the motion he was fretting over did not threaten Canada's unity, a cause so dear to Chong's heart he helped start a national institution aimed at bridging divisions among Canadians.
 Joe Clark
Beatty also urged Chong to support his government's motion, knowing not doing so would cost him emotionally, financially and politically. His understudy would lose friends in Ottawa, and the ability to be involved at the top level of governing in Canada, Beatty worried.
 Stephen Harper
That night, the Conservative motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation -- which Chong argued was dangerous and would provide fuel to separatists trying to break up the country -- passed easily without his vote.
 Garth Turner
While the former prime minister still doesn't agree with Chong's interpretation of the Quebec motion, he respects him for taking the "ultimate test" of a politician's beliefs.
"It's funny. People talk about integrity in public life, but it's in times like this that it shows. Anybody can say anything in easy times. It's what you do in tough times that's a real mark of character," Clark said in an interview.
Beatty tried to convince Chong that politicians are often asked to strike a balance between compromise and sticking to their guns. The toughest decisions take place in the grey area between the black and white of any issue.
But despite the advice of these political heavyweights, Chong would not waver.
"I had hoped at the end of the day he would be able to reconcile his concerns with being able to stay in cabinet, because we need people of his quality in Parliament," Beatty said.
Chong could not. So he became one of those rare politicians who give up influence and power for matters of principle rather than out of scandal or self-advancement, said Beatty.
"His motivation was exclusively what is in the best interest of the country. This is not someone seeking to promote himself through this, or feed his ego, or do damage to anybody else," he said.
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