If there’s anything that the recent Tinklegate has taught us, it’s that political party machines would do well to have as much information on their own candidates as they do on voters.
In case you missed it, while the federal election begins to pick up steam this week, two Tory candidates have recently been forced out after decidedly un-parliamentary behaviour was revealed.
In one, a contractor was caught on a hidden camera, peeing into a client’s coffee cup. Another candidate was unmasked as someone who liked to tape himself crank calling strangers then recording their reactions to his sexual innuendo.
And what political party wouldn’t be thrilled to have their candidates trending on social media under hashtags like #peegate while pundits make jokes about stories being “leaked”? Most, as it turns out.
While the two Conservative candidates are the most recent and vulgar examples of people you’d never hope to have represent you, they certainly aren’t alone. Earlier in the campaign, a Calgary Liberal was forced to quit after her nasty teenage tweets were recirculated.
In the past we’ve had our own share of disgraced candidates on the North Shore. One provincial Conservative was dropped from the ballot after a drunk driving incident.
And who can forget the video of Dana Larsen lighting a mouthful of joints before driving that surfaced while he was running for the NDP?
The fact is such transgressions are fair game when someone is seeking the important job of representing fellow citizens.Yet party databases that are bursting with info on average citizens repeatedly seem to lack red flags when it comes to those carrying their own banners.
It’s about time they started paying attention. If they don’t vet their candidates properly, chances are strong their political opposition will.
There are good reasons for weeding out problem candidates before they hit the ballot. As Rob Ford so amply demonstrated, behaviour that’s a problem before an election rarely gets better after.
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