Dirt-digging exposes seedy politics

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/08/2021 (1712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last week, we learned that Premier Brian Pallister ordered senior political staff to hire a private investigator who was tasked with digging into NDP leader Wab Kinew’s personal history in search of previous brushes with the law. This was one part of Pallister’s long-term fascination with exposing alleged cover-ups of Kinew’s past misdeeds and indiscretions, as the premier kept pressure on his staff to wield their shovels and keep excavating.

Pallister apparently keeps a well-thumbed copy of Kinew’s autobiography. The premier reportedly identified passages of the book where he suspected Kinew was being less than fully truthful and directed staff to investigate those possibilities. Forget Abe Lincoln’s famous dog-eared Bible; this is Pallister’s dog-eared The Reason You Walk.

This unsavory episode was brought to our attention courtesy of the PC party’s current leadership crisis. Two anonymous former staffers revealed Pallister’s directive and the pressure he applied on his helpers to dig into Kinew’s past. Apparently, these staffers were not particularly bothered by this at the time, and might well have been cheering Pallister on.

But that was before the premier’s popularity was battered by both time in office and a series of missteps. Now that he is an electoral liability for his party, Pallister’s anonymous former staffers are suddenly scandalized by his past behaviour and so rushed to spill the beans.

As it turned out, siccing a P.I. on Kinew was done with only the most honourable of intentions. “One of the most important duties of any political party in our democratic system is to present clear and factual information to the public so that they can make fully informed decisions,” lectured a PC Party spokesperson, casting the party’s investigation of Kinew as an exercise in civic responsibility.

To this, Pallister added that he hoped any dirt dug up on Kinew because of his own order would lead to a kind of cleansing forgiveness: “The sooner he wrestles those demons, the sooner forgiveness will come. And that’s what I hope for him.”

I will leave it up to readers to assess the persuasiveness of that explanation.

As political scientist Paul Thomas recently pointed out, almost all parties dedicate some resources into looking into the backgrounds of their opponents. The advent of social media has made that task much easier, as a few clicks on Facebook can often easily unearth embarrassing pictures and thoughtless writings from the past.

But Pallister’s tactics in this case — directing senior staff in the taxpayer-funded executive council to dig up dirt on a political opponent — was viewed as a bridge too far. “You shouldn’t have people walking into the premier’s office to provide updates from an investigator on how the investigation into Wab Kinew is going,” Thomas argues. “This is taking partisan behaviour to an extreme.” Indeed.

Canadians have long held politicians in low esteem. For example: an Angus Reid Institute survey conducted in 2019 found nearly two-thirds of respondents agreed with the view that most politicians “can’t be trusted.”

This has always been regrettable to me. In my career, I’ve spoken with hundreds of politicians across several democracies for my research. The vast majority of them have been interesting, thoughtful, likeable, well-intentioned and deeply concerned with the well-being of their constituents. I’ve always been struck and discouraged by survey findings that reveal the low regard in which Canadians view their politicians.

But perhaps when people open the newspaper and find columns about elected officials hiring private investigators to dig up dirt on their opponents, it’s no surprise they hold those politicians in contempt as a result. What a shame that the actions of a few reflect so broadly across our entire political class.

One also wonders what effects these stories have on outstanding people who might have contemplated running for public office but who hesitate at the thought of one of their opponents’ hired guns rifling through their underwear drawer. Pallister even seemed to unwittingly give voice to this concern when asked about his decision to hire a private investigator. “I would encourage people who want to enter public life to remember — just as I am reminded frequently — that your life is on display,” he warned.

This is a remarkable statement from someone who was being asked to defend his order to hire a private investigator to look into the past of his political opponent. The ominous suggestion appears to be that if you’ve made mistakes in your past, or if there are episodes you’re not proud of, it’s probably best to take a pass on politics lest the premier of Manitoba hire a private investigator to dig up and publicize those mistakes for everyone to see. As though this is perfectly normal.

Would any sane person run for office in light of this? Would you?

Royce Koop is an associate professor in the department of political studies and co-ordinator of the Canadian studies program at the University of Manitoba.