PRIME MINISTER USES PUBLIC MONEY FOR PERSONAL
DECORATION
Yesterday, an investigation revealed that the Prime Minister has been using government housing funds for furnishing the rooms of high-ranking politicians to furnish a lavish home on Lake Muskoka.
The Prime Minister has defended the use of public money for this purpose by saying that some of the poorer Members of Parliament need the money to become settled in Ottawa. Investigations revealed that the Prime Minister circumvented these rules by saying the purchases were for the official residences at 24 Sussex Drive and Meech Lake, and then doing an end run around the rules, according to a source within the National Capital Commission (NCC) who prefers not to be named, the NCC being in charge of the furnishing and upkeep of official residences. Confronted with these revelations, the Prime Minister said last night in Prince George, British Columbia, “Look, I haven’t the time for these baseless allegations, and the people of Canada know that I have been a very good, and very effective Prime Minister these past five years.”
Upon hearing the information late last night, Cameron Duff said from the campaign trail in Victoriaville, Quebec, “This is emblematic of the corruption that is increasingly endemic within the government. It has been observed countless times that corruption erodes the strength of democracies and diminishes public confidence, and this applies just as strongly now. This is yet another reason that a change in government is needed, and I am ready to be that change.”
Patrick Wakefield, speaking from Windsor, also chipped in:”You know, when the people of Canada, the backbone of the country, the hard-working, working-class people hear of this, they wonder if this is the government that truly represents them. I’m not at all surprised by the growing lack of faith within Meach’s ranks, and even his cabinet is feeling mutinous, and those are very loyal people surrounding him.”
Former natural resources Minister Xavier Nolen came to the defence of the Prime Minister from his Ottawa home last night: “Well, this is small potatoes, really, so what if he’s had his hand in the candy jar,”
Ryan trailed off reading, and snorted a signal of moral disgust. “Unbelievable,” he said.
“What?”
“It seems that Meach has been, er, availing himself of public money. Look at what he’s doing,” he handed her the newspaper, the headline clearly visible.
After reading it, Patricia said, “I will admit that he is a rather flawed vehicle for his policies, but I still agree with him.” She thought that the scandal seemed a scarlet letter; it would be sure to hurt Meach and his entire party; she believed that they deserved it completely.
“By the way, how’s Kate?”
“I got an email from her today, and she says she’s doing okay, though I don’t know why she doesn’t want to remarry. I mean, not all men are like Mike,”
The phone rang; it was Clarissa.
“Hello?”
“Hi Pat. I just called to say that I thought of a name for my baby-to-be: Alexandra Apollonia, and she will take Ryan’s name,”
“Alexandra Apollonia Miller. It sounds nice,” said Patricia. Alexandra seemed like a name one would give to a woman with a very strong personality, after the fashion of Alexander the Great, and Apollonia was obvious: named after Aphrodite's son, she would be intended to love people, including all of those around her, especially Clarissa, who especially needed it, now that she was a widow.
“Hey Ryan! Guess what? Clarissa’s baby has a name! She will be called Alexandra Apollonia Miller!”
“Wonderful. I hope she’s healthy and all. I think the people at work will not be pleased about this.” The last part of his statement referred to the fresh scandal, not Alexandra Apollonia Miller.
Ryan proved right; by the time he got to work at the CBC, news had already spread around the office, and nobody was pleased by the liberties the Prime Minister had taken. It had turned out that the story broke shortly before midnight, and there was no time for the cartoonists to draw any insulting pictures of the Prime Minister; Ryan knew that simply meant they would be laying it on all the more mercilessly the next day.
“It’s quite tough to do that sort of thing,” said Roland to Melissa, who were co-hosts on Ryan’s program.
“No, it’s simply too tempting. I mean, the guy has all that power, and there’s a lot of opportunity for self-aggrandisement.”
“I was talking about breaking the story. It was, let’s see, Geoff Toro who wrote that? He must have quite a sophisticated network of informers; getting information from the government, and especially the Prime Minister, is becoming like pulling teeth, especially now the election’s on.” Thus, Ryan thought, it was all the more remarkable that Geoff Toro, known as a journalistic sleuth, and a scourge to politicians everywhere who desired to keep secrets, had managed to write it and get it published before the election. It would require prodigious skill on one side, or otherwise gross incompetence and loose lips on the other side. In some time in the future, this would become an amusing and instructive tale; now, however, it was a blooming scandal, bound to cause Meach no end of trouble and scorn from the public; he was sure his opponents would bring it up in the campaign; there had already been attack ads, including one that was carried on his station condemning Meach for being too loose with the public’s money. “Isn’t it time for a change?” was the conclusion of said advertisement, and the answer to that rhetorical question was implied to be yes.
Ryan, through his job, heard all sorts of things to do with the election; what scandals were coming to light, who was saying what, who was keeping tight-lipped for what reason, which marches and rallies were planned, and sundry other things. He also heard of a rally by the Canadian Auto Workers in Toronto, about which he was unimpressed, as he viewed them not as agents of the average labourer, but as common and unsavoury rent-seekers.
Previous Next
No comments:
Post a Comment