Politricks as usual

Quick Saturday blog.

Well embattled Canadian Immigration Minister Judy Sgro resigned yesterday. Now when I was much younger and more naive I used to think that only West Indian politicians were shady. Silly me. Since I've grown up I've realized that sadly politics is poli-tricks the world over.

So many political scandals I can think of now that you wonder if that's the way things are really supposed to be. Gives credence to the saving that power corrupts. Anyway let me give you some details of this one. Well first off last year this politician Judy Sgro apparently was giving away favors in return for people working on her election campaign. First leaked story was that she promised a stripper from Romania asylum in return for working on her campaign. Now if the politician was a man this would have turned into one of those really big scandals. Then again this is Canada where we could really care less about politics. Politician scandal yea ok, big deal, who cares. Hockey lockout......... nuff man vex vex and cussing and crying an saying 'lord why thus thou persecute me so' or to paraphrase myself from previous blogs on my computer weeping and moaning filled the land and there was gnashing of teeth. Oh well a so it go.

Anyway so Judy get a bit of scrutiny for the stripper thing but now another story comes out that just sank her boat. She apparently offered another fellow asylum for giving her campaign free pizza. Shame! Free pizza? You can buy politician favor with pizza. Whoa! What happened to clandestine meetings in dark alleyways or deserted dockyards with dudes in darks shades and black suits with big briefcases full of money.

And What! But wait! Looks like politics a bit different here than in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean it would be the politician giving the electorate the free pizza or the corned beef and biscuits or the curry goat as the case may be not the other way around. Jamaica has Curry Goat politics, Barbados has Corn Beef and Biscuit politics but it seems that Canada has pizza politics and they flipped the scenario. I guess that's the difference between the first world and the third world. In the Caribbean politicians pay others to get votes to be elected, in Canada they get others to pay them in the hope of getting favors later. Ok yea that's too simplistic a definition of the differences since the same pizza type politics happens in the Caribbean as well but I felt like making that distinction.

Anyway another politician another scandal. Is there any question why our youth are jaded (jdid perhaps even) when matters of voting, politics and governing are brought to the fore. Maybe its time we rethink popular democracy or at least some issues of power.