America, You Ain't Seen Nuthin' [UPDATED x2]

Want an idea of just how corrupt Canadian politics really is? Andrew Coyne elaborates:

Just so everyone is clear: The former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada says there was a criminal conspiracy to defraud her of the nomination in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, part of a "massive, orchestrated fraud" campaign that "follows a pattern" established in other ridings and that was carried out with the knowledge, if not the direction, of the current Prime Minister of Canada.

...............

After everything else we've heard of late, it's hard to dismiss out of hand. Canadians, I think, are awakening to how profoundly corrupt our political system has become. We were so accustomed to it, we barely noticed any more. But the evidence is accumulating, and it is inescapable. Indeed, it is everywhere...

That list is just a taste - and he's only talking about political races. There's still the whole other realm of political handouts to take into account as well.

Coming from Texas, as I did, I must admit that this is all very foreign to me. Not that human nature was any different in Texas, just that it hadn't twisted the system so blatantly. The extent of corruption I've seen here has led me to see just how easy it would be to fall into cynicism, or to subscribe to conspiracy theories. In fact, the majority of the Canadians I deal with on a daily basis fit into both of those categories. And while it's not as corrupt as other areas of the world, it's certainly enough to turn my stomach.

I'm interested to read Jason's take.

Trudeaupia weighs in with "Getting the government we deserve." Indeed.

Daimnation! and Mader Blog both point out that corruption is not limited to the Liberal Party.

A list of newly recruited Conservative members in Quebec contains discrepancies, including clusters of memberships at single addresses and blocks of members in sparsely populated areas of the Gaspe.

The discrepancies in the confidential list, a copy of which was obtained by CanWest News Service, are prompting fear among senior party members of the kind of vote-buying scandal that plagued the Canadian Alliance's leadership campaign in 2000 in the same region.

Somebody stop the merry-go-round, please. I wanna get off.
-- posted by Austin @ 9:37 PM (PermaLink/Comment) ¶