Back in the late 1980's Chretien was out of politics. He decided that it would be a good idea to buy part of a golf course in his hometown. And then he got elected into the prime ministership. So he decided that he'd better get rid of these things. He proceeded to sell them, to a guy who owned a nearby hotel I believe. Apparently, the guy hoped to expand. So this was in 1993. However, in 1996, Chretien realized that he had not been paid for the thing. The hotel dude had lost interest, and so not bothered to pay the bill. What happened at this point is not entirely clear. Who owned the thing? Not the hotel guy, because he didn't pay for it yet. Was it Chretien who owned it? Or was it the golf course? It's still not clear yet I think. So anyways, what did he do about it? Well apparently, he didn't do a damn thing. Anyways, awhile later, like in 1999 he finally got rid of it for good. To his wife? I don't know where she ties into the picture. It's all very confusing to me.
So, I'm not sure what made this whole controversy erupt overnight. But I guess today, Chretien released some of the documents proving that he did sell the thing in 1993. And then he released some of the documents proving that he REALLY sold the thing, in 1999. But nothing about 1996, when he realized that he might still own the thing, and realized that there might be a conflict of interest going. And he didn't do a thing. He didn't demand payment, he didn't try to clear things up at all. He did however, sometime between 1996 and the present, throw his weight around, to try and give either the hotel or the golf course some extra money, or some favour from the federal government.
Quite personally, I don't care at all what Chretien does with his own time. He can own whatever he wants, whatever. And maybe he is innocent after all. The Ethics Counsellor or Commissioner or whatever (whatever that's supposed to mean) says that he is clean. Who am I to argue. No, for me, his actions concerning his stake in the hotel are not a big deal. It's his actions in the last few days which irk me. I mean, what did he try to do? He tried to deflect the blame. He tried to withold evidence from the Canadian peoples. He tried to escape public scrutiny by avoiding attending Parliamentary sittings. He got his buddy Herb Gray to come in and defend his honour. And he didn't give up the whole story, even on Monday morning when he decided to come back to the Parliament. Even though all of the non-Liberal parties were in agreement -- and indeed, many of the Liberal MP's also agreed -- I would argue that if so many people are thinking it, how can it be wrong? He should have come clean from the beginning. In my eyes....he's a good for nothing bum. And he always will be.