Canadian Political Scandals - Essay Example

Introduction

The aspiration for power and money is a rising issue that has resulted in numerous political scandals around the globe. Canada is broadly considered among the least corrupt nations in the realm; however, scandals still exists in the country. This paper aims to examine and compare two main political scandals in the history of Canada, which include Airbus and Pacific scandals.

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The Pacific Scandal of the 1870s

The pacific scandal happened between the years 1872 and 1873, which was the initial primary outrage in Canada since the confederacy (Warf, 2019). It entailed Sir John Macdonald, who was the former Prime Minister, Sir Hugh Allan, and his conservative government (Ruderman, 2017). The scandal rotated around allegations that the conservative government received election money from Sir Allan to obtain a deal to construct the transcontinental pacific railway in Canada ((Warf, 2019). Besides, the railway was very substantial in maintaining the British Columbia (BC) section of Canada as it was guaranteed access to the railway (Mcintosh, 2018). The United States desired to enlarge northwest, which comprised succession of British Columbia; hence Macdonald was focused on having BC tie the confederation. Allan was a creative letter writer and maintained data of his correspondence MacDonald (Mcintosh, 2018). The letters displayed that a covenant existed between the conservatives and Allan, promising him the contract of the railway in exchange for campaign funds. The liberal party discovered the deal between Allan and Macdonald, leading to the resignation of Sir John Macdonald as the prime minister.

The Airbus Scandal

Brian Mulroney, in 1984, became the 18th Canadian Prime Minister (McEvoy, 2016). The airbus scandal rotated around claims that the Canadian government members received commissions and bribes from the Airbus industries and German Canadian businessman. A lobbyist, Karlheinz Schreiber, gave Mulroney funds for his campaigns. A crown corporation during this period, Air Canada, was pursuing to acquisition new aircraft; however, the auctions went through to Schreiber’s client (McEvoy, 2016). The Airbus and Boeing were contesting for the construction and provision contract of Air Canada’s jets. Throughout the lobbyist and prime minister’s relationship, Schreiber convinced Mulroney to spend in the aircraft of German manufacturers with the employment termination of the prior Air Canada members of the board (Benzie, 2015).

These event series resulted in the buying of 34 planes from Airbus (Dalton, 2017). Also, the purchase of these aircraft was due to Schreiber’s connection with the corporation. The deal ensured that Schreiber received 3% of each plane vended to Canada (Dalton, 2017). Schreiber opened a private account in Switzerland, and they could meet with Mulroney in restaurants in New York and Montreal ((McEvoy, 2016). After some time, it was realized that Mulroney physically interceded in Air Canada’s decision concerning the acquisition of the new aircraft. The association between Schreiber and Mulroney began to deteriorate as the prime minister denied the allegations directed to him regarding the funds obtained through classified encounters.

Legal and Ethical Issues

The legal issues between the two scandals are that they both entailed patronage and bribery, where there existed utilization of money to reward political supporters. For instance, Macdonald obtained funds in exchange for the contract of the transcontinental railway. Also, Schreiber gave Mulroney campaign funds with the promise of providing the lobbyist with the deal of Air Canada. Thus, both Schreiber and Allan both gave political leaders funds as they were guaranteed something for an exchange. Besides, both scandals entail ethical issues were MacDonald pursued for individuals to support his political campaign and was ready to exchange funds for a favour. In the airbus scandal, Mulroney utilized his authority to terminate the employment of the existing Air Canada board of directors and substituted them with his politician friends such as Frank Moores. Schreiber and Mulroney were both business vendors pursuing to augment their finances by participating in unethical business agreements. The deals in both the scandals solely benefited the involved members while contributing adversely to the economy of Canada.

More Serious Scandal

The airbus scandal is one of the paramount scandals generated in Canada due to the connection exhibited between former Prime Minister Mulroney and lobbyist Schreiber. Their rapport is a clear representation of the corruption that is apparent in politics, and the significant impacts legislation have in business. The airbus scandal impacted other firms as it acquired a substantial financial hit taking a prolonged period to recover ((McEvoy, 2016). The outrage involved ethical issues and political corruption. The scandal will continue to have a continuing influence on the future politics of Canada.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, political scandals tend to increase mistrust to the citizens of a country. These scandals play a significant role in what occurs in Canada’s political leaders by using their power to exercise unethical concerns to fulfil their desires. In the pacific scandal, Macdonald’s conservative administration received campaign money from Allan in return for an assurance to reward Allan’s organization the contract to construct the pacific railway in Canada. Besides, in the airbus scandal, the connection between Schreiber and Mulroney displays the continuous persuasive role corporates have in politics. The legal issues between the two scandals are that they both entailed patronage and corruption, where there existed utilization of money to reward political supporters. The bribery nature in Canada evokes corrupt epochs in the country’s past and at the ages of this decade.

References

Benzie, R. (August 2015). Five Political Scandals that Rocked Ottawa. The Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/08/14/five-political-scandals-that-rocked-ottawa.html

Dalton, R. J. (2017). Political trust in North America. In Handbook on political trust. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781782545118.00035

McEvoy, J. P. (2016). The legal response to whistleblowing in Canada: Managing disclosures by the “up the ladder” principle. In Whistleblowing-A Comparative Study, 16, 33-72. Springer, Cham.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25577-4_2

Mcintosh, G. (October 2018). Pacific Scandal. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pacific-scandal

Ruderman, N. M. (2017). Political-Financial Scandal, Political Disaffection, and the Dynamics of Political Action [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto]. TSpace.

Warf, B. (2019). Corruption in the United States and Canada. In Global Corruption from a Geographic Perspective, 125, 207-229. Springer, Cham.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03478-8_8