Glass Houses

“It is better to be thought a fool than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt.” George Eliot.

Wise words which have been attributed to many, but few take counsel. The past few weeks have seen two politicians splay open their mouths much to the aghast of their supporters and adversaries.

First it was Lisa Raitt our federal resource minister who appeared insensitive to those suffering from cancer when she was caught equating the recent radioactive isotope shortage as being, ‘sexy’ political fodder. In her case she knew is was a fubar the moment it spewed forth. Raitt not only has lost her grandmother, grandfather and father to cancer she also lost her brother to the disease. That fact did not hinder the opposition from calling for an apology and a demand for her removal from office. Why would they hold back, it is the opposition’s policy to kick’em while they are down. Even though the PM publicly stood behind her, she offered an apology in very short order.

With the federal conservatives stumble passing, the good old Alberta Conservatives took a run at the Darwin Award. In walks our finance minister Iris Evans. In an address to the Economic Club of Canada she is quoted as saying, “They’ve understood perfectly well that when you’re raising children, you don’t both go to work and leave them for somebody else to raise. This is not a statement against daycare. It’s a statement about their belief in the importance of raising children properly” Later in her address she stated, “The huge failure of Canadians is not to educate the children properly, and then why should we be surprised when they have mental illnesses or commit dreadful crimes?”

Apparently, Evans has no problem pointing fingers at “They” who she equates to either single parent families or those who have both mother and father working out-of-the-home. In light of the fact that very few families can afford not to have two incomes supporting their needs, Evans appears to be out of touch with reality. This coming from a woman who four decades ago, juggled work as a registered nurse, teaching piano and raising three sons. Did she not have someone else watching her boys or did she just fill the bathtub half way and let them splash around while she was at work.

Since Evans holds the purse strings for the province and her apparent disrespect for working mothers, or should I say “They” don’t expect any additional tax relief or assistance for childcare in the very near future.

But let us take a closer look at what was on her mind. Three key points Evans put forth, first it was 1: working parents not raising their children properly, 2: lack of education causing mental illness, and 3: “They” plus mental illness causes dreadful crimes. Or better yet, “They” the negligent are the reason for increased mental illness and the crime rate.

Shame, shame on they! Where does she get this stuff? It appears that she wandered from her speech notes and only relied on her collective experience as our former minister of Children Services and minister of Heath and Wellness. When did she have the time to do extensive studies of the effect of working parents and lousy education on social ethical structures? Admittedly, all these can have a cause and affect on society but not always with detrimental results.

If her belief is that only education produces law-abiding citizens, then take the example of what a good education can bring us.

Ted Bundy was a graduate of the University of Washington; he went onto using his intelligence to lure over 30 women to their graves. Bonnie Parker was a straight “A” student and achieved honours in high school. Her and her lover went onto robbing banks and killing those who got in their way. Then there is Osama bin Laden, who is a graduate in Economics and Business Administration. These fine examples seem to contradict Evan’s belief that education affirms ethical behaviour.

I can find many examples that either agree or contradict her tenant, but the point being that her position is flawed, and a person of her station in life should be choosing her words more carefully.

Famous journalist Albert Edward Wiggam once said, “Intelligence appears to be the thing that enables a man to get along without education. Education enables a man to get along without the use of his intelligence.” Where do we find our finance minister in this quote?

It would be a refreshing thing if the likes of Iris Evans can remember where she came from and show a little humility when representing our conservative government.