By Les MacPherson, The StarPhoenix October 2, 2010 - Maclean's magazine should wear as a badge of honour its unanimous rebuke by the House of Commons over a cover story calling Quebec the most corrupt province in Canada.
It is to protect their political hides in that province that MPs of all parties voted this week to stifle further discussion on the awkward subject by formally denouncing Maclean's. This shameful attack on the free press and on free speech by an institution that is sworn to defend these very rights reveals a kind of intellectual corruption that only supports the article's thesis.
There is a difference, of course, between intellectual corruption and political corruption, but one surely follows the other. Now we have it on the record that MPs will cast aside their obligations and our constitutional freedoms for the sake of votes in Quebec. If it really is the most corrupt of provinces, no wonder.
Political corruption is a perfectly legitimate subject for public debate. It is likewise legitimate to compare levels of corruption among various jurisdictions. A healthy democracy requires this kind of scrutiny. What is unhealthy in the extreme is for self-serving politicians to use their legislative authority as a club to beat on those who dare to talk about political corruption in Quebec. We are supposed to overlook it, apparently. Could there be any better environment for corruption to flourish than one where no one is allowed to mention it?
It is revealing that the motion of censure against Maclean's does not deny that Quebec is the most corrupt of provinces. Unable to refute or even challenge the magazine's comprehensive research in support of the proposition, MPs instead fell back on that oldest and lamest of replies: Shut up. We expect this from children, not from our members of Parliament.
MPs might claim that it's not just about Quebec, that they would likewise defend any Canadian jurisdiction so egregiously smeared by the press. So where were they when Maclean's some time ago named a Regina neighbourhood as the worst in Canada? I don't seem to recall any motion of censure in Parliament over that. Neither do I recall any motion of censure when newspapers and broadcasters across the country identified Saskatoon as Canada's murder capital. There certainly was no motion of censure when a Vancouver author this week insulted Ian and Sylvia by naming American Women as the best Canadian song ever, while Four Strong Winds was relegated to No. 9.
But when Quebec's political culture takes a shot from a newsmagazine, MPs from all four parties instantly set aside their differences and rise up as one to condemn the messenger.
Never mind that the shot is richly deserved. Maclean's makes a compelling case for bestowing the most corrupt title on Quebec. The magazine first examined and weighed political corruption scandals across the country for the last 50 years. It is not the magazine's fault that Quebec was disproportionately represented in this grim compendium of shame.
Even some Quebecers have ruefully conceded that their province leads the league in corruption. Others say that Maclean's, by calling Quebec the most corrupt province, only reveals how little it knows about Nova Scotia and B.C.
My own reaction to the cover story, at least initially, was one of relief. Political corruption is not unknown in Saskatchewan, sad to say. It is comforting to hear it is worse somewhere else.
The point is that there is room here for genuine disagreement. There should be no room for politicians to bully the press for raising an awkward subject. Since when is it the role of Parliament to tell reporters what they should and should not report?
To its credit, Maclean's is resisting the pressure from Parliament and standing by its story. To its shame, the magazine's parent company, instead of standing up, is tap dancing. Rogers Publishing has expressed "regret over any offense the cover may have caused." Never mind that the cover, depicting Bonhomme with a cash-stuffed briefcase, perfectly illustrates the story within.
By apologizing for the cover, Rogers apologizes for good, provocative journalism.
By attacking Maclean's for drawing attention to political corruption wherever it lives, our members of Parliament give aid and comfort to the dark side.