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Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A sickening new low
In politics, intra-party battles tend to be the most vicious and personal. A contested race for the position of secretary-treasurer of the Ottawa-Vanier Young Liberal Association is typically more bitter than between the Liberals and Tories in a general election. The personalities know each other well, and it is just like a fight inside a family.
As the Ontario PC convention draws nearer, the rhetoric is being ratcheted up and the discourse has sunk to an unprecedented -- and frankly inexcusable -- new low.
Rueben Devlin, a leader in the dump John Tory movement, has been subject to a vicious personal attack on a pro- John Tory blog:
What's interesting about Devlin is that he is the current president and CEO of the Humber River Regional Hospital.
Last month it was revealed that HRRH has the highest patient mortality rate in the Greater Toronto Area and the second-highest rate in the entire country - 36 points higher than the national average.
While other hospitals were releasing their results, Devlin's hospital initially kept their's secret. They had to be forced by the government to release these statistics.
Here's what the Toronto Star had to say about Stonewall Rueben:
"Since the data were released, Humber officials, most notably president Reuben Devlin, have refused to comment on the statistics or to explain how the hospital will address community concerns arising because of the figures.".
But it's not because he's media shy. Nope. He's more than happy to speak to reporters when he's criticizing an election campaign he had no involvement in.
Here's what Devlin had to say to the North Bay Nugget:
"The leader is accountable for everything. The leader selects the people who surround him. The leader signs off on the policies. The leader is the person who makes those final decisions, just like the CEO of a company."
Or, say, just like the CEO of a hospital?
Perhaps, if Rueben is going to insist on giving media interviews, he should start by explaining why patients die more frequently at his hospital than at any other in the GTA.
This is jaw-dropping. If I were to make a ranking of people I thought were most likely to be the victim of a personal attack, Rueben Devlin would be the very last person on the list. He is one of the most outstanding people I have ever known in politics. He's also one of the rare political junkies out there who has a life outside politics. A doctor, he has achieved great success in his profession, rising to become the head of a major Toronto hospital. Because his livelihood does not depend on where the next political consulting fee cheque comes from, he has always been able to keep the highest standard of integrity and speaks his mind, hence his vocal opposition to Tory (one of the few to do it openly early on.) This is the thanks he gets?
In 13 years of involvement in and observation of Canadian conservative politics, I have never seen such an unjustified and malicious attack on an individual. The coward(s) running this blog (there is no other word for the person(s) -- the blog is being written anonymously) should be shamed and marginalized, and Rueben Devlin might even want to explore legal options. It is a sickening attack on one of the Ontario Conservative Party's most respected and well-liked members.
UPDATE: B-Double, who I might add has been on the opposite side of me on more than one Ottawa-Vanier Youth Association-type bloodbath, agrees and sheds light on a second Tory campaign embarrassment. Also see his comment to this post.
UPDATE II: Josh Somer weighs in with similar thoughts.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 2:03 PM
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