On embarrassments

In fairness to Diane Ablonczy, Jane Taber's column today omits the obvious explanation as to why she insulted a crowd of travel writers by wasting their time with such insights as the observation that Ontario is "quite a bit east" of Whistler. But let this be a lesson to Ablonczy: it's a bad idea to talk down to better-informed crowds as if they were Conservative supporters.

On family matters

One more side of the Diane Ablonczy demotion which doesn't seem to have received much attention yet is the potential for the incident to inflame rifts among the Cons themselves as well as confirming the party's intolerance to outside observers. And David Akin neatly wraps up plenty of internal problems in one paragraph:

More than a dozen Conservative MPs responded to questions from Canwest News Service about Trost's criticisms but most either did not want to comment or did not want to be identified. Two MPs, who requested anonymity for fear of being disciplined by the PMO, said the issue was discussed at a closed-door caucus meeting in June and that Ablonczy was criticized by several MPs about the grant.

Internal bigotry? Check. Abject fear of the leader in place of any respect for the decisions made? Check. Anonymous backbiting? Check.

So will the always-tenuous marriage of convenience between the Cons' bigot wing and their image-conscious pols be the first one to actually suffer due to GLBT pride?

Irresponsible

Stephen LaRose rightly notes in comments that my earlier post didn't focus on the reason for Diane Ablonczy's now-confirmed demotion. And there's certainly no doubt that to the extent Ablonczy was punished for daring to fund Toronto's Pride Parade through the Marquee Tourism Events Program which has been removed from her portfolio, that would seem to reflect the worst possible fears about the Cons' most bigoted voices having full control over the party.

But it's worth noting as well that even to the extent some other explanation is forthcoming (and the Cons' first attempt at spin is being met with due derision), there are still serious issues in the facts which the Cons have already conceded to be true. At the time of my earlier post, the odd part was the inability of Ablonczy's department to speak to what responsibilities it actually held.

And that issue is only amplified based on what's come out since. Now, by even the Cons' own account, the Harper government transferred ministerial responsibility and authority for a nine-figure program without informing the public.

Mind you, there's never been much doubt that Harper's ministers tend to lack any real freedom to make substantial decisions. But that doesn't mean they don't still bear an obligation to answer publicly for their responsibilities. And there would seem to be serious potential for fundamental breakdowns in accountability if the Harper government is actually changing those responsibilities behind the scenes and refusing to let Canadians know who's actually in charge of any given part of the federal government.

Which means that as important as the Cons' anti-gay bias is as an issue (as thoroughly documented elsewhere), the incident also highlights a separate problem with the Cons' continued disdain for responsible government. And both factors look to me to offer strong evidence that it's long past time to remove the Harper Cons from power.

In title only

Leaving aside the sheer hilarity of the appointed spokeshill for the Cons saying only that Diane Ablonczy hasn't been fired as Tourism Minister "as far as he knows", doesn't it speak volumes that Ablonczy herself is deferring to a Tony Clement staffer rather than being allowed to answer questions about whether she's still in charge?

(Edit: fixed wording.)