Bogumil Pacak-Gamalski

There is a saying in my native language ‘moje piec groszy (my five groshe)’, which translates exactly to ‘my five cents’. It relates to a feeling of aching to add a few short personal thoughts to some serious lengthy debate.

So, here is ‘my five cents’ on the national disgraceful and very disrespectful debacle of destroying the impeccable character of Honorable David Johnston.

Whether you like or dislike PM Justin Trudeau should have nothing to do with the character, honor, and trust of our former Governor General, researcher, and former President or Chancellor of leading Canadian universities.  Coming from a very modest working family, David Johnston graduated from the most prestigious universities: Harvard, Cambridge, and Queens. Author or co-author of twenty-five books. Served on many national and provincial boards, committees, commissions, and inquiries. I can go on and on. It is a remarkable career and a very long service to Canadians.

When the Prime Minister asked him to become a Special Rapporteur on Foreign Interference – he accepted that post. As he always did, when Canada asked him to serve.  Whether Justin Trudeau should call right away a Public Inquiry, as demanded by Opposition, is a different question, of which I am not sure because a lot of the facts could not and will not be made public due to the issues of intelligence and espionage agencies’ involvement. But that is beside the role given to Johnston. That is politics, not service.

Right away, before David Johnston had even time to begin his work the barrage of attacks become relentless. Pierre Poilievre from the ultra-right Conservatives Party, being the angry dog he is, devoted his entire time to attacking and destroying the man, who symbolizes the opposite of Poilievre. It was just vicious and relentless.  But that did not surprise me. I don’t expect anything else from Pierre Poilievre. This man reached the bottom of a political, partisan swamp a long time ago. What surprised me, was the stupid excuses of Jagmeet Singh of the New Democrats.  He, while demanding Mr. Johnston’s removal, constantly repeated the mantra: “Personally I have no doubt of Mr. Johnston’s high character and integrity but there is a perception among Canadians …”. There wasn’t a perception among Canadians about Johnston’s inability to be objective. That perception was being orchestrated by Poilievre and by Singh. And their parties. Ad nausea. The Opposition parties were furious that Prime Minister would not listen to them. To all of them (including the Bloc). It was just a struggle between the government and the parliament. Who is more important? And David Johnston becomes the victim of this childish behavior of all of them.  In all of this – none of them showed the fortitude and courage to stand by their words. We do have a minority government. A government that hinges on the goodwill of other parties and non-liberal members of Parliament. If that was that important to them – and surely it sounded and appeared as a struggle between death and life of democracy – then why they acted without guts and fortitude? All opposition parties voted and passed a resolution demanding only one thing – the Public Inquiry and rejecting David Johnston’s Report findings and solutions. But they lacked the courage – as they should if democracy was in crisis – and did not make it a vote of non-confidence. They could have voted Justin Trudeau out of his job. Simply as that. But none of the leaders of Opposition in this Parliament have the stature, the nerve, and the fortitude to ask Canadians for the job of PM for themselves. Instead, they choose an easy target. The smear campaign against David Johnston as a lackey of Justin Trudeau. Justin Trudeau, who as a young boy knew Mr. Johnston. They said that David Johnston did not merely (as he did) personally knew Pierre Trudeau but was his close friend. I remember reading Pierre Trudeau’s memoirs. He lists there a lot of his personal and political friends. Nowhere is David Johnston mentioned. The ‘Memoirs’ were published in 1993. Decades before Johnston become Governor General.

They called a special hearing of the Parliamentary Committee to question Mr. Johnston. I watched the entire proceedings. It was very long. And it was disgusting. And the 81 year old honorable man answered every question with grace and respect. Even, when one of the Conservative goons asked David Johnston if he … wrote the Report himself. That was the worst political circus I have ever seen in Canadian politics. And I have seen a lot. It made me sad and angry at the same time. I was ashamed of my own, Canadian members of Parliament.  It felt like watching the Trial of The Witches of Salem.

Mr. Johnston refused to resign and vowed to finish his job, which he accepted.  But being a man, who strongly believes that his service to Canada and Canadians must always be based on the integrity and goodwill of all parties involved – the next day, after reflecting on everything that happened, he gave us another, amazing lesson of citizenship, service, and grace.

He concluded that given the highly partisan atmosphere surrounding his Report and his person it is his opinion, that he should resign from his position of Special Rapporteur in the hope that the Government and Opposition finish the important task, without any other distraction. Again, he put the ‘service’ before the “I’. A concept that most politicians can’t even comprehend.