There’s been a lot of buzz about donations Bob Rae made to NDP candidates in the 2004 and 2006 elections. Now an even more concerning fact has come up: in an article where he’s quoted lauding the NDP MP-elect Irene Mathyssen, he’s described as being “thrilled” by the NDP’s seat gains in the 2006 election:
The former MPP thrilled supporters and former provincial colleagues Monday night (Jan. 23) by winning the NDP’s first federal seat in London.”Irene’s a very fine person. She’s got tons of commitment, she’s very thoughtful, a very good team member,” said former NDP premier Bob Rae.
“She’s just a decent, hardworking individual. All the bad things you can think of in a politician, she’s the opposite.”
…
Both Rae and Boyd were thrilled with the NDP’s showing in the election, winning 29 seats across Canada — 11 more than in the last Parliament.
Calgary Grit’s got about the best breakdown and commentary on Rae’s donations that I’ve seen (as you’d probably expect), and I discovered the above article through a link in his comments section. Ultimately, Rae’s donations matter most if they were given because of political allegiance rather than because of personal ties. Although it’s extremely bad form to be financially supporting electoral opponents of the party you’re hoping to lead, it’s forgivable to donate token amounts (and all the amounts are relatively trivial) to friends’ campaigns regardless of their political affiliation.
However, this forgiveness depends on Rae actually supporting the Liberals in the last election. If he’s both donating to our party’s opponents and rooting for them to win, it’s pretty difficult to accept that he’s really a Liberal a couple months down the line.
I don’t demand absolute party loyalty from someone to demonstrate Liberal Party support. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask that someone that wants to lead our party has demonstrated enough commitment to the Liberals that he hasn’t celebrated NDP seat gains that came at our expense last election. I don’t think I’m offside here.
