Muhammad Ali Bukhari, CNMNG News, Toronto
It is the work of sociology to cover the issues of our daily lives; on the other hand, the task of a newspaper is to gather news, general knowledge or gossip. Just as the leadership of an unorthodox or clownish group is unmasked in the process, so the world is nothing but a dialectic for unschooled politicians, although differences are visible to liberals.
Again, even though the family is considered as a “nuclear society”, it has its own politics, economy, values and ways to lessen the conflict. That is why sociology invents the theory of social relations. And that is why this article focuses on the consequence of a lawmaker breaking the law in Canada.
Yasmin Ratansi, an MP from Toronto’s Don Valley East, left the Liberal Caucus last November and is currently serving as an independent MP, according to a recent CBC news report. She must pay back $9,391.28 for violating parliamentary rules by hiring her sister in the constituency office and paying her salary from a three-year government fund.
The former employees of the MP have complained that she tried to cover up the matter, but at the end could not save herself. The House of Commons’ secretive Board of Internal Economy, which monitors all parliamentary spending, reached a decision at an in-camera meeting on February 25. Anthony Rota, chairman of the Board and Speaker of the House of Commons, confirmed in a statement that the three-month-long monitoring has been completed.
The statement said that in addition to the fine, “The Board also noted Ms. Ratansi’s lack of cooperation during its review of the matter.” Interestingly, at the beginning of last year, Ratansi said in a Facebook post that the decision to hire her sister from January 23, 2016, to November 2, 2020, was “made an error in judgment” and “remedied the situation” by leaving the Liberal caucus.
But, in a statement on Monday, Ratansi expressed surprise that the Board had made the decision while the case is under investigation by the Ethics Committee. She said, “In the past [the board] has neither interfered in nor duplicated the efforts of the independent investigation by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner,” she said. “I had requested that the same courtesy be extended to me as it had to other parliamentarians in similar situations. It is not a lack of collaboration or cooperation but seeking fairness and a due and respectful process.”
According to a CBC report, several former employees of Ratansi have said that she hired her sister at least from 2005 to 2011 and then re-appointed her in 2017 when parliamentary rules formally prohibited giving jobs to siblings for any MP. As per the House of Commons rules, MPs usually have their own Office Budgets, and from there a maximum of $89,700 a year can be paid to an assistant in the constituency office. That means Ratansi probably paid her sister a total of $269,100 in three years. The opposition Conservative Party has written to the Speaker, urging him to take “appropriate action” against Ratansi and demanding her resignation. Conservative MP Michael Barrett also called the issue “another example in a long line of arrogant and entitled behaviour by the Liberals.” At the same time, on November 10 last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described Ratansi’s behaviour as “unacceptable” and said he was “deeply disappointed” with her office’s management.
No matter what the Prime Minister or the Opposition says the decision of the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy against Ratansi is seemingly sufficient. It is clear from the description of the incident that Ratansi has broken the law, even though she is a lawmaker.
