Hypocrisy at its most obvious

The Ottawa Citizen reports that despite years of criticizing the Libs for accepting business perks while in office, the Cons have (to nobody's surprise) continued the practice for their own benefit:

Accepting gifts, including free Ottawa Senators playoff tickets in luxury corporate boxes, continue to be acceptable for Conservative MPs in Stephen Harper's government, despite criticism of the practice when the Tories were in opposition.

The practice means a double standard regarding the acceptance of gifts still exists between politicians, such as government whip Jay Hill who attended last Friday's Senators playoff game, and federal rank-and-file bureaucrats who continue to be prohibited by rules overseeing their conduct...

On the apparent double standard with bureaucrats and her party's critical comments while in opposition, (Harper spokeswoman Sandra) Buckler declined comment, saying she was not familiar enough with the issue since she was not in opposition at the time...

Conservative MP John Williams has been very critical of freebies, saying that attending free hockey games with clients "is influence-peddling at its most obvious" and should be outlawed for "all decision-makers," including politicians. Contacted Monday, Williams said he still feels there is a double standard, but that the new government's Federal Accountability Act is a step in the right direction in placing restrictions on freebies. He said the act will require lobbyists to register any freebies they give out.

It's hard to see what principled reason could exist for holding politicians to a substantially lower standard than public servants. But even if there is a principled argument to be made, the Cons don't seem the least bit interested in bothering to make it.

Instead, the Cons seem satisfied with the conclusion that whatever they do themselves can't be wrong...even if it's precisely the same behaviour which used to inspire fits of rage when done by the Libs. And even those Cons who are still willing to acknowledge a double standard are hiding behind increased obligations on lobbyists (not on MPs themselves) as an excuse for preferential treatment for the Cons now that they hold power.

Once again, the Cons' only problem with the Libs' culture of entitlement seems to have been the fact that it wasn't the Cons who reaped the benefits. Fortunately, though, the opposition parties have the means to use the Accountability Act to force the Cons to live up to their own opposition rhetoric. And hopefully they'll be able to work together long enough to ensure that accountability applies to Harper's inner circle as well as to the rest of Canada's government apparatus.