I find myself troubled by this study that shows that a third of Canadians think that politicians routinely accept bribes, because I can’t think of a claim that could be further from the truth, but it’s also something that I think that We The Media need to have a long, hard think about as well. On the face of it, Canada does pretty well when it comes to running clean governments – what corruption there is, is pretty small change, and spending scandals tend to be isolated and low-key. The Sponsorship Scandal was pennies, really, in the grand scheme of things, but it’s been made out to have been a giant kleptocratic conspiracy by both political opponents of the Liberals, and some media talking heads for dramatic effect. Senators padding their expenses? Again, small change and most of it was caught by Senate administration before it hit the media. So where is this perception coming from? I think the preponderance of American scandals is rubbing off on our own politicians a lot, where they don’t have campaign spending limits or limits on corporate donations. So when people here think that the oil and gas lobby has bought off our politicians, I ask “How, exactly?” $1100 doesn’t really buy you a whole lot. And perhaps We The Media need to do a better job of putting scandal into context so that we don’t create this perception that our government is conducting graft at the kind of Third World levels that they’re made out to be. There is a line between accountability and hyperbole, and it’s disappointing to see how often it gets completely ignored.

Good reads:

• There are two by-elections today, and the Conservatives in Whitby–Oshawa are crying foul because some of the questionable expenses of their candidate, a former mayor Whitby mayor, are being used against her.
• Emmett Macfarlane takes on the myth that health care transfers have been cut. They haven’t.
• Another sexual harassment allegation against an NDP staffer, but he claims it was all a joke and that she was a friend and they have witnesses.
• Aaron Wherry writes about the budget debate that didn’t happen last week – given that Parliament wasn’t sitting, which is just what Joe Oliver intended.
• The body of the Ottawa shooter is still being examined, and there are questions about his burial.
• While fans are crediting Harper’s rather theatrical exchange with Putin as the reason for Putin’s early departure from the G20, it sounds like a whole lot of other leaders were giving him the frosty treatment as well.

Odds and ends:

East Block needs seismic upgrades.

While the government likes to tells that marijuana is somehow “300 to 400 percent stronger today,” Dan Gardner reminds us that it’s bad science how those figures were arrived at.