One of the many great scenes in Casablanca occurs when the Police Inspector (played by Claude Rains) – under pressure from the Nazis – shouts that Rick’s Café must close at once, explaining that he was shocked to learn that gambling is taking place there. A moment later, someone appears at his side and hands him his “winnings” for the night. The Inspector pockets the money without missing a beat or betraying a hint of any embarrassment.
Moments of delicious hypocrisy were also on display in our national capital recently, thanks to the incident involving expensive moving costs for some of the staff joining the PMO in Ottawa. Apparently it cost $126,669 to move one of the new staff members, while another managed to struggle by with only $80,382 in moving costs, according to press reports.
Nor did the Liberal government distinguish itself with its response to this issue. It took refuge in the explanation that it was just following the rules that had been established by the Harper government some eight years earlier. Since the Liberals campaigned on reversing most of the things that the Harper government had done, and have been pursuing this course since taking office, it is both hypocritical and disappointing to find them holding up a Harper guideline as justification for the highly questionable spending. The further explanation (from someone in the PMO) that many of the new staff had to move their families to Ottawa (hardly an unusual or unexpected development) added nothing to the situation.
One is not sure whether to laugh or cry. At least in Casablanca the Inspector turned out to be an honourable fellow at the end.