The Conservative leak

» Conservative candidate relieved of a little more than his duties

Davie Wong
Contributor

veryone’s had those moments

where, out of nowhere, we
really need to go. It’s as if our
bladder has suddenly burst
open. What I’m talking about is
the sudden I-need-to-go-and-I-
need-to-go-now feeling.

For former Conservative
candidate Jerry Bance that
moment was three years ago in
2012, while he was performing
maintenance on appliances in
a customer’s home. The normal
reaction would be to go to the
washroom and relieve himself,
right? Well unfortunately, Bance
couldn’t wait. His solution was
to grab the nearest coffee mug
and urinate in it. Umm, gross.

He poured his mess down
the drain, rinsed out the
cup, and returned to fixing
the appliance, as if it never
happened. It would have stayed
like that, too, if not for the
hidden cameras that caught him
in the act.

It turns out the job he was
working was a set up for the CBC
show Marketplace. They had set
up hidden cameras as part of a

The show decided to go through
with the video footage and the
embarrassing incident was aired
on March 2, 2012.

The footage has come up

: more recently due to Bance’s

: decision to run for a riding

: under the Conservative Party.

: Rivals have dug up the footage
: inan effort to discredit him.

: Well, it worked. Shortly after

: Bance issued a statement

: apologizing for his behaviour,

: a spokeswoman of the

: Conservative Party announced — :
: that Bance would not be running :
: in his riding. It seemed like

: they’d patched the leak, but it
: was too late. The damage was
: already done.

The social media

community had gotten wind

: of the incident and by Sunday

: night, September 6, #peegate—
: as they had labeled it—was one
: of the trendiest hashtags across
: Canada. Canadians across the

: country used the label to take

: jabs and make puns (many

: of which are better than my

: own) at Bance, Prime Minister
: Stephen Harper, and the

: Conservative Party.

Ironically, it was a welcome

: distraction for the Prime

: Minister, who has been getting
: heat from the Mike Duffy trial
: ever since it started.

story on home repair companies. :

The conversation has now

: shifted from the topic of Mike
: Duffy and deceit, to just how

: out of touch Harper is with his
: own party. Surely, with all the

: attention given to a candidate’s

: past and social media

: interaction, something this big

: should have been spotted.

: Unfortunately, these leaks

: do happen. Opposition leaders

: Thomas Mulcair and Justin

: Trudeau have both taken their

: stances on this situation.

: Trudeau ridiculed Harper as

: he spoke to a crowd of roughly

: 300 supporters in Summerside,
: Prince Edward Island, calling

: the Prime Minister “out of

: touch” and saying that he “can’t

 

: be bothered to find out” what

: was happening in his own party.
: These comments are quite ironic !
: as it was not too long ago that

: Trudeau himself was in the hot
: seat for one of his candidate’s

: unsavory comments on social

: media.

Meanwhile, Mulcair took

advantage of the situation to

: throw out a few bad puns aimed
: at Harper and the Conservative
: Party. The leader of the NDP

: knows all too well what it’s

: like to be in the hot seat as it

Image via CBC

: was recently that his party was
: involved in a spending scandal.

His sympathy was well noted in

: his decision to not pursue the
: topic any further.

While this particular

: scandal is bound to lose

: momentum and fizzle out,

: it’s definitely one of the more

: memorable scandals of late.

: There is no doubt that this will
: be the cause of laughter for

: many Canadians, long into the
: future.

 

Thanks for nothing

» Why we shouldn't give credit unless credit is due

Elliot Chan
_ Opinions Editor
-| opinions
@theotherpress.ca

N” and then we find
ourselves sending praise to
someone who doesn’t deserve
it. This tends to happen in
environments where you have
to work as a team or as an
ensemble. It seems when bad
work is done, blame is passed
around and fingers are pointed.
That’s a destructive attitude,
solving nothing. Alternatively,
the reverse problem is as bad. It
seems that slackers in a group
with success would also join
in and receive praise. I believe
the second scenario can be as
harmful as the first.

Riding on the coattails of

others is a survival strategy that :
: tangible and in the grand
: scheme of things it doesn’t

should have been eradicated
at some point during human

evolution. We all know someone :
: take what isn’t theirs, you are

: feeding a wild animal, causing
: them to become dependent

who does the bare minimum,
or little to nothing, and allows
others around him or her to

pick up the slack. The same way :
: them. You are not a charity. You

: you would cut out a cancerous
: tumour, you should do the same
> for that member of the team.

They might be nice, kind-

: hearted, or have some positive

: trait. They might have personal
: issues that stop them from

: excellence. Regardless, you

: want to give them the benefit

: of the doubt and help them

: along. Still, nothing is more

: infuriating than someone
getting praise for work they
didn’t do.

There is a Douglas

: Coupland quote from the

: novel Hey Nostradamus!

: that has always stuck

: with me: “[I] was raised to

: believe that the opposite of
: labor is theft, not leisure.”

The person who doesn’t

perform is essentially stealing
: from the collective. They

might not be stealing anything

matter, but if you allow them to

on others. You are not helping

: are enabling a lazy attitude and

: that is a benefit to nobody.
One common problem,

: especially in a professional

: environment, is when a superior

: takes credit for work their

: subordinate had done. While

: this is indeed a bitch move, I

: also believe that subordinates

: allow this to happen by

: displaying weakness. We

: need to stand up and defend

: ourselves without seeming

: entitled or arrogant.

: If you notice someone

: taking your work and soaking

: in the praise themselves, you'd

: need to understand that they

: might never see their own

: self-righteousness. They may

: bea pathological liar or a

: narcissistic asshole. Don't call

: them out immediately, keep

: arecord, and approach their

: boss. Alternatively, you can

: try to empathize. Ask: why do

: they need to lie and steal your

: efforts? Often it is because of

: their insecurities and failings.

: If that is the case, give it time,

: and be patient. If your work is

: good and your aim is true, you'll

: shine.

 

Image via Thinkstock