Joseph Planta's Commentary - thecommentary.ca

Friday, 22 October 2004

The Dark Side of political life

By Joseph Planta

VANCOUVER - Steve Paikin is a television personality on TV Ontario. His previous book, The Good Life, discussed the redeeming and worthwhile qualities that inspired people to go into political life. The Dark Side, which came out last fall, is a terrific follow-up, and as the title suggests looks into the darker side that people in public life often encounter.

Paikin is careful in not painting a sketches of crooked politicians who squander credibility and reputation for out and out corruption or something tawdry like that. In both books, he singles out certain politicians from Canadian political life past and present and points to the breed's likeability and redeeming virtues.

Politicians don't often rank very high in the eyes of the public. They're often held with scorn and in disrepute by a populace that's rightfully cynical or chronically dissatisfied. Politicians do not command the kind of respect that they deserve, the kind that people who, for the most part, give so much up for public service. Sure, there are bad apples, just like there are bad doctors and unseemly bus drivers, but politicians for the most part enter public life to do well for their community, rather than line their pockets with public largesse. Politicians for the most part are reliable and effective public servants, rather than self-gratifying, ego-hungry, power whores. In both books, Paikin captures the essence of what brings people to public life, and what motivated them to serve the public.

So where The Good Life told the stories of honourable politicians who achieved political success, The Dark Side describes the tumult that befalls politicians who didn't quite lead political lives that were all that rosy and heady. Paikin writes in an engrossing and animated style that makes for good reading that isn't weighed down by political jargon that would otherwise turn off average readers. Where Bob Woodward's books read in a fast-paced, in the moment kind of style, Paikin is similar in the sense that he too is a journalist, and he too appreciates the essence of accessible writing, that conveys the sketch yet is sometimes colourful and certainly effective.

Paikin skilfully weaves sketches of the people that support his study, politicians who have experienced the heightened heights of political success, and who've felt the ignominious reality of defeat, scandal, or betrayal. The heights of political life were scaled and illustrated in his previous book, in this book; Paikin shows the reader the lows that all good tragedy provides. Richard Nixon talked about peaks and valleys, and in The Dark Side the author, shows us how people like provincial premiers Bill Vander Zalm, Allan Blakeney, Roy Romanow, Bob Rae, and David Peterson dealt with those valleys when things inevitably go wrong.

One suspects because he's a working journalist, the style utilised by Paikin is similar to that Woodward style of writing as a first real draft of history. Where daily journalism in newspapers and such is the first rough draft, books by Woodward, and this book by Paikin serve as a sufficient draft, where facts and interpretation is preserved yet immediacy, colour and verve are throughout liberally. The sketches of other provincial politicians like Saskatchewan's Lynda Haverstock, Alberta's Nancy Macbeth, and Ontario's Lyn McLeod are welcome insights into the provinces that those characters were once active.

The Dark Side is a good read in that it summarises the political careers and timelines of the politicians so profiled in the book, rather neatly and fairly. As a British Columbian, one wouldn't expect a Central Canadian to get our culture appropriately and pertinently summarised, but in the sketch about Bill Vander Zalm, Paikin does so ably. The minority governments had in Ontario in the 1980s, is not something that I had been familiar with, however from his neat précis it made sense, and was far more accessible than either piecing it together from old clippings, or from a drier book on the subject.

The cynicism that most hold towards politicians is sometimes apt. However, most of it is unfair. Paikin argues-and I have long agreed-that politicians are notoriously underpaid. They should be compensated at a reasonable level to reflect the work that they do, especially considering how those in the private sector are compensated. Sure, there are bad apples. One can think of politicians, who skim off the public teat whenever they can. Stories of backbenchers claiming an extra per diem have been around for ages, and perhaps they have a right to do that, considering the public holds them in such low esteem. However, when legislatures debate increases in salaries, the public writhes on incessantly saying they aren't worth that much or anything at all. Disparaging pols is obviously easier to do, and especially so when the public is so obviously cynical.

Life in the public eye is never easy. Undue attention ensues, and the public seems to hold politicians to a higher standard than we would ourselves. Is it fair, yes, at times it is. However, often it isn't. Statistics have shown that incidents of alcoholism, depression and divorce are high amongst those in political classes. And as obviously demonstrated in The Dark Side, it isn't all that grand when your reputation is thrust so obviously in the public, and what would be the slightest of missteps unfairly magnified and harshly unforgiven.

***

The Dark Side by Steve Paikin is published by Viking and is $36.00 CDN (ISBN: 0670043281).

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