Ethics, arrogance and the end of the Teflon Tories

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Sometimes, the best defence truly is a strong offence. Then again, sometimes it's the worst approach.

Watching Conservatives respond Monday to the variety of ethics and accountability issues that have of late beset them, my sense is that they might want go back to the dressing room, watch the tapes and reconsider some of what they are doing.

The Conservative response to the contempt finding has been at its most elegant, a shrug. Or more recently, to cheapen the importance of the ruling, arguing that it is nothing more than partisan bluster. The posture on the in-and-out case is to question the legitimacy or objectivity of Elections Canada. The RCMP investigation of a former aide to Stephen Harper is clearly troubling to the Conservatives. You could see it on their faces in the House. But viewers of Monday's Question Period saw nothing resembling humility, quite the opposite.

If a deliberate strategy, the Conservatives are gambling that the public will take no notice of these issues and exchanges. It's a gamble they might win, given the level of disengagement that afflicts Canadian politics today.

However, ethics and accountability are not the same as other issues, such as whether to fight crime with more jails, to invest in new fighter jets or to continue to reduce corporate taxes. In those cases, the substance matters, the tone less so.

But in Canada's political context, accountability sits at one end of a spectrum, the other end of which lies the most fatal of hazards: arrogance. Along this spectrum, tone matters hugely. Too many even minor breaches, handled too poorly, and the Teflon that appears to protect this government will disintegrate.

If Canadians start to believe in larger numbers that the Conservatives have lost their compass when it comes to being open and truthful, that arrogance has taken root, the government will be putting a lot at risk, with no prospect of reward. The only upside of blustery attack in response to what might seem to most people as legitimate issues is that it can rally and titillate the faithful: an effect that dissipates quickly if and when the public reaction starts to turn ugly.

Whether there will or won't be an election this year - I'm still not sure why the Liberals would choose to have one now - the accountability-arrogance spectrum has the potential to loom as a big challenge for the Conservatives. It's not a terribly complex challenge to overcome: mostly a question of showing more humility and taking your lumps with good grace when they are deserved. If Monday was a test for the Tories, I'd bet that for the average, middle-of-the-road voter, the result was closer to a fail than a pass.