Tarnished reputations

If you're looking for a scandal, stop by Ottawa. We've got sexy political espionage and not-so-sexy sewage spills. Both have media crawling over one another and both have resulted in a job loss.

Let's go with sexy first. Maxime Bernier and Julie Couillard did it. CSIS denies involvement. Calls are out to get the RCMP to probe it. Meanwhile the media can't get enough of it and, as a result, the public can't get away from it. The only thing that could make this more exciting would be if we had to run to Munich during the Cold War to get the dirt on the girl. Oh wait, that already happened.

Speaking of dirt, the city has fired a staffer in connection with the sewage spill in 2006. Scapegoat? Investigations are ongoing and it seems each day a bit more info is released, raising a lot more questions. Even the Ministry of the Environment has stepped in (a year after they learned of the spill, if reports are even remotely accurate). If anything can be believed anymore, depending on how that pans out the city could be facing charges. Because... you know... the city and/or its elected reps aren't facing nearly enough trouble as it stands. (LRT? Bribery?)

Now, if a dog poops in the river and someone is there to witness it, chances are there'll be a call to bylaw and an uproar about pets at Petrie. For that matter, even confused cows mucking about waterways raises a stink. Yet over a billion litres of untreated wastewater can spew into the river without anyone mentioning it for two years. In some alternate universe, this might actually make sense.

As an aside, instead of worrying about the issue, some have decided the real problem is the use of the word "poo." Go figure.