Given Harper's rather ruthless eviction of people from the Conservative Caucus, whether we are talking about Garth Turner, or any of several other MPs that he has sidelined, fired or marginalized, his statements regarding Lukiwski are intriguing.
Superficially, you could look and say that he's just "brushing it off" - except Harper doesn't "brush off" anything. The pattern has been pretty clear in the last couple of years, and it is one where anyone who becomes a political liability gets axed - often very publicly.
So, why is Harper defending Lukiwski?
Well - it's pretty simple if you think back to Harper and the TheoCons which I commented on some time ago. (Update: The Walrus has rearranged their website, so the article itself is now available here)
Lukiwski hasn't said anything that other's in Harper's inner circle haven't said or worse. In fact, compared to some, Lukiwski looks almost moderate.
But this is a reminder to all of us of the squirming base of "TheoCons" lurking in the CPC - waiting for their opportunity to demand their "pound of flesh". Whether that is through an out and out legislative attack on the civil rights of GLBT people, or criminalizing abortion is hard to say - there are a plethora of topics which the TheoCons would love to legislate into criminality.
Harper isn't going to discipline Lukiwski because he fundamentally agrees with him, and because he knows he can't do so without pissing off his "base" within the party. (Remember, this is the Canadian analog to the "base" that has support Bush Jr. - if you want an idea of how ugly it is, just look south)
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What irks me the most is the way that Harper, Lukiwski and their Reich-wing party are dismissing this scandal as a "mistake" or a "joke".
They refuse to acknowledge that Lukiwski's behavior caused real harm to members of the LGBTQ community. It fuels the fires of hatred, contempt, discrimination, violence and murder.
There can be no forgiveness until Lukiwski and his ilk recognize the harm and pain caused by this hateful behavior and are seen to be taking real action to mitigate the harm they have caused.
Since they are unwilling or unable to do this, he should be fired from his Parliamentary Secretary position and kicked out of caucus.
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