by Chris Selley - from the National Post
It’s awfully tough to judge rationally, in a non-partisan fashion, what to think of Jack Layton having allegedly been found naked on a mattress in a massage parlour in Toronto’s Chinatown 15 years ago. Some say the establishment was known for, shall we say, its supplementary services. Mr. Layton says he had no idea. Are people generally naked while getting shiatsu massages? Do these massages often take place on beds, and not on some kind of more clinical apparatus? Some say yes, some say no.
Some say it would take a purebred moron not to recognize the joint as a rub-and-tuggery, but even if so, it would be impossible to convict Mr. Layton of anything more than extreme naivete. For me, it’s like being told Mr. Layton cheated in an important game of jai alai. I don’t know the rules; I have no basis on which to judge. Most people, I suspect, would conclude that in the grand scheme of political missteps, someone not being charged with a crime, 15 years ago, is pretty close to a non-event.
Know this for certain: In 1996, Toronto Police had absolutely no incentive to cut Mr. Layton a break. As a municipal politician, he was one of their harsher critics. If they had a good case against him, you can bet they’d have pursued it wearing a mile-wide grin.
The online debate, not least among journalists, has been largely about whether this was a “legitimate” story. It’s a bit baffling, really. Of course it’s a legitimate story. The NDP campaign hasn’t disputed a word of it. Toronto Police have launched an investigation into how the police officer’s notebooks on which the story was based got out — as well they should. They seem to have an information management problem. But people can’t complain about journalists ferreting out information they don’t like hearing, or that they think is prurient or mean-spirited or politically motivated, and applaud when journalists ferret out information they do like hearing. Read more...
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