ROTHENBURGER: The whole truth and nothing but the truth? Probably not

Feb 25, 2019 | 6:33 AM

KAMLOOPS — THE TRUTH WILL PREVAIL when former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould testifies before the parliamentary justice committee this week. After which, the mystery will be solved.

Or will it?

First of all, there’s the matter of exactly what she’ll be “allowed” to say by her lawyer. Then there’s the question of whose truth is the right truth, and whose will be believed.

Wilson-Raybould says she wants to “speak her truth.” In other words, she’ll speak the truth as she knows and understands it.

In “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a play by Oscar Wilde, one of the characters says, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

How true. I’ve always liked that line, so much so that for several years I included “The truth is rarely pure” as a tagline on my columns.

Though the source for the original Globe and Mail story that started this whole thing remains anonymous, many accept what that source has accused the Prime Minister’s Office of doing as true.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principal secretary Gerald Butts, who resigned last week, said the accusations that someone in the PMO’s office put pressure on Wilson-Raybould are “simply not true.”

Rest assured, the whole truth will not come out, and what does come out is going to come out in different versions. Each of us will choose the version we want. For example, if the Conservatives like what Wilson-Raybould has to say, that is, if she trashes the government, they will accept it as the truth and nothing but the truth.

Each party, each politician and each Canadian will decide what’s true based on our own interpretations. And that’s as close as we’ll get.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

 

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.