Offbeat: Father Ted on Adrian Dix's sins

[Rwede]

What would Father Ted say about the 7 Deadly Sins of Adrian Dix?

If Father Ted were a real priest and not a television comedy cleric, he might be rightly indignant about the track record of Adrian Dix. Here’s why.

1. Cowardice (“When trouble hits, I’m outta here”)

In 1995, when the Hydro Raiwind scandal broke, Adrian Dix had attended 21 meetings of the BC Hydro board of directors in less than two years. The period he attended these meetings encompassed the full scope of a money-laundering scheme that damaged Hydro’s reputation for years and cost taxpayers at least $11 million. He was around when it started, he was around when it was coming to a head. Did he stick around to face the music? Nope. At the first sign of trouble he was off the scene — GONE. His last board meeting was Dec. 11, 1995, the same meeting where Hydro CEO John Sheehan was axed, and the beginning of a secret scandal that only came to light a damning two months later due to the effort of the BC Liberal opposition. During this period, Dix never showed up at a single board meeting.

2. Habitual lying

Here’s a concrete example that separates Father Ted’s judgment from the average ranter found through The Google. On May 9, Dix stated in a speech that the Throne Speech of February 2013 contained no references at all to forestry. Wrong. Anyone can check it right here: http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th5th/4-8-39-5.htm B.C.’s lieutenant governor stated: “The forestry industry was hard hit by market challenges and the pine beetle infestation but remained resilient. By working with your government, the industry seized opportunities in markets like China and is now looking at new opportunities in India.” It almost seems pathological when one’s lies can be found out that easily – like an affluent, compulsive shoplifter. When asked after the 2002 Casinogate trial what he thought about forging a memo to protect his boss, he said he had made no “ethical” mistake. To this day, Dix maintains he recognized his mistake. Yet even Father Ted would recognize that if you don’t acknowledge the blame you haven’t dealt with your mistake.

3. Loyalty ≠ Kamikaze

Forging a document to save your boss’s hide. Lousy idea.

4. Dishonour the professionals who are doing their best

Dix was dispatched by Glen Clark to BC Ferries to make the board fast track the stupid decision to embark on the aluminum catamaran project while ignoring professional advice. Had the pros been heeded, and the venture not cynically aligned to electioneering, maybe the $500 million we lost on that project would actually be doing some good today. Dix’s ruthless and foolish behaviour damaged the reputations of a number of maritime professionals.

5. Move on

After being fired for forging his memo, did Adrian Dix consider a career change to something that might have been more appropriate? Nope. He stayed close to politics, becoming a newspaper columnist devoted to taking down his own New Democrat colleagues. Leading up to the 2001 election in which his own legacy led to a humiliating wipeout by voters, telling those now doing his job what a bunch of idiots they were. It’s hard not to compare Dix of the early 2000s to his sideline compatriot of the modern age, Martyn Brown. Brown is the Gordon Campbell aide who has spent the last couple of years since Campbell left office trying to smear and slow down the success of the woman who succeeded Campbell. Brown, Dix – peas in a pod.

6. Walk out proud

If you get fired from a public job because you have forged a memo, sticking your hand our for a large severance is a clear violation of the Gentleman’s Code, never mind Father Ted’s. By getting Energy Critic John Horgan to sign off on a $65,000 payout for him, Dix earned himself a lifetime exclusion from the only club worth belonging to. ($65,000 – and don’t forget that’s in 1999 dollars when it could have bought you a house in Saskatchewan!)

7. A little help for my friends

After 1999, Dix apparently did not enlarge his social and professional circles any. A slew of individuals, many of them discredited by their own subpar performances, became custodians of the NDP leadership flame and passed it to their protege, Adrian Dix, in 2011. The result is that today in 2013, he is propped up by the same political operatives who were on the scene with Dix during the Glen Clark period and left the province in such a mess. If the NDP form government, there is no question that these individuals will come to influence again with predictable results.