Article content

In Michael Ignatieff’s valedictory address after leaving politics — a memoir called Fire and Ashes — he lamented the failure of his campaign to oust Stephen Harper in 2011.

“You would have thought contempt of Parliament and contempt for democracy would be issues that would rouse the patriotic ire of citizens,” he wrote. “You would be wrong.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or John Ivison: How quickly the federal Liberals have slipped from 'Real Change' to 'They did it too' Back to video

But he was wrong. Four years later, the bullying modus operandi adopted by the Harper government was one of the main reasons it was booted unceremoniously from office.

Voters don’t give much thought to politics, and they will put up with a lot — right up to the point where they won’t. The cash for access issue will have a similarly corrosive effect on Liberal fortunes, if they can’t do better than they did in question period Thursday.

The news that a wealthy Chinese-Canadian businessman, who is also a political advisor to the government of China, had hosted Justin Trudeau at a $1,500-a-plate fundraiser was pungent enough. The suggestion that one attendee was awaiting approval from federal regulators for his bank to operate in Canada added to the whiff. The revelation that, after the dinner, a $1-million donation was made to Trudeau Foundation and the University of Montreal Faculty of Law, including $50,000 for a statue of Pierre Trudeau, should be an offence to the olfaction of all Canadians.