After all that has been said and written the case of MP Tom Lukiwski can be reduced to a simple matter of integrity. When we elect an MP or an MLA we expect that they are people of integrity. In business and government there should always be a spirit of transparency, a culture of accountability and a people of integrity. You can teach transparency and accountability.
As it regards integrity, you either have it or you don’t. We are in a world of shifting standards, which begets this question. Can you acquire integrity if you don’t have it? The answer is yes and it can be found only if you seek, acquire and hold tight to moral convictions. Herein lies the challenge for Tom Lukiwski and it is for him and him alone to seek. I have read that the measure of a person’s character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out. There is truth in this reading.
There is the matter of what you do or say, but what really matters is who you are that’s most important. There are calls for disciplinary measures to be applied to Tom Lukiwski. That is understandable coming from people who feel they have been harmed or hurt in any way, from people who hold a high standard of integrity and moral conviction, and from those who simply want to advance themselves at the expense of Tom Lukiwski. I believe he has been judged by a higher power and discipline is now likely soon to follow.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has accepted Tom Lukiwski’s apology believing that it was sincere and displayed remorse. It may well have been, but we all know these are only words. The integrity of Tom Lukiwski, the Prime Minister and his conservative government will be judged on their actions and not on their words alone.
Tom Lukiwski has fallen on the sharp sword of truth and now suffers the pain. It is a sword and pain that many of us have fallen on at some point in our lives. The only good news is that most learn from this kind of pain. What will Tom Lukiwski learn?
