We should all be asking questions of Premier Furey — and not just about his fishing trip

This column is an opinion by Amanda Bittner, a professor of political science at Memorial University. She specializes in the study of leaders, elections and public opinion, and teaches courses on political scandals, gender and politics and public opinion. You can follow her on Twitter. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

What does it mean to be a good leader? What is ethical leadership? How do we know if we can trust politicians? 

These questions have come up for many of us over the last couple of days, as we read the news that our premier has been vacationing with his father at his billionaire friend's fishing lodge. 

Is this a big deal? Well, it depends on how you think about it.

Andrew Furey was quoted by CBC as having said, "Everybody's been critical of me from Day 1, about first my charitable work, then me practising medicine, and now about what I do on my vacation time. Like, we need to — we need to have some respect for public figures here in their own personal time."

Respect for public figures is one thing — and yes, we should have more respect for public figures. The stats about the types of abuses politicians face are really disturbing. Gender-based harassment, for example, is off the charts and inexcusable. The racism faced by political candidates is atrocious and prevents us from having good people in office.

Energy Minister Andrew Parsons said this type of questioning of Furey's actions is part of the reason "we don't get qualified people to run for office." 

This may be true, I guess. It's possible that rich, elite, white businessmen don't want to run for office because their actions will be questioned. As a political scientist, is this what keeps me up at night? No. Absolutely not. There are bigger problems.

I am worried about the state of our province, where the cost of utilities has climbed to astronomical levels. Where the cost of a jar of mayonnaise in a recent visit to the grocery store was $9. Where demand for food banks has tripled. Where the finance minister tells us that as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, debt is our birthright. Where university students cannot find housing and the province's lack of commitment to education is, frankly, alarming. Where the support for mental health is so bad that parents do not have the resources they need to help their children. Where healthcare is so broken and 25 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians don't have a doctor, and the premier responds to us all (farcically?) by telling doctors to contact him if they're having trouble getting a job.

How can we really trust a government that oversees all of this? How can the premier demonstrate a strong set of ethics and leadership that help build our confidence in his government's ability to handle the challenges we all collectively face?

What is good governance at a time like this? 

The answer isn't easy. The job is hard, the solutions aren't obvious, and we may need to think outside the box, but then again, good leadership, ethics, and public trust seem pretty basic.

Should we worry about what the premier chooses to do on his own personal time? Are his recent choices a problem?

Was it a problem when Justin Trudeau vacationed with the Aga Khan?

Is it a problem that Furey is friends with John Risley and with Brendan Paddick, who are currently trying to lead the development of wind energy in the province?

Does it matter who a politician is friends with? Can a party leader or premier put those friendships aside when making public policy? What is the impact of leaders' behaviour in their personal lives on perceptions of their ability to lead ethically and maintain citizen trust in elected representatives? What counts as a scandal? As corruption? As ethically problematic?

I will not answer these questions for you.

What I will say is that asking these questions is important, and it is the job of all of us, including the Official Opposition, the media and "regular people" like us, to ask questions and push back on perceived — and real — conflicts of interest.

The challenge for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians is that we live in a place where we often know each other. This means that we have to be more vigilant, not less, in deciding how we proceed on a day-to-day basis, and think seriously about ethical political practices, democratic fairness and so on.

The premier's seeming lack of concern and care in the face of public scrutiny is not demonstrative of good leadership, nor does it help build a sense of trust with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Does this mean that Andrew Furey is not allowed to go on vacation? No. Everybody needs to take a break.  

Does this mean that how he chooses to vacation and who he goes away with matters? Yes. And it should. 

But the premier's seeming lack of concern and care in the face of public scrutiny is not demonstrative of good leadership, nor does it help build a sense of trust with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. 

Nor, would I argue, do his actions fall within reasonably defined ethical limits.

We can't simply trust politicians to do a good job. Trust is dynamic between leaders and citizens. Trust has to be built. Leaders also make mistakes, they are fallible, even if they have the best intentions. We keep them accountable, we make them answer tough questions, to make sure they do a good job.

Does Furey want to do a good job? Yes, I think so. 

He didn't need to take this job. He could have continued his career as a respected surgeon, fishing with his friends in his free time and enjoying his life. Unfortunately, he chose instead to take a pay cut and to do a hard and often thankless "job" that often requires the "worker" to make moral choices, decisions that affect the public both today and for years to come.

So what's the moral of the story?

If you're the premier? Your job is hard. People are expecting a lot from you.

If you're the rest of us: keep asking tough questions. It's the only way to ensure better policymaking and a better future for our province.

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