Conflict ethics vs. ethical ethics

Hey folks, I have some new definitions for you. Fresh from the definitions fairy!

• Conflict ethics: ethics you mysteriously acquire when there is money at stake, your political career at stake, or your not-so-hidden backers are prodding you to action. Conflict ethics are wielded against legitimate stakeholders and well-intentioned people standing between you and power and profit, or sometimes even simply between you and your ability to grind others down whether or not you materially gain from it. We find conflict ethics in conflict ethics mines, also known as Conservative Party conventions, Hy's Steakhouse by the Chateau Laurier, and so on.


• Ethical ethics: what normal people mean by "ethics". A genuine intention to treat others fairly, to avoid destroying the planet, to deal honestly with others without an ulterior motive, and intention to swindle or grift, and so on. Ethical ethics can be found pretty much anywhere, there is rarely if ever any need to purchase or consume conflict ethics.

Some things to watch out for when shopping around for an ethic. Does the purveyor deploy glurge drills? Does he accuse others of accepting money from "foreign radicals" when he himself is displaying utter naked hypocrisy? Does he wear hideous orange wigs on his "TV" "channel"? Is he following proper procedure in reporting the source of his ethics?

Remember folks, conflict ethics are called that for a reason.

Hells Angels and Harper Conservatives.

Isn't that a great - no, a terrific - headline?

In today's Question Period in the House of Commons, NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair demanded to know more about Justice Léger and the role the Justice Minister played in his appointment.

There is a controversy brewing over the federal government’s appointment of Justice Jacques Leger to the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2006. He is a former president of the Progressive Conservative Party.

According to reports, Judge Leger had advised the Hells Angels on a case involving the gang’s trademarks before his appointment. His relationship with the biker gang came to light after Quebec’s Chief Justice pulled him off a bail hearing of four bikers charged with murder.

“La Presse revealed yesterday that a former lawyer for the Hells Angels, Jacques Léger, was named judge by the law-and-order Conservatives right after they were elected in 2006. … Could the Justice Minister explain what qualifications led the Conservatives to name Jacques Léger a judge?”

More about judge Jacques Léger of the Quebec Court of Appeal being pulled off the case involving the Hells Angels, here. Léger should have anticipated this might be a problem. Why did he not recuse himself?

Oh. Wait. He's a Con.