Another view on PNP

0330. I must be in Kabul. 

I woke up thinking about the PNP. I have no idea why.

The PNP (Provincial Nominee Program) is under some scrutiny right now, back home on PEI. I’m not sure of all the details, as most of what people (some people: others could not care at all) are upset about took place before we came to the Gentle Island. Still, it’s one of those stories that just doesn’t seem to want to go away.

As I pick up the news from the newspaper, television or radio, or listen to people in coffee shops and cafes, the essence of it appears that some people are reputed to have made personal gains from the PNP. There has been talk of calling in the Mounties (again), or having an inquiry, and recently a group of journalism students from Kings College (Halifax) published an expose (of sorts).

So far I have not seen anything that suggests that anyone did anything illegal. However, there appear to be instances where some people may have done something immoral.

That’s not a word we see very often these days. I use it here in the context that we sense that perhaps certain behaviours are not banned by law but are, nonetheless, not right.

This is a difficult concept. After all, what seems ‘not right’ to one person may be perfectly OK to another. It is when the collective we coalesce around a notion that something is ‘not right’ that the trouble starts.

The thing is, there is very little recourse except moral suasion to resolve such a situation. That is why I used the word ‘immoral’ earlier. What would we have people do – return the money?

If it is indeed determined that some people stretched the rules to the limit, without necessarily breaking them, then should that be a cause of cheer (“well done on finding that loophole!”) or derision (“looking after yourself again I see”). Again, this is something in the eye of the beholder.

Things are exacerbated when politics comes into play, especially on the Gentle Island. I remain convinced that the lack of deer or moose on PEI have required people to turn to other types of blood sport in order to satisfy those primal urges. And yet the collective we who may find something immoral or ‘not right’ are not necessarily the same collective we who will support Party A, B, C or D in the next election.

That is perhaps the essence of political acumen. If you can identify that which the collective we consider to be ‘not right’, and identity with it to the extent that you are seen to be the only voice which reflects that of the collective we, then you have a better chance of getting support on election day.

Perhaps.

But now it’s nearly 0430, and time I tried to go back to sleep. But I can’t get PNP out of my mind, and that’s sure not going to help me have a restful rest-of-the-night.

PNP. Hmmmm. What restful image does that conjure up?

I know … a photograph I took at Kew Gardens, London, on my way here.

PNP = Peacocks ‘N Pagodas! Now I'll sleep ...