IT’S THE kind of mystery that begs to be solved. Missing pages from a public opinion survey on a matter of crucial regional, provincial and even national interest. Repeated refusals to release those pages containing a question and subsequent responses. A polite but terse e-mail saying there’d be no more comment.
Normally, this would be something upon which Skeena-Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen would thrive. Except that this time, it involves Mr. Cullen himself.
At issue is the March 2012 release of an opinion survey commissioned by Mr. Cullen concerning the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal.
Mr. Cullen’s polling firm asked 501 British Columbians four questions. But he released only three questions and their responses. An email from Mr. Cullen’s office called the missing question something for “internal use” only and that such a move is “a standard practice in the polling industry.”
But Mr. Cullen is not a pollster. He’s a Member of Parliament and it was tax money, $1,800 plus $216 HST, that paid for the poll.
What could be so important that Mr. Cullen felt the need to seek the responses of 501 British Columbians but then refuse to share that information with his other constituents? Did he not like the answers?
Mr. Cullen’s mysterious refusal to release the missing pages seems more like something that would be done by those he battles with daily in and out of Parliament. It would be a shame for him to pick up their bad habits.