I am sure many people could think of times when you felt like lying was truly the best option.
Perhaps it was the time your mom asked you if you were the one to put the milk carton back in the fridge empty.
Or maybe it was the time your girlfriend or boyfriend asked you if something looked good.
In these circumstances, what good could it possibly do to tell that person the truth?
Your mom would just have a focus for her frustration, but she was going to be frustrated regardless.
Your boyfriend or girlfriend was going to be much happier if he or she thought the ugly sweater looked great.
Now who did it hurt to tell those while lies? Probably no one, and possibly most of all you if you felt guilty about it after.
Or so you tell yourself.
But isn’t it really better just to come clean?
If your mom can scold you gently for putting that carton back empty, she’ll have vented and consider the problem dealt with.
Your girlfriend in the ugly sweater won’t see pictures of herself later and be shocked you let her go out looking like that, and never speak to you again.
While not always easy, it’s almost always better to tell the truth.
Yet our federal government is being taken to task again for potentially being in contempt of parliament for lying.
Not just lying, but lying to us all.
Now how does that work? How can our elected representatives get away with a blatant disregard for the truth?
Perhaps Stephen Harper thought it would be too painful if we knew the truth his un-tendered fighter jet contract cost us.
Maybe he thought it would save us a lot of sleepless nights if we never had a clue how expensive all the proposed new mega prisons would end up being.
Perhaps he thought if the Honourable (can I still use that title?) Minister Bev Oda were to openly admit to changing a document to reverse the recommendations of a report then we’d all be too upset to go on.
Maybe Stephen Harper really wasn’t protecting himself and his party’s interests at all, maybe he was just generously trying to save us from the ugly truth.
Gee, thanks Stephen, I appreciate your kind consideration, but can I get a dose of the truth now please?