The Two Suzukis [View all]

[GliderGuider]

I'm starting a separate thread, because I don't want to look like I'm raining on the parade by commenting in the other thread on Suzuki. The point of this one is that there is a lot more to people than just their public persona.

Ezra Levant, the writer of this piece, is a conservative by anyone's definition, and so could be expected to take issue with Suzuki's environmentalism. I'm also conscious of the fact that his article is trying to create a meme similar to "Al Gore has a big house!", and I don't have much patience with people who try to create the impression of hypocrisy to discredit an opponent. We all carry some hypocrisy in our back pockets after all - it's part of being human. But there is some potentially troubling information here, not least of which is his less-than-arms-length relationship with an oil company.

The Two Suzukis

Most of us know one of the Suzukis. Let’s call him Saint Suzuki. That’s the Suzuki whose TV show on the CBC constantly lectures us about our lifestyle. He says we need to consume less, buy less and use less fossil fuels.

But then there’s another Suzuki. Let’s call him Secret Suzuki, because he’s far less well-known.

Secret Suzuki is the one who lives on Vancouver’s elite Point Grey Road, on a double lot, overlooking English Bay, right above the exclusive Kitsilano Yacht Club. The City of Vancouver assesses the land value alone at over $8 million. And that’s just one of Secret Suzuki’s properties.

But then there’s his large property holdings on Nelson Island. What’s so fascinating about that one is that he co-owns the property with an oil company, Kootenay Oil Distributors Ltd. They don’t plan to drill for oil together. It’s a beautiful tourist spot — maybe perfect for a nice big condo development.

I'm frankly troubled. Not so much by Suzuki, but by our own standards and expectations. At what point should we legitimately expect those who espouse a moral code to walk the walk? How much slack ought we to cut those we admire vs. those we despise?