I’ve been trying all week to write an ending to my previous piece. I’ve decided that I’d be better starting again from scratch. I’ll post my new version some time next week.

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In the past two days, three politicians have been facing questioning about alleged illegal activities. Brian Mulroney is being questioned by the Oliphant enquiry about his dealings with the Karlheinz Shreiber. Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien is in Court answering to bribery charges. Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is being grilled by the partisan House of Commons ethics committee about the alleged abuse of foreign caregivers whom she hired to look after her mother.

What bothers me about this situation is not the fact that three important politicians are facing allegations of criminal conduct. Quite to the contrary, I’m disturbed that we see anything wrong with politicians facing allegations.

In my books, allegations are allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. An individual who is facing criminal charges can keep his reputation intact until the charges have been proven.

We have already made Brian Mulroney into “Lying Brian” even though he has never been sentenced in court. Ruby Dhalla’s political career is over because two nannies publicly accused her of abusing them. This is wrong.

We have no right to stigmatise individuals whose only crime is to be accused. The fact of the matter is that court system is the only body able to establish guilt. Until guilt has been proven, we have a duty to treat the accused like any other citizen. After all, we never know when we might find ourselves facing serious charges. All it takes is one public lie and a reputation that took a lifetime to build can be irreversibly destroyed.