The spirit of the season

An interesting exchange today in Our Dear Premier’s scrum with reporters, in which Our Dear Agenda got derailed by the continuing saga of Rideout’slewisporterentgate:

Reporter: Does it [Tom Rideout’s rental arrangement] meet the spirit of the new rules, sir?

Premier Williams: Very little that went on in the past met the spirit of the new rules, I mean, that’s the other side of it. The new rules are now in, they were put in place during this last year, they’re intended to deal with this on a go-forward basis.

Yes, those new rules.

Like s. 46 of the House of Assembly Somethingoranother We Passed It In Like Five Minutes And Who Remembers What’s In It Act:

46. (5) A member, in his or her capacity as a member, shall not make a donation or gift, whether of a charitable nature or not, to any person, group or community except as may be contemplated by subsection (3) and section 27.

(6) Where a member makes a donation or gift, whether of a charitable nature or not, in a personal capacity, the member shall, in making the donation or gift, stipulate that any acknowledgment of the donation or gift shall not identify him or her as a member.

Question: Does it [the Williams Family Foundation and its charitable activities] meet the spirit of the new rules, sir?