Canadian Odds and Ends - New Media and Politics

July 15 2010 // News

It's too facile to suggest that Iggy's summer publicity tour is make or break for him as a leader of the Liberal Party. It's not a stretch however to suggest that it will be his actions and the policies he chooses to fight for over the next 3 or 4 months that will decide his fate. He had many opportunities in the most recent session of Parliament to take a stand and see if the Canadian people would stand with him but he chose not to.

 

He played coy by disagreeing and criticizing Stephen Harper's legislative choices but always with a watchful eye towards his standing in the polls. Based on that he chose to let Stephen Harper have his way - in everything and never risked bringing the government down with a non-confidence vote. In fact the only threaten that was done was by Harper. Most recently when the Senate attempted to split up a bill that even the Globe and Mail calls "overstuffed" and others have suggested is undemocratic.

 

So he's off on a bus tour and has to take whatever nonsense is thrown at him - including stuff about Bill C-36 of all  things. Of all the nasty s***-bearing bills Harper jammed down the gullet of Canadians the one relating to homeopathic medicines has no interest for me. Go read what PZ Meyers over at Pharyngula thinks of homeopathy. And in the meantime word is the Tories are going to start their bullcrap about Iggy having the nerve to teach in other countries. It's pathetic on their parts and, let's hope, patently see-through. Fear and lies seems to be the only cards they're interested in playing. No doubt one of them started the rumour Ignatieff was considering a teaching job at the U. of T.

In unsexy war news, Canada has handed over Kandahar city to US forces. I wonder how Afghans feel about that?

Peter McKay is in a spending mood - funny that he would wait until Parliament was on a summer break to do all this spending. Afraid of the scrutiny perhaps? Anyhow, $2.6 billion for some boats and $16 billion for some planes (sole sourced - or no competing bids).

The Gazette has decided that they will no longer publish on Sundays. Coincidentally we had John Griffin from the Gazette on the radio show this morning to discuss this and the Fantasia film festival.

They've named the panel to look at the Afghan detainee documents - sadly the Tories have put their attorney Frank Iacobucci on the panel in a clear conflict of interest.