"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Sunday 15 February 2015

Canada Deserves Better

Twelve comments to the last post. That's not bad for a small circle on a freezing cold Saturday night.
The one that discounted the rumour came from Ottawa. It claimed to know for sure Mrs. Harper is not living in Chateau Laurier because of walking past the hotel every morning and never seeing the lady.

Several people didn't care as long as the arrangement wasn't  costing tax dollars.

No surprise noted. Considering my reaction, that seemed odd. I think we may take it the rumour had spread farther afield than the Capital. The chances the PMO was not aware of the chatter are remote.

Modern politicians  do tend to showcase families. What action might have been expected from the PMO when the rumour became extant For most people and for some time previous, there's nothing extraordinary about a marriage ending and a new relationship.

In politics it's an occupational hazard.

So, no reason to pretend it hadn't happened and that could be the argument to prove it didn't.
On the other hand, rumours are like wild fire. If it isn't put out it spreads until it  finally it reaches sleepy little hollows like Aurora.

A dignified public statement  one way or t'other was called for.

But that's not the style of this PMO. Last week we learned from a local editorial of a media photographer being handcuffed for shouting a question at the Prime Minister against the rules of engagement laid down by  PMO  POWA!!!!!!!!

That degree of control suggests things the common people are not entitled to know.

I remember a night during the FLQ crisis. Hundreds  of Quebecers were taken into custody.
Prime Minister Trudeau was asked if he was  prepared to proclaim the War Measures Act.
He said without cracking a smile. " Just watch me "

The media made Pierre Elliott Trudeau into something he was not. Then expected to share the giddy romance of it. When he made it clear he did not appreciate their presence in every aspect of his life  the  relationship turned sour.Oh Yes. Dear MeYes . It was a bitter ending.

But I digress .

I think,whether or not the Prime Minister's marriage to Fair Laureen is over is not a matter of national significance. Details are not ours to know.
But rumour is unseemly.
Blowing smoke to deflect attention does the opposite.
Skulking around the country, popping up in unexpected places, handcuffing media and dictating the message inspires neither trust nor confidence.
It generates foreboding.
It is reminiscent of  a  form of government opposite to  democracy; fascism .

10 comments:

Anonymous said...



"It generates foreboding.

It is reminiscent of a form of government opposite to democracy."

You mean you are just realizing this now?

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that he seems unable to keep a spokesman. The tenure is amazingly short. Either they burn out or it gives them lift to a better job elsewhere. Except for the one currently escorting Ms Adams. He would appear to have lost his bearing.

Anonymous said...

Canada does deserve better...unfornately only one third of the people believe that.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know what Ms Merkel thinks of our Mr Harper. He talks tough and hangs around with the military. She is tough and doesn't waste time on photo-ops.

Anonymous said...

He's not even on her radar right now.

Anonymous said...

Not a whole lot of choice out there for us. We are becoming like the Americans.

Anonymous said...

Even the Conservatives are embarrassed by Harper but they will vote for him again... and again.

Anonymous said...

"We are becoming like the Americans."

Bite your tongue!

Anonymous said...

I am a conservative, and I'm not embarrassed by Harper. Disappointed? Yes. Embarrassed? No. I will not be voting for my conservsive representative in the next federal election, but will be exercising my right to vote by declining my ballot

Anonymous said...


Sometimes one simply shouldn't check the Canadian news on-line.

Let's begin with a story in both the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, from Andy Blatchford of The Canadian Press datelined Ottawa, dated February 15.

'OTTAWA SPENT $376,000 TO REPATRIATE MAGNOTTA IN 'NATIONAL INTEREST,' DOCS SHOW.

"The big-ticket military mission to fetch fugitive Luka Rocco Magnotta from Germany in 2012 was ordered by a senior Conservative cabinet minister who considered it a matter of "national interest," The Canadian Press has learned.

In June 2012, the Air Force made a $376,128 decision to dispatch one of its largest aircraft to collect the accused killer in Berlin, where local police had collared him to end an international manhunt that made global headlines.

After Magnotta's conviction, National Defence released more than 1,700 pages of emails documenting the cost of repatriation, the debate over options and the scramble to which him home after he agreed to extradition, lest he change his mind.

The messages, obtained under the Access to Information Act, also offer a rare look behind the curtain at the government's efforts to keep details of the "sensitive" mission out of the public spotlight.

Peter MacKay, defence minister at the time, ordered then-general Walt Natynczyk to lend a hand "as soon as possible" after Montreal police asked for federal help"

I won't quote anymore but would point out that the story mentions other same-model aircraft (CC-150) have been configured to accommodate the prime minister, the Governor General and members of the Royal Family.

There's a lot more information in the CP story so go look for it. Makes me want to puke.

And then The Globe and Mail has an article by Roy MacGregor headed OTTAWA'S TRIBUTE TO THE CANADIAN FLAG IS EMBARRASSING

Today is the 50th anniversary of our flag. Did anyone know that? Did anyone know that the "federal government has allocated a mere $50,000 to celebrate the flag's birthday. That's less than 15% of what WE PAID to bring an ultimately convicted murderer and butcher back from Germany on the say-so of the minister of defence.

You know, it's high time that we had all government documents out in the open so we can have a forensic audit of all its SCREW-UPS. And in the meantime the entire governing party, and especially the Cabinet and its head should spend some solitary time in confinement, prior to their trials for running an humungous PONZI SCHEME with our money