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“We’re not going near this thing with a 10-foot pole.”
Erin Simpson of NGO umbrella the Canadian Council for International Cooperation on why orgs are boycotting Canada’s mission in Kandahar. Seems Canucks under U.S. thumb are dangerously blurring humanitarian and military aims and putting civilians at risk. And we thought Canadian know-how knew better than that. Erin Simpson of NGO umbrella the Canadian Council for International Cooperation on why orgs are boycotting Canada’s mission in Kandahar. Seems Canucks under U.S. thumb are dangerously blurring humanitarian and military aims and putting civilians at risk. And we thought Canadian know-how knew better than that.
Fun with fashion
He’s a national leader. No, he’s a dress-up doll. Stephen Harper tried some fancy ranchero duddery last week and hopefully discovered that impression management isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. What’s else is hidden in his identity-swap closet? A Caribana-inspired G-string with feathers? C’mon, Stevie, just be yourself. Then again, that’s way too scary.
Hillier from hell
Rick “The Dick” Hillier, Canada’s new tough-talking chief of the Armed Forces, seems to have misplaced a few marbles. If his recent tirade on the grave danger posed to Canada by “failed states,” complete with visuals of Leaf tough guy Tie Domi in a fist fight (“The hard stuff is why we exist”) is any clue, we may soon be pining for the good old days of the invisible Raymond Henault. Remember him? All of a sudden, even our effete minister of defence, Bill Graham, is taking trips to far off and long-forgotten islands in the High Arctic to assert our sovereignty. This not-so-dynamic duo should put their dicks back in their pants before someone gets hurt.
B’nai Brith’s terrorism tack – or lack thereof
B’nai Brith once again proves how challenged it is in the human relations department. Instead of welcoming the local Muslim communities’ well-received statement condemning violence against innocents, the BB couldn’t resist finger-wagging. “What took them so long?’ they complained. Of course, we do agree that Muslim leaders should extend their dislike for violence to Palestinian suicide bombers. Still, when is B’nai Brith going to deal with the extremists in their own midst?
Bland and Bluff go to Ottawa
Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff. Can it get any nuttier for the Libs? The media love a little summertime cannon fodder, but if Bland and Bluff are serious contenders for Martin’s throne, the Grits’ future leadership prospects are bleaker than the plummeting Tories’. Rae proved too middling when he was Ontario premier. Ignatieff hasn’t lived in the country for 35 years and reminds us of those guys who leave to go to school abroad only to come back wearing ascots, to say nothing of his pro-war stance on Iraq. Grit mandarins need to prick these trial balloons soon.
