The Liberals are in Trouble.

The Liberals are in Trouble.

Summary: In minority governments, campaigns for the next election begins the day after the original election is finished. The Liberals need to rebuild their party but they seem incapable of thinking outside the Toronto Box. The Conservatives, on the other hand, are doing their best to make headway with voters in the rest of the country.


The Liberals are in trouble, but none of them seems to notice. This is because after the most recent election the Liberals retreated to the trenches of Toronto and dug in. Unfortunately they’ve dug in so far they can’t see over the top, let alone set out charging. Not only that, from the looks of things, once they realized they’d be there for a while, one person did a Tims run while someone else brought over a DVD player. From the looks of things, they’re starting to get a bit too comfortable.

Ahh Toronto! Where the sun always shines and things couldn’t look better. That is, of course, if you’re a Liberal. Even though the NDP may have taken two seats, most Liberals see Jack and Olivia’s victories as isolated incidents rather than a serious threat to their hegemonic dominance of the T-Dot. Toronto remains a safe place where Liberals can walk around with their heads held high, confident that the current Conservative victory is a minor setback.

This weekend Liberals got together in Toronto to celebrate Sheila Copps. The event was marked as a moment of reconciliation meant to bring together the former feuding factions of Chretienites and the Martonians. Former MP Dennis Mills and my MP, Paul Zed, came up with the brilliant idea of commemorating one of the most polarizing figures in Grit history, Sheila Copps, a former Chrétien foot-soldier and a woman hated by the supporters of Martin. The same people who stood by silently as Sheila fell victim to Paul Martin’s political genocide of Chrétien supporters now, two years after her embarrassing defeat, decided it was time to place her on a pedestal. Aline Chrétien was there, and so was John Turner, but noticeably absent was Paul Martin and everyone from his inner circle. This event may have worked to heal the rifts between the Chrétienites and the Turnerites, but I hardly think anyone really believes the big red tent is all of a sudden a comfortable place for all Liberal members.

And so while the grits sipped champagne and gossiped over who would lead them into the next election, Stephen Harper was in my part of the country throwing small money around and putting to rest some significant local issues. For starters, Harper offered to pay 1/3rd of the cost of Saint John’s harbour cleanup. For years we Saint Johners have been embarrassed by the sight and smell of raw sewage being dumped into our harbour. The Federal Government seems to have kick started the cleanup and voters in my area are unlikely to forget that come the next election. Harper was then off to Moncton to offer 6 million for a new stadium. He also announced 400 million to help improve New Brunswick highways(spending which was incidentally approved but not announced by the previous Liberal government. Smooth move). All of this comes as good news to New Brunswick, which the conservatives rightly see as fertile ground.

In Saint John, you have to remember, we were one of only two ridings to elect a Conservative during Chrétien’s massive victory over Kim Campbell’s Tories. We stuck with Elsie Wayne throughout the Chrétien years, and only when she retired did we elect a Liberal, former MP Paul Zed. People initially voted for Zed because there was a general feeling that we were isolating ourselves in Saint John by being consistently on the wrong side of the governing benches. Zed won again in the most recent election because people believed him to be a capable MP who was effective at bringing in money for local projects. It also helps to remember that many in Atlantic Canada continue to be suspicious of Harper and resent comments he has made about the region in the past.

By making these small announcements here and there, Harper is hoping to put to rest concerns that he is a bogeyman determined to sever Atlantic Canada from the rest of the country. In a place where people tend to vote more on local issues than national ones, he just might be successful. If we have another close election, minor gains in Atlantic Canada may be what push the Conservatives into majority territory.

You don’t have to go to Toronto to understand the extent to which the fog rolling in off of Lake Ontario blinds Liberals to the state of their party in the rest of the country. The fact is that almost everyone considered a contender for the Liberal leadership comes from there, with the exception of the also-rans Scott Brison, Dennis Coderre, and Stephane Dion. As for the rest of the slate of candidates, most wouldn’t appear to know the difference between Cape Breton from Great Britain. If things continue like this, the Liberals will have no reason to campaign outside of the 416.

We in the rest of Canada are very suspicious of the “Toronto knows what’s best” attitude, and we wont be willing to hand the keys over to a Liberal just because he or she isn’t Stephen Harper. Whoever becomes the next leader will have to out bid the Prime Minister in the Saint Johns and Darmouths of the country.

Right now the Liberals are loosing that race, not only because they’re not in power, but also because they’re so bunkered down in Toronto. After their surprising success in Quebec Conservatives will be looking to make even larger gains there. If Bloc support holds firm, Liberals could be relegated to the third party in Quebec. I suspect now that the Conservatives have held power, more credible candidates will step out of the woods in places like Ontario and British Colombia, and this can only help the Conservative cause.

The simply reality of the situation is this: unless the Conservatives manage to mess up royally, any election held in the next two years will probably produce another Conservative government. All of the Liberal front-runners right now are either unknown in most of the country or have heavy baggage they’ll have to offload (ie. Haven’t lived in the country for 30 years, bad record as Premier, etc). The sooner Liberals realize this the better for them, as they’ll have to once again venture outside of Toronto’s Green belt and build a real alternative the Conservatives. Stephen Harper is already out there, and if they want to avoid making the same mistake twice, they’d do well not to under-estimate him again.

A Defence of the Seal Hunt

Life in Geneva as a stay-at-home husband is hard. I wake up late. I read books I’ve always wanted to read. I enter essay writing contests and write long emails about the seal hunt. I iron clothes I ironed the day before, and I discuss with my hostess, Madame Bloch, the merits of the British Monarchy. Sometimes I stroll the streets and strike up long conversations with the American Mormons It has now gotten to the point that, when they see me coming, they start to run the other way.

Part of my daily routine involves watching the news from Canada via the internet. So you can imagine my surprise when one day I see one of my musical heroes, Paul McCartney, visiting my neck of the woods! Once I found out why he was there though, I couldn’t help but mutter to myself and shake my fist at the screen. No, Paul wasn’t there to promote his music. Nor was he visiting an Indian healer looking for inspiration for his new album. Instead, he was spooning a baby seal for a photo-op and calling on the Canadian government to halt the seal hunt.

At first I couldn’t decide whether or not the ex-Beatle was being intentionally disingenuous or simply ignorant. Surely whoever put Paul McCartney up to this selfless media stunt must have informed him that the killing of baby seals (the ones with white fur) was banned many moons ago. I then realize Paul McCartney, the man who brought us classics like ‘Yesterday,’ ‘Live and let die,’ and my favourite, the acid-inspired White Album, doesn’t have a clue. The same man who co-wrote the song ‘revolution’ to denounce those who wanted to exploit his celebrity status to promote socialism had been tricked into lending his name to a cause he knows very little about.

Just how detached Mr. McCartney was became clear in a debate on CNN. In an interview with Larry King, Danny Williams, a former Rhodes Scholar and the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, invites Paul McCartney to come to Newfoundland(or, “New Finland,” according to Larry King).

“But I’m already in Newfoundland!!” Mr. McCartney yells with moral indignation, his wife nodding with approval.

Apparently someone forgot to put the sign on the back of his guitar; he was in Prince Edward Island. That is, err, a different province. But I mean really, what’s the difference, right? Both are Islands lost in the Atlantic where people talk funny and eat cheap lobster that should be reserved for rich people. Surely he can be forgiven. I mean really, is there anyone amongst us who knows the real difference between Liverpool, London or Luton? Be honest.

Let us go back to the photo-op. Of course, a photo with a full grown seal would not go over so well. Full grown seals, if you’ve never seen one, are ugly. They are huge beasts whose upper and lower jaws are connected by permanent strings of saliva. Their cries resemble what you would imagine it must have sounded like when Odysseus blinded the Cyclops. You wouldn’t curl up to one for a picture, not only because if it rolled on top of you it’d crush your bones and you’d die instantly, but also because their breath smells like their diet: raw fish intestines. Imagine Brian Wilson at the peak of his obesity without having shaved or stepped out of bed for a number of years, and then you’ve got yourself a full-grown seal.

The camera then switches to the Canadian Embassy in Washington where a couple of dozen full-time executives, part-time protestors, take their lunch hour to cry shame on the Canadian government. The smell of triple-latte capo-macho-chinos and the buzzing of cell phones and blackberries set the stage for the SUV-driving John Kerry-supporting movement of popular resistance. Apparently the insurgency must have marched past the Zimbabwean Embassy, the North Korean Embassy, the Embassy of Uzbekistan, Belarus, etc, deciding not to stop, only to disembark in front of the house representing those drunk and harmless northerners who end every sentence with “eh!”.

“What do you think about people who hunt seals?” a brave reporter asks.

“They’re ignorant!”

“They’re backwards!”

“They have no compassion!”

Have you ever heard the saying that the things you don’t like about other people are really the things you don’t like about yourself?

Atlantic Canada is a humble place which, like the rest of the world, is trying to carve its own modernizing path through the vast tornado we call globalization. Flying over Newfoundland you get the impression from above that, if we ever decide to colonize mars, it’ll probably look something like this. The interior of the Island looks like a deserted crater, and it is only really the edges where you find small enclaves of the greatest people on earth, that for some reason only tend to live on Islands. These are towns where everyone still knows the names of all their neighbours. In these parts strangers wave at strangers, just in case they might meet them later. These are the kinds of people who don’t lock their doors, and if you asked them why, they’d say, “but what would happen if someone came by and I wasn’t home to receive them? How would they get in?”

And like many rural places around the world, these people deal everyday with a harsh economic reality. Tens of thousands of Newfoundlanders have left for the oil patches of Alberta. Others have gone on to study at University and then moved to Toronto to take up jobs as computer technicians and engineers. Unlike migrants from some places though, few Newfounlanders, and Atlantic Canadians in general, don’t dream of someday making it back to the places where people treat each other right.

And then there are those who stay. Many are fisherman. Newfoundland used to boom thanks to the generous access to the ocean. Then, after many years of over fishing by both domestic and foreign trolleys, fishing all but died out. Many people in these communities survive through the harsh winter on the checks they get from the government for being seasonal workers. They are in a catch-22. The country wants them to do the seasonal jobs because we enjoy the products they produce, especially seafood. Yet we call them lazy and stubborn for not finding work in the off season. The problem is that, even if they have a trade, few businesses hire people for only a few months at a time. In fact, most of the time seasonal workers aren’t working are down periods for every other industry.

One of the ways some people get by is through the seal hunt. Many of the seal hunters eat only what they kill with their bare hands, and in the summer they grow as much as they can to be subsistent. They’re lifestyles are far less of a threat to the environment than the protestors who call them ignorant and backwards. Contrary to the common belief that these people are bloodthirsty killers, they actually live in a weird communion with the animals they hunt. It is something that is hard to explain, and definitely isn’t evident when you observe the hunt in action. For example, one seal hunter interviewed acts as a tour guide, bringing the animal-rights tourists to see the seals he himself will kill once their fur changes colour. As the reporter correctly points out, people like the McCartney’s will spend more on a single trip to the ice-floats than most seal-hunters will make in a season. The same seal hunter starts to tear up when the reporter asks him about his job. As a tough skinned man who normally speaks his few words into his chest, you know he’s not the kind of guy who sheds a tear for the sake of the camera.

Back in Washington one of the protestors screams into the camera, as if reciting from a pamphlet:

“BUT THE MONEY THEY MAKE IS ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF THEIR INCOME!”

This is true. However, when they make so little anyways, what is small change in the till at Starbucks is a lot to a seal hunter. It might allow him to send his kid to college. It might mean saving for retirement. Either way, it is an income he wouldn’t otherwise have. I might also add that I can say from experience that seal meat is definitely an acquired taste. If you ever tried it and then thought that it could be a part of your regular diet, you’d realize just how hard up some of these people are.


That same seal hunter is also doing himself and the fishing industry a favour. The seal population in the Atlantic is around 5,000,000. A population that large eats a huge amount of fish. If the seals aren’t hunted the species of fish we are trying to revive might fall into extinction. The seal quota, set by the federal government, is about 325,000, which isn’t very much when you consider the overall population. All of those vegetarians who like to chow done on Atlantic Salmon might wish to send a thank you card to the guys doing the ugly job of helping sustain the fishery.

The killing of animals, whether for food or for fashion, or sport, is never a pretty business. The benefit that large-scale meat production has is that it takes place behind closed doors instead of on an open ice-float. When you unwrap your processed McBurger, you don’t hear the screams of whatever animal you happen to be eating, nor do you see the blood splattered on the floor. You can safely avoid the smell of the severed hooves, still smouldering from the process that detached them.

Nor do we see the likes of McCartney snuggling up to alligators or the other not-so-cute animals that make up a part of our wardrobe on a daily basis. Why pay thousands to go to a cold ice-float in the middle of the Atlantic when you can instead take a nice trip to Geneva, light on fire the thousands upon thousands of Genevois Grandmothers who proudly wear fur, as if their dead husbands killed the animal with his bare hands, and then at least you can go skiing on the weekend.

As one park-ranger pointed, not everyone caught up in the rush of globalization wants to be a management consultant. Some people will continue to decide to live off the land and make money the only way they know how, and they deserve that right. There is no reason why we should all abandon the places we call home because free-market ideology says that we should sacrifice our lifestyles on the alter of cheap imports. If everyone decided not to stick out the winter, there would never be a Canada, or a Finland, Norway, Sweden, or some of the other countries who continually lay claim to the highest standard of living in the world.

It’s time we be honest with ourselves about the entire production of our excessive western lifestyles, from the exploited farmers who harvests our coffee beans, to the sweat-shop teenage girls who make our wardrobes, to the not-so-cute animals whose meat, parts, and fur also make their way into the clothes we wear and the food we eat. Being selectively indignant may make us feel better now, but its not going to help us on the magical mystery tour down the long and winding road towards environmentally sustainable and balanced lifestyles.

Yours truly,

MCA

A Unite the Left Movement?

A Unite the Left Movement?

Sometime this weekend the federal Liberal executive will get together over Chinese food and hammer out the guidelines for the upcoming leadership contest. Expect next week and the week after to be full of announcements from people you’ve heard of and people you haven’t declaring their candidacy.

One of the early front runners is former Ontario Premier Bob Rae. There appears to be no question that Rae is getting ready to go; he’s even brought on board Jean Chrétien’s former right-hand man, Eddy Goldenberg, to help organize a party machine.

In a speech last week Rae mentioned something about a “unite the left” movement. Of course, few believe that a full merger between the Liberal Party and the NDP would ever take place. Although some, like the Globe’s favourite blogger Jason Cherniak, see the NDP as an unnecessary hurdle that blocks the Liberal party from achieving its full potential, the rest of us appreciate having a third option. It is not a sign of a healthy democracy to have to plug your nose when you vote.

The other thing to consider is that eliminating the NDP wouldn’t necessarily mean smooth sailing for the Liberal Party. Take recent events on the side of the ocean where I’m currently living. After the embarrassing defeat of his own legislation, Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has come to count on support from the Tory opposition to get bills past, so great is the dissent in the Labour ranks. In fact, I remember during the last election a few Labour backbenchers campaigned on a promise to keep Tony Blair in line. And this is his own party! Is this the kind of Liberal party Dan Cooke wants?

One of the reasons that the NDP would refuse to merge with the Liberals is because few realistic party members believe that the NDP is going to form the government in the next twenty or thirty years, and they are fine with that. Although it does have support across the country, the NDP has been unable to make any breakthroughs in Quebec. Despite a good showing this time around, in which the party increased its seat total significantly, the NDP would be pressed to once again achieve the success it experienced under Ed Broadbent. Finally, so long as the first past the post system remains in tact the NDP is going to continue to fall victim to strategic voting.

This does not mean that NDP doesn’t play an important role in shaping Canadian politics. The fact that Canadians voted Tommy Douglas as the greatest Canadian without him ever having inhabited Sussex Drive goes to show the influence the NDP can have by applying pressure from the outside. Indeed, from time to time the Liberals need to be reminded what it means to be liberal, and so even if the NDP doesn’t always get the credit it deserves, it is often responsible for the Liberal party’s more progressive policies (if you don’t believe me, try to find a quote by Paul Martin or any Liberal for that matter talking about child care before the Liberal minority).

So after taking all of this into consideration, is there really any worth in discussing a ‘unite the left’ movement? To the chagrin of Liberals and NDPers alike, I am going to say, Yes, because the fact of the matter is that it could end up being beneficial to both parties.

As I mentioned, such an agreement would not consist of the NDP folding into the Liberals, or a ‘New Democratic Liberal Party’ merger, or anything of the sort. I am thinking more along the lines of a strategic alliance between the parties for the next election. In this scenario the Liberals could run a candidate in 2/3rds of the nations ridings and the NDP could run candidates in the other third. Although there would no doubt be bickering between the two parties as to who ran where, I am sure that strategists sitting in a smoky room and drinking brandy could figure out who had the best chance of winning in each riding.

For example, Liberals would obviously have a better chance of taking seats in Quebec, so they would probably run in the majority of the seats there. The NDP tends to be stronger in places like Saskatchewan and certain parts of Ontario. I am sure that fighting would break out over B.C., where both parties have faired well, and also Toronto, which has traditionally voted Liberal but has been willing to turn to the NDP as of late.

It would be a mistake to think that adding the Liberals and NDP votes together would guarantee support on the same level the parties enjoyed before the alliance. I imagine that some Liberals would prefer to vote for the Harpies rather than support a united option, and that some traditional NDP supporters would move over to the Green party as a matter of principle. Nevertheless, vote splitting would certainly come an end in many places, and the Conservatives would have a much harder time slipping through either with a minority or a majority.

The Liberal would benefit by silencing the criticisms that they aren’t being “Liberal” enough. They’d also gain a number of highly experienced cabinet material MPs, including Jack Layton, Alexa Mcdonagh, Pat Martin, Bill Blackie, and Yvon Godin, to name a few. No matter how hard they try, Liberals for some reason have been unable to articulate a proper environmental policy. I would bet that Jack Layton, rather than attempting to jockey himself into a position of higher influence, would be much more satisfied taking over the environment ministry and finally putting it in order. Without a doubt the idea probably provokes the NDP leader’s midlife nocturnal emissions.

Not only would the NDP gain through contributing to policy, they’d also probably elect a record number of MPs, thus giving themselves further credentials in the event that the love between the two parties was lost and they found themselves once again on the opposition benches. People would be much more likely to vote for the NDP if they felt that they could hold the balance of power. Furthermore, having a record to run on that extends beyond opposing things would also contribute to future electoral success.

It is hard to say whether or not the two parties could work out such an agreement before the next election. It may be the case that the parities’ constitutions require that they run candidates in all 308 ridings, which would obviously complicate things.

Nevertheless, if anyone can pull this off, it might just be Bob Rae. The fact that he was the former NDP premier of Ontario would go far in making many NDPers believe him genuine and serious about a strong left-of-centre alternative, even if many resent his having abandoned the party.
Jean Chrétien never had to worry about such a union because majorities came easy to him. Paul Martin was too arrogant to even conceive of such an idea, and we see where that attitude has got him now. A new bread of Liberal leaders could change the attitude of the Liberal party towards its NDP cousins. What might determine the question for the two parties is their mutual desire to send Steven Harper into early retirement. At this point in time it is too early to see which Steven Harper becomes Prime Minister, and whether or not the Canadian public will grant him another term or search for an excuse to throw him out.

A Conferate Atlantic Government

After taking some time off I come to you today with two posts. This is a response to a post found here:

http://thecanadiansentinel.blogspot.com/2006/03/atlantic-canadian-amalgamation-one.html

in which the author argues that Canada would be better off if Atlantic Canada only had one central administration. I clearly disagree.

One way of making sure no-one offers a rebuttal for your argument is by stating, "the reasonable person would have a difficult time arguing the opposite." I consider myself a reasonable person, and I disagree.

First of all, let me say, with all due respect, that your argument does not point to any empirical evidence that supports a more centralized governing structure. I fail to see anything beyond "it doesn't make sense to have separate provincial administrations for such a relatively small geographical area." My question is, why doesn't it?

(1) A confederation between the Atlantic provinces would not necessarily bring an end to the red tape which businesses complain gets in their way. In fact, It is quite possible that a confederate government would impose just as many regulations that you call red-tape as any other provincial government. From a hypothetical standpoint, there is nothing inherent in a confederate government that would make it more efficient.

2.) We, in New Brunswick, are quite happy to have our own provincial government for many reasons, one being that we can guarantee official bilingualism in all of our jurisdictions. Within a confederate government of all Atlantic Canada I can't imagine being able to deliver the same assurances over language rights, and I don't imagine the politician from Cornerbrook would be too happy about speaking French to placate the fisherman from Tracadie. (for more information please see Alberta v. Quebec).

3.) A more centralized government run probably out of Halifax would be the equivalent of creating an Ottawa Jr in terms of waste. There is no lack of evidence to prove how inefficient the federal government can be at administering programs that are supposed to run from coast to coast to coast. This is because local administration brings local accountability. When our provincial governments cut back on health care, they have to deal with the fallout from people loosing hospital beds. Ottawa, however, rarely has to deal with the real consequences of its spending fluctuations. By moving all of our administrative power to a place like Halifax, those of us outside that region would loose our local accountability.

All of this said, I think the problem with the idea is that it is taking us in the wrong direction from where it is we actually should be going. The federal government should be lowering taxes so that provincial governments can raise them and start making headway with our health and education systems, which the provinces are ultimately responsible for delivering. 80% of our country's population lives in urban areas, and cities are coming under increasing pressures to supply necessary services yet they don't have the taxing capabilities to raise revenues. Paul Martin talked about a "new deal" for cities, but unless we get a true, renewable funding mechanism, power is going to continue to stay in Ottawa.

Now is not a time, at least in my opinion, to start talking about increased centralization. If anything we need to start thinking of new methods of devolution so that people's tax dollars are put to use more effectively, and our governing structures become more accountable.

Those are my two cents. And yes, reasonable people are free to disagree.

MCA

Will the Real Stephen Harper Please Stand Up?

Now, before I go on to say what I have to say, let me clarify that I, for one, welcomed the recent change of government, even if I don't share the Conservative party’s views on such things as the environment, gay rights, crime, well, most everything. Nevertheless, the Liberals had grown old and stale in power and it was time to remind them that we lend them the keys to Sussex drive; it isn't their right to squat.

For his part, Stephen Harper wanted Canadians to believe that he and the Conservatives were ethical uber-politicians. Unlike the liberals, the Conservatives were born without the gene that makes one prone to corruption and arrogance. It's hard to believe that he is the same guy we saw desperately trying to convince Canadians that a vote for his government was a vote for a new way of doing politics.

I need not recount the hypocrisy of the Fortier debacle. Harper said he would never use the senate for partisan reasons, and that the senate would be elected. He did the opposite, although he will probably try to redeem himself by never again appointing anyone, hoping that we’ll forget, and allow for the election of senators.

The Emerson switch made many in the Conservative party a bit weary, as it seemed like such a "liberal" thing to do. What has happened since then, in my opinion, is the real kicker, the pipebomb, if you will, that has torn down the wall between perception and reality.

The ethics commissioner, Bernard Shapiro, decided to launch an investigation into Emerson and the Prime Minister. His reason: if David Emerson was offered an incentive to cross the floor, the prime minister may have breached the ethical constraints of his office.

The Prime Minister's response was dished out of the barrel of arrogance left over from when the liberals moved out in a rush. Stephen Harper said he was "loath" to cooperate with an individual whose credibility had been called into question. The ethics commissioner was a "liberal appointee" who, as an 'unelected' official had no right to interfere with the Prime Minister's sovereign duty to appoint cabinet ministers.

First of all, let me say two things in the Prime Minister's defence. Yes, the ethic commissioner was censured by parliament because he spoke to a reporter about an ongoing investigation without notifying the target of that investigation, MP Deepak Obhrai. The Prime Minister would have been right to speak out about the credibility of the issue, had he done so at the time instead of waiting until he won an election to announce that he was above parliament. Secondly, the Prime Minister ultimately holds responsibility to appoint whomever he wants to cabinet, and yes, he can appoint people from other parties, so long as they are sitting members of parliament or the senate. From what I can gather from the constitutional experts who have spoken out on the issue, despite the fact that Emerson's defection was cynical and all the rest, it probably wasn't illegal.

Discredited the ethics commissioner seems a poorly thought out plan if the Conservatives really want us to believe that they are our ethical superiors. Harper may easily forget, but in the pre-Shapiro age, the ethics commissioner reported only to the PM. Shapiro is the first to be responsible only to parliament, and as such all members of parliament, including the prime minister, fall under his jurisdiction. Stephen Harper fought his this post, and now he has to accept it. He might well get used to lots of ‘unelected’ officials investigation his office, like the auditor-general, who are hired by the Canadian people to protect us from the politicians who abuse their office.

The nastiness of this episode was revealed this morning in the Globe and Mail, where conservative Mp Deepak Obhrai accused the Ethics Comissioner of being responsible for his brother's suicide after he went under investigation for allegedly offering a bribe to fast-track some visa applications. He stated that the ethics commissioner was a "Gestapo chief," and has since refused to retract his remarks.

Since arriving in power Stephen Harper has been very careful to keep a tight muzzle on his cabinet ministers and caucus. With comments like these, it is no wonder he'd want to. I mentioned earlier in a post that the Conservative party was bursting at the seems with people waiting to say something distasteful or politically incorrect. The floodgate appears to be ajar, and whether or not the PM opens it more or closes it tight will probably determine whether or not Canadians continue to hold Harper in any sort of esteem. We'll have to wait and see.