Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com.
Sometimes you can judge your standing by the quality of the arguments advanced by your detractors -- and in the case of the current government, there have been some pretty weak arguments.
In this case, old Harper hater Sinclair Stevens puts up his weakest fight yet:
Given a choice, without double-talk, Canadians will support a One Canada vision rather than Harper's suggestion that we make Canada the Belgium of North America, with up to 10 autonomous nations.
Does Harper not realize that prior to Confederation, the colonies of British North America were autonomous and that Lord Durham in his famous report reaffirmed their colonial status while Britain retained control over foreign affairs and the military?
It is strange that Harper's mission today is to make all our provinces autonomous with Ottawa mainly looking after foreign affairs and defence as Britain did in colonial days.
Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania convincingly last night, proving again that she's the Energizer bunny of American politics -- or is she Robin Swallows?
All my sympathy goes to Brenda Martin, who has clearly been through hell and back in what appears to be a less-than-just justice system, but has anyone actually considered that she might have actually done something wrong? Do we really know?
Just sayin'.
(Please don't accuse me of being anti-Brenda! I want her to come home and have supported a Canadian travel boycott of Mexico for a couple of years already.)
UPDATE: I'm not the only one raising questions. This issue cuts across ideological lines. More information is needed.
Apparently today was Earth Day. Unless I was just too distracted to notice, it seems this is the lowest-profile Earth Day in years -- perhaps since its inception. With all the other symbolic initiatives around to demonstrate your environmental bona fides -- Earth Hour, etc. -- this day seems to have lost its umph. Just sayin'.
While Canadian news outlets report as their main story the fact that some of their reporters weren't invited to a Conservative press briefing, there's interesting politics going on in the greater Anglosphere.
Aside from tomorrow's do-or-die Pennsylvania primary, across the pond, Londoners will go to the polls in a little over a week to elect a new mayor. The London mayor race has been fraught with excitement. "Red" Ken Livingstone, the two-term leftist incumbent, has been stunned by the out-of-nowhere rise of Tory MP Boris Johnson's maverick campaign to unseat him. Polls show Johnson in the lead, but the margin has been shrinking.
Johnson is a pretty unique character -- definitely not your typical Tory. The former editor of London's Spectator magazine, he's an aloof, bicycle-riding, nutty-professor type of guy who was laughed at when he first declared his candidacy for mayor. But he has run a stellar campaign (with some humor thrown in for good measure) and has tapped into a desire for change in the city.
It will be interesting to see if he pulls this off because he is running a campaign similar in tone to the one that David Cameron, the not-so-conservative leader of the British Tories, has been using for the past few years. Johnson's result might be a useful portent for the upcoming British national election.
Mike Huckabee was in Montreal to give a speech on Sunday night. He was brought into town by a local synagogue a few blocks from where I live as part of an annual lecture series. This is the third year of the series, and Huckabee follows Ari Fleisher and Joe Lieberman the first two years.
I was lucky enough to score a ticket through a friend. I was interested in seeing Huckabee not so much for the content of his speech but more to see his apparently flawless speaking ability in person. He did not disappoint. He spoke about many things -- his own life story (he was the first member of his family to even graduate high school), the war in Iraq, his presidential campaign, the Democratic race, Israel, and even his famous diet.
As those who followed his campaign know, Huckabee is not a traditional conservative. During his speech he equivocated on capital punishment, criticized the Iraq war project (essentially saying, in a roundabout way, that Arabs are incapable of democracy) and even offered a defense of the famed Rev. Wright. Huckabee said if he had experienced some of the racism and prejudice Rev. Wright had, he might harbor some similar feelings.
Huckabee made it clear he would be glad to accept the VP nod from McCain. I think the chances McCain will ask him are slim, but its still a possibility. Whatever happens, he'll be back in a future presidential contest, it is almost certain.
Last weekend was one of my favourite for TV watching: the Masters and the World Curling Championship. It was great to see up-and-comer Trevor Immelman hang on to take the green jacket. My biggest fear after Saturday's third round was that Tiger Woods would lurk around the front page of the leaderboard, go out and shoot a decent score and everyone ahead of him would topple over like dominoes heading down the stretch. Many did, and Immelman certainly didn't play his best Sunday, but it was good enough.
As for curling, it was good to see Kevin Martin of Canada finally win a world championship after so many heartbreaking disappointments. This means both the Canadian women and men's curling teams won gold at the worlds this year, a feat which is becoming rarer all the time.
Speaking of curling coverage, the CBC sports brass has made another fine mess of things. They had broadcasting rights this year for covering the round-robin and the finals of both world championships this year. Instead of showing the games on the main network, most games were shown Dose (formerly known as CBC Country Canada) which few Canadians subscribe to.
Heaven forbid the CBC would move a re-run of Antiques Roadshow to broadcast a curling game. The women's world final garnered an audience of 1.1 million people! Shows like Dragon's Den and Rumours routinely get fewer than 250,000.
Some are claiming that the CBC ought to be praised instead of jeered -- previous to this year, there was no obligation to cover any of the world round-robin if it was being played outside Canada. Who cares? If the ratings are there, why not show it on the main network?
The days of the CBC claiming to be the almighty protector of Canadian culture are gone, if they ever existed to begin with. Private broadcasters like CTV are doing more for Canadian culture than the CBC hands down. CTV shows like E!Talk Daily discuss what Canadian celebrities are doing in Canada and around the world. They do an equally excellent job with television awards shows like the Junos.
Michael Ignatieff's been logging a fair bit of Aeoroplan points lately. A few weeks ago, he made some speeches to groups, both large and small, in Montreal. He came back to Montreal a second time. Now, in Toronto, he's offered an apology to the Jewish community for his tactless remarks about Israel in 2006:
Deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff came to Holy Blossom Temple last night to apologize for having said as a leadership candidate that Israel had committed a "war crime."
After being introduced as "a potential future prime minister of Canada," Ignatieff described the 2006 episode as "the most painful experience of my short political career, and it was an error."
He said he's been reaching out to parts of the Jewish community to establish a dialogue since making the comment during an appearance on a Quebec talk show, Tout le monde en parle.
Carl Smith from Montreal Canada writes: I voted Liberal in the last Federal Election now I want to know if you are honest enough to tell us who you voted for Jane? Going by your reporting my guess would be Conservative. Right?
Elmo Harris from Niagara Canada writes: Will there be anyone from the Liberal side taking questions as well?
Jenny Rodgers from Canada writes: why is a Liberal taking questions on anything? Abby U from Dartmouth Canada writes: Why does your program Question Period as well as your's and Craig Oliver's appearance on Mike Duffy promote the Liberal Party agenda, often making excuses for this pathetic national party and its defunct leader?
Political Junkie from Canada writes: Is it possible for political journalists to be non-partisan? There seems to be a great deal of bias in favour of the Conservatives or the Liberals or the NDP eminating from all but a very few journalists. Is it naive or unreasonable to expect balanced journalism?
Jane Taber: Hi Chris and thanks so much for inviting me to chat with our readers today. I am accused -- in both print and on television -- of being a Liberal or a Conservative. I have never been considered a New Democrat.
I take some comfort from the fact that some people think I lean one way and others think I lean another. So it means I'm doing something right.
I can tell you I and my colleagues struggle with balance. We are very conscious of making sure that our stories and our interviews (on television) are balanced.
The issue of fairness and balance is something that has been drilled into my head since I was a journalism student at Carleton back in the late '70s. All I can say is that I don't have an agenda and I don't believe that I am favouring one party over another. I am the messenger and am trying to provide the best information I can to Globe readers.
All you can do is scratch your head and wonder. FLASHBACK: Taber's "fair and balanced" interview with Gwyn Morgan from a year ago, one of the most popular posts on this blog's history.
Polls are for the dogs, Diefenbaker once said, and one poll does not a trend make. However, the polls consistently show the Tories in the lead -- even tied with the Bloc in Québec, an unpredecented accomplishment for a non-Quebec leader like Harper. I have not seen a poll in months in which the Conservative Party was not in first place, but the size of the lead differs each time.
Stories of Liberal infighting dominate political talk shows. Even the Lukiwski affair isn't resonating, despite the media's insistance on showing that is indicative of a "hidden agenda" that Canadians still seem to fear (according to Jane Taber, anyway). It doesn't need to be said again -- what Lukiwski said is repugnant. But it was 16 years ago at a hack booze-up at Saskatchewan Tory party headquarters. Anyone who's ever worked at a campaign office and been part of one of these late afternoon "parties" knows people are tired and venting and say dumb things all the time. I have never seen an apology as effusive and contrite as Lukiwski's last week. There's no doubt he was sincere; he has already paid a steep price for this.
The media continue to disappoint. The Prime minister worked for and earned a big win for Canada at the NATO summit -- a commitment from France and the U.S.A. to send more troops to Afghanistan. He convinced the allies to help us out. Yet, unless I missed something, I'm not seeing a whole lot of positive media coverage for this not unconseriderable achievement. More fun to dwell on Lukiwski, I suppose, and what Harper might say to the media. (Harper even came in for a round of criticism for not talking after visiting Aschwitz. The horror.)
All this is to say: I'm frustrated! Polls show the Conservatives in the lead, but not breaking the 40% mark. Liberal infighting hasn't been this ugly since the mid-1980s. The Government continues to govern inoffensively and steadily. No one seems to want to trigger an election, but one has been needed for some time. I'm not sure how this current government can last until October 2009, but it increasingly looks like it will.
There's been a tragedy in Quebec City -- a huge fire destroyed the armoury building last night, reducing one of the city's great historical landmarks to rubble. I went down to see it this morning and the firefighters were still working on it. You could smell it several blocks away. There was still smoke coming out of one section of the 125-year-old building. It's particularly unfortunate to lose this national symbol given that this is the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, and that events were planned to be held there.
