Gagliano, Chretien, and Canadian Patriotism

It seems as though a certain amount of empathy for Alfonso Gagliano is, or at least was, in order. Whie in hiding in Denmark, Gagliano was a convenient scapegoat for every Liberal, particularly Martin Liberals, looking to minimize their own involvement in AdScam. It is admirable that Gagliano, upon being recalled to Canada, has fought back against Martin and his spinsters. But, at best, Gagliano’s recent actions indicate that he has repeated his lines into the mirror sufficient times that he has even come to believe them himself.

He’s not bad, he’s just misunderstood

As you so eloquently put it, “I still believe that when the unity of the country is in peril, the members of Parliament and especially the ministers of the Crown, have a duty to take extraordinary measures.

“I am proud to have participated in this collective effort by cabinet to keep Canada united, and I have no regrets.”

At worst, Gagliano is defending the simplistic and crude approach to national unity that was employed by Jean Chretien and his government. Gagliano’s defense of the sponsorship scandal, after all, is not unique; Chretien was using the exact same justifications when the scandal was first breaking.

The bigger question here is not whether the sponsorship fund was used to siphon money off to Liberal ad firms. It is whether it is actually possible that Canada was governed for 11 years, including through a near-loss referendum on Quebec separation, by a prime minister and his cronies (prominent among whom was Gagliano) who were so unimaginative, so base in their view of their fellow Canadians, and so cynical in their view of Canadian patriotism that they felt this patriotism could be reinvigorated through the spending of millions of federal dollars on billboards at sporting events. As Weston puts is: “Who would have thought the way to a Quebecer’s heart is through his fishing derby?”

Brian Mulroney suffered tremendously for his attempts to refine a Canadian identity through the Meech and Charlottetown accords. But I’ll take Mulroney over Chretien’s crude cynicism any day.

Rafe Mair on Electoral Reform in BC

Rafe Mair’s take on the BC Citizens Assembly’s choice of electoral systems to replace the current one:

Hell of a fight over referendum

“I must also add something you already know - if the establishment, by which I mean all special interest groups be they business, labour, professional, or the artsy fartsy crowd, is against reform it’s all but a certainty that reform is badly needed.

Eminem Mosh

Warren Kinsella today provided a link to Eminem’s anti-Bush opus, entitled the Eminem Mosh.

Definitely worth watching.

« Previous Page