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May 29, 2007
Ends, means, etc.
My boss suggests no one get too hot under the collar about any funds misspent by the No side during the 1995 referendum campaign, on account of the whole place had gone mental. I certainly don’t disagree. But assuming he wasn’t directing his advice towards the sovereigntist benches in Quebec City and Ottawa, where collars are rarely any cooler than warm, I don’t think he needs to worry.
Even in this day and age, when patriotism doesn’t give the average opposition politician a nanosecond’s pause before he labels the Afghanistan mission a wretched failure, I can’t see how anyone on the federalist side could possibly leverage this to his advantage. (Bastards! How dare you bend the rules the tune of a half-million dollars while scrambling desperately to save the country?)
The only people I can even see trying would be the New Demo… oh, hang on, here’s Jack now:
You know I think people ultimately have concluded these are Liberal transgressions that the government of the day, the Liberals, wasn't respecting the rules whether it was on the sponsorship scandal or now on this instance. And our view is that most Canadians will share that same conclusion.
Having said that, our Prime Minister also seems to have taken a partisan shot. And like so many of his partisan shots, it won’t gain him squat. Naturally it fell to our Transport Minister, Lawrence Cannon, to provide the better federalist soundbyte:
I dare remind our colleagues that on two occasions Quebecers have said No. They remain within Canada and form a nation within Canada. Will the Bloc Quebecois recognize the decision of Quebecers?
He might have added that no inquiry into the ballots "spoiled" on 10/30/95 would be likely to cast a flattering night on the Yes side, but then, that wouldn't help them get a leg-up on the Liberals at all. What a jolly time it is to be a staunch federalist.
Posted by Chris Selley at May 29, 2007 11:00 PM
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