Blue Like You

Archive for July 6th, 2008

Stephane Dion is having a tough enough time trying to sell his Green Shaft in Alberta. Don Braid of the Calgary Herald sums up the problem quite nicely:

…But Dion, with breathtaking gall, claims he’s doing it for Alberta’s own good. "It’s very important for the world to know how much Albertans care about the environment, how much you are green and you want to do the right thing," he said Saturday.

"I cannot accept that your reputation is damaged as it is now."

Premier Ed Stelmach isn’t saving us from this evil reputation, he suggests, so he must. (Never mind that Dion’s words hurt our reputation even more.)

So thank you, Mr. Dion, for fitting Alberta with a fiscal hair shirt so we might redeem ourselves…

I don’t think this kind of condescending, Nanny-State-knows-best arrogance is going to sit well with the folks out west. They may be too polite to ream him out right now, but if Dion were ever to become PM, they would likely be questioning the value to them of remaining in the confederation.

Then along comes Garth Turner with this caustic remark in his blog which has fueled all kinds of outrage in Quebec and in Alberta:

…As for Dion, he will move from Calgary to Edmonton, where he’s to have an open, Town Hall meeting on his climate change plan. You might not agree with everything the man says, but you have to admire this about him. He stood up once to the self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing separatist losers in Quebec. I guess he can do it again in Alberta.

Dion was not pleased to have to deal with the political fallout from this gaffe, but has assured us it is taken care of. The Liberal Leader says Turner has ‘retracted’. However, as far as I can see, he has only retracted the word ‘losers’, which is missing from his non-apology:

…The issue is a single sentence in my last post in which I drew comparisons between those who wish to separate from Canada, whether they live in Quebec or Alberta. I called such separatists, who put regional and self-interest ahead of the national cause, “self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing.”

…But there’s no way I, as a federal member of the Canadian House of Commons, am going to lay down before people who openly advocate ripping the country apart. Moan all you want about money, or lament those who don’t share your culture or language. But don’t expect me to roll…

Then in the next post he further ‘clarifies’ his position. It sounds like he’s really digging his heels in on this one:

…The fact I’m news, and under the gun by a bevy of leaders and political parties, for ripping separatists, is a sad thing.

I understand well this is all about positioning, power and votes. But it’s also about principle.

My choice is made.

That does not sound like a retraction to me.

And on one hand, I can see where he’s coming from (if I try really hard). Basically he’s saying that separatists are self-centered activists that have no concern or love for our country, which may certainly contain a kernal of truth.

However, aside from the possibility that some separatists may actually truly believe in their cause and are doing so based on strong principles, the fact remains that you just don’t defy the captain of your team if you want to stay in the game.

And even a ‘respectful’ leader like Stephane Dion eventually has to make a decision on how to deal with this nagging headache before it totally disables him.

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Update: Then there’s the Conspiracy Theory…

Nah.

More from ChuckerCanuk - "Damaged."

Lorne Gunter - Fault Liberals for regional resentments:

…This is an old Liberal tactic: Equate Liberal policy with the national interest so that anyone who disagrees can be portrayed as an enemy of national unity and not merely an opponent of Liberal ideas…

Lorrie Goldstein - Climate Spin Machine.

This is great! Via Stephen Taylor.

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Monday Update: Lorne Gunter - The obnoxious Garth Turner.