Hodgepodge – A Week In Canada.

CANADA’S DRUNKEN TOURIST DRIVER.

British Columbia Premier, Gordon Campbell, was arrested for driving under the influence while vacationing in Hawaii. His police mug shot which has been virtually everywhere in the Canadian media shows him smiling. Perhaps he was still drunk at the time of the photo. Or perhaps he was so ashamed of himself that smiling was just a nervous knee jerk reaction. Or perhaps he just thought the whole thing was somehow funny.

But it isn’t funny. What Campbell did was break the law and put people at risk. No one gets drunk by accident. And assuming that being an accidental drunk is a possibility. No one who is drunk, gets behind the wheel of car by accident.

BC Premier Gordon Campbell showed unbelievably bad judgment. He is not just an “ordinary” person. He is the Premier of one of Canada’s most important provinces. He is also the Premier who campaigned on a very conservative “holier-than-thou” platform, where everyone is expected to accept responsibility for his/her actions.

As such; it is time for the Premier to do the same, and accept responsibility for his actions. If Campbell was just another guy, I would say that what he did was reprehensible and more or less leave it at that. But, Campbell isn’t just another guy. He is the Premier of British Columbia, and as such, he is the ultimate BC role model, and for that, he has to do the right thing and step down.

As an employer, I would not hire a drunk who is not a recovering alcoholic. Nor would I keep a recalcitrant drunk on staff. So why should the tax payers and voters of British Columbia? Before this terrible transgression, Campbell had a very difficult task before him in the governance of the Province. But now, it is very doubtful that Gordon Campbell will be able to manage the Province of British Columbia with this new stigma hanging over his head like the Sword of Damocles.

Campbell should do the honorable thing, which Canadian politicians virtually never do anymore, and simply step down. It’s not as if he is the only person who can lead the BC government.

CANADA’S RELUCTANCE TO SANCTION ISLAMIC AND ARAB TERRORISTS.

First, Canada balked at every suggestion, demand and plea that it outlaw the murderous terrorist group Hezbollah. Finally, it saw the light and did the right thing; nonetheless, kicking and screaming all the way.

As a result, Lebanon’s Ambassador to Canada has recently accused the Canadian government of being influenced by the Jewish group that “controls” 90% of Canada’s media. Which Jewish group, and which media he doesn’t say.

Then the Lebanese Ambassador tells Canadians: for their own safety, as a result of Ottawa’s decision to ban Hezbollah in Canada, Canadians should not wear anything that identifies them as Canadian when traveling in Arab countries. Especially in Lebanon.

Now Hamas, another murderous Arab terrorist group which Canada also didn’t want to ban, just announced that Canadians and Canadian property WILL BE ATTACKED if Canada joins the USA in its war against Saddam Hussein.

In a couple of weeks, Mommar Khadafi, Lybia’s dictator and Thug-For-Life, will be installed as the United Nations leader to the League For International Human Rights. If this wasn’t so bizarre, it would be laughable. Here is a guy who has so much innocent blood on his hands, he could never wash it off. Yet, African nations have voted him to be the leader of what should be the UN’s most sacred enterprise.

The appointment of Khadafi is secure. However, it must be brought before a vote. And in the past, the appointment of the head of the UN League For Human Rights has never been contested. At least not until now.

The USA wants a vote to deny Khadafi his seat. The Americans know that their vote will not stop the inevitable. But, at least they want to be on record as opposing this farce and travesty. HOW WILL CANADA VOTE?

THE HULLABALOO OF ICE HOCKEY ECONOMICS.

The Ottawa Senators are bankrupt. Their stunning multi hundred million dollar debt is a testament to the stupidity of lenders, and to the stupidity of governments.

WE MUST SAVE THE SENATORS FOR OTTAWA is the battle-cry. BULL! The Senators are nothing more than a business opportunity that went bad for the owners and investors. Yet, the people with the most to lose want to tie the Senators to the well being of Ottawa. That’s a load of crock.

Whether the Senators stay or go will have virtually no effect on Ottawa whatsoever. But, if Ottawa decides to spend one penny of tax dollars to keep them, then it will have an effect. A negative effect.

When the Nordique pulled out of Quebec City several years ago, everyone who had something to lose cried that it will be the end of Quebec City. Guess what? The hockey team left, and Quebec is still the same city it was when they were there. No one even notices their departure. The same can be said about the Winnipeg Jets.

Hockey, like all professional sports is nothing more than a business and plaything for wealthy guys. They want to be in the big leagues. In a world of their own. And that’s expensive. So they invest fortunes, very often other people’s fortunes. They hire talent at unbelievable costs. And they construct monuments in which to play. Usually and inevitably at the cost of the taxpayers.

And then when everything falls apart, because the fans can’t afford to spend a hundred dollars or so, per person, to go to the game, they cry for help; not to save the “franchise”, but to save the franchise for the city. More bull!

If the Senators can’t make it in Ottawa on their own volition, then au revoir and better luck someplace else.

RESTRICTION OF THE PRESS CANADA STYLE.

The BC pig farmer who might have, or might not have murdered all those prostitutes is now on trial. BUT; all evidence and testimony at this stage are being blacked out by a court order banning the Canadian media from reporting on the testimony, so as not to influence potential jurists.

However; American reporters, and reporters from every other part of the world are reporting on the proceedings with impunity in their own countries. This judge who issued the Canadian media black-out should be removed from the case, and the bench, ostensibly for not understanding the meaning of democratic rights.

What gives the judge the right to believe that he has the moral license to deny the Canadian people the right to know? Far too often, Canadian judges take themselves and their power too personally, as if they are the only ones with the keys to the truth.

I BROKE HIS LAW! I read all about the first day of testimony with quotes and everything, in the SEATTLE TIMES News Paper, which you can find on this Web Site’s MEDIA LINKS section in the menu just to the right of where you are reading. And guess what? I don’t feel like a criminal. And I don’t feel as if I read something that I shouldn’t have.

I don’t want some judge taking away my right to know and to be informed. I don’t need LESS rights in Canada. I need and want MORE!