Agnes McPhail, Ken Dryden, and debts unpaid

- All more-women-in-politics reform isn't necessarily good more-women-in-politics reform. Let's consider this beauty offered up by Ken Dryden, which I expect Sheila to pick up on at some point. It is not just absurd but more than a little offensive to suggest that women are kept out of politics because they can't cope with foul language in the House of Commons. I'm reminded of Agnes Mcphail. When a male colleague suggested she had no place discussing penal reform, she famously responded:

"I'm gonna slap that f***ing smile off your fat face, you big-headed motherf***ker."

*(Agnes's words, not mine - I love Ken Dryden's face... and most of his platform actually. Damn good candidate but he's got this wrong)


- I received a noteworthy email recently. Someone had visited my Canadians For Kelowna website. On the site I include a quote from Michael Ignatieff:

"[Kelowna was] serious commitment, a matter of honour, a matter of justice. I'm sure we all agree to stand absolutely solid to convince Canadians that this is a debt of honour, this is a debt of justice and it's an investment in our future.”

Not bad, eh? The email tipster agreed that this was indeed sparkling oration. However, he wished me to note that when the House faced an opposition motion in late June to ratify Kelowna, Ignatieff was elsewhere. Couldn't make it to Ottawa on the day of the vote. His website suggests he was in New Brunswick. The good news is he managed to lasso a "stellar list" of New Brunswick MLAs, etc. C'mon.

Free advice for Ignatieff (which I seem to produce a lot of): In the run-up to Decemeber, your inexperience is going to be questioned. The only way to counter is to demonstrate how active you've been in Ottawa since your election. That means you don't miss a vote on a "debt of honour". It's also hard to "convince Canadians" that this is as important as it is, if bbqing in Quispamsis takes precedence.


- Encouraging signs of life from the Gerry K crew