Tagged: Jeffrey Simpson
Simpson scopes the Labrador war
Jeffrey Simpson has a sensible column on NB Power’s proposed sale to Quebec Hydro, which he correctly portrays as the latest battle in the decades-old war between Newfoundland and Quebec. That’s a war in which Nova Scotia is no innocent bystander.
Simpson, who spoke in Baddeck Friday, can’t disguise his contempt for Danny Williams, the uppity colonial, but he has the broad strokes of the conflict right. He notes Ottawa’s “desperate” reluctance to intervene on behalf of the weaker party, a bit of realpolitik that might cause one to wonder whether Canada really is a country after all.
The one thing Conseravtive spinmeisters failed to do
In his Saturday column, Jeffrey Simpson pointed out something others have overlooked: For all the fire and brimstone Conservative spinmeisters hurled at Richard Colvin, they didn’t actually contradict a single word of his testimony.
Significantly, for those who paid careful attention to substance rather than bombast, in all the sound and fury from the government and former military personnel, no one actually contradicted a single thing in Mr. Colvin’s testimony…
The attack script written this week for Conservative MPs by the Prime Minister’s Office and party research office impugn Mr. Colvin for a) wanting to assist the Taliban, b) undermining the morale of the Armed Forces, and c) making recruitment difficult.
These are the classic responses of politicians whose government, and the military it supposedly directed, are engaged now in a massive campaign against someone who reported what he saw, tried to alert his superiors to danger, but found that plausible deniability and professions of ignorance were the preferred elements of the endless spin campaign that characterizes everything this government does.
The whole piece is worth reading.
Contrarian spent most of Saturday and Sunday on airplanes, with limited Internet access. I will catch up with reader feedback on the Harper Government and the torture story in the next few days.
