Iggy and the Russian Bear

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff thinks Canada shouldn't be worried about the "Russian bear" --specifically regarding Canadian fighter jets that recently staved-off the Russian TU-95 "bear" bombers from entrenching on our sovereignty hundreds of kilometres of the coast of Newfoundland.

The Liberal leader told reporters he laughed when the prime minister talked about Russian aircraft being chased away by Canadian military planes on Tuesday.

Ignatieff says people have tried to make him afraid of the Russian bear ever since his childhood, because he's partly Russian.

But he adds it was ridiculous for the prime minister to try to make people believe that without the intervention, the Russian bear would have come into Canadian homes.

Well Mr. Ignatieff, you see, the way it works is, if we didn't intervene, then the Russians would know that we are not prepared to defend our sovereignty and that NORAD fails.

And also seemingly interesting as if Iggy is trying to make people believe that since the Cold War ended that we shouldn't worry about Russia at all.

So again, to clarify, Mr. Ignatieff, we shouldn't be afraid of this string of recent events where Russians have tested us numerous times without notification, or are we being ridiculous and laugh it off like you have?

Previous Russian incursions into Canadian airspace

February 2009: Hours before U.S. President Barack Obama's big visit to Canada, two Russian bombers were intercepted just outside the Canadian Arctic.

Two Canadian CF-18s were dispatched to signal the Russian aircraft to turn back to its own airspace.

The Russians called Canada's reaction "a farce."

General Walter Natynczyk, the chief of the defence staff, said, at the time, sporadic incidences of Russian incursions had started in 2007 after many years of no activity.

August 2008: Canadian jets scrambled during a visit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Inuvik in the Arctic to intercept an aircraft nearing Canada's airspace.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Russians were unwilling to notify Canada of planned military flights nearing our airspace.

September 2007: Russians boasted that two of their Tu-95 bombers flew along the coasts of Alaska and Canada and returned via the North Pole during a 17-hour flight. They said their flight was accompanied by NATO planes.

I now know which leader is protecting Canada from Russia.  You know, the one without a Russian heritage.

Iggy... "This is Canada, not Australia"

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff...

Ignatieff dismissed calls that Canada should have followed Australia’s policy on refugees and turned the Tamil refugee boat away.

"This is Canada, not Australia," Ignatieff said. "That means Canada has principles, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our international obligations."

To all my Aussie friends... sorry mates.  I guess you don't have principles or rights and freedoms.

If this Liberal summer tour was to prepare Iggy for an actual campaign, maybe it's a good thing he's trying to stuff as many feet in his mouth as he can, because when the actual campaign happens, he would have gotten it all out of his system by then, wouldn't he?

Rex is king

The most eloquent journalist in Canada, Rex Murphy, has written an entertaining comment on the long-form census "issue". 

"On the other side, we've had a band of deliriously agitated opposition politicos and whole packloads of folks from various organizations and think-tanks arguing that stripping the long-form census of its "threatening" provisions will leave Canadian democracy rudderless, bereft of data absolutely critical for the exercise of efficient and noble statecraft. Operas have stronger plot lines."

(And now onto my non-eloquence...)  Well, ain't that right.  Anytime there's squib, yank, or rejig of the govmint, them beeurcats git all in a hissy fit.  And that's all good in ma books.

And for those who argue that no one has been jailed or fined for choosing not to fill out the long-form, then why is there this stupid law in the first place? So we should just leave this idled threat of punishment amongst the normally law-abiding citizenry in place as it stands?  Does that not just sound ... to put it eloquently, just plain stupid?


The whole article here.