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Mallick on Palin

The New York Times has really been overdosing on Canada coverage lately, and it's been good to see. The latest dispatch from north of the border appears in today's paper, with the Times' man in Canada, Ian Austen, writing about the controversy that's swirled around Heather Mallick, a brilliant writer who admittedly went a little too far in her criticisms of Sarah Palin.

In a piece for the CBC, the former Globe and Mail columnist said Palin had taken on "a toned-down version of the porn actress look," had "white trash" supporters, and even claimed that Republican men are sexually inadequate ("It's possible that Republican men, sexual inadequates that they are, really believe that women will vote for a woman just because she's a woman," she wrote.).

Of course she was summarily denounced for it by some in the U.S. media -- including, you guessed it, FOX News. Following the receipt of hundreds of complaints, the story was removed from the CBC web site.

Mallick explained, "My problem is that I have to write with a certain kind of reader in mind, and that person is always going to be my vision of an intelligent Canadian...I don’t write for Fox viewers." In the final zinger of the Times article, Mallick went on to say, "It wasn’t satire though; it was straightforward political commentary, admittedly with jokes...I had no idea anyone would take the remark about sexually inadequate Republican men literally!"

Posted by Sebastian / Media / Politics / Oct. 6, 2008 /
 

Canada's day

Happy Canada Day! On this day the Dominion of Canada was created by the joining of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada. (The Province of Canada became Ontario and Quebec).

Test your knowledge of Canadian -- and American -- history on the Globe and Mail's quiz. I got 18 out of 20 correct, thank you very much.

Posted by Sebastian / July 1, 2008 /
 

Max gets the boot

My BlackBerry was on fire yesterday with comments from friends north of the border on news that Maxime Bernier, Canada's foreign affairs minister, stepped down amid an embarrassing scandal of incompetence. Incompetence seems to be nothing new to the MP -- who represents Quebec's Maine-abutting Beauce region on Parliament Hill -- whose career has been more about his impeccable appearance and charming good looks than his capabilities.

As the New York Times so aptly explained the situation, "First Maxime Bernier lost his girlfriend. Then he lost his job as Canada’s minister of foreign affairs."

"Mr. Bernier’s political and personal setbacks are directly related. His former romantic interest, Julie Couillard, was linked to Quebec’s motorcycle gangs, which have long tried to infiltrate politics and the justice systems. On Monday night, Mr. Bernier resigned shortly before Ms. Couillard disclosed in a heavily promoted television interview that he had left confidential government documents in her suburban Montreal apartment."

A friend who is a Toronto journalist quickly emailed to ask me if I could get him a date with Maxime (for the record, I've never met the guy). "He's hot," my friend said. So I shot that little request and physical assessment over to another friend, this one in Ottawa who knows Maxime well, who I knew could make it happen. Of Maxime's supposed hotness, I got this sharp retort: "Umm...not really." No word on whether, now that he's had his heart broken by Ms. Hells Angels, he is going gay.

Posted by Sebastian / May 28, 2008 /
 

Oh man!

The Canadian dollar hit a new high of 96 cents US today, making that $12 cocktail at 1181, well, $11.50. Is parity next? So much for cheap Canadian getaways...

Posted by Sebastian / September 11, 2007 /
 

Canadian heiress, 107, lives in Cuban poverty

I thought this article was really interesting. It seems the once fabulously wealthy Canadian Mary McCarthy, whose assets are frozen in a Boston bank, is living Miss Havisham-style in Havana. While her friends fled for Miami during the 1959 revolution, she stayed behind, and today still lives in the home where, "Peacocks still strut the garden under royal palm trees, but the lawn is overgrown and the house filled with Napoleon III furniture, chandeliers and a Steinway grand piano is falling apart."

Reuters tells her interesting tale and reports that recently, at the insistence of the Canadian consul general in Boston, the U.S. has agreed to let her withdraw $96 per month from her frozen assets. "She is an unfortunate, albeit unintentional, victim of political circumstances," the consul general wrote. "She relies on charity. She deserves to live the rest of her days in comfort."

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / August 13, 2007 /
 

Scott and Max to wed next weekend

I have to give our BFF Scott Brison some credit. Two years ago the prominent gay Canadian politician announced he was getting engaged to his partner of six months, Maxime St. Pierre. At the time, I wrote in this very blog that "I'm not against starting a betting pool to wager how long this fairy tale engagement actually lasts."

Well, I was wrong. Scott and his hunky boyfriend Maxime (shown here at the Calgary Stampede) -- who looks remarkably like me -- will finally tie the knot this coming Saturday in Nova Scotia. In doing so, he will become the first federal politician to take advantage of Canada's recent legalization of marriage for same-sex couples.

Although my invitation to the Big Gay Wedding seems to have been lost in the mail, I wish Scott and Maxime a fabulous party. And if that invitation just happens to appear before the week is out, I'll happily hop up to Halifax for what is sure to be the event of the summer for Ottawa insiders.

Posted by Sebastian / Scott Brison / August 10, 2007 /
 

My god, Canada has become expensive!

Not long ago, if you wanted a cheap getaway you went to Guatemala, or to Canada. Not anymore! The loonie hit a 30-year high today, topping the 95 cent USD mark. Full story.

I've been thinking about the currency shift a lot lately -- especially when I fork over 11 bucks for that second (and third) unpronounceable but vaguely exotic brazilian fruit cocktail that kills me at 1181. Lone gone are the days of the 60 cent loonie. God, do I miss them.

Posted by Sebastian / July 6, 2007 /

Happy Canada Day!

Today those in the know celebrate Canada's 140th birthday. Yes, it's hard to believe it was only 140 years ago when the Dominion of Canada was created by the joining of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada. (The Province of Canada became Ontario and Quebec).

On this most Canadian of days, the Toronto Star takes a stab at selecting the most Canadian of icons. Their picks? The made-in-Ontario BlackBerry; grain elevators; Tim Hortons; and Canada's grand railway hotels.

Posted by Sebastian / July 1, 2007 /

Goose Bay

Earlier today I made my first trip to Labrador! Just about the only reason to go to Goose Bay [map] this time of year is to refuel. And that's what happened today when my transatlantic flight had to make a pit stop. I was thrilled since I've always wanted to see the tundra of Labrador. It was about as unspectacular as you can imagine.

We were able to deplane briefly, and I was able to get photo evidence in the tiny terminal building. The woman working in the terminal was a doll and offered to take this shot when I mentioned that I've been dying to get to Goose Bay. The temperature outside? About minus 20.

Posted by Sebastian / March 23, 2007 /
 

Ex prime-ministers to judge reality show

As if we weren't tired of seeing Ben Mulroney's face on billboards across Canada, now we'll have to look at his dad's mug, too. It seems the terrifically unpopular ex-prime minister does not want to be outdone by his son Ben, the host of "Canadian Idol." Brian Mulroney will join three other former Canadian leaders as judges on the new CTV reality show, "The Next Great Prime Minister."



The show's winner won't become prime minister, but will rather win a cash award by proving his or her political aptitude through the use debate. But as the New York Times so wryly puts it, "The audience may have a better sense than the panelists of who is likely to succeed in politics. Mr. Mulroney is the only judge who spent any sustained time - almost nine years - in power. All told, Mr. Clark, Mr. Turner and Ms. Campbell only spent about 16 months at the top."

Posted by Sebastian / TV / November 21, 2006 /

Vancouver's safe-injection sites working

Vancouver's safe-injection site, the first in North America, has been controversial from the start. It opened in 2004 on a trial basis to see if out-in-the-open detox efforts could truly work in reducing addiction and the spread of HIV in Canada's poorest neighborhood. But Conservatives have hated it from the start, and it's been rumored that the federal government will shut down the Downtown Eastside site in the near future.

According to a new report out today, their worries are probably completely unfounded: "Vancouver's safe injection site is slowing down the spread of HIV and helping drug users quit their habits, a new study finds -- but an expert suggested that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government won't want to hear those results."

"By all criteria, the Vancouver facility has both saved lives and contributed toward the decreased use of illicit drugs and the reduced spread of HIV infection and other blood-borne infections," Mark Wainberg, the director of the McGill University AIDS Centre in Montreal, wrote in a commentary published alongside the study.

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / November 20, 2006 /

Where the hell is the border?

While George Bush prepares to pump billions of dollars into protecting the Southern border with Mexico, it turns out that the International Boundary Commission, a binational organization responsible for maintaining the U.S.-Canada border, gets just $1.3 million per year from Washington. Now the U.S. wants to install motion detectors on the northern border, but first there's a bigger problem: no one can find the border, especially as it courses its way between Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Quebec and New Brunswick.

The papers today report that, "After years of neglect and under funding by Washington and Ottawa, the International Boundary Commission admits it can no longer identify large swaths of the Canada-U.S. border, particularly in heavily forested areas overrun by dense shrubbery and sprouting trees."

"You have to have this corridor clear if you are going to detect movement across it. If you are taking pictures of trees, you are not really protecting the boundary," says Dennis Schornack, the U.S. commissioner for the boundary agency. "I like to refer to it as the moron test. Any person of average or below-average intelligence who can walk out into the corridor should immediately be able to know there is a boundary there."

Posted by Sebastian / October 8, 2006 /
 

Condi's Canadian Boyfriend

During her trip to Nova Scotia last week to thank Canada for its efforts on September 11, Con Job Condi Rice stirred up rumours that she is romantically involved with Peter Mackay, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs and the most eligible bachelor in Ottawa. A front page photo and story in the New York Times didn't help dispel the rumours. (Notice the Tim Hortons coffee in her hand as the pair walked along the shore.)

"It took a two-hour flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, this week, followed by a 90-minute motorcade north up Highway 102 to Pictou County, for Ms. Rice to find herself linked to someone with similar star appeal: Peter MacKay of Canada, the single, sophisticated foreign minister, routinely named Canada’s sexiest M.P. by The Hill Times in Ottawa, and the closest thing to eye candy on the diplomatic circuit. Tall, athletic, young, blond and recently dumped by his girlfriend, a fellow member of Parliament, Belinda Stronach, who parted with him when she switched parties, Mr. MacKay does not look like your usual foreign minister."

"The State Department has been quick to dump cold water over MacKay-Rice innuendoes. 'No, there were no candles,' Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said in exasperation when reporters asked for further details about a working dinner on Monday when the two sat side by side at the Pictou Lodge Resort. Mr. McCormack pointed out that the dinner was not even intimate: 14 aides and six security guards were present."

“It was a well lighted dinner, with electricity-based lighting,” Mr. McCormack said.

Posted by Sebastian / Politics / September 17, 2006 /
 

Vancouver' safe injection sites

Many people consider Vancouver a veritable sodom and gomorrah since it's home to the continent's first safe injection site. The storefront that is home to Insite in the city's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood is a place where addicts can shoot up in a supervised and controlled environment.

It opened in 2003 on a three-year trial basis that will soon expire. Stephen Harper has said that he doesn't want taxpayer money funneled to assist drug users in their addiction, so there is concern that as soon as he can, Harper will shutter the site. Insite has an average of 600 visitors per day.

This week two leading candidates for the Liberal Party leadership (that is, prime minister hopefuls) Ken Dryden and my BFF in Ottawa, Scott Brison, proclaimed that they want the sites to remain open and would welcome more of them across Canada.

Posted by Sebastian / Scott Brison / YVR / August 23, 2006 /
 

Tim Hortons to open donut shop in Afghanistan

"Canadian soldiers will soon be able to order that large double-double they've been longing for. An aircraft carrying a Tim Hortons trailer landed in Afghanistan Monday and will open its doors on Canada Day...Approximately 50 people — including some military wives — have been training at a Canadian Forces Base in Kingston to work at the new Tim Hortons. Training was a little more intense than usual, as staff had to learn safety precautions relating to the dangerous environment in addition to the coffee chain's requirements for food and beverage preparation and customer service." Full story...

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / June 12, 2006 /
 

Let's behead a Conservative



It turns out that at least one of the terror suspects arrested in Toronto over the weekend planned to behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But Harper didn't seem to mind: "I can live with these threats, as long as they're not from my caucus," he told reporters.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / June 7, 2006 /
 

Boob jobs or AIDS treatment?

According to today's papers: "A leading Canadian AIDS researcher and doctor says he is 'morally outraged' that Health Canada has approved more than 21,000 requests for silicone breast implants but continues to deny patients with advanced HIV access to potentially life-saving drugs."

"With all due respect for women who need breast implants, I think that nobody can deny that emergency access to anti-retroviral therapy for people with advanced disease may be a bit of a priority over and above the accessing of these silicone implants," Dr. Julio Montaner said.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / HIV / June 6, 2006 /
 

Loonie might equal greenback

If you've travelled between the U.S. and Canada recently, you've noticed the declining value of the U.S. dollar. The loonie, which a few years ago was only worth about 65 cents, today is worth more than 90 cents and may reach parity with the U.S. dollar in the next few weeks, economists predict. It's great for Canadian visitors to the U.S., but certainly not for U.S. visitors to Canada, whose dirt cheap vacations are slowly becoming much more expensive. Oh, and the Canadian economy will slow as Canadian exports become not so cheap.

Posted by Sebastian / June 2, 2006 /
 

The polar bear hunt

I took a shot of this fun sign on a trash can on Yonge Street in Toronto yesterday, and never thought it would be useful for anything other than as something cute to look at. But this weekend in the New York Times, Canada correspondent Clifford Krauss ventured to Resolute, Nunavut, to take a look at the practice of killing polar bears in sport hunting, so it's tres appropriate.

Polar bear hunting is the sort of adventure vacation that attracts wealthy Americans, like the McDonald's franchisee from Mississippi who was profiled in the piece. About 500 polar bears are killed each year as part of the hunt. The Center for Biological Diversity is pushing for polar bears to be designated as an endangered species so that the hunt can end and so the U.S. will be forced to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which harm the ozone layer and destroy polar bear habitat.

But locals certainly aren't on board with the idea: "The environmentalists can say no more hunting of polar bears, but we'll keep killing them," said David Kalluk, 65, a Resolute village elder. "That's the way it has been for generations and generations."

Posted by Sebastian / May 29, 2006 /
 

Canada won't legalize pot

It's estimated that one marijuana growing operation exists on each block in Vancouver, and that abundance of supply has encouraged many to push for legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. But Stephen Harper, the new prime minister, said this week he will scrap legislation that was proposed by his predecessor that would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot. The pot trade is believed to be an $8.5 billion USD a year industry in Canada.

Posted by Sebastian / April 5, 2006 /

Canadian captor's homosexuality kept hushed

There has been a flurry of media reports about the sexuality of James Loney, the Canadian who was held captive in Iraq for the past three months. Since he was abducted, no mention has been made about him being a gay man -- good policy that may have saved his life.

He was freed and returned home to Toronto this week where the director of Christian Peacekeepers, the group he was working with in Iraq, made the following statement:

"It's a sad fact that around the world gays and lesbians are more vulnerable to attack than straights."

"When Jim was already in a vulnerable position we didn't, nor his family, want him to be exposed to further danger," he said.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / March 28, 2006 /

The seal hunt is on!

Canada's annual seal hunt is on, and this year's federal quota allows the killing of 325,000 seals on the ice floes of Atlantic Canada.

This reminds me of an old joke: A baby seal walks into a bar and the bartender asks, "What'll you have?," to which the seal replies, "Anything but a Canadian Club......"

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / March 16, 2006 /
 

Delete the prime minister

I'm sure a lot of people would like Canada's new prime minister, Stephen Harper, to disappear. But no one has taken it so far as the editorial web site Rabble.



"Depressed about the Conservative victory in the election? Wishing you could think of a way to get rid of Stephen Harper before he does too much damage? Now you can."

"Stephen Harper's face will be on the front page of rabble for the next month unless you take action. Our new fundraising campaign will give you a chance to make his face disappear. Buy a pixel ad for as little as $10 and a piece of Harper will disappear. In his place will be a graphic and a link to a progressive website of your choice that is working hard to get rid of him in the political world. Of course, the more money you spend, the more of Stephen Harper you can make disappear: Covering up his eyes and his mouth will cost more than disappearing his shoulders."

Pixels can be bought here.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / March 15, 2006 /
 

Private medical care surges in Canada
 
The New York Times yesterday had an excellent look at health care in Canada, the only industrialized nation where private health insurance is outlawed - but a nation where an average of one private medical clinic opens each week.

Canada's "publicly financed health insurance system -- frequently described as the third rail of its political system and a core value of its national identity -- is gradually breaking down," the Times reports. "Private clinics are opening around the country by an estimated one a week, and private insurance companies are about to find a gold mine."

Dr. Brian Day, the head of a prominent Vancouver clinic that does a brisk private business despite the law told the Times, "We've taken the position that the law is illegal...This is a country in which dogs can get a hip replacement in under a week and in which humans can wait two to three years."

And now for the zinger: "In a free and democratic society where you can spend money on gambling and alcohol and tobacco," Dr. Day said, "the state has no business preventing you and me from spending our own money on health care."

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / February 26, 2006 /
 

It will be OK! We can have another election in six months!
 
I have received a few emails from people wondering why I haven't mentioned much about Monday's Canadian election. I had to take 36 hours to recover from the news that Stephen Harper will be the next prime minister (well, admittedly, I was having a busy day and just couldn't get to it).

A few basic facts about the election for the confused masses: the Conservative Party won the largest number of seats in the House of Commons (124 vs. 103 for the Liberals), but they did not win a majority of the seats. Because they will be a minority government, any legislation they would like to pass would require an alliance with another party. But there are no natural alliances among the opposition parties: the Liberals, the New Democrats, and the Bloc Quebecois.

My prediction is that the Conservative-led government elected on Monday will collapse in six months, the earliest date that another election can be called.

Earlier this week, Paul Martin said of Stephen Harper and his Conservatives: "Never have we seen a major political party with such a conservative agenda as this one, an agenda really drawn from the extreme right in the United States." A letter-writer in the Toronto Star seemed to agree:"I now can fully empathize with Americans who did not vote for Bush. I am truly mortified that Stephen Harper will be our prime minister."

Certainly one of the most interesting angles on this election is the ascent of Western Canada politically. There have been few prime ministers from outside Quebec or Ontario (Paul Martin represents Montreal, and Stephen Harper represents Calgary, although both men were raised in Ontario), and the West has long felt alienated from more populous Quebec and Ontario. It's not hard to see that the isolation of the West, both geographically and psychologically, has been politically punishing.

In what is sure to become a famous declaration, Stephen Harper said Monday night, "The West has wanted in, the West is in now."

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / Election / January 25, 2006 /
 

Ambassador to U.S. quits
 
From the moment Prime Minister Paul Martin announced his plans yesterday to resign as Liberal Party leader, the wires were filled with speculation about who would replace him. Rumours swirled about all the usual suspects, but the day came and went without a peep from Frank McKenna, the Ambassador to the U.S., who has long been seen as the most likely replacement.

McKenna really had us believing that he was going to stay put in Washington if only Stephen Harper would keep him there into the new administration. But we were fooled! Today the good ambassador resigned without citing any specific reason, further fueling speculation that he is going to run for leadership of the Liberal Party.

The implication of his resignation: George Bush needn't worry about having his government called 'dysfunctional' anymore. Well, at least not until Frank McKenna tries to become prime minster in six months.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / Election / January 25, 2006 /
 

The Sex Party of Canada
 
Yes there is an officially registered Sex Party in Canada with candidates and a real, if tawdry, political agenda. They "seek to build sex-positive community and to challenge sex-negativity," but their materials aren't getting through the mail since Canada Post has blocked their flyers for being too sexy. 

Posted by Sebastian / January 17, 2006 /
 


Canadian government study recommends polygamy law be dropped

A study commissioned by Canada's Justice Department says the country should drop its ban on polygamy: "Criminalization does not address the harms associated with valid foreign polygamous marriages and plural unions, in particular the harms to women,'' it says.

Posted by Sebastian / January 13, 2006 /
 


2005 Hall of Fame and and Shame and Embarrassment
 
None of these people really qualify for a Hall of Shame. It's more like a Hall of Embarrassment, or Hall of Painful Obviousness, instead. In no particular order:



Christy Clark, for living in the 'burbs while running for mayor of Vancouver and thinking she could get away with it. Called an opportunist, public backlash of her residency skirting ensued and so when she eventually she bought a place in the city, no one really believed her spokesman when he said, "she wanted to move into Vancouver no matter what." In the end, it didn't matter, because she lost.

Beverly Desjarlais, a member of parliament from northern Manitoba, was repaid by her Liberal Party constituents for her stance against same-sex marriage when they did not renominate her for the January 23 federal election. She has been forced to run as an independent.

Michael Ignatieff, for trying to run for federal office in Canada while living in Boston, repeatedly claiming he was a resident of Toronto, all the while telling the Harvard Crimson that if he loses the race, he wants to be back in Boston. And of course, I add him to this year's Hall of Embarrassment for misspelling "Ottawa" in numerous places in his online curriculum vitae. The egregious error has since been corrected.

Ralph Klein, the chain-smoking premier of Alberta and former mayor of Calgary, for so relentlessly battling the encroachment of same-sex marriage into Texas North. Still, I give him credit for throwing his hands up in the air in June and declaring, "There are no legal weapons. There's nothing left in the arsenal...We're out on a lurch."

Brian Mulroney, former prime minister of Canada, for being so uncouth when talking to the man who eventually wrote his biography. If you didn't hate him when he ran the country, you do know. One columnist called the book a "tale of anger, betrayal and braggadocio so loud and lewd that 'unguarded' and 'confession' are an understatement."

In some cases, my Hall of Fame might be better termed the Hall of People Pissing Others Off and Not Really Giving a Damn:



Gerald Tremblay, the dorky and sometimes flamboyant mayor of Montreal, for breaking royal protocol and giving Princess Margriet of the Netherlands a peck on the cheek when she visited the city in May. "I don't know if she was amused, but I can tell you Her Highness was not upset," her handlers told the press.

Scott Brison, the openly gay Cabinet minister from Nova Scotia, not for being an openly gay politician, but for so willingly admitting to the press that he is engaged to his boyfriend of only SIX MONTHS. But never mind. Scott, we still love you, and we look forward to invitation to the wedding, and the divorce proceedings.

Frank McKenna, Canada's ambassador to the U.S. and former premier of New Brunswick, for telling the press mere days into his appointment that "the United States is a wonderful creation." However, "the government of the United States is in large measure dysfunctional." So much for being diplomatic.

Peter Jennings, for helping import dozens of Canadian journalists to the U.S. all the while infuriating those who believe Canadian reporters shouldn't be delivering news about America to Americans. An ABC colleague told me, "In a television world that too often focuses on celebrity and tabloid tales and seems to prize the anchorman who yells the loudest, Peter refused to play along. He fought aggressively to keep international news on his newscast. He believed Americans needed to know what is going on in the world beyond their borders."

Andre Boisclair, the openly gay and formerly drug-using leader of the Parti Quebecois, for giving me something to write about that appeals to American gay men otherwise uninterested in anything related to Canadian politics. A friend or two of his also deserve credit for feeding me gossip about him -- which, I might add, I have not posted on the Internet.

Posted by Sebastian / January 1, 2006 /
 

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