Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Lonely Tony Clement
Do you feel sympathy for Tony Clement? The Industry Minister has spent this summer under siege for Censusgate while most of his caucus colleagues have been enjoying a quiet summer. The man jumped into a raging river to save a drowning woman, but that story lasted only a day before vanishing from the media commentary. Tony has even admitted that he feels lonely, despite all the attention he has received from Rosemary Barton and Kady O'Malley. Don Newman even called him an overly ambitious blind partisan. John Baird and Stockwell Day made brief appearances defending the census changes, but other than that Tony has been pretty much alone on an island. The Prime Minister is back and able to carry the football again while Tony takes a well deserved vacation. Though his vacations consist of calling in to the Soloman Show to defend the census changes. There is no rest for the weak and weary.
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It's not about voluntary or involuntary, it's about useless and inaccurate data that most civilized countries have abandoned as a means of obtaining statistical data.
ReplyDeleteA well organized tempest in a TeaPot that is being orchestrated by the Toronto Media in the hopes of propping up an incompetent and what appears as, criminal organization, the Liberal Party of Canada.
Met Tony at a West Island Montreal Conservative gathering. Nice guy and a hard worker.
ReplyDeleteI remember when he ran for the leadership of the Party against the embarrassing Belinda Stronach who got all the publicity.
He doesn't deserve being crucified over this ridiculous issue.
I also find the francophone protest against the census quite hilarious, since one of their groups openly asked francophones out West to lie and say they didn't speak English at all.
Mulroney tried to get rid of the long form census in 1986 (?), but because of this same backlash, turned tail and ran.
ReplyDeleteBravo Minister Clement! You have done what Mulroney wouldn't, stand up to a vicious media and glutonous special interest groups.
O that people would quit affixing the stupid and meaningless suffix "gate" to almost every controversial issue. I am sure some people are aware of Watergate. the name of the building where the burglary to the offices of the Democratic Party took place and that led to the scandal known as "Watergate". Why "gate" shall forevermore be used as a suffix is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteMr. Clement is, unfortunately, the fall guy for the census debacle. No policy change is ever initiated unless it is first vetted and approved by the PMO. Cabinet ministers don't just decide to change policy on their own, but they are expected to deliver and support the message if it falls within the scope of their responsibility.
ReplyDeleteSo I don't blame Mr. Clement personally for the cowardly retreat of this government in the face of all the elitist moaning and hand wringing. I place the blame squarely on the backs of the PMO and the Prime Minister for caving in to the statist opposition; an action which the present government seems to be doing on a regular basis. Once again, the supporters of a conservative philosophy are left high and dry by an administration that is being led rather than leading.