Month: April 2009

Justin Trudeau on Michael Ignatieff

“…je pense qu’une des grandes différences entre Ignatieff et mon père et là, je vais sûrement me mettre un peu dans le trouble, c’est au niveau de la force de son jugement.

I think that one of the big differences between Ignatieff and my father, I’ll be surely getting myself in a bit of trouble here, it’s a level of the force of his judgment.
…

Avec Ignatieff, il est un peu partout des fois. Il dit ceci, il dit cela, il se contredit. Il n’a pas la clarté que mon père a pu avoir

With Ignatieff, he’s a bit all over at times. He says this, he says that, he contradicts himself. He doesn’t have the clarity that my father could have.

…

Il a peut-être l’intelligence, mais il n’a peut-être pas la sagesse nécessaire.

He maybe has the intelligence, but he does not have, maybe, the necessary wisdom.

h/t: lesbleus

Ignatieff was once arrested…

…for trying to overthrow the government and install a dictatorship?

That’s the rumour according to the New York Times. And that’s a little bit of a fun history for you this Thursday afternoon. Who knew that about 100 years later, another Ignatieff would be wrapped up in crafty political games?

Here’s the story from the December 14th 1905 edition of the New York Times.

Planned to Dispose Czar?
Rumor in St. Petersburg that Ignatieff has been arrested

LONDON, Thursday December 14 — The correspondent of the Times in St. Petersburg says a wild story is in circulation there that Gen. Count Alexis Ignatieff has been arrested by order of the Emperor for plotting to establish a dictatorship.

Inquiry at Count Ignatieff’s house, the correspondent says, failed to elicit either confirmation or denial of the story.

Of course, that’s Count Alexis Ignatieff that’s referenced in the New York Times piece.

Things do change and thankfully we favour ballots, though today’s Ignatieff now insists he was a reluctant party to the coalition takeover plan of the government in an attempt to circumvent the ballot box and overturn the result that came from the election just six weeks earlier.

Oh, that and the Times might be selling for a penny again sometime soon.

Seen on the Hill: Jack Layton addresses the Tamil rally

From the Ottawa Citizen:

The red Tamil flag, with its tiger head and crossed rifles, had been a source of controversy during the protest, which is now in its third week. The protesters decided to leave the flags at home on Tuesday in a bid to have Canadian MPs hear their message.

Federal politicians have so far kept their distance from the protesters, nervous about the optics of being associated with protesters waving a flag identified with terrorism.

“The majority of people have made a collective decision to hold their flags in their hearts and minds, and not display them publicly,” Sentha Nada, a demonstrator from Toronto, said of Tuesday’s demonstration on the Hill.

Here’s some more background