What's the dealio on all the outrage following Stephen Harper's remark that "virtually all" the 8 candidates running for the Liberal leadership race are anti-Israel? Oh, right, this is Canada. Canadians love to wax indignant especially when provoked by a Conservative Prime Minister commenting on the leadership choices running for the "natural governing party." Harper's comment came at an awfully convenient time for Michael Ignatieff supporters just as their leader was spastically flipping all over the place over the issue of Israel's attack on the Lebanese town of Qana this past Summer. He's gone from suggesting he lost no sleep over civilian deaths caused by the war in Qana, to suggesting Israel committed war crimes when it attacked the Lebanese town. Harper's comments came at an opportune time for Liberals to loudly wail in protest in order to drown out a major gaffe committed by their Harvard Messiah. It's a nice tactic of distraction, commonly used by 6 year olds.

While it would've been wise for Harper to keep quiet and allow the leadership contenders to pummel Ignatieff by themselves, it shouldn't be lost on observers how serious Ignatieff's flip flop puts to question his decisiveness on international issues.

Perhaps it was tactical for Harper to point out his own resolute stance on the recent mideast conflict which did not waver one bit, but in fact challenged the fence-sitting or non existant traditional stance Canada had played in that region of the world, primarily under Liberal governments. That fact is we saw examples of bias by the Liberal party against the state of Israel this summer. Let's not forget the "fact finding mission" Opposition MP's took to Lebanon this August. As well, calls to remove Hezbollah from the terrorist list.

Harper's not accusing Liberals of being anti-semetic, he's accusing them of being anti-Israel. Maybe it was a stretch for Harper to blanket the entire slate of Liberal contenders as anti-Israel, when in fact backbench elements in the Liberal caucus better fit the bill. It may not exactly be fitting for a Prime Minister to make such a statement, but to those who see Ignatieff's bold statement claiming "war crimes" as refreshing, the same can be said of Harper who isn't afraid of saying what's on his mind as well.

The stereotype of an environmental activist is the vegetarian, sandal wearing, multiple pierced liberal with no tolerance for a conservative government, and especially any type of environmental policy formulated by a conservative. It doesn't matter how environmental a right leaning government could possibly be, it's assumed by environmental groups that conservatives are more interested in the green of money than the green of nature. This, despite the fact that leading environmentalists crowned Brian Mulroney, a (Progressive) conservative, the greenest Prime Minister in Canadian history for his efforts to reduce acid rain, and his establishment of the South Moresby national park. Here is a case where the results of environmental plans are graded for their effectiveness. So while many would conclude Jean Chretien and Paul Martin as green Prime Ministers for advancing Canada's willingnesss to embrace the Kyoto protocol, they fail the grade for a hollow promise whereby meeting targets to reduce greenhouse gases became quite clearly, an impossible undertaking.

Then, on the eve after drawing this cartoon I watched a great program on PBS hosted by Bill Moyers which investigated conservative attitudes towards the environment through evangelical Christians. It challenged the old notions that to be environmental, you have to be liberal. Here's how the program is described:

A new holy war is growing within the conservative evangelical community, with implications for both the global environment and American politics. For years liberal Christians and others have made protection of the environment a moral commitment. Now a number of conservative evangelicals are joining the fight, arguing that man's stewardship of the planet is a biblical imperative and calling for action to stop global warming.

But they are being met head-on by opposition from their traditional evangelical brethren who adamantly support the Bush administration in downplaying the threat of global warming and other environmental perils. The political stakes are high: Three out of every four white evangelical voters chose George W. Bush in 2004. "Is God Green?" explores how a serious split among conservative evangelicals over the environment and global warming could reshape American politics. For more on this documentary...

My apologies for not posting my lastest cartoon sooner. The above cartoon ran in the Saturday edition of the Hamilton Spectator. It marks the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday by depicting the current crop of local politicians who are vying for council as a bunch of gourds. I've kept a cartoon of North Korea's Kim Jong-Il posted since it is far more topical than a municipal election campaign. What makes elections interesting is the possibilty of upsets, and the entertainment aspect of watching politicans get dumped from their positions. This upcoming election in Hamilton will probably see the return of the same old councillors, several of them now career councillors, reposition themselves to carry on clinging from their perches while they oversee a rusting industrial city continue into decline.

Ironically, the future of Kim Jong-Il's dictatorship is less certain at this point than the political futures of a number of Hamilton city councillors. If we're lucky, 30% of eligible voters in Hamilton will cast a ballot next month to determine who'll make up the next council. Predictably, councillors more adept at campaigning than decision making will reappear with barely a scratch from their opponents.

What's even more lousy about this election is the possible return of ex-councillors running for the few vacant seats up for grabs. Even in the Mayoral race, the current incumbant's biggest challenge comes from an ex-councillor who lost in a previous Mayoral race and in a subsequent federal election. Gee, now there's a guy we sure can rally around to get this city moving again.

I've observed quite a few municipal elections in the past few years but nothing comes as uninspired and as dull as this one. What's so unfortunate is that more than ever before, municipal politicans have become responsible for so much that influences our daily lives, from taxes to where we meet stop signs on our streets yet nobody around me seems to have much hope or energy to demand more from who's put in charge. 

Above is a tally of delegate votes for each candidate vying for the Liberal leadership alongside a comparison of candidate names googled with various words. The numbers show Ignatieff leads alongside the googled word 'egghead', 'baggage', 'boring', and 'muffin'. Bob Rae wins next to 'Trudeau', and Joe Volpe comes on top next to the googled word 'questionable'. More googled comparisons will follow in the weeks to come.