Standing by for photo ops

The House may have risen for the summer, but the Senate is still sitting for the next week or two, so I’ll drop by there to see some sober second thought in action. Also this week? The G8 and G20 summits get underway, so let’s all pull up a chair and watch Stephen Harper spend so much money to host two summits that he poisons the well for all future summits.

“He’s going to give summitry a bad name,” Ignatieff warned at his press conference last week. Exactly what I believe he’s trying to do. After all, why get world leaders together and lock them in a room to hash things out face-to-face when you can instead use it as an excuse for a whole bunch of photo ops – many of them only accessible to your personal PMO photographer – and look like you’re a statesman? Because isn’t it better to govern by photo op and press release than actually doing something of substance?

Speaking of Ignatieff, the Liberal leader was deep in enemy territory, visiting the University of Alberta on Saturday. He said that Alberta needs to elect some Liberals, seeing as they’re helping to drive the economy, and the Liberals need Albertans to be part of a national government they hope to form. But if only they could get rid that whole Trudeau zombie reaction that Albertans immediately have when you mention the NEP.

What’s that? The Prime Minister’s own department, the Privy Council Office, has been caught flouting contracting rules? You don’t say!

Incidentally, there have been a number of departures from the PMO, including Darrel Reid. Reid, as you may recall, used to be the head of Focus on the Family Canada. He’s heading for Preston Manning’s conservative training ground, the Manning Centre.

Here’s a look at Laureen Harper, who will be hosting the spouses of all those other world leaders as the G8 and G20 carries on.

James Travers enumerates the ways in which the Conservatives are dragging this country backwards, one broken and subverted election promise at a time.

And Her Excellency spent a day at the Truth and Reconciliation commission, and spoke of the need for this kind of a process for healing and the “refounding of our nation” to happen, and the need to confront this history together.

PS – Thanks to the Toronto Star for publishing my quote about Fox News North SunTV News!