Now, Canadian politics has always struck me as a little dull. There's the slightly terrifying Stephen Harper, of course, the last man to jump on the neo-con bandwagon just before it plowed into a ditch. And Stephane Dion, a man who makes Gordon Brown look like one of the world's most decisive politicians. Oh, and Dion's deputy, Michael Ignatieff, a weird cross between Daniel Day Lewis and Lloyd Grossman.
But today, Canadian politics came close to being exciting. Or at least funny. First up, Gen. Rick Hillier, head of the Canadian armed services, announced his retirement, claiming to have accomplished all the goals he set himself three years ago. You've got to think he set the bar a bit on the low side, given that Canada is up to its waist in the quagmire that is Afghanistan. Hillier, however, leaves a catalogue of exceptional quotes (see side panel). He got in terrible trouble for describing Bin Laden and is chums as 'detestable murderers and scumbags'. I'm not quite sure what the problem was, seems fairly accurate, but liberals thought it might cause problems in the Islamic community. Well, tough shit, frankly. However this description of the military is my personal favourite: 'We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people'. Which is just a little bit Borg, isn't it?
Anyway, after that - and I can assure you that was what passes for a major political story over here - we got this. Yes, the RCMP raided the ruling party's headquarters in an election fraud investigation. This was a proper political story. But let's not get distracted. The RCMP are The Mounties and The Mounties are, inherently, funny. And, by the look of the picture above, just a tiny bit gay?
So, a day of great excitement, then. And it was sunny.
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