This writer has sometimes been accused of wandering off topic. Let us make it clear from the beginning that this series of comments is a mixed bag. It just seems to be a topic de jour.
We can start with the interesting observation that Justin Trudeau has certainly done a service for feminism when we find that four of our country’s major allies are sending women to represent them in Canada. They include the new high commissioner from the United Kingdom and the ambassadors from France, Germany and the United States of America.
But maybe the new American ambassador does not count as Kelly Knight Craft is a stand-in for her husband, Joe Craft—a billionaire Kentucky coal magnate who joined his wife in contributing millions to the Republican cause. Trump has already signed the executive order re-opening Craft’s Appalachian coal operations and he is too busy making more millions—and destroying the environment—to enjoy the Ottawa hors d’oeuvres circuit himself.
In a related vein, I note the ongoing arguments about the Muslim dress code which in some Bedouin tribes includes face covering—a very handy item in sand storms. In the ‘Letters’ section of the Toronto Star there was a stock photo copyrighted by the Canadian Press over the more rabid letters. The photo showed a woman wearing a plaid(?) head covering and over part of her face. What was puzzling about the picture and made a farce of the entire discussion was that the woman had heavy eye make-up and plucked eyebrows. This was no Bedouin.
And any devout Muslim, who did not want to attract undue attention—as advised by the Prophet—would not wear such garb in Canada. And if the extremely devout who wish to wear the burka (with just the left eye visible) goes out on Canadian streets, they will need to be accompanied by someone to make sure the person with vision impaired does not get hit by an automobile.
On a completely unrelated vein, there was a television clip last week of the federal finance minister being hectored by reporters. (Not that such pestering is new!) You could see his exasperation when a reporter repeatedly tried to get him to explain the purpose of numbered companies. Rather than taking half a minute to answer the reporter, Morneau got huffy. Morneau does not have a political bone in his body. Trudeau needs to dump him.
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Copyright 2017 © Peter Lowry
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