http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/Matthews_Geoff/2006/10/21/2087012.html
Dog House antics all too Commons
By GEOFF MATTHEWS
Oh good heavens. I'm getting a migraine.
Here I sit, reading the latest chapter in the riveting story about what Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay may (or may not) have said in the House of Commons.
From the howling reaction, you'd think the minister had demanded public beheadings for jaywalkers or at the very least, the reversal of the code of human rights.
Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale said MacKay's remarks were all too typical of "bullies, intolerant and vindictive," while the Bloc urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to kick MacKay out of cabinet.
And what, exactly, did the mild-mannered Nova Scotian do to bring such vituperative attacks on himself? Well, he may (or may not) have referred to his one-time girlfriend Belinda Stronach as a dog.
According to a barely-audible exchange caught on audiotape, someone in the Commons asked "what about your dog?" and someone else on the floor responded: "You have her."
Speculation was that the questioner was asking MacKay about the well-publicized picture of himself at home in Pictou County with the family pet in the days after Stronach jilted both him and the Tories to win herself an immediate promotion to cabinet as a born-again Liberal.
And according to those who would make mountains out of molehills, MacKay, in response to the question, nodded toward Stronach's seat and issued the "you have her" response to the dog question.
On the Richter scale of insults that regularly fly in the Commons, his smart-aleck remark should have registered about 0.5.
Oh no. Not when there's political mileage to be made. Suddenly MacKay's remark was elevated from tacky putdown to sexism that should not be tolerated in a civilized society.
Stronach, who wasn't even in the House at the time, said she was "really disappointed that Peter MacKay would say something like that ... It is really a reflection of the character and of the attitude of this government toward women."
NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis called the alleged remark "sexist and demeaning," adding: "I thought we were at a place in this House where women were no longer demeaned."
Such is the state of our political system. Is it any wonder the average Canadian is sick to death of the foolishness in Parliament?
"Teacher, teacher, he stuck out his tongue at me."
"Did not."
"Did too."
What is this? Kindergarten? Or a bunch of highly-paid men and women we elect, supposedly to have serious discussions about the affairs of the day?
The rest of us are wondering how we can find a family doctor. We're trying to scrape together enough to pay our taxes and enrol our kids in hockey and soccer and dance lessons.
We're wondering whether world war is about to break out and we're praying our brave soldiers will return home safely. We're sick to death about famines and disease outbreaks in far-off lands and the threat of terror attacks here at home.
And our fat-ass politicians have nothing better to worry about than whether one of them made a cheapshot joke about another.
Liberal MP Tina Keeper was right about one thing. Such behaviour wouldn't be tolerated on a schoolyard. But it wasn't MacKay's alleged remark that should have been the target of her attack. It should have been the childish, ridiculous, overblown reaction from members of Parliament who have to know better.
To all of them I say: Sit. Quiet. Don't speak. Bad dog.
How in the world did insulting someone of the opposite sex become sexist?
I, personally, think it was the 'barb of the year' and worthy of a "22 minutes" skit.
