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April 5, 2004

After a week of absence, comments must be offered about last week's decision by Paul Martin to appoint 3 candidates within the Lower Mainland - a decision, which not surprisingly, flies against so much of the rhetoric that the Prime Minister has offered regarding changing the way that Ottawa operates.

Often when politicians change their stance (translation = lie or back out of previous commitments), they usually employ a convoluted road map when offering an explanation for their transgression.

In the case of Paul Martin, however, it is very clear that hypocrisy is not a symptom that he is afraid of being associated with. 

In the cases of Sheila Copps, or Chretien loyalist Stephen Hogue, Martin refused to get involved with the nomination process, preferring to let the poltiical battles stay local.  When it comes to candidates that he thinks can prop up his electoral fortunes in BC, however, the democratic internal processes of the party are ignored.

Martin's explanation?  "I've also said that there will be circumstances in which I will reserve the right to nominate candidates."  What exactly those circumstances are have yet to be explained however.

By appointing Ujjal Dosanjh, David Emerson and Shirley Chan (3 candidates that have no past affinity to the Liberal Party whatsoever), Mr. Martin has not only shot his own credibility in the foot, but also shown that his candidates do not necessarily stand for any commitment to a fair process nor to a particular belief system in terms of policy or ideology.

For Martin to speak any further about democratic reform from this point forward would be akin to George W. Bush serving as a guest lecturer for English Literature at Oxford University.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Apparently, Paul Martin had an encounter with an Unidentified Flying Object a couple weeks back.

According to reports from the Department of Transport, Martin and his entourage were flying over Alberta on March 21 aboard his Challenger jet when they encountered a mysterious object.

Those on board described what they saw as a "very bright light falling from the sky ... with smoke trailing."

An artist has now taken these accounts from the passengers, and has been able to construct a composite sketch of what the object looked like.

Comments? jonathan@tdhstrategies.com