A Yearning For The Hearth

Canada has denied entry to a sitting British MP. That might be unprecedented.

Now if it was going to be anyone, it was going to be George Galloway (although there’s a few chaps in the House of Lords with pretty dodgy stuff in their backgrounds). Galloway’s BFFs with some of the more unsightly folks on this planet.

Nevertheless, is he really the worst clod we’ve let in? He’s not even moving in, he just wants to go and address some like minded people about his objections to the war in Afghanistan. Denying him entry sends all the wrong messages about Canada and where we stand. Why should we bar people from visiting because they express contrary opinion? Now I’m aware that he’s accused of funding terrorists…but when it comes in the form of ambulances delivered to Palestine…does this count? We give money to all sorts of regimes in Africa knowing full well that piles of it are being misused. Now there could be something more that is not public knowledge that the government can’t or won’t say about Galloway and why they’re not letting him in. I hope there is, because Galloway needs to challenged, mocked, belittled, embarrassed and argued with – but not shut out of the country.   

You’ll have to trust me that I have good excuses.

A great deal of water has passed under the bridge in the past few months. The US has a new President, we’re in the midst of a recession and Canada nearly went through and unprecedented Constitutional crisis.

Since the Obama administration has taken office there’s been a change in tone and substance in the White House, or at least press corps room. Obama is starting off with such a great deposit of goodwill at home and abroad that whatever his success and failures early on, it will be difficult to get to anything through the blurry-eyed, rosy coverage supplied by international media. It’s a stark contrast: imagine if Bush had gone on Leno and made a Special Olympics crack?

More to follow…