First, this is in no way meant to belittle the tragedy that Japan has experienced today. My thoughts are with the victims and those labouring to make Japan safe again.

The disaster served, however, to illustrate how woefully unprepared is Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon for his job. Interviewed on CTV Newsnet this afternoon, Cannon reported that the New Zealand prime minister, like our PM, had already offered assistance. Perhaps attempting to explain why the NZ offer came before Canada’s, notwithstanding that NZ is recovering from its own devastating earthquake last month, Cannon stated that, of course, “New Zealand is much closer” to rush aid to Japan.

Fact: flying distance from Vancouver to Tokyo – 4703 miles; Wellington to Tokyo – 4820 miles.

Seems Conservative geography hasn’t improved since Stockwell Day claimed the Niagara River flows south. No surprise both were chosen by a prime minister who had never set foot outside the country, until doing so as head of government, to represent Canada abroad.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney believes he has made everything right by accepting the resignation of a staffer who, inadvertently or not, send an appeal for donations to the Conservative Party on Government of Canada letterhead. Kenney, like so many of his colleagues and the prime minister, tries to change the issue by talking about a few dollars worth of paper and speculating that Canadians don’t want ministers resigning over a minor error by a staffer. We will never know if it was an error or intentional, with Nixonian plausible-deniability.

Of course that is not the issue. The issue was the content of the letter, an attempt to frighten immigrant and minority Canadians into giving money to the Conservative Party. Using his official government stationery, the minister responsible for the policies and programs recent immigrants and minorities deem critical to their quality of life in Canada, sent a message implying they have much to lose if the Conservative Party doesn’t have a fat bank account going into a possible election. He was insinuating only conservatives are on the side of immigrants and minorities who would ignore the appeal for funds at their peril. Send $200,000 now, or face the consequences, was the message.

That is the shameful, coercive act for which Kenney should resign. Of course with the amoral Harper and Baird on his side, we will get only bluster and obfuscation.

This is not about TTC operators using their phones and mp3 players while driving their vehicles. It’s probably not even about any part of the unionized workforce. It’s a peeve about mispronunciation.

Since the TTC automated subway-station announcements (only after repeated legal cases forced it to do so) it has irritated me that the Summerhill Station is announced distinctly as Summer Hill. Maybe it takes someone from “the 905″ to know the difference between Thornhill and Richmond Hill and how they are spoken. Apparently the lady who made the recordings and the manager who approved them doesn’t.

That peeve was rendered insignificant yesterday when I heard transit control inform riders “the delay we were experiencing on the Yonge/University/Spadeena Line…” It didn’t sound like a computer synthesized voice and we know the TTC is eons away from automating this type of communication. Did the announcer think he was being funny? If so, i didn’t laugh.

Send in the troops: UN must intervene in Libya, says ex-PM Paul Martin

Former prime minister Paul Martin is calling for United Nations intervention in Libya, and acknowledging that the West’s rapprochement with dictator Moammar Gadhafi has failed. Martin said the situation in the North African country demands implementation of the UN-sanctioned principle of “responsibility to protect.”

The principle compels states to protect citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. If they don’t, it allows the UN Security Council to authorize everything from sanctions to armed force.

“This is not the time for countries to think of their own national interests,” Martin said Wednesday. “They have really got to think now of the people of Libya.”

link: Send in the troops: UN must intervene in Libya, says ex-PM Paul Martin | iPolitics

Elections Canada has laid charges against the federal Conservative party and four of its senior officials in connection with allegations the party went over its spending limit in the 2006 election.

link: Tories charged over election spending

Just another example of the Harper government believing the laws of Canada do not apply when they conflict with the great leader’s objective.

While Obree has only now made it public, he said he had come out to his family (he is now divorced from his wife) shortly after discussing the truth about his sexuality with a psychologist in 2005. He admitted that the revelation had been a particular shock for his parents, though the truth has had a positive impact upon his relationship with them. “

It was difficult and there were lots of tears. It wasn’t easy. But the relationship with my parents has been improved by it,” he said. “We talked about it and discussed things and we’re a lot happier.”

In 2001, it was revealed that Obree had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. He told the Scottish Sun that his sexuality had also been a factor in attempts to take his own life.

link: Graeme Obree Reveals He Is Gay – BikeRadar

Two-time world-champion Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree came-out in January. How a life in the closet affected his family relationships and his mental health is a poignant tale. That things got better when he could be himself should serve as inspiration to other gay athletes.

Link: Leaked by a senior conservative adviser who wishes to remain anonymous

The ignominy of being caught with a cancer stick dangling from her lip had to be a cruel cut for someone already accused of forging a government document, lying to a House of Commons committee, being in contempt of Parliament, etc. etc. My inclination is to think Bev Oda would like to resign from Cabinet and escape the media spotlight which has been trained on her. I’m certain the prime minister is blocking her from doing so as he desperately attempts to drag this scandal out until Friday when the House of Commons will adjourn for its mid-February constituency-week break. The Dear Leader would probably prefer to prorogue Parliament and bury the issue as he did with the Afghanistan inquiry, but that might be a bit much even for this PM.

Much as the PM wants to change the subject of discussion he cannot avoid the fact that Oda has admitted to misleading MPs by lying about a recommendation from the Canadian International Development Agency and that Oda has admitted to forging an official document. Whether time will permit her to be found in contempt of Parliament is moot. She has disgraced herself, the government and all MPs by her actions. The honourable thing to do, and one she might want to consider if she hopes to be re-elected in Durham is to publicly stand-down, ignoring whether or NOT the PM wants to accept her resignation. Does she think the voters of Durham as so committed to the Conservatives they don’t mind being represented by a fraudster and a liar? Does she think she can survive this locally?

To be clear, the PM is absolutely correct that a minister has the right, within certain legal limits¹ , to accept or reject the advice of government officials and to base that decision on political considerations. What a minister does not have a right to do is to alter official documents in an attempt to make it appear officials and political policy are aligned. It’s misrepresentation; it’s deceit, it’s dishonourable.

It could have been so simple. The government did not want to continue funding Kairos, as recommended by CIDA, because, as Jason Kenney has confirmed the Christian-church sponsored agency has offended Israel. All that Oda needed to do was write “not approved” on the document. That is the way it is done and that would have been the end of it, save for the political dissent that would have faded away quickly.

Instead, as the PM is wont to do, he has turned a small problem into a huge one because he and the PMO can’t tolerate that the public service may not be completely submissive to their right-wing agenda. Now he’s trying to explain-away lying and fraud rather than the merits of a funding decision. It’s not an easy thing to do. Canadians are not that accepting. There is a limit to their tolerance.

Weep for the current state of Canadian telecommunications policy. The Conservative government regularly overrules its independent regulator, the courts overrule the government, and Industry Minister Tony Clement announces major policy decisions via Twitter between discussions of the White Stripes’ breakup and updates on his squash game. Whatever napkin the government used to sketch its current strategy for the sector, one gets the feeling there’s still plenty of white space.

link: From the editors: Canada’s telecom ad–hocracy | After Hours | Think About This | Canadian Business Online

Plenty of air between Tony’s ears, as well.