Friday, December 17, 2004

War? What war?

In Thursday's front-page Globe story Klein turns up the heat in same-sex controversy Edmonton reporter Katherine Harding announces in her lead sentence that we are in the middle of a "national battle against same-sex marriage".
Really? Where?
I've seen this type of language frequently in the recent Globe stories on gay marriage -- apparently there is some sort of "national battle" going on about this "controversial issue". But where are the barricades? Who, other than Ralph Klein and his unnamed Alberta caucus, is manning them?
Note that the other people Harding quotes in the story are either dithering (two nonentity federal cabinet ministers) or critical of Klein (Peter MacKay). Pollster John Wright from Ipsos-Reid is quoted as saying that it is unlikely Klein's lobbying effort will change many minds on same-sex marriage. "There is a mood in the air for accepting equality rights."
So what is the Globe and Mail thinking by ginning up a controversy meme?
Maybe from Katherine Harding's perspective hanging around the Alberta legislature, there is some sort of national battle going on here. And she seems to think Klein is a "political heavyweight" nationally - she had described him this way in other stories.
And maybe the Globe editors know so little about any province other than Ontario that they actually think Klein has some credibility elsewhere in the west.
Here's a news flash, boys -- he doesn't. BC. Saskatchewan, and Manitoba think he is a buffoon, just like Ontario and Quebec and Eastern Canada do. Western Canadians all know that Ralph Klein has never lifted a finger to provide political, economic or social leadership in Western Canada, and he has never cared a whit about how Alberta's actions may have affected any other province. On the national stage, he opens his mouth only to change feet.
So nobody in the West gives a damn what Ralph Klein thinks about anything.

No comments: