timeimmortal

So the leader of the federal NDP, Jack Layton, was recently on the John Gormley show, talking about the Alberta oilsands.

His claim?  That no reclamation has ever been done up near Fort McMurray.

He confidently trotted out increased water pollution, more cases of human cancer and poisoned fish — all the result of the oil sands projects near Ft. McMurray.

Suspicious of this — I’ve seen data that says Jack is dead wrong on this — I asked him about reclamation, where the mined soils are returned to a natural state. He, again confidently expounded that “reclamation has never taken place at the oilsands”.

Oops.

Sorry, Jack…you’ve been caught in a lie.

The Order of Canada has been hijacked by the left, in his view.

Jason Kenney, Canada’s Secretary of State for multiculturalism, says the Order of Canada has been “hijacked by a particular political faction that is not even making an effort to be neutral.”

Kenney is one of several MPs, Conservative and Liberal, who have denounced the appointment of abortionist Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada.

“If any good can come of this, it’s that Canadians will demand that the Order belongs to them and not to a small elite that simply reconfirms its own prejudices,” he said.

Kenney, however, does not see this award as politically partisan, noting that some Liberal MPs have also denounced the award. Manitoba NDP Premier Gary Doer has also come out against it. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and NDP Leader Jack Layton, however, both praised it.

Prime Minister has publicly distanced himself and his government from the process.

Personally, I think the Conservatives were a bit soft in their reponse to this appointment…but at the same time, what could they do? They don’t control the selection process, after all.

Update: Welcome, Steynians!

According to Ban Ki-moon, Jack Layton is one of many who seem only too eager to repeat the mistakes of history by abandoning Afghanistan.

And what would they be abandoning? Apparently a nation on its way to turning things around.

The Afghan National Army is enjoying battlefield successes. Thanks to Afghan farmers, Afghanistan is achieving self-sufficiency in agriculture. There is safe water for many, and a widespread immunization program. There are more women in the Afghan parliament than in Canada (28% in Afghanistan versus 21% in Canada).

But none of this matters. That all these successes would be undone the moment the Taliban were to regain power does not matter. That soldiers and civilians from Canada and from around the world have sacrificed so much to push the Taliban back and show the Afghan people just what life could be like does not matter.

That 9/11 could happen all over again does not matter.

The Taliban will win. The Taliban must win. According to Jack Layton, it is a historical inevitability, and no effort mustered by Canadian soldiers and no sacrifice borne by their families can change what must be.

There is a pretty distinct line between legitimate criticism of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan and openly advocating for Canada’s enemies to defeat our troops in the field. Jack Layton (and presumably the rest of his party) is way over the line, on the latter of the two sides of it listed above.