Rose's Cantina

For those of you who have already hit The Globe and Mail paywall -- and it's only six days into the month -- I am happy to provide you with an analysis of the print edition this weekend First, Julian Fantino is an insensitive, uninformed twat. The International Cooperation Minister apparently stunned the Haiti higher-ups during an interview with La Presse  after he announced he was going to freeze new aid projects earmarked for the embattled little nation. It was also news to his own department apparently. The former top cop says he is tired of the "slow progress" being made in Haiti. How long does it take to rebuild a country shattered by a major Earthquake? It's been two years! "Are we going to take care of their problems forever?" asked Mr. Sensitivity. On to the next item. The hunger strike by Theresa Spence. In its lead editorial, The Globe and Mail suggests that the Chief, who has been striking for weeks to get a face-to-face with Emperor H...

I woke up on this crisp Christmas morning thinking about Chief Theresa Spencer and her hunger strike. She's not looking for the new Wii or PS3 under a fake Christmas tree. All she wants on this day is a meeting with Stephen Harper to discuss the plight of Canada's indigenous people. Not too much to ask, I say. This kind of real dialogue should have happened a long time ago. But our Prime Minister won't meet with her to talk. He's probably saying in that George Bush way he has that he doesn't negotiate with terrorists...or mothers on a hunger strike. Really what he's thinking about is Canada's dirty little secret, the metaphorical abused child locked in the basement of our posh custom made house. To open that door would expose our country to the world and leave us open to charges of neglect and abuse, passive aggressiveness in times when action is needed. This morning on reserves and in cities across Canada, men, women and children will be freez...