Max, Get's My Respect!

You have to love a guy who speaks his mind and takes it from all sides. I agree with Maxime, and I have to respect his clear stand on a very controversial subject. Bill 101 is not about Quebec's need to preserve French, it's about Quebec being insecure, and arrogant.

The Prime Minister’s biggest quandary is that he can hardly discipline his charismatic MP from the Beauce for expressing opinions he used to (and probably still does) hold — namely the state should not coerce people into making decisions that concern their personal lives.

Before he united the right in 2003, Mr. Harper could often be heard spouting off about bilingualism (“the god that failed”) and Bill 101.

Hello, get the state out of our lives. Ivison makes it sound wrong to want less government control of our lives. He makes snarky references about PM Harper "spouting off" and the catty little ("the god that failed") remark shows a serious lack of deep thinking by a journalist, but why am I surprised?

Maxime has the right to have an opinion just like any other MP or individual. You can agree with his opinion or not, but he has as much right to "spout off" as Ivison does. Check out the comments, Ivison is not doing very well.

I think Max is a breath of fresh air. He has some good ideas, and it is nice to see an MP from Quebec care more about Canada then just his province. So much for PM Harper muzzling his MP's. I wonder why Ivison didn't mention that? Oh, right that wouldn't fit with the media's agenda. Cry about PM Harper being a bully and keeping a tight rein on his MP's, then when a Conservative MP does speak up, slamming him as a renegade and a "problem" for PM Harper. Can't have it both ways MSM, or you just look like idiots....oh wait.

The Death Of Canada-Mexico Trade Because Of One Unnamed Source!

You might think so after you read Ivison and his "unnamed source". Since wafergate, I'm questioning reporters sources more often. So many stories that have these "unnamed sources" are made to sound authentic, because they are "official" or "high ranking", we have no clue if it is a "high ranking" taxi driver from Mexico that is being quoted in this opinion piece.

John Ivison: Visa bungle tests Canada, Mexico friendship
Posted: August 06, 2009, 7:04 PM by Ron Nurwisah

...Mr. Calderon is understood to be deeply unhappy at the Canadian government’s decision to demand that Mexican nationals travelling to Canada now require visas — a move aimed at stopping the growing number of fraudulent refugee claims by Mexicans.

Mr. Calderon is understood to be....by who?? Ivison! Not even an "anonymous" source is quoted for that line. It's just Ivison's opinion.

....Sources suggest that when Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon left Mexico City on 20 April, having discussed the issue with his Mexican counterpart, it was agreed to set up a working group to study the refugee problem.

What sources?? Oh, here it is:

...“It was a bucket of cold water,” said one Mexican official. “It was very, very badly received in Mexico.”

ONE Mexican official?? Not a "high ranking" official? Is someone just making things up? Who knows anymore with the way the media is making stuff up lately.

...But the ham-fisted way in which the issue has been handled has caused harm that may be irreparable to our relations with a country that has been one of our closest friends.

“There isn’t a good atmosphere for Harper in Mexico right now,” said the Mexican official.

Ham-fisted, irreparable?? Is that your OPINION Ivison? Can you be anymore "sky is falling" in this opinion piece?

THE Mexican official??? Is this the same guy or a new guy? After all the media making up stories, it could be the official greeter at Walmart who just happens to be Mexican, or maybe it's the cleaning lady at a Banff hotel? Who knows and who trusts journalists anymore anyways.

...But the Mexican official said he has already heard anecdotal evidence of Mexican businessmen by-passing Canada because they cannot afford to hand over their passports to the Canadian embassy for two weeks in order to receive a visa.

It seems apparent that Mr. Kenney pushed this misguided policy, either to pander to the Conservative base or to build his own right-wing credentials for a future leadership bid.

Whatever the reason, his claim that there were no other options does not hold water. The policy should be reversed and Mr. Harper should invite Mr. Calderon back to Harrington Lake at the first opportunity.

Even the Mexican official has only heard something, maybe. Misguided policy? In Ivison's opinion, he has no proof, except from that Mexican official who has maybe heard something about it.

And the media wonders why people are not buying their newspapers anymore? Here is a clear reason that revenues are falling. Journalists like Ivison think we are stupid, and can be lead into believing anything as long as they mention something from an "unnamed" source!

Maybe Ivison should look for the "unnamed" Liberal source of the wafergate non-scandal instead of making up his own Mexigate!