Is there any sign of intelligent life in politics?

Hands up if you need proof that politicians either lie through their teeth or are so dumb they can't make decisions the guy in the street could make in his sleep.

Take the Arar case. It is clear beyond doubt that CSIS officials were fully aware that the US intended to send Arar off to a foreign government where he would be tortured. A Canadian agency allowed a Canadian citizen to have his rights trampled on, all without turning a hair.

How could this happen in a country that believes as strongly as we do about human rights?

Marlys Edwardh, one of Arar's lawyers, said it was clear the government of the day knew nothing about the American intentions and CSIS agents went out of their way to hide that information from their political masters.

It is unforgivable that CSIS staff betrayed all Canadians and our federal government. Harper's immediate response should have been to demand the resignation of the CSIS officials responsible. Instead, he got into ugly politics by blaming the Liberals who were in power when this happened.

Dear God, all Harper had to do to look and be the leader Canadians crave, was to avoid politics completely and to do what any decent clear thinking individual would do - immediately fire the CSIS agents responsible. That would have sent a clear signal to every Canadian that human rights are not for sale or barter in Canada.

Isn't the reason we're in Afghanistan is to help them install a democratic government? Can’t we practice what we preach? We have a prime minister who doesn't understand what Canadians want, a prime minister with no instinct for doing the right thing, only the political thing.
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If Harper missed all the signs and sent the wrong message, his counterpart in Ontario followed along in his footsteps. John Tory, who talks a good story about transparency and is quick to hit McGuinty for broken promises, hasn't revealed the cost of the hundreds of promises he's made in his platform. This in spite of the fact Tory promised that as soon as the auditor general certified the provincial books he would then reveal the costs of his promises.

Well the auditor general did that several weeks ago but Tory has not revealed what his promises would cost. They were up to $2.4 billion - yeah BILLION with a B - when he himself acknowledged he would take $400 million away from public schools to fund faith-based schools and he would eliminate the health tax which would cost the government another $2 Billion in revenues.

It gets worse. Tonight, someone sent me a copy of a Toronto neighborhood newspaper in which Tory dumped all over Kathleen Wynne for not moving more quickly to deliver a second ice hockey rink to Leaside, a part of the riding they both are running in.

Jane Pitfield ran a pitiful campaign for mayor last fall, after 10 indifferent years as a councilor. Cliff Jenkins and John Parker are also both city councilors, (Parker replaced Pitfield when she ran for mayor). That’s the cast of characters behind the scenes, the comic relief if you will.

Public rinks in Toronto are run by the Parks Dept and are a city responsibility. It's been a decade since residents of Leaside started lobbying for a second rink. In 10 years Pitfield made no progress. Parker has been as ineffectual as Pitfield. Jenkins, the bauble headed doll, can't even fix things in his own part of the riding so he's been the perfect addition to the Pitfield/ Parker team.

And the reason it’s taken so long to resolve the Leaside rink issue? Because the three stooges have been totally ineffective at getting any support or any money out of their city council colleagues to purchase the land needed for the building of a second rink.

Four years ago, Wynne arrived on the scene as the newly elected MPP. She recognizes a city responsibility when she sees it. She sees Pitfield lobby city council and fail. When Parker is elected she tries to work with him. He gets nowhere at council. Clearly, no one on the local level is up to the challenge so Wynne steps into the void. She lobby's her own Party for help. Effective and smart, she gets $750,000 from the province to buy the land needed to build the second rink. And then she finds Tory biting at her heels, making the self-serving argument that Wynne is at fault for the delay.

It's a sad spectacle. Tory is in the position of trying to criticize Wynne for the failings of his own stooges and he casts honor aside and goes for the big lie. It's all Wynne's fault. Will that play in Leaside? Not likely because too many people know the facts and know who has really served the community. And they are not likely to be impressed by a guy who says "Thank God I decided to run in Don Valley West." Johnnie, ya sound like a Mike Harris clone. That's the kind of self serving horseshit he flung all over the place. Sadly, like you, he seemed to believe it, which is when I think everyone began to determine he had to go. Hands up everyone who thought Tory would honor Bill Davis and act like Mike Harris.

The Tory/ Wynne race is becoming more and more interesting. Like everyone, I assumed Wynne is toast - how often does a Party leader get beaten? But something funny is going on in Don Valley West. Did you expect to find John Tory distorting the facts to get himself elected? Me neither. Did you expect to see him embracing people of the calibre of the three stooges? Me neither. Did you expect him to throw away his principles just to try to make himself look good? Me neither.

I don't think Tory thought Wynne would be a factor at all in this election. His reactions, however, say he's finding that she's much more of a handful than he ever dreamed.

It's too early to predict a David and Goliath outcome but it sure isn’t the slam dunk everyone expected. It’s early days but Tory's behavior and comments indicate a man who's worried, a massive change from the confidence oozing, smooth talking leader who promised to take the high road some months ago. There's only ever one reason why a politician leaves the high road. Wynne must be doing something right to get Tory acting so out of character.

Maybe the toast isn't toast at all. Maybe crow will be on the menu the night of October 10 and wouldn't that just be the story of the year? Stay tuned.