BLOG MyyyyyAsssss

The media is having a field day at the expense of our beloved politicians. This is so typical of what they print when it's a slow news day.

The Ottawa Sun

Barb needles local knitters By EARL MCRAE Tues Oct 24, 2006 The nation is still waiting for Belinda Stronach's apology for her vicious, uncalled for slur against those who knit. Not one slur, but two. The pampered, privileged, millionaire princess wants an apology from Peter MacKay for allegedly referring to her as a dog in the House of Commons. Never mind Peter MacKay -- you, Ms. Stronach, get off your royal buns right now and show you have what you say he hasn't, and apologize to the knitters of Canada and the world. "She did us all a disservice," says Nancy Moynihan. "It was an insult." Nancy Moynihan should know, she's president of the Ottawa Knitting Guild. She's referring to two comments by Stronach, one the other day in the MacKay dog-dissing dustup when she said: "Why does this government insist on being so disrespectful of women? Is that because it would prefer that we simply shut up and stick to our knitting?" Now, one could say that Stronach's knitting knock was simply playing off MacKay having told NDP leader Alexa McDonough several months ago to "stick to her knitting," and that Stronach has nothing against knitting, but wait -- this isn't the first time Stronach used knitting as a metaphor that women who knit are old-fashioned, non-feminist, and don't have a life. In her recent biography by Don Martin, she responds to a question on her sex life with: "Let's face it -- I don't sit home on Friday nights and knit." Knit? Why not just "I don't sit home on Friday nights," Belinda Stronach? Why the K word as a metaphor for social doofus? Tell us, Ms. Stronach, have you ever knitted? Just asking, ma'am. Nancy Moynihan has a proposition. She's inviting you to the next monthly meeting of the Ottawa Knitting Guild. It's Nov. 20 at Woodroffe United Church, 7 p.m. You might learn something about knitting and the type of people who knit. You might even want to join, $25 a year. Nancy Moynihan, 51, married, mother of two, university graduate, knitter since the age of 7, owner of a company that designs and manages data bases: "We have 130 members, including a few men. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, business people, as well as retired people. They range from teenagers to some in their 90s. Knitting has been viewed as non-masculine, and a socially outdated thing for women, but knitters are with-it people who've been known to meet in bars, drink beer, and knit. Belinda Stronach would find we're a pretty dynamic bunch." So, there you are, Belinda Stronach. In the future, lay off the knitting references, okay? One can knit and still have a sex life. Talking of insults, one wonders how fast the fragile Ms. Stronach would have melted in self-pity had she been the MP who once said to Winston Churchill in Parliament "Winston, you are drunk?" with Churchill firing back: "Indeed, madam, and you are ugly, but tomorrow I'll be sober." Or when he rebutted Lady Astor's "If you were my husband, I'd feed you poison" with: "And if I were your husband, I'd take it." Churchill's retorts didn't railroad his great career, and when it comes to insults, how about you, Ralph Goodale, Liberal House leader, who spluttered about MacKay's supposed dog reference: "After depicting a woman as his dog, how can the minister of foreign affairs pretend to promote women's rights in Afghanistan or anywhere else?" You were a Liberal MP in 1997, Ralph Goodale, but we don't recall you leaping to your feet with an attack against your party colleague Doug Young, the defence minister, after he rose in the House and called the hefty Reform MP, Deborah Grey, "more than a slab of bacon." You didn't ask how your defence minister could possibly condone large-size women in the Canadian military if his mindset towards such women was "more than a slab of bacon," as in M-o-o-o-o, as in cows, which I would suggest is a genuine insult towards women as opposed to a dog in that a cow is dopey-looking and slow-moving while I've seen some pretty nifty, classy, upscale dogs that I, personally, would be proud to be. If you, Ms. Stronach, weren't such a bawl baby, and made of stronger stuff with a sense of humour, you would have countered the alleged MacKay dog reference with: "You got it right, Peter, I'm a high-class Lhasa Apso."

The Ottawa Citizen
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PM won't demand MacKay apology for alleged dog quip Speaker refuses to take action; Liberals keep up calls for resignation Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused calls yesterday to force Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay to apologize for allegedly referring to ex-girlfriend Belinda Stronach as a dog, as demands for his resignation continued and the Liberals vowed to find a way to make the minister own up.

The Winnigeg Sun

MacKay must atone: Layton TORONTO -- Peter MacKay should apologize or step down as Canada's foreign affairs minister, the leader of the federal NDP party said yesterday. Jack Layton said MacKay ought to say he's sorry for a remark heard during question period Thursday, labelling Liberal MP and former girlfriend Belinda Stronach as a dog. MacKay has denied the allegations. Layton said Parliament is like any other workplace and if the Conservative party wishes to beef up its sensitivity training when it comes to issues of gender and harassment, the NDP would be happy to help.

The Globe

Liberals don't let up on MacKay Seeing an opportunity with female voters, critics threaten to escalate 'dog' attack GLORIA GALLOWAY OTTAWA -- Opposition MPs continued to hound the Conservative government yesterday over remarks that Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay says he did not make about Belinda Stronach -- and the Liberals say they will escalate the attack if they don't get the apology they are demanding. "We're considering our various options," Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale said. "We'll obviously have further questions on the matter. But we're looking at the parliamentary tools that we have available to us." Mr. MacKay was in Eastern Europe on previously scheduled business yesterday as the Liberals and NDP resumed demands that he apologize for having referred to Ms. Stronach -- Mr. MacKay's girlfriend until she defected from the Conservatives to the Liberals -- as a dog. Mr. MacKay denies making the remark that Liberals say they heard in Question Period last Thursday. The official transcript does not record it. But words to that effect are discernible, if only barely, on an audiotape of the event. The Liberals have seized on the issue as one that can bleed the soft support among female voters away from the Conservatives. When asked whether the matter is serious enough to warrant consuming several days of House business, Mr. Goodale said his party considers it very important. "The government wants either members of Parliament or the media to conclude that this is just a trivial little thing. It is not a trivial little thing. Any slur is bad enough but this one that had particular overtones for women is just beyond the pale." Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was out of town last week when the topic rose to the top of the water-cooler chart, was asked by Liberal Leader Bill Graham to apologize to the House on behalf of his absent Foreign Affairs Minister. But Mr. Harper instead reminded MPs that Speaker Peter Milliken refused to rule on the affair because neither he nor his aides could hear the remarks on a tape. "The Minister of Foreign Affairs is conducting Canada's international relations with great effort, with dignity, with confidence and certainly we support him," Mr. Harper said. Remaining questions about the matter were referred to Conservative MP Helena Guergis, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Trade. First she accused the Liberals of lacking respect for the Speaker's ruling. "I remind honourable members that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is a gentleman. He is a person who has always treated myself and other female colleagues in the House with the utmost respect. This is a man who was raised by a single mother, who has a number of sisters," she said. Mr. MacKay is the son of Elmer MacKay, a former federal politician who divorced his wife when his son was 8. Ms. Guergis threw in a final dose of disgust. "Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I do believe that Canadians are probably sick and tired of being dragged into a high-school romance gone wrong," she said. Ms. Stronach repeated her demand for a public statement of regret. "I've never asked for a formal apology to myself," she told reporters after Question Period. "I asked for an apology to the House. This is our place of work. This is the nation's boardroom and I still feel that it's inappropriate for a colleague or a minister to refer to another colleague as his dog." Even if Mr. MacKay apologizes, the Liberals are unlikely to let up the attack because then they will be able to accuse the Foreign Minister of lying, something that Mr. Goodale did not deny yesterday. "There are two sides of this and both of them have to be laid to rest," he said. "First of all [there is] the inappropriateness of the first remark which needs to be withdrawn and needs to be apologized for. And secondly [there is] the fact that there was a chronic state of denial for several days."

CTV News

PM defends MacKay, won't retract 'dog' comment Updated Mon. Oct. 23 2006 3:53 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay was in Hungary Monday, but a controversial comment he allegedly uttered last week continued to echo through the House of Commons. The opposition once again demanded an apology, claiming MacKay referred to Liberal MP and former flame Belinda Stronach as a dog last Thursday. "This matter has to with accountability for the truth and the dignity of this House of Commons," said Liberal Leader Bill Graham. MacKay denies he made a derogatory statement towards Stronach, and the Conservatives have pointed to the absence of any such comment in the Hansard, a written transcript of what is said during question period. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tried to diffuse tensions and move on. During question period Monday, Harper stopped short of an apology, but suggested all members could adopt more parliamentary manners. "All members of all parties could do a lot better job of conducting ourselves in this House," said Harper. Parliamentary Secretary of International Trade Helena Guergis refuted Liberal accusations that MacKay is sexist, citing the fact that he was raised by a single mother and always behaves like a "gentleman." The Speaker of the House Peter Milliken has closed the matter, saying he did not hear the comment.

The Toronto Star

Layton urges MacKay to 'fess up NDP Leader, whose wife was hit by a dog slur, backs Stronach demand for apology Oct. 22, 2006. 07:25 AM SUSAN DELACOURT OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF OTTAWA - New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton is calling for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay over his failure to own up to an alleged "dog" slur against his old girlfriend, Aurora MP Belinda Stronach. Layton was part of a panel discussion in Quebec about women in politics on Friday night and heard again all the reasons potential female politicians are turned off by the whole business. MacKay has given them yet another reason, Layton said in an interview yesterday, and the women at the Quebec event had "quite a reaction" to the whole furor, he said. "I've got to wonder whether he's fit to be in a position like foreign affairs minister," Layton said. "Because that's a position where wisdom and gesture and single-word selection is critical. If he's not willing to understand the impact of his words, and make amends ... then, he should resign. And if he's not going to do those things, the Prime Minister should be the one to ask him to resign." Layton's wife, Olivia Chow, was subjected to a dog slur when she was running for her Trinity-Spadina seat in the Commons during last winter's election. A Liberal blogger who compared Chow to a Chinese chow-chow dog was forced to step down from an executive position in the party's Ontario wing after doing so. Recalling that incident Friday, Layton said, "This kind of thing is very hurtful and women are expected, I suppose, to put on a brave face and brush it off as though it is some kind of a joke." The current furor revolves around some heckling in the Commons on Thursday, when Liberal MP David McGuinty was poking fun at MacKay and his famous interview after his May 2005 breakup with Stronach, in which he appeared with his family dog at his side. McGuinty asked if MacKay was worried about the environment's effects on his dog. "You already have her," MacKay reportedly said, gesturing toward Stronach's seat in the Commons. No record of the remark appears on the official Commons transcript and MacKay has said he never mentioned the word "dog." But that hasn't quelled the outcry, because at least 10 Liberal MPs said they heard the slur and New Democrats have also said there is no question the remark was made. Stronach formally asked MacKay to apologize to the Commons and to women in general on Friday. So far MacKay isn't budging. "The Speaker and his staff have carefully reviewed the audio and found nothing. There is nothing to add," MacKay's spokesman Dan Dugas said yesterday.

This whole matter came about after one member of parliament asked,"How is this going to benefit my dog?" in reference to an envirinmental bill.
Fortunately he doesn't have a cat instead of a dog or we'd be seeing references to Stronach the Pussy.