The Canadian Arctic In A Warming World

Something that'll make you go "hmmm", from Cleo Paskal's Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map:

Canada currently claims the Northwest Passage as part of its territorial waters, but this assertion is being contested by the US and European Union, which want it recognized as an international strait so that they can have unfettered access for their own commercial interests, such as oil and gas exploration. This standoff, Paskal suggests, could prod Canada to explore a strategic relationship with Russia, which has its own designs on the Arctic. Meanwhile, China is knocking at Canada's door, eager to purchase a slice of the country's abundant natural resources. In a 'stateless' Northwest Passage, Russia and China could end up being the big players, especially if they forge stronger economic ties to Canada. This potential development, Paskal argues, poses a long-term security risk to the EU and US.

Will we be fighting off the yanks with our Chinese and Russian brothers? Sounds unlikely, but threatened protectionist measures against the tar sands already seem to have a "lets take Chinese money to build a pipe-line to the West coast and sell them our dirty oil" sentiment among prairie conservatives. And I do so love their honey buns.

Tory Brain Trust Still Run By Dorks

Ever since Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella made a few questionable remarks about Chinese cuisine, the Tory brain trust has been trying to use the incident as a means of bolstering their support among the Chinese Canadian community. So they sent a couple of MPs to the Yang Sheng restaurant to present the owner with a bogus certificate and, generally, keep the pot stirring (no pun intended) for another news cycle. Here's a picture from the resulting photo-op, along with Ezra's account:

Jason Kenney, the Minister of Multiculturalism, Citizenship and Immigration, and Pierre Poilievre and Alice Wong [...] went for lunch today to the Yang Sheng restaurant [...] And Kenney gave Mr. Feng, the proprietor, a Certificate of Excellence. You can see a picture of Kenney giving the award to a beaming Mr. Feng. I bet it feels nice to be treated with some respect -- even some flattery -- after being dragged through Kinsella's muck for a week.

Good for Kenney and Poilievre (and Wong, not in the frame).

Now, Alice Wong has been the MP driving this particular mini-scandal, yet when the time comes to collect whatever political payoff might be derived from it, the Chinese Canadian MP is literally left out of the picture. Instead, Poilievre and Jason Kenney, whose only connection to the Chinese community appears to be that he has more chins than the Beijing phone book, get all the camera time.

PS. I made my peace with Warren a long time ago, and in "real life" he has provided some very solid advice to me on a number of occasions. Nevertheless I still get a bit of a giggle when he lands up in trouble. Don't know why. In any case, its bizarre that the Tories should build a political strategy around annoying one guy.

PPS. The real issue with Chinese cuisine is not the meat content of its entrees, but its rather sub-standard desserts. Here I think the attention to food texture, which gives such terrific results when applied to main courses, comes up short. A lotta bland, hard jello-type thingies ensue.