It may not convince people (those who are liable to get this ad were already not huge fans of this president), but you can bet it will motivate a great many to go out and vote… And isn’t it well done, or what?

You think I’m kidding:

OTTAWA – Radio-Canada journalists say they won’t help the minister responsible for the state broadcaster be more accountable to Canadian taxpayers.

The union representing the French CBC’s communications workers filed a grievance earlier this month, objecting to a new code of conduct that, among other things, asks employees to serve the public interest by “Loyally carrying out the lawful decisions of their leaders and supporting ministers in their accountability to Parliament and Canadians.”

This new code of conduct came into force April 2 and replaced the old rules that dated from November 2006.

Union president Alex Levasseur said the requirement to support ministers in their accountability to Parliament is offensive and amounts to an oath of allegiance to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s ministers. Radio-Canada employees should not be subject to political influence, and Levasseur does not think the $1.1 billion in public funding the state broadcaster receives annually creates a special obligation to be accountable to Canadians through Parliament. He added that Radio-Canada had always been at arms’ length from the government and that the new code of conduct put that healthy distance in jeopardy.

;

But no! Don’t get mad at me! I mean that in a good way… His endless non-quest for the Liberal leadership (permanent edition) reminds me of this scene from Finding Nemo, for some reason.

But that’s of course not every day. Sometimes it also feels like a kindergarten, too. Like yesterday. We had the party of Pat ^#%@^$% Martin demanding more decorum in the House of Commons and one Liberal MP accusing a young NDP MP of stealing stuffies.

I’m almost afraid to imagine what today will bring.

There’s a lot of controversy over the Obama campaign ad celebrating the anniversary of the death raid on on Osama bin Laden and questioning whether Mitt Romney would have had the guts to go after the old terrorist. Which is a very risky strategy, one that is most likely to blow up in Obama’s face. Here’s the ad:

And here is perhaps the best way to capture just what’s wrong with Obama’s strategy. This is how real leaders behave…

The man from whom President Obama has sought incessantly to distance himself, George W. Bush, also had occasion during his presidency to announce to the nation a triumph of intelligence: the capture of Saddam Hussein. He called that success “a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq.” He attributed it to “the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator’s footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers. . . . Their work continues, and so do the risks.”

He did mention himself at the end: “Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate them.”

That is not to say that great leaders, including presidents, have not placed themselves at the center of great events. But generally it has been to accept responsibility for failure.

President Obama was right to go after bin Laden the way he did. I honestly never thought he’d have the guts to order the strike. Turns out he did. He gets credit for that. My advice to him would be to avoid wasting it by making unbecoming, self-serving comments about it.

Wow! There was a discussion in the House of Commons yesterday about when human life begins and somehow the country managed to survive. I am suitably impressed.

OTTAWA – Tory backbench MP Stephen Woodworth didn’t have the backing of the prime minister to do it, but he nonetheless spurred a rare debate on abortion and when life begins in the House of Commons Thursday.

Quoting jurisprudence and French novelist Emile Zola, Woodworth made the case for opening the divisive dispute.

“Those who believe that the moment of complete birth does somehow transform a child from a non human into a human being should have enough confidence in their own belief to expose it to an examination,” he said.

The Kitchener MP is proposing a special House committee review the federal Criminal Code’s definition of a human being. Currently, Canadian law states a child becomes a human being only at the moment of complete birth. Pro-choice supporters argue it’s a back door to opening the abortion debate, because the time when life begins is a key point in the issue.

Well, yes. It is. Any discussion of the subject is sort of part of a debate on the subject. It kind of goes without saying, but somehow people say it a lot anyway, as though they thought it would scare us into silence or something. The fact is that normal people do discuss important matters of life and death, and every now and then politicians should pretend they’re normal people and give this debating thing a whirl. It’s not true this issue is “settled”, just like it’s not true the debate about the death penalty is settled.

Most of us know what’s inside a pregnant woman’s tummy. It’s not a cucumber. It’s a human, and yes, it’s alive – otherwise nobody would request abortions, would they. I believe those tiny human beings deserve protection under the law. Some people say only those human beings that are successfully born are entitled to legal protection. I think it should be up to them to explain how a fetus in the 8th month of gestation is dramatically different from a newborn baby. If they’re really confident they’re right, they should have no problem explaining their position to the rest of us.

The Leader of the Opposition says it’s a really bad idea to “deprive” refugee claimants of the kind of health benefits most Canadians don’t get (e.g. free eye care, free dental care, free prescription drugs). Now to be clear, refugee claimants will receive medical treatment if they really need it or if they present a condition that might pose a threat to public safety.

“It’s scandalous behaviour,” NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said Wednesday. “To start saying that you’re going to deprive them of something as fundamental as health care is an indication that there is something very wrong with the values of the Conservatives.”

Read the story for yourself and decide whether you agree with the Opposition.