Ghost of a flea: Hinterland snooze who

? Putting off the inevitable | Main | The Fixx: Less Cities, More Moving People ?

August 18, 2009

Hinterland snooze who

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is up north flexing "Canada's military might" at the Russians and the best quotes the Sun's Parliamentary Bureau can manage come from some poli-sci prof who - gasp! - claims a "narrow focus" on the miltary detracts from Arctic social and economic regional development (what a depressing collection of syllables) and an NDP (socialist) MP who had the following entirely predictable twaddle to pronounce.

Western Arctic NDP MP Dennis Bevington agrees Harper sends the wrong message by beating the military drums and said that "crass political" approach is offensive to those who live and work in the North. Instead of "sabre-rattling" with Russia and other Arctic nations, Harper should invest heavily in infrastructure and services so northerners aren't forced to live like "second-class citizens."

He is also worried about "climate change". Here is a thought: If you do not enjoy northern infrastructure and services you should move somewhere warmer and more convenient. As a Canadian southerner, I find your whining, your grasping for hand-outs and your anti-military rhetoric offensive. Also, boring.

Note to the PMO: If you cannot be bothered to provide a quote to spin your man's events to the press down the hall from the Prime Minister's office, you might as well not have bothered. It would at least save those of us paying for this charade the price of the airfare.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at August 18, 2009 08:27 AM

Comments

Just your typical historical ignorance from pols and the press.

Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay) was established in 1942 as an air base for ferry flights to Europe, and it houses a sizeable Inuk population because they moved there in large numbers in the late 40s and through the 50s to take advantage of work and medical services when the airfield was a major hub of activity for the DEW Line.

So if not for a rather pronounced emphasis on military objectives of the day, that community would not even exist.

Byers probably thought it was some idyllic sealing/whaling village and doesn't even realise its very first permanently inhabited incarnation was as airfield CRYSTAL II.

Posted by: Chris Taylor at August 18, 2009 11:48 AM