Revolutionary Moderation

I must be getting soft

Look, Peter MacKay has been in Parliament for a while now. I have no doubt that as two of the eleven members from Nova Scotia, he's spoken plenty with Alexa McDonough, and I even expect that as former party leaders, they've probably shared notes on occasion.

So when MacKay told McDonough to "stick to (her) knitting", was it a jab? Of course it was. Was there an intent to demean? Of course. Was it based on gender? No. Did it make Peter MacKay sound like he's about a hundred years old? Yeah, but I find that kind of endearing.

Look, one google search will show you that it's gender-neutral. I've heard it myself, from someone younger than me, and female. I haven't actually heard Alexa complain about the choice of phrase, and I wouldn't expect her to - she's tougher than that, even had she thought it was a covertly sexist dig. Jack Layton's complaining, but he's trying to make political hay where no hay exists. I would have happily scored this one a big fat zero.

Unfortunately, I set precedent five weeks ago - contrition is a gaffe acknowledgement, no matter what I might think about it. If I were MacKay, I would have sent out the following press release:

An Open Letter to the Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada

Dear Mr. Layton Jack:

You could stand to stick to your knitting, as well.

Love, Peter.

p.s.: We'll call you when our majority government needs budget advice. Ha, ha!

But he didn't, and Canadians are poorer for it. Anyway, MacKay apologised, he's clearly a (prom)2, but if you think this is getting more than an ace for significance, your potatoes aren't boiled all the way through. Or whatever they say in Nova Scotia. Two points for the blue team, making a late rally but way too far behind to catch up.

(Yes, I know the scoreboard needs updating. I've just swapped computers, and that's a whole other headache. I owe the Tories three, for a total of eleven.)