Choice of Ritz is not "Leadership"
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Can't see the 'ShareThis' icon? Reload your page view by pressing Shift and clicking Refresh at the same time.Are you the kind of person who unwittingly says insensitive things?
Do you often find yourself saying the wrong thing at the wrong time?
Do you enjoy the taste of your own Hush Puppies?
If so, then have I got a guy for you. His name... Stephen Harper.
Yep... Canada's Prime Minister seems to have a soft spot for those who have an issue with verbal diarrhea.
The Prime Minister continues to show he'd rather play to his small-town audience in places like North Battleford rather than be a man of integrity and boot Gerry Ritz's ass out of cabinet.
Ritz - as you'll remember (and I'll make sure you don't forget) - made light of the Maple Leaf listeria situation a couple months back while on a conference call with scientists, bureaucrats and polticial staff by saying, "this is like a death by a thousand cuts. Or should I say cold cuts." (Cue the rimshot.) Then, when told of a death linked to the listeria outbreak on Prince Edward Island, Ritz commented, "please tell me it's (Liberal MP) Wayne Easter." (Annnd... the audience has groaned.)
A spokesperson for the PMO said Ritz expressed regret over his remarks. No resignation was offered, no resignation was requested. One can conclude that the PM simply wagged his finger at the MP for the Battlefords, called him a very bad boy, and sent him on his way. He was also likely denied dessert in the Commons cafeteria for a couple of days, and had his Playstation taken away.
If I was the PM (inheriting Harper's "don't say anything to embarrass me" paranoia), I would have been questioning whether or not I'd want Ritz in a prominent position after the fall election. Would I want a guy on my team who thinks a national crisis where people are dying because they've eaten a sandwich is a good time to crack a couple of tasteless jokes? Can I do better?
Clearly, Mr. Harper can't do better than Mr. Ritz. Why? Because he called him to the Governor General's residence today to be sworn in once again as the minister responsible for the agriculture portfolio.
Conservatives - it seems - want accountability when people screw up... just not from their own.
Mr. Harper - you owe us better than this. Sir, you now have two strikes against you. Not only did you do little to distance yourself from Tom Lukiwski after his disparaging - while nearly two decade old - remarks about homosexuals came to light, but you have now pulled a guy who represents our part of the country -- and who is clearly a loose cannon -- even closer in to your trust.
Mr. Harper, you went to the polls trading on the brand of leadership. Making a media-phobic, run-at-the-mouth, loose cannon like Mr. Ritz a member of your cabinet is not leadership, Sir. It is not responsible. It is not right.
Mr. Harper, you are the company you keep. Why would you even provoke the slightest hint of controversy on a day like today where you would have received a pass from all those concerned had you not put Mr. Ritz in your cabinet? You could have chosen any of your other as-qualified-if-not-moreso MPs from Saskatchewan to hold down the fort representing the needs and concerns of those in the agriculture community. But you didn't. Your choice, Sir, simply does not make sense.
One could only hope this was an eVite gone wrong, a mix-up by the PMO's party planning committee, someone mistakenly using an old version of an Excel spreadsheet listing MPs and their responsibilities. But sadly, it's not.
Consider yourself lucky, Mr. Ritz, that the real Stephen Harper is in charge and not I, for you would be languishing in the backbenches for the next 4 years (or however long this minority lasts.) For the sake of those you represent, leave comedy to the professionals and just do your job this time. Thanks.
John Himpe is the Program Director of News Talk Radio.
Comments
Ritz
As soon as I saw the headline I knew it was you commenting.
I have to give you credit for your willingness to keep pushing that string uphill!
Write about Important Stuff!
John Himpe
Instead of criticising Prime Minister for picking Gerry Ritz for the agriculture Ministry why don’t you find a real story to talk about such as the fact that the Canadian Wheat Board is now in full force trying to muzzle any media that doesn’t agree with its philosophy. Not only does the CWB deny farmers such as myself the freedom to sell my wheat it is now denying you the media the right to report on its actions. Where will it all end if the current government isn’t allowed to carry out its mandate and get rid of this dinosaur! See below the quote from Harry Siemens who has been writing farm commentary for almost 40 years. You could learn a lot from him. You’re a typical urbanite who knows very little about agriculture and is off in left field on your understanding of the REAL issues out here on the farm! If this isn’t enough to convince you, please read the commentary below from the mid nineties when Ralph Goodale’s Canada Customs Goons were terrorizing farm families in the middle of the night?
Was it too far from the CITY to interest you and your urban media friends? See story below. Maybe when some future Liberal Government goon squad visits your radio station at 5:00 AM you will understand my point!
I think by your stations' online poll today, most farmers would agree with me.
GrainFarmer from the Saskatchewan Gulag
"At the end of July, I normally did what I have been doing for most of 37 years, register for the media conference the board uses to report on that crop year’s activities. Thinking nothing of it, I sent the registration email to Dwayne Marling, a good friend from his previous work at the Manitoba Pork Council. Several hours before the conference was to start, I received an email from Maureen Fitzhenry, Manager of Media Relations with the CWB, and you can read it here.
“Harry: Our event today is for accredited media only. We will be restricting our questions to those reporters. Maureen Fitzhenry.”
Full story at:
http://www.siemenssays.com/?p=12783
"On April 10, 1996, Canada Customs burst into Norman and Edith Desrochers' Manitoba farm home at twenty minutes after five in the morning. There were seventeen Canada Customs agents assigned to the raid, all of them dressed in flourescent green vests with printing on the back, as well as two police cars, and two Dept. of Transport half-ton trucks sitting on the side of the road, waiting. All five children were home in bed. Customs tapped on the door, and then burst in, unannounced, not waiting for anyone to respond."
Full story at:
http://parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/2008/10/ralph-goodale-and-jailing-f...
Leasdership is...
What is leadership if not doing the right thing even when its unpopular, and will be criticized? Mr. Dithers (aka Paul Martin)governed by popular opinion polls and was thus paralyzed and useless during his short stint as PM, and for his utter lack of leadership he was shown the door. Mr. Ritz is well qualified for his post, and other than a couple of bad jokes on a conference call, has proven his competence. And let's not forget that the real arbiters of performance are the voters, more of whom chose him than in '06 when there was no contrived controversy.
Really the only people who pretend to be offended are the media who he shunned because their only interest was this long dead issue and and those crowding the political left field foul line, who would never vote conservative anyway. Let the man learn from his mistakes and continue to serve Canadians well.
And remember: you will be judged by the standard with which you judge others.
Could not have said it
Could not have said it better myself. This is such a disgrace and anyone who defends this move by the prime minister is total idiot, just like Gerry Ritz.
Not the same
I don't think you can really compare Lukiwsky's comments to Ritz's joke. Tom's were hatefull. Gerry's were not. Plus I think he's a good Ag minister.
you don't think hoping
you don't think hoping someone died from listeriosis is hateful?
No, & I even know the
No, & I even know the elderly person who died. While Ritz certainly shouldn't have made the joke, he is still an utterly competent politician. That's the bottom line. I think the sheer volume of press surrounding this story has caused people, maybe even without realizing it, blame this whole outbreak on Ritz. Believe or not the deaths would have occurred even if Ritz had said nothing. Let's not make him Maple Leaf's scapegoat. Harper hasn't. Ritz is still the best choice for ag minister because he's good at what he does. At least he hasn't left "sensitive" documents at his girlfriends house. That was another guy.
Ritz is still very capable
Ritz is still very capable as a decision maker. Loose canon? Because of three seconds' worth of speech?? Get over it. Even if the people of North Battleford would have known that Ritz would be a Minister if he's elected, he still would have won by thousands of votes. Your reality is a politically correct utopia where every politician is under a microscope and says nothing outside YOUR set boundaries. Pat yourself on the back for your upright moral superiority. Ritz's joke was tasteless, and more 'nerdy' than it was cute or funny. Three seconds' worth of silliness cannot discount thousands of educated decisions.
So let me get this straight, it's perfectly okay for him to be an MP with a vast majority of the popular vote, but it's NOT okay for him to be an MP? On what pedestal do you base your opinion? You and Kory Kolt must be having some very slow news days.
What about his constituents?
"For the sake of those you represent"... Well, judging from the numbers of my home electoral district where Ritz was yet again voted in by a freakin' landslide, those who know Ritz from more than singular comments & media soundbites seem to have quite a bit of faith in him. As far as those MPs qualified for the agriculture portfolio, Mr. Ritz certainly is up there at the top of the list as he has been surrounded by agriculture his entire life & comes from arguably one of the most agricultural active electoral districts in the province, if not the country.
That is not to say that Ritz's comments were acceptable. Obviously he regrets them as well. The simple fact is that ultimately it's a lose-lose for Harper. If he puts in someone less qualified, he loses. If he keeps Ritz there's fallout such as that posted in your blog here.
The question that needs to be asked is "is Ritz, foolish comments aside, good at what he does?"
John, shut up
You are an idiot, what are your qualifications to be a politcal analyst? You have none..You can comment all you want, but you are still an idiot. I've had more media experience than you and can still read circles around the passle of wannabee's you have at your station.
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