Irwin Cotler has an excellent opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen today in which he asks the important question:Given Stephen Harper's recent decision that Canada will not seek clemency for Canadians sentenced to death in the United States, and the law that requires us not to extradite US citizens who might face the death penalty in the United States, whence the double-standard?Why do Americans in Canada facing death in the US deserve the full protection of our law, but Canadians facing death in the US do not deserve even a diplomatic clemency request?

I think it's great that Dion has a plan for poverty in this country.I don't know why he named it in a way that makes it sound like a Van Halen record, or a life insurance policy.According to Dion's numbers, the plan is to take over 1,000,000 Canadians out of poverty, almost half of whom will be children, in 5 years. Now that's a big deal. But you can't express it that way.

With the result of the election in Australia, Canada is the only nation in the Commonwealth that is opposed to binding climate change emissions targets. The only one.That's a little embarrassing. Why is it the case?Simple. Most people propose binding targets only for developed nations. Harper suggests that it's not fair. He suggests this for two reasons, both of which are valid.