by Judi McLeod
November 22, 2004
It all started with one of those political conversations between Canada Free Press columnist arthur Weinreb and me. art and I find it more than passing strange that american bashing Liberal-cum-independent Carolyn Parrish has a dog, named "Texas."
and, as the talk-down-to-the-masses Toronto Star puts it, "Texas is the home state of George Bush."
Well even those of the need-to-be-talked-down-to crowd know by looking at any map that the State of Texas is big enough for George W. and the dog that still wags its tail at the mere sight of Carolyn Parrish.
"It would be like me naming my cat Sribbs, John Kerry," joked art.
In real life, art is really owned by a discerning cat named Scribbs, who doesn’t come when his own name is called, let alone responds to the name of John Kerry.
Macho Canada Free Press (CFP) office mascot Kiko, (macho because at 12 pounds he jumps 120 pound dogs in the local park he thinks he owns) is a delightful mix of Yorkshire terrier and bichon frisee. Kiko is a half-breed, and being half-breed really suits anything alive in today’s multicultural Canada.
If I had wanted to do the Carolyn Parrish thing by naming Kiko after a political enemy, or something close to that enemy, I wouldn’t have to go to the United States, when there are so many here in Canada.
"Jack Layton!" art and I shouted in the same breath.
Jack Layton is the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Ottawa. Before that, he was a councillor at Toronto City Hall, and one-time defeated Toronto mayoral candidate.
For the entire time Layton was a Toronto councillor, we prayed he’d go to Ottawa. and when the NDP finally chose him as their leader, we threw a Jack Off to Ottawa party.
The NDP and this newspaper have a history.
When Our Toronto, later Toronto Free Press and now CFP launched its first issue, the headline of the cover story was The Fairytale World of Jack Layton. The cartoon, depicting Layton with his bicycle tied on to the back of a chauffeur driven limousine, with license plates reading "Caviar Socialist Number One" hangs on the walls of our Elm Street offices to this day.
Jack had the habit of showing up with his bicycle for photo-ops, but traversed the city by chauffeur-driven limos, the height of NDP hypocrisy in the eyes of Our Toronto.
Back in 1991 when Jack ran unsuccessfully for mayor, included in his platform was the idea of a mandatory bicycle for every citizen. anti-automobile, which he quaintly remains to the present day, Jack wanted to replace the polluting car with the bike, an idea that looked generous on the surface, until we realized the bike-for-every-citizen notion was being financed by ourselves, the taxpayers. Then there was the worrisome mental vision of 65-year-old seniors out on icy streets in winter-bound Toronto.
But Carolyn could be right about the concept of naming pets after political enemies. If Kiko were Jack Layton, one day I could have said, "Jack Layton it’s time to take you in to the vet to be fixed," which is what I one day announced to feckless Kiko.
If Kiko ever gets caught cocking up a leg on the Bay Street Now newspaper box as he faithfully does three times each day on his way to and back from College Park, I could always say: "Jack Layton did it."
Calling Kiko Jack Layton does, however have its drawbacks. When he runs away off leash and I call out, "Come Back here, Jack Layton", things could get downright nasty in the park. There are Torontonians still basking in the relief that Jack Layton is in faraway, foggy Ottawa.
But just as Kiko, over time, improved many of his personal habits, like learning to go on the newspaper and being more willing to share my attention with other, non-neutered male dogs, Jack Layton is easier to take up, in Paul Martin’s Ottawa.
We used to see his face flashing over the left-loving Canadian Broadcasting Corporation almost every evening. and in the mornings, it was always Jack Layton’s face, looming at us from the pages of the leftwing Toronto Star.
Of late, it’s been american bashing MP Carolyn Parrish, mommy of Texas, who’s capturing media headlines.
It seems that Jack Layton, unparalleled master of the photo-op, hasn’t been in the news for months.
Good boy, Jack, good boy!
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement