As Canadian as...

Just in time for Canada Day this week, we learn that Tim Horton's, that perennial favourite of the Conservative government, is going to become Canadian-based again. (Ed note: What??? Have they been just visiting all this time too?)

And meanwhile, NDP MP Charlie Angus is telling us that this year's  Canada Day pins were made in China. Here's the text of a release Angus sent out a little while ago to the press gallery (sorry, no link available yet.)

All across Canada, MPs are handing out Canadian flags and pins to celebrate Canada Day, but few Canadians know that these Parliamentary symbols are being made in China by a US-owned shell company. New Democrat Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay) says that despite claims by Heritage Minister James Moore that the company is Canadian-based, the real owner of 6768997 Canada Inc. is actually listed as being in Playa del Ray, California.

“On Canada Day we celebrate our pride in the Maple Leaf, how is it that the Conservative government allowed a shell company, with no corporate history, to walk away with half a million dollars worth of contracts to outsource production of the Maple Leaf flag pin to China?” said Angus.

Comments

[Doug]

Probably because they would cost $10 each if made in Canada.

[Darwin O'Connor]

Link: http://www.ndp.ca/press/canada-day-flag-flap

[Gabby in QC]

"Ed note: What??? Have they been just visiting all this time too?"

Umm, maybe you missed the point of the "just visiting" campaign. Tim Horton's may be the "perennial favourite of the Conservative government" but it doesn't aspire to become the PM of Canada.

Here's a partial list of the pivotal events Michael Ignatieff missed while living abroad:
The NEP
The 1980 Quebec Referendum
The Patriation of the Constitution
The GST and Free Trade debates
The Meech Lake Accord
The Oka Crisis
The Charlottetown Accord
The 1995 Referendum
The Clarity Act

There were many other important issues discussed in Canada between 1995 and 2005, when Mr. Ignatieff was parachuted back into Canada with the promise of a fast-track to 24 Sussex Drive.

I do not wish to demean Mr. Ignatieff's considerable and well-documented achievements, but reading about those wrenching debates from abroad is not at all the same as actually living through them - and that is what the ads aimed to tell voters.
While I don't agree with the mocking form of the ads, I believe the substance is relevant to electors.

Or maybe I missed your point?
Maybe you meant to liken Ignatieff to Timmy’s as a mere money-making concern. Is Ignatieff's draw as a fund-raiser to fill empty Liberal coffers the reason he was brought back to Canada?
In any event, founded in 1964 and sold to Wendy’s in 1995, Timmy’s spent almost as much time here in Canada as Ignatieff spent abroad. Timmy's 31 to Ignatieff's 34.