Colour commentary

Seeing red? Feeling blue?

Apparently there are more political overtones to these statements in Canada than there are in the United States. I learned this in the last couple of weeks, when I attended a lecture at Carleton by U.S. political marketing expert Ken Cosgrove. He said that while red and blue are also colours associated (respectively) with Republicans and Democrats, Canadians are far more likely to see red as an exclusively Liberal colour and Conservatives as exclusively blue.  

To illustrate this contention, Cogrove  said that it is still okay for a Republican to wear a blue tie to a convention in the U.S., for instance, while it  would be a wee bit more risky for a Conservative to wear a red tie to a party convention here. ("Unless it's Red Friday to support the troops," one Carleton prof remarked.) 

So it's very hard NOT to think of politics when you see this year's Christmas-light display on the Hill, featuring only blues and oranges in the trees -- red bulbs banished, it seems. Here's a low-quality pic I took with my blackberry as I headed to a reception on the Hill on  Thursday night. 

Colour politics on Parliament Hill? 

Surely not. 

That would be like suggesting that someone took a blue paintbrush to the Government of Canada website. 

 As is the case often these days in Canadian politics, this is one of those stories that is maybe best told through comedy.  Put on your rose-coloured spectacles, or blue, if you prefer, and enjoy this sketch from Rick Mercer's show this week: