So yesterday during the Niagara peninsula leg of his “Shift Happens '08” tour, Dr. Stéphane Dion called on a smattering of Liberal partisans to embrace his vision of “a greener, richer, more inaccurate Canada” intoning that a Liberal victory in the next election would mark:"the first time in the history of Canada that the prime minister of Canada will have a PhD,"
A pitch sure to lock-up the allusive parents' basement post-grad vote ... were it not for the nagging existence of the late Right Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King, P.C., O.M., C.M.G., B.A., M.A., A.M., LL.B., Ph.D.
Boing!
Now to be charitable, Dr. Dion can be forgiven his error, as Mackenzie King was surely one of our more obscure Prime Ministers having only held the office for a mere 22 years!
One can’t help but imagine that the people who have advised Dr. Dion on his dubious carbon tax scheme are the same Mensa runners-up now whispering revisionist Canadian history in his ear.
10 comments:
I've long advocated the election of Dr. Jack Layton (PhD Political Science, York University) to the office of Prime Minister.
If Dion is elected Prime Minister he'll be the third PM to have a PhD. The first one was Sir John Abbott.
As I recall, what he said was that he would be the first PM to have a PhD along with his wife, not that he alone would have one. At least that's what he said in Guelph yesterday.
I was there sitting beside David, and I heard the same time. He said that Janine Krieber and himself would be the first Prime Ministerial couple that both have PhD's.
Nice try though.
The Tabloid Sun Newspaper chain... Dipper's paper of choice these days.
Maybe you are right. If you are, you should demand a correction from the Sun.
Pretty sure reporters carry tape recorders for a reason though.
Even if you are right and Dion was referring to both his and his wife's academic achievements. Why does he bring up Janine at all? Good for her that she has a Phd but we DO NOT have a political system that gives an official role to the spouse of the PM. The PM is not the President of Canada. He or she is the leader of the governing party and their spouse does not and should not have a role (assuming that they are not an elected member of the HOC).
cicely's is a good point.
Dion's boasting about his academics is just more condesending self-promotion. The same kind as his "I was hailed as a hero" tripe.
Liberals know they are better than everyone else.
The article in question clearly states he made the claim in St. Catherines while speaking to Brock students.
It's interesting to hear how he backpedaled in Guelph, but ultimately irrelevant.
Nice try, though. ;)
Two audiences, two different messages?
Hmm, sounds like good ole' fashion Liberal double speak.
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