All this, and scruples, too?

Belinda Stronach has crossed the floor to join the Liberals -- BCers take note, the federal bastards are much less frightening than their provincial counterparts. While Stronach's politics and my own don't parallel on everything, I think this is the best thing to happen to Canadian politics since Trudeau gave protesters an unapologetic middle finger in front of a glut of photographers.

News from Ottawa is often so insular and, frankly, boring, that it leaves people across the country longing for yet another article describing what hasn't happened between negotiators in the NHL lockout.

Stronach's obviously adult decision, and Harper's obviously playground reaction, on the other hand, are giving the Canadian public something as rare and valuable as coloured diamonds: clear, unsullied personality from politicians.

The carefully choreographed press junkets, so often used by Conservatives to soften their socially damaging views with well-written soundbites, have thus far been left out of the equation. In this particular instance, for once, we've seen a genuine action by Stronach, who believes Harper is dangerous and selfish; we've seen a genuine action by Harper, who's whining like a kid left off the guest list to a former friend's birthday party.

In this case, Stronach's difficult decision was made seemingly without advancement in mind. The Liberal Party is reeling, possibly on the verge of collapse; she's not likely to see any immediate positives out of her move. Harper, on the other hand, has lost one of his superstars. By sniping at her for actually *gasp* standing up for her beliefs, Harper looks altogether like a moping child. He strikes me today as the bully who fades as soon as the other kids hit the growth spurt he was lucky to come across a little bit early.

I applaud Ms Stronach for her courage today. It can't be easy for a high-profile politician to show conviction, especially that which is unpopular. For her to do this deserves a second look -- Canada, take notice. This is a woman to watch in the future.

A quick aside here: does anyone have a copy of that famous flip of the bird? I haven't seen the Trudeau Salute picture in a long time, no matter how many times it appears on Wikipedia as a throwaway definition of "The Finger."