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editorial

Pierre Trudeau attends the 1970 Grey Cup game dressed in cloak and matching hat. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, wearing what someone called his "Mandrake the Magician oufit," a cloak and hat - walks down the grandstand steps to present the Grey Cup trophy to the victorious Montreal Alouettes in this Nov.28, 1970 photo. (CP /Peter Bregg)Peter Bregg/The Canadian Press

Claudio Teixeira, the proprietor of uFly Simulator, of Mississauga, was surely justified in dismissing Mitchell Casado for "shaming Canadians." Canadians are honoured around the world for their grey, staid aesthetic, but Mr. Casado appeared repeatedly on CNN explaining various scenarios regarding the fate of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 while dressed, in Mr. Teixeira's telling, "like he was 15 years old." Sandals and shorts were specifically cited. Yea and verily, he hath brought dishonour upon our country.

Though Mr. Casado's plaid shirt attained considerable popularity, he had to go. His attire compromised Canada's hard-earned international reputation. Lester B. Pearson loved baseball, but when he created peacekeeping during the Suez Crisis of 1956, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, did he do it in a baseball cap and overalls? No, he did not. Had Alice Munro been well enough to receive her Nobel Prize for Literature in person, would she have showed up sporting the legendary Canadian tuxedo? (It's a jean jacket with blue jeans – as if you didn't know.) And Roch Carrier wrote an iconic story about a little boy and his hockey sweater, but hockey fan Stephen Harper, to the best of our knowledge, does not attend state dinners in one.

To wash away the shame of Mr. Casado's TV appearances, Canada needs a sartorial action plan. We await the appointment of a minister of state for blending in with the crowd.

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