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norman spector

Transport Minister John Baird speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons after Question Period on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.Sean Kilpatrick

He's loud. He doesn't back down in the face of embarrassing questions. And, I'll grant you, John Baird can be entertaining from time to time in Question Period - though not as often as it might appear from the enthusiasm of Conservative MP's sitting behind him.

That said, strip away the bluster and the Minister of Transport's answers today to questions about possible Conservative links to the scandal roiling Québec, and to the Navigator lobbying firm, are without logic.

Mr. Baird parried questions about the links of a Conservative senator to Benoit Labonte - a central figure in the Québec scandal - by referring to a Liberal staffer who once worked for Mr. Labonte. On Navigator, he mentioned the names of Warren Kinsella and Robin Sears as former and current employees of the firm. In other words, the answer to both questions was: "If anything untoward has been going on, they did it too."

Mr. Baird's answers, then, are devoid of logic. They are also ethically bankrupt. And, they are guaranteed to increase the cynicism of Canadians who - in regard to our system of government - would say a pox on both your houses.





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