Jason Kenney Finally Does Something Right

I abhor my Conservative member of parliament, Jason Kenney. He's a pompous, right-wing ass of the worst kind (next to pond scum like Rob Anders). But, he's getting some international press for standing up to some even more abhorrent American right-wingers:

"I join with the leader of the opposition in repudiating those completely uninformed and ignorant remarks that we heard yesterday," he replied.

And what were those comments, you ask?

John Hostettler, chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on immigration and border security, said on Thursday that Canada "hosts an abundance of terrorists and as many as 50 terrorist organizations."
[...]
Hostettler also lashed out at "South Toronto," which he said was "the type of enclave that allows for this radical type of discussion to go on."

Toronto is Canada's largest city, but there is no area known as "South Toronto." Crimes rates in the southern part of the city -- which lies on the north shore of Lake Ontario -- are relatively low.

Hostettler's comments alarmed Canadian politicians, who are trying to persuade U.S. lawmakers to delay a law that would require all Canadian citizens crossing into the United States to carry a passport or a sophisticated identity card.

Canadian and U.S. communities along the border fear the rules -- due to come into effect on January 1, 2008 -- could damage a lucrative cross-border trade.

Hostettler said he opposed the idea of a delay, saying: "We do not want to have to worry about a neighbor that has a very different attitude than we do about terrorism."

Wanker.

Even Stephen Harper referred to them as "ignorant comments" in Question Period this past week.

The Financial Times is fueling the fire with this crap:

Some Americans do, in fact, assume terrorists up north have the run of the place. The Republican representative Pete King, chairman of the House homeland security committee, said last week: "There is a disproportionate number of al-Qaeda in Canada because of [its] very liberal immigration laws and because of how political asylum is granted so easily." Canadians were appalled by the statement but there is some truth to it. The first big al-Qaeda attempt on the US involved two north-African-born Canadian residents trying to drive a bomb across the border to blow up Los Angeles airport in 1999. By the end of 2007, Canadians will need, for the first time, to show a passport before entering the US.
[...]

Canada has the right to form any idea of itself it wishes, whether the US approves or not. The problem is that constant invidious contrasts may have resulted in a misassessment of the terrorist threat Canada faces. This is in contrast to Australia, which assumes itself to be a big al-Qaeda target. Canada has tried to avoid the wrath of radical Islamists by just keeping its head down and making clear that it is not the US. Terrorists do not seem discriminating enough to tell the difference.

Can you hear that? It's 'Blame Canada' all over again.

Note how there's no mention of the fact that the WTC buildings were bombed in 1993 by radical Islamic terrorists, but that's ancient history, right? And they couldn't pin that one on Canada so it doesn't count.

I'll tell you what, Americans. Focus on your own damn security problems - which are rampant - and then get back to us about how wonderfully secure your country is compared to ours.

Say it with me now: wankers.