http://backofthebook.ca/2010/02/06/the-west-is-in-really/2013/ Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:35:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://backofthebook.ca/2010/02/06/the-west-is-in-really/2013/#comment-1745 Brian Brennan Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:07:50 +0000 http://backofthebook.ca/?p=2013#comment-1745 Aside from bringing a condescending Centre-of-Canada bias to their line of questioning, these Ontario journos elicited nothing more than two hours of predictable and unoriginal responses by only having western politicians on the panel. (Yes, I consider Axworthy to be a politician too, albeit a recovering one.) They could have talked to many writers, artists, scientists, historians, philosophers and others in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who could have told them a thing or two about the West that they didn't know before. But instead they chose these Palinesque cliche-mongers who had nothing more to say than "regional-differences ... blah-blah-blah ... cultural-diversity ... blah-blah-blah .... seat-at-the-table ... blah-blah-blah ...erect-a-firewall ... blah-blah-blah ... recognizing-our-distinctiveness ... blah-blah-blah ... growth-perspective ... blah-blah-blah ..." Well, I guess if you go looking for bubbas in the boondocks, you'll always find them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go shoot some gophers for supper. Aside from bringing a condescending Centre-of-Canada bias to their line of questioning, these Ontario journos elicited nothing more than two hours of predictable and unoriginal responses by only having western politicians on the panel. (Yes, I consider Axworthy to be a politician too, albeit a recovering one.) They could have talked to many writers, artists, scientists, historians, philosophers and others in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who could have told them a thing or two about the West that they didn’t know before. But instead they chose these Palinesque cliche-mongers who had nothing more to say than “regional-differences … blah-blah-blah … cultural-diversity … blah-blah-blah …. seat-at-the-table … blah-blah-blah …erect-a-firewall … blah-blah-blah … recognizing-our-distinctiveness … blah-blah-blah … growth-perspective … blah-blah-blah …” Well, I guess if you go looking for bubbas in the boondocks, you’ll always find them. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go shoot some gophers for supper.

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