Liberal MP Justin Trudeau and Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau might be on to something when they agreed to step into a boxing ring and hammer out their differences for three rounds, all in the name of charity.
While I’ve rarely been inspired politically by any Trudeau, I have to admit I was impressed by Justin’s grit in the ring (I had the pleasure of chatting with his mother, Margaret, once and she was delightful).
Brazeau, armed with a black belt in martial arts, beefy arms, a military background and street smarts, was the heavy 3-1 favourite heading into the bout dubbed Thrilla on the Hilla, which raised $230,000 for cancer research.
Trudeau, a pretty-boy pampered rich kid sporting the physique of a praying mantis, surprised everybody, likely himself included, when he weathered a first-round fury of punches from Brazeau.
Still standing in the second round, Trudeau turned the tide, taking advantage of Brazeau’s “rookie mistake” of coming out too strong too early.
Trudeau won with a TKO in the third and final round. He even bloodied Brazeau’s nose, leaving him with a trickle of Liberal red running down his face. Nice touch.
Now, these two aren’t exactly the best of friends. There is palpable animosity between them, and it clearly still exists after Brazeau declared he was a loser “two days out of three” after he donned a red and white Liberal jersey as part of a side bet the following Monday.
Judging by the smile on each man’s face after the bout, I think it’s safe to say they genuinely enjoyed beating the tar out of each other. Which led me to wonder: why don’t we do this more often?
If two respected individuals at the top of our political system can get into a sanctioned dust up, why can’t everyone?
Believe me, after covering city hall for four years, I can think of many times it was obvious a councillor wanted to bop another councillor, or a staffer wanted to bop a councillor, or a councillor wanted to bop a taxpayer, or a taxpayer wanted to bop anybody within reach.
It gets ugly at council meetings sometimes. An excellent and productive venting mechanism, not only for council but for any resident with pent up frustrations as we all exit a recession and deal with tedious city business, would be three rounds of boxing therapy.
We could call it the Brawl by the Mall. Or Clashin’ by the Bastion.
Charities would have a new form of funding, it would promote health and fitness, and we’d actually have a reason to build a multiplex.
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I’m concerned about the environmental track record the federal Conservative government is building, especially when it comes to marine habitat and oil pipelines threading through sensitive ecosystems.
In the government’s 2012 budget announced in late March, it was stated that new time limits to environmental assessments of major resource extraction projects would be implemented.
Worried that environmentalists could drag out the approval process to projects like the Northern Gateway Project, changes were made to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act that would impose a two-year limit on review panels. Rushing through environmental approval processes is a recipe for disaster, even though there is an estimated $500 billion worth of resource investment over the next 10 years at stake.
The Conservatives also may remove fish habitat protection out of the Fisheries Act, a questionable move in itself, but one made even more suspect as the Cohen Commission gets ready to release its report this summer.
If the judicial review over why Fraser River sockeye runs are declining is so important, why didn’t the government advise the commission that this change would be coming?
The Cohen Commission should be recalled to consider this new direction, otherwise its findings are already obsolete.
reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com
