Free Republic

OTTAWA (CP) - Paul Martin supporters are targeting some Liberal MPs in a bid to purge the party of any pockets of dissent against his leadership, insiders say. Martin denied the charge Thursday. Party sources and MPs said numerous Liberals are being targeted in their home ridings by challengers vying for local nominations at pre-election meetings expected early next year. The movement took stride after Martin's very first day as Liberal leader last month when he announced he would halt the current practice of protecting sitting MPs. He said it is an attempt to make the process more democratic. Critics...

Sheila Copps, the Canadian heritage minister, has an outstanding sense of timing. While Americans are still in the healing process after the Sept. 11 tragedy, Copps has seen fit to announce that the American nation has no heroes. In a mind-boggling statement uttered last week, Copps asserted that Americans are "hungry for role models" and that they have no choice but to resort to Hollywood to find their heroes. With great self-satisfaction, Copps boasted, "When we created Canada, we didn't need a revolution — we had an evolution." In spewing this historical ignorance and ugly bigotry, Copps clearly prides herself...

I was watching some cable station and a commercial came on for The Anne Murray Christmas Album. And I found myself wondering just when Anne Murray started turning into Harvey Keitel. She's the spitting image now. Maybe the same commercial is running on some entirely different station as Harvey Keitel Sings O Holy Night And 20 Other Seasonal Classics. Anyway, after the thought had occurred, I found the idea of Anne singing Yuletide favourites somehow rather ordinary. So I was pleased to read in this newspaper that the Royal Canadian Mint was radically reinventing the "holiday" songbook with its new...