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Canada would seem to be a country with a very fragile ego. It is currently convulsed with outrage over disparaging comments about Quebec and Quebeckers (aka, les Quebecois), made by a television sock puppet character known as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. The outrages occurred on the NBC series Late Night with Conan O’Brien, which has been broadcasting from Toronto the past week, with a million-dollar (C$) subsidy partially-funded by government monies. Perhaps the word “insult” in the character’s name might be the first clue that anyone or anything falling within his purview is subject to ridicule, with no necessary...

American talk-show host Conan O'Brien turned out to be Conan the Barbarian on his road show into Canada this week. His NBC program threw oil and matches down our national fault line Thursday night with crude jokes about French Canadians. The show featured a puppet called Triumph the Insult Dog, which wandered around Quebec City's winter carnival, sporting a French beret. It stopped Quebecers in the street and said stuff like: "So you're French and Canadian, yes? So you're obnoxious and dull?" Also: "You're in North America. ... Learn the language!" Thanks for the insults, Conan. Somehow you forgot to...

Feb. 14, 2004. 01:00 AM Conan the obnoxious In an editorial yesterday, we praised U.S. talk-show host Conan O'Brien for bringing his program here and featuring lots of Canadian talent. Well, we spoke far too soon. The editorial went to press before Thursday's episode was broadcast. Had we known the mean-spirited content of that instalment of NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien, we never would have invited him to return anytime. The program featured a nasty segment taped in Quebec city in which the show's obnoxious canine hand puppet stopped unsuspecting residents in the street and crudely insulted them for...