Vote for Shelly Glover?

Good Day Readers:

We've following the debate between senior federal Conservative Member of Parliament Vic Toews and Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett being covered on Truth To Power (www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com) by The Public Eye for a couple reasons. First Shelly Glover is our MP and second we have had dealings with Mr. Lett.

As an experienced politician, Mr. Toews in committing the cardinal sin of mixing it up with a journalist rather than playing him like a violin. As for Ms Glover, as a constituent we are disappointed and embarrassed by her performance thus far. Unless there's a dramatic turnaround we cannot justify voting for her in the next election. She is given to making public statements which are heavy-handed and appears to be experiencing difficulty making a smooth transition from police officer to that of savvy politician. It seems she has already annonyed and alienated many voters.

Kevin Engstrom is a columnist for the Winnipeg Sun and blogs under The Jerk.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
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29 January 2010
Canadian Federal Member of Parliament / Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and "my BFF"

Toews to Freep: don't attack my BFF

by Kevin Engstrom

As originally posted on: The Jerk (http://blog.canoe.ca/thejerk)
January 27, 2010

It has been said that if two men are fighting, it's likely a woman isn't far away.

Pretty sure I'm butchering that line, almost certain I'm ignoring its sexist tone, and absolutely positive I'm missing the original intention of that expression. Having said that, the line works as it relates to Vic Toews' recent verbal offensive against Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett, which is apparently tied to the latter's criticism of the public safety czar's BFF Shelly Glover.

Within hours of my post documenting Toews' trash talk of Lett, Manitoba's top Tory delivered another missive that was less than complimentary to both Lett and his employer.

"Thanks for the PR advice," Toews wrote in an e-mail that found my inbox this morning. "Ordinarily I don't comment publicly on the blatherings of Dan Lett nor, generally speaking, do I even bother to respond to requests for interviews from the 'other paper'. I know that by the time they contact me the story is written and they are simply asking for a match to ignite the gasoline they have already poured all over me. You don't have to tell me that after years of handing them that match, it can be a painful experience.

"However, it does bother me to see Mr. Lett gratuitously and maliciously attack a new colleague of mine who is doing an excellent job of representing her constituents in St. Boniface. We may not all be deep thinkers like Dan Lett, but I think it is safe to say that Shelly Glover has done more good for the people of Manitoba in her one year in elected office than he has done in all his wasted years of picking lint from his belly button.
"So, if I am once again handing Dan a match, it is for a good cause. Friends are tough to find in this business and I don't mind getting burned at the stake because I am proud to be Shelly Glover's colleague."

Gee, Vic, don't hold back ... tell us what you really think of the guy.

I get that Toews is trying to protect his BFF from Lett making this whole "Who is Tom Flanagan?" thing bigger than it really is — a minor flub by Glover that 97% of the Canadian population would have probably made, too. Calling it "one of the great live-TV boners of all time" is a severe torque on Lett's part. While I'm at it, the word "boner" jumped the shark decades ago.

That said, as much as I don't want to compliment the competition, implying the newsroom over on Mountain Avenue is filled with peeps out to get Toews probably isn't fair to the vast majority of journalists who work there.

More importantly, Glover is an adult. She should be able to handle criticism without having her BFF jump to her defence, no?

Lett, it should be noted, hasn't responded to my request for comment, as he is apparently in Haiti. Should be interesting to see what his response is, if there is one at all, when he gets back.