5 Feet of Fury

‘Would-be hippies upset that Canada not run by would-be hippies,’ still confused by whole ‘Vichy/Vimy’ thing

Those two little words — “Vimy Ridge” — have struck pride into the hearts of generations of Canadians, long before Prime Minister Stephen Harper was even born.

Alas, Tim Naumetz — who writes for The Hill Times (and has a suspiciously foreign-sounding surname…) — seems unaware of this.

As are his “editors” at the Times, which, remember, purports to be a paper of record re: all the parliamentary goings-on in Ottawa.

Which is the capital of, you know, Canada.

Ah, yes: journalists — your moral and intellectual superiors!

Brian Lilley reports:

Then Naumetz nails it with some real hard evidence on how militaristic Harper is.

“The Harper government singlehandedly made Vichy a household name in Canada.”

That’s right, the Harper government has spent years playing up Canada’s role in the French Vichy regime that collaborated with Nazi Germany.

I could overlook this as a simple mistake the same way it was a simple mistake when John McCallum, then the Defence Minister, made the same mistake.

Why would McCallum, or Naumetz, know about significant battles from Canada’s history. Would be hippies and liberals for the most part no longer like the military. Naumetz could claim a typo but when you cite a battle as evidence of your thesis, make sure you get it right. Vimy, Vichy, what’s the difference?