First Time for Everything

So empty at the airport
You don't set off the doors
We used to feel like chorus girls
And now we feel like whores

Reading the Globe today I was disturbed to find myself in agreement with both Margaret Wente and the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Wente figures that responding to every incompetent would-be terrorist plot with new restrictions like banning toothpaste and spot-checking shoes for bombs is idiotic and I agree. As for the no-fly list, I guess it's like they always say, innocent until proven guilty, or until placed on a secret government list for unknown reasons with little hope of appeal.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo de Rato, head of the IMF, is concerned about Canada's (truly ridiculous) lack of a national securities regulator,

"Canada is shooting itself in the foot because of its resistance to forming a single securities regulator, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday morning.

"The Canadian economy is a very sophisticated economy, but in financial markets, you're not at the top, in the lead. It's not to your advantage," IMF managing director Rodrigo de Rato told the Globe and Mail."

Of course, given that we're talking about the IMF here, maybe it would be better if they just didn't say anything. We might as well get George Bush to intervene.

This isn't really an enormous issue, just one of those things that would have been taken care of by now in a properly functioning federation. Unless you think that public companies should generally just operate in one province and it's a good idea for anyone wanting to set up a business in Canada to deal with a whole pile of different regulatory regimes instead of just one, I suppose.

Of course, our federation isn't functioning all that well, as the latest bru-ha-ha over equalization demonstrates. And the Globe reports elsewhere that,

"The provinces have shot down Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's latest attempt to move unanimously towards a single Canadian securities regulator."

In other news, the Conservative party continues to try to appeal to the 5-10% of the population their focus groups have identified as normal (the kind of people who would vote for George Bush, apparently) and have decided to sponsor a car on the Canadian Nascar circuit (who knew there was such a thing - and I say that as someone challenging for the lead in my Nascar pool - stupid Ryan Newman...) in order to appeal to these good ol' boys. However, plans for key Conservative party members to star in a new Canadian comedy entitled, 'The Dukes of Sept-Iles' have been shelved after the party's Republican handlers determined it may not be advantageous to grant Stephen Harper's wish to play Boss Hogg, although they were reportedly disappointed not to be able to use Peter Mackay's acting talents in the role of Roscoe P. Coltrane.