While Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence was mesmerizing the gullible with her bogus hunger strike, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair was avoiding any association with her poorly conceived publicity stunt.
Why is that?
One would think that since the left was so taken by Spence's mission to embarrass the Harper government that Mulcair would have been there on a regular basis, stirring the pot of fish broth, and using it as an opportunity to create a wedge issue that might strength the NDP's presence in the polls.
But he was nowhere to be found.
And where was Theresa Spence's NDP MP, the camera-loving and usually overly-vocal Charlie Angus who, only a year ago, was literally weeping in feigned shock over the deplorable conditions on the frozen environs of the Cree reserve of Attawapiskat, even though he knew for years that conditions there were brutal?
The last we heard from Angus he was blogging for the Huffington Post some 11 days into Spence's diet and, according to the hyperbole of the headline, begging the prime minister "to step in now before Theresa Spence dies." Since then? Not much.
Fool me once, et cetera.
Instead, both Mulcair and Angus left the work of talking Spence down from her tree to Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae and Cree NDP MP Romeo Saganash -- the turning point supposedly the signing of 13-point plan by the NDP, the Liberals and others to pressure the Harper government on issues that include treaty rights and violence against aboriginal women.
And, let's not forget the role of Spence's fed-up band council demanding she either return or face ouster.
But good for Saganash, if his involvement holds true.
After being absent-with-leave since October to deal with alcohol dependency, he has only held his position as the NDP's critic for intergovernmental aboriginal affairs for a little over a week.
And, no sooner is he out of rehab and on the job than he was helping convince Spence to end her charade to save whatever face remains.
We commend him for a job well done, and suggest to Spence that she now turn her attention to receipts and spreadsheets.
Really, enough is enough.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/01/25/overdue-end-to-pathetic-sideshow
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