Ottawa Citizen stands for obfuscation

The Ottawa Citizen editorial board has been weighing in on the federal election with their recommendation. Most of the recommendations have been simple to understand. The politician with the best track record, best platform, best hairdo, etc. But the pick they have made for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell is a bit of a puzzler... or do the editors have an agenda?

The current MP, Con Pierre Lemieux is battling with newcomer Liberal Dan Boudria. Dan's not exactly a newcomer. His dad, Don Boudria, held the riding for 200 years.

Pierre appears to be a nice guy. He certainly not afraid to take federal largess into his riding. Francophone east and south of Ottawa have been treated more than fair with Pierre at the controls. But when the Citizen's board asked him about the controversial bylaw in Russell that enforced bilingual commercial signs, Pierre scrambled for the exit, claiming no proficiency in either of Canada's official languages.

When Dan Boudria was asked the same question he stated, without any hesitation, that he favoured it. That was when three board members suffered heart attacks when they leaped to the phones to make sure that Pierre knew of the Boudria's stand. In their endorsement of Lemieux, the board made sure to say that it was nice for Boudria to have an opinion - but it was the wrong opinion. Funny thing though - I was not aware that the editorial board was running in the election.

In any issue there are a minimum of two sides. That is the essence of democracy. For the board to categorically say that Boudria's side was wrong is to try and set an agenda.

You have to ask - is the Ottawa Citizen francophobic? Can the Citizen be relied upon to be objective?