Unapologetic

Martin finally apologized for the stillborn attack ad that suggested that the Canadian military would be complicit in a scheme to impose martial law in our cities. Canadian cities. In Canada.

No, it wasn't Prime Minister Paul Martin, it was Liberal MP Keith Martin. Keith, who has already broken step with his party over private healthcare, apologized for the ad which he described as "appaling".
"Some idiot inadvertently sent out an ad that was not approved and not supported by the party with the 11 [ads] that were supported."

Are Keith Martin's sentiments shared by other Liberals? I had the opportunity today to speak to Liberal Defence Minister Bill Graham at the end of a town hall meeting with the federal candidates in the riding of Toronto Centre. I asked him what he thought of the ad. He called it "stupid" and echoed the view that it was the independent and unauthorized work of some fool. He added, "Thankfully, it never made it on the air." I suppose it's good to know that the Defence Minister doesn't support slandering the military.

I wonder then, who was the idiot that let the ad get as far as it did? Ujjal Dosanjh, the famously ethical Health Minister, had already said that the Prime Minister personally approved of all of the ads. On CTV's Canada AM this morning and then again at a campaign rally in Markham, Paul Martin confirmed Dosanjh's earlier statement, and clarified that the military ad was one of those that he approved. On why he decided to pull the ad in the end, "The ad was pulled because the ad was pulled and because we felt there were better ads." Apparently, he didn't find it to be offensive, and certainly found no need to issue an apology for it.

I think I may have uncovered the identity of the idiot that Keith Martin and Bill Graham were referring to.