Prime Minister Paul Martin is insisting that the United States seek permission before firing any missiles over Canada. Our big buddies to the South have said that the United States would not consult us before firing at incoming missiles over our airspace. To that notion, the Prime Minister says, "This is our airspace, we're a sovereign nation and you don't intrude on a sovereign nation's airspace without seeking permission."
This of course stems from Martin's courageous decision to not sign on to the U.S. missile defence program. I was never comfortable with Dubya's eager desire to have us sign on. We're not the 51st state and I feared the possibilities should we have buckled to his pressure. Make no mistake, America is our ally, but our role in the missile defence program reked of subserviency.
In a less courageous move, our Ontario government passed legislation yesterday recognizing same-sex marriage. Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased this legislation passed, but I'm not proud of the manner in which the votes were registered.
The government approved the bill by a simple voice vote, which allowed it to pass without forcing Liberal MPPs who object to same-sex marriage to go on the record as having voted against their party. This is cowardly. We have the right to know which MPPs don't want to recognize gay and lesbian marriages. They need to be accountable for their vote and permitting them to vote anonymously is a serious blow to the entire democratic process.
Regardless of how they were implemented, these are two positive political actions on the Federal and Provincial levels respectively. The politics are indeed dancing because we've got da groovy beat.
