Stephen Harper's response was too quick, too defensive, too abrasive, and too angry to be credible. This was not a reflexive response, either. It was a strategic one, clearly designed to signal to Conservative staff and consultants that everything will be fine and they will ride this out so long as people stay with the script and don't talk.

The Harper government recently forced the daughter of a war bride to file an action in the Federal Court to gain her citizenship because, although she grew up in Canada, she was born out of wedlock. What does that say about the fundamental human and civil rights of Canadian women, especially on the day we celebrate their great strides?

In a powerful op-ed in the New York Times, Greg Smith, a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, called the environment at the firm "as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it." Sounds a lot like modern politics in Canada.