In Quebec The Train Go Boom!

"Shit has its own integrity"
Gore Vidal, The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal, p. 23

The Oracle of Ottawa thought he could take the summer off. The hit rates on blogs just tank in the summer, readers and most bloggers have a life after all. And to tell you the truth Dear Reader, the Oracle of Ottawa was getting tired of talking to himself. Blogging is a lot like being married to French girl, you talk to yourself a lot, and you learn to get used to it.

Christian Paradis brings industry to Lac-Megantic!

It was at a fine posh summer social engagement when the television came on just after the first smoked hamburgers were being delivered from the "smoker", when the Oracle of Ottawa first got ear of the massive tragedy of seventy tanker cars that somehow rolled down a hill of several kilometres in distance to derail and blow up inside of a town center at a place called Lac-Megantic Quebec in the middle of the night,early Saturday morning. It was Saturday evening when the Oracle of Ottawa caught the French CBC live coverage. They said it was a crude oil fire. What the hell is crude oil doing in a small town in Eastern Quebec?

Much to the Oracles utter surprise was the galling show up of the minions of the 'Harper Government' like this train wreck was a great photo - op! Denis "Blinkey" Lebel the minister of Transport made a very long appearance, no doubt the Liberals were practically cumming in their shorts as the awesome Minister made his own Liberal attack ads for the next general election. To the Oracle of Ottawa it was full 'Harper Government' surreal, as the Minister babbled about how safe rail transport is as the town behind him was going up in smoke! Only the 'Harper Government' could be so utterly insane. This was followed up by the Local MP for Lac-Megantic, who just happened to be Christian Paradis! The Minister of Industry for the 'Harper Government'! It all couldn't have happened to a nicer and more deserving guy, could it? It certainly appears that he brought much industry indeed to his home town....

This will make for very interesting Question Periods come September. One wonders if Minister "Blinkey" Lebel will still be of the view that it is not the Governments job to insure the safety of the general public by regulating private corporate transportation companies. The Oracle wonders how much fun we all have watching that come the fall.