As a police officer, Shelly Glover is no stranger to drive-by shootings in Winnipeg, the murder capital of Canada. But this week, as a politician, she found herself the victim of a drive-by smear, aided and abetted by the local press. The scene of the crime was Global News, which carried a short, throwaway interview with Glover about the Conservatives' chances of winning Liberal seats in Manitoba. Taking one line of her answer out of context, "professional" reporters in the city managed to manufacture a controversy based on the false premise that Glover attacked Liberal Anita Neville for being too old to be in Parliament. For the record, here's the entire question and answer with Shelly Glover so you can see for yourself exactly what was said about Neville. Nelly Gonzalez: We know that most, uh, Manitobans here are, uh, usually vote Conservative. What do you think...in many of the ridings....but , I mean, there's a couple that could be up for
The origin of the Usher of the Black Rod goes back to early fourteenth century England . Today, with no royal duties to perform, the Usher knocks on the doors of the House of Commons with the Black Rod at the start of Parliament to summon the members. The rod is a symbol for the authority of debate in the upper house. We of The Black Rod adopted the symbol to knock some sense and the right questions into the heads of Legislators, pundits, and other opinion makers.