Michael Ignatieff, the United Kingdom and the Conservative Party of Canada

I recently received my latest partisan get-my-blood-boiling free-mailer from the Conservative Party, courtesy of Gary Goodyear. It's part of the Conservative party's "Ignatieff: Just visiting" campaign, smearing the Liberal leader for having the temerity to become an internationally-recognized scholar with long-term academic postings in the UK and at at Harvard (quelle horreur!) and alleging that he is insufficiently patriotic to Canada.

Now, I suppose that reasonable people can disagree on Ignatieff's long-term commitment to staying in politics (and in Canada) for long if this gig doesn't pan out for him. But, the historian in me can't help but find it fascinating/amusing that the Conservative Party of Canada is attacking a Liberal leader for being too closely tied to the United Kingdom! John Diefenbaker, champion of all things British and Commonwealth, must be rolling over in his grave to witness the party he gave so much of his life to engaging in petty partisan attacks using "Britishness" as a club to beat its opponents with.

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