Where's Waldo?

Now first off, I certainly don't expect the Prime Minister to abandon his Christmas/New Years vacation, nor do I begrudge him the use of an Armed Forces plane to travel the world (even if it is used to visit unseemly foreign dictators/tyrants who feel the need to redeem their image, but that's another story) on our behalf.

But when a human catastrophe such as the current Asian basin earthquake/tsunami happens, one at least expects the leader of a G8 nation (and a nation that pats itself on the back frequently for its good deeds) to at least make a statement as to what his nation will do to help. He could have merely called in the press, said we were shocked, alarmed, concerned etc, etc, etc and will work night and day to render whatever assistance we can provide. Find someone in Ottawa to take the point and it could have been back to the beach, the dune or wherever it is that he's at.

I'll tackle the feeble early effort of "official Canada" in a later post, for now the generosity of the "average" Canadian is at least showing we have a pulse. But our government has more than dropped the ball on this situation. From the wandering ministers called in on their holidays to say a few words, over to the folks at External Affairs who really have no idea as to the status of missing Canadians we've been less than brilliantly served by our Political pontificators and our bureaucratic minions.

At least we managed to ratchet up our cheque writing abilities from the pathetic four million dollars to up and over 40 million today, but really we have the capability to offer the world much more than just dollars, but alas we seem mired in incompetence.

The public would have liked to have been reassured that we have a plan, a desire and the ability to do something. Starting with a least a statement from the guy that has been promising to improve our world image and return us to the prominent role we once held. So far were tall on talk, short on action. This whole situation has not been handled well by anyone in Official Ottawa, from a Prime Minister to minor minion in the offices of government we've dropped the ball, time to pick it up and get to work!