Where does Peter McKay do his Christmas shopping?

Peter McKay appeared in from of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs last night, there to give his take for the inquisitive Senators on last summer’s evacuation of those Canadian passport bearing citizens from Lebanon, during those frantic days of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Putting aside the unknown answers to (unasked?) questions regarding that whole period of time (it would be interesting to know many of those evacuated at the time may have had rather lapsed links to Canada) and how many of those people brought back to Canada, have since returned to Lebanon now that things have calmed down (and if they did, whether they paid Canada back for their previous exit strategy). All of which could make for a whole new post some other time.

But at the committee meeting McKay made an interesting observation of the exodus at the time. The Foreign Minister seemed to compare the hectic evacuation process as akin to shopping at a mall at Christmas.

So let’s see, there would be the crowds, the noise, the frantic pace, the bombs, the aircraft flying above, the shells falling below. This is a normal day at the Bayshore shopping Centre in Nepean or the Rideau Centre a few short steps from McKay’s office?

While there is a lot to be explained about those days in July and August, for those that were in the departure area we’re pretty sure it wasn’t quite the same as the Boxing Day Sale at your local Bay. At least that's the impression one would get from this broadcast of As it Happens from July of this year, or this report from CBC News on those initial days of the evacuation.

Not sure about how things are going back in Ottawa these days, but if Mr. McKay is any indication, Christmas shopping has become a lot more dangerous than I remember. Considering Mr. McKay's testy nature of late, he might want to avoid the crowds this festive season.