Dear Diary: What a long week! Really looking forward to the saffron festival tonight at the Iranian embassy
the National Post satirically re-imagines a week in the life of a newsmaker. This week, Joseph Brean imagines what Heinbecker might have been thinking.Fun weekend! But now I am back to work at protocol headquarters at Global Affairs, where our motto is our mission. “Diplomats Do It Properly.” Sounds better in Latin. I am here early arranging a tea service, because Mélanie Joly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, wishes to visit. I wonder why.
“Well,” Joly says. “I’m glad to hear you read the newspaper. Because you’re in it. At a tea party. A Russian tea party. For Russia Day. Did you go to a f—ing tea party for Russia Day at the Russian embassy?”Article contentTurns out this is a very bad problem indeed. More than one problem, actually. There is the problem for me, for my fellow protocol experts, for the minister, the government, Canada itself. It’s as if each time I open up one problem, there is another problem inside.
But now the minister is calling the whole thing “unacceptable.” If there’s one thing a career in diplomacy has taught me, it’s that Donald Rumsfeld knew what’s up. There are known knowns. That’s easy. There are known unknowns, which bother us so much. And there are the sneaky unknown unknowns. This one, however, is the rarest of all, the unknown known. Seems to me the minister knew nothing of it, any of it, all of it. All of what? Exactly.
“What the heck is Chicken Kyiv?,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “Actually, how do you feel about poutine? I’m a big fan. I may be a senior Government of Canada employee, specializing in diplomatic protocol, but I’d sell my soul for poutine. Such a robust connection to history. Mmmm, love that poutine,” I said, en français, as we are in Gatineau, and it’s proper to speak French. Not sure why everyone is looking at me.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bombardier CEO Eric Martel meets Montreal union in push for labour peaceMartel agreed to attend a meeting with the union on Friday
Read more »
U.S. senators press TikTok on whether it allows Russian ‘pro-war propaganda’Republican senators grill TikTok executives over company allowing Russian state-sponsored content
Read more »
Opinion: Atomic dreams: We need to imagine nuclear doomsday, for the world’s sakeThe distant-seeming threat of nuclear weapons seems like a relic, existing largely in the imagination – meaning that it is a failure of imagination on our part today to not focus on the real risk of nuclear annihilation
Read more »
This Ontario couple wants a retirement plan that ensures support for their disabled sonExpert says the task is doable, but if they wait until age 65, things change dramatically
Read more »
Experts torn over when 'demand destruction' could trigger gasoline price reliefExperts are torn on when or even if drivers might see significant \u0027demand destruction\u0027
Read more »
Cancelled flights rise across U.S. as summer travel heats upAirlines have struggled with bad weather and shortages of workers, especially pilots, leading to widespread cancellations.
Read more »