Dean Leask, Contributor

With all of the current uproar over the prorogation of our parliament I thought I should shed some light on what is happening.

Personally, I have to admit when Prime Minister Stephen Harper went through with the suspension of parliament, so as a nation we could enjoy and embrace some good old-fashioned patriotism; it made perfect sense to me. Look, I know the media down east towards the centre of the universe is beside themselves, who wouldn’t be? I mean they have nothing to write about now.

I could be generous and throw a couple of topics their way; perhaps they could do a story on our government’s swift and deliberate response to the Haiti earthquake crisis. Possibly they may want to focus on how Canada managed to get the U.S. to drop the Buy American trade dispute. So it’s obvious to me contrary to the reporting being conducted, the government is still doing a lot of business.

The national media will have us believe Harper and his government are hiding from some substantial and negative impact that will come out of the hearing on the Afghan detainee issue. Even if this was true I have a hard time believing an issue that has been brewing since 2005 is going anywhere in a couple of months, it just is not that plausible.

While I am at it, personally, I just can’t feel much remorse for a bunch of terrorists who have such disregard for women, and at the same time are trying to kill Canadian soldiers. The public frenzy cooked up over this so-called “outrage” is a classic example of media hype. Look, I know the recent massive protest of a couple of hundred people in Calgary shows the public upheaval associated with Prime Minister Harper’s decision.

I recently attended a demonstration in High River as well, although not associated with a Facebook page, through the national media focus we managed to garner several thousand concerned citizens. The theme was a little different, however. You see the group had congregated to celebrate the Olympic torch relay, being Canadian, and to support our athletes.

These public gatherings must not be underestimated, it is the true measure of the Canadian spirit. As for the High River event it must be said there is something so local and personal to see local country star George Canyon sing a little Johnny Cash with some Olympic flare. To see that kind of turnout should be the real national story — folks we are hosting the Olympics, it’s a big deal. The whole world will be focused on us as a nation, this could possibly be our best showing at any Olympics ever.

For instance, if Canada makes the men’s Olympic gold medal game on Feb. 28 I am fairly certain it will set a new Nielson ratings record. I will guarantee if it doesn’t it will still annihilate any session of question period on CPAC in comparison.

The populace of this country is not concerned presently with politics, we are focused on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Sports in this country bonds us and brings us together better than anything I know, from the Grey Cup, to the Brier, and to the Stanley Cup these are things that bring out the masses and give us pride in who we are. Why wouldn’t we want to leave politics out of sports, we all know there is enough of that already.

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