Testimony became a little testy at the parliamentary committee discussing foreign interference in Canadian elections..Michael Cooper, Conservative MP for St. Albert-Edmonton pushed back a little at the preening self-congratulatory language aired by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, as she addressed Chinese interference in the 2021 election..Cooper reacted to the Minister’s bragging by saying, "You've talked tough. You've talked tough with your Beijing counterpart, so you say. You even stared into his eyes, I'm sure he was very intimidated," quipped Cooper during questioning of the minister during a March 9 meeting of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC)..In response, the minister doubled down: "So, I won't comment on your question, particularly the beginning, because I think the tone ..." Or so she began. (It’s a common witness-answering tactic to use up the allotted minutes with irrelevancies.) But Cooper interjected, trying to keep the minister on the topic by repeating his question about how many visas were turned down by the government to protect Canada. . Michael Cooper M.P.Michael Cooper, MP for St. Albert-Edmonton .Liberal Committee Chair Bardish Chagger shut them down. When proceedings recommenced, the minister became smarmy with MP Cooper by saying, "Mr. Cooper, you would know China because you went to China as a parliamentarian in the past."."Madam minister, Madam chair," protested Cooper, asking again how many Chinese visas were not granted to Chinese diplomats..It turned out to be just one. So, the embarrassed Liberals — just one? — turned the exchange into a gender-bender. A chorus of lies against Cooper came back as the response. It was all now about gender and offending females..Liberal and NDP MPs made a spectacle of themselves by calling out Conservative MP Michael Cooper over what they described as a "shameful" and "completely unacceptable" comment he made to their beloved minister of foreign affairs..Rachel Blaney, a New Democrat from British Columbia said, "as a woman politician" she remembered being asked at the start of her career if she was tough enough. “I think it's absolutely devastating that sort of frame of reference would be used in this way. I believe the minister has a position of power regardless of gender identity," said Blaney. "I think it's shameful that was even said in this place.".Dominic LebLanc, minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, thanked Blaney for calling out "inappropriate comments.".As the meeting was about to break up, Liberal Jennifer O'Connell made a point of order, regarding Cooper's conduct. "Every single day we sit in this house as women and we hear these — they're called micro-aggressions, but they don't feel very micro," said O'Connell. "I think he owes the committee and the minister an apology."."That was completely unacceptable, unacceptable behaviour, and I demand an apology," Sherry Romando, another Liberal said.."Me too. I demand an apology from the member in question," agreed Liberal Greg Fergus. Liberal Chair Bardish Chagger went completely goofy and said, "There's a lot of things around this place that make me puke in my mouth ... we can be better than this.".Cooper should not apologize for doing his job properly. Everyone watching could see his interjections had nothing to do with “gender”, "woman power, or anything else. He tried to keep the minister on track, and his comments had nothing to do with the minister’s gender, but everything to do with the historical lack of action by her government to hold the regime in Beijing accountable for interfering in elections and harassing and threatening Canadian citizens..Cooper added: “Canadians need concrete action against Beijing’s interference, not symbolic stare-downs. What we have again confirmed today is not a single one of Beijing's diplomats have been expelled, despite all the warnings to the Trudeau government about interference in our democracy and the intimidation of Canadians from diaspora communities.".The Liberals are politically embarrassed after a series of explosive reports described how China’s agent proxies interfered in the 2021 election. So far, the Liberals have been very condescending to the opposition, filibustering attempts to have top bureaucrats testify, as it is clear the Liberals were amply briefed on the illegal China interference in Canadian elections..So, when reality hits, the Liberal-NDP cabal diverts and loudly pirouettes with feigned outrage about feminism..We've all seen this guilty dance before.
