Because Nothing is More Important than Hockey?

If you're a news junkie, it's been quite the week. Unless you're the CBC, apparently.

Seriously--Super (Duper) Tuesday, along with results that show different kinds of support for the various potential candidates for President. The resurgence of conservative stupidity (cough Huckabee, cough) in the U.S. and Romney subsequently "suspending" his campaign. Ultimata in Vilnius over NATO involvement in Afghanistan. Grandstanding in Parliament by nearly everyone--though my favo(u)rite story was yesterday's.

Briefly, I promise: Harper's Conservative government wants a crime bill passed. It's through the house and under review by the Senate. The Senate is primarily Liberal. The government accuses the senate of stalling on this crime legislation because the senate is obstructionist and what else do you expect from Liberals. The Senate says they received the bill for study just before the end of the session in December, after Parliament dinked around with it for 18 months, they've been meeting extra hours since coming back, and they'll finish when they finish.

That's not enough for the Conservative government, which is desperate for an election this spring. The Conservative government wants to give the Senate a March 1 deadline to pass the bill or not. They've made it a "confidence motion," which means that if the Senate doesn't meet this deadline, the government will ask the Governor-General (the Queen's repesentative in Canada) to dissolve the government and call for an election.

The thing is, Parliament doesn't have the right to dictate the Senate's operations and timeline. The Prime Minister certainly doesn't. Besides, the Prime Minister already set the next election for the fall of 2009. Constitutional lawyers, and possibly the Governor-General's staff (she doesn't have to dissolve government just because the Prime Minister asks), will be scratching their heads over their law books this weekend, I suspect.

But here's my real point--where is the CBC in all of this? Normally, they have an analyst panel, called At Issue, once or twice a week to debate the finer points of leadership and political spin. At Issue has talked about smaller--and impossibly larger--issues than any one of these. However, this week's events are apparently not worth calling in their experts for.

Instead, the CBC broadcast Monday and Tuesday from LA, the "hub of Super-Duper Tuesday." OK, the CBC understood that that was a big deal. Sorta. The host, Peter Mansbridge, got to wear shirtsleeves and squint into the sun. For the rest of the week, they're broadcasting from Winkler, Manitoba--the small town that won the right, this year, to host the official celebration of "Hockey Day in Canada."

As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.

First, isn't every day "hockey day in Canada"? Seriously. When does a day go by that someone somewhere in this vast country isn't taking out his false teeth and hopping into the rink? But the CBC has this special event yearly where small towns send in videos that "prove" that they're the hockiest. Woo. Go, Winkler.

Second, are you kidding me? This week? When the Conservative government is tabling its third promised confidence motion? When the Conservative government is tinkering with Constitutional matters? When the Canadian Defence Minister, who begs to be called "boyishly charming," is making his lower lip quiver about getting more troops from Europe?

What, CBC can't convene a remote At Issue panel? It must be technically possible--so they're choosing not to? Why?

CTV, the "other" "national" Canadian network, does sloppy news. They have interviewed all the usual suspects on camera and allowed them to breathlessly repeat hits on the "Liberal Senate" ad nauseum. If political discourse in Canada falls to the Limbaugh/Fox News level of U.S. political discourse (and please, NOOOO), CTV will be leading that charge.

I expect better from the CBC. I at least expect the CBC to participate in public discourse. But late this week, unless it happens on ice, I guess the CBC isn't interested.