The Minister of Tequila

With news of a second Conservative cabinet minister having an airport meltdown – this time Minister of Veterans Affairs Jean-Pierre Blackburn, over not wanting to turn over a bottle of tequila – the Opposition is already having a field day. During Friday’s Question Period, the Bloc already dubbed him as the “Minister for Tequila.”

But then I saw this story – that CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes is apparently on the bubble and may face cancellation. Which is a huge shame. If 22 Minutes goes, we won’t have any political satire left on English television in this country. And an incident like the Minister of Tequila is ripe for 22 Minutes to take on.

Just this last week, 22 Minutes took on Helena Guergis’ meltdown, and perpetual outrage machine John Baird. They gave a spookily accurate take on backbenchers in the House.

And who can forget openly gay cast member Gavin Crawford taking on Michael Ignatieff?

 

Or calling out Jason Kenney?

As a politics reporter, I think it’s important that we have an outlet like 22 Minutes, and I hope that CBC comes to its senses and not only renews it for another season, but increases their episode order so that their season doesn’t end in March like it usually does.

Dale Smith is a freelance journalist in the Parliamentary Press Gallery and author of The Unbroken Machine: Canada's Democracy in Action.

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