Piling on Dion or changing the channel?

Liberal leader Stephane Dion made his ill-advised comments Wednesday in Quebec City. We reported them on our national newscast that night. The Prime Minister and the Pakistan high commissioner reacted to them Thursday. Now, in what is beginning to look like piling on — perhaps in order to keep voter attention away from the AECL-Lunn controversies of earlier this week — Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier takes this shot at Dion, in the form of a letter to the Pakistanis:

His Excellency Musa Javed Chohan
High Commissioner for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
10 Range Road
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 8J3

Excellency:

 Let me begin by noting once again that Canada greatly appreciates Pakistan's contribution to the fight against terrorism and extends our sympathy for the losses that your country has endured.  Canada will
continue to work with Pakistani and Afghan officials to improve the management of your shared border.

 I believe it is necessary for me to reaffirm Canada's position at this time  due to recent remarks made by the Leader of the Official Opposition which do not reflect the views of the Government. 

I regret if the remarks in question have caused any consternation. Once again, I assure you that our policy remains consistent.

      Sincerely,

Maxime Bernier
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Of course, to Dion’s credit, he has no qualms in facing an unscripted scrum of reporters. Can’t say the same for Bernier. His scrums have been few and far between in the Foreign Affairs portfolio and, forgetting for a moment the dubious proposal of sending NATO troops into Pakistan that Dion hinted at, many Canadians might like to get a little more information from Bernier about what he and his department diplomatically to pressure the Pakistanis to lock down their border with Aghanistan.