Let’s dispose of the comical misreading of history this past week by Stephen Harper—who appears to be coming unhinged after the last few public opinion polls—and his henchman John Baird.

In 1939, J.S. Woodsworth, a pacifist, did oppose Canada’s entry into WWII, but he was nearly alone in doing so. His was a vastly unpopular stand that was unsupported by his CCF caucus, and it eventually cost him his party’s leadership. Prime Minister Mackenzie King saluted his opponent’s politically suicidal courage:

There are few men in this Parliament for whom I have greater respect than the leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. I admire him in my heart, because time and again he has had the courage to say what lays on his conscience, regardless of what the world might think of him. A man of that calibre is an ornament to any Parliament.

The House of Commons was once a place where civility reigned.

Now we have the likes of Angry Baird:



Whoops, sorry. Here you go:



But in case readers get the wrong idea, I would never equate Harper to this guy:



Good grief, the difference is obvious. Harper is a cat person.