I am not sure we ever got enough opportunity to pick on old (or should I say young) Kirk MacDonald, the former short-lived BNB Minister. Now, at the ripe old age of somewhere in his early 30s, he is relegated to the dust bin of NB politics. Unless he makes a miraculous comeback which, when you are in your early 30s, that’s fairly easy to do.
Anyway, Captain Kirk drew my ire on numerous ocassions for his bombastic statements in the House such as the wonderful performance of exports from New Brunswick under his watch. Billion with a “B” he intoned just in case the Opposition couldn’t tell. Of course, like so much of the smoke and mirrors Tory rule, the Captain forgot to mention that New Brunswick had the worst export performance in Canada if you take out the Irving Refinery. But none of that really matters in the world of today’s politics where the sound bite is king and no one will question you (unless you happen to want to turn a few acres of wilderness into a high end residential development – then we get deep investigative journalism).
But it turns out that Kirk has longevity after all. The high school teacher cum commentator for the Telegraph Journal, Peter T. Smith, credits his assention to the ranks of the noble commentator to Kirk. Here’s an excerpt from his column today:
A first I thought I had nothing to offer [to posterity, one assumes], a position I’ve modified only slightly. Then Kirk MacDonald decided to draw attention to Tartan Day by discussing what was under his kilt from the floor of the Legislature in front of a class of Grade 6 students, and I thought – hey, I can offer an intelligent comment on that.
Ah yes, throw that wonderful memory of Legislative Assembly grace and dignity back at us. Of all the memories of the Lord years, that’s the one I would most like to forget.
They say old Kirk is contemplating a run for the Tory leadership.
I hope he leaves his kilt behind.