Roundup: Confessions of a style watcher

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In a sit-down interview with Canada AM, Lisa Raitt talked about her frustration with being a woman in politics, and so much attention is being paid to her appearance, particularly with things like weight gain and hairstyles. And absolutely, it’s part of the double standards that women face for a host of societal reasons, which is something that should be tackled in a variety of ways, including sauce for the gander – ensuring that much of the same language is applied to male MPs. That being said, I wanted to add a couple of observations as someone who is known for doing style critique of MPs (and occasionally senators). Number one – I don’t comment on weight or hair, because that’s not the point of what I’m doing. What I am doing however is commenting on the image that MPs put forward by their own conscious choice – do they project an image confidence that often comes along with looking your best? Or do they look like a fool because they make $160K per year and apparently still shop at Value Village, where nothing fits or coordinates? Add to that, I also look at how the men dress. It’s not just a suit and tie and there you go – for men it has a lot to do with the cut of the suit, and looking like they spent a moment to consider if those colours go together, or if they look like they got dressed in the dark in a rumpled suit that hangs like a used burlap sack? Image and appearance do matter, but only as a first impression, after which an MP needs to have substance to back it up. It’s sad that we have a number of MPs who have neither.

Good reads:

  • The government is hinting that its new anti-terror legislation is going to cross some privacy boundaries, which seems to be the first indication that the terrorists have won.
  • Here’s an interview with Senator Colin Kenny about the proliferation of anti-terror legislation.
  • Don’t worry, says Joe Oliver – they’ll still wind up with a surplus because shut up. And sure, but will they spend their $3 billion contingency fund to achieve it?
  • A new study says that staff cuts and a loss of expertise are part of what’s to blame with all of the procurements disasters with the military.

Odds and ends:

Thomas Mulcair is cleaning house and changing up some of his senior backroom ranks this week.

The Americans introduced new targets around methane reductions, but Canada isn’t going to match them, apparently.