Rex Murphy: Something fishy this way comes

Something fishy this way comes or Rex Murphy -- on sponsorship ads, in his own inimitable way April 16, 05, A21

Rex Murphy is a commentator with CBC-TV's The National and host of CBC Radio One's Cross-Country Checkup.

Reading accounts of how Ottawa poured money into ad campaigns that sought to save Canada by advising Quebeckers on how maintain fishing rods, I was delighted to learn that the commission had played some of these radio spots for which so many millions were fire-hosed into Quebec advertising firms. Remember, according to Jean Chrétien, this was a "fight" to save Canada, that it was, according to Scott Brison, the Liberals' high-profile convert, "a war."

Read closely. It's a peculiar war that savages the enemy with the likes of this: "If the inside of the guide ring is scratched, if the line has been exposed to the sun for too long or if it was in contact with insecticides, there's a good chance you could seriously shorten the life of your fishing line. Which is why you should check your line and change it at least once a season."

Well, if I were an ardent separatist, burning under the imperial boot of Ottawa, and haunted by the dream of a independent nation of Quebec, that would pull me up short. Copy like that would have me jump from Hotspur to Hamlet in a trice. Maybe even half a trice.

I can see it now: "Is my guide ring scratched? How come the PQ or the Bloc never engage with my tackle? Do they care if my 'line' has been exposed to the sun and insecticides? Clearly, they do not. Avaunt, separatism. I am now voting federalist."

Thanks to the person who provided me with this. I love Rex's way with words. Would someone hire Rex away from the CBC for a good salary?

While you're at it, hire Carla Robinson before the CBC turns her into one of them