Milking populist outrage has its risks, as the Conservatives may be finding out. When you throw your lot in with the crusading activist crowd, things can get out of hand quickly. Ask the anti-tobacco gang at Health Canada to write a bill that would ban fruit-flavoured cigarillos, for instance, by claiming (based on but a whiff of evidence) that they’re targeted at kids, and suddenly you might find yourself trying to back away from legislation banning Marlboros, sets of a trade dispute, and threatens hundreds of perfectly good jobs.
It’s a tale so nice, I wrote it twice, first as an online column
How Ottawa bungled the easiest health law ever
Then again, slightly differently, as a reported column in the deadtree edition
A Tory cakewalk goes up in smoke
Vote online for your favourite!