Canada's Privacy Commissioner raised concerns about e-passports in her latest annual report.

The Government is currently testing the passport, which is embedded with a data chip and a digital picture to enable facial recognition.

According to Passport Canada, information found on page two of the Canadian passport will be loaded on to the e-passport. However, an image of the owners signature will not be included.

The pilot project for the e-passports is underway and a full roll-out to the general population is expected in early 2011.

Do you think an e-passport is safe?

Folks, once again it’s time to open up the virtual mail bag and field questions from our legions of fans,



Dear Don,

Can you help me with this embarrassing itch? I read the news and watch TV and I'm constantly scratching my head because I don't understand anything that's happening in the world. I scratch my head because I see the president of the United States tugging his forelock in front of a bunch of Communist commissars, apologizing for the fall in value of the American dollar and for not bringing Michelle along. I scratch my head harder when he tours the Chinese capital while the bodies of executed Uighur minorities are being ground into dog meat. When Obama deftly handled soft-lobbed questions from carefully selected Chinese students in Shanghai, I scratched right into my brain tissue and pulled out some green matter. Now my left arm is numb and everyone looks like a gerbil. Help!


Dear Help,

You must realize that, despite the Communist facade, China has a Katrillion dollars invested around the world, mostly in American dollars. When the American dollar drops, China's wealth drops in sync. That means the cost of keeping up their police state becomes onerous as the price tags of police batons, handcuffs and jackboots rise. I for one believe this is Obama’s clever way of taking advantage of the recession and destabilizing China's totalitarian regime.

Now, if the itch continues, duct tape a hard hat to your head and stop watching the CBC for six months.

Dear Don,

I just want to point out there was no H1N1 virus before Michael Ignatieff became the leader of the Liberals. I’m not saying he caused the virus, I’m just saying it seems too much like a coincidence. Conspiracy Minder

Dear Minder,

I think it’s more than a coincidence that politicians seem to be linked to the world’s plagues and pestilences. Scientists have now proven conclusively that Stephen Harper incubated SARS from a petri dish filled with Preston Manning’s DNA and Diane Finley’s used eyeliner. And it has always been rumoured that Jean Chretien had a homunculus stashed away at 24 Sussex Dr. who burst into Norwalk virus spores when Chretien was denied his dream of being PM until Canada’s bicentennial in 2067. (Or maybe the virus spores turned into the Young Liberals of Canada).


Dear Don,

My wife and I were out for a nice Sunday walk through Toronto and she was looking for used syringes to press into a scrap book. Suddenly, Jesus Christ, it’s Prince Charles and Camilla and their retinue walking down the sidewalk. I could tell it was them right away because you can’t stare at them directly for three seconds before wincing and feeling like you ate a bad hot dog. They looked exactly like themselves, only uglier.

The wife said, ‘Are they back in Canada already? I though they just left.’ And I say, ‘well, maybe they haven’t left yet or they missed their flight. Aren’t they here to open the Olympics or a new Tim Horton’s?’

So the wife says, ‘remember when we were young, every kid sang “God Save the Queen” in front of a portrait of Queen Elizabeth? Remember when her visits would fill pages and pages of the papers?’ So, we were wondering, how come the royals can shamble in and out of Canada without anybody caring, even us old folks? Royally Confused.

Dear Confused,

I’m a big believer that people, and even countries, get what they deserve. When Elizabeth II was beautiful and young she deserved the adulation of a country full of hope, energy and ambition, and we deserved her. Now that Canada is increasingly befuddled and directionless, we deserve royals who are as hideous as they are irrelevant. And they surely deserve us.

My advice is to see the Royal goblet as half-full rather than half-empty. It’s a small mercy that Charles and Camilla are too old to breed and present the Commonwealth with little princelings and princesses. It’s an awful enough world as it is.

Liberal MPs are accusing the Tories of wasting taxpayers' money on their cronies.

A Sun Media article reports that the Tories have:

Unleashed “unparalleled patronage” by appointing 233 former Conservative MPs, cabinet ministers, campaign workers, failed candidates and donors during the past 12 months.

The Liberals are saying that The Prime Minister broke his promise to establish a public appointments commission to ensure selections are based on merit.

Do you think Harper broke his promise?

According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Canada’s debt now stands at $5 billion.

However, Sun Media reports that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says there are no immediate plans for any spending cuts to reduce our national debt.

The CTF's federal director says continued government spending will 'actually create more problems for future taxpayers,' but Flaherty feels it just isn't the right time to reduce spending.

“We’ll start paying it down once we’re back in surplus,” Flaherty said. “We know how to balance budgets. We know how to run surpluses and we will. We have to get Canada through this recession and protect Canadians. We can’t pretend that Canada’s an island in the world because we’re not.”

Should the government be more concerned about our national debt?

What's a conservative?

The venerable Peter Worthington, founding editor of the Toronto Sun, ought to know.

No one would ever suspect him of being a knee-jerk liberal.

But this self-described conservative defines his views in terms that may surprise you.

Did you know, for example, that Worthington is basically pro-choice? Or that he's for gay rights? Did you know that he's a fan of Michael Ignatieff - the leader of the Liberal party of Canada?

I sure didn't - despite reading Peter Worthington's columns regularly - until I had the chance to speak to Mr. Worthington in person about his views.

What follows is a frank and eye-opening take on what it means to be a conservative in Canada today, from a fiery journalist who's never hesitated to speak his mind.