Coincidence?

The Prime Minister's piano moment with Yo-Yo Ma (now a popular YouTube video) showcased his love for The Beatles, but could it have been a stab at his opponent, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff?

A few years ago, Ignatieff took issue with an essay by Conor Gearty, a professor of Human Rights Law at the London School of Economics, had written mentioning him. Gearty's article described how liberal intellectuals had helped justify the use of torture. According to this article, which was sent to the Ottawa press gallery a few months ago, "Ignatieff's response was as violent as it was unexpected. The harm done to his reputation by the article he insisted, was so great that it could not even be remedied by the chance to rebut. He had no alternative but to resign immediately from the editorial and advisory board of the magazine and request that any syndication of the Gearty's piece be withheld."

The title of the essay published in Index on Censorship was "With a little help from our friends: Torture is wrong and ineffective. So why is it making a comeback?"