Lazy reporting causes ethnic media controversy

Another day, another trivial story on how politicians are exploiting the “ethnic” vote.

Maybe there’s something in yesterday’s story about the Conservative Party sending an email requesting volunteers dressed in “ethnic costumes” for a photo-op with Mr. Harper. Certainly that callous language seems to echo their leader’s own comments to “you people” at a political rally earlier in the campaign.

But today’s story about how Mr. Ignatieff is supposedly pandering to a Brampton radio host who is said to have praised the beating of one of the Liberal party’s best known candidates Ujjal Dosanjh is just ridiculous. 

It’s nothing more than a desperate attempt by a lazy CBC reporter to find controversy where there is none.

The irony of Terry Milewski attacking Mr. Ignatieff for talking to broadcaster and editor Sukminder Singh Hansra is that CBC’s As it Happens talked to him a couple days before. As did the Toronto Star. CBC’s website currently has apage covering Mr. Hansra’s views on ethnic politics in Brampton. 

Apparently Milewski think it’s okay for CBC listeners to hear Hansra’s views, but not the leader of the Liberals?

And while we’re on the subject, who exactly appointed Milewski the arbiter of who our political leaders should talk to?

We think politicians should be talking (and listening) to the people they seek to represent. Personally, we prefer it to cynical candidates dressing up their photo ops with “ethnic costumes.”

That said, at the WSO we don’t share all of Sukminder Singh Hansra’s views and opinions --  this may come as a surprise to Mr. Milewski but not all the guys in turbans think alike.

But we’re tired of the endless harping on the ethnic vote, which is just racism by another name. And we’re especially tired of sloppy reporters who don’t let the facts get in the way of their story.