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Kelly McParland: Two good ideas sneak past Ottawa's parliamentary guards

Fixing 24 Sussex and civilizing Canadian airlines would prove the Carney government can indeed move quickly

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Bigwigs in Ottawa made two astonishing admissions last week. One, that Canada’s official prime ministerial residence is a disgrace and something has to be done about it. Two, that the country’s airline passenger rights rules were badly contrived, have proved utterly useless and need to be radically improved.

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This is not small stuff. Politicians don’t like to admit mistakes. They particularly dislike confessions involving their own actions. Justin Trudeau was more than happy to denounce errors of any sort as long as they could be pinned on anyone but himself; when the blame pointed directly at his office, the best anyone could expect was a vague concession that “mistakes (possibly) were made.” By who was left unclear, as if someone had snuck into the PMO and perpetrated untold gaffes while everyone else was out for lunch.

Kelly McParland: Two good ideas sneak past Ottawa's parliamentary guards Back to video

So it’s positive news that Prime Minister Mark Carney is willing to say out loud that having a falling-down dump at 24 Sussex Dr. is an embarrassment, and for Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon to pronounce the passenger rights regime an unmitigated disaster.

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