Mr. Martin Visits DART- Not!

Just when I begin to feel a little less antagonistic towards the Prime Minister about his reaction to the tsunami, he and his staff pull this stunt. As reported by Garth Prichard in the Torionto Sun.

IT WAS a circus when Prime Minister Paul Martin visited the disaster area of Kalumai in Sri Lanka this week for a photo opportunity. His people from Ottawa, including the RCMP, were pushing people out of the way, grabbing at cameras, and trampling over graves on the beach in order to photograph the PM. An RCMP guy tried to interfere with my camera, but one of our soldiers intervened. A couple of women from the PM's office were running around yelling at people. It got out of hand. It was crazy.

Apparently the Right Honourable Himself did not even make time in his Photo Op blitzkrieg to visit the camp where the 300 member Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) set up operations. He met with the CO and a token group of medical personnel. 90 minutes and then he helicoptered away (not, I bet, in a Canadian Forces Sea King).

The whole visit was a photo opportunity -- with cameras set up for the PM in designated spots: Martin on the beach looking out to sea, Martin amid the wreckage, Martin with a homeless kid, Martin taking a token drink of water produced by the DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) water purifier. ...

Martin's handlers wanted no one but their people taking photos.

Apparently, even the unit's padre was shoved out of the way. What class! What leadership! What a bloody disgrace!