Angry in the Great White North

Stephane Dion made the announcement that he would be willing to give up his French citizenship during an interview:

The new Liberal Leader says he'd be willing to give up his French citizenship if it poses a problem with the Canadian public.

Appearing Thursday on TVOntario's The Agenda public affairs show, Stephane Dion said suggestions that his Canadian-French dual citizenship means he is not completely loyal to Canada have been upsetting.

Mr. Dion was born in Canada, but his mother was born in France. As a result he holds dual citizenship.

The Liberal Leader told Agenda host Steve Paiken that he has kept his French citizenship out of respect for his mother.

And so enters the bitterness, and a curious comment about his priorities:

“I'm born like that. It's part of me. It's my mother who gave that to me. And like all sons, I love my mother and I love what she gave to me. And so to remove that from me, I'd be sad,” Mr. Dion said.

“This being said, if I see that it's a liability for our winnability, I will do it.”

I leave jokes about Stephane Dion willing to step over his own mother in order to win power to other bloggers.

But I'm not sure what to say about this. Stephane Dion is acting like the proverbial weather vane. At first he insisted that holding his second citizenship was important and that everyone else can go mind their own business. But now he says he can do without.

But the only reason he mentions for doing so is that it has become a political liability. He doesn't say anything about coming to understand, even a little, why many Canadians think this is an important issue. In fact, Stephane Dion comes off as condescending. If it weren't for the fact that you people stand in the way between me and political power, he seems to be saying, I'd say to hell with all of you But since you seem to care so much....

The opinion of other Canadians is valued only inasmuch as it is represents a measurable number of votes. The notion that a senior political figure ought to hold a single citizenship has no intrinsic value to Stephane Dion -- it's just about political liability.

I wonder how many other important personal positions he'd be willing to abandon just to get some votes.