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This is not a joke: Carolyn Parrish slams Hazel McCallion for being “ungrateful, ungracious and downright rude”

By John Michael McGrath
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When the premier and prime minister came to the GTA to announce new infrastructure spending, they made the mistake of inviting Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion to the event, where she bluntly, if accurately, called the money being announced that day “a drop in the bucket” relative to what Canada’s cities need. Upon hearing this, Mississauga city councillor (and long-time McCallion rival) Carolyn Parrish apparently went into letter-writing mode, penning a scorching memo that slammed Mayor McCallion for being “ungrateful, ungracious and downright rude.”

We can only hope that more politicians take note and follow the Carolyn Parrish guidebook for speaking in public with grace and dignity, cribbed from her time as a Liberal MP:

Refer to Canada’s neighbours to the south as “Damn Americans, I hate the bastards.” • Call Canadian supporters of missile defense “a coalition of the idiots.” • React to the 2004 U.S. election results with “America is completely out of touch with the rest of the free world.” • Assure the PM that he’s got your vote in the only way possible: exclaim “There’s no frigging way I’m going to let one ovary bring the government down.”

For her part, the notably indestructible McCallion dismissed Parrish: “I just take it from where it comes, from whom it comes from,” Ms. McCallion said, according to the Post. “It’s not unusual.”

• McCallion takes aim at Parrish [National Post] • McCallion comments ungrateful, nasty, Parrish says [Toronto Star]

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