Smitherman briefly yields “furious” title to another George: Galloway comes to Toronto

Smitherman briefly yields “furious” title to another George: Galloway comes to Toronto

George Galloway at an anti-war protest in London (Image: davidChief)

Former British MP and professional shouter George Galloway made it to Canada this weekend after a long battle with the Conservative government stemming from his attempt, in the spring of 2009, to enter the country after donating money to a Gaza Strip aid organization. The Feds called that donation “supporting terrorism” and forbade Galloway to enter Canada. Last week, a federal court said the Tories were trying to silence a political critic, and Galloway was allowed in. Not long afterward, in a packed church in downtown Toronto, Galloway got real.

According to the National Post:

He said Jerusalem is being “ethnically cleansed” of Christian Arabs and Muslims, and that Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp look out from their shanties to see their former homes and gardens in Haifa being “enjoyed by foreigners” from New York, London and Toronto.

He said the war in Afghanistan has been in vain and will end on negotiated terms that were available without the military invasion, and he called for a one-country solution to the Middle East crisis…

He said he intends to sue the Canadian government for invasion of privacy because, as the judgment describes, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney called around to British newspapers last March, tipping them off that Mr. Galloway would be denied entry because he supports Hamas.

If the Conservative staffer’s shenanigans with the newspapers actually do lead to a lawsuit, Canadian media will get to learn something that the Brits have known for years: George Galloway doesn’t go away. In all likelihood, we’ll be discussing the feds’ pursuit of him for years (just look at Conrad Black, who’s just launched a lawsuit over a report from 2004).  We do wonder some days if politicians are ever taught what an own-goal is.

• ‘Gorgeous George’ to sue Ottawa over privacy [National Post]
• Jason Kenney refuses to stroke George Galloway’s chin [Globe and Mail]
• DiManno: George Galloway not a terrorist, just a holy terror [Toronto Star]
• Galloway vows to sue Ottawa for calling him a terrorist [CTV News]
• Galloway vows to sue Canadian government [CBC News]