But They Support One-Tier Health Care

The NDP candidate running against Jean Lapierre in Outremont sounds too much like a stereotypical university professor to be a real person. He's got to be a figment of the imagination. I hope:

An NDP candidate in Quebec is offering praise for Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezualan President Hugo Chavez, and says the Canadian government should run Air Canada, CN Rail and the oil and gas industry.

Leo-Paul Lauzon, a university economics professor in Quebec known for his left-wing views, said Canada should never have privatized those national commodities.

He also said the country should never have let private companies take over the energy sector.

"Natural gas. At minimum - the federal government should have a part ownership that didn't give them legal control but effective control."

Lauzon was asked if he thought Chavez was an example Canada should look to. Supporters praise Chavez for spending oil revenues on popular social programs for the poor. But critics say Chavez uses Venezuala's state-run oil industry as a political tool and has become increasingly authoritarian.

"Yes, it's a good example and I'm not ashamed to say it. The same thing with Fidel Castro. Look what they did, you know for the population," Lauzon said.

Look at what Castro and Chavez have done for their people, indeed!

The NDP may be short on people in Quebec, but surely they can do better than an apologist for two of the ugliest tyrants in the world.

Source: CBC