Here's the government of Canada giving $270,000 to the Calgary Folk Festival, funding that came out of the Marquee Tourism Events Program and the Calgary MP who happens to be Minister of State for Tourism, Diane Ablonczy, is nowhere to be found. Instead, it's Ontario MP and Industry Minister (and heavy metal fan, I might add) who is handing out the cash.

While these quotations attributed to me are correct, they represent an incomplete response give to the questions Collins put to me. Indeed, since the headline is "G8 Attack Reflects Poorly on Canada: Experts" you might get the impression that I am one of the "experts" who holds that view. For the record, I am neither an expert nor do I hold that view. In fact, when asked specifically by Collins if that's what I believed, I replied that the attack did not reflect in any way on Canada simply because most other delegations don't pay much attention to Canada. Canadians think it makes a difference to our world standing but I have seen no evidence when I'm at these summits that it makes a difference one way or the other.

Jason Kenney takes to Twitter to explain his government's issue on imposing visa requirements for Czech and Mexican visitors.

Republicans for Ignatieff's "The Colonel": "I should tell you right off the top that I am not a media savvy individual nor do I crave media attention for myself. This is not about me it's about Michael Ignatieff. Our group is small (but growing) and members live in both the United States and Canada."

Ablonczy told: "Your ability to help maintain and boost growth and competitiveness is constrained by current market forces, lack of funds for new or enhanced program spending and the broad dispersion of policies and programs of support across the federal government," an anonymous bureaucrat writes in the ministerial briefing books given to Ablonczy, a Calgary MP, after she was sworn in as minister of state for small business and tourism last November.

Paul Wells, channelling Andrew Coyne and Chantel Hebert at the same time (Bravo! remarkable achievement!), notes that "while many Canadian politicians claim to be socially progressive and fiscally conservative, [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper is turning out to be the opposite on both scales."In other words, as events this week have underlined, his government is socially conservative and fiscally ultra-liberal.

At his closing press conference in Italy at the G8, the question of the future relevance of the G8 came up. Here is an unofficial transcript of the question Harper was asked and his English-language response. (He responded somewhat similarly in French). The attack on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff came, unprompted by reporters I should point out, at the end of his comments to a question about the future of the G8...

Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella jumps into the surprisingly heated debate about whether or not the prime minister downed the wafer -- otherwise known to many Christians as the body of christ, given for thee, to be washed down with a little wine, known in my church, as "the Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins"-- at Romeo Leblanc's funeral:

The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix was among several papers which ran this story today but SP reporter Jeremy Warren made it better with this little twist:

But in his criticism of his colleague, [Trost] did not mention his government funds Saskatoon's Pride parade. The Saskatoon Diversity Network received $9,000 from Canadian Heritage this year for last June's Pride Festival.

Now, a little birdie helpfully provides the following list of gay and lesbian (and bisexual, etc.) events funded by the Harper government: