CELLUCCI TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

Sipping tea, pinky in the air, and discussing the fine points of Canadian
lumber subsidy policy is just not Paul Cellucci's style. And, boy, are we
grateful for that. The former governor has been a thorn in our northern
neighbor's side almost since he set foot over the border.

His latest dressing down was aimed at a Canadian plan to decriminalize
possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. Cellucci correctly
pointed out that such a policy would inevitably lead to stricter - and
slower - procedures at the border, with negative consequences for the flow
of trade. (That recent truckload of marijuana, discovered here only because
of an attempted hijacking, was surely a wake-up call.)

Cellucci is already credited with getting some parliamentary attention paid
to the paltry amount devoted to defense spending by our intermittent ally.
Let's hope his strong words will back them off their soft-on-drugs plan.
Sometimes there's just no substitute for telling it like it is.