Ok, I'll take a szechuan beef, um, some human rights...

Photo Source: CP/Fred Chartrand

Despite concerns that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's hair was actually so thick, it had been impeding his brain from receiving and recognizing rational thought (c'mon, some days, it really does look like a bald eagle dropped a dead beaver on his head), PM Shhh has finally stepped up to the plate and is making a stand for something the Liberals were arguably criminal in failing to address: Chinese human rights reform BEFORE dollars and cents.

Despite most media outlets framing a recent "rescheduling" of a proposed APEC meeting between Harper and Chinese President Hu Jintao as a major "snubbing," if I were Harper I'd keep the hair long when it came blocking out such rants. And not just from the press, but also from those made by former Liberal ministers who have no idea why we'd want to hold the Chinese accountable for committing more executions than the rest of the world combined (and now they've got mobile "death vans," sweet), running an illegal system of organ harvesting, and continuing to detain, without any consular access, a Canadian citizen. In short, and I never thought I would put this to paper, I commend the Prime Minister for taking a stance few, if any, Canadian leaders have dared to adopt.

The message is clear, China: There are certain values Canada stands for, and these values do not have a price, no matter how many contracts you offer Nortel to develop police surveillance equipment so the PRC can censor blogs like this one.