Ottawa

Loose lips

The Defence Minister attempts to demonstrate his government isn’t nearly as secretive as its detractors allege.

According to Mr. Proussalidis, Mr. MacKay walked up to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Senator Meighen Wednesday morning after the journalist had started chatting with the pair. “It was all small talk until Defence Minister Peter MacKay walked up and joined the conversation, wearing a red ‘Fly Emirates’ baseball cap on his head and a grin on his face,” Mr. Proussalidis wrote.

“As I stood with the group, Senator Meighen asked about the cap, and that’s when the conversation became interesting. MacKay joked that he wore the cap for [minister John] Baird,” he wrote … “MacKay went on to tell Meighen that Canada could have continued to use a military base in the UAE for free … if only it had granted those slots. Then the defence minister suggested it would take 10 years to repair the relationship with the UAE.”

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