"There is a process within the system for those disagreements to be resolved," he said. "I think we have to be patient and allow these disagreements to be resolved within the inquiry and not to interfere."

I suppose I should be not be surprised that politicians say stupid things. But really, what was Lord thinking? Answer: I reject the premise of the question. Of course, Burke's comment that he has encountered so much racism since taking his seat in the legislature is the more significant issue.

Laugh-out-loud funny.

David Elder and Olya Onuch regaled a group of at least 50 interested listeners with stories of their time as members of the Canadian Election Observers in the most recent Ukranian presidential election. The talk was fascinating.

Professor Emeritus George Perlin opened the talk with a discussion of the political situation and public opinion in Ukraine. Dr. Perlin is the head of the Building Democracy in Ukraine project, which focuses on designing democracy and civic education curricula for police and university students. He said that he was sanguine about Ukraine's future as a unified state and suggested that some sort of federal structure might emerge.

By far the most interesting aspect of the talk was Olya Onuch's personal account of her journey and experience as an observer. In contrast to Elder's account, which was quite brief and focused on the general situation, Onuch's talk was peppered with pictures and loaded with lots of personal commentary on the situation (and the conduct of the Canadian mission itself!).

Onuch described the celebration in Independence Square, where hundreds of thousands of Ukranians and foreign nationals each lit a candle, joined hands, sung the national anthem and celebrated the election to great fireworks. Even the memory of the experience moved Onuch and, in turn, most of the audience.

The story of democracy in Ukraine is really quite remarkable.

Paul Wells is very funny sometimes. This is one of those times.