Update: Speaking of clothes, it seems Stephen Harper has a personal stylist, paid for by you and me. I didn't know this before I drew this cartoon -- honest!

Occasionally I take a peek inside the lives of the rogues governing the world Horst & Co. inhabit (which is remarkably similar to our own). The fact that Stephen Harper wouldn't be caught dead in chiffon and crinoline doesn't mean he doesn't at times feel as confined by minority status as he would were he wearing it. Imagine. For years, he said things like:

“Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations." (according to the Star)

"You’ve got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society." -- The Report newsmagazine, January 22, 2001)

"I believe that all taxes are bad." -- CTV.ca news, December 1, 2005

(More Harper quotes at Wikiquote.)

Now he is forced to court those self-same ghetto dwellers and socialists by buying their votes and breaking some of his more overt Bay Street broker-coddling promises.

I actually had a hard time committing to go ahead and draw this cartoon, which I thought up a month ago. On some fronts (Afghanistan, crime), Harper has led Canada further right than ever. But he is a great strategist and has worked hard at a fine, Liberal-inspired balance. Plus, I couldn't resist depicting him in a dress. I'd rather not find out what Harper's like when he wears the pants in this country.

10 Years Ago This Week: April 17, 1997
Horst is asked by the interim intern assistant to the nursing assistant if he wants to upgrade his injury to something more life threatening in order to get quicker treatment for his sprain.

Retailers for Attack of the Same-Sex Sleeper Cells:

Toronto:
Pages, 256 Queen Street West (at John).
The Beguiling, 601 Markham Street (near Bloor and Bathurst)
Book City, two locations - 348 Danforth Ave., 663 Yonge St.
Hairy Tarantula, 354 Yonge Street (near Dundas).

Guelph:
The Bookshelf, 41 Quebec Street.
Macondo Books, 18 Wilson Street

Waterloo: Words Worth Books, 100 King Street South

Kitchener: KW Bookstore, 308 King Street West

Hamilton: Bryan Prince Bookseller, 1060 King Street West