The gifts that keep on giving

The Montreal Gazette follows up yesterday's news about Deceivin' Stephen's illegally-accepted gifts by reporting on the gifts given to and from other MPs. And judging from one curious bit of censorship, it looks like Peter MacKay's love life is being treated as a matter of national security:

And what do Canada's ministers give their foreign counterparts?

A list, obtained through an Access to Information request, revealed that Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay gave U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a bottle of ice wine and a case of CDs that included Canadian singers Francine Levesque, Holly Cole, George Canyon and Michael Buble, along with music by the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The value of the romantic package was blanked out by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

It remains to be seen whether MacKay merely overpaid due to leaving his shopping until the last minute, or whether there's another reason why the amount isn't being disclosed. But either way, this offers just one more example of the Cons' compulsive suppression of information - and hopefully one which will attract enough discussion to bring more attention to the bigger picture as well.