Square one

If the Cons weren't having a bad enough week thanks to Cadscam, it just got worse, as the London Court of International Arbitration awarded Canada its first (partial) victory on softwood lumber since the Cons nullified Canada's long string of previous wins. Which, based on the Cons' track record, means that they'll now have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to give away the successful part of today's ruling.

If they're looking for some advice as to how to go about that, though, the Court apparently had plenty to say about the Cons' poor job of developing the agreement itself:

As they issued their ruling, the three judges who handled the dispute remarked on how poorly worded the softwood deal is.

“The Tribunal has found the provisions of the SLA to be less clear and consistent than one might hope for in a bilateral treaty so long negotiated and so closely scrutinized and debated by the contracting states,” the judges said.

That's right: Deceivin' Stephen and his crew aren't even competent enough to deliberately give away the farm without finding a way to screw it up. Which can only make it all the more clear why it's a bad idea to have the Cons representing Canada's interests abroad - and all the more reason for hope that more reasonable parties will soon be in charge of Canada/U.S. trade issues on both sides of the border.