Kate McMillan

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Kate McMillan is a popular Canadian blogger. After growing up on a working grain farm near Arcola, Saskatchewan, she now lives in Delisle [1]. She works as a commercial and automotive airbrush artist and has been self-employed since leaving college. She runs the Small Dead Animals weblog.

Conservative Member of Parliament Monte Solberg, currently the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, called McMillan an "inspiring friend." She is a member of the Blogging Tories blogging alliance. Mark Steyn has referred to her as the Western Standard's "star blogger."

However, McMillan has not received praise from all on her side of the political spectrum. Unlike Monte Solberg, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall recently publicly distanced himself and his party from McMillan after remarks she made regarding residents of Saskatoon's inner city. In her words McMillan suggested ways in which a resident could improve the standard of living of their neighborhood. Local media quoted McMillan from her blog as saying "Put the cap back on your used needle and take it to a safe disposal site. Failing that, share it with your friends. It's a quicker solution to your problem, anyway..." She also suggested "cross your legs" and "put down the spray can" and then went on to comment that residents should "try not vandalizing every business still standing in your neighbourhood, try not selling your ass up and down the street in front of the doors. Try parenting your sticky-fingered brats." Opposition parties charged that McMillan's comments were racist because the area she was referring to is largely populated by people of Aboriginal decent. Premiere Wall said the remarks were "beyond the pale". Until this event an endorsement of Brad Wall from Kate McMillan had appeared on the Saskatchewan Party website [2]. Coverage of this contretemps appeared in a wide variety of large-scale news media outlets. McMillan coined the phrase "The Libranos" (a play on "liberal" and "Sopranos") to refer to the Liberal Party of Canada in light of the Sponsorship scandal; it is currently a popular term in the Canadian right-wing blogosphere. The term became a source of controversy when two Conservative MPs posed in front of a satirical poster, created by the Western Standard, which depicted the idea [3].

She has received some press coverage from the Toronto Sun for her blogging, including:

• uncovering a 30-year old newspaper piece indicating Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella said her job was "like playing God, only there's no one to tell you if you're right or wrong.^[1]
• publishing a letter from a soldier's widow after he died in a training exercise and the media became intrusive during and before the funeral.^[2]
• commenting negatively on Alberta Progressive Conservative premier Ralph Klein's slide to the left.^[3]
• criticizing a no-jail sentence for AdScam fraudster Paul Coffin. Coffin and others may have gotten light treatment because of their political connections.^[4]
• creatively lampooning Celine Dion for her post-Katrina egocentrism on Larry King Live.^[5]

Her political analysis was also included by major news organizations like BBC News and the CBC during the 2006 Canadian elections.[4] [5] McMillan has also pursued work as a columnist with the National Post newspaper, although she frequently derides the 'mainstream media' for their various shortcomings.

McMillan and her blog have been mentioned on the floor of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.^[6][7]

Small Dead Animals won the US-based Weblog award for Best Canadian Blog in 2004^[8], 2005^[9], 2006^[10], and 2007^[11].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Small Dead Animals weblog
• The Shotgun weblog
• An Interview with McMillan
• An Interview by Peter Warren