"Overheard

Pitter-patter

"They look like a nice couple. I'm not saying anything about kids. No pressure, whatever is good. But don't they look as though they'd be the best parents, really loving, patient. But no pressure, no, of course not."

-- Heather Mallick, Canadian commentator, wishes royal couple William and Kate a happy anniversary and no pressure on the baby front.

What happened to multiple choice?

"The plot details are so oddly chosen that the story seems to have been written during a peyote trip."

-- Jeopardy legend Ken Jennings reacts to a New York education system standardized test question that includes a story about a talking pineapple that challenges a rabbit to a race.

Defiant in the face of a hotel bill...

"(The opposition) can be extremist and can use words that will catch people's attention but all of the guidelines have been followed and guidelines that have been agreed to by all parties, even those who are making the accusations."

-- Bev Oda, federal international co-operation minister, defends the thousands of dollars -- including a $16 glass of orange juice -- she spent on a trip to London.

...but a day later

"The expenses are unacceptable, should never have been charged to taxpayers... I have repaid the costs associated with changing hotels and I unreservedly apologize."

-- Bev Oda changes her tune

Who's a good boy, then?

"This is a city that has consistently rolled over for developers like a love-starved puppy that needs its belly rubbed. We have hideous, poorly conceived and executed developments all over the city as evidence of our willingness to submit to developers' whims."

-- Dan Lett, Winnipeg Free Press columnist, comments on Winnipeg city council's need to stay in control of the proposed water-park development.

Veritas @VeritasKnight

"The Conservatives want help from someone who's been through the American justice system to make ours more American, I guess."

-- Tweeter Veritas @VeritasKnight reacts to the news media baron/ American convict Conrad Black will be allowed back into Canada after he is released from a Florida prison where he was to serve 42 months on fraud and obstruction charges.

Excitement is not mounting

"We are now in for six months of Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama, and with the polls showing the race to be very close, you could argue that it is going to be really exciting. Except for the fact that it's Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama."

-- Gail Collins, New York Times columnist, sees a long, dry political summer ahead for America.

There's no place like home

"How can people get home when there is no road to go home on?... How can people go home when there is black mould going up their walls?

-- Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak says government should focus on getting flood evacuees back home, instead of wasting time on who's not eligible for flood compensation.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 5, 2012 J2