PQ Candidate: «French Canadians » must die in order to achieve sovereignty
Many people know how nasty this election campaign is going to get. We expect there to be name-calling and political gamesmanship, but it didn’t take long before somebody said something really stupid. It was revealed to me that a PQ candidate in Montreal had written on a forum that old people who are attached to Canada needed to die in order to attain sovereignty.
“car il n'y aura plus la génération de "canadien-français" qui ont un attachement très profond envers le Canada.” The PQ always goes to such great lengths to make us forget the controversial closed-minded statements they tend to make. We all remember the comments directed at minorities in the aftermath of the 1995 referendum. Je me souviens M. Parizeau. This time it’s not the money and the ethnic vote that’s making the Yes forces lose, its old people that are too attached to Canada. The real story (in my opinion) is Pierre-Philippe Emond calls these people French-Canadian to distinguish them from the normal separatist folk. I really think that insinuating federalists are less Quebecers because they believe this federation works is a little over the top. I would like André Boisclair to answer two very important questions. First, does he agree with his candidate that the only way a yes vote will be achieved is by the death of our older, wiser generation of Quebecers? Furthermore, I would like to know if André Boisclair believes that federalists are any less Quebecois because they believe in a united Canada. I hope after the next referendum, the PQ has enough decency to stop looking for a scapegoat and blame their own stupidity for a change.
The Formal Response to Cherniak
Seems Jason Cherniak believes the party isn’t doing so hot these days. He so rarely criticizes the Liberal Party; you would think if the time ever came, we must really be in hot water. Dion’s problem, as it was before the leadership race, was his lack of charisma. Simply put, the guy can’t light up a room. Neither can Harper, so it doesn’t really matter. People do not feel inspired by the man. There are reasons for that. To blame Dion’s lack of a position on many issues on Michael Ignatieff asking the 4th and 5th questions of QP is a little ridiculous. Party officials in Montreal scoffed when I told them of Cherniak’s criticism. To quote one official “Screw Ignatieff, let’s get Dion a personality first.” Dion needs a clear message and a clear alternative to Stephen Harper. The Liberals cannot hide their hand until the election like Jason would wish. It is irresponsible. My mother, who pretty much hates all politicians except Jean Charest, told me something the night Paul Martin lost. She said “Anthony, you and the Liberals are made for each other. A little more humility, and people would like you more.” Ever since that loss, I took a closer look at the Liberal Party. Jason says admitting mistakes makes for good attack ads. He believes Michael Ignatieff should have never criticized the Liberal environmental record, despite its blatant weakness. If our pitch to Canadians next time is bringing back the same Liberal Party, people will pass again. The “so-called” fiscal imbalance is an issue that dates back to 1992, under the old Mulroney government. Martin exacerbated in the problem in 1995, but when the finances at the federal level were back under control, rather than restore the cuts, the federal government opted to go around the provinces and give money directly to people, with popular programs like the Millenium Scholarships. Little did people know that as a result of the Millenium Scholarships and the bureaucracy surrounding the programs, their tuition would rise. It’s a big jurisdictional squabble but to many Quebecers, the issue is VERY important. The Liberals were arrogant. The Tories didn’t invent that about us. Constructive criticism would be to take a good hard look at our record, and say where we can improve, and where we have to change course. To remove other bright stars from around you only makes the Liberal Party look weaker. What happens if GK gets elected and he does well in QP, does he have to stop asking questions as well. Dion’s position as leader is stable. Nobody is threatening him, despite the paranoid remarks of the likes of Jason and Shosana Berman. My blog has not been particularly kind to Dion, but only because to effect real change in the party in this province, we have to stop playing political games. Rebuilding this party from the ground up is necessary. The only way we are going to do that is if we take our BEST assets and put them forward. Saying the 13 year reign of Chretien and Martin was flawless, as Cherniak seems to do all the time, really hurts the party. Kool-Aid drinkers of the sort embarrass us. This party has enough cheerleaders. There are those that wish to call Cherniak’s comments the beginning of a civil war. We had enough civil war, so please put a stop to all that sort of talk. There is room in this party for people to speak their mind. We hope the OLO is listening… I said before the votes were counted December 2nd that no matter who won, I was still going to push the agenda of the youth forward in this province. It has been the same for two years. 1) Recognition of the Fiscal Imbalance and increase in a dedicated federal transfer for education. 2) Recognition of the government of Canada that the Quebec people form a nation. 3) Tangible action, not words and photo-ops for the environment. 4) A foreign policy where never again, Canada will close its eyes to horrors and atrocities committed at other ends of the Earth. Dion is at about 2.5/4 right now, which isn’t all that bad. Don’t worry, I was not shy to criticize Martin either. This is the agenda I believe we need to push forward, as does the YLC(Q). We threw a 200 person bash for our leader last week. We are committed to getting ourselves elected. However, we would appreciate it a little more if the leader’s policy reflected our values as the YLC(Q) a little more. Is there any harm in that? I don’t think so, because THAT, my dear Jason, is constructive criticism.
Can the Liberals Trade Jason Cherniak for a Conditional Draft Pick?
For those who don't know what Jason said, he said that in order to give Dion more spotlight in the circus formerly known as Question Period. the Deputy Leader should try and ask questions not directed at the government, but at specific ministers, despite the fact Harper could answer any question he so chooses. The only way to accomplish what Jason is saying is to fire the Deputy Leader... No point in flogging a dead horse, (it's not the first time Cherniak has said something so ridiculous) but Jason, let me offer an analogy. Mats Sundin is the (over-rated) Captain of the Toronto Maple Laughs. If Darcy Tucker had more goals this year playing with Sundin, should John Ferguson trade Tucker to make Sundin look better? Is it a conspiracy by opposing hockey teams to embarrass Sundin? Or does having a guy like Tucker make Sundin and the rest of the team stronger?
Time to go to work, but if Jason wants to give Stephane Dion some constructive advice, it would be not to listen to Jason Cherniak.
Bravo a Maxime Theriault
They said the YLC(Q) would die after Brigitte Legault left and that Maxime Theriault could not throw a huge event. At Cafe Green, the YLC(Q) delivered again, packing the room with 200 people for some speeches and some schmoozing. The youth can still deliver...
Mea Culpa
Some Bloquistes have some explaining to do to me...Either way, Papineau is lower middle class, or working class in my books.As for my constant criticism of Justin, I am still waiting for a list of accomplishments.For the record, I dont count Katimavik because we all know why he is there. I have great respect for the program and its sister program Canada World Youth, but honorary chairman of a program that daddy created is hardly enough to shake the image of running on his dad's record and not having his own to run on...delivering a great eulogy is not enough...
CTV Misreports Justin Trudeau Nomination
WOW! Rosemary Thompson just lied on TV.
Fact-Checking my dear Rosemary goes a long way…
Justin intends to seek the Papineau nomination, along with at least 20 other Liberals.
CTV reported it as a done deal. Sources on the electoral commission have told me several times that there will be an open nomination in the riding…
Thompson said that Trudeau himself said he was the candidate, either she misunderstood, or Justin is unaware there is a nomination process in this party…
This blog reported a while ago that Justin would seek the Papineau nomination, so this was hardly news.
I hope this is not Justin’s way of telling the other contenders to back off, because my dear Justin, it will backfire.
Back to CTV, they called the Liberal Party “his father’s party”. So much for everybody else this party is all Pierre Trudeau. PIERRE TRUDEAU IS DEAD. I guess CTV needs a copy of that memo.
Good luck Justin, I will tell my friends who live in Papineau not to vote for you. I do not believe you deserve to run as a Liberal in Quebec at this time.
Clearly I was Ahead of the Curve
So when people make an out of line smear against a Liberal when he cannot respond, it is an occasion to shout them down…an occasion to boo…
Why do I feel vindicated...
Where is the moral outrage now?
Smears deserve boos.
It’s universal…
Memo to Andre Boisclair: Pierre Trudeau is Dead!
As if I didn’t have enough with people stuck in 1982 in the past few months, but along comes Andre “Knows his Lines” Boisclair and decides to make the unilateral repatriation of the constitution in 1982 an election issue. Andre certainly knows how to stick to talking points so we can expect “Knows his Lines” to back with more garbage.
The PQ launched an attack site called nuitdeslongcouteaux.idontgiveacrap or something like that and I just cant understand how THIS can be an issue 25 years later. Blaming Jean Charest for the indiscretions of Pierre Elliot Trudeau (Charest was my age at the time) is tantamount for us blaming Boisclair for the Petite Yvette comment from 1980.
If you thought it was just the Kennedy maniacs that needed Trudeau to make a point, it seems they have something in common with the separatists, they are stuck in the past.
Charest wants to campaign on issues which affect Quebecers directly. When Charest took power, he cleaned up a fiscal mess left by the PQ. He has negotiated 14 billion dollars worth of deals with the federal government in his first mandate alone, the most in history, and has gotten things done rather than simply stand on a pedestal and ask for a referendum like the PQ will do.
Charest kept his promise to keep tuition frozen in the first mandate, and now offers a reasonable increase. Quebec went from being the most taxed province in Canada to the 6th highest taxed and are nearing the Canadian average.
Charest and Harper have shown what happens when Quebec City and Ottawa can co-operate and can quit pouting in their corners like is usually the case when Liberals are in Ottawa and the PQ is in Quebec City.
Remember this…
A vote for the PQ is a vote for a referendum.
That is Andre’s favorite line. He says it over and over again. He will continue to say it. On March 26th, the Quebec nation will tell Andre Boisclair NO!
Cartoon of the Day
 h/t ygreck
Uh Oh – Nosedive!?!?!?!
New Strategic Counsel poll is out and it spells disaster if your name starts with S and ends with tephane Dion.
We Liberals are looking for an edge in terms of an election issue and this poll tells us what some of us naysayers have been saying all along…the environment is not an election issue.
When asked which party had the best plan on the environment, the Liberals, Tories and NDP were in a statistical tie.
When asked which leader was best on national unity, Stephen “nation-man” Harper leads Stephane “Captain Canada” Dion by 9 points.
Who is the best leader? The PM usually has the incumbent’s advantage, but double!?!?!?!
Harper 36%
Dion 18%
What about who is the most decisive? Certainly Dion is better than Mister Dithers?
Was Paul Martin Mister Dithers? Or were his staff Team Dithers because Team Dithers is back (Marissen, Murphy, Scott Reid is on TV…etc) and Dion’s numbers here are dismal with Harper leading 53-19, nearing TRIPLE what Dion has.
Something has to change and it has to change fast. Dion is about to miss the boat on fiscal imbalance. If Harper is seen to help Charest win, it will only amplify Dion’s problem his problems in his native province.
If I were the OLO, I would commission internal polling to confirm if these numbers are real, and if they are, time for something drastic, because on December 2nd, nobody thought it would turn out like this…
Le Show Charest Démarre
Cette fin de semaine, le Parti Libéral du Québec a lancé leur campagne de réélection. Michel Audet présentera son dernier budget mardi avant que Jean Charest déclenche les élections, attendu mercredi.
J’étais présent à Québec hier et je peux vous assurer que Jean Charest et les militants du PLQ sont prêts à s’en prendre à Boubou et à l’Accommodement Dumont du Québec.
Les nouveaux candidats vedettes, Christine Saint-Pierre, Emmanuel Dubourg et Marguerite Blais ont reçu une bienvenue chaleureuse des militants, pas comme Bernard Drainville au PQ la semaine passé.
Jean Charest parlait de son bilan et du bilan des Libéraux après quatre ans au pouvoir. L’équipe Libérale devrait être fière des ses accomplissements et je suis certain que les Québécois s’en rendra compte lorsqu’on s’en va voter le 26 mars.
De sa part Marion Dumont, qui se pense le meilleur chef de parti au Québec, continue à se plaindre comme un enfant de 5 ans. Au lieu d’envoyer des avocats, M. Dumont devrait trouver des candidats. Mario, tu ne seras pas une « étoile montante » pour toujours.
Le show vient de se commencer et déjà, je suis très excité.
Pablo Rodriguez’ Coup D’Etat
Never mind the fact that Pablo has gone from looking like a hair model to a Latin American rebel, yesterday the Argentine-born MP did what hasn’t happened in a long time, made the opposition pass legislation binding the government to do something.
What started out as a private members’ bill for my dear friend Pablo to express his anger at the Tories’ rejection of the Kyoto protocol has now turned into a full fledged unmitigated gong show.
C-288 is a funny bill, which was so important at second reading that Captain Kyoto wasn’t even there to support it. It has become Canada’s environment legislation.
Yesterday was already a non-confidence motion. The Liberals, BQ, and NDP already agree on enough things like Child Care, Kelowna, Status of Women Canada, etc., that they can pass legislating mandating the government to do something about it.
Technically, they cant spend any money, but they can get all kinds of bills through parliament and make the Conservative budget contradict parliament’s will.
I think this is hilarious and John McCallum should begin drafting a budget which should also be another Private Members’ Bill. I think we still have the old platform somewhere. The NDP and the Bloc have seen the poll numbers, neither wants an election. After seeing our numbers I wouldn’t want one either. Who needs an election anyway?
This would be the perfect Gong Show. With Pablo, it could never have really been another way.
I Heart the Dixie Chicks
My friend Christine knows I have been playing this song on my Ipod since December and knows how much I respect and admire the Dixie Chicks because they speak their minds.So 5 Grammys later, she sent me this and asked if it applies to my current situation.I told her to go choke on a dildo, but I didnt answer her question.I love you ChristineForgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waitingI'm through, with doubt,
There's nothing left for me to figure out,
I've paid a price, and i'll keep payingI'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
I know you said
Why can't you just get over it,
It turned my whole world around
and i kind of like it
I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,
With no regrets and I don't mind saying,
It's a sad sad story
That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.
And how in the world
Can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Saying that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting
Liberal Decision on Anti-Terror Legislation Crucial
I was in Parliament on September 11th 2001. We were stocking desks in preparation for the upcoming session to begin six days later. The entire city of Ottawa was shut down.
When Parliament resumed on September 17th, Jean Chretien gave the best speech I have ever heard him deliver, about the new realities we had to face and above all, how we could not let our basic daily life change.
It took over a year to pass the anti-terror legislation C-36 and then C-55. Specifically sunset clauses were put into the bill at the request of the Bloc and the NDP, and with the support of the Liberal government. The goal of the sunset clauses were to see if the limits we placed on the freedoms of individual Canadians were too far-reaching, we could easily get rid of them in 5 years.
I was against the measures at first, writing about them on several occasions. The YLC(Q), who was on a Charter Rights craze at the time, was going to make the draconian measures a key part of out youth policy. Before I went forward with the resolutions, I decided to speak to Irwin Cotler, Justice Minister at the time. What Cotler told me will forever stay in my mind.
The Charter is there to protect individuals. However, there is a time for reasonable limits. In the three years following the legislation passing, the security certificates were used 4 times. All cases were put to a judge before being acted upon. The laws were only bad if they were abused. It is a reasonable limit on the law if the law is used reasonably. If the law is not used towards racial profiling, then we can trust the Canadian authorities with these powers.
I will write a letter to my MP imploring him to support renewing the powers granted under the previous legislation.
What I do NOT support is the rhetoric that those who think civil liberties are more important is deemed as “un-Canadian” pro-terrorist, and other bullshit.
There is no need for Republican fear-mongering scare tactics. The measures have enough standing on their own merit and I have enough faith in Canadian authorities not to abuse them.
This is a very important debate to have. Canadians on both sides of the issue should pay attention very closely.
French Tory Ads Hit Their Target
The French Ads are out and they are effective. They aren’t cheesy like the English ones.
The English Ads were outright lies. Stephane Dion is a leader. That’s what it says at the bottom of the TV Screen every time he is on the news. You can argue Dion is a bad leader. That point, at least, is debatable. I would still disagree. Dion is a good leader who made some bad decisions and, flush with cash, the Tories have pounced.
The Tory ads hit the Liberal Party where it hurts in Quebec, memories of sponsorship, the tired old Liberal Party, and most damaging, the fiscal imbalance.
They have one message and it’s directed at the collapsing Bloc support, telling them that the Liberal Party has not changed since it got booted from office.
Are the ads valid?
There is one main premise of the Conservative ads.
The Liberal Party has not renewed.
While the Dionistas may call Stephane Dion a fresh face, Dion is VERY WELL known in Quebec. He is known for his brave battles with the separatists and for the smear job they did on him afterwards.
Renewal would involve coming clean with the mistakes we made while we were in government. That would involve recognizing that the cuts we made in 1995 had reverberations that caused a health care crisis, a drastic rise in tuition, crumbling infrastructure (Walkerton, Concorde overpass). The cuts were necessary but when we were flush with cash merely 4 years later, we chose not to act. We cut taxes by 100 billion instead.
On the environment, Jean Chretien ratified Kyoto on his way out and then left Paul Martin and Co. to figure out how it was gonna happen. We made priorities but never followed through on them. Yes, Stephane, it is not easy to make priorities. It is even harder to follow through on them.
There were candidates out there who wanted the Liberals to move forward and face these problems head on. Face the fiscal imbalance. Face the Quebec. Renew the party by taking what we did well and build on top of that, and coming to terms with what we did wrong, and fixing it.
There were those who held on to relics of the past, some from 30 years ago, those who believed that Quebec had not changed since 1968, those who call us nationalists 19th century and outdated, those who believed that the 13 year Liberal reign was flawless, and thought sponsorship was our only problem. If it ain’t broke, they said, why fix it?
In the end the past won 54% to 46%.
In the meantime, the Bloc Quebecois and the separatist movement are facing a confidence crisis. Both parties are in the low 30s in the polls as Quebecers see that there is a place for the new Quebec identity in the Canadian federation, that Quebecers are stronger within Canada, as equals, than they are all by themselves.
Some are only interested in fighting the old battles, telling nationalists to pipe down, telling Quebec that they are simply a province, one like the others, that recognizing their identity would harm the Canadian identity. The Conservatives are waging their fight on a whole new battlefield.
Their slogan, Avec les Conservateurs, le Quebec prend des forces, with the Conservative Party, Quebec gains strength, might as well be the PLQ campaign slogan because the message is exactly the same. In fact, the slogan behind Harper and Charest yesterday in Sherbrooke “Agir Ensemble” was the 1997 Liberal slogan in Quebec.
I wont bitch that the Tories are stealing our slogans and our policy because it becomes really hard to paint them as crazy right wing people when our main attack against them is they are passing Liberal policy. Not so scary after all are they?
I guess we have to get our act together and come to terms with our mistakes in order to come up with real solutions. I guess it really was broke…oops! There is still time to fix it.
Part 1 in a Series
So we all know that Prime Minister Cartman and Jean Charest are pals. With an election call expected in Quebec a week from today, Jean Charest has to prove the federation functions and he picked an interesting area for the announcement, his own hometown of Sherbrooke.
Charest is safe in his riding and the MNAs in the surrounding area will also get re-elected easily. Today’s announcement was simple,
“Prime Minister Cartman delivered what Paul Martin and Stephane Dion did not.”
It’s bull shit!
but…
You see, technically. They are correct. The Liberal Plan was to involve every part of the country, and get these programs in action. Quebec sought money to operate federal programs in Quebec. Dion refused cuz it’s not like the emissions respect provincial boundaries and the money would be better spent nationally.
But we cannot forget the Conservative motto:
Never let the truth get in the way of a good argument.
Whenever the Charest government attacked the Tories on the environment, it was about the 320 million dollars the federal government was supposed to spend in Quebec for these programs. Now, a week away from an election, in an area where the Tories are expected to clean up on very weak Bloc MPs in the area, comes news that Cartman delivered with big smiles from Charest and the PLQ.
The Tories delivering on the environment in Quebec?
You have got to be joking. I will analyse the news coverage of the announcement. Is the federalist branch of the Quebec media, one week from an election, gonna call the Harper bluff?
Methinks no.
This is a dry run for the fiscal imbalance announcement to come sometime in Quebec City next month. The Tories are already eating away at Bloc support and have nearly doubled their support in the province to approach January 2006 levels.
This is part 1 in the series. Something tells me we will not be given the option of changing the channel…
Le Garth Update
Mr. Turner was polite enough to respond to my suggestion that there were ulterior motives to his little show last week.
My intention was not to say that Garth was greedy. I am aware Garth is independently wealthy. I also know the Parliamentary pension is nothing to scoff at. And my source, a former MP collecting it at the moment says you qualify after 6 years of service.
But for some reason, the MSM has decided now to be a good time to read Fuddle Duddle so I had better “issue a clarification”.
I was stating that I found it rather odd that consultation with a citizens’ assembly which yielded a total of zero people saying Garth should become a Liberal is the main reason driving Garth’s decision.
Joining the Liberal caucus was the best chance for Mr. Turner to get re-elected. Facing two established parties with no mechanism to raise money is a death sentence. Also, Garth could not seek the Conservative nomination.
Now Mr. Turner does not have to seek the Liberal nomination either, as he is automatically guaranteed the nomination. This decision was clearly strategic and personal. Just a year ago, several thousand Halton Liberals did not choose Garth Turner. Would he win the nomination? We will never have to find out.
In 2004 Alliance floor-crosser Joe Peschisolido from Richmond lost the Liberal nomination to former Liberal minister Raymond Chan. You need the support of the local people, a test which Turner will never have to face.
Unlike my dear friend Jason, I believe floor-crossing is perfectly ok. They are members of Parliament not representatives. They are independent people and can choose to do what they please. Garth made the best decision. He made it for himself and with more regards to his personal ambitions then for the well-being of his citizens.
Does that make Garth Turner evil? No, it makes him human.
But for someone who pontificated against David Emerson for making the best strategic decision for himself, a little humility would be nice Garth.
My apologies for making it seem like you are greedy, I just wanted to say that you are indeed human and you are a rational being. There are still some questions I think need to be answered before Halton Liberals give you a free pass. I hope you take the time and answer them.
The Green Light!
Looks like Chuckercanuck found what saved Rob Anders and the Liberals have hired it. Just a costume switch because we all know whatever saved Rob Anders was wearing buttless chaps.This is the funniest thing I have read in a while (I am copy pasting) h/t chuckercanuckComing Soon at a Liberal Nomination Meeting Near You
Riding President: I call this meeting to order.voice emerging from the back: Actually, by the power vested in me by the Liberal Party Extraordinairy Measure Act, I am commandeering this nomination meeting.(gasps from the members and candidate hopefuls for it is the green clad representative of the Green Light committee - charged with applying special techniques to ensure 33% of Liberal candidates are women. The rumours called him Green Light, and other riding executives described him as looking like a spanish inquisitor whose tailor could only get his hands on green velvet. They said he was merciless.)Green Light: Who are the nominees in this riding? Show yourselves!(three people stand up, two women and a man. the man looks terrified.)Green Light: Identify yourselves. You! (to the first woman).Woman #1: Sharon VanDerSnotten - editor of the Chronicle and contributor to Social Justice Quarterly.Green Light: You! (to the second woman).Woman #2: Maude deSade. I'm the local chiropractor.Green Light (when he turns to the man, his face cannot repress his furious loathing): You.Man: Mayor Davis - four term mayor of the town this riding sits in.Green Light: Sit down.Man: I won my last election with 70% of the vote.Green Light: Sit down now, filth. (The man sits down.)Green Light: Liberal Members of this great riding, our leader has decreed that this riding is to go to a female candidate. You may only vote on your ballot for these two candidates. All votes for other than these two candidates will be ignored according to the Kennedy technique. Remember, we're a team and to be a team our leader needs you to cooperate. Thank you.(With that, Green Light was off to filter the next door riding's nomination where it was rumoured that a testicler was going to try to win the nomination. Green Light rushed despite the freezing rain because he knew the women only ridings would save our democracy the way Kyoto would save humanity.)
Garth Turner Days Away From Collecting Parliamentary Pension
You see, I was never a big fan of Garth Turner. After all, he earned my most overrated MP title of 2006. But his recent "I wont resign cuz everybody else is a hypocrite" routine is a little much. But why would someone risk jeopardizing all his credibility if he is so sure he will be re-elected?
Like many others, I believe we will be voting before the spring is up and Harper would likely keep Turner out of Parliament until he raised enough money for his own candidate to kick Turner’s butt. With the present Tory funds, that would take about 17 minutes, so Turner knows he would go into a by-election without money and that slight tinge of hypocrisy going against him.
He says he doesn’t want his riding without any representation but this has nothing to do with his constituents. Turner asked his constituents what he should do following his turfing and a grand total of ZERO recommended jumping to the Liberals…
So we look for other motivations. Turner spent almost 5 years as an MP during the Mulroney years and that got me thinking, how far away is he from his pension? (You need 6 years in Parliament)
2006.01.23, Halton, Ontario Re-Elected
1993.10.25, Halton--Peel, Ontario Defeated
1988.11.21, Halton--Peel, Ontario Elected
4 years 10 months 26 days the first time
1 year and 18 days since he got elected in 2006.
For a grand total of 5 years 11 months and 16 days, a mere 2 weeks from collecting his pension. We wonder why there is cynicism in politics. This is the reason. People with a soapbox turning around and being hypocrites the following day. In the interests of fairness, Garth should give up his pension should he lose because he should have resigned last week. Come on Garth, this is about the constituents.
Jean-François Lisée est-il un tricheur ou un menteur ? Simplement hypocrite.
Je reprends les titres de ses deux livres sur Robert Bourassa aujourd'hui car il fait preuve d'une malhonnêteté intellectuelle crasse en comparant la candidature de Bernard Drainville à l'arrivée en politique de Claude Ryan, ancien éditeur du Devoir et puis chef du PLQ.
Il y a une grande marge entre le poste d'éditeur et celui de chef de bureau qu'exerçait jusqu'à cette semaine, Bernard Drainville. L'éditeur dirige un journal et fait souvent part de ses opinions à travers les éditoriaux. Le chef de bureau est un journaliste sénior qui se doit de rapporter les nouvelles. Il doit faire abstraction complète de partisanerie.
Prenons André Pratte par exemple, il est éditorialiste, il émet des opinions. Tout le monde qui lit La Presse sait qu'André Pratte est un fédéraliste convaincu et convaincant. Lise Bissonnette qui était éditrice du Devoir jusqu'à sa nomination à la tête de la Grande Bibliothèque est une indépendantiste.
Le journaliste se doit d'être indépendant. J'aime bien Emmanuelle Latraverse, elle accomplit sa tâche avec une rigueur que personne ne peut contester. Je ne pourrais vous dire quelle est sa couleur politique. Elle fait ses recherches rapporte l'information de façon objective.
La défense de Drainville par Jean-François Lisée était cousue de fil blanc. Ça ne tenait pas la route.
Alex
Apparently I Lack Kool-Aid
"Dion needs to talk about other things than the Environment" Liberal Caucus Members
L'éthique journalistique de Bernard Drainville ou le manque d'éthique de ce dernier
Le Parti Québécois vient d'annoncer un nouveau membre de "l'Équipe du Mauvais Rêve" d'André Boisclair. J'en conviens qu'il s'agit d'une grosse prise, on apprend que Bernard Drainville, chef de bureau de Radio-Canada à Québec jusqu'à aujourd'hui, devient candidat du Parti Québécois dans la circonscription de Marie-Victorin, sur la rive-sud de Montréal. Le comté est péquiste depuis des lunes, il était représenté par Cécile Vermette. La candidature d'un journaliste n'a rien de vraiment surprenant et à première vue la candidature de Bernard Drainville est impressionnante pour le PQ qui est en déroute. Ce qui est réellement troublant, c'est qu'il n'a pas averti le directeur de l'information de son conflit d'intérêt flagrant. On peut certainement croire que l'information présentée par M. Drainville était biaisée. Encore pire, quand il "allait à la pêche" avec le Parti Libéral du Québec et l'Action Démocratique, le faisait-il pour le PQ ou pour Radio-Canada. C'est d'une malhonnêteté crasse. En plus d'entacher sa propre intégrité, il ébranle la confiance des Québécois envers les médias d'information. L'éthique journalistique est-elle quelque chose du passé ? La relation de confiance entre les journalistes et leurs auditeurs est cruciale. Sur qui peut-on se fier pour avoir des nouvelles de ce qui se passe sur la scène politique si le chef de bureau de Radio-Canada à Québec est si biaisé ? Personnellement, je demeure convaincu qu'il y a encore plusieurs excellents journalistes qui couvrent les affaires parlementaires mais l'arrogance de Bernard Drainville dans cette situation est vraiment déplorable. Il entache l'éthique journalistique pour son propre avancement personnel. Dans le même ordre d'idées, le nom de Stéphane Gendron circule comme candidat péquiste, je n'y vois pas vraiment de problème puisque Gendron est plus un chroniqueur qu'autre chose. Il ne rapporte pas l'information, il la commente. On connaît ses opinions. Il est un démagogue du dernier acabit mais André Boisclair devra vivre avec les déclarations passées de son éventuel candidat-vedette. Il a déjà pas mal de bagage derrière lui, quelques déclarations incendiaires d'un candidat ne seront qu'une goutte dans un océan. Alex
Mark This Day – I Agree with Monte Solberg
So I am watching Question Period today and I see my boy Michael Ignatieff get up and question the not-so-new Tory government on their inaction towards students.
You know, having consulted the student groups and the university administrations, I have a pretty good grasp as to what the students want.
They wanted no taxes on bursaries, which they got.
They wanted a tax deduction on textbooks, which they got.
Lastly, they wanted a dedicated transfer for post-secondary education, which is part of fixing Stephen Harper’s kitten the fiscal imbalance.
So when my boy Michael Ignatieff railed against the Tories for wanting to respect provincial jurisdiction and attacked them for disrespecting students, Monte was quick to answer… (along the lines of)
what we are not gonna do is say one thing and then cripple the provinces by cutting 25 billion dollars in transfers to the provinces.
To be fair, Dion was not part of that government when the cuts happened, but the Liberals had 10 years and 10 budgets to fix what they did. They didn’t.
If Harper delivers on fiscal imbalance later next month, he will fulfill every single demand from the students. The Prime Minister cannot freeze provincial tuition rates.
This is not an issue of strength for us.
I hope I never agree with Monte Solberg ever again.
In the Interests of Promise-Keeping, Garth Turner Better Resign
Mr. Anti-Floor Crossing crosses the floor. What's next? Diane Finley allowing us to wear sunglasses for passport photos? I am for floor-crossing, even when Liberals join the Tories.
But Garth Turner isn’t.
He has said time and again that if he ever decided to change parties, he would run in a by-election.
So Garth, are you gonna keep that promise? Or are you gonna throw all that maverick stuff out the window?
Also, I know some Liberals don’t like me having a blog because I hear sensitive things…
Now we have a blogger in the caucus room!
Kennedy to 13 year Female Liberal MP “Take a hike!”
Blah Blah women candidates this and that
It’s all rhetoric when you consider the following fun facts…
Stephane Dion bumped Shirley Maheu to run…
Michael Ignatieff bumped Jean Augustine
And now Gerard tells Sam Bulte to take a hike.
I hope Bob Rae has the common decency to replace a man.
Clearly political correctness MUST prevail!
I remember the rhetoric...so Gerard is really a westerner you know. He only spent a few years in Toronto hes not an Ontarian. He will help us re-take the west. He wants more women in the Liberal caucus, except where it concerns his own political future.
So where does Gerard end up…Toronto…kicking out a woman who won the riding 4 times who had declared her intention to run anyway. Yes Bulte got caught in the wave. Many people did. Many are being allowed to run again. Why not Sam Bulte?
The way we regain power is to prove to people that NOW, we will actually do what we say (we had a small problem with that before).
Keeping more female MPs around would have been a good way to start.
If getting more women elected to Parliament is one empty promise, how are we to convince voters we are sincere about all the others?
Don’t forget, we talked a good game about the environment before too…
Stephen Harper to buy Kitten and call it Fiscal Imbalance
Stephane Dion apparently needs a mirror installed at Stornoway.Here is a quote from today's question period.
“A real leader says that he was wrong and says I agree that I was wrong and changed my mind, the problem is he did not change his mind, he is still a climate change denier.”
I agree, sometimes a leader has to change his mind.
Come on now Stephane…be a real leader and say the fiscal imbalance exists.
Trudeau to run in a Contested Montreal Riding
All Justin...all the time... It is going to happen. The electoral commission is pondering where they will run Justin Trudeau. If he wants to sit in parliament, he will have to defeat a Bloc MP, but where will we run him?
The consensus is Papineau, a heavily ethnic riding where the Bloc turned Pierre Pettigrew into a loser. Among ethnic communities, the name Trudeau is still the equivalent to electoral gold.
Adding another plot twist is the rumor that the original “dog” Elsie Lefebvre, surprise PQ winner in Laurier Dorion, will run for the Bloc in Papineau. Elsie has a cult like following in the PQ (18 interns last time I checked) but will be hard pressed to re-take the riding. However, with the francophone Villeray in Papineau, this one will be a barnburner.
How long before Justin calls the nationalists in his riding 19th century? Or denies Quebec’s status as a nation within Canada? I will keep my eye on this one. It will be the race of the election if it pans out…
It’s a Conspiracy!
Apparently Stephane Dion is not a leader. Because Jason Kenney says so. Jason Kenney is always right, it’s science! (Always take advice from 40 year old virgins)
I know it’s confusing because Jason Cherniak calls Dion a bunch of things, among them the Messiah, our saviour, Ghandi, and even leader once in a while. We all know we shouldn’t take everything Cherniak says at face value.
But, something bothers me, every time I turn on Newsworld or CTV even George Alphabet Soup on the Hour, every time Dion is on television, underneath is clearly written one of two things, Liberal LEADER or LEADER of the Opposition.
My question, especially to Stephen Taylor, is: Have the Tories finally stumbled upon the left-wing Liberal media bias?
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