Quebec Gong Show Debriefing (Part 1)

This was a bittersweet win for me last night.

I HATE the ADQ, because they stand for a vision of Quebec society that thinks minorities are hurting the Quebec way of things, and openly campaigned on that. Not my Quebec. My Quebec is a civic nation; Mario Dumont’s Quebec is a civic nation with conditions. (That won't cut it for me sorry)

They used voter anger to come up the middle, something which some of my friends heard me predict last year was a “hail mary” possibility if Charest were to call an election with no reason to other than Boisclair being full of shit.

In a two party system, Charest would have come in with a HUGE majority last night, over 90 seats. That is really why this is a terrible blow to the separatists, who lost fortress ridings like Joliette (Duceppe’s brother) Terrebonne, and Masson.

Mario Dumont refused to give us a position on sovereignty. Instead, he said I have a third way, Stephen Harper’s way.

His campaign mirrored Harper’s 14 months ago years ago. He set up a beachhead and catapulted with his “I am not the old way” position. He targeted families with bad policy and good politics. He did not want to talk about the paradigm which would only hold him back if he played into it.

There is a place for this kind of families-first, tough on crime platform in some Quebec areas where the BQ vote is an anti-Liberal vote. Harper provides something to vote “for” for this clientele, and not something to vote against as was the case for 15 years…

For these people, provincially, they have had nobody to vote for since the days of Daniel Johnson and the Union Nationale…maybe that’s why the reaction was so fierce…40 years of a paradigm is bad news, and yesterday, the paradigm was shattered.

After 40 years, Quebecers put sovereignty back in 3rd place, although not by very much.

The two sides marched closer to each other yesterday. Dumont wants to open the constitution in Ottawa. He has already he will force Charest’s hand. Open federalism is as far as us federalists are willing to go to accommodate Quebec’s place within Canada without compromising our values of federalism and equality. For some, we already went too far. (Hi Braeden!)

Autonomy is a scary concept precisely because it is not fully defined. It is closest to the position that Maurice Duplessis and the Union Nationale adopted. Chuckercanuck is the only adequiste I deal with. He can correct me if I am wrong.

Autonomy is the theory that the federal government should stay out of provincial jurisdiction and vice versa. Do not forget that it was last REALLY in power before the emergence of the Welfare State and the federal funding of social programs. (Daniel Johnson won in 1966 because of a vote split with parties who would eventually form the PQ) All indications are that Paul Sauvé, successor to Duplessis, was in favor of the welfare state programs and Daniel Johnson never really complained, although he did advocate opting out of every federal program, not to leave Canada, but to allow the province to manage its own jurisdiction.

The one thing that scares us Liberals is how close this role of the federation is to Stephen Harper, who started with measures acceptable to the Liberals in Quebec, like the recognition of Quebec as a nation, and the solving of the fiscal imbalance, which did hurt the federalist cause in Quebec. The limiting of the spending power is next, and it should be the last. It implements Meech Lake, and in theory satisfies the demands…it will be interesting to see where this all goes.

Enough out of me for today

Tomorrow I will deal with what the election means for Gilles Duceppe now that a federalist party is in power and is the official opposition…

Yes two federalist parties. Even Dion said so…Not Harper talking points.

We should see the writing on the wall today. Two federalist parties won last night…

Charest Lost Harper Won

More tomorrow...

The question this minority ill have to answer is...

With the federalists conceding ground (nation, fiscal imbalance, spending power)

Quebec abandoned the sovereigntist cause in many regions tonight.

Trudeau federalism and Levesque Sovereignty were miles apart...

Tonight, open federalism and autonomism are MUCH closer.

The time for us federalists to put our foot down is now...

Will we be able to do it in time...

WOW

I write this with Dumont in the lead...

I am confident we will make government

PQ in third...

Nation = bad?

fiscal imbalance solving = bad?

This is a wave of epic proportions...I will certianly leave Montreal for the next election and go take a look...

Charest will win his seat dont you worry!

Time to go back to watching Jean Lapierre looking actually shell-shocked!

The Nation Decides…

OK, I hate making predictions but everyone is asking for them…

This election campaign has been nothing short of a gong show. Ever since the return of the right to politics, the most ridiculous things have become election issues.

In 2006, when crime rates had been going down for years, there was a crime epidemic. One MPs letter requesting an investigation became an automatic assumption of guilt, which would later be proved wrong, but since when do the facts matter. (Crime is not the ridiculous issue, the fake epidemic is)

In Quebec this year, all hell has broken loose. In a series of “who the F@#$ cares” issues, 11 year-old soccer players and the 30 burqa wearing women in Quebec got more attention than education. No wonder the PQ is doing so badly. Their priority is education. Nobody is talking about education. For Charest it’s health care. Old people like health care. Old people vote. Small point to Charest.

Mario Dumont is talking about whatever is on the front page of the Journal de Montreal. At least Dumont did not take credit for the Habs winning streak, which in all likelihood, has had a bigger impact on the actual numbers than the federal budget. Why? GONG SHOW!

Prediction!

I look at some ridings and I see one trend, the undecideds are streaming to the PLQ, as they usually do. People are choosing the devils they know. If the trend continues and the vote comes down to a few ridings, the PLQ should be in power at the end of the night with approximately 53-57 seats. If all momentum heads their way, a 1 or 2 seat majority is within reach, but they would have to steal a couple at the very last minute to pull it off.

The ADQ will finally make a breakthrough, and to all those federal watchers, WATCH THESE RIDINGS at the national level. The PLQ vote is not always Liberal at the federal, while the ADQ (who makes Cheryl Gallant look like Mother Teresa) is a purely Conservative vote. Any region outside Montreal where the PQ falls below 35% is winnable territory for Stephen Harper.

Can Boob-clair come in with a minority? It is possible, but it would be by less than 5 seats. Unfortunately, his homosexuality will hurt him in some areas, to benefit Dumont and his Action Demagogique du Quebec.

Take a nap this afternoon, because it will be a long night.

Cremazie PQ

Laurier-Dorion PLQ

Laval Des Rapides PLQ

Groulx PQ

Deux-Montagnes PQ

Marguerite d’Youville ADQ

La Prairie PQ

Trois Rivieres PLQ

Chambly PLQ

St Jean PLQ

Louis Hebert PLQ

Levis ADQ

Matane PLQ

Kamouraska-Temiscouata PLQ

Berthier ADQ

Chicoutimi PLQ

Dubuc PQ

Roberval PLQ

Abitibi-Est PLQ

Bonne Chance!

Final Prediciton PLQ 56 PQ 51 ADQ 18

Let’s Actually Be Rational…And Prevent Chernamania From Overcoming Us

Edit: I seriously will refrain from ever using sarcasm ever again.

Anybody who thinks this is a defense of Jason Cherniak, please read it again.

Second, I defended blogging dippers a month ago when Jason went after Robert McClelland because Blogging Dippers were being painted with the same brush. I did not think that was justified.

All I ask is for the same respect back. If you are angry at Jason, please take it out on him. But if I ever get told that I am a certain way because of what another blogger says, I am gonna blow a gasket.

To my Prog Blog colleagues, don’t get angry. When was the last time Jason led by example? Exactly. Let’s try rationality for a change.

Can bloggers re-print every rumor they hear on their blogs and not assume there will be any consequences if they put a copout “this is a rumour” clause?

The answer in the usual Jason Cherniak way is yes and no.

Yes because the insistence that it is a rumor removes any legal consequences from the statement. Nobody can get sued for doing what Jason did to Olivia Chow here or Cheri DiNovo a few months ago.

No because there are tangible impacts to the Liberal Blogging arena when its principal pundit engages in such a smear. It leads too undermining his credibility and with an election on the horizon, is someone Cherniak is trying to spin going to believe him?

Blogs played a small role in the Quebec election because the party bloggers on all sides managed to spin stories into newspapers. Like one veteran political reporter tells me often “Antonio, it’s not spin if it is the truth. It is spin if you are trying to create the truth.”

To all those who think one blogger speaks for the entire party, put a lid on it.

Did anybody except Jason think Robert McClelland spoke for the NDP?

I didn’t think so.

So let’s all be rational…and let Cherniak be Cherniak…

How Fiscal Imbalance Money will be Spent

From my friends over at the PLQ, numbers which show that the Liberals did more to fix the fiscal imbalance than Stephen Harper (we all knew that, but denying the problem doesn’t help). It also shows that not ALL money is going to cut taxes.

How Will the 2.3 billion Dollars Be distributed?

Equalization Paul Martin: + 916 million $ (included in Audet budget)

Equalization Stephen Harper : + 700 million $ (Tax Cuts)

Health : + 252 million $

Education : + 119 million $

Infrastructure : + 205 million $

Environment : + 117 million $ (possibility of 350 millions $)

_____________

+ 2,309 billion $

So everybody chill out, and cheer for our boy Jean Charest this weekend.

Why?

Because André Boisclair is a separatist and Mario Dumont is crazy.

Now that I think of it, this is the same reason I voted for Paul Martin…

ADQ/Tory Candidate Accuses Jewish People of “Starting Wars to Get Rich”

ADQ/Tory Candidate Accuses Jewish People of “Starting Wars to Get Rich”

Yes, just when you thought ADQ candidates were done making ridiculous statements, the gong show continues…

Out pops another moron, a Gilles Gagnon, with this enlightening thing to say.

« Il ne faut pas que notre programme soit un fardeau pour les marchands et surtout pas qu'il nuise aux propriétaires de la banque du Canada US. Ça appartient à des gens des États-Unis et de l'Europe pour ne pas dire aux juifs américains et européens. Ils font des guerres pour replacer leur économie au lieu de répartir la richesse équitablement. » — Gilles Gagnon, candidat adéquiste dans Abitibi-Est

Basically,

“We have to make sure our program is not a burden on merchants and it does not bother US and Canadian bank owners. They are owned by Americans and Europeans basically to say American and European Jews. They make wars to replace their economy instead of redistributing wealth equally.”

Gilles Gagnon, ADQ candidate in Abitibi-Est

This is beyond the pale. Accusing a group of people of « starting wars to get rich » is not exactly something you expect of an elected official, never mind a human being…

The Tories should be pretty upset about all this, because they tend to favor the ADQ, especially since the ADQ helped them win 8 out of their 10 Quebec seats.

Of course, there is no real link to Harper on this one…it isn’t as if this guy RAN for the Conservatives in the last election…

Oh what’s that? He DID!

Gilles Gagnon

Conservative candidate for Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou (he got 21% of the vote)

Uh oh...

People Need to Cut Jean Charest Some Slack

On the hotstove yesterday, I got a chance to re-iterate my position regarding the eventual solving of the fiscal imbalance. Some people still think it is separatist propaganda. Their minds will not change. Any idea that comes from the separatists is bad.

I guess that is why no other province in Canada has a child care program…

Monday’s budget gave Quebec a bit of breathing room with the shift in the equalization formula. A shift which was recommended by a committee set up by Ralph Goodale no less.

In terms of increasing actual transfers for 2007-2008, there was not all that much there. Most of the money there needed to fix the fiscal imbalance has been earmarked. I am satisfied that the payments will catch up over time.

I understand that Quebec receives more than it contributes. I understand that Quebec receives over 5 billion more than its taxpayers send to Ottawa (I should have said Quebec taxpayers yesterday, but that is what I meant, sorry for the confusion).

But what I think people should understand is that resolving the fiscal imbalance for ALL provinces is giving them back money they used to have in the early 90s to give to their social programs. This money was slashed. Nobody is arguing Ottawa is cash-strapped. In fact, it is flowing with surplus. The provinces are entitled to that money (there’s that word).

Some people jumped on Premier Charest for deciding that he was going to take some of money from the budget, and shift tax brackets upwards, something that all provinces save Alberta (cuz they don’t have brackets) have done since the economy started going much better in the late 90s. They claim the fiscal imbalance does not exist because of the decision of a Premier regarding governing his own province. These attacks are dishonest. They imply that Ottawa was right in never restoring the cuts they made to the social safety net in 1995.

I await the comments (if he will make them) of Bob Rae. An ardent supporter of the fiscal imbalance, Bob was the first to take the brunt of the federal cuts in Ontario, which made a bad situation worse. He knew how devastating these cuts were and made sure he got that message across to Canadians. I would be shocked to hear Bob pleased with the Liberal insistence of their denial.

Fact is, the federal government, who once spent 25% of Health Education and Social transfers, had fallen to 15% after the carnage was over. Is the solution pegging an amount to transfer and keeping it there?

The Bloc would say yes. They want tax points. Although when Harper offered them a GST point, they refused to take it…their hypocrisy here is without question.

Some others, and I fall into this camp, believe that transferring money is a solution. What Ottawa cuts form its coffers is its own business. Despite how the Constitution reads, convention has always been that when Ottawa has too much money, and the provinces need some to start a new pillar of the welfare state, Ottawa trades cash for standards, as was done in the aftermath of WWII. I am still a proponent of this system. However, the federal government, for years, was transferring a high percentage of the costs and went from that to much, much less.

I am called a decentralist because of the way I read the BNA act, when all I do is read the document and it outlines a clear definition of powers.

Health Care, Child Care, Cities (remember that?) Were there photo ops for any of those priorities when Paul Martin was implementing them? The thing sounded like a provincial platform. (It would be great for Dalton now that I think about it.)

Liberals are accusing Conservatives of acting like Liberals. Our line should not be “they are crazy”, but “they said they were different, until they proved we knew what we were doing all along.”

All Harper did was “empty Paul Martin’s war chest.” The same one he built through fiscal prudence and off-loading. Hooray for fiscal prudence Paul, but you should have given the money back, all of it, without question. Instead, the provinces smartened up and managed to make the population understand exactly how you got those surpluses.

Did Harper do this for the right reasons? I highly doubt it. But, on the two main separatist reasons for being in Ottawa, the insult of Quebec (or Quebec has no distinct status) and the federal government screwing the provinces (and therefore Quebec among them), Stephen Harper has indeed disarmed them.

On both major fronts, the Bloc reacted predictably. First they said that the Quebec nation would lead them closer to sovereignty. (Riiight.) Now they say the solving of the fiscal imbalance also leads them closer to sovereignty. They make so sense. Without their two main reasons to complain, they are weak, and it will be seen in the upcoming federal election, where Liberals will re-take the western parts of Quebec and the Tories will mop up in Eastern Quebec. I give about 25 seats to the Libs and at least 25 to the Tories depending on the federalist vote split. If the two parties stay out of each other’s way, expect only 25 seats or less for the Bloc, proof that federalism is working. I don’t care which party makes federalism work, as long as it does…

Back to Charest, let him be for the tax cuts. 700 million dollars is also what he promised to hire 1500 new doctors and 4000 nurses. He could have made the tax cut promise first, and then used yesterday’s money to hire the doctors. It took four years to clear enough manoeuvring room to gice some tax relief to Quebecers. I am happy he put the health care system first, regardless of the optics, and to those in our party who want a separatist government in Quebec City for the presumed negative impact it has on Stephen Harper, you should be ashamed of themselves. I am sure NO Quebecer, Stephane Dion included, wants a PQ government. All this talk makes federalists queasy. We need to win this election. For Quebec. And for Canada.

Does Ottawa Expect to tell Quebec How to Spend the Money We Fought For?

Seriously this mock outrage over the Charest tax cut is absolutely ridiculous. In the late 1990s, the Quebec government decided not to cut services like other provinces were doing. They also modestly cut taxes. Faced with the choice, Quebecers (or their government) decided to keep their generous welfare state.

Charest did what anybody would expect him to do. Quebecers have been overtaxed because we chose to wait out the federal transfers to solve the fiscal imbalance. Now that we have them, Quebecers can celebrate and Charest can return some of the money to the citizens.

Hopefully other provinces will take the money they are receiving and create programs like child care in their provinces. Quebecers have been patient. Yesterday we were rewarded.

Michel C. Auger Prépare son Bernard Drainville?

En anglais, on appelle cela du flip-flop…

Michel C. Auger 16 mars 2006 Journal du Quebec

« Pour M. Charest, rien ne serait plus utile en campagne électorale que de pouvoir dire qu’il a commencé à régler le dossier du déséquilibre fiscal.

D’abord parce que c’est de l’argent supplémentaire pour le gouvernement du Québec, ce que tout le monde comprendra et applaudira et, ensuite parce qu’il se trouverait ainsi à régler (ou à avoir commencé à régler, ce qui serait plus exact) un dossier qui avait été mis sous les réflecteurs par le Parti québécois.

Si, en prime, le Québec obtenait une petite forme de reconnaissance internationale sous la forme d’un strapontin au sein de la délégation canadienne de l’UNESCO. M. Charest pourrait dire qu’il a mieux réussi dans les relations fédérales-provinciales que n’importe quel autre gouvernement québécois depuis Jean Lesage. »

Michel C. Auger 20 mars 2006 Le Soleil

« Enfin, on notera que la volonté du gouvernement Harper de limiter le pouvoir de dépenser du gouvernement fédéral n’a pas bougé d’un pouce depuis l’an dernier. On s’engage toujours à «examiner avec les provinces les moyens à prendre» en cette matière.

En ces temps électoraux, il sera plus facile pour tout le monde de ne pas voir les démons qui dérangent la stratégie. Rien n’empêche, ils sont encore là. »

My Less Facetious Reasons for Supporting this Budget

I am often accused of caring only for Quebec, when in fact I care for this whole country. Some people, like my co-blogger Alex, want to play games with the numbers. We all know Paul Martin made progress on the fiscal imbalance. Jean Charest has been saying so for a while. Many journalists noted only 1 billion dollars was of new money for this fiscal year. Nobody ever tried to hide this fact.

The role of the federal government is not to attach a string to every dime it sends to the provinces. The BNA Act is not written that way. We are a country governed by rules. I say it’s about time we followed them.

Alex says day care money was cut and must therefore be subtracted. Social services like daycare fall solely into provincial jurisdiction and some of this fiscal imbalance money in provinces other than Quebec (who already has a great program) can take this money and create a child care program.

Alex spins himself into circles trying to knock a budget, which saw transfers to Quebec year-over-year increase 18%, while arguing among other things, that equalization shouldn’t count as extra revenue (even though it counted when Martin/Goodale increased it) and Alex also argued that QST money was lost because the 1% cut was also taxed before. It’s convoluted logic that Alex is putting forward…but he can certainly try to defend the indefensible…

I support today what I supported a year ago. My criticisms toward Dion’s position were made a year ago. I know some people spent the past year defending certain Liberals who supported resolving the fiscal imbalance. Today, they are the ones who are compromising their principles, not me.

In 1995, Paul Martin created the CHST, and if you look in today’s budget, you can see how even past 1995 into 1997, we were still cutting transfers to balance the books. This process was the federal government cutting from the main provincial programs like health care and education. In 2000, when the Liberal surpluses hit the tens of billions of dollars, the federal government chose to create programs with a bunch of strings on them, causing some provinces, namely Quebec, to get rather angry. We never gave the provinces the room to breathe like we used to. We preferred the more glamorous policy.

All we are asking is that the federal government restores transfer levels to pre-CHST. We are also asking the federal government stop intervening in provincial jurisdiction, which is why there is another fight coming, one which was in Meech, which Dion supported…

Liberals continue to deny their cuts in the 90s might have caused some of the crisis.

Today, Stephen Harper delivered on a promise that was made by Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, and Scott Brison less than a year ago. I do not care which party accomplishes a great feat. I only care that somebody came through for Quebecers and for Canadians today.

On an aside, the picture is one taken two years ago at a secret Tory BBQ, where I infamously caught half of Charest’s youth wing. It was facetious and basically a jab at Cherniak, who threw somebody off Liblogs for putting up an ad with layton…

I will always be Liberal. What I believe in are Liberal principles. If the Tories come through and deliver on these Liberal principles, we should applaud them. There is no point opposing for the sake of opposing. In the end, only when we acknowledge our greatest weaknesses, can we take advantage of our biggest strengths…

Ce n'est pas 2.3G$ d'argent nefu, mais bien 825M$. Antonio, je ne suis pas d'accord avec toi.

Ce soir, je dois exprimer ma dissension face à la position d'Antonio sur le budget Flaherty déposé aujourd'hui.

Je reconnais le déséquilibre fiscal, la question n'est pas là. En fait, c'est mon problème avec ce budget. On annonce 2,3G$ d'argent neuf pour le Québec. En fait, c'est faux. Je vais refaire l'exercice avec vous pour vous démontrer qu'il n'y a pas 2.3G$ d'argent neuf.

Stephen Harper a éliminé le programme national de garderies abordables. Le Québec perd des transferts de l'ordre de 800M$ annuellement. Le règlement passe donc à 1.5G$ immédiatement.

Le gouvernement conservateur a abaissé la TPS de 1%, ça a pour conséquence de couper les revenus de TVQ du gouvernement du Québec de l'ordre de 250M$ annuellement, on est donc rendu à 1.2G$. De plus, la baisse de la TPS va à l'encontre de la tendance des pays de l'OCDE qui privilégient une hausse des taxes à la consommation pour pouvoir diminuer l'impôt sur le revenu. C'est la meilleure façon de contrer l'évasion fiscal car peu importe la source de revenu, le contribuable doit payer des taxes lorsqu'il dépense son argent.

Dans les 1.25G$ restants, environ 400M$ proviennent de l'entente sur la santé signée sous le précédent gouvernement libéral de Paul Martin. Ça réduit donc la somme d'argent neuf à 825M$.

Le Québec obtient 1.6G$ d'argent neuf de la péréquation. Stephen Harper a été en mesure d'acheminer ces nouveaux argents qui viennent des autres provinces en brisant sa promesse de ne pas inclure les revenus provenant de ressources naturelles dans l'équation. Il creuse donc le fossé entre les deux solitudes. Il renforce donc la réputation d'enfant gâté que le Québec a dans le reste du Canada.

Donc, au net, les transferts fédéraux ont diminué sous Stephen Harper. Stephen Harper n'a pas livré sur le déséquilibre fiscal. Le Bloc Québécois l'a appuyé par simple opportunisme électoral. Le Bloc ne souhaite pas d'élections car ils ne sont pas prêts.

Je souhaite, par contre, que ce pseudo-règlement du déséquilibre fiscal serve à garder les libéraux de Jean Charest au pouvoir, le Québec n'a pas les moyens de se replonger dans la tourmente référendaire.

Alex Plante

Harper Delivers!

Today marks the end of a dark decade of interprovincial squabbles.

39 billion over 7 years will be more than enough to restore fiscal balance to Canada.

There are many other things in this budget which will be afterthoughts considering the impact of the fiscal imbalance money.

The Bloc, facing certain electoral suicide for voting against a concept they created, will endorse the budget, leaving Andre Boisclair in a bit of a pickle…

Ah well, Stephane Dion is going to tell Quebecers that 39 Billion dollars does not exist, and that if everybody closes their eyes and clicks their red heels, maybe the Liberals can get back to Palais des Congres before the shit hits the fan!




Bravo Mr. Harper Bravo

I am Staying on Liblogs for Now...

I have sent an email to Jason Cherniak expressing my dissatisfaction with his removal of audacious ontology from Liblogs because a co-blogger put up an NDP ad.

We should all feel sorry for Jack, when the NDP has trouble finding a microphone, it is desperate times…

Either way, this smacks of censorship, and is, in my opinion, out of line.

This is hardly the first time me and Jason disagree. I believe he should do the right thing and let audacious back on…

Liblogs IS NOT ABOUT CENSORSHIP.

Edit: I have spoken to Jason, and made my point quite clear. Changes are forthcoming and I will explain later when I get home from work.

"It is important to note that the only "editing" is to ensure that Libloggers are not either members of other political party blog lists or clearly misusing the list to mislead readers. "

That is the present Liblogs rule...

Jason's explanation

"Liblogs will have new directors and officers following the AGM in April. They will take a more active role in list management so that it is not only me making decisions. However, until then things stay as they are."

with good reason...

"While I might have reconsidered the audacious ontology decision if he had continued the private conversation, I am not willing to negotiate under public pressure. If I do it once, then I will have to continue doing it."

Yes, it is the Lays Chip argument but it does apply. We will see what gives at the Liblogs AGM, until then I stay on Liblogs...no use further degenerating the sideshow.

In the meantime to audacious, prove to me you are two people blogging (i wont forward the message to Jason) and I will lobby to get you back on.

Carbon What?

Overheard in the OLO

"people dont like the word tax, let's call it Green Investment Account"

"Why call it that? It is clearly a tax"

"Because it would come off bad"

"Why not call it Carbon Kitten? Everybody loves kittens"

"Cuz that would be stupid"

"You mean almost as stupid as calling a tax an investment account?"

Ok, so there is this other government program, they take about 33% of my income, then, if I am good and I found a good way to spend the rest of my money, I get some of this money back in the form of “credits” which I can then trade on the open market seeing as these credits come in the form of a government cheque.

So yes, this program is also known as an income TAX, or as it will be known under a Dion government, the Income Investment Account.

New Poll Proves Myself, Scott Tribe and Jonathan Ross Correct…

Never one to be facetious toward Jason Cherniak, I would just like to say…see what happens when you offer people something to vote for instead of something to vote against…

Also, policy announcements are free television ads. We need to think our policy through, but also need to get it out there. After all, it is not easy to make priorities…it is easy not to show leadership in proposing a carbon call-me-something-other-than-tax that nobody else dared propose a few months ago…at least almost nobody else proposed it…

Will it all get lost in the budget? I doubt it. We don’t want to look reactionary. This is a good thing

In other news, NDP at 12%...HELP GET JOKE LAYTON ON TV!

With the separatist vote in freefall and the reform party making a comeback in eastern Quebec, Harper will be aiming to pick up a boatload of seats in Quebec, pushing him ever so close to a majority…

This will increase pressure on green and NDP voters to vote Liberal to block Stephen Harper. Results on the issues require progressive government. All we have to do now is convince voters we are sorry and we really mean what we say this time…good luck with that folks, im off to fight the new Reform Party surge in Quebec

NDP Woes Worsening?

Taking a small break from the rising Reform Tide sweeping Quebec because someone forwarded me a link which said Jack Layton needed help getting an ad on TV...

Since when does Jack Layton have trouble getting on TV?

Maybe Pat Martin is right, when the NDP can't even find a willing television camera, they must really be in shit...

More on the Quebec election later...the social credit is back, and they are 30% in the polls here...

Gong show indeed...

Debat LiveBlog

22h00 - Bilan de la soirée

Jean Charest - Il était un vrai premier ministre. Il a été porteur d'un message d'espoir et d'avenir pour les Québécois.

Mario Dumont et André Boisclair s'en sont tenus à dénigrer autrui tout en occultant volontairement de parler de leurs promesses irréalisables. Boisclair voudrait-il parler à de souveraineté encore? Il a minimisé le sujet tout le long du débat. Case closed.

21h45 - Jean Charest sait ou il s'en va. Il est le seul qui a paru Premier Ministrable. C'est cela que le peuple Québecois va s'en sortir ce soir

21h40 - Jean Charest est clair avec les accomplissements de son gouvernement: le Québec comme nation, l'entente avec le fédéral par rapport avec l'UNESCO. On est fier des accomplissements de Jean Charest.

21h29 - Mario Dumont n'a pas de position. Son cadre financier est brisé après juste deux promesse, celles des familles et des commissions scolaires. On comprend rien des positions de Mario Dumont.

21h25 - C'est maintenant à Jean Charest de PLANTER Mario Dumont. Charest accuse Dumont de l'improvisation. Mario ne réponds rien. J'ai hâte au prochain sujet...Pauvre Mario...

21h15 - André Boisclair est en feu. Malheuresement pour lui, M. Charest n'est pas hystérique comme Mario Dumont. M. Charest connait ses dossiers.

21h06 - Boisclair PLANTE Mario Dumont, qui, comme moi, diplômé de Concordia, ne peut définir la marge de manoeuvre du Quebec. Mario pense que l'économie par les prisons. Même Jacques Moisan doit rappeler Mario à l'ordre sur ce point. Jacques Moisan nous donne le premier mini-knockout de la soirée.

21h00 - Mario Dumont sort un document de son chapeau. C'est cheap. Mario est-il désespéré?

20h55 - M. Charest et M. Boisclair ont une discussion civile sur le sujet de l'économie. J'attends M. Dumont contre M. Boisclair pour le "drame"

20h50 - On commence à discuter l'économie...

20h40 - M. Charest donne une leçon dans le domaine de l'environnement à Mario Dumont. Ça fait pitié...

20h35 - Clairement Mario Dumont et André Boisclair vont se tirer les cheveux toute la soirée.

20h28 - Jean Charest met André à sa place...

20h24 - Mario ne répond pas aux questions directes...est-ce qu'il pourra faire cela pendant deux heures?

20h22 Dumont vs. Boisclair....en anglais on dit "cat-fight" Dumont refuse de dire quels médicaments seront enlevés de la liste des médicaments couverts par l'assurance.

20h17 - Mario Dumont dit que le Quebec a besoin des cliniques privées...

20h08 - Jean Charest est très fier de son bilan. Il devra se défendre mais il parait en grand forme...il fait preuve d'humilité

20h05 - Andre Boisclair promet un referendum, et invoque le nom de Stephane Dion et de Jean Chretien...ça va être intéressant.

20h00 - Mario Dumont nous donne sa parole, il devra couper 4,6 milliards. (6,3 milliards - 1,7 milliards) J'attends le 20 mars.

19h50 - Le Debat commence en 10 minutes

j'ai vraiment hâte d'entendre les chiffres de Mario Dumont et la "langue de bois" d'André Boisclair.

Entendre Bernard Drainville a TVA me fait avoir déjà un mal de tête..je vais prendre l'avis de MisterPi et je vais me trouver de l'alcool

Le Quebec Avant le PQ?

Quebec Debate LiveBlogging Tonight

Quebec elections usually hinge on the debate.

Tonight I will take my first crack at liveblogging, and I will be doing it in French no less.

I will have some English but it will be summarized. I will post a full run-down tomorrow.

A+

Guy Lachapelle Démontre l’Impossibilité de la Politique Péquiste Envers le Dégel

Guy Lachapelle a déjà été mon professeur d’école. Il est un très bon professeur, et il m’a même écrit une lettre de référence. Ce professeur d’université est un candidat vedette pour le PQ et il enseigne depuis plusieurs années.

Dans une conversation avec le Courier Laval, M. Lachapelle nous informe que la politique péquiste de l’éducation n’empêche pas aux universités de hausser les frais afférents.

Du Courier Laval…

« Questionné sur le gel des frais de scolarité, le candidat de Fabre, Guy Lachapelle, a mentionné que cette décision n'empêchait pas la hausse des frais afférents. Le professeur de l'Université Concordia a souligné que les recteurs demandent un investissement dans les infrastructures. «Ils veulent les moyens d'investir dans les nouvelles technologies», dit-il en ajoutant que les universités doivent collaborer avec les entreprises privées.

Quand on lui fait remarquer que la marche pourrait être haute le jour où on dégèlera les frais de scolarité, il s'est avancé en disant qu'ils devront être indexés. »

Alors, une question pour M. Boisclair, quand ton candidat vedette dans le domaine de l’éducation vous fait signe que le gel n’est pas assez pour les universités, que faites vous? C’est quoi la vraie priorité des péquistes, l’éducation ou le vote des étudiants?

L’ADQ Ressemble de Plus en Plus Loft Story

Et on vient d’en perdre un autre. Mario Dumont vient de congédier un autre de ses candidats, cette fois c’est Christian Raymond, candidat dans Prévost qui s’est mis le pied dans la bouche.

Si Mario Dumont parle de chasse aux sorcières, c’est parce qu’il doit en chasser une a tous les trois jours. Je pense que la « slate » de Dumont ressemble de plus en plus à Loft Story.

L’inaptitude de l’équipe de Mario a commencé à faire lui faire mal de même qu’ à ses troupes, qui réalisent que la qualité est bien meilleure que la quantité.

Qui va être le prochain à sortir? Vous pouvez voter maintenant…

Eric Dorion, délinquant juvénile avec des beaux cheveux…il se dit un homme changé…

Karine Delarosbil, ADQuiste dédiée à la cause de Loft Story qui est partie en pleine campagne et toujours pas rentrée d’ailleurs!!!

Clairmont de la Croizetière, pour qui la fraternité entre les candidats n’est pas assez communiste à son goût.

Gilles Gagnon, qui pense qu’on devrait avoir le même système d’éducation que celui de Cuba.

Entre nous, je pense que Loft Story va se terminer comme en 1994, avec Mario Dumont tout seul comme gagnant…

Cherniak’s definition of Anti-Semitism Includes…Cherniak

Before I begin, I would like to re-iterate that all humans are equal and they all have equal capacity.

Even in my ranting about Israel last summer, I never once discriminated against Jews, just against a government and its decisions.

Well, isn’t it ironic…follow the path.

“I think the best definition of "anti-Semitism" is to call it intellectual discrimination against Jews.”

“as a Jew, I have a better understanding of anti-Semitism than others.”

Oh really Jason, does being Jewish give you some secret insight that myself or catnip or other bloggers simply don’t have? Is there a decoder ring somewhere?

Sounds like intellectual discrimination against Jews to me (positive but I don’t see a distinction, people are equal) similar to saying Jews control the world, which they don’t. Americans control the world. (Crap now I’m Anti-American)

Now no matter what Jason says about Israel in the next 50 years, we can take this discriminatory statement and throw it in his face to discredit him. What’s good for Chomsky is certainly adequate for Cherniak.

Maybe Anti-non-Semite would be more appropriate but I still think discrimination is wrong. Jason owes all us other folk with no decoder ring an apology…I’m sure Jason has no hatred for all us non-jews, or is an active promoter of anti-non-Jewish hatred--he just tends to "perceive an entire 'race' of people in a certain way”

Robert McClelland got kicked from Progessive Bloggers for discriminatory statements …I think Prog Blog should have another vote coming…

Publicité Porno Pequistes!!

Candidat Pequiste Dave Turcotte nous offre des sites très interessant à aller voir.

Je crois qu'André Boisclair n'approuverait pas!

PQ Candidate in Saint Jean Dave Turcotte has some interesting pop-ups on his site

I somehow doubt André Boisclair would approve

Dumont IS a Separatist in Sheep’s Clothing

ADQ Autonomy strategy is set to fail and put Canadian unity in crisis

Mario Dumont is letting recent poll numbers go straight to his head. If one looks at the ADQ’s numbers, they are set to pierce into central Quebec picking up some Liberal and PQ seats in Quebec’s regions. Some pollsters are even predicting the possibility of a minority government in Quebec.

Dumont has already opined that he would force the federal government to enter into constitutional negotiations, holding the fragile PLQ minority with a knife at its throat. If Dumont would not get what he wants out of Stephen Harper, it would be another failure on the part of Ottawa, and the ADQ would hand its MNAs over to Andre Boisclair, (by then possibly Gilles Duceppe) who would call an immediate referendum..err popular consultation.

We recently saw how difficult it was for English Canada to accept the concept of Quebec being a nation. Populists arose from around the country like Warren Kinsella, defending concepts that were just as nationalist as the PQ presently espouses. It would be difficult for English Canada to accept whole-hearted reform of the Constitution given they would have clearly rejected the resolution that was brought to the House of Commons a few short months ago.

It was the leadership of Michael Ignatieff, who after being away for so long, was able to see just how much Quebec society had changed, the leadership of Stephen Harper for beating the Bloc at their own game, AND the leadership of Captain Canada, Stephane Dion who sucked it up, put the rhetoric that plagued his career (in Quebec) behind him, and ensured there would not be a prolonged fight on the issue, that weathered us through that storm.

What pure federalists and soft nationalists in Quebec can all agree on is that we no longer like Quebec City with a knife at Ottawa’s throat. The fact that the PLQ in four years, through co-operation with Jean Chretien, Paul Martin, and Stephen Harper, is an indication that Quebec society is best suited WITHIN the Canadian federation.

Mario Dumont wants to act as the government with the least amount of MNAs. He is using the collapse of the minority government (on the heels of a hypothetical federalist failure) as leverage. Quebecers all know what that means. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Quebecers do not want a referendum, to the point where the PQ practically liquid papered the word out of their platform, a vote for Dumont is tantamount to a game of chicken with Stephen Harper when the rest of Canada is NOT willing to play.

Four years of responsible governing has led Quebec to be in much better shape than it was four years ago. Under Jean Charest, we have seen just how much it benefits Quebec to be a part of Canada and just how much it benefits Canada to have Quebec within the fold. Mario Dumont wants to take all that and put a knife to Ottawa’s throat….or else.

If he walks like a separatist, talks like a separatist, and acts like a separatist, we know exactly what he is. Quebecers want a federalist government right now. If they want to avoid a referendum in the next four years, the only way to do so is to vote for Jean Charest and the Parti Liberal du Quebec.

Stephane Dion will be the End of the Bloc Quebecois

With the PQ faltering, it seems the Bloc Quebecois is taking the nosedive as well. As many know, the Bloc hold almost all rural Quebec seats, with most of Montreal being Liberal and most of Quebec City being Conservative.

Now, the PQ has fallen to about 35% in rural Quebec, leaving the PLQ and recently Dion-endorsed (lawl) Quebec Reform Party, the ADQ, with a combined 65% of the vote.

The Bloc is also facing these numbers, which begs the question, if the separatist forces are getting only 35% support in their heartland, the next election may be dangerous if the federalist vote is not split.

Last election, Montreal's federalists rallied behind Liberals and Quebec City's rallied behind the Tories to give those parties victory. Liberals lost Montreal seats because of a Tory upsurge, but those voters learned their lessons, in Montreal, if you want a federalist, vote Liberal.

However, we all know how the ADQ is in bed with the Tories and Jean Charest and Stephen Harper have reached second base, so a combined federalist vote for the Conservatives put 35 of 50 Bloc ridings in play. With resources spread so thin, Liberals will re-gain what we recently lost to the Bloc, but expect a Tory surge in rural Quebec, as voters will vote for the best federalist party, which in their area right now, is the Conservative Party.

The Tories have a potential to gain as much as 40 Quebec seats in the next election, but could win as little as ten. If seat totals stay the same, that would give Stephen Harper 156 seats, a majority government. Watch the ADQ's rise this election. Whereever they end up winning seats, add that to the Tory win column. Look at combined results, and then find out why the BQ is shitting their pants right now...

The thought of a Conservative majority sends a shiver down my spine too, but neglecting the feelings and needs of Quebecers has its price. the BQ thought electing Dion would be best for them, but if it polarizes voters for the Conservatives, Stephane Dion may just be the end of the Bloc Quebecois after all...