The Toronto Star, Monday, July 24, 2006 Dion enters Liberal leadership raceFrank talk needed on national unity Stéphane Dion,
I strongly believe that Canada is an exceptional country, a tolerant and welcoming country that enjoys opportunities rarely seen elsewhere.
However, even if Canada was just an "ordinary" democratic state - if I can use that expression - one would still be obliged to find serious reasons to justify a move as radical as secession. In fact, there are few things more perilous in any democracy than the sudden creation of an international border that would transform fellow citizens into foreigners.
Separatist leaders in Quebec have never provided us Quebecers with valid justification to renounce our belonging to Canada.

OTTAWA, July 12, 2006 Current and Former Women Parliamentarians Join the Stephane Dion Team
13 good women including Marlene Jennings, Quebec Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Deputy House Leader, and Associate Critic for Official Languages

Dion delivers high-energy performance
“Once again,” argued La Presse’s Vincent Marissal on Sunday, “he was the most prepared yesterday and the strongest intellectually. He was the only one who said what he was going to do, how and why if he were to become Liberal Leader or Prime Minister.”
“Stéphane Dion is the only one playing the debate game,” Marissal continued. “He goes straight for the jugular, defends his ideas, counter-attacks, really debates, whereas the others all look like tourists on a tour of Canada.”

 Stéphane Dion video + You Tube

Dion victor and Wife

find on W-N | Wikipedia | CP | clusty | CBC | fastsearch | Photo Slides | BC | flickr | Robert Galbraith great imgs

video
three Letters to the 25th W-N

John Moore: Musings on Stéphane Dion

2008

Saturday Mar 29, 2008 Dion is a leader without a base in his own province
At the end of his week from hell in Quebec, Stéphane Dion issued a ringing endorsement of his own leadership, and a stirring call to arms to his party.

Wednesday Mar 26, 2008 Dion's leadership under fire again
The federal Liberal Party moved yesterday to close ranks and downplay discontent within its Quebec wing...

Tuesday Mar 18, 2008 Rae, Findlay win Ontario by-elections
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion declared yesterday "a great day for Liberals" as Toronto lawyers Bob Rae...

Monday 17 March 2008 THE STRAIGHT GOODS:
Voters go to the polls today in four federal by-elections, in a crucial test for Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. The Parti Québécois approves its leader’s plan to put a separation referendum on the back burner. Controversial changes to the Canadian immigration system are hotly debated in the media.
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DION NEEDS LIBERAL HINDS IN VACANT SEATS
As correspondent Craig Oliver noted last night on CTV News, by-elections are usually barometers of voters’ feelings about the government. But the four votes underway today are mainly being watched as a judgment on the main opposition party and its leader. CBC News: Sunday Night, the Globe, the Citizen, and the Star go inside with roundups on the elections, while the Post and another Globe piece focus on the most contentious race, playing out in northern Saskatchewan. The Liberals took the riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River in the last general election by the narrowest of margins—sixty-seven votes. This time around, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion injected some controversy into the race by hand-picking Joan Beatty, a former NDP provincial cabinet minister, to run for the party, rejecting David Orchard, a two-time candidate for the leadership of the now-defunct Progressive Conservative party. The other three races are far from nail-biters, with former Liberal leadership candidates Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay expected to win handily in two Toronto ridings, and with the Liberals expected to retain their seat in a snore of a race in Vancouver Quadra.

But Dion needs a big win in order to prevent his leadership from developing more cracks, and a surprise Conservative win would deal him a sharp blow. What’s more, the Tories are using the elections to gauge whether they have made any inroads into key urban and ethnic demographics, and will hold up any narrowing of the margin in Liberal strongholds as an affirmation of their message. A surprise loss in today’s votes would almost certainly squelch any prospect of a spring election, as Liberals lick their wounds. But if all goes as planned for the Liberals, the results will embolden election hawks in the party. Writing in the Star, Chantal Hébert notes that the Liberals are running out of ways to trigger a vote, having propped up the government on all of their major agenda items. Under those conditions, she says the party may have to restrain itself until 2009 anyway, giving them enough time to change their leader if they desire.

Tuesday 04 March 2008 OTTAWA: PM TO SUE OPPOSITION LEADER
Federal Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion has refused to apologize and to order the removal of remarks deemed libellous posted on the party's website concerning the Charles Cadman affair. Conservative Party Prime Minister Stephen Harper, plans to sue Mr. Dion and his party for libel. The suit pertains to an alleged offer by the Harper-led Conservative Party of a million-dollar life insurance policy to a former member of parliament who was sitting as an independent. The offer was said to hinge on Chuck Cadman's willingness to bring down the governing Liberal Party in 2005. In the end, he voted to sustain the government. Two months later, Mr. Cadman died of cancer. While statements made in Parliament by Canadian politicians are protected from libel actions, in this instance, the allegations of bribery were repeated on a web site. Mr. Cadman's widow makes the allegation about the Conservatives proposal to her husband in a forthcoming book but says Mr. Harper didn't know about it.

Sunday Feb 10, 2008 Dion softens on Afghanistan
With momentum for a spring election growing, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion took a softer stance on the...

Monday Feb 4, 2008 Dion faces caucus strain over Afghan mission
Tugged by Conservatives on one side, and New Democrats on the other, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion also...

Friday Jan 25, 2008 Dion 'open to debate'
Former deputy prime minister John Manley says the federal Liberals, who have yet to respond to his panel...

Wednesday Jan 23, 2008
Pressure lands on Harper, Dion
The Manley panel's hard-hitting report on Canada's war in Afghanistan has stepped up pressure on both...

Saturday 19 January 2008 HAMILTON: DION PROMISES FUNDING FOR GREEN TECHNOLOGIES
Stephane Dion says a Liberal government would establish a $1-billion fund to help manufacturers move into green technologies. The Liberal leader says his proposed Advanced Manufacturing Prosperity Fund would help pay for research and development projects aimed at boosting the hard-pressed manufacturing sector. Thousands of factory jobs have disappeared in recent years and Mr. Dion says the time has come to go beyond simple tax corporate breaks. In addition to the prosperity fund, the Liberals would provide tax credits to support private research which doesn't translate into immediate profits. Mr. Dion says this will encourage more private funding for research and development.

Saturday Jan 19, 2008 Dion proposes $1B economic aid package
Plan rivals Harper's proposed earlier this month

Saturday Jan 19, 2008 Dion is misunderstood in both official tongues
Stéphane Dion's manifest shortcomings in the Shakespearean tongue have already been amply noted in the...

Thursday Jan 17, 2008 Dion urges Pakistan intervention Any attempt to counter terrorists in war-torn Afghanistan will not succeed without an intervention in... see Pakistan

Monday 14 January 2008 KANDAHAR: DION TAKES POLITICAL FLACK ON AFGHANISTAN
The leader of Canada's Official Opposition, Stephane Dion, was on his first visit to Afghanistan this weekend. But the Liberal Party leader's visit is being scoffed at by the Conservative Party government. In Kabul Saturday, Mr. Dion told Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Canada should be looking at aid projects and other non-combat roles in Afghanistan when its current military commitment expires next year. Helena Guergis, secretary of state for foreign affairs, said in a statement Sunday it has taken Mr. Dion more than a year after becoming Liberal leader "to finally find Afghanistan on the map." Mr. Dion said Canada must remain in Afghanistan beyond its current commitment, which ends in February 2009. But he said Canada must focus less on a combat role and more on things like women's rights, education and water management. Mr. Dion and Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff met with Afghan government officials, aid workers and Canadian troops during the trip, which came just a week after the Liberal Party submitted its recommendations on the future of the Afghan mission. A panel studying Canada's role in Afghanistan is expected to report back to the government by the end of the month. Canada has about 2500 troops in volatile Kandahar province.

Saturday Jan 12, 2008 Federal Liberals edge ahead in new poll
Stéphane Dion's Liberals have taken a slight lead on the federal Tories in public support, based mostly...

2007

Saturday Dec 22, 2007 2008 vote in the cards, Dion hints
Canadians should brace for a federal election in 2008, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion suggested yesterday...

Wednesday 19 December 2007 MORE WOES FOR DION
The Globe, the Star, and La Presse go inside with the multiple challenges faced by opposition leader Stéphane Dion as he tries to placate the rival factions of the fractious federal Liberals. His often-criticized front office team is receiving yet another shake-up, according to the Star. The musical chairs will start with spokesman Nicolas Ruszkowski, an organizer for former leadership contender Ken Dryden, who garnered the enmity of some within the party, and who is to be replaced by Scott Brison’s campaign manager, Leslie Swartman. It’s not a good sign for party unity when your key staffers are still described in terms of who they supported at a leadership convention a full year ago. For his part, Justin Trudeau, the Liberal party nominee for Montreal’s Papineau riding, is still declaring his contentious opposition to officially recognizing Quebec as a nation, as per the vaguely worded resolution that Prime Minister Stephen Harper tossed like a grenade into Parliament last year. La Presse digs up an interview, given to a community weekly published in Montreal, in which Trudeau slams the “nation” idea as something “from the nineteenth century” that “separates groups from one another.” Meanwhile, in Saskatachewan, Dion is facing the ire of party-hopping nationalist gadfly David Orchard, who wants to run in the upcoming Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River by-election that promises to be a tough three-way fight. The Globe reports that Orchard, who played a role in delivering delegates to Dion last year, has been “organizing heavily” in the riding, but that Dion has approached Joan Beatty—the former NDP provincial culture minister—to run instead. Orchard loyalists are fuming that Dion would even consider appointing a candidate: “It would be just insane.” With all these supposed stars in the firmament, too busy trying to outshine Dion to form a coherent constellation, it’s no wonder that the Star’s Ian Urquhart dreams of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty riding to the salvation of the federal party.

_______________________________
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Tuesday 04 December 2007

OTTAWA: LIBERALS PREDICT '08 ELECTION
Federal Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion predicts that an national election may be called next year and advised Liberals to prepare for one. Mr. Dion says that when Canadians consider the two-year record of the minority Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, they'll be ready to "reconsider their vote." The Conservatives won the election in January 2006 with 36 per cent of the vote. Mr. Dion told a two-day Liberal Party meeting in the capital that he intends to campaign on the environment and would promise tax cuts and reduction of poverty, particularly for children. A series of polls have put the Liberals well behind the Conservatives in popularity. A Nanos Research poll released Monday offered the same result. DION’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
CBC News: Sunday Night and the Globe front, while CTV News, the Star, the Citizen, and La Presse (not available online) go inside with Liberal leader Stéphane Dion’s spirited anniversary speech in Montreal yesterday. Celebrating the conclusion of his first year as Liberal leader, a cheerful Dion told his party members to be prepared for an election in the new year, possibly as early as February. He went on to discuss his plans to frame the next election campaign as a battle of ideology, says the Star, focusing on the issues of poverty, the environment, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Dion’s fighting words appear to be a move towards significantly polarizing his party’s stance on key issues. “There will be a collision between these two conceptions of our country,” he said of the Liberal’s left-leaning green and social vision versus what he called the “narrow, selfish Conservative idea” of Canada. In addition to slamming Harper’s government, Dion also took a jab at the NDP. “In the last election, [NDP leader] Jack Layton asked Canadians to lend him their votes,'” said Dion, as quoted by CTV News. “And what did they get? Stephen Harper.”

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Monday Dec 3, 2007 MONTREAL: OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER PLANNING FOR NEW YEAR ELECTION
The leader of the opposition Liberal Party, Stephane Dion, is urging his party members in private to prepare for a national election as early as next February. In a speech to Liberal Party riding presidents meeting in Montreal on Sunday, Mr. Dion said that the governing Conservative Party has what he called a narrow, selfish vision of Canada. He predicted that the next election would pit Liberal and Conservative party visions against each other. Mr. Dion was speaking on the first anniversary of his election as party leader. The Conservative Party has only a minority number of seats in parliament. When proposing major bills, the Conservatives must rely on the support of opposition parties to remain in power.

Sunday 02 December 2007 OTTAWA: LIBERAL PARTY LEADER MARKS FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Stephane Dion is marking his first anniversary as leader of Canada's opposition Liberal Party. Criticized for his stilted speaking style, Mr. Dion has answered his detractors with vigorous statements of his intention to continue leading the party. His latest remarks suggest that the Liberal Party might soon stop propping up the minority Convervative Party government. During the Fall session in Parliament, the Liberal Party abstained from votes of confidence. Had the Liberals voted against the Conservative Party, the government would have likely fallen and there would be a federal election.

Tuesday 23 October 2007 WINNIPEG: DION ISSUES ON PLEDGE ON FEDERAL GREEN POLICIES
Federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is pledging to stop any federal anti-environment Conservative legislation. During a visit to Winnipeg Saturday, Mr. Dion said the Liberals would not support legislation that could endanger the environment of Canadians. However, he stopped short of saying the Liberals would defeat a confidence motion to trigger an election. Last week Mr. Dion promised Canadians his party would abstain from voting against the minority Conservative government's throne speech to avoid provoking an election. Following a two-hour public question-and-answer session on Saturday, Mr. Dion described the throne speech as an orientation about what the government intends to complete. He said it's not a concrete bill or an allocation of money and added that once the government proposes something that is wrong for Canadians the Liberals will have to talk about how to stop it.

Saturday Oct 20, 2007 Giving Stephane Dion the soap-opera treatment
Is Dion a loser? Or is that just what the media tells us?
john.moore@cfrb.com - John Moore is host of the drive home show on NewsTalk 1010 CFRB. Outside of Toronto, he can be heard at www.cfrb.com.

Thursday 18 October 2007

DION AGONISTES
by Daniel Casey
October 18, 2007

The MPs of the federal Liberal caucus do not want to fight an election they feel they could not possibly win, and it’s their own fault. After all, who has time to raise money to fight an election when candidates from the last Liberal leadership race are still in debt and stars like Bob Rae and Gerard Kennedy are still without seats in Parliament? Who has the time to organize in Quebec when there are so many recriminations to be flung over last month’s by-election shellacking? Why bother uniting when there are divisions from a leadership convention seventeen years ago motivating the party’s organizers and leading lights? Stéphane Dion is caricatured as a weakling for the very existence of these breaches, but neither Jean Chrétien nor Paul Martin, both of whom were burdened with far greater expectations, could heal them either. In the absence of a caucus mandate or a defining issue for his party, Dion more or less had to stand in the Commons yesterday and denounce the Conservative Throne Speech, but admit that the Liberals would not vote to bring the government down. For exercising restraint and bowing to the impossible, various print loudmouths brand him a wimp. La Presse’s Vincent Marissal savages Dion as having “not an ounce of modesty, humor or self-mockery,” a “nerd in glasses who is always right.” Even the Star’s James Travers narrows his eyes at Dion, blaming “a suspect leader” for the schoolyard resentments of his MPs and taunting his “suspect strategic skills and weak caucus support.”

While the Star made reference to a “fierce internal Liberal debate,” the Post reports that “only a handful” said they wanted an election during the caucus meeting that preceded Dion’s speech. The Tory caucus, secretive and famously intolerant of dissent, admitted cameras yesterday, and The National broadcast a solid wall of dark suits and bald spots as MPs clapped in unison and cheered the Prime Minister as he entered the room. When Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament in August, the all-party committee revisions to the Conservatives’ climate change plan and crime bills died on the order paper. Harper plans to reintroduce the bills in their original form, along with an extension of the Afghanistan mission, as confidence measures. If they don’t want the government to fall, what the Post’s Don Martin calls the “fetal-position opposition” will have to abandon their own positions and go along with the Conservatives’.  The Liberals’ strategy, as the Globe and the Citizen report, is to attack nascent Tory scandals over spending in the last election and allegations of influence-peddling in the Ottawa mayoral race. Whether the voters want dour tough guys in office will now be decided another day. Today’s media, however, seem to demand it.

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THE LEADS:
THE NATIONAL: “Showdown on Hold: The Liberal leader doesn’t like the Conservative Throne Speech, but he won’t trigger an election”
CTV NEWS: “On the Trail: More shock on the other side of the world as another child brings disturbing new information”
GLOBE AND MAIL: “Harper reloads with crime ultimatum”
TORONTO STAR: “Back from the brink”
NATIONAL POST: “Dion capitulates”
LA PRESSE: “Dion in torment”
OTTAWA CITIZEN: “Dion blinks, refuses to pull plug on Tories”

October 1, 2007 (Gazette) Stéphane Dion and the Liberals just had a week from hell
Since the Quebec by-elections, it's been one disaster after another for the party more

Sunday 23 September 2007 Fair play for Dion
Liberals could destroy own party if they don't stop sniping at the leader

Wednesday 19 September 2007

Stéphane Dion slide show

(Gazette) Dion is the big loser in by-elections His failure to regain francophone support for the Liberals means the knives will be out for the novice leader

Sunday 19 August 2007 OTTAWA: OPPOSITION DEMANDS AFGHANISTAN NOTICE BE GIVEN
The leader of Canada's opposition Liberal Party, Stéphane Dion, has demanded that Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper tell U.S. President George W. Bush that Canada will end its military deployment in Afghanistan in February 2009, the deadline approved by the House of Commons. Mr. Harper will meet Mr. Bush for two days next week, along with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, at Montebello, QC. Mr. Dion says that the longer Mr. Harper delays in giving notification to the U.S., to NATO and to the government of Afghanistan, the less loyal an ally Canada is. Earlier during the summer, Mr. Harper said that his minority government wouldn't prolong the Afghanistan without a consensus in the House, which the three opposition parties have said won't be possible. The Liberal leader also wants 20-year-old Canadian terrorism suspect Omar Khadr to be released from imprisonment at Guantanamo, Cuba, to be tried in a legitimate court in the U.S. Khadr is considered an "enemy combatant" and is being held indefinitely pending a military trial which has been blocked by legal challenges.

Tuesday 19 June 2007 OTTAWA: LIBERAL PARTY LEADER AT FIRST FRANCOPHONE SUMMIT
The leader of the federal opposition Liberal Party, Stephane Dion, promised to make bilingualism a priority if the party wins the next federal election. Mr. Dion was speaking in Ottawa on Saturday at the first summit of francophones living outside of the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec. He called bilingualism an opportunity and an asset rather than a burden or obstacle. He said that he would revive and enlarge program introduced by the late prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, that helped to finance legal battles on behalf of linguistic minorities. The program was cut last year by the Conservative Party government, a move that drew francophones' anger. Mr. Dion served at one time as federal minister responsible for francophone affairs. The summit ends on Sunday

Wed1318 The plight of Stéphane Dion

Politicians aspiring to office are no strangers to Wednesday Night. Stéphane Dion certainly gained an enormous amount of respect for his thoughtful answers and willingness to listen during his visit here, but appears to have been unable to garner the same enthusiasm in Québec beyond the borders of Wednesday Night. It has been suggested by some Dion supporters that the problem lies in the fact that the Liberal Party is wedded to the idea of handlers from Toronto who do not recognize that the population of Canada is not homogeneous and that a vote in each riding is of equal significance. The Toronto faction insists that Mr. Dion's English is poor, despite evidence to the contrary on the occasion when he was present at Wednesday Night, and that therefore Mr. Ignatieff should be the Leader's spokesman in English. This strategy is both ill founded and divisive and will be costly in the next election if not reversed.

The Liberal Party has no idea of where the country should be, hasn't a clue where to go from here and is tearing itself apart

Saturday 19 May 2007 End to dual citizenship difficult to enforce, officials say
Forcing foreign nationals to renounce their Canadian citizenship would be "impractical and difficult to enforce," newly released federal documents show. [there is an advantage to have two]

Friday 20 April 2007 Dion contends Harper 'antagonistic' toward Charter
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of "a pattern of antagonism" toward some of Canada's basic judicial precepts in a Tuesday speech commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Wed1305 7 Mar 2007 Tributes to David and Diana on this auspicious event [25th year] were read from Governor-General Michaelle Jean , as well as Jean Charest and Stéphane Dion—both of whom have attended Wednesday Nights—as well as other luminaries.

Monday 05 March 2007 Liberals try to get their groove back
Stephane Dion is taking advantage of a two-week parliamentary break to criss-cross the country, trying to restore some lustre to his fledgling leadership.

Wed 21 February 2007

DION GOING DOWN
by Jordan Himelfarb
February 21, 2007

It’s been only three months now since Stéphane Dion unexpectedly ascended to the Liberal leadership, poised to rejuvenate the party with an incorruptible, environment-focused platform.Only three months since the Liberals consistently placed five points ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, and three months since 65 percent of Canadians said that they believed Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a hidden agenda. Apparently, three months is a long time in politics. An Ipsos Reid poll published yesterday shows that the number of Canadians who believe Stephen Harper has a hidden agenda has dropped almost twenty percentage points since two years ago, to 45 percent of Canadians surveyed, and unfortunately for Stéphane Dion, that is the best news the poll has for him. The Post reports that the survey shows that Canadians see Dion as the least trustworthy and least visionary among leaders of the major federal political parties. When asked which of Harper, NDP leader Jack Layton, and Dion would make the best prime minister, Canadians opted overwhelmingly for Harper (46 percent), followed by Layton (29 percent) and Dion (25 percent). Perhaps most devastating to Dion and the Liberals, is Ipsos Reid’s finding that Canadians see Dion as the leader least committed to dealing with global warming—the issue Dion has tried to build his leadership around and make his own. 

The Big Seven list a litany of Liberal blunders they believe have led Dion into the Canadian public’s doghouse. CTV News criticized the Liberal leader last night for not standing behind the extension of security provisions in anti-terrorism legislation brought into force by his own party, a move that CTV News’s Robert Fife sees as moving the Liberals too far left of the centre where most Canadians dwell.   CTV also questioned whether it is prudent of Dion to have given deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff such a prominent role in Question Period, seeing that some believe the leader is outshined by his deputy. Don Martin writing in the Post compares Dion’s trajectory to the quick rise and long fall of former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day. Martin dismisses Dion as “stiff, scripted and backed by a shaky grasp of spontaneous English.” Andrew Coyne, also writing in the Post, explains the backlash against Dion on the environment portfolio as one against “unhinged…zealotry” in favour of the Conservatives’ more measured, pragmatic approach. Meanwhile, the Star and the rest of the Big Seven see the poll as yet another indication that the Conservatives will be ramping up for a spring election, a claim that Harper steadfastly denies. The Star reports that the government announced yesterday that they will table their budget on March 19.Whether or not the budget will be designed to fell the government likely depends on whether the Conservatives believe they can win a majority government, and therefore fully actualize their agenda-explicit or secret as it may be.
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Tue 20/02/2007 THE HONEYMOON IS OVER
CTV News, the Globe and the Post lead, while the Citizen goes inside with the (seemingly) sinking fortunes of Stéphane Dion, the Liberal Party’s new leader. Just a few months after a nail-biting leadership convention ended with Dion’s surprise victory, a wide-ranging new poll for CTV News and the Globe finds he and his party have fallen significantly behind the Tories. If an election were held today, 34 percent of the poll’s respondents would vote for the Conservatives, while only 29 percent would vote for the Liberals. The Globe attributes this primarily to a growing public impression that Stephen Harper is a decisive leader. Fully 36 percent of respondents said Harper would make the best prime minister—twice the number who said Dion would. “Stéphane Dion is now in a nosedive,” CTV’s Ottawa bureau chief Bob Fife said last night. But he added that the current numbers mean the Tories are “not even close to a majority government.” The Globe was more charitable, writing that, “The Conservatives may now have the winning conditions needed for a spring election.”

The Post and the Citizen, meanwhile, run an article quoting Tom Axworthy, a senior Liberal who worked as an aide to former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, urging the Liberals to start a “grassroots renewal” campaign to help them win back the hearts and minds of voters, as well as to put behind them the growing number of issues on which the Liberal caucus is split. In recent weeks, there has been contention within the party over Dion’s decision to oppose extending two national-security laws passed by the Liberal government of Jean Chretien after 9/11. On CTV News, Fife also pointed out the growing amount of infighting within the Liberal caucus. Many are complaining that former Dion rival in the leadership campaign Michael Ignatieff has been doing most of the talking for the Liberal party in recent weeks, something many Liberal insiders are apparently unhappy about.

20/01/07'I wasn't born disciplined. I became so.'
Wizard or wooden? Last month, Stéphane Dion appeared almost out of nowhere to win the Liberal leadership. Some tout him as the country's next great prime minister while others dismiss him as cold, arrogant and inscrutable. Before making up their minds, Canadians really have to get to know the man. KONRAD YAKABUSKI reports

Aislin archive January 31, 2007

Saturday 20 January 2007 Dion unaware of Liberal plan to expand oilsands
Federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says he knew nothing about a plan to massively expand production in the Alberta oilsands to meet the demand in the U.S., even though discussions on speeding up the regulatory review process were launched by former prime minister Paul Martin when Dion was the environment minister.

Dion names mix of old and new to shadow cabinet
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion named some fresh faces to his shadow cabinet today, but several veteran MPs - including John McCallum at finance and Ralph Goodale as House leader - held their positions.

Saturday 13 January 2007 Dion dismisses nuclear power in oilsands extraction
Federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion threw cold water Friday on using nuclear energy to extract bitumen from the Alberta oilsands.

Friday 12 January 2007 OTTAWA: DION ATTACKS TORY CLIMATE INACTION The leader of Canada's Official Opposition, Stephane Dion, says Prime Minister Harper is missing the connection between the economy and the environment. Mr. Dion says that unless Canadian voters replace Mr. Harper in the next election they will miss out on an industrial revolution. Mr. Dion says his Liberal Party is preparing an election platform that will focus on the environment, the economy and social justice. Mr. Dion, who was elected party leader in November, is anticipating a federal election this year. The Conservative Party government has been in power since last January, but it's in a minority position and could be forced to call an election if it loses a vote of confidence in the House of Commons.

Friday 12 January 2007 One step ahead of the nation
Stéphane Dion would do well to position himself as an emblem of Canadian multiplicity, says MICHAEL ADAMS

The article concludes:
In positioning himself as an emblem of the Canada of multiplicity that is emerging in the early part of the 21st century, Stéphane Dion might well connect with youth, newcomers, cultural creatives, urbanites, Quebeckers, people for whom English (or French) is a second language and the overwhelming majority of us who are comfortably outnumbered in one way or another. Like Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Mulroney before him, Mr. Dion might champion a change whose importance Canadians sense, but whose dimensions we do not yet fully grasp.
This possibility points to one of the great paradoxes of being Canadian: that the fullest expression of Canadian identity might just be the acknowledgment that one person can, like Walt Whitman, contain multitudes. And that a nation can gain the world without losing its soul.

© Robert J Galbraith

2006

Friday 29 December 2006 Jeffrey Simpson on the new face of federal politics

Tuesday Dec 26, 2006 Obviously Bill Watson feels the same way, as his column today consists in a light-hearted analysis of the signatures of Stephen and Stéphane,

Dec 7th 2006 ec The geek shall inherit
The Liberals pick a bookish green
FOR more than a century, every elected leader of the Liberal Party has eventually gone on to lead Canada. So it was not too much of a stretch for Stéphane Dion, the surprise winner of a fiercely contested Liberal leadership convention, to be hailed as “the next prime minister.” But as Mr Dion, a grey-haired and bespectacled former academic of stern intellect and zero charisma, thanked the 5,000 delegates in French and stilted English, many in the crowd were already wondering if the accolade was plausible.

Thursday 21 December 2006 OTTAWA: OPPOSITION LEADER PLACES LEADERSHIP RIVALS IN POSTS OF RESPONSIBILITY
The new leader of Canada's official opposition Liberal Party, Stéphane Dion, has made changes to the party's structure, placing most of his former rivals for the leadership race in key posts in preparation for a possible federal election next year. Gerard Kennedy will assume the newly created staff position of special adviser on election readiness and renewal. Other leaderships rivals Bob Rae and Scott Brison were placed in charge of the party's election platform, while Martha Hall Findlay was given a job heading consultations for the election platform. Earlier this week, Mr. Dion named Michael Ignatieff as his deputy leader. Mr. Ignatieff finished second at the convention.

OTTAWA: LIBERAL CHIEF WOULD OVERTURN GOVT. POLICY ON WHEAT MONOPOLY
Federal Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion says he would overturn if elected prime minister any decision by the present Conservative Party government to alter the status of the Canadian Wheat Board. Mr. Dion was reacting on Wednesday to Tuesday's announcement by Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl that he had fired the Board's chairman, Adrian Measer. Mr. Strahl and Mr. Measner had for weeks been involved in hostile public exchanges about the government's plan to abolish the Board's monopoly over the marketing of western wheat and barley. Supporters of the Board predict that it wouldn't survive the loss of the monopoly. But the government maintains that producers should have the option of marketing their products as they please. The Canadian Wheat Board is one of the world's largest sellers of grain.

Tuesday 19 December 2006 maisonneuve.org THE STRAIGHT GOODS:
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion chooses former rival Michael Ignatieff as deputy leader, and says he will not support the Bloc's motion on Afghanistan. Police in Britain make two arrests in the "Ipswich Ripper" case. A moderate amount of alcohol in the blood may actually help head trauma victims, say Toronto researchers.

NO ELECTIONS, PLEASE, WE'RE LIBERALS
The Globe leads, while the National, CTV News, the Post, the Citizen, the Star and La Presse all go inside with Stéphane Dion’s decision to appoint former leadership race opponent Michael Ignatieff as deputy leader of the Liberal party. As most news sources report, the move is part of Dion’s strategy of building a Liberal “dream team” composed of many of his former competitors in the race that ended earlier this month. It is expected that former leadership candidate Bob Rae will be put in charge of developing the Grits’ platform, while Gerard Kennedy will likely take a major role in campaign organization. Both the Post and the Citizen today contrast Dion’s strategy of making nice with his opponents with former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin’s strategy of “purging” political opponents, such as Sheila Copps, from the party—a strategy some say contributed to the Liberals’ electoral trouncing last January.

Meanwhile, The Citizen leads its non-local coverage, the Post fronts and the National (not available online) goes inside with Dion’s declaration that he will not vote with the Bloc Québécois on their motion to force the government into drastically altering the Afghanistan mission. Had it garnered the support of opposition parties, the vote could have brought down the Conservative government early next year. But Dion, like his NDP counterpart Jack Layton, must have sensed Canadians’ recalcitrance to head back to the polls so soon after the last two federal elections. “I don't want an election. I want to be ready for an election. I don't think Canadians want an election,” Dion said in the Citizen, also speculating that the Afghanistan vote may have been an attempt by the Bloc to launch an election before the Liberals have time to prepare.

Sunday 17 December 2006 OTTAWA: LIBERAL LEADER DUBIOUS ABOUT BUDGET
Federal opposition Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion says he expects to oppose the budget due in February from the governing minority Conservative Party. Mr. Dion says it's hard for him to imagine a Conservative budget that meets the approval of the three opposition parties in the House of Commons. If those parties vote against the budget, the House would be dissolved and a national election ensue. The Conservatives won power in the election last Jan. 23. Prime Minister Stephen Harper reacted to Mr. Dion's remarks by saying neither he nor the Canadian public wants another election. Earlier in the week, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Gilles Duceppe, said party would be willing to defeat the government on three different issues, the military deployment in Afghanistan, the Kyoto accord on climate change and the "fiscal imbalance" between Ottawa and the province. Some provinces complain that the federal government is collecting more in taxes than it should and that they're not receiving sufficient federal services in return for monies they send to Ottawa.

Tue 12/12/2006 British minister blasts Dion on Afghanistan
Britain's Foreign Office minister on Monday blasted new Liberal Leader Stephane Dion for calling for the early withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan, saying reluctant NATO allies need to "get real" about the threats posed there by terrorists.

Wed 20/12/2006 OTTAWA: OPPOSITION PARTY HAS NEW DEPUTY LEADER
Canada's official opposition Liberal Party has a new deputy leader, Michael Ignatieff. He was named to the post by new Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. Both men were among eight candidates that ran for the leadership of the Liberals eventually won by Mr. Dion at a convention in Montreal earlier this month. Mr. Ignatieff finished second in the voting. Even though the two men had different visions on where to take the country, they have since reconciled their differences publicly.

Wed1293 Of course, we now have all the silliness about Stéphane's dual citizenship; turns out he's not alone , so maybe this too will pass.

Monday 11 December 2006 Liberal popularity surging
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has received a dramatic boost in public support in the wake of the recent leadership convention and would defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives if a general election was held today, a major new poll has found.

Liberal popularity peaking with Dion: poll
A new poll has found a dramatic turnaround in the political fortunes of the Liberal party and its new leader Stephane Dion.

Friday 08 December 2006 NASA is preparing the first takeoff by night of a space shuttle in four years. The Discovery shuttle was to take off from Florida on Thursday evening weather permitting for a 12-day mission aimed at continuing the construction of the international space station. Discovery's will be the third shuttle mission this year and the fourth since the Columbia catastrophe, which disintegrated upon its return to Earth in 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.

Friday 08 December 2006 Dion says he'd give up French citizenship if it's an issue
‘If I see that it's a liability for our winnability, I will do it,' new Liberal Leader says
[Pleaes Sir keep both your Pasports! There are many Political people in N.A. who do not any pasports and never have been out side their country! Please donot cater to to .... ]

Friday 08 December 2006 Turkey has made a gesture of conciliation to Cyprus but it was almost immediately rebuffed. Turkey offered to open a seaport and an airport to Cypriot ships and planes. The offer would be a breakthrough because Turkey has refused to recognize Cyprus's ethnic Greek government. Turkey is under pressure from the European Union to settle its disputes with Cyprus or risk failing in its bid to join the EU. In rejecting the offer, the Cypriot foreign minister, George Lillikas, said that Turkey had earlier promised to open all of its ports. On Monday, EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss Turkey's membership bid.

Thursday 07 December 2006 OTTAWA: NEW GRIT LEADER APPLAUDED BY COMMONS
All Members of Parliament applauded the new Liberal Party leader, Stéphane Dion, in the House of Commons when he rose to ask his first question after being elected leader in Montreal during the weekend. Earlier, Mr. Dion preside