Wednesday 19 March 2008
BY-ELECTION TEA LEAVES The
Post fronts, while The
National, CTV
News, the
Globe, the
Star, La
Presse and the
Citizen go inside with scattershot comment on the recent by-elections
from a whole host of Wednesday-morning quarterbacks. Your view of who won
or lost the contests—other than the three Liberals and one
Conservative who actually got elected—depends largely on the
particular axe you’re interested in grinding. If you’re among
those who never see anything but gloom and doom for Dion, you will join
the Post’s John Ivison in noting that “the Conservatives
increased their share of the vote in three of four contests,” and
the Star’s Chantal Hébert in fretting that “a majority
Conservative government could be around the corner of a spring
campaign.” If you like giving credence to the mad political skills
supposedly
exhibited by Elizabeth May, whose seatless Green Party is showered
with encouragement every time they place a distant second or third in a
by-election, you will use the boost in Green support seen in Monday’s
low-turnout vote as a stick with which to beat
the NDP. If you understand the Liberal Party as an ongoing leadership
race that occasionally encounters some boring slack periods, you will cheer the return
of Bob Rae and the arrival of Martha Hall Findlay in the House, and pay
scant attention to Rae’s flatly exasperated expressions of
support for Dion. If you want to find out what actually happened in four
by-elections in three markedly different parts of the country where local
and provincial dynamics had a heavy bearing on the outcome, you’re
largely out of luck. The Globe comes closest to breaking it down for us,
joining the broadcasts in considering
the effects of a Liberal fracas over the Saskatchewan seat in which the
national party had to fend off a nomination bid by party-hopping gadfly
David Orchard, and gingerly
attempting to parse the Vancouver-Quadra results for insight into the
mood of the often-baffling British Columbia electorate.
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GRIT DREAM TEAM, OR DION'S NIGHTMARE? by Jordan
Himelfarb March 18, 2008
If someone had claimed in 1995, as then-Ontario Premier Bob Rae
prepared to leave office, that the New Democrat would re-emerge thirteen
years later as a possible future Liberal prime minister, MediaScout would
have laughed the notion straight out of town. After all, besides the
unlikely political apostasy, Rae’s premiership, widely regarded as a
disaster, left the province in financial ruin and his political stock in
the basement. It’s a good thing for MediaScout’s reputation,
then, that no one had the gall or the foresight to make such a prediction.
Rae, who narrowly lost the Liberal leadership race to Stéphane Dion in
2006, easily won a
by-election yesterday in the riding of Toronto Centre, which will
allow him to join
his new party as an MP in Ottawa. Rae’s win and his imminent
arrival in the Liberal shadow cabinet—probably in a continuation of
his role as foreign affairs critic—are interpreted in two, possibly
contradictory, ways in today’s sources: As a boon for the party or
as the next step in the man’s ongoing hunt for the keys to 24 Sussex
Drive.
Meanwhile, in three
other by-elections held yesterday, the Liberals retained two seats
(Willowdale in Toronto and Vancouver Quadra) and lost one
(Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan). Despite
the best efforts of Robert Fife on CTV
News to interpret each riding’s results as a bellwether of the
Liberal party’s vitality, the significance of the victories in the
three Grit stronghold ridings and the narrow defeat in the swing
Saskatchewan seat remains murky. What is clear is that with the addition
to the House of Rae and former rival leadership candidate Martha Hall
Findlay, who handily won in Willowdale, the already star-studded Liberal
benches will now boast an even more formidable line-up of political
powerhouses. This is in contrast to the Conservative government, described
by Don
Martin in the Post as a one-man show and “a wasteland of rival
ambition.” According to the
Globe, Dion plans to use the strength of his team as a selling point,
declaring, “I am a team player and a team builder and tonight
it’s clearer than ever that I have a much better team than Stephen
Harper.” However, Dion likely sees that the perceived
competence of his right-hand men and women is as much a curse as it is
a blessing; the embattled leader’s failure
to convert the government’s
political mistakes into gains in the polls only reinforces the
impression of Rae and his former roommate, deputy Liberal leader Michael
Ignatieff, as “leaders-in-waiting,” as Don Martin describes
them. Though Dion’s team may be better than Harper’s, the
Liberal leader might find that they’re a bit too good for his own
good.
2007
Thursday 18 October 2007 OTTAWA: LIBERALS WON'T PROVOKE FALL ELECTION
The opposition Liberal Party has decided not to force a fall election by voting to defeat Tuesday's Speech From the Throne by the governing minority Conservative Party. Liberal leader Stéphane Dion told the House of Commons on Wednesday that his party would present an amendment before next week's confidence vote on the speech and then abstain from voting on the main motion on the address. The Liberal amendment criticizes the government for having abandoned the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change and demands that the government inform NATO that Canada will withdraw militarily from Afghanistan in February 2009, as mandated by the House. However, the amendment doesn't stipulate a complete military pullout. Liberal sources have told the Canadian Press that the strategy is for the amendment to fail because the NDP won't vote for it, given that party's insistence on immediate military withdrawal, leaving the Liberals with a clean conscience to abstain on the main motion. It merely thanks the governor general for having delivered the speech, a motion which the Liberal consider not to be a measure of confidence. Mr. Dion told the House that he is actuated by the realization that Canadians don't want a third election in less than four years. If all three opposition parties vote against the speech, the House would be dissolved and an election would ensue.
Wednesday 10 October 2007 OTTAWA: LIBERALS AREN'T ITCHING FOR FALL ELECTION
Opposition Liberal leader Stéphane Dion says he doesn't want a fall election but is prepared to fight one if next week's Speech from the Throne from the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper forces one. Mr. Dion says his party wants Parliament to work and that he'll assess the speech in terms of the interests of the Canadian people. The Speech outlining the government's legislative priorities will be a question of confidence on which legislators will vote. If the three opposition unite against it, the government would fall and a new election ensue. The Liberal leader repeated that his party expects a statement in the speech promising respect of Parliament's mandated end to the military mission in Afghanistan. But at his news conference, Mr. Dion didn't mention the February 2009 deadline. Last week, Mr. Harper said that not only is the Speech a question of confidence, so to will be all the proposed legislation flowing from it, which seemed to open up a perspective of a series of confidence votes.
MARTIN C. BARRY Federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion is being asked to reconsider his choice of Jocelyn Coulon ? an international affairs expert selected by the Liberals to run in a coming byelection in Outremont. B'nai Brith Canada claims Coulon is biased against Israel.
"At a time when Canada's foreign policy is headed in the wrong direction because of the current Conservative government's Republican-style approach, I am confident that the people of Outremont will be proud to elect...
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.
Friday 12 January 2007 OTTAWA: PROMINENT LIBERAL QUITS
A member of Canada's opposition Liberal party has resigned. Jean Lapierre, who represents the Montreal-area riding of Outremont, was a cabinet minister in the former government of prime minister Jean Chrétien. Mr. Lapierre stepped down to begin a new job hosting a radio and television program in Montreal. The resignation, coming on the heels of last week's defection to the government by Liberal Wajid Khan, reduces the Liberal Opposition to 100 members and gives the Conservative minority a two-seat cushion, provided Prime Minister Stephen Harper can strike a deal with NDP Leader Jack Layton to pass key legislation in the House of Commons.
Friday 05 January 2007 OTTAWA: CABINET SHUFFLE
With a general election widely expected in 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper put a new face on his government Thursday by shuffling and expanding his cabinet. Some existing ministers traded places, while some new faces were brought in to bring the cabinet to 32-members. One change long expected was the removal of Rona Ambrose from the environment portfolio. She is now responsible for relations between the federal government and the provinces. Ms. Ambrose is replaced in environment by John Baird, who relinquishes control of the Treasury Board. Rob Nicholson moves from Government House leader to Justice Minister. Monte Solberg gives up the immigration portfolio to become Human Resources Minister. Vic Toews moves from Justice to Treasury Board. (SEE FULL LIST BELOW)
OTTAWA: NEW FEDERAL CABINET
Friday 05 January 2007
New minister looks to make impact Canada’s latest environmental steward is a man with a reputation that is equal parts aggressive policy maker and partisan brawler.
Prime Minister - Stephen Harper. Minister of Justice; Attorney General of Canada - Robert Nicholson. Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics - David Emerson. Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec - Jean-Pierre Blackburn. Minister of Veterans Affairs - Gregory Thompson. Leader of the Government in the Senate; Secretary of State for Seniors - Marjory LeBreton. Minister of Human Resources and Social Development - Monte Solberg. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board - Chuck Strahl. Minister of Natural Resources - Gary Lunn. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency - Peter MacKay. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans - Loyola Hearn. Minister of Public Safety - Stockwell Day. Minister of National Revenue - Carol Skelton. President of Treasury Board - Vic Toews. President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Western Economic Diversification - Rona Ambrose. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform - Peter Van Loan. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration - Diane Finley. Minister of Defence - Gordon O'Connor. Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women - Bev Oda. Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians - Jim Prentice. Minister of the Environment - John Baird. Minister of Industry - Maxime Bernier. Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities - Lawrence Cannon. Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario - Tony Clement. Minister of Finance - James Flaherty. Minister of International Co-operation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages - Josée Verner. Minister of Public Works and Government Services - Michael Fortier. Chief Government Whip and Secretary of State - Jay Hill. Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity - Jason Kenney. Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism - Gerry Ritz. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Secretary of State for Sport - Helena Guergis. Secretary of State for Agriculture - Christian Paradis.
2006
Thursday 04 January 2007
New poll suggests parties in political dead heat A new poll suggests the federal Liberals are rebuilding their strength in Quebec and at year-end may have been in a dead heat with the Conservatives in support across the country.
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.
Saturday 09 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.
Dion surges to victory, defeating Ignatieff MONTREAL — Stephane Dion has won the Liberal leadership in an upset win over Michael Ignatieff, who had been the front runner coming into this convention.
The final battle between the two former professors was not decided until the fourth ballot.
Mr. Dion had surged into the lead on the third ballot and went on from there, winning a clear majority of 54.7 per cent of the final vote.
Saturday 02 December 2006 Canada's opposition Liberal Party has opened a four-day leadership convention in the city of Montreal. This weekend, an estimated 5,000 delegates will choose a new leader from among eight candidates. Meanwhile, the Liberal party has adopted a major shift in policy. The Liberals have acknowledged a fiscal imbalance between the federal government and Canada's provinces. The provinces have long complained that the federal government takes more money from them in taxes than it gives back in services. The provinces maintain that this forces them to increase local taxes to pay for such services. Canada's Conservative Party prime minister, Stephen Harper, pledged to eliminate the fiscal imbalance during the last federal election campaign.
Wednesday 29 November 2006 MONTREAL: LIBERALS PULL DIVISIVE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
Canada's opposition Liberal Party has decided to withdraw a potentially contentious and divisive resolution that was to have been debated at its leadership convention, which begins on Wednesday in Montreal. Delegates would have debated a resolution to recognize "the Quebec nation within Canada." A debate could have torn open divisions on the question within the party. Two of the eight leadership candidates, Ken Dryden and Joe Volpe, were among MPs who vote against the House motion. Fifteen of the 16 "no" votes were cast by Liberal MPs. A third candidate, Gerard Kennedy, isn't an MP but opposes the notion that the largely French-speaking province is a "nation." The Liberal Party governed Canada in the 12 years preceding its election defeat to the governing Conservatives in January. The party will elect a successor to former Prime Minister Paul Martin, who resigned the leadership after the vote.
Monday 20 November 2006 TORONTO: BOB RAE FAVOURED AS LIBERAL PARTY CANDIDATE
A new opinion poll suggests that Canada's opposition Liberal Party would have a better chance of victory in the next general election if Bob Rae is elected party leader. The survey says that 37 per cent of Canadians would vote Liberal or at least consider doing so if the former Ontario premier were the leader. That compares with 34 per cent for Stephane Dion, 33 per cent for Michael Ignatieff, and 31 per cent for Gerard Kennedy, the other main contenders. The Liberal leadership convention opens in Montreal in early December.
Monday Nov 13, 2006 Wed1289 .. We were somewhat surprised to learn that Canada's Liberals have invited Howard Dean to be the keynote speaker. Was there really no-one else? But then we learned that Canada's Liberals are not alone: Britain's Labor Party has also enlisted his help in boosting that party's flagging fortunes before the local elections in May.
We heard friend Beryl Wajsman tonight on this subject with Raymond Heard - both sniping at the decision to invite Dean, with Ray Heard hissing the "S word" - socialists -and wondering aloud why John Turner had not been the invited keynoter. It seems to us the answer is obvious: Howard Dean, for all his perceived faults, was the Chairman of the winning party.
This may be the swan song for leadership conventions as we have known them - from here on even the Liberals will join the electronic age - but we confess to a bit of nostalgia for the drama of the (no longer) smoke filled rooms crowded with deal makers. Nonetheless, it looks like this Liberal Leadership Convention won't be dull.
Nov Policy Options is Canada's premier public policy magazine. Its goal is to encourage an informed debate on the important public policy issues of today, and of tomorrow. In each edition, short articles on the immediate issues that dominate the headlines are combined with in-depth analyses of longer-term issues that are certain to emerge on the policy horizon. Policy Options is published ten times per year.
Monday, October 30, 2006 One party, one Canada Trudeau is dead. "Trudeau federalism", whatever that really means when you separate mythmaking from reality, died in 1995-1997 when, at the hands of the the Liberal Party, the Government of Canada recognized Québec as a distinct society and negotiated provincial deals that reduced the heavy handed strong central government of "Trudeau Liberalism".
Wed1287 We had hoped to introduce Martha Hall Findlay to you this Wednesday Night, however, we should have known better than to trust politicians, or their eager organizers. She writes: "I was so looking forward to joining the Salon this coming week, but I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel (or at least postpone?). With now only a month until the Convention the demands here are piling up---particularly in the fundraising department, which as you can understand is key right now. I am really sorry, I hope that this doesn't cause a problem. I understand that you meet regularly regardless, so this time you can all agree on how undependable politicians can be!" As we greatly admire her and her perseverance in the campaign, we do hope that she will join us on another occasion.
Honestly, Bob Rae wanting to be Liberal leader seemed so bizarre I figured it was just a matter of time before Bob would be on the TV revealing the tragic results of the CAT scan.
Tuesday Oct 17, 2006 Liberal blood sport in Toronto
Bob Rae let slip the mantle of statesmanship - and just when he was doing so well - while Michael Ignatieff's performance suggests he may not be an acquired taste after all. As for Stephane Dion, he delivered an impassioned, spontaneous and heart-felt defence of the Liberal record that will win him praise for his loyalty, if not for his political judgment.
Monday 16 October 2006
Candidates train sights on winning the next election
Leadership rivals no longer resigned to opposition roles ...Ignatieff lashed out at Harper's "politics of gimmicks," for instance, and continually evoked the Prime Minister's name as his chief opponent. More subtly, he tried to telegraph to Liberals that his relative newness on the scene might persuade voters that they weren't re-electing the band they ejected from power less than a year ago.
Monday 16 October 2006 globe 'This is not a tea party' The debate capped a week in which the eight-way race had already turned nastier, as front-runner Michael Ignatieff was pushed onto the defensive over his statement that Israel committed war crimes in Lebanon and three of the campaigns asked the Liberal Party to disqualify Bob Rae's B.C. delegates for “fraudulent” tactics.
Saturday Jan 14, 2006 ts Messy campaign reflects Martin as PM
What's wrong with a Liberal campaign now free-falling toward a jolting landing is what's wrong with Paul Martin as prime minister, writes James Travers.
Higher learning Mr. Harper, meanwhile, has accused the Liberals of expending their energies in "damage control" to lessen the impact of their many political scandals, while recklessly squandering the taxpayers' money. He promises that a Conservative government would clean up government, cut taxes and crack down on crime. Mr. Harper also accuses the Liberals of trying to disparage his party through scare tactics. Regarding the issue of separatism in Quebec, the Tory leader says what's needed isn't a fight against separatists but rather to show Quebecers a clean federal government. Mr. Harper touched on a potentially sensitive issue by promising that he would allow a free vote in the House of Commons if Parliament decides to revert to the traditional definition of marriage as a union between men and women.
NDP leader Jack Layton launched his campaign by recalling the concessions which his party had wrested from the Liberals in the last session of the House. He recalled that the former minority governing party had withdrawn planned corporate tax cuts, and agreed to spend more for health care, lower tuition fees, low-cost housing and improved public transit. Mr. Layton says Canadians must realize they have a progressive choice between "Liberal broken promises and Conservative wrongheadedness."
Bloc Québécois chief Gilles Duceppe, meanwhile, emphasized the "sponsorship" scandal involving federal public relations contracts that were designed to improve the federal image in Quebec. Mr. Duceppe accuses the Liberals of having learned nothing from the scandal because Mr. Martin continues to practice "patronage and camouflage."
Friday Nov 19, 2004 EX-LIBERAL SAYS SHE HAS NO REGRETS OVER FIRING
Carolyn Parrish deserved to be fired and her ouster from the Liberal party should have been a long time ago. She is so embarrassing to our couintry that his site has moved all references to this idiot to a separt fools page. "She makes me cringe," says Michael Ignatieff, cringing. "That attitude is so embarrassing."
.
.Liberal Leadership Convention 2003 Hello,
Paul Martin. Adieu, Jean Chrétien. At the Liberal Leadership Convention
held this past November in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre, Maclean's
Chief Photographer Peter Bregg captured the Liberal fellowship and
Canadian and international celebrities, including U2 front man Bono,
who came out to fête the new party leader.
.
.The Year in Cartoons As
2003 draws to a close, we present the year that was in political
cartoons. See how our team of artists represented events like Hurricane
Juan and easy targets like "Santa" Paul Martin. Plus,
BBC
Martha Hall Findlay
