(though I’m not sure calling Canada a “sickening nation” is the best way to start off a campaign)
This entry was authored by Stephen Taylor at 01:43 PM | Tweet this | View Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
@stribe39 agreed!
Stephen Taylor - email@stephentaylor.ca
Stephen Taylor is a scientist, political analyst and a blogger. Taylor writes here regularly and is the founder of bloggingtories.ca. Taylor has contributed to Macleans, CTV, talk radio and has been a featured speaker on new media at numerous events including the Western Standard Cruise and the Forum for Public Policy. In December 2008, Taylor organized Rally for Canada, a series of rallies held coast-to-coast to protest the proposed coalition government.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Wasn't Frank McKenna the premier that was fighting against Morgentaler opening abortion clinics in N.B.? How will that play with the progressives???
October 15th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Everyone has been so focusing on Bob Rae and Micheal Ignatief that they've forgotten about old Frankie boy. He bowed out after Martin quit, even though a lot of people were hoping he would take a run at the leadership. I bet a lot of Liberals would be more supportive of McKenna as Liberal leader then either Bob or Micheal.
October 15th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Frank McKenna's French is even poorer than Dion's English.
Since Dion lost partly because of his poor English, I doubt McKenna would be welcomed by Francophone Quebecers, who, as we have just seen, play an important role in getting a majority.
Anyway, isn't the second coming about to emerge? It's Justin time.
October 15th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Justin Trudeau has a long way to go before he's ready for prime time and that may be never.
Although he is Pierre's son ,and the former PM had style(at least for his time): He also had a good sense of timing and political street smarts, I perceive Justin to be complacent.
Unfortunately Justin is also a product of Margaret Sinclair;his mother who was and still is an overemotional, touchy-feely basket case social butterfly..the quintesentially shallow 60's hippie girl who still can't get it right.( My opinion only !)
I find Justin to have a little too much of Mom in his DNA…Shallow, pampered ,indolent,and cocooned in his inherited wealth. He also doesn't have a resume of much worth .
I've never had much good to say about Pierre and believe he did Canada alot of harm…(NOW there's a politician with a hidden agenda).For a man who would NOT fight in a just war…he was very quick to implement the War Measures Act in 1970 and foist its intrusions on Cdns….Not an honourable move Mr Trudeau!
As for his son?…I find him shallow and would rather he hadn't won his seat last night but will wish him well and will watch his progress. Perhaps he will mature, though I believe politicians should bring valuable experience with them from the business/industry world in order to be knowlegable effective contributors to the political processes that make a country great.
October 15th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
” … I find him [Justin] shallow …”
As Stephane Dion once said “… an inch thick and a mile wide …” I think applies in this case.
But then, have the Liberals in recent history had any real substance? The overwhelming driving force has always been attaining power. They have usually borrowed shamelessly from other parties, first deriding other parties' policies, and later claiming them as their own.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Unfortunately for Canada, more and more Canadians are fooled by charm, and don't look for, or even care about – substance. Young Trudeau has gobs of charm, and little substance (background of credible achievements), which means the Lefty Canadians, and the ever gullible and fawning media, will fall all over him – Just watch. Young Trudeau was born with a silver spoon, has never even had a real job of any consequence, and in reality, has led a very pampered and privileged life. Watch for this to be all wall-papered over, and stretched a long way to make it look like he has actually done something. Example, Trudeau was involved in Katimavik – wow!. Trudeau apparently was a teacher – for I think 5 minutes, or until he found out it was actually like work. Trudeau apparently “is working on” (probably for 10 years between cocktail parties of the socialist elite) a Masters degree in geography or something – you know, this must mean he is an environmentalist.
Make no mistake – the charm of young Trudeau will have the ever-gullible, celebrity obsessed public, falling all over him.
October 16th, 2008 at 7:38 am
If the Liberals think a trumped up messiah, riding on his fathers coat-tails like Justin will lead them out of the wilderness, the Liberals are smoking the good stuff. Harper has greated big shoes to fill for the next guy who thinks they can be the Prime Minister of Canada. And with a stronger minority and long horizon to scope out in the near term a little government belt-tightening seems in order. Triming the sails to sharpen the economy and keep it moving forward will be every Canadians concern no matter their politics. All members of Parliament should remember that protecting the people from economic harm is their main prority.
Matter of fact, all governments from the Federal level right on down to the local council should be putting forward solutions that right-size and trim their sails too, since we are all in this together. I submit that there will be provincial and municipal elections held long before the next federal one so as citizens and taxpayers we should be asking questions now ahead of time.
MPAC assessments are out which will directly effect the amount of local taxes you pay to run local government.
How will local governments use the windfall of cash as homes are assessed ever higher? Will they use this cash to lower their municipalities accumulated debt or year end deficits, or will they throw it at infrastructure investements like roads and sewers that have been neglected?.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Being the son of a former high liberal didn't help Paul Martin.
Whoever the new leader is, he must have support outside of TO and caucus.
Toronto is no longer the only place liberals need MPs to form Government.
How many liberal mps are there west of Ontario.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:13 am
“Wasn't Frank McKenna the premier that was fighting against Morgentaler opening abortion clinics in N.B.? How will that play with the progressives???”
I'm going to add something to my earlier comment. Frank, if he is a true Liberal, would have no problem re-jigging his values anyway. Kind of like pro-life Elizabeth May now saying she is pro-choice. Or “Catholic” Paul Martin being pro-choice. Values aren't worth much to a liberal anyway, especially if they'll lose votes!
October 16th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I can think of several Liberals who might be possible contenders. In addition to McKenna, for example John Manley comes to mind. However with a diminished voter base thus reduced Fed. contribution,( their main financial support), and heavily indebted after the election, this is not a party ready to party! To reclaim a semblance of a contending party will be a long uphill slog. You're stuck with Rae, Iggy, and the gang.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:10 am
He is the best who can unite the party and brings back some decency and integrity. Both Ignatieff and Rae are outsiders and opportunistic (especially Rae). He is centrist and well respected. Go Frank! Your country needs you.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:55 am
May has as much chance of becoming leader of the Liberal Party, as Layton does of becoming PM. Not happenin' – ever. In fact, I would be surprised if the Libs would want May in the party in any capacity, other than maybe water girl/boy.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
If memory serves, Frank McKenna was the first to have second doubts about the Meech Lake Accord. i.e. first he signed on, then when a few pundits began to question it, he did so too.
So … McKenna's decency and integrity? Questionable.
Rae and Ignatieff opportunistic? You bet! Liberals own the patent on that.
October 16th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Well, if not Frank, then maybe they should lure Brian Tobin aka “Captain Canada” out of retirement. His standing up to the Spanish fishing fleets made him pretty popular, even out west. The only people who poo-poohed it were, if I remember correctly, the overly politcially correct police.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
It makes not a wit of difference who the next leader will be because the inherent problem with the Liberals is their arrogance. The Libs need to jettison their “Natural Governing Party” mantra and that is going to require more humility than the Pope.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Your memory's defective, Gabby. Meech Lake was not controversial until the point where John Turner declared it to be Liberal party policy. Up til then it had attracted virtually no comment, and the criticism of it came entirely from Quebec separatists. Turner spoke up out of concern that too many of his Quebec caucus mates were pandering to separatist sentiment by questioning Meech.
As sson as Turner was committed, Trudeau declared himself aganst Meech. At that point the pundits fell in line.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
It appears both our memories are somewhat “defective.”
http://www.answers.com/topic/meech-lake-accord
“Opposition leaders generally agreed to the Accord. Liberal Party leader John Turner was put into a tough position, considering the popularity of the agreement in Quebec (a traditional Liberal stronghold) and the Trudeau ideal of federal power. He soon agreed to the Accord, causing a rift in his party. New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent also agreed with the Accord. Preston Manning of the upstart Reform Party opposed it, saying it gave Quebec unequal status among provinces. ….
Arguments against the Accord also focused on the devolution of federal powers and control to the provincial governments. Former Canadian Prime Minister and arch-federalist Pierre Trudeau spoke out against the Accord, claiming Mulroney “sold out” to the provinces. …
As the deadline approached, however, the consensus began to unravel. Pressure from voters at home brought many premiers, especially those in the Western provinces, under fire. The Accord became an issue in some provincial elections, as New Brunswick elected the Liberal government of Frank McKenna, which revoked the previous government's approval of the Accord. Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells would soon do likewise. …”
Ah well, sometimes memory does serve well, sometimes not.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Your memory's defective, Gabby. Meech Lake was not controversial until the point where John Turner declared it to be Liberal party policy. Up til then it had attracted virtually no comment, and the criticism of it came entirely from Quebec separatists. Turner spoke up out of concern that too many of his Quebec caucus mates were pandering to separatist sentiment by questioning Meech.
As sson as Turner was committed, Trudeau declared himself aganst Meech. At that point the pundits fell in line.
October 18th, 2008 at 3:57 am
It appears both our memories are somewhat “defective.”
http://www.answers.com/topic/meech-lake-accord
“Opposition leaders generally agreed to the Accord. Liberal Party leader John Turner was put into a tough position, considering the popularity of the agreement in Quebec (a traditional Liberal stronghold) and the Trudeau ideal of federal power. He soon agreed to the Accord, causing a rift in his party. New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent also agreed with the Accord. Preston Manning of the upstart Reform Party opposed it, saying it gave Quebec unequal status among provinces. ….
Arguments against the Accord also focused on the devolution of federal powers and control to the provincial governments. Former Canadian Prime Minister and arch-federalist Pierre Trudeau spoke out against the Accord, claiming Mulroney “sold out” to the provinces. …
As the deadline approached, however, the consensus began to unravel. Pressure from voters at home brought many premiers, especially those in the Western provinces, under fire. The Accord became an issue in some provincial elections, as New Brunswick elected the Liberal government of Frank McKenna, which revoked the previous government's approval of the Accord. Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells would soon do likewise. …”
Ah well, sometimes memory does serve well, sometimes not.