When they do start arriving, I will be mailing all those I receive as well as the old ones sent a few months ago to the Governor General and encourage all my friends and family to do the same. This stupidly has got to stop. Who is paying for all those deceitful ads anyway? Yep! Us the tax payers and to be honest, I am sick and tired of having to deal with an incompetent juvenile childish control freak like Harper and his blind sited supporters

When they do start arriving, I will be mailing all those I receive as well as the old ones sent a few months ago to the Governor General and encourage all my friends and family to do the same. This stupidly has got to stop. Who is paying for all those deceitful ads anyway? Yep! Us the tax payers and to be honest, I am sick and tired of having to deal with an incompetent juvenile childish control freak like Harper and his blind sited supporters.

It’s interesting how the left gets upset when the right uses Mr. Ignatieff’s words against him. I find it funny that they choose to attack the messenger instead of challenging the message. Mr Ignatieff has a lot to answer for, but the media just isn’t doing the asking, and his supporters are blindly defending him.

You state that the “Conservative Party” will be sending this out as a “ten-percenter”.

You are seriously mistaken.

Perhaps you are confusing the Conservative Party of Canada with the Government of Canada and with elected MPs.

As people should know, “ten-percenters' are sent out by MPs, not by political parties.

Beyond just leaking this news, do you have an opinion it yourself?

I don't know what the left keeps squawking about. These ten percenters are all perfectly legitimate.

Is it our fault that we make better use of them than the other guys ?

Is it our fault that we have more money to play with, so we can run more tv ads ?

Where is it written that we can't run ads outside the writ period ?

Did we hold a gun to Chretien's head when he changed the Party financing rules ? And later, with the help of Pat Martin of the NDP, we changed them even more (5,000 limit down to 1,000)

Anyway, cue the faux outrage, that we're taking quotes out of context, we're mean, are over-doing our attacks on poor Mikey, etc. etc.

Suck it up lefties. Put those short arms in those deep pockets and send Mikey more money so that he can better compete against us.

Ah yes. You are correct. Conservative MPs will be sending out this ten-percenter. I've made the appropriate change.

TangoJuliette sez:

YOU MIGHT FIND THIS TO BE OF SOME INTEREST AS WELL. THE MTG MENTIONED SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE SOMETIME IN MID JUNE. IN SPITE OF ALL THE DENIGRATION, MANY CANADIANS OF UKRAINIAN DESCENT SHALL UNFORTUNATELY REMAIN TRUE AND LOYAL LIBERAL SUPPORTERS. SOMETIME THE OPPRESSOR'S YOKE JUST GETS TOO COMFORTABLE IN ITS FAMILIARITY.

From: ukrainianpolitics@gmail.com <mailto:ukrainianpolitics@gmail.com>>
Ignatieff Remains Unconvincing
Last week, a meeting with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, [L.-Etobicoke Lakeshore] spearheaded by Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj [L.- EtobicokeCentre] and his former executive assistant, Yvan Baker (now, UCC- Toronto Vice-President) took place in Toronto with a handful of representatives of the
Ukrainian community. With a possible election looming, the fact that such a meeting
took place surprised no one. Mr. Wrzesnewskyj finds himself in an unenviable position.
He is stuck with a party leader that most Ukrainians distrust, and many dislike
intensely. By organizing such a meeting, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj had hoped that Mr.
Ignatieff might redeem himself as a politician by withdrawing, once and for all, the
derogatory remarks that so many Ukrainians found offensive. Alas, this was not to be.
Just as in Edmonton one month earlier, by the end of the meeting in Toronto,
notwithstanding his long litany of standard remarks on issues of foreign policy and
immigration, Mr. Ignatieff failed to do the one thing he needed to in order to repair his
image in the eyes of the Ukrainian community—he failed to withdraw his offensive
historical assessment of the Ukrainian people.
It was back in 1993, two years before the release of his controversial book, that
Ignatieff produced the documentary mini-series Blood and Belonging for the BBC. The
series later aired in Canada on TVO, provoking a backlash from Ukrainian-Canadian
viewers who were insulted by Ignatieff’s portrayal of Ukrainian ethnic tribalism and its
alleged genetic proclivity towards anti-Semitism. His documentary had generated
enough of a backlash to warrant a panel discussion and viewer calls into TVO,
featuring among others, Canadian historian Orest Subtelny, who challenged Ignatieff’s
warped presentation of Ukrainian history. And what was Ignatieff’s response to these
criticisms?: “I am simply providing an unbiased analysis of Ukrainian nationalism.”
Before he needed our votes, Ignatieff, the historian, questioned the legitimacy of
Ukrainian independence, by writing in his book Blood and Belonging: My difficulty in
taking Ukraine seriously goes deeper than just my cosmopolitan suspicion of
nationalists everywhere. Somewhere inside, I’m also what Ukrainians would call a
Great Russian, and there is just a trace of old Russian disdain for these “little
Russians.” The thought of their independence conjured up only “images of
embroidered peasant shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments, phony Cossacks in
cloaks and boots, nasty anti-Semites.”
Many of us wanted to give Ignatieff the benefit of the doubt, but his stubborn
arrogance underscores why the Bloc Quebecois recently called him “a scornful
aristocrat.” Last week, during his public appearance, there were ample opportunities
for Mr. Ignatieff to offer an apology for these remarks, but he chose not to amend his
position. Instead of recanting what he said, Mr. Ignatieff merely regrets how he said
it. Translation: I still think Ukrainians are nothing but misguided Little Russian
peasants who enjoy killing Jews, but I should have been more creative in how I said
it.
Ironically, while Michael Ignatieff refuses to withdraw the smear of anti-Semitism
which he places on Ukrainians, when in comes to dealing with his own Russian
ancestry, Ignatieff conveniently fails to address his family’s complicity in the Tsarist-
era pogroms. As The Canadian Encyclopedia: Historica recently pointed out, in his
family biography, entitled The Russian Album, Michael Ignatieff side-steps his great-
grandfather Count Nikolai Ignatiev's role in running the pogroms in Tsarist Russia. It
was Count Nikolai who instituted the notorious anti-Jewish May Laws. Yet, according
to Michael Ignatieff, “rounding up all the Jews” was a necessity “to protect them from
outraged peasantry.” So much for historical objectivity.
So should Ukrainians ever expect Mr. Ignatieff to change his viewpoint? Not likely.
The fact is, Ignatieff’s opinion of Ukrainians is molded by his family’s Tsarist, imperial
past. Ignatieff’s great-grandfather, Count Nicholai, was said to be the richest man in
Europe who lost most of his money gambling in Monte Carlo . Ignatieff’s grandfather,
Pavel, was governor of Kyiv gubernia, and served as education minister to Nicholas II,
the last Tsar of Russia. The Ignatieff family has always seen Ukraine as nothing more
than a part of a once Great Russia . I am reminded of a public event I attended
decades ago at the University of Toronto where I shared a lengthy conversation with
Michael’s father, the late George Ignatieff. Having engaged George in a lively debate
on the issue of nuclear disarmament (he was disarmament ambassador under Liberal
PM John Turner), I mentioned that I was Ukrainian. George Ignatieff’s response was
sadly patronizing: “Oh, I have fond memories of that province,” he said. “I was just a
boy, but I still remember the peasant servant girl who worked on our family estate.
She was a kind and simple girl who used to sing the most wonderful songs.” Flash
forward twenty years and we see that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Michael Ignatieff may want to be Prime Minister, but real leadership requires a dose of
humility and political sensitivity that Ignatieff is dearly lacking. While no politician is
perfect, if I must choose between Ignatieff and Harper, I choose Harper. Not only has
the Prime Minister never insulted the Ukrainian people, in responding to the concerns
of the Ukrainian community, Harper has consistently delivered on issues that previous
government’s failed to address by providing millions of dollars in internment redress;
declaring unequivocal support for Ukraine’s right to NATO membership; and
recognizing the Holodomor-Famine as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.
Mr. Ignatieff, it’s time for you to realize that the days of Counts and serfs are long
gone. By refusing to recant your offensive views on Ukraine ’s historic struggle for
independence, you’ve failed to salvage your image in the eyes of the Ukrainian
community.

Christina S. Franko

Author Christina S. Franko is a Canadian political scientist of Ukrainian origin.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/ha…

This article defends the attack ads of the reformatories but one commentator of the column hit the nail on the head about the Tories stupidity:

“I think Flanagan misses the point entirely. It's not that the Conservatives use attack ads, it's that that's all they use. They hide their policies and put out pointless websites showing birds pooping on their opponents. It's one thing to criticize your opponent's voting record, it's another to insult the intelligence of the voting public with puerile displays of partisan garbage propaganda.

As for the issue of Jerimiah Wright in the U.S., I think that's exactly the kind of non-issue that the Republicans love to focus on, but this time it backfired, along with the outrageous accusations of “socialism” and the usual “un-Americaness” levelled at “liberals”. It might have worked again, but with the economy melting down around them and people losing their jobs and going bankrupt, people stopped listening to stupid and opted for some relevance in their politics again. The more strident the Repubs got, the more they dropped in the polls.

Conservative attack ads are specifically designed to appeal to people who are generally ignorant about politics – the undecided – who don't have the knowledge-base to analyze the distortions and lies. That's why they tend to take on the character of playground mud-slinging, like accusations that The Bloc supports child rapists, for example.

But don't worry, with the Conservative ideology in tatters and their intellectual credibility in the garbage, brace yourself for an all-stupid, all-the-time election campaign a la Karl Rove next election, as stupid is all the Conservatives have left.

And Flanagan knows it. He's bracing you for it.”

albertabob…..harpocrite has a lot to answer for as well so I assume you will be in agreement or at least silent when the Libs put out their ten percenters on gneralissimo Harpo.

I'm not upset about the ads because they now define what a bunch of hate mongers reside in the reformatory brain trust.

bugsy…bravo!!!!

Hopefully this helps turn Etobicoke-Center.

Hopefully this helps turn Etobicoke-Center.

I hate these 10 percenters, no matter who sends them. I’ve gotten quite a few from Liberal MPs, and those ones are at least as dumb, if not worse.

Tax money should not be paying for this garbage.

I hate these 10 percenters, no matter who sends them. I’ve gotten quite a few from Liberal MPs, and those ones are at least as dumb, if not worse.

Tax money should not be paying for this garbage.

Personally, I would prefer to see more positive messaging and less negative.

Boris should make a deal and cross the floor. He would be an excellent Minister of State for Russia Relations. With a proper candidate having Boris's support Ignatieff would be defeated in Etobicoke Lakeshore.

“Harpocrite”, “Gereralissimo”, you do a lot of name calling, attacking the messenger, not challending the message. These word were Mr. Ignatieff's, taken from his own text books.

As for the 10%ers, if they are factually correct, I don't have a problem with them. I'll be sending the Conservative Party $50 today. You trust you are not one of Mr. Iggnatieff's supporter with short arms and deep pockets.

alberta bob…………I am a laurier club member and so is my wife. I hope your pockets are as deep!!!!

maybe some real progessive types in the reform party could leave and join a real progressive party. There is no way Iggy will be defeated in his riding.

I live in in a Liberal Riding (Roger Cuzner); over the last few years I have received a few of these pamphlets. Roger and Ken Dryden, Roger and Stephan Dion, Roger and Ignatieff; you get the picture; anyway, the substance of the pamphlets are all political spin, nothing is truthful. I am pretty much up on politics and I mostly pick up on the spin, but other constituencies don't. This is what peeves me; the spin, in my eyes is a down right lie. Spending tax dollars to lie is not right. If the Bloc voted against, then they voted against; period. If Ignatieff has said something in the past, he said it; period. If Harper said something, he said it; period. If it's truthful, put it in the pamphlet. I just wish the Liberal supporters would just stop whining already, jeesh.

These comments by this buffoon Iggy aren’t just about Ukrainians. They speak volumes about how he sees us all.

We’re all just a bunch of “little Russians” to him and his ilk.

What absolute distain the Liberal party has for all us “little Russians” by attempting to foist this “ Canadian of convenience” onto us.

“Whats His Face” being the Liberal leader is pathetic enough humiliation for Canada. What a total embarrassment he would be as Prime Minister. To think that someone who has spent practically his whole life outside of Canada can be Prime Minister is a complete farce.

To give you a glaring example of how un-Canadian he is, this is what he said in his speech he gave in England the other day:

“and provide health care for those who have left the work-force.”

Real Canadians know that their health care is covered without even having to think about it.
Only an American would say what he said. As I said, what a embarrassment he is to Canada

Wow,

As someone of Ukrainian heritage it's important to me that voters know how both the PMO and Mr. Ignatieff feel about Ukrainians.

This is as truthful an ad as it gets…based on Ignatieff's own words. I know how hard my family struggled under the “Great” Russians. So great in fact that those who could, left and came to Canada.

I don't know, the whole second page of the flyer is dedicated to outlining the governments position and actions on the subject.

I don't think advertising would be as effective if the CPC did not contrast their position with that of MI.

Now if the 10%'rs were simply slagging Iggy, then I would tend to agree.

This will make reformatory types choke on their kool aid:

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN

The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien (formerly Prime Minister of Canada) to be a member of the Order of Merit.

Background

The Order of Merit, founded by 1902 by King Edward VII, is a special mark of honour conferred by the Sovereign on individuals of exceptional distinction in the arts, learning, sciences and other areas such as public service. Appointments to the Order are in the Sovereign's personal gift and ministerial advice is not required.

I thank the conservative party for getting out the truth about Ignatieff’s words about Ukranians. It should be obvious to all Canadians the danger of a man with these prejudices becoming Prime Minister. How can any Canadian of Ukranian and Mennonite heritage not be afraid of this man? Shame on the National Press Gallery for not informing Canadians and holding the Liberal leader to account!

I thank the conservative party for getting out the truth about Ignatieff’s words about Ukranians. It should be obvious to all Canadians the danger of a man with these prejudices becoming Prime Minister. How can any Canadian of Ukranian and Mennonite heritage not be afraid of this man? Shame on the National Press Gallery for not informing Canadians and holding the Liberal leader to account!

I applaud the Queen, I believe Mr. Chretien's service to Canada is honourable. Mr Chretien may not have always did great things, but he is a loyal Canadian who spent his life in Canada as a Canadian. Unlike Mr. Ignatieff living incognito as a Brit or Harvard Yank.

I am a liberal who has entiltements……I am part of the old boys club of Liberals who are the equivalent in this country of a bunch of Republicans sitting around believing they are the only ones who have a right to govern this country.

In modern Canadian politics, the Liberals have been the masters of negative campaigning. In 1988, they ran ads almost accusing Brian Mulroney of treason, of selling out Canada to the United States through the free-trade agreement. In 1991, Sheila Copps compared Preston Manning to David Duke, the former Louisiana Ku Klux Klan leader. In 2000, Warren Kinsella went on television to ridicule Stockwell Day's alleged (never demonstrated) belief in Young Earth creationism.

In 2004, the Liberals eked out a minority victory with wave after wave of negative ads about Stephen Harper's supposed “secret agenda” – hard to refute publicly because it was secret by definition. Showing the preternatural gift of prophecy, the Liberals also ran ads about the “$50-billion black hole” in the Conservative budget projections. There was no evidence for it in 2004, but it came true in 2009

Late in the 2006 campaign, the desperate Liberals released a suite of negative ads that backfired against them. Like every other tactic in politics, negative advertising is only effective if it is well executed. These ads were so far over the top that they were parodied by the late-lamented Frank magazine: “Is Stephen Harper the Antichrist? We just don't know. He refuses to talk about it. Now why would he do that?”

I don't thnk that you know very much about Iggy's riding. Very heavy Polish ,Ukranian and Russian vote. What is the “real progressive party”. BTW the Reform Party doesn't exist anymore.

Chretien spent 40 years of his life in service to Canadians.
Iffy spent about the same amount of time in service to himself, in another country, running down Canadians and even our flag.
The contrast is EXACTLY why Iffy is not worthy of becoming our Prime Minister.

As far as I'm concerned, negative campaigns have had their day.
Perhaps I'm generalizing, but I believe people are sick of them.
They want positive messaging, similar to the kind of messaging Obama is using.

Saying that the 10%ers are using Ignatieff's own words, that they are “truth ads” is just so much palaver, IMO.

The controversy re: what Ignatieff said about Ukranians happened in 2005, during the riding nomination process, didn't it?
That was FOUR years ago.
Just as I groan any time whatever PM Harper said years ago is resurrected, I similarly groan at this “revelation.>

Surely Ignatieff has been saying enough questionable things these past few months to draw on? Why resurrect this old controversy?

You can’t present vast concepts, especially the one of nationalism; Russia-Ukraine relations — in a couple of quotes. As a Ukrainian, I find this posturing to be tiring. Read the book, and Ignatieff downright rejects those characterizations.

Ignatieff, like many others, expressed a concern that new Ukrainian nationalism could develop into something detrimental for the country and its people, just like other nationalism can.

If the Conservative party wants to start a national debate on the past events of nationalism in Ukraine, which is a bit puzzling in this MASSIVE economic crisis, the party should be intellectually honest – present the entire concept, instead of cherry-picking the true views of an individual.

You can’t present vast concepts, especially the one of nationalism; Russia-Ukraine relations — in a couple of quotes. As a Ukrainian, I find this posturing to be tiring. Read the book, and Ignatieff downright rejects those characterizations.

Ignatieff, like many others, expressed a concern that new Ukrainian nationalism could develop into something detrimental for the country and its people, just like other nationalism can.

If the Conservative party wants to start a national debate on the past events of nationalism in Ukraine, which is a bit puzzling in this MASSIVE economic crisis, the party should be intellectually honest – present the entire concept, instead of cherry-picking the true views of an individual.

Crap like this is why I’m disengaging from politics. We’re in the midst of a major economic recession. We’re running multi-billion dollar deficits again, for years to come. There’s a new administration in power in the USA that is contemplating serious overhauls of health & environmental policies that could have huge impacts on us. In other words, there’s a lot of real meat for Conservatives to be talking about. So what do they send out as a flyer?

15+ year-old quotes about ethnic politics.

Gutter trash. Absolute gutter trash.

Crap like this is why I’m disengaging from politics. We’re in the midst of a major economic recession. We’re running multi-billion dollar deficits again, for years to come. There’s a new administration in power in the USA that is contemplating serious overhauls of health & environmental policies that could have huge impacts on us. In other words, there’s a lot of real meat for Conservatives to be talking about. So what do they send out as a flyer?

15+ year-old quotes about ethnic politics.

Gutter trash. Absolute gutter trash.

terry1 Go ahead and celebrate likes it´s 1999. Maybe your guys pulled in a few markers with the Queen, good on the little guy from Shawinigate. So yes enjoy the antiques roadshow. That. Is. All. You. Have.

STEPHEN,

I can see why you would make the mistake (Freudian slip?) by stating the CPC was sending out the ads. It's because they should be sent out by the CPC, not paid for by the government (i.e. taxpayers) of Canada.

Don't know about Boris Whatshisname but Kennedy wouldn't be too popular with Ignatieff, he was the Kingmaker when Dion won the Leadership.

Only in politics can the truth be considered an attack. If the truth hurts,should it be glossed over? Should we all be kept in the dark about a person who aspires to lead as PM of our country?

True enough. But Kennedy was also a leadership candidate, with some, albeit limited, skill. A real leader does not usually throw the talent overboard.

If Ignatieff’s words don’t convince people of his scorn for Ukrainians, his actions certainly do.

Both Gerard Kennedy and Borys Wrzesnewskyj, two prominent Ukrainians in the Liberal caucus, are among the few Liberals who were not given a position in Iggy’s shadow cabinet.

As to the dismay of Liberal commenters about Conservatives “attack” ads, who can forget the Liberals’ Soldiers-our-our-cities ads? Moreover, the Liberals have been mining Stephen Harper’s old quotes for years.

Maybe if Ignatieff would let us in on what his policies actually were, the Conservatives would have something else to respond to. In the meantime, you go with what you’ve got.

There's been a lot of “real talent” gone missing within the LPC and that's not a testament to Ignatieff's leadership. His very candidacy has been a sore spot for many. He may be considered more electable than his predecessor who they threw under the bus but that doesn't mean he's a good choice to lead the country. There's not much evidence of that to this point.

You need to take a breath my friend. If you get one and don't like it simply throw it out. Its no reason to get your shorts in a knot. Oh perhaps instinctively you know that ordinary Canadians are reading this stuff and it will hurt the Liberals.

By the way you don't have to deal with Harper and his supporters. Ignore and continue to live in your fantasy world.

I can't believe the number of people who get upset about the 10%'er. I receive them from Layton all the time and simply throw them out without reading them. 10%'ers have been around for years and will continue to be sent by ALL members of Parliament.

albertabob….right on! These guys are upset about the 10%'ers & the truth ads. They simply don't have the money to defend themselves and so they enlist their buddies in the media and whine like hell. Tom Flanangan is right. The Libs and their supporters have turned into a bunch of girly men.

Belong to whatever club you want but the fact is the Liberals had to draft an abesentee citizen to come back to lead their party because they are so bereft of home grown leadership. Iggy has shown his true colours and he has a lot to answer for and the Conservatives will ensure that Canadians get to know what he has stood for in the past no matter how many times he does a mea culpa.

hey Mervin, Trudeau was also an outsider. it speaks well of the party that they can generate interest from very bright and motivated people to join them. Too bad the only recruiting in the reformatory party happens at the NCC.

Of course Iggy has a lot to answer for but considering he, according to you, has done nothing to date your comment is perplexing or should I say rather partisan.

warren T….I know more than you think about Iggy's riding and I know he won't lose there. The real progressive party is not the reformatories and their socialist spending party.

wrong again Liz J hysterical…Gerard is the critic for infrastructure and is dong a massive study on the whole subject designed to show the harpocrites are going nowhere except pi$$ing money down the tube.

Erik T…..the Tories alias reformatories are noted for their lies and innuendos. they have bugered the economy and can only use slander and narrow views to try and stay alive. People are showing they are tired of this and it will show on election day.

Ian don't disengage…vote against Harpo and his crew and get your friends to do so also. there is a better way

Well Stephen, my shorts are not in a knot and I am not surprised by your response. You are one of the blind supporters and in my view, that makes you as much a loser as Harper is. And by the way, those quotes you talk about that we are receiving are pure fabrication on the Reform con artists and I am far from impressed. Canadians are not as blind as your leader thinks they are and just might work against him. If the Liberls wanted to and I'll use the word loosly; wanted to ATTACK Harper, they would have a lot of credible proven material to do so. As for the 10% ers, try and understand that the country is not in an election campaign and we are getting these attack ads from MPs in other provinces on our tax dollars. I'll be damnned if I want to pay for their made up statements in dirty campaign attacks that are not even the truth. BTW, I still will send the ones I receive to the Govener General and let her deal with that matter. If enough of Canadians do that, we will see results. I do not expect a reply from you so don't even bother to reply. Harper and his Reform Con artist have done a lot of dirty politics since they have been in power and they will pay the price in the end.

No, not as deep, but I try. It's nice to hear you contribute. You seem to be one of the few that puts their money where their mouth is.

Etobicoke-Centre. My old riding, before I moved west.

Welcome to the internet Bugszy. You'll note that I didn't respond to your comment above… hollinm did.

good for you Bugzy!!!

Well, that's a good point Mecheng.

As long as everything is truthful, then there really shouldn't be a problem.

terry1…Trudeau at least was a Canadian and had been in politics. Iggy
never had any interest in the country. Where was he in the Medicare debate
or when the flag debate was going on? Where was his support for the
federalists in the 1995 referendum? Where was his pronouncements on Free
Trade which probably was one of the most significant policy discussions
since confederation? What vision does he have for the country and why did he
come back if it was not to enhance his resume? What is his economic
experience? I could go on and on but you get the drift.

Talking about an issue and raising questions with no answers like all good
professors do may appear very intellectual but really we have no idea
whether he can lead the country. The fact he is not Stephen Harper is not
getting to win the next election for the Liberals.

Iggy has hit a brick wall. His poll numbers are frozen at 32-34% and when
Canadians are asked about his leadership abilities and his ability to manage
the economy Harper beats him hands down.

So you can belong to the Laurier club and preach the Liberal gospel but
seriously ordinary Canadians have taken the measure of the man and find him
lacking.

Mervin, Trudeau was recruited by Pearson in 1964 to be the next leader which he became in 1967. ,if my memory serves me well. Iggy was recruited by Martin in 2005 to be the next leader which he became in 2009…do you get the jist of it now?

Why should Iggy be spouting policy when he is smiply the opposition leader and there is no election. You reformers are simply trying to play “rope a dope”. It won't work as Iggy is heads and shoulders above that and won't make the same mistake as Dion did.
If Harpoon simply thought about governing instead of walking around with his huge hard on for the Libs we could possibly have had better solutions to the recessionary period we are in.

Iggy has not ht a wall as you suggest….its summer and the PM has been getting all the press lately. That's the wall and its very traditional that the ruling party's numbers go up when there is nothing to screw up. But don't worry September is coming and the generalissimo will be back screwing up as usual….if he doesn't retire before then.

The laurier club has a very long history in Canada and the liberal party and we're proud to be part of it. Too bad you don't belong to anything but the angry Tory whiners club….LOL

just out of curiousity, Bugszy, what exactly do you think the GG’s going to do?
Bring the PM into her office and give him a stern talking to?
Tell him he’s now on double secret probation?

There’s nothing illegal about sending out 10%ers. They’ve been used by a certain past MP to promote his book.

At least this is information that’s beneficial to the public.

Remember it is Iggy who wants to be PM. Harper already has the job. He will
have to say something meaningful soon or the media will turn on him. He
cannot get away with simply criticizing and not offering any suggestions. In
fact if you look at how the leader of the opposition's job is described it
states clearly that the opposition's responsibility is to offer alternatives
to the government. Iggy is the one playing rope a dope and if he thinks a
campaign is where he should offer his policies he is in for a rude
awakening. 36 days is not a lot of time in a busy campaign period.

Iggy hurt himself significantly in the last week of parliament by
threatening an election that he nor the party were ready for. Harper did not
want one either that is clear. However, Harper has now ensnared Iggy on EI
reform. Iggy will wear whatever changes are made good or bad. However,
remember if they decide to establish a national standard across the country
you better hope that it is lower (not likely) than what is currently in the
Maritimes now. The Libs lost the Maritimes once before for screwing around
with their EI.

terry1 to any dispassionate observer Iggy comes across as elitist, arrogant
and as my adult son said a blowhard. My the way my children hate politics
and roll their eyes every time I try to talk about it. So when there is
something in the news and I mention it to test to see if they have heard
about it i.e. wafer, Raitt, Gays etc they simply roll their eyes and say
they could care less. I suspect many Canadians are doing the same thing.
Watching the Liberals jockeying to win brownie points and looking foolish in
the process.

Pearson did not look outside the country for a successor. Trudeau was
already an MP and lets not forget he was democratically elected at a
convention vis a vis the Count who was appointed by the backroom boys of the
party. I'll bet there are many in the Liberal party who are pissed that this
is the way the leader was picked. Just a reminder that Iggy was rejected at
the Liberal convention that elected Dion.

Harper knows the reputation of the Liberal party and so he is not
underestimating them at all. He knows he has to use every arrow in his
quiver to defeat the Liberals at their own game.

I bet you a dollar that Martin had no intention of having Iggy replace him.
He simply wanted a star candidate who he parachuted into a safe riding. He
was desperate at the time. He thought he was going to be there for a long
time. Remember when they were talking about Martin taking 200+ seats? How
did that work out for the Liberals? We both know.

I think to bash the land of Victor Yuschenko & Yulia Tymoshenko is just… disgusting.

Ukraine is a great nation and great partner w/ NATO (not a member yet, but close).

Iggy just can’t lead multiethnic, multicultural Canada, period.

Perhaps Sandra Pupatello can leave the dreary walls of Queen’s Park/King McGuinty’s Playpen and give PMSH a run for the money. Until then, I’d be more scared of the NDP than Iggy.

It's more about what's on he 10%'ers , if the message isn't to their liking, too positive , threatens the agenda of the Opposition, they get all fussed up. We get lots of unsolicited crap via the mail, it you don't like it, recycle.

BTW, I don't think the GG calls the PM, the request to meet would come from the PM.

I just read through these comments – I see nothing wrong with sending out factual information in a 10%er with quotes from Ignatieff's past.

He can't distance himself from these things – they were said in his adult life and they are relevant to the conversation as Ukranian-Canadians will want to know if he harbours any bias or resentment towards them.

I'm sure he'd also like voters to forget that he chose to stay 30+ years outside of Canada but this too is relevant to the discussion. Would he be back here if the opportunity that arose did not come to fruition? Why would Canadians consider voting for someone who didn't miss anything about Canada except for Algonquin Park?

I think what I object to is here is a guy who speaks and acts like he's thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, ready to spring some more Trudeau-like social engineering on Canadian society, but is trying to do so without showing his hand.

He's reached his peak – I predict that the next election will be worse for the Liberals that the Dion result. Looks good on them.

B&P….i'm glad you like facts. Too bad this government has never hit us with any. we were not going into recession last fall according to them. we were only going to have elections every four years unless the government was defeated. The libs have plenty of facts about Harpo at hand and will use them.

I think the harpercrites will end up where Dion did last election. I see Jean pierre Blackburn in the French press today begging the Bloc not to force an election this fall. The hypocrisy is overwhelming.

Terry – feel free to use all the facts and quotes you want. However, your party's history of attacks and attack ads (soldiers with guns, tanks in our streets, the Manning / Duke comparisons) seem to show my hypothesis, that Liberals are not all that comfortable with the facts.

Also – wern't you on here predicting a Dion win last election? Pretty quick to throw your guy under the bus!

Here are some facts for you. Your a former economics / investment guy aren't you?

- Canada is at 8.6% unemployment – full employment is generally agreed to be between 7-8%.

- The Canadian market is at 10,000 – up 33% off of its low for the year and working back towards its all time high of 14,000

- Conservatives suport the oil sands development. Canadian oil, along with the economic stimulus plan, are two of the big reasons our economy is back on track

- Canada has the strongest economy in the G-8 (and arguably in the Industrialized world)

Though Mr Harper's fixed election date law applies only to Majority governments, if you play your cards right it should be applicable after the next election. My prediction – blue from coast to coast.

Here's the real truth about Harpo……..he lies through his teeth:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/a-…

Maybe the Prime Minister misspoke. Maybe he was just using a figure of speech, although he could have said something like “all taxes are a necessary evil.” But even that “necessary evil” idea is different from saying all taxes are bad, because the “evil” of taxation is “necessary,” as indeed it is in any civilized society.

Presumably, there lurks inside the Prime Minister an anger about much of contemporary society that has been built with taxpayers' money, an anger contained by the political reality that the Prime Minister can't do much about this state of affairs.

Indeed, the comment harkens back to Mr. Harper's days shilling for the National Citizens Coalition and early years with the Reform Party, when he believed that just about everything governments were doing was bad and wasteful and led to huge deficits. Since then, and especially as Prime Minister, Mr. Harper has shelved many of those views, since a distinguishing characteristic of his government has been a reluctance to cut government spending.

Not a single major government program has been eliminated since he took office, perhaps because of minority governments, or perhaps because political reality has shackled Mr. Harper's deep instincts that all taxes and, by extension, the programs for which taxes pay, are bad.
………………………

In other words Simpson thinks Harpo is nuts

Again – Terry – I have no issues with the facts. The PM was indeed a member of those organizations – who are protecting the interests of the taxpayer and the rights of private citizens over big government.

The economic action plan is nothing short of brilliant – provides short term economic stimulus without structural deficit. No big government programs – just in with the stimulus projects and tax incentives and then out as the economy recovers.

If you want to try to make a commercial or ad out of that story line please go ahead!

Its funny the bank economists and the PBO all say the deficits being created are going to be structural unless tax increases follow but Harpo the great says that won't happen and we know how well he read the recession to begin with. He lies every time he opens his mouth.

What economic action plan…bailing out union members of the CAW to support failing car companies…..some plan!!!

Terry – are we technically even in a recession? If an economist predicts a recession and is wrong about it, is he a liar, or was he wrong? I think the latter.

That's the issue though- don't you think that the Liberals are trying to run around pretending the economy is worse than the facts illustrate? How would the Liberal proposals of Kyoto or the Green Shift moved the economy? Come on – you are a numbers / markets guy!?

Economic action plan = renovations tax credit for consumers – has nicely got the trades / retail markets moving; Local market stimulus – funding for roads, libraries, arenas, transit, infrastructure projects across Canada to build Canadian communities. Read up on it – it's having a big impact!

You are arguing against the data.

wow Stephen you've really hit a nerve with THIS post. I've been reading the responses and continue to follow-along as Terry tries to pull out of the muck…unsuccessfully.

It's all fair game. The LPOC should own up to the fact that Mr. Ignatieff is your problem and with him you got the entire package or lectures, books, opinions, and can add to it all, pretty much the nothing that Iggy's done for that party.

I feel sorry for the Liberal support base which actually believed they'd get a say in their leader, new direction and re-definition because all they've received so far is a re-gifted Dion who can speak English and we STILL don't understand what the hell he's all about.

After the last election a total cleansing of the back room boys would have helped the LPOC too.

Ignatieff has alot of explaining to do! I just visited the news on the republicans for ignatieff website and actually heard Iggy his own voice saying what he said, just turns my stomach. He is saying “we” americans.

He tells the Brits he is British and he votes Labour, he tells the Americans he's a Harvard Yank and now he tries to tell me he is a Canadian.

Oh I seem to recall a few years back watching terry1 come out of his Crantini dampened seat to wildly applaud Paul Martin pulling on Buzz´s CAW leather jacket on the hustings. Yes that was you eh terry1….wildly applauding.

NovaDog…..remember Iggy says he is a Liberal and so in the greatest tradition of the Liberal party he will say and do anything which will get him in the PM's chair.

If he has to be Canadian, he will be that. If he has to be American to sell his books etc he will be American. If he has to be British so he can get ratings as a talk show host he will do it. He is like a chamelon.

Remember he pushed and supported a carbon tax. Dion did it, got trounced in the election and now it says it was the wrong policy. Remember the Libs ran against the oil sands. Now he thinks the oil sands are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

He suggested that taxes need to go up. He is called on it and then squirms his way out of it. He talks negatively about Ukranians and when it is revealed he says he was taken out of context.

You get my drift. Travers issued a clarion call to Iggy and the Liberals this morning with his column. He isn't biased at all by suggesting Harper makes Canadians queasy. Who in the hell is he to speak for all Canadians.

If there is so much queasiness in the land why is there not a demand for an election? Why are the talk shows not filled with Harper haters calling for his head and why are there few if any letters to the editor demanding Harper has to go. All of this is in the minds of the Liberals, their syncophants and of course the left leaning biased media.

By the way all polls show that Harper is best to manage the economy and on leadership he out polls Iggy signficantly.

So Harper will continue to govern. Iggy will continue to huff and puff and talk gobbly goop all in the hope that he can fool Canadians into believing he really has a vision for the country that is different.

terry1….I was looking at the comments on the board and thought I would reply to this one.

What lies and innuendos have the Conservatives perpetrated on the country. Because they repeat Iggy's words in a truth ad? That is not a lie. Its Iggy's own words. You may not like it but them's the facts. He said it and he cannot deny it.

If you think that Harper has buggered the economy then tell all of us on the board what you would cut or not do. Would you be against lower taxes, more funding for the military, more transfers to the provinces for social programs and healthcare, higher equalization payments?

Where is the slander? Only in the minds of those wearing Liberal rose coloured glasses. Harper did take a shot at Iggy based on mistaken information. However, he apologized immediately.

People are showing they are tired of this? Where? People are ignoring all of this white noise and simply consider Harper to be the better one to manage the economy with higher leadership polling than the Count.

Terry a card carrying rabid Liberal. Has coughed up his $1100 to hobnob at the Laurier Club and now barks from his highness. A club, certainly with many outstanding individuals like these timeless guardians of fairness, hollow promisers of “change” and real thugs…. (link from the tyee) http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/2009/02/is-mic…

bugszy….once again with the 10%'ers. If you don't like them ignore them. However, I am sure if Parliament decides to eliminate them for ALL parties or tighten the rules Conservatives would be quite happy to comply. However, they are a perfectly legitimate way to communicate with the voting public and Conservatives are going to use the tools available to them.

You suggest that what is included in the 10%'ers is pure fabrication. You should give an example rather than making sweeping blanket statements. That is much more credible in my opinion.

Haven't had a chance to wade through all the hysterical liberal postings here, but really, my question to the Liberals would be:

If you disagree with what the flyer said, could you please provide us with current quotes, policies, or positions from MI?

The fact that MI refuses to take a clear position on anything, and talks out of both sides of his mouth is a BIG problem. If MI had written a book last year about his love of the Ukraine, then it would be disingenuous to pull up 7 year old quotes. But if he refuses to take a stand on any issue, it is perfectly okay for the CPC to rehash the most recent comments he made on a subject.

The more someone writes about themselves, and how they see the world, the faster they can be hung with it at a later date, sometimes decades later. When you pick a leader already so long in the tooth, as Ignatieff is, what would you expect, accolades from the sweaty masses? In a vacuum, fools rush in to fill it.

The following comments were made by others.
I feel that they accurately portray the state of the Liberal party in Canada
———————————————————————————————————

1. First the Liberals held a Seinfeld convention….. Now with the demand for universal EI standard off the table the transformation is complete. The Liberals stand for nothing. They are Canada’s Seinfeld Party
———————————————————————————————————-
2. Robert McNamara may have been a highly educated intellect, but his policies gave us the disaster that was the Vietnam War.
The lesson: Sometimes great intellectuals just don’t make great leaders.

That’s something Canadians might want to remember when judging the merits of a certain ex-Harvard professor now leading the federal Liberals.

I think one of the few remaining questions to be answered is – we all know Ignatieff is going to be a disaster for the Liberal$. The question is just how much of a disaster.

It's going to be ugly and make the Liberal$ remember why they chose Dion over Ignatieff in the first place.

Hello Stephen;

The last time I posted you edited and posted part of what I had to say. I don’t like that. If you are tempted to edit, please do not post my comments. I’d rather not be heard than edited.

I think liberals should be mad at the media for not having scrutinized CI (Count Iggy’s) works extensively pre coronation. They, the media, damaged their credibility in not having done so. The public can now see for themselves that CI’s comments have been extreme in the past and that he may well have a sinister hidden agenda.

Mark, I hope you say the same for the stuff Harpo has written in the past. Kinsella has some pretty good stuff ready to go that is all truthful and embarrassing. So, lets have fun come election time and we can vote for the dirtiest guys. Remember though that attack ads outside an election were started by generalissimo Harpo.

If anyone thinlks the Libs will lie down like thye did under Dion, I have a bridge to sell them.

Your guys haven't made it in Hamiliton yet I see.

B&P, Harpo is on his third election w/o a majority and he won't even come close in his fourth. Just who is the disaster you are speaking about?

Quebec and the Maritimes may deliver 5 to 7 seats to your gang. Tell me the rest of the story now.

Helen, Harpo was considered to be an intellectual in his NCC days, such as a reformer could be, so does that make them equals?

Mervin, my top five
1 Income trust lie
2. no recession
3. no deficit
4. no tax increase…. a future lie we know is going to happen
5. accountability, no elections for four years,etc.

I'm not against lower taxes but am against borrowing from me to justify their populist ideals by pi$$ing money down stuff they have no concept about(the auto industry for one). The Libs managed to slay the muldoon deficits and didn't hurt the economy and didn't raise taxes.
Higher equalization payments…do you call the $1BB he gave Charest for an election tax cut equalization?

Harpo has made many slanderous statement in the HOC he won't repeat outside… you know it very well.

People are tired of dirty politics as played by the Harpercrites who have nothing else to sell. The poll the other day suggests that well over 65% of the population wants amjority government. Harpo can't get there and people on the left as thye have done in the past will vote strategically. The NDP loyalists are getting tired of layton and in Quebec they are showing a certain fatigue with the Bloc. Guess where that majority lies!!

If a sitting PM can't get a higher economic rating against an opposition leader than he's brain dead to begin with. That's a stupid comparison and you know it but the Prairie has dried out certain thought processes it appears.

Very well said.

Yep terry1, we are surrounded by Lefties, even worse performing than Dion, here in Hamilton. Give it time though, they've delivered squat, unlike the Prime Minister. Hamilton is ripe for change.

Terry1…
Harper is much more superior…He is after all one of us.
Same thing can’t be said of the “other” guy…THAT”s the difference.

terry1…you really are grasping at straws:

1. Income Trust lie:

We both know the situation changed dramatically after the election where
major corporations i.e. telecoms and banks were considering changing their
corporate structure to income trusts. If you honestly believe that Harper,
knowing his election promise, woke up one morning and decided to piss off
seniors and other investors by changing the income tax rules for income
trusts you are beyond convincing. To cushion the blow he allowed income
splitting for seniors and allowed for a 4 year transition to help offset the
ramifications on the market.

However, politicians sometimes have to make decisions they do not want to
make but in the best interest of the country make the tough decision. I will
match this decision with Chretien's in 1993 when he committed to axe the tax
(GST). Chretien would have lost the 1997 election if the right had not been
divided.

2. No recession

Harper cautioned the country in his year end interviews in 2007 that 08
would be a slower year. Immediately after baggy eyes oh I mean McCallum said
Harper was fear mongering and that growth would be 2.5% for Canada in 08. So
much for the crystal ball.

No one knew that the U.S. was about to have a major meltdown in its housing
market and on wall street the likes of which never had been seen. It had
broad implications around the world. Unfortunately Canada was drawn into the
mess because the U.S. is our major importer. However, I will delicately
remind you that Dion in the election campaign promised billions in new
spending with the whopper being the carbon tax. A chicken in every pot was
Dion's theme. So while our leaders and most of the world leaders were caught
flat footed in respect to the degree of the slow down Harper was not by
himself because they all said there would be no recession/deficit.

3. No deficit

We all know about the infamous economic update back last November which was
never intended to be a budget. However, I would agree that Harper continued
to be in denial of the severity of the situation. He watched as revenue went
through the floor, unemployment was skyrocketing and the manufacturing base
in Ontario was being demolished. So he knew something extraordinary had to
be done. Hence he abandoned his conservative principles and decided he had
to do something to jolt the economy.

Of course that decision was made easier with the left wing parties,
including the Liberals, demanding the government do something and to spend
money to cushion the recession. Well, Harper did just that much to the
surprise and amazement of the opposition parties and the left wing media.
Many including you are criticizing the size of the deficit but nobody has
had the guts to say what they would not do that Harper is doing. By the way
the coalition of fools was forecasting a deficit of $30 billion.

4. No tax increase….

Tax increases are the path of least resistance and of course we know the
Liberal record on taxes. They love to tax and spend. Hence during the 13
years of Liberal rule our personal tax rates were the highest in the G7.
Time will tell whether taxes need to be raised. I am glad you have a crystal
ball and know what the government will do. The recession is not over yet and
so there is lots that can be done before we have to go the tax increase
route.

5. Accountability, no election for four years.

The fixed election date was meant for majority governments and you know it
because it would require a change in the constitution to change the
prerogatives of the GG. Goodale and the Libs argued vociferously during the
debate that the fixed election date was a sham. However, nothing in the
legislation prevented the PM from going to the GG and request dissolution.
If it was against the law she would have denied it. It was not and you can
argue till the cows come home but Harper had the right to advise the GG in
order to protect the country from the coalition of fools. She could have
refused but she knew the consequences.

Imagine the hypocrisy of the Liberal party trying to foist onto Canadians a
PM, Dion, who Canadians had soundly rejected just six weeks before and who
the party was trying to throw under the bus. To work the coalition needed
the support of the Bloc. Here they would be sitting in the House criticizing
the coalition government and in behind the scenes negotiating what
legislation they would support going forward. Bills which did not require
confidence would never see the light of day if the Bloc disagreed.

Once again what populace ideas would you be referring to. Infrastructure
spending? Be specific or your tinfoil hat is showing again. If you do not
support bailing out the auto industry then you agree that it is alright for
the industry to leave Canada and instantly throw a million people out of
work. You are blowing smoke. Even the Count is staying away from that
stupidity.

Again with the Mulroney deficit. You being a member of the Laurier Club know
perfectly well that deficit spending started under Trudeau big time with
Chretien as his finance minister. Mulroney when he left office had an
operating surplus but the interest on the national debt which was
skyrocketing was killing the country. He did not have the guts to slash and
burn and the country was not willing to do live with the tough decisions.

I give Chretien and Martin credit for covering the deficit but I would
remind you that the deficit was covered by downloading the federal
government's financial responsibilities on the provinces i.e. healthcare
etc. where transfers were significantly reduced with the provinces being
thrown into deficit. I do need to remind you that the military took
significant hits over those years and yet Chretien/Martin had no problem
committing them to a war they will ill equipped to fight.

Equalization was changed and except for Nfld. the provinces were not unhappy
with the new agreement. Quebec got what they were entitled to under the new
agreement. The fact that Charest screwed the PM and gave tax reductions to
the province is not Harper's fault. However, it does show the lack of
integrity of Mr. Charest.

Slanderous statements in the House? Oh yes the Liberal party are virginal
sweet. They never make slanderous statements or misrepresent the facts. They
tried desperately to create faux scandals and the public simply weren't
buying it. Look at the Liberal party my friend they are professionals when
it comes to slander.

There is no dirty politics being played. The Conservatives are practicing
the art of politics as practiced by the Liberals for many years. Liberals
don't like it because they are disorganized internally, bereft of leadership
(again) and have no credible policies to present to Canadians. The big issue
above all else is they are broke and can't afford to fight fire with fire.
So they resort to name calling.

Your penultimate paragraph is plain silly. If you believe after Duceppe
finishes with Iggy in the next election Quebecers are going to abandon the
Bloc you are dreaming. NDP supporters are diehard and will stick with the
party no matter what.

Think about it terry1. Where will the Libs get 40+ seats to win even a
minority? Maybe a few in Toronto and Quebec but nothing more in the West.

The last paragraph is bizarre even by your standards. Iggy has not
demonstrated one ounce of economic acumen. If he wants to be PM during the
worst recession he had better move his sorry ass. Demanding a 360 hour
qualifying period or 10 weeks for EI does not make economic sense except for
the NDP.

Thus is your political lesson for the day. Go in peace my friend.

This guy has lost it completely:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/People+want…
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has blamed the uproar over his handling of the Holy Communion host at former governor general Romeo LeBlanc's funeral mass on people trying to cause embarrassment and create division between Catholics and Protestants.

“People who want to cause embarrassment in religion and drive a wedge between Protestants and Catholics” are driving the controversy, Harper told a Catholic news agency in an exclusive interview after his meeting Saturday with Pope Benedict.

and this one gets even more stupid by the day:
http://lawiscool.com/2009/03/19/min-jason-kenne…
Kenney was unable to explain how he learned so much about immigrants and visible minorities who face discrimination while growing up in Saskatchewan. He conceded his social group consisted of all white-males as a youth, but attributed that to his involvement with the Liberal Party at the time. All of the minorities were obviously hiding out in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Or this brilliant one:

“Min. Kenney repeated the call for immigrants to speak English or French before immigrating to Canada at a conference in Calgary, clearing up any ambiguity that may have previously existed.

These policies are nothing more than a covert for of racism, seeking to perpetuate historic racist legislation in Canada that sought to bar ethnic minorities from entering Canada, and overturn progress made in recent years to remedy these policies.

More recent statements seem to indicate he is backpedalling in face of sharp criticism by the public. Despite blaming the media, Min. Kenney’s statements are recorded by the media and attendees at his talks this week.”

Mervin,lets get your re-education underway:

1. You called Chretien's change on the GST a promise breaker in the past and now have changed the tune. Income splitting for seniors did not help the junior trusts who have almost all nearly bled to death. And it was not only seniors who bought those trusts.

2. What was Canada's growth in 08….. a lot closer to 2.5% than you obviously know. Harpo and his clowns were flat out in denial that a recession was coming. He knew if he admitted that his GST cut would have looked very foolish and it does still look very very foolish in light of a $50BB deficit.

3. No one questioned the need for spending BUT spending and tax cuts don't go together and Harpo and his populist stupidity never took the economy into account when they dropped their drawers to lend us ur own money since we are now into serious and structural deficits w/o tax increases. And Harpo the great has backed himself into a corner on that issue. He simply hopes a large dose of inflation comes along to lower his deficit with that tool.

4. See 3 above.

5. as usual you try to mix and match…the coalition issue and fixed election dates are different issues.

The fixed election date was to be in place an donly broken if the government was defeated in the house and harpo found a loophole he didn't even know existed until his legal team found it…..that was dumb luck only but in spirit he broke his own law.

The coalition was in response to extremely poor government by the reformatories. They had to run and hide for six weeks to sort out their priorities or get some which is most likely what happened.

my penultimate paragraph wa sobviously beyond your comprehension. the NDP has gone soft in the past when the left wanted the right out of power. That's why their seat count is never ever stable. Duceppe is in trouble in quebec and continuous polls show the luibs getting stronger and stronger. The populace there is now seeing that supporting the bloc has not helped them and they know tories will screw them in a majority situation. read up on some of the recent polls there.

As for 40 plus more seats. they will remain strong in the maritimes and will be much stronger in Quebec. I say they could come into Ontario with between 60 ad 70 seats. If they can get up to 50 in Ontario,which is highly possible, they will go over the top. BC is ready to vote liberal again as well as Manitoba at least around Winnipeg.

come back for more lessons any time.

I remind you that it has been the Liberals for nearly four years now that have propped up these guys.Think about that next time you need to renew your laurier club membership, deep pockets or not.

The reality is that those who played the “hostgate” card have retreated into the wilderness. In fairness, I think that most Liberal bloggers and supporters recognized this and quit the gig early. Some however, Kinsella in particular made fools out of themselves. They have been unable to accept the word of a priest in order to try and save face.

The spin was clearly in part designed to put a wedge in Catholics. This was a 24 hr news story. It lasted 48hrs and died.

I have no doubt that you don't agree with the PM's comments but keeping this story alive will only serve to help the Conservatives. Lib bloggers seem to have recognized this.

Lets clear the historical facts and then call it a day:

1. Chretien promised to get rid of the GST and when elected completely
ignored it because he could not give up the substantial revenue it was
generating. Of course it was a lie as was the whole Red Book thingy.

2. Average GDP for 2008 was 0.42% so McCallum was wrong. However, I suspect
the Liberals had no idea what was coming down the road. Similar to the PM I
might add. Once again the coalition was forecasting a deficit of $30
billion. Either you want spending to help the economy or you don't. You
can't have it both ways.

3. Harper made his decisions about tax cuts before he knew what the impact
of the recession would be. In fact I would argue his tax cuts saved Canada
from going into recession sooner than other countries and has reduced the
impact on ordinary Canadians. However, that will not fit into the Liberal
narrative will it? Economists don't like the GST cuts but the fact is people
at the bottom end of the socio economic scale do not pay income tax and so
the GST cut helped them.

You have no idea whether we will have a structural deficit or not. There are
too many variables at this point to make that statement definitely. Of
course you can listen to Kevin Page and hang on to his every word but the
fact is what will be will be. If there is a structural deficit the country
can certainly afford it and when the Conservatives start cutting those
wasteful Liberal programs we will see about the deficit. The country is
waiting with bated breath to hear how the carpetbagger will cleanup the
deficit.

5. I have explained the reality of the fixed date election legislation but
you simply choose to ignore it. Harper made that decision after the
coalition of fools decided that we needed a new government after only six
weeks. Faced with the same issue I believe Chretien would have jumped all
over it.

A coalition would have been a disaster for the country and you know it. How
would Dion work with the Bloc and their demands which are focused on Quebec
only. How would Dion manage a Jack Layton sitting in his cabinet. Talk about
no control. He was a terrible leader and would have been a terrible PM
particularly trying to run a coalition government.We would have been into
another election within a couple of months.

If the coalition had succeeded minority governments as we know it would
never work in Canada. Harper is short 12 seats from a majority which by
necessity requires all three opposition parties to defeat the government.
That would mean in the future the three opposition parties who don't like
the decisions of the government simply gang on vote non confidence and
giving Iggy's reaction we could have an election every quarter in this
country. The country would be in political chaos. Coalition government are
sensible when the official opposition and one other party have enough votes
to outnumber the government.

By the way the prorogation allowed parliament to adjourn two weeks early for
the Christmas break. They returned at their normal time in January. Don't
get too carried away with your rhetorical flourishes.

Obviously I don't agree with your assessment of Lib chances in Quebec. They
will win their usual seats in Montreal and after Duceppe takes Iggy apart
Quebecers in the regions will stick with the Bloc. You saw what Duceppe did
to Harper and the same fate awaits Iggy.

The polls do not show that Iggy is particularly strong in Ontario. It goes
back and forth. However, Ontarians are not interested in higher taxes and
big social programs so they will continue to support the Conservatives.

I would remind you that campaigns do make a difference. Iggy has a tendency
to make gaffes and the other leaders are more experienced. If you think the
truths ads were bad now wait until the writ period (of course I have no
inside knowledge). All the parties will make sure that Canadians know Iggy
does not stand for their values and is a carpetbagger in it for himself.

Funny that terry threatens Mark with what Kinsella has on Harper.
Has it occurred to either terry(who seems to like to make it appear that he's in the know) or WK that they're losing the “defining” wars?

Yeah, the “hostgate” card was probably killed by Dom LeBlanc who said he appreciated the fact the PM attended his father's funeral. You don't play gotcha games at a funeral and expect to get any respect from anyone. It's all about desperate Liberals hanging out in backrooms plotting their next snoop out/gotcha.

When they have nothing substantive to offer, Kinsella is their man. He can play Barney googles in an attempt to divert attention from their “leader” who is still in professorial mode, no attempt to make any decisions on anything.

Yaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn

This has been a really good issue. I think that the problem with having a leader like Mr. Ignatieff is that he's on record and quoted in so many places and on film too. One has to wonder how far back and how much homework the LPOC war room did on Michael(Ignatieff, not Jackson) before they coaxed him back to Canada?

sorry terry1

I did mix up the coalition with the call for an election. They are two
separate events. However, as I explained to you the fact remains that a
fixed election date is really only workable under a majority government.
Calling an election under that scenario would not be acceptable. Unless we
are prepared to change the constitution the rights of the PM to advise the
GG and the rights of the GG remain in tact.

Stephen , they are getting closer:
Here's Raphael:

While this is really a nothing website, and really not worthy of coverage, you may be interested to know that that the Republicans for Ignatieff website just happens to be hosted, of all of the millions of servers in the US let alone the world, by NearlyFreeSpeech.net of Cocoa Beach, Florida, which just so happens to be the same server that hosts Canadians4Democracy.ca (the anti-coalition website put up by Stephen Taylor, the Conservative blogger and “citizen journalist” who once ran for the Conservative nomination in Kingston and the Islands). Aside from many of the same formatting, use of quotations and footage, html coding style, both use the server “ns.phx6.nearlyfreespeech.net”. You can confirm that for yourself at WhoIs.

Wo is losing the defining wars? Iggy has never yet countered on any dirty ads and is still very much in the lead or close to it. Imagine when his war of words starts what it will do to Hareprcrite.

I think you got it wrong.

Helen, your ignorance is typical of angry white Tories. there are 2.4 million expatriate Canadians working and living abroad who carry our passport because they believe being Canadian is the best there is. Your comment was ignorant, possibly racist and biased.

maybe your guy who never left this Country until he was PM is the one who is not one of us. His narrow minded and ignroant view of the world shows daily.

Are we so starved of ideas that all we can do now is mislead the public. Where are the real Conservatives. This is so pathetic.

westcoast Jim… the fact your party IS starved of ideas is because true conservatives are not running the show. The reformatory bunch are ideolgues with no sense of real government and only think in terms of no government is good and Christ is risen.

They should declare bankruptcy

the reformatory party? Such an adult debate from you. Should we revoke your “probation”? “Christ is risen…”? How ridiculously infantile. That statement may have resonance in the deep south but this neocon type bs moniker just does not have any credibility here in Canada, but Liberals just cannot resist. In the absence of any policies or principles, create boogey men, to scare the uninformed faithful.

What policies have the Tories implemented? They said there would be no deficit in the last election campaign and now we have a $50BB one. But, surely you must have simply forgotten that little tidbit. How about 4 year elections? Forgot that one too? Accountability? Must be dementia setting in

The attack ads and ten percenters are also BS so we're even I guess.

You will see them called the rfeformatory party much more as an election looms. It suits their personality becasue they are neither conservatives nor progessives and thye do need a moniker.

the reformatory party? Such an adult debate from you. Should we revoke your “probation”? “Christ is risen…”? How ridiculously infantile. That statement may have resonance in the deep south but this neocon type bs moniker just does not have any credibility here in Canada, but Liberals just cannot resist. In the absence of any policies or principles, create boogey men, to scare the uninformed faithful.

What policies have the Tories implemented? They said there would be no deficit in the last election campaign and now we have a $50BB one. But, surely you must have simply forgotten that little tidbit. How about 4 year elections? Forgot that one too? Accountability? Must be dementia setting in

The attack ads and ten percenters are also BS so we're even I guess.

You will see them called the rfeformatory party much more as an election looms. It suits their personality becasue they are neither conservatives nor progessives and thye do need a moniker.