Stephane Dion goes west

Dion says that the Liberal carbon tax is a way for Alberta to redeem its “damaged” reputation!

I don’t know what’s more amusing for communication blunders, this declaration by the Liberal leader or the time when he compared Alberta to a milk cow.

I also enjoyed this,

Although Dion’s personal reputation in Quebec has not fully recovered, the country is now restive and the threat of separation is low, the former university professor said.

“We have a united Canada, a Canada built on clarity and mutual respect. We did it with the courage, the determination, of a cowboy from Calgary,” Dion told Liberal party supporters yesterday.

I know he was being figurative, but one has to wonder if he could have been referencing Stephen Harper.

Garth Turner, legend of the elected Liberal Member of Parliament

Canadian Press in the Globe and Mail:

Mr. Turner, 59, was a Conservative when he was first elected to the Commons in 1988. He served briefly as revenue minister and ran unsuccessfully for the Tory leadership in 1993 and lost in the general election that year.

He was re-elected as a Liberal in 2006.

I’m sorry, but that’s just not so!

Regular readers of political news will remember that Garth was unceremoniously booted from the Conservative Party caucus for breaching caucus confidentiality (and for not being a team player in general). He then mused on joining the Green Party making the Greens somewhat excited and likely anxious at the same time. He polled his constituents on their preferred path for their maverick MP and staying to this apt descriptor, ignored their advice and joined the Liberal caucus. Turner has never been re-elected as a Liberal MP even though he said that the floor-crossing David Emerson should have gone back to his constituents to be re-elected as a Conservative.

“Anyone who crosses the floor ultimately should go back to the people for ratification and I stick by it and hopefully in this case that will happen,” — Garth Turner as a Conservative MP

Garth has yet to resign his seat to force a by-election. He’s at home in his new – but not Green – shifty party.

Kory Teneycke is Stephen Harper’s new Director of Communications

Congratulations to Kory and thank you for taking up the cost of the job. A former lobbyist, Teneycke is now subject to future lobbying restrictions of the Federal Accountability Act. Though with this cost comes greater personal honour of serving Canadians.

Today the news hit the wire: Kory Teneycke is the new director of communications for the Prime Minister’s Office.

In Langevin, I’ve heard that new chief of staff Guy Giorno is telling communications staff that the theme from now until the writ is “be political”. As the new director of communications, Teneycke will assume this role of actively building positive political momentum in the messaging of the government, something that was somewhat muted under the former director.

Under Sandra Buckler, the communications strategy seemed to be more of a shield; the former D.Comm. was effective in circling the wagons closely and the government only messaged to mitigate damage or give a basic understanding of its agenda.

Under Teneycke, I’ve come to understand that the strategy will be more of a sword. The communications strategy of the Teneycke comms shoppe will be proactive in its approach, it will get ahead of message and set the political tone from the Conservative government’s perspective.