Top Ten Conservative MP we need to defeat!
December 21, 2011 - 10:43pm
After reading this article on Kitchener Centre MP, it had me thinking about which Conservative MPs we need to ensure we defeat in the next election:
Here are my top ten:
Harold Albrecht (Kitchener-Conestoga)
Rod Bruinooge (Winnipeg South)
Royal Galipeau (Ottawa-Orleans)
Gary Goodyear (Cambridge)
Roxanne James (Scarborough Centre)
Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
James Lunney (Nanaimo-Alberni)
Brad Trost (Saskatoon-Humboldt)
Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin)
Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre)
Any other suggestions? What is your top ten Conservative MPs we need to defeat?
Here is a list from a few years back of anti-choice ('pro-life') MPs:
http://davidakin.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/5/12/1951995.html
While the politics of a number of those folks are very very right-wing, I still would not advocate wasting resources trying to defeat the ones in non-winnable seats. There are probably 60 other seats we should be looking at first.
What about Tom "THe A's are guys like me; the B's are homosexual faggots with dirt undertheir fingernails that spread diseases" Lukiwski?
He would definitely rank near the top of my ballot, for sure. ETA: my list of targets, of course I mean.
No Tony Clement?
I think that Kenney and Baird would be on my hit list - along with any seat that the Tories only hung onto by their fingernails.
But also note that Charlie Angus is # on their hit list. He's been a one man wrecking crew this last term.
That's weird. The National Post link at the beginning of the thread goes to a David Akin blog entry.
Here's a link to the actual National Post article.
I love this scare tactic:
Canadian law provides no human rights protection whatsoever for children before the moment of complete birth. This results from an unusual Canadian statute which defines a human being as a child who has completely proceeded in a living state from the mother’s body, whether or not the child has breathed. This means that in Canada a child is legally considered to be sub-human while his or her little toe remains in the birth canal, even if he or she is breathing.
Better protect babies from those darn pro-choice feminists. You know what they do? They go to maternity wards everywhere, murdering babies whose toes are still in "the birth canal".
"Hold on! Don't pull him the rest of the way out - I know I just went through 10 hours of labour and we can see the baby's entire body except his big toe, but I've changed my mind!"
Happens every single day, and it could happen in a hospital - or even a family - near you! Darn those feminists anyhow!
Are there any issues that a pro-life and a pro-choice candidate can agree on such as the fact that anything that causes a woman who chooses to go through a pregnancy to miscarry is wrong - and those things include toxic exposre, financial sabotage and people shoving you against the wall and threatening you - like what happened to one woman whoen the police went to the wrong house.
I am pro choice but believe that the choice to terminate should be left up to the mother - that corporations etc don't have the right to override a woman's choice whatever it is.
That said, the Tories are starting to act like they are bullet proof and, if they don't reel themselves in a bit can end up alienating even their base. Either way, if they are going to pass anti-choice legislation, it will be this time around rather than next time.
The NDP should try and defeat Jason Kenney, really?
Yeah, that's almost like, uh, la-la land targeting. Jason Kenney?!? Really?!? He got over 3/4 of the vote last time, you know--talk about wasting resources (then again, Scarborough-Rouge River used to be similar for the Liberals)
Besides, if any Calgary Tory is perennially top-targetable, it's Rob Anders.
While the politics of a number of those folks are very very right-wing, I still would not advocate wasting resources trying to defeat the ones in non-winnable seats. There are probably 60 other seats we should be looking at first.
Front page of the Waterloo Region Record todayt "MP wants abortion 'dialogue'.That's Stephen Woodworth, and he could be beaten easily.
Sara MacIntyre, a press secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, repeated the PM's pledge not to re-open debate on abortion, telling the Record in a phone interview " 'We've been very clear, we're not going to reopen this (abortion) debate', she said. 'The member (Woodworth)like all members, can choose to move forward with motions or private member's bills'."
Woodworth issued a news release on Wednesday that stated "Perhaps CAnadians should at least examine this question. MP Stephen Woodworth proposes that Parliament has a responsibility to lead that examination."
Woodworth told the Record that he "has an opportunity to put forth one private member's bill for a Parliamentary vote in February, but that he hasn't yet decided on the exact issue (medical/legal) he will propose."
Yeah, that's almost like, uh, la-la land targeting. Jason Kenney?!? Really?!? He got over 3/4 of the vote last time, you know--talk about wasting resources (then again, Scarborough-Rouge River used to be similar for the Liberals)
Besides, if any Calgary Tory is perennially top-targetable, it's Rob Anders.
Stephen Harper would likely be easier to defeat then Jason Kenney, the NDP should focus their attention on Edmonton. As for Scarborough-Rouge River, the Liberals had fallen off there in recent years and Derek Lee had been their only MP. With Lee's exit at the last minute Rathika Sitsabaiesan faced a last minute Liberal candiate, and with the Conservatives continuously increasing their support in the riding in recent years she was able to win thanks to vote splitting.
We need to defeat Wai Young (Conservative, Vancouver South), who bumped Ujjal Dosanjh out of the riding. Say what you want about Liberals and turncoats, but I thought Dosanjh was a really good MP. He's not returning to politics so now there is an opportunity for the NDP to move in without anyone appealing to vote "strategically" for the incumbent. Let's shut the Conservatives out of Vancouver again.
While the politics of a number of those folks are very very right-wing, I still would not advocate wasting resources trying to defeat the ones in non-winnable seats. There are probably 60 other seats we should be looking at first.
And I would think that a large portion of "the other half" could be driven to extra exertions toward unseating a candidate who claimed he was acting on Christ's behalf to guide their decisions during pregnancy.
Policy issues matter. In fact, in every riding, there should be an "ah ha" reaction to this news story. That's the hardball that only the Conservatives know how to play. Who knows, we might graduate from the juniors if we ever get to wanting the power to "change the world" (Tommy/Jack).
As for Scarborough-Rouge River, the Liberals had fallen off there in recent years and Derek Lee had been their only MP. With Lee's exit at the last minute Rathika Sitsabaiesan faced a last minute Liberal candiate, and with the Conservatives continuously increasing their support in the riding in recent years she was able to win thanks to vote splitting.
These were contributing factors, certainly, but hardly the whole story. There has been an on and off effort to build the NDP in Scarborough-Rounge River at least since Sheila White's provincial by-election run. The Tamil community has played a key role there for years. Organizational resources were focussed on the area and a very strong organizing effort in other Toronto-area ridings helped. This was one that we actually won on our merits, not just by chance.
"Aided" by a candidate with marvelous talents and capabilities.
I think it would also be sweet to rid of the world of the excreable Maxime Bernier!
"Aided" by a candidate with marvelous talents and capabilities.
That too.
Chris Alexander squeaked by Mark Holland in Ajax-Pickering.
The guy is such a tool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncUtF2E7D8Y
I'd like to say Dean Del Mastro, but he seems to have a stranglehold on Peterborough. Ditto Colin Carrie in Oshawa.
I know that Bruinooge is an easy target if a strong candidate runs against him. That didn't happen last time. He barely defeated Reg Alcock and that was during the heated AdScam pitchfork days.
We need to defeat Wai Young (Conservative, Vancouver South), who bumped Ujjal Dosanjh out of the riding. Say what you want about Liberals and turncoats, but I thought Dosanjh was a really good MP. He's not returning to politics so now there is an opportunity for the NDP to move in without anyone appealing to vote "strategically" for the incumbent. Let's shut the Conservatives out of Vancouver again.
Unfortunately, as Robert Fife said on CTV on the night of the election, the increase in the NDP vote in that riding split the vote and allowed the Conservatives to take it.
Hopefully the Liberal vote will come back in the next election and we will be able to take it back.
Uh no- it was the collapse of the LIBERAL vote- which went more than one direction. Why Liberals refuse to take ownership of their own failure continues to elude me. If they did it, just once, they might not find themselves as an increasingly moribund rump in today's parliament.
1. It was Robert Fife who said the NDP split the vote in Vancouver South, not just me. And it is obvious that the same thing happened in other ridings like Moncton, Winnipeg South Centre, Ajax-Pickering etc. These were all Liberal-held ridings that only the Liberals can prevent the Conservatives from winning, and they all went Conservative because of an increase in the NDP vote. You can just look at the math for each riding.
2. The Liberal Party is much bigger right now than the NDP has been at many times in its history, and I'm not sure why a party that could never get above third place for 50 years (and was as low as 5th place) is putting down another party as 'moribund'.
1. Those Liberals never take responsiblity for anything and try to take credit for everything. The LIBERAL vote collapse. It went in two directions. In some ridings that helped Conservative candidates, in other the NDP. There are plenty of ridings now were the obvious successor the the beat the Conservative crown in the NDP, not the Liberals, but please keep up the pretence. The longer your party does the more stuck in reverse you will be.
2. Have you looked at the relative age of the Liberal caucus? Increasingly moribund and absent of fresh ideas and fresh talent is exactly what the Liberals have found themselves in.
BTW: Moncton and Winnipeg South Centre are both ridings that will be top NDP targets and should be very winnable. Liberals need to wake up and smell the coffee and realize that they can only ever compete in about a dozen ridings across Canada that are extremely wealthy with a lot of university educated professionals.
The reason Harper won a majority is that the Liberal collapse isn't yet totally complete. Next time we need to drive the Liberal national popular vote down to single-digits and rally all the people who vote Liberal for no other reason than hatred of Harper behind the NDP standard. If people would wake up and realize that having a Liberal party is a luxury Canada cannot afford and would get with the program all join the NDP - we could give Harper the boot in 2015!
1. It was Robert Fife who said the NDP split the vote in Vancouver South, not just me. And it is obvious that the same thing happened in other ridings like Moncton, Winnipeg South Centre, Ajax-Pickering etc. These were all Liberal-held ridings that only the Liberals can prevent the Conservatives from winning, and they all went Conservative because of an increase in the NDP vote. You can just look at the math for each riding.
Nice try.
1. It was Robert Fife who said the NDP split the vote in Vancouver South, not just me. And it is obvious that the same thing happened in other ridings like Moncton, Winnipeg South Centre, Ajax-Pickering etc. These were all Liberal-held ridings that only the Liberals can prevent the Conservatives from winning, and they all went Conservative because of an increase in the NDP vote. You can just look at the math for each riding.
Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe was a close 3-way race, that the Tories squeaked into - there were only a thousand votes separating the NDP and Liberals, so I call bullshit on that one.
Winnipeg South Centre is my riding, and I can tell you we basically only ran a presence campaign (though with a strong candidate) - we were not phoning, and very little canvassing was done. Our vote only went up in the eastern part of the riding, where we took back the Green votes that bled from us in 2008. Our end result was still several per centage points BELOW historical averages. Anita and the Liberals lost this riding all by themselves, and not because our vote went up. Poll after poll in River Heights - polls that Anita won with 60%+ of the vote in 2008 - went Tory by a sizable majority. So I call bullshit here too!
What about Bramalea-Gore-Malton, where the incumbent Liberal came third, and the Tory beat the New Democrat by less than 500 votes? This type of situation repeated all through Ontario (esp SW Ontario).
Clearly the problem was that NOT ENOUGH LIBERALS STRATEGICALLY VOTED - for the NDP! Or put otherwise, too many Liberals strategically voted for the Tories!
Winston would you not agree that now that the Liberals have been knocked out in Winnipeg South Centre - with the right candidate and with the NDP now being the national official opposition - in 2015 it would actually be a very winnable NDP seat. River Heights might be a tough not to crack, but most of that riding is very small "l" liberal progressive and votes massive NDP provincially.
Chris Alexander squeaked by Mark Holland in Ajax-Pickering.
The guy is such a tool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncUtF2E7D8Y
I'd like to say Dean Del Mastro, but he seems to have a stranglehold on Peterborough. Ditto Colin Carrie in Oshawa.
Do they, really? I'd suggest that their "strangleholds" come mainly through incumbency--unlike Alexander, who faced a Grit incumbent. But should Harper's iron grip wane in Ontario, I'd suggest that both seats are more NDP-winnable than Ajax-Pickering--don't roll over and play dead just because the Tories have skunked the opposition thus far...
Oh, and I find it funny I'm thus far the only person to name-drop Rob Anders in this thread.
Peterborough is the Ontario bellwether riding. If the NDP is going to win Ontario, they will win that seat, I expect.
Oh, and I find it funny I'm thus far the only person to name-drop Rob Anders in this thread.
Yeah really! He is easily the most odious creature that has set foot in the House in generations!!!
While we're on about Conservative MPs that deserve to be defeated, how about Ray Boughen in Palliser? Admittedly he hasn't done anything to distinguish himself, but that's mostly because he hasn't really donemuch at all. For example, he is at or near the bottom of the list for interventions in Parliament, so even as a trained seat for the HarperCons he still underperforms.
What about Bramalea-Gore-Malton, where the incumbent Liberal came third, and the Tory beat the New Democrat by less than 500 votes? This type of situation repeated all through Ontario (esp SW Ontario).
Where?
http://www.punditsguide.ca/parties/?party=4&province=6&elec_event=26&qry=2
Oh, and I find it funny I'm thus far the only person to name-drop Rob Anders in this thread.
Ssshh (you'll wake him)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/11/25/rob-anders-sleeping-video_n_1113337.html
What about Bramalea-Gore-Malton, where the incumbent Liberal came third, and the Tory beat the New Democrat by less than 500 votes? This type of situation repeated all through Ontario (esp SW Ontario).
Where?
Not by 500 votes...I should have been more clear. What I was trying to get at was that the NDP had as many 1st and 2nd place finishes throughout Ontario as did the Liberals. Two things worked in the Tories' favour - 1) Unlike in Québec, the Orange Crush did not have as much time to ripen, leading to the NDP and Liberals splitting the opposition votes down the middle instead of decisively in the NDP's favour 2) The Tories' line to Liberals to vote strategically for them was quite effective.
I had meant this to be a discussion on who we NEED to defeat because of their bigoted views - not who CAN we defeat (as there are numerous other discussions that have focused on that).
Who, based on their views, should be targeted to defeat?
I find Dean DelMasturbate of Peterborough to be one of the Tories with the most repulsive views.
I had meant this to be a discussion on who we NEED to defeat because of their bigoted views - not who CAN we defeat (as there are numerous other discussions that have focused on that).
Who, based on their views, should be targeted to defeat?
Anders
Toews
Poilievre (just because he is soooo obnoxious!!!)
That's my top 3.
Edited to add:
Plus any MP that is too chicken-shit to come out of the closet, while telling the rest of us that "it gets better".
Oh...and Kevin Lamoureux, whose first vote in the House was AGAINST a woman's right to choose!
While we're on about Conservative MPs that deserve to be defeated, how about Ray Boughen in Palliser? Admittedly he hasn't done anything to distinguish himself, but that's mostly because he hasn't really donemuch at all. For example, he is at or near the bottom of the list for interventions in Parliament, so even as a trained seat for the HarperCons he still underperforms.
Of course, there's no guarantee that Boughen'll run again, given that he's going to be pushing 80 come the next election,
The problem with such an exercise is that no matter where you start from with this gang...ten from the top down starting with Harper, ten from the bottom of the pile and up, or ten selected at random, all your work is still ahead with the ones who remain.
Heh, why Royal Galipeau?
He was my old boss when he was on the library board in Ottawa, totally arrogant guy. He also jumped from being a sleazy liberal to being a sleazy conservative without batting an eyelash when the fortunes of the liberals changed.
We need to defeat Wai Young (Conservative, Vancouver South), who bumped Ujjal Dosanjh out of the riding. Say what you want about Liberals and turncoats, but I thought Dosanjh was a really good MP. He's not returning to politics so now there is an opportunity for the NDP to move in without anyone appealing to vote "strategically" for the incumbent. Let's shut the Conservatives out of Vancouver again.
Unfortunately, as Robert Fife said on CTV on the night of the election, the increase in the NDP vote in that riding split the vote and allowed the Conservatives to take it.
Hopefully the Liberal vote will come back in the next election and we will be able to take it back.
Regardless of who said it, the numbers don't bear out the "NDP vote split" explanation for Vancouver South 2011.
Conservative: 16090 -> 19504 (+3414)
Liberal: 16110 -> 15604 (-506)
NDP: 7376 -> 8552 (+1176)
Green: 2065 -> 1151 (-914)
M-L: 211 -> 222 (+11)
Total valid votes: 41852 -> 45033 (+3181)
A cursory overview of the numbers would suggest that most Conservative votes came from people who didn't go to the polls at all in 2008. The Liberals kept most of theirs but failed to get out the vote. The Green vote collapsed by almost as many votes as the NDP gained. Certainly the NDP gains did not suggest any significant vote shift away from the Liberals - this was all about the Conservatives mobilizing voters.
In 2004 the NDP nearly tied the Conservative candidate for 2nd place. It's not unthinkable that this riding could be an NDP target with no incumbent Liberal effect left.
While the politics of a number of those folks are very very right-wing, I still would not advocate wasting resources trying to defeat the ones in non-winnable seats. There are probably 60 other seats we should be looking at first.
While - from what I've heard - Rod Bruinooge in awash in religious right lunacy, getting back Elmwood-Transcona would probably be a better goal for the Federal NDP when it comes to Winnipeg. It's still very ironic how, what's an Orange Fortress Provincially, has so many Conservative MPs Federally.
In 2004 the NDP nearly tied the Conservative candidate for 2nd place. It's not unthinkable that this riding could be an NDP target with no incumbent Liberal effect left.
*And*, with a favourable redraw.
Right, I almost forgot about the boundary change...
Of course a big factor for the NDP in any BC riding will be, if Dix indeed becomes premier, can he keep the public happy long enough to avoid spoiling NDP ridings in the next federal election? :P
After all, the only time in decades that a stronghold like Vancouver East was snapped up from the NDP was in 1993, two years into a BCNDP government. Mind you that was also the year after the Charlottetown Accord.
Another name thus far missing in this thread: David "Promise Keepers" Sweet. (Even if his seat's likely to be redrawn in his favour, away from Westdale or even Dundas, etc)
Peter Goldring and Deepak Obhrai: I don't know if they get more sleep at home or in the House of Commons.
Jim Hillyer. His unexcused absences make Vegas girl seem like a saint.
Perhaps it would be easier to identify the top ten Conservatives that are the least repugnant or useless or both.
Perhaps it would be easier to identify the top ten Conservatives that are the least repugnant or useless or both.
Mike Chong?
He seems benign enough. Good start adma.
ETA: Joyce Bateman hasn't done anything offensive so far.
Perhaps it would be easier to identify the top ten Conservatives that are the least repugnant or useless or both.
James Moore voted in favour of same sex marriage. Royal Galipeau has a rep as more of a Red Tory.
I'd start with five Conservative MPs from Saskatchewan who I hope would not be in the House if we had a fair voting system. Let's say Brad Trost (Saskatoon-Humboldt), Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin), Tom Lukiwski (Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre), Ray Boughen (Palliser), and Randy Hoback (Prince Albert).
Then eight from Alberta. Let's say Rob Anders (Calgary West), Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast), Peter Goldring (Edmonton East), Jim Hillyer (Lethbridge), Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot), Mike Lake (Edmonton--Mill Woods--Beaumont), Chris Warkentin (Peace River), and Rob Merrifield (Yellowhead).
Then pick your own: 11 from the GTA, five from Eastern Ontario, five from West Central Ontario, four from southwestern Ontario, two from the Lower Mainland, two from the rest of BC, three from Manitoba, and three from New Brunswick.
That's easy: the ten least repugnant women. There are so few women in the Conservative caucus, that I'd hate to wish most of them out of parliament.
I'd start with five Conservative MPs from Saskatchewan who I hope would not be in the House if we had a fair voting system.
Which of our Québec MPs (who benefitted as much from FPTP) would you get rid of? :P
PS: Don't answer that: it was a rhetorical question!
I find Del Mastro repulsive and the worst kind of politician. In the worst sense of the worst, he is offensive and biggoted. For a man who is against abortions, his support for the death penalty illudes me.
That's easy: the ten least repugnant women. There are so few women in the Conservative caucus, that I'd hate to wish most of them out of parliament.
Hmm... tough job.
Diane Ablonczy Calgary—Nose Hill
Eve Adams Mississauga—Brampton South
Leona Aglukkaq Conservative Nunavut
Stella Ambler Conservative Mississauga South
Rona Ambrose Conservative Edmonton—Spruce Grove
Joyce Bateman Conservative Winnipeg South Centre
Kelly Block Conservative Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar
Lois Brown Conservative Newmarket—Aurora
Pat Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton
Kerry-Lynne Findlay Conservative Delta—Richmond East
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke
Shelly Glover Conservative Saint Boniface
Nina Grewal Conservative Fleetwood—Port Kells
Candice Hoeppner Conservative Portage—Lisgar
Roxanne James Conservative Scarborough Centre
Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo
Bev Oda Conservative Durham
Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi
Lisa Raitt Conservative Halton
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North
Gail Shea Conservative Egmont
Joy Smith Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond
Lynne Yelich Conservative Blackstrap
Wai Young Conservative Vancouver South
I would say most who are in cabinet or have been are fair game. Perhaps Diane Ablonczy gets spared for independent thought because she supported funding for Toronto Pride before being quietly shuffled away. I can't think off the top of my head on who else has enough redeeming characteristics to be off the focus list.
Rempel and Leitch both seem to have a "Conservative as winning option" moderate-ish cast to them.
Yeah, principle is principle, but going from a Jason Kenney target to a Kevin Sorenson target is like, well, gong from wanting a pony to wanting a unicorn as a Christmas gift.
OTOH of rural Alberta MPs, I suspect the one who'd most likely merit a token free Babble pass is Ted Menzies (ex-PC, Joe Clark-endorsed, etc)
Rempel and Leitch both seem to have a "Conservative as winning option" moderate-ish cast to them.
Both dyed-in-the-wool backroom Conservatives before running. I'd cut some slack to Pat Davidson for speaking out against the overseas sale of asbestos, but I still think her seat of Sarnia should be one of our targets.
He [MP David Sweet] seems benign enough. Good start adma.
I respectfully disagree that he is "benign." He is a very active and virulent anti-abortion activist (too bad he does not show such touching concern for the children who are already here -- you know, like poor kids, foster children, kids in Attawapiskat --- seems they only merit action while in utero).
Sweet is also aggressively anti-feminist and believes women have no place in leadership. And on the lazy side, except for attending prayer breakfasts with the PM, it's hard to pin down anything he has done for the riding.
asma, I'm interested in what you say about the riding boundary proposed changes. There could be room for improvement here. Provincially, the PC candidate sank like a stone even in my very conservative part of the riding.
Sweet is also aggressively anti-feminist and believes women have no place in leadership. And on the lazy side, except for attending prayer breakfasts with the PM, it's hard to pin down anything he has done for the riding.
asma, I'm interested in what you say about the riding boundary proposed changes. There could be room for improvement here. Provincially, the PC candidate sank like a stone even in my very conservative part of the riding.
If you go back in the thread, you'll notice that the "benign enough" comment referred to my immediate-previous-post reference to Mike Chong, not my earlier reference to David Sweet. (You're forgiven.)
As for Sweet, the changes could actually work to his benefit if it gave him a more strictly rural/exurban seat (it isn't as if he'd go on a suicide mission by opting for wherever the Dundas/Westdale chips will fall)
Both dyed-in-the-wool backroom Conservatives before running. I'd cut some slack to Pat Davidson for speaking out against the overseas sale of asbestos, but I still think her seat of Sarnia should be one of our targets.
Yeah, but are they dyed-in-the-wool hard-right firebrand backroom Conservatives? From what I've read, Rempel seems at best Redford-ish (or Prentice-ish, for that matter), and at worst Ablonczy-ish. (Then again, Steve Woodworth was a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal once upon a time, and a federal candidate in Waterloo in '88 to boot.)
Here are some Conservative MPs I would like to see shown the door:
Merv Tweed (Brandon-Souris)
Candace Hoeppner (Portage-Lisgar)
James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake)
Shelly Glover (St. Boniface)
Robert Sopuck (Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette)
Vic Toews (Provencher)
Lawrence Toet (Elmwood-Transcona)
Steven Fletcher (Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia)
Garry Breikreuz (Yorkton-Melville)
Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminister)
Agreed big time with Ritz and Breitkreuz. I'd add the devoid of personality anti-LGBT rights Harper clone Rob Moore to this list.
Funny how except in that token checklist of Con-caucus women, she hasn't been a talking point in this thread yet...
Funny how except in that token checklist of Con-caucus women, she hasn't been a talking point in this thread yet...
I'd love to see her gone,but I'm pretty sure she's in the safest Conservative riding in Ontario, unless a more right-wing party emerges in the forseeable future.
[...]
I would say most who are in cabinet or have been are fair game. Perhaps Diane Ablonczy gets spared for independent thought because she supported funding for Toronto Pride before being quietly shuffled away. I can't think off the top of my head on who else has enough redeeming characteristics to be off the focus list.
Ah yes, Diane Ablonczy - whose most notable contribution to Canadian political life was her villification of Maher Arar in 2002:
How is it that the U.S. could uncover this man's background so quickly when the government's screening system failed to find his al-Qaeda links?
..
Mr. Speaker, the government needs to take responsibility for what it is doing to protect Canadian security. The fact is that these Liberals were asleep at the switch. Arar was not properly checked. Instead, the government ran around chastising the U.S. for sending Arar back to Syria, where he is also a citizen. Why is it that the Liberal security system is so weak here that they overlook vital information that the U.S. picked up on a routine check?
Of course one would need to find a recording of her words as they were delivered to get the full impact. I had the opportunity to discuss it on the politicial panel on the local CBC morning program the day after she made her remarks, and I stand by my description that she sounded like some frenzied canine baying after a small animal that she had blooded, but not quite managed to kill. I suspect that the person leading a lynch mob sounds very similar.
Despite Mr. Arar having been cleared of any possible wrong doing, Ms. Ablonczy has, to the best of my knowledge (and I have searched extensively) never apologized for her words -- something that, given her role as Reform spokesperson [head witch hunter] on the file, is owed to Mr. Arar -- that she has never accepted responsibility and recanted is part of the reason I find her a truly despicable human being.
As to her role on "providing" funding for Toronto Pride... I prefer to think of it as her not blocking the funding as opposed to actively championing it. And no, it does not outweigh her disgusting performance back in '02.
Personally, I would be overjoyed not to see her in Parliament ever again.
Funny how except in that token checklist of Con-caucus women, she hasn't been a talking point in this thread yet...
I'd love to see her gone,but I'm pretty sure she's in the safest Conservative riding in Ontario, unless a more right-wing party emerges in the forseeable future.
Even so, she's more plausibly "targetable" than, say, Jason Kenney, let alone Kevin Sorenson.
Besides, remember that pre-Gallant, her seat had a solid enough Liberal history that it even held on in 1984's John Turner blowout. And in the end, the RNP demographics are frontier-populistic enough that were the Gallant machine not so entrenched, it'd be not all that implausible as a Northern Ontariesque (or rural-Quebecesque) NDP target. In that light, I wouldn't discourage setting up roots here--even as "safest Conservative", in the rawest terms RNP might be more NDP-winnable than, say, Carleton-Mississippi Mills...