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Why did you leave out LeBlanc? Do you have some hidden animosity to Acadians? His daddy Romeo was a fine example of a prominent Liberal and one of the few bag men to be named GG in the last century.
Just by getting the appointment he was able to bring the Reform Party and the BQ together for a group hug. Now that's Canadian unity.
http://www.thestar.com/news/obituary/article/655876--romeo-leblanc-dead-...
M I C KEY M O U S E.................... MICKEY MOUSE.....
Precisely! Having gone to an elementary school were the single largest ethnic group in my classes was Polish, a great deal of amusement was derived from this coincidence. It only helps you remember the spelling though, not the pronounciation.
I've been practicing saying it, which takes a bit of work: zhez-NEF-skee. I'm sure Ukrainians find some English names equally hard to pronounce.
Damn, we are waaaaaay off topic. I scrolled up and reached a decision.... let's blame Unionist for starting this derailment.
I plead guilty. But I admit being heavily inspired by post #55.
Another Huff Post article fawning all over Trudeau. I almost want to tell them to get a room. And on CBC yesterday, Althia Raj fawning all over the LPC. They better pick Trudeau or the anti-NDP media aren't going to know what to do with themselves. Its like the Huff Post has become the LPC friendly version of Sun Media.
Umm, you are just noticing this now?
I'm not surprised by the draft Trudeau movement within the Liberals or the MSM. Dynasties have a certain appeal - familiar names, familiar storylines. There is a dramatic element that is appealing - unfinished work, defending a legacy, etc. It harkens back to a simplier time when politics were more noble and less partisan than it is now - and all that nonesense.
I doubt, in the end, that he will succumb to the siren call and that may be the best indication of Justin's wisdom. If I'm wrong, he might be the one voice in the Liberal ranks to be able to successfully push for a merger/partnership with the NDP filling the Peter McKay role for the Liberals after Bob Rae's truncated stint in the Joe Clark roll.
No Steve, its just that it irritates the hell out of me. And, I hoped the Huff Post would be more left leaning then it is. It is full of Lib bloggers and Lib friendly content. The Libs have basically taken it over and it drives me crazy!
I don't agree with this. The Liberals already have no pseudo majority they need one opposition vote. The Liberals can organize this easily-- Ottawa South is fairly safe. The McGuinty's can just switch places. Harper can delay a federal byelection but the Liberals provincially can call it and they can do it when the Legislature is not even sitting.
This is an important point. The media biases remain very powerful tools. If it were not for the media that is Liberal friendly they would probably be virtually gone already. Example: the critical budget legislation vote was held last night. CBC radio covered the story by interviewing the temp leader of the third party and a representative of the governing party but not even a mention of the Official Opposition.
The Conservative media repeat the same Conservative talking points daily -- go to http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/ any day and you will see a sampling. This is put out whether there is news or not and is mostly a repeat. The cycle of Mulcair's Dutch disease comments being attacked is restarted each day as if the previous day had not happened and I have been checking there are usually 3 per day. The media have dropped their tradition of identifying speakers. Most are actual politicians from the Liberal or Conservative parties.
No, this kind of media bias with the media campaigning openly is not right but you can't pretend this kind of bullshit is not happening or will not have an effect. Canadians are going to need their critical thinking skills if they want to avoid the next election being hustled by a media openly taking sides but not being pen about who is speaking.
Canadians need to be talking to each other as much as possible about this. this is all relevant because with the playing field of public relations tilted at such a sharp angle you cannot count the Liberals out. Further, the Conservatives have already figured out that they need the Liberals to survive in order for them to win. This means both old line parties will ultimately work to guarantee the survival of the Liberals. This is perhaps the newest development-- previously the Cons wanted to decimate the Liberals feeling the NDP would not be much threat-- now I think they know different and see why they must keep the Liberals alive to split the vote.
People need to be aware of the manipulation that is going on right now. Too many are waiting for the attack ads against Mulcair and have not realized that a different strategy is already well underway.
I think Coderre is more likely to push for co-operation. Especially if he's thinking of running for mayor of Montreal and will need NDP votes. But if he runs for Liberal Leader instead, he's still thinking Coalition, like most Quebec Liberals except, perhaps, Justin.
I may well be exagerating this but I have a recollection that when Justin Trudeau ruled out running for the leadership some time ago he not only said he did not want the job but also said he was unqualified to be PM.
I remember thinking this frankness could come back to haunt him if he changed his mind.
Is there such a quote out there or am I confabulating?
Since when does humility come back to haunt someone?
None of the horrendous things Stephen Harper said or did have come back to haunt him - and Justin's got nothing on him.
I find this emphasis on "the leader" to be as wrongheaded as it was during the 12-year NDP leadership race.
Martin Patriquin:
Love that cartoon!
Ok, you have changed my opinion. It never occurred to me that they would pull "the old switcheroo."
So the Ontario Liberals could a) call the byelection, b) fill the seat (with David McGuinty, who would have resigned his federal seat to run in the byelection) and c) pick an interim leader as acting Premier, all while the Ontario legislature is not in session?
Ontario might be one of the last provinces with a healthy Liberal machine.
I hadn't really seen him as a real candidate before. Now, yeah I could see how he could run if he wants it. He could potentially even get his Federal seat before the leadership race starts, certainly he could at least get the riding's nomination.
I would think he would start the race favoured over Trudeau.
Dalton McGuinty also might be a better choice than Trudeau for the federal Liberals' current base of support in large towns.
McGuinty would be a fresh face for the federal Liberals and he would leave the province where he is not at all fresh. Kennedy could go back to Ontario.
But with McGuinty's Liberals running third-place now in provincial polls, does he have any political capital left to win some federal Conservative seats back by 2015?
Also how mediocre is his French?
Marc Garneau is a slam dunk.
Either one of the McQuinty's as federal Liberal leader: LPC craters completely.
I don't know about that. I think Dalton McGuinty could win more than 11 seats in Ontario, and do as well as anyone else outside of Ontario. I would think 50 Liberal seats overall would be a victory.
Why would Bob Rae want to be the Joe Clark of the Liberal Party? Or the Peter MacKay? And why would Dalton McGuinty want it either?
Let Marc Garneau, Martha Hall Findlay, Martin Cauchon, George Takach, David Bertschi and Jonathan Mousley fight it out.
I don't often agree with Jeffery Simpson, but he makes a few good points here. http://m.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/liberal-problems-run-deeper-than...
And one very bad one; he wasn't thinking when he wrote this:
As he surely knows, Quebec voters a year ago voted for Jack Layton to oust Harper, rewarding him for supporting the 2008-9 Coalition that was so popular in Quebec and was becoming popular in the rest of Canada when Ignatieff listened to Bay Street and scrapped it.
LeBlanc said this morning on CTV's QP there is no deal between him and Justin Trudeau.
Dominic Leblanc, Martha Hall Findlay, and Marc Garneau said on QP they are seriously considering running, but no decision yet. The convention is ten months away, after all (end of April 2013).
Garneau would be an interesting choice. I think he would have the right kind of appeal to win Ontario seats back from the Conservatives. Suburban voters know who he is, and even if they haven't heard him talk politics they can respect him.
Also he's in his 60s but he could certainly engage the Liberal youth vote, seeing as he's already part of the curriculum they learned before they reached voting age!
And he doesn't have a lot to lose. He's got enough years left in him to manage the party in a caretaker role, and seems like a reasonable enough guy to work together in Parliament. But he's also just the right age that he can step out gracefully when the time is right.
I respect Garneau, but he is even duiller than Ken Dryden!
Therefore the NDP should hope Garneau goes for it!