Justin Trudeau: Is he actually going to be a drag on the Liberal 2015 election chances?

Unionist wrote:

DLivings wrote:

MegB wrote:

bagkitty wrote:

@unionist.... I thought he was born in a manger in Judea... and that he will demonstrate his waterwalking abilities in the forthcoming election.

Damn, I wish there were a "like" button.

me too!

me too!

He was born on Dec. 25. That has to be a divine sign.

I believe Trudeau has been relatively clear and consistent in his position on this issue: the party (He) is not concerned about what Liberal candidates actually think on the issue (i.e, its not a question of values, ideology, personal or political beliefs). It is simply required that MPs vote a certain way.

That's pretty much how I would have defined a Liberal from the get-go, so I don't see what the big kerfuffle is all about.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-says-all-liberals-mp-will-have-to-vote-pro-choice/article19218815/

Brachina wrote:

 I hope that is a photoshopped photo, otherwise it confirms my belief that Trudeau does belong in the circus.

No it's real. Trudeau can get babies to balance on top of each other. He is that special.

NorthReport wrote:

 

"A Liberal is a Conservative who pretends to be a New Democrat before every election." : Tom Mulcair

"A Liberal is a liar who pretends to tell the truth before, during and after every election." : A Canadian Voter

 

Years ago when I observed the MuchMusic VJ's moving around the room randomly, I originally thought that they moved randomly at their own choosing.  The reality was the the VJ's were told by the floor directors where to stand.  They were in the same set of positions practically every day.

When I look at Justin Trudeau, he looks like a cool VJ who randomly chooses where he goes on the floor.  In reality, his thoughts and movements are highly scripted so that he appears random and cool.

If Justin Trudeau becomes the next prime minister, his appearance in front of the camera and the crowds will seem casual and unscripted.  However, he will likely run a highly scripted government like Harper does now.  Trudeau's policies will be like Harpers.  The only different will that pipelines will become cool under Trudeau.  Cuts to the CBC will become cool.  Why? It's because Trudeau is cool!

When I see Facebook sites like CRUSH and Leadnow promoting strategic voting, they are telling voters to choose the party most likely to beat Harper.  It ain't the NDP in their opinion.  It's the new Conservative Party of Justin Trudeau.  Just don't call Justin "a Conservative."  Shh! He's pretending to be a Liberal.

nicky wrote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/12/01/22-minutes-trudeau-meghan-traino...

The Emperor's son truly has no clothes!

Is JT going to be a drag on Liberal chances in 2015 ?

Are you serious ?

As if maybe somehow they would be better off without him ?

NorthReport wrote:

Most read article at National Newswatch.

Makes one wonder, if not before, surely by now, what kind of calibre of politicians are the Liberals presenting for election to become ....

Liberal MP reprimanded for inappropriate behaviour before recent NDP harassment allegations

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/11/28/liberal-mp-reprimanded-for-inapp...

You want to talk about competence?

http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/news-story/5146774-mulcair-defends-silence-...

Trudeau agreed Wednesday that the women should not face "undue pressure" to participate in a confidential, third-party investigation into the alleged misconduct, as offered by Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons.

Nevertheless, he said he wants to give them a few days to reflect on the Speaker's offer before deciding how to proceed with his two suspended MPs, who've been left in limbo.

"It is our hope that the Speaker's process will be picked up but we are also looking at other alternatives for this," Trudeau said.

If the women continue to balk, Liberal insiders say one option would be to have a neutral third party investigate the allegations, using details from notes taken by a Liberal staffer during the whips' meetings with the alleged victims.

Trudeau acknowledged it would not be "ideal" to proceed without the participation of the complainants. But so far, there's been no indication that they will.

Mulcair said he doesn't know if the women might take up the Speaker's offer because he hasn't spoken to them about it. 

This came out November 5th, November 19th and he is still not keeping up to date on the file? The following is from Nov. 26th.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/11/26/ndp_now_embraces_probe_of_...

Mulcair said he remains unclear on what exactly Scheer meant when he wrote about “external experts.”

“We’re still trying to figure out what that’s supposed to refer to,” Mulcair told reporters after the NDP’s weekly caucus meeting.

NDP whip Nycole Turmel wrote to Scheer Monday asking for more clarity.

But it took him a week to ask for more clarity? Moving on to your link from Nov. 28th.  

Since the two female NDP MPs have thus far refused to take part in an investigation initiated by the Speaker’s office, the Liberals are set to proceed with their own internal disciplinary inquiry.

It is understood that the party has whittled a list of lawyers down to two names, one of whom will be charged with conducting the investigation. The two NDP MPs are unlikely to testify in the Liberal inquiry, but the party says it has extensive notes taken during a meeting they attended with Ms. Foote and the NDP whip, Nycole Turmel.

The Liberals blame the NDP for dragging out the investigation process, allowing the Harper government a free pass on topics the Liberals think they are vulnerable such as Veterans Affairs funding and the income-splitting proposal.

The NDP has done nothing but complain to the media on this issue. They abdicated all responsibility leaving it completely up to the Liberals to act. While the NDP vacillated the Liberals have been setting up their own process. 

NorthReport wrote:

More Liberal sleeze. When will it ever end, eh!

All all Liberals cheats and liars, or is it just 99% of them?

Campaign worker says he received personal payment for work on Bertschi leadership bid

http://www.canada.com/news/Campaign+worker+says+received+personal+paymen...

Do you read anything besides the headlines?

Bertschi is currently appealing the Liberal Party of Canada’s decision to revoke his eligibility to seek the party nomination in the riding of Ottawa-Orléans, in part because of debts incurred during his bid for the party’s top job. With Bertschi blocked, Lt.-Gen. (ret’d) Andrew Leslie, an adviser to leader Justin Trudeau, is favoured to win the nomination vote at a meeting Saturday.

The Liberal Party’s Permanent Appeals Committee has yet to rule on Bertschi’s appeal.

I recall all the upset over the Liberals blocking him from running again. Seems the Liberals made the right choice.

Here let me help:

Quote:

A senior Liberal official said he couldn’t confirm that Mr. Andrews had faced previous allegations of misconduct “[but] I won’t deny it.”

The Liberal staffer has since come forward to lodge a complaint, which will form part of the party’s arm’s-length investigation into the affair by a lawyer or judge.

Liberal MP reprimanded for inappropriate behaviour before recent NDP harassment allegations

Zero tolerance for sexual harassment is obviously only of interest to Trudeau when the cat might get out of the bag.

How many nomination scandals have there now been for the Liberals under Justin's "open nomination" policy?

Trinity-Spadina, Ville Marie, Ottawa Orleans and counting?

Rokossovsky wrote:

Pondering wrote:

NorthReport wrote:

I hardly think Canadians want this gang of thugs replacing the Conservative government in the next election.

Police intervene after fight breaks out at meeting to nominate Andrew Leslie as Liberal MP candidate

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/12/07/police-break-up-noisy-scuffle-at...

Seems to me the green light committee did the right thing in rejecting this candidate. Trudeau seems to be cleaning up the party at every opportunity. I wish there were few of them but every new leader has to get rid of the deadwood and now is the time to do it.

Why? Because he broke up the fight?

They seem to be getting rid of the long time grass roots party organizers and replacing them with patricians with star power.

Ottawa lawyer David Bertschi, showed up with some angry supporters to complain that the party had acted undemocratically last month in disqualifying him from seeking the nomination....

Bertschi had initially been given the “green light” — approval to seek the nomination — by a committee that screens potential candidates. But last month, the Liberals’ national campaign co-chairs, Katie Telford and Dan Gagnier, wrote to Bertschi to inform him the approval had been rescinded.

Telford and Gagnier said Bertschi hadn’t complied with a plan to pay down outstanding debts from his 2013 bid for the Liberal leadership.

There was also a question about whether he had properly informed the green-light committee about a defamation action he had launched against a U.S.-based gossip website. At Saturday’s meeting, a letter from the party was read aloud to those gathered to explain the need for all potential candidates to go through background checks by the green-light committee.....

He sounds like a bitter loser to me. I'm curious to know what the deflamation lawsuit was about. Seems he had a skeleton in his closet.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/News/canada/Campaign+worker+says+received+p...

In a legal dispute between two potential federal Liberal candidates, a former adviser to Ottawa lawyer David Bertschi’s 2013 leadership campaign claims he received a salary payment via a cheque from Bertschi’s personal funds.

The campaign’s former Quebec liaison, Colin Standish, also says in court documents that he received another payment for his work with a money order sent by Bertschi’s law firm after he was fired from his part-time job with the campaign Bertschi For Canada.

After Ford I'm tired of the claim that what a politician does in their private life doesn't matter. It matters. Politician is not a regular job and it isn't about the potential for blackmail either. I want people of good character as representatives and lawmakers.

Sound like quite a few "strategic voters" were quite miffed that their man was replaced with a person who was not fluent in French, among other things.

Quote:

Bertschi told The Huffington Post Canada Monday that his debt had been substantially reduced – suggesting that he had raised $100,000 during six months – and was on track to eliminate the last third by next May. That was a timeline, he said, he had discussed with the green-light committee.

“Every candidate was conditionally approved on having a repayment schedule that was reasonable, and that could be met, and we more than complied,” Bertschi said.

He wrote to party on Nov. 8 asking to discuss what he describes as inaccuracies in the content of the letter, but said he has not heard back from the party. “I still have six months to go [to complete the repayment plan], I’m ahead of schedule.”

David Bertschi Supporters Say Liberals' 'Backroom Politics' Behind Nomination

Sounds to me like if they had really wanted to keep Bertschi, they could have given him a pass, but they had a better idea.

Rokossovsky wrote:

There we differ. What Ford did in his private life was completely of no interest to me, except in that his illegal and irresponsible crack use opened up the first magistrate of the city of Toronto to possible extortion and bribery.....

And regardless, that has nothing to do with why the Liberal Party barred Bertschi from running. They barred him allegedly because he had not taken care of his Liberal leadership campaign debt to a "sufficient" level for their liking, and that sounds like a judgement call, not a hard and fast rule.

When I take out a bank loan I have to make each payment on time, not just say I am "on track" for paying it by the end of the loan period. You also skipped the failure to report the deflamation lawsuit.

What politicians do in their private life does concern me when it reflects on their decision-making ability and their moral fiber. Politician is not a 9 to 5 job. There should not be photos of the mayor of Toronto pissing in the bushes or drunkenly ranting about anything.

If Andrews and Pacetti would break their marital vows so casually why should I have any confidence in their word or judgement?

I'd rather be represented by a kind and honest night cleaner with no political experience.

nicky wrote:

This excuse might fly if this were the first time Justin's handlers have kneecapped someone for a nomination they wanted to hand to a friend.

Significantly most of those who dared oppose Justin for the leadership have been shouldered out of nominations: Bertuxhi, Takach, Coyne, Hall-Findlay. Not to mention Innes  (and Vaughn's other rivals in Spadina), Freeland's rivals, Amyot in Ville Marie, as well as hopefuls in Vancouver Granville, Surrey something, etc etc.

Pondering, you would do well to heed the words of that great philospopher Auric Goldfinger."Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

There are a lot of nomination battles because the Liberals have such a small caucus but I agree you have a point. Their are questionable aspects to the nomination battles and I am giving Trudeau a large benefit of the doubt because I am biased in his favor. It doesn't concern me overmuch because I do think having the right candidates is important and so far I am happy with their caliber.

Michael Moriarity wrote:

Pondering wrote:

There are a lot of nomination battles because the Liberals have such a small caucus but I agree you have a point. Their are questionable aspects to the nomination battles and I am giving Trudeau a large benefit of the doubt because I am biased in his favor. It doesn't concern me overmuch because I do think having the right candidates is important and so far I am happy with their caliber.

So, as long as you like the results, you don't really care whether the process that produced those results was democratic. How charming.

We are talking about someone who thinks that voting on non-binding motions in parliament are an affront to democracy.