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just so we're clear...
anyone who dares to write anything critical of the ndp or its members are, in your words, the 'source of constant ndp bashing.'
i'm with the program now. the ndp and its elected members are above criticism. anything critical written about other parties is absolutely true. in the event anything critical is written about the ndp or its elected members, then it shouldn't ever be believed, because the source of that material is part of some shadowy right-wing media conspiracy to keep us down.
everything is their fault and we've never done anything wrong before in our lives. why are they so mean to us?
There are generally two reasons that messengers get shot. The less frequent follows from the actual message. More commonly the people on the receiving end just don't like the mode of delivery.
You might want to give your own butt a sniff.
Sunday... That wasn't what I was getting at. What I was saying that if anything, the central party isn't what has won that seat for Mr. Bisson time after time. Does that mean that Central party didn't help? No. But does that mean they are the reason why he won? No. My point is that if Mr. Bisson had been left to solely depend on Central Office for all of the resources that he needed, he wouldn't have had the success that he's had over time. He had to build up that riding in order to be competitive under those circumstances, and I believe we can all agree on that.
QUEEN'S PARK, Feb. 6 /CNW/ - Today, New Democrat Peter Kormos declared his support for Andrea Horwath in her bid for the leadership of the Ontario New Democratic Party.
"Andrea Horwath is experienced, smart, and hardworking. Ms. Horwath is committed to building NDP support across the province," Kormos stated. "She has good political instincts. People like her and trust her. Andrea is the leader we need to take the NDP into the next decade."
Kormos was first elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1988 and is currently the NDP justice critic, labour critic and House Leader.
The NDP leadership convention will take place in Hamilton during the weekend of March 6, 2009.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2009/06/c6326.htmlOntario NDP leadership candidates met for a debate yesterday at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
By: Julia Le
February 6, 2009 08:52 AM - Three of the four candidates vying for the leadership of Ontario's New Democratic Party debated the best ways to produce and save energy, how to manage the rising cost of university and college tuitions and how to best provide post-secondary school funding last night in Mississauga.
Peter Tabuns, Andrea Howarth and Gilles Bisson are all hoping to replace long-time Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton when he steps aside as NDP leader next month. They were at the University of Toronto Mississauga's Kaneff Centre last night for an open debate.
Just a handful of students turned out to see and hear the candidates duke it out in a debate that was hosted by the NDP student group at UTM. Instead, they heard similar viewpoints.
http://www.mississauganews.com/article/23796
SOMEONE is polling about the ONDP leadership! I got a "robocall" last night that asked me who i was going to vote for as my first preference - Press 1 for Gilles Bisson, 2 for Peter Tabuns etc...etc...
Interesting!
I got the same call. No indication who it was for.
Anybody else?
There were just three questions.
Who for no. 1
Who for no. 2
What is most important, economy or environment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This just in:
Kormos endorses Horwath"
And I wouln't think you could accuse P.Kormos of "sounding the same."
Northwesternlad, Gilles works hard in his riding, no doubt, but I do find it a little ironic that someone who has benefited from the party's practice of targeting is suddenly such a critic. I think leadership candidates that want to see money spread all over should put their money where their mouth is and reject all of the extra resources they get in campaigns - money that's reditributed from other ridings.
On another note, this is embarassing:
As we all await the white smoke to emerge from Copps Coliseum next month, word comes that Peter Tabuns (who played Ross Perot's veep candidate Vice Admiral James Stockdale - "Who am I? Why am I here?" - in a past life) has a bit of trouble from the most important element within the Ontario NDP...
"Tabuns noted that fellow New Democrat MPPs Peter Kormos and Gilles Bisson did not have executive assistants and the union did not file grievances in those cases. "
For those of you who don't know much about politics, in opposition, an EA is an MP's most senior staffer - the one who is responsible for organizing the office, managing the other staff, providing the member with political advice and doing most other tasks on behalf of the boss.
It turns out that a third of the NDP provincial caucus has nobody doing that job - including two of the four leadership candidates. But so there is no confusion, this decision - to leave their offices rudderless - has nothing, I repeat nothing, to do with the union representing EAs.
Sorry, but gotta take issue with this idea that somehow Mr. Bisson has benefited from the current system. If the funding formula were at the 60/40 split that he has been running on, he would have been so much better off. The fact is his has run full campaigns with the vast majority of the money fundraised in his own riding. That's due to his and his team's hard work. Did they get some money from the central party??? probably, but it was hardly what made or broke his campaigns.
That sounds like a leadership campaiignThe fact that Kormos does not wear a Jacket in the legislature is reason for me to applaud him.
If the Jacket means that much to you, there are lots of Liberals, Conservative and New Democrats that wear them.
Mike Harris wore a Jacket. Good EH!
All candidates are given access to the list of party members and their contact info. You don't need any special "keys to the NDP kingdom" for that.
Try harder.
As has been noted repeatedly, Gilles Bisson has been a consistent trench warrior willing to lend assistance to other ridings out of all proportion to other MPPs. You could not have picked a more inappropriate target for your criticism. Given the level of membership sales he has managed, you might want to consider the possibility that his campaigns have been net contributors to others, not a drain.
Actually, anybody who knows how these things work knows that the EA is the one job function an opposition MPP could most readily do without, at least if they possess any admin tools at all, and many consituency offices are badly understaffed because their staffing allocation does not account for their relatively heavy case load or extensive geography. Reallocating very limited resources to constituencies and opening their own damned mail is a decision I wish more MPPs would make.
Edited to replace "associations" with "offices"
Peter3, the only that exasperates me about you is the fact I'd like to shorten your handle when I address you, but it would be totally rude to lump you in with P3s.
In this case, I think you've misunderstood me. I'm certainly not the messenger here. A dues-paying member of CEP Local 87-M was the messenger I was referring to.
It's easy to complain about media bias. It's also lazy, since it basically suggests the subjects of allegedly-biased coverage are somehow passive victims. Everyone loves it when the Star or the Globe rip on McGuinty, but when the Sun rips on one of our own, we all get shirty.
For the record, the Sun is a conservative paper, and that's okay. But let's not confuse the editorial stance of the editorial page and the columnists with the very hard work the reporters do, under very difficult circumstances.
As for butt-sniffing, I'm smart enough to know that what emanates from there will never be confused with freshly-baked cinnamon rolls.
I think you're smart enough to that too, but I don't think everyone is as smart as you."Has it never occurred to you that certain names will open certain doors both metaphorically and through influence. Why else would people want endorsements."
If you're trying to imply that there is something corrupt going on and that some candidates are getting access to lists of party members and others are not. Please provide some evidence instead of spreading totally baseless innuendo.
The main reason people want endorsements is because they are influential on people. A lot of party members may not know that much about the candidates and they will pay attention to the views of people whose opinions they respect. When Ed Broadbent endorsed Jack layton for federal NDP leader, it was a coup because a lot of people in the party respect Broadbent and if he backs someone - it will make people look at that person in a different light. Beleive me, Layton didn't seek Broadbent's endorsement because Broadbent was going to slip him lists of party members that no one else would have access to.
I know his supporters claim he's signed up a ton of new members but I haven't seen any official sources produce the numbers. His donor list is available and of the 69 donors listed, 34 aren't people they're businessmen and lobbyists (Tory lobbyists like Len Domino and Chris Hodgson).
I actually think Gilles is a solid candidate - vastly prefer him to Tabuns - but I think you're overselling him.
At this point what should be apparent that it's not just who we believe has no baggage or entanglements, but who the non NDP voter believes has nothing to come back and haunt them. The economy is a shambles and thus the next Provincial election will be our most important in decades. We need a leader who will win-over soft Liberals and soft Conservatives and bring them in not just as a vote but as members.
A leader with anything the press or opposition can dig up on them will never be Premier. Any whiff of scandal especially when it appears to demonstrate a hypocritical approach to any of the bulwarks of NDP philosophy will mean certain defeat in the next Provincial election.
I believe Michael has not had any labour or union problems.
Okay Sunday, if you want to doubt Mr. Bisson's membership numbers, do so at your own peril. The party is the only body with the precise numbers, and each of the campaigns have brand new membership lists. If you honestly want us to believe all of the campaigns, Mr. Bisson's include, haven't kept record of who they signed up, when they signed them up, how they signed them up and haven't verified that on the new lists they received from provincial office, then I would humbly and respectfully suggest that you are underselling and underestimating Mr. Bisson in this race.