Harper must be flipping out about this, and I bet he wished Clement had never opened his mouth on this. 
This should be another shot in the arm for the NDP.
Calls erupt for Clement's resignation
Even a longtime Conservative party supporter is accusing Clement of treating Sudbury like a "leper colony" for comments he made to The Sudbury Star about the future of Inco Ltd. had Companhia Vale do Rio Doce not purchased it in 2006.
And the fake religious analogy by Clement is sickening FFS. Moreover it indicates he is speaking to the "religious" CPC base, while being petty and slithering.
There's not much point in MP's calling for the resignation of any Harper minister. Harper has shown more than any other Prime Minister that he will absolutely, under no circumstances allow or tolerate anyone asking him to make a minister resign. He has proven that over and over again that he will not bend - we saw this last month with Lisa Raitt and before that with Gerry Ritz who was re-appointed to Agriculture despite the listeriosis jokes.
The principled call can still go out, irrespective of what Harper does and does not do.
And the momentum begins to build for Clement's resignation, as this stoy begins to gather legs. Just wait until Layton enters the frey at the end of the week.
Clement under fire for 'Valley of Death' comment about Sudbury
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Clement+under+fire+Valley+Death+com...
why the end of the week and not now?
-
And the momentum begins to build for Clement's resignation, as this stoy begins to gather legs. Just wait until Layton enters the frey at the end of the week.
Clement under fire for 'Valley of Death' comment about Sudbury
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Clement+under+fire+Valley+Death+com...
The story doesn't even mention the word resignation from what I can tell.
And as some of the media analysts pointed out last month, it is always a mistake to call for a minister's resignation because that just motivates Harper even more to keep the minister in place. He will not allow a minister to be pressured into resigning.
Harper also has the benefit right now in that it is summer and most people other than those in Sudbury, are not paying much attention to this story. It would be better if it had happened during an election campaign because it would be more damaging.
If Harper wants to let the NDP whip Northern Ontario into a froth at the risk of being completely uncompetitive there in the next election, let him let out his own rope. If he wants to give the NDP the chance to turn this into province-wide stand up for Ontario cry, let him twist. I doubt Harper will be so foolish. He'll see how big this stories' legs are (and there is NOTHING in the news in the summer), before making any move. The ultimate story killer could be the byelection call. I expect Harper to line up the byelections with a possible Fall confidence vote. I expect the writ near the rise of the Fall sessions (maybe a few days/week before).
This story is not going away any time soon.
Clement's takeover hangover
This is not the first time Mr. Clement has come under fire for allowing foreign companies to renege on commitments made under the Investment Canada Act. Swiss-based Xstrata cut nearly 700 jobs in Sudbury in February after making a commitment to Ottawa in 2006 not to lay off workers for three years. Mr. Clement initially claimed to have garnered $290-million in "new money" spending commitments from Xstrata, but the company had already outlined plans to spend the cash in Sudbury in its annual report.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-a...
Interesting that Clement, is also in the hot seat now for denying tourism funding in Montreal, so anyone doing a search of his words will also find this out.
The small business community will not be happey in either jurisdiction.
Wow, if Clement's words are spilling over into PSM opinions, it is having outside the Sudbury riding and is impacting into his own eh!
"Come here, and tell that to our face, Tony Clement!"
Clement's comments amount to meddling in strike
Minister more concerned about Brazilian company than Canadian workers
http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=40720
As I suspected yesterday, this story is not getting much coverage in the mainstream news media. Watching CBC and CTV earlier today Tony Clement was only mentioned in connection with the denial of funding to the gay arts festival. The Sudbury story is not getting much attention.
Translation, Canwest Global is refusing to report on it.
Debater: "...it is always a mistake to call for a minister's resignation because that just motivates Harper even more to keep the minister in place. He will not allow a minister to be pressured into resigning..."
Maxime Bernier comes to mind.
Some recent Local Parry Sound - Muskoka letters re: Clement. (Note: there are 4 Metroland North Weeklies in PS-M -they share resources and coverage (Parry Sound Northstar, The Bracebridge Examiner / Gravenhurst Banner and the Huntsville Forester.) For convenience sake some of these articles are repeated in the others while some are not (often they are). The editorial boards are different in Parry sound and Huntsville while the Gavenhurst/Bracebrige share the same editorial staff. Finally, there is also Muskoka Today the only independent newspaper in the district. (biweekly) There is much coverage there as well, but as it's in PDF form online, it's a little harder to search through (though worth it). There are a few others, but those are the biggies.
From Sara Hall Ps-M NDP Riding president on the Xstrata protest in Huntsville "Government puts corporation before average Canadian worker"
CAW Local President Dwight Harper "Foreign investors must be made to live up to their commitments",
"Clement's outrage is misplaced" - Dave Ungar
"Parry Sound-Muskoka needs to reconsider its choice for MP" - Ryan Minor
Bernier's resignation was an exception to the rule - Harper expected Bernier to resign only because he had mislaid government documents. Had he not done so, he would not have resigned.
Tony Clement won with a landslide in Parry Sound Muskoka.... Unless the papers are receiving thousands upon thousands of letters from outraged individuals... Tony Cement hold on the riding will be solid.
I think you are missing the point here madmax.
Tony Clement needs to be driven out of the Northern Ridings as he is an embarrassment to the people he serves. He isn't doing that much better in Southern Ontario with his eradict behaviour. Considering the CPC and LPC have wanted to be rid of FIRA it is ironic that the NDP in Southern Ontario have forced him to act regarding US STEEL. He took his time in doing so, by fighting the USW and dismissing the actions of the NDP. Eventually, because what is regarded as the more prosperous operation, and newer facilitie in Nanticoke has virtually been idled with over 1,500 tossed on the street, that street just happens to be in Diane Finleys riding. Yes, she is in deep kaka as she has been pretty useless throughout the affair. However, these CPC Cabinet MPs need to save their butts and they are using elements of FIRA to do so.
Clearly Cement had previously cut a deal up North and sold the people in Sudbury down the river without a paddle. His actions are a disgrace. He clearly isn't competent on the file and lets his corporate friends call the shots for him, and obviously his outrageous statements regarding the viability of the operation should make the entire community come to their senses and drive out this useless pin prick from office.
However, while there appears to be more people seeing the light in Clements own riding, the ability to displace this goofball is a long way off. And the Television media should be picking up the story, but somehow the North is treated like Rodney Dangerfield. I can see why most of it went orange last election if this is how government responds. However the media has determined that the story to be played is regarding the funding controversies of gay events. The more the media focuses on this, the less likely Tony Clement will be seriously challenged in his home riding.
The media should be putting as much coverage into his comments in the North, they are also offensive and offend a large audience. This would bleed into his own riding and have a greater effect.
In the meantime those in the North need to continue putting on the pressure.
Tony Clement won with a landslide in Parry Sound Muskoka.... Unless the papers are receiving thousands upon thousands of letters from outraged individuals... Tony Cement hold on the riding will be solid.
True - the only person that could really challenge him would be Andy Mitchell, former Liberal MP for the riding, and he didn't run again after losing to Clement by only 25 votes in 2006.
Clement knew he couldn't win in the GTA (after losing to Colleen Beaumier in Brampton in 2004) and that's why he moved up North and parachuted himself into that seat. The riding is probably stuck with him now.
The media treats Northern Ontario like a total leper. They are completely ignored in the national press. In fact, the national press is horribly biased against rural Canada in general.
Maybe they think that because 80% of Canada's population is "urban," they can ignore the North. But under the definitions that Stats Can uses of "urban," Sudbury is urban, so is Sault-Sainte-Marie, so is every little town and city that constitutes the North and the rest of rural Canada. Our national media sucks.
Never underestimate Tony Clement's ability to lose elections...and to keep on running.
Yes, it's true Clement lost a number of elections in a row a few years ago - his provincial seat, then the Conservative leadership, then his attempt to win in Brampton against Colleen Beaumier. You'd think he would have gotten the message he wasn't wanted. But then he moved himself up to Parry Sound-Muskoka and managed to squeak into Parliament by winning by 25 votes over Andy Mitchell.
I would like to see him out in the next election, but I'm not counting on it since he increased his margin of victory last time when Mitchell didn't run again.
Tony Clement professes to be an advocate for Northern Ontario. As the federal minister of industry and a cabinet minister, he is in a position to do good in our region. It is time to put his record under the microscope.The following is a short list of his legacy in the north.
• He was part of the Ontario government that cancelled the Hwy. 69 expansion project in 1996, including the environmental assessment, putting us years behind.
• He is part of the government that decided that FedNor is not important enough to have a dedicated minister of state. Previous governments had such a minister.
• He turned down federal support for Sudbury’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), a private/public venture that has so far attracted over $20-million of investment and a vital component in Sudbury’s mining cluster.
• He approved federal funding for a mining research centre in Toronto to the outrage of the entire city of greater Sudbury.
• He allowed Xstrata to break its agreement not to lay off employees in Sudbury for three years, claiming that he obtained new promises from the company (when in fact the company had already committed to those items).
• He refused to disclose the contents of Vale Inco and Xstrata’s agreements with the federal government, claiming that these agreements cannot legally be disclosed (he failed to read the exceptions in subsection 36(4) of the Investment Canada Act).
• He engaged in partisan bickering with the Ontario government. For example, released a nonsense letter to the editor in Sudbury stating that Minister Bartolucci did not have contact with Fed
This was written about in PSM, before his latest deeds.
Then there is also comments like this floating about:
I was shocked when I heard that the federal Conservative government is spending $640,000 a week for the next year for the G8 Summit.Now Tony Clement is announcing all the stimulus money being spent in Muskoka (as long as the town or district come up with one-third of the costs). Mr. Clement needs to be reminded that the Conservative government is a minority government that needed support from other parties to allow this money to be spent in the first place.
Second of all, it is not Tony Clement’s money or the Conservative government’s money or the Conservative party’s money that is being spent here, it is our money. In fact, it is not even our money since the government has to borrow it from other countries since we are in a deficit situation now. That one-third that the local government has to come up with is from the taxpayers of Muskoka.
Tony Clement won with a landslide in Parry Sound Muskoka.... Unless the papers are receiving thousands upon thousands of letters from outraged individuals... Tony Cement hold on the riding will be solid.
True - the only person that could really challenge him would be Andy Mitchell, former Liberal MP for the riding, and he didn't run again after losing to Clement by only 25 votes in 2006.
Clement knew he couldn't win in the GTA (after losing to Colleen Beaumier in Brampton in 2004) and that's why he moved up North and parachuted himself into that seat. The riding is probably stuck with him now.
Hold on to your hats...... Clement is NOT made of Teflon. I suggest all "wait and see", you might be suprised at what's happening in Parry Sound - Muskoka, he won last election based on 3 factors. 1. "Bell-weather riding" 2. Weak Liberal Candidate/ An NDP Candidate that could only run PT (due to her outstanding/overwhelming work for Legal Aid) 3. Harper "gave him" the G8.
Indeed, "Blackjack" Tony won by 21 (which turned out to be 28 votes on recount) after he was parachuted in first election.
Now the Difference: 1. An Orange North
2. A Strong opposition candidate and well organized campagin.
3. All the "work" he's done as pointed out by remind. (Throw in Nortel/RIM in that list.)
4. The thread name says it all.
5 General opinion Across Canada
6. (Wild Card) So-Called Greens (who were a factor in the riding). 6a. Many natural progressive might finally have figured out what in fact they are voting for. Mr. Clement might not see a vote split one assumes he's hoping for (and this might very well also apply to the Liberals.)
7. (Wild Card) election timing.
Stay Tuned....
P.S Too bad this weeks Bracebridge Examiner Cartoon isn't available online. (He pulled a Harper and missed a photo op, instead he was out eating ice cream DOWN THE STREET) 
The NDP candidate run 3 times and has held a base of roughly 11.8% in each election. Regardless of the goodworks, there has been neither forward nor backwards movement of the NDP in PSM. The Green Party may be at similar numbers or they may fall off as the parked votes go back to Team Red. Regardless, not enough vote switching for change under any circumstances. I wouldn't say the Green Party were any "factor" in the riding, other then perhaps people choose to park their votes with the GPs rather then the NDP.
Therefore, unless the NDP is interested in spending a little more then $15,000 and organizing a strong riding association with lots of volunteers who believe the NDP can knock off Tony Clement, then that action will have to fall upon the Red Team, who lost a shitload of ground last time out.
As for Tony Not being made of Teflon.... he is testing the waters as he offers himself up as a BONEHEAD as an answer to his recent handling of Northern Issues. Yeah.. hes a bonehead..no.. he is a Cement Head. Cement Head Tony Clement.
Madmax.......
All I can say is given, A: vetting process from NDP Before "official nominations" (a Good thing BTW) and B: The default "option" of voting Lib Red" as a way to stop "the conservatives" is BS & more and more people know it. Just wait. things are happening.
Exhibit A:
Your Parry Sound-Muskoka NDP Riding Association Executive
Wait and see.
P.S Layton was on MSNBC defending Canadian heathcare......link
Sudbury Coverage of yesterdays rally: LINK
"It was a rally to show support for both the CAW and United Steelworkers unions in Greater Sudbury on Friday, but the most popular face at the rally was that of federal Conservative industry minister Tony Clement.
In an interview Friday morning, Clement, making predictions on the rally, said, “I'm going to go out on a limb and say my name is going to come up.”
The federal minister was right.
“Clement said this morning that he had a feeling his name would come up at this rally,” NDP leader Jack Layton said, at the July 24 rally. “I see his mug everywhere here. Then he said there is no place for a federal cabinet minister to get involved in a strike situation and then he tried to give me some advice, saying that (I) shouldn't be getting involved either. Well, I'll tell you, I'm proud to be involved and I'm here to support the workers.”
Pictures of his face, crossed out with a red “x,” were plastered on signs across the rally.
One sign at the rally stated, “Screw your fellow Canadian, vote Conservative.”
Another had Clement's crossed-out face and underneath it stated, “Our country, our resources.”
A similar sign with his face stated, “He sold us out.”
......
“It's good to be here,” Layton said. “Except, I wish we were here under better circumstances. When you have a representative of the government of Canada insulting the people of the north, it's not a good day. We say it's time for him to take it back and say he's sorry to the people of northern Ontario.”
.....
Layton had some more words for Clement.
“He's now saying (his “valley of death” comment) was a boneheaded remark, that's the first time I've agreed with him in months. I'll tell you what was boneheaded... These boneheaded conservatives signed an agreement that allowed companies to come in and do damage to this part of the country and do damage to this community.”
Gerard said earlier, “I think 'boneheaded' is a kind thing to say. I think he owes the community an apology, I think he owes the workers an apology.”
Layton called on all Canadians to use Sudbury as an example.
“I say to all Canadians, 'pay attention to what is happening in Sudbury,'” Layton said. “We've seen time and time again, a little too often, these foreign-multinationals some in with permission from the government, buy up Canadian companies and resources and then begin to throw people out of work. They did it with the softwood industry, you can go to any number of mills where people have been thrown out of work, having worked there their whole lives.”
Video Coverage: LINK
Then he said there is no place for a federal cabinet minister to get involved in a strike situation and then he tried to give me some advice, saying that (I) shouldn't be getting involved either.
This has got to be hypocrisy at its finest. Clement goes well beyond the self-designation of "bonehead".
That Clement phone interview sounds like it would make a great radio ad for the next election.
My god this marathon strike is still going. Our Tory stooges in Ottawa should be as progressive as Theodore Roosevelt was in 1902 when he intervened in the United Mine Workers Strike after those workers were out for just six months. These useless bastards need cleaning out of Ottawa as an exercise in democracy.
[url=http://ontariondp.com/en/“get-off-the-fence”-horwath-to-mcguinty-on-... off the fence!”: Horwath to McGuinty on Vale Inco[/url]
QUEEN’S PARK – NDP Leader Andrea Horwath today slammed the McGuinty Liberals’ deafening silence on the continuing Vale Inco labour dispute.Horwath’s call came on the heels of her participation at yesterday’s rally in Sudbury, where more than 5,000 women, men and children gathered to demonstrate for a fair deal for Vale Inco workers.
“Vale Inco is making billions of dollars from Ontario’s natural resources. Yet it is trying to squeeze more profits at the expense of Sudbury families,” Horwath said during today’s Question Period.
“When will the McGuinty government get off the fence and stand in solidarity with Vale Inco workers and their families?” she asked.
Horwath pointed to the deafening silence from the McGuinty government – including Sudbury Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci – over the plight of the striking workers, who have now been off the job for eight months.
EIGHT MONTHS? Where's Pinocchio and his Bay Street hirelings on this?
