Iggy quietly against NDP/Bloc deal?

Interesting theory...

John Ivison: Coalition success may ride on Ignatieff, and he isn't game
November 30, 2008, 10:34 PM

Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff is unlikely to support the coalition deal being negotiated by lame duck leader Stéphane Dion - a decision that would doom the opposition parties attempt to bring down the government next week in a vote of no-confidence in the House of Commons.

A person close to Mr. Ignatieff said that any deal with the Bloc Québécois and NDP struck by Mr. Dion would be a “poison chalice” for the next leader. He said that Mr. Ignatieff has the support of more than 50 of the 77 Liberal MPs, so the success or failure of a coalition proposition will depend on how the leadership candidate views any deal.

Although Mr. Ignatieff has publicly maintained the official Liberal line that the government should fall over its handling of the economy, his supporters say any coalition deal with the left-wing NDP and separatist Bloc is fraught with risk. It would only take nine Liberals to be absent from the House next Monday for the government to survive and the source said he fully expects a number of no-shows.

Liberal attempts to reach a deal with the NDP face a number of hurdles, not least of which is the New Democrats’ insistence on a senior economic portfolio such as industry for leader Jack Layton. The Liberals are equally determined that those economic jobs should be held exclusively by them. But one senior Grit confided that the internal leadership dynamic creates even bigger obstacles to an agreement than negotiations with the New Democrats.

The source in the Ignatieff camp said Mr. Dion is making all the running on coalition talks with the NDP and the Bloc Québécois, and is not consulting with leadership candidates, Mr. Ignatieff, Bob Rae or Dominic LeBlanc.

“Dion is like Frankenstein’s monster - he’s on the slab and just had a jolt of life injected into him. He’s going full tilt ahead with this coalition but his caucus isn’t going with him,” the source said.

Mr. Ignatieff’s supporters are aware that a coalition would be shaky, and probably short-lived. The Conservatives opened their war-room yesterday, just in case the country is plunged into an election next week, and are already preparing to hammer the Liberals for striking a deal with the sovereigntist Bloc.

“Ignatieff knows he will probably be leader next May, so why not do it cleanly and properly? What’s in it for him to be part of this power grab?” asked one Conservative, who said he was also hearing from sources that Mr. Ignatieff does not want to be part of any deal.

Despite the increased likelihood that the government will survive the confidence vote, the coming week is still likely to be full of high drama.

Yesterday, the government continued its attempts to remove the irritants that provoked the crisis. The proposed ban on strikes for the public service was ditched, following the remarkable u-turn on the public funding of political parties issue on Saturday. Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, said yesterday that he will bring down a Budget on January 27, although he stopped short of promising the kind of stimulus package the opposition parties have been demanding.

Scott Brison, the Liberal finance critic, said that the government’s moves mean nothing. “We can’t trust anything this government says anymore. We have no faith in this Prime Minister,” he said.

The Conservatives hope that the focus of media coverage will now shift to the potential coalition partners and what the some Tories have been calling their “coup d’état”. The allegation that NDP leader Jack Layton and the Blco Québécois’ Gilles Duceppe held conversations about a coalition long before the current crisis offered the Conservatives the chance to hit back after days of being pounded over the political funding issue. They charged that the confidence vote is not about the handling of the economy or the government’s fall update, “[It] is merely a trigger to execute a long-standing secret deal between the NDP and the Quebec separatists.”

The Conservatives have alleged that the moves by the opposition parties to offer themselves up to the Governor-General as a viable alternative, should the government fall, are undemocratic. However, the Liberals retaliated by saying that Mr. Harper, Mr. Layton and Mr. Duceppe presented precisely the same proposal to former Governor-General, Adrienne Clarkson, in 2005.

The only certainty amidst the drama is that Stephen Harper has been wounded by his miscalculation. His reputation for strategic brilliance is in tatters and many Conservatives have started speculating about leadership challenges. An unoffical website called Conservatives for Jim Prentice sprung up yesterday, pointing out that Mr. Prentice has invited his opposition critics to join him at the U.N.’s global climate-change talks taking place next week in Poland. “If the government had acted more like this, while still advancing the Conservative agenda in a less agressive way, we might not be staring into the abyss,” wrote the anonymous supporter of the Environment Minister.

NDP and Bloc planning to overthrow the Government for WEEKS

CTV has all the details, including audio clips from an NDP conference call on Saturday, where Layton admits that this plan to take down the Government has been in the works not for the last three days, BUT EVER SINCE THE ELECTION SIX WEEKS AGO.

That's right... the Socialists and the Bloc have been secretly planning all along to rob Canadians of their duly elected Government. They had no intention of ever letting Mr. Harper's Conservatives govern... even after 38% of voters chose him to be their Prime Minister.

Jack and Gilles, this is Canada... not Zimbabwe. Here, we let the winner of an election govern the country. In Zimbabwe... well, guys like Robert Mugabe conspire to make sure that the people's choice for leader doesn't get a chance to run the country.

A disgusting thought

Gilles Duceppe, the man who's devoted his life to destroying this country, sitting on the Government side of the House.

You can thank Stephane Dion and Jack Layton for that. (and, ironicly, Jean Chretien, who helped broker this deal... so much for being a staunch Federalist)

Dion on the NDP: "No coalition... PERIOD"

"We cannot have a coalition with a Party that has a platform that would be damaging for the economy. PERIOD." - Stephane Dion, Sept. 24, 2008

Dion was forced to make that statement, in part, due to questions about "Uniting the left" as proposed by the Guelph Liberal candidate, now Member of Parliament, Frank Valeriote: (you'll notice that Frank didn't advocate working with the Separatists back then... interesting how times have changed, eh?)

h/t once again to Janke

CTV: "Experts doubtful a Liberal-NDP coalition would work"

Some experts are thinking all this could lead to a Harper majority...

Experts doubtful a Liberal-NDP coalition would work
Updated Fri. Nov. 28 2008 3:42 PM ET
Parminder Parmar, CTV.ca News Staff

As talk of a potential coalition government swirls through the halls of parliament, some experts in Canadian political history say the reality is it will likely never come to fruition.

There's "not a chance" that the Liberals and NDP will be able to convince Governor General Michaëlle Jean they'll be able to form a working coalition, says Barry Cooper, a political science professor at the University of Calgary.

Cooper, the author, editor, or translator of 27 books and dozens of academic papers, says the NDP and Liberals are just too far apart on issues for their MPs to agree on a working alignment.

Cooper says it doesn't matter that party elders are behind the coalition talk. CTV News reported Friday that former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent were discussing a possible coalition government, with the support of the Bloc outside cabinet.

If they do come up with a deal and the MPs for their respective parties agree to the terms, they could defeat the government as soon as Monday when the Tory economic update comes up for a confidence vote.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper would then have to go to the governor general to dissolve Parliament and call an election. But the governor general may also decide to hand power to the leader of one of the other parties, if she believes he or she can hold together a coalition.

That's what happened in 1926 during the so-called King-Byng Affair. That's when Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King went to the Governor General Lord Byng of Vimy, asking for an election call, but was turned down. Instead, Byng asked Conservative Arthur Meighen to end a parliamentary stalemate.

Cooper says he doubts that would happen this time.

"The Governor General has to be convinced that this coalition is real," he said, noting the party's MPs won't necessarily listen to Broadbent or Chretien.

"If she thinks it's doable she is in deep doo doo."

Cooper says that even if the governor general granted the opposition parties' request to form some type of coalition government, they just wouldn't be able to function effectively.

"The consequences would be catastrophic," he said. "They will be defeated right away," he said.

The governor general would likely shoot down the idea well before that point, says Steve Patten, a political science professor at the University of Alberta.

"The hurdles to forming a coalition government are absolutely massive," he said, noting that the fact that the Liberals are in the middle of a leadership race doesn't help matters.

"Who would be the prime minister," he asked, adding, "What kind of policy agenda will there be?"

But while Cooper is all but certain that a coalition government won't happen, Patten isn't so sure.

"My gut reaction would be similar to his (Cooper's). However, sometimes, the political parties in Ottawa get themselves into a situation where they can actually create a momentum that is hard to push back," he said.

"It's possible that they (MPs) are all saying we'll defeat the government. But they don't want to force an election and so they will force themselves to make a coalition work."

Cooper said even if that were to happen, the new government would, like Meighen, have an extremely short tenure. King was voted back into office in the next election.

"(The new coalition) will be defeated right away," Cooper said.

"Instead of Mr. King, it will be Mr. Harper who has a majority."

Welcome to the "USSR"

"The Union of Separatists and Socialists against the Right"
Can't take credit for that one, but welcome to reality.

In a move unprecidented in Canadian history, the Opposition plans on taking over the Government, and ousting our democraticly elected Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

Canadians voted for him to be the steady hand at the wheel in these uncertain economic times... now the sore losers are planning to wrest the wheel out of his hands while the car is in motion.

Problem is, when you do that, you most often end up in the ditch.

ALERT: "Prime Minister Dion"

The Opposition has announced they are going ahead with a coup...

Liberals propose non-confidence motion, governing coalition

The Liberal Opposition plans to introduce a motion in the House of Commons on Monday declaring non-confidence in the minority Conservative government and proposing a governing coalition.

The motion comes as emissaries from the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois hold talks about forming a new government should Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority fall.

But Harper could still avert the immediate defeat of his weeks-old government through procedural tactics.
The Liberal motion, which has the approval of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, reads:

"In light of the government's failure to recognize the seriousness of Canada's economic situation and its failure in particular to present any credible plan to stimulate the Canadian economy and to help workers and businesses in hard-pressed sectors such as manufacturing, the automotive industry and forestry, this House has lost confidence in this government and is of the opinion that a viable alternative government can be formed within the present House of Commons."

A source says the opposition parties have agreed that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion would lead the government for the next few months.

Proposed Liberal/NDP/Bloc Cabinet list leaked from secret unity talks

Prime Minister: Michael "Appointed by the Party Establishment" Ignatieff

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence: "Taliban" Jack Layton

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canadian Heritage and Official Languages: Gilles "The Seperatist" Duceppe

Minister of Finance, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Labour: Bob "Rae Days" Rae

Minister of Industry: Stephane "Green Shift" Dion

Minister of Public Safety: Irene "Big Brother is watching your laptop" Mathyssen

Minister of the Environment: Newly appointed Senator Elizabeth May

Reports of Liberals in disarray... all part of the plan?

My goodness, was this all part of the gambit?

Liberal MPs were locked in meetings Thursday night, struggling to determine what to do in the lead-up to a vote on the package on Monday that could topple the government. Their options are to fight another election mere weeks after the last one with a lame duck leader, or join forces with the New Democratic Party in an attempt to form a coalition government.

However, sources say that NDP Leader Jack Layton would not participate in a coalition government with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion as prime minister. Similarly, the Liberal caucus does not want to fight an election with Mr. Dion at the helm.

The Liberal Party's constitution gives Mr. Dion the authority to decide what his parliamentary caucus will do. Pressure was growing on Mr. Dion Thursday night to be open to coalition talks, with threats of a party coup if he resisted.

In fact, Liberal MPs and party strategists in their meetings Thursday night found themselves confronting a deeper turmoil.

The party almost certainly would refuse to go into another election under Mr. Dion, with the likely result that the mantle of interim leadership would fall on Michael Ignatieff, who has the most support from the parliamentary caucus and influential backroom Liberals.

But that would upset supporters of MPs Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc, who are campaigning for the Liberal leadership and who were outraged Thursday when key Ignatieff organizer Steven MacKinnon used the proposed Harper legislation to send out an e-mail fundraising appeal for Mr. Ignatieff under the heading “Save Canada's Democracy – Stephen Harper is trying to undermine Canada's fair and open political system. Take action now!”

The Liberals held an emergency caucus Thursday and Mr. Layton Thursday morning cancelled a trip to British Columbia as talk grew of defeating the government.

Okay, let's summariaze for everyone...

- Libs & NDP talking about governing together
- Libs say Bloc won't be part of any new government, but require their support to govern
- NDP says they won't work with Libs if Dion is PM
- Libs now talking of pre-empting their leadership race, which will only further split the Party
- Rae supporters already attacking Iggy's camp for fundraising e-mail sent out in the midst of crisis

I see four possible outcomes to all of this...

1) We get defeated, and we go to the polls
2) We get defeated, and the Liberal/NDP take over
3) The Liberals blink, and allow it to pass with severe reservation
4) Mr. Harper makes his next move checkmating the Opposition... he commits to putting together a package by the first or second week of January. All of a sudden, the main plank of the Opposition's argument falls appart. As such, they won't risk a public backlash for toppling the Government, and we get our public party subsidy cut.

I'm thinking it's going to be door #4... did I mention I really like this Harper guy?

All part of Harper's master plan?

Okay, we're suddenly facing an election, again. It'll be my third in four months, if we go to the polls. Ugh.

Anyway, what if all this brinkmanship is all part of the plan? The Opposition's main cry is that there's no stimulus... they won't admit that it's the subsidy that's the real issue, of course, but that's beside the point. So, what's Harper to do?

Why, offer the Opposition significant input on a stimulus package, of course. The Opposition gets a livible stimulus package, and we get our cut of the voter subsidy.

Everyone wins... except the Liberals.

Unless, of course, they want to disenfranchise the 38% who voted Conservative in the last election... that oughta go over really well next time around.

Flaherty to announce axing of $1.95 per vote subsidy to political parties

Talk about one big honking poison pill for the Opposition Liberals... how on earth would they go to the electorate over that one? "We're taking the Government down and forcing an election because they want to take away our money."

This is the sort of democratic reform we really need in this country. Let the political parties stand or fall on the merits of their policies, not based on votes from people who simply vote for the party they've always blindly voted for. (and I say that as someone who's voted for three different federal parties, including the Liberals)

UPDATE: Rumours have been swirling that the NDP might just support this measure... and according to a quote in the Globe & Mail, the rumours just might be true...

"NDP Jack Layton said his party will co-operate with the belt-tightening, but added Canadians want more.

“We know that for every billion spent [on infrastructure] you create 11,000 jobs and that's what other countries are doing,” he pointed out.

From all the other reports I've read, there's been hardly ANY negative quotes from anyone in the NDP on this move... not at CBC, CTV, Globe & Mail, National Post... with just one fairly neutral quote from the NDP President in the Toronto Star.

I find that rather interesting, don't you? If we have the NDP's support, perhaps won through other consessions to be made now or early next year in a stimulus package, this could be yet another stroke of brilliance from the Harper Team.

UPDATE II: Just for fun, you might want to wander on over to the Liblogs and watch them writhing on the ground, foaming at the mouth over this one.

Britain Cuts VAT by 2.5%

What's this? I thought all left leaning parties, such as the Liberal Party of Canada, thought that cutting consumption taxes was a bad idea?

Seems that Britain's Labour Party disagrees with the "conventional wisdom" of their Canadian Liberal cousins... they've decided to follow in the footsteps of our very own Right Honourable Stephen Harper, by cutting the VAT (their version of the GST), as a way to help stimulate their economy. They announced today that they're cutting their VAT by 2.5%, from 17.5% to 15%.

Of course, they're also raising other taxes to compensate, and borrowing significant amounts of money... steps which I hope our Government won't emulate in these tough times. But I find it very interesting that other G8 nations are looking at doing at least one of the very things that Mr. Harper has been repeatedly critizied for doing years ago.

Romney on The Big Three

Today's New York Times has an opt ed piece on the American Auto industry from former GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney... who's dad ran the American Motor Company for a while.

In it, he has some harsh doses of medicine for the industry... all things that I've been saying for a while.

Paying attention, Buzz & Co.? If you were to go to the Canadian government with an attitude of being willing to work within this sort of framework, there may be hope for the auto industry here in Canada.

h/t to The Invisible Hand and my boss.

Harris to McGuinty: "Try looking in the mirror"

Former Premier Mike Harris (boy do I ever miss the guy...) has an opinion piece in today's National Post entitled, "How Ontario became a have-not"... where he appropriately lays much of the blame for Ontario's current economic instability and our recently aquired "have-not" status squarely on the shoulders of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Over the next few days, expect to see them lash out and attack the messenger, rather than actually address the issues he raised.

"The main reason for Ontario's unprecedented "have-not" status is that economic growth in this province is weak, and is falling further and further behind the rest of the country. This decline did not have to happen. Going from first to worst in economic growth was preventable.

A major reason for our faltering economic growth is that Ontario's manufacturing sector is being hammered by high taxes. For far too long, Ontario has relied on a weak Canadian dollar to provide manufacturers with a "competitive" advantage. Now, energy and resource prices are driving up the value of our dollar and the U. S. economy is slowing. The so-called "dollar advantage" has been revealed as an illusion, and high taxes are now exposed as the millstone around the neck of our manufacturing sector.

The Ontario government's own Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress provides powerful evidence of Ontario's high taxes. Its 2007 report shows that Ontario has the highest taxation on new business investment in Canada. Even more compelling, it also reports that Ontario has the second-highest taxes on new business investment in the developed world.

To make matters worse, Ontario also has one of the highest personal income tax rates in the country, creating a major disincentive for talented people to settle, stay or remain here. This further weakens our economic and competitive position.

During a time of escalating international competition, a massive credit crunch and a probable recession, the Ontario government should be moving aggressively to reduce taxes and other barriers to growth. Failure to act will strangle the life out of Ontario's manufacturers, and drive them from this province, killing, maybe forever, the jobs they provide. The government must take action before it is too late.

To compound the high tax problem, since its election in 2003, the current Liberal government has gone on a spectacular spending spree that now threatens the future financial health of this province.

Following the failed paths of the David Peterson and Bob Rae regimes, over the last five years the provincial government has increased spending by an

average of 8% each year. During this same period, the Ontario economy grew in nominal terms by 4% annually. This means that the Ontario government is actually spending twice as much as it can afford. It has created a spending machine, and this machine can only be fuelled by red-hot economic times. This is simply not sustainable.

Had the government been living within its means for the past five years, Ontario would be in a much stronger position to respond to the wider global emergency than it is today. Instead, faced with a global liquidity crisis, a recession and plummeting revenues, the government is now looking at the very real prospect of returning to the massive, long-term structural deficits that we worked so hard to eliminate, and/or returning to massive cuts in government spending on public services. What a wasted opportunity."

Fun with loony-leftie signs

(UPDATE: Welcome to all the folks from Canadian Cynic... guess I must have said something right to get on his nerves...)

What Conservative convention would be complete without the standard protest from the loony left?

Take this guy as an example. I saw his sign attacking Harper for his position on Afghanistan... once again, the stark hypocrisy of the left is on display...How about changing the name on the sign? I'm willing to bet money that none of the left will be carrying this one at a protest anytime soon...
How quickly they forget that their little darling, President-elect Obama, is a strong advocate of INCREASING the military deployment to Afghanistan. Out of one side of their mouths, they sing the praises of Obama... and out of the other side, they critizie Harper for holding the same position.

That folks, is the very definition of hypocrisy... brought to you once again by the Canadian left.

Actually, for the record, Harper is in fact CLOSER to the left here in Canada on that issue than Obama is... Harper's advocating we pull our troops out by 2011.

But just to ensure that those guys on the left are clear about what their "Messiah" south of the border really thinks, feel free to review the following...


(interesting, they always seem to forget that little bit about how he advocates launching attacks into Pakistan... check the 5:00 mark)

Just for fun, at next anti-Afghanistan protest that shows up near you, try making up one of these signs and showing up... see if even one of them realizes the sheer hypocrisy they preach.

I'm willing to bet money they won't.

Fun with loony-leftie signs

Sorry for the error, the post has been moved to here.

Brief post-Convention photo post

Have a few moments to share some photos from the Convention, so enjoy!

First off, a couple of bloggers met up over the course of the weekend...

Conservative bloggers PomoChristian, Atheist Conservative, and myself. Just for the record, Atheist Conservative and I happen to be on the same page on an awful lot of issues. Was cool meeting the both of you guys!

Dr. Roy with, amm, I forget her name, but she's another blogger.

Steve Taylor and Darryl Wolk.

A view of the Convention floor from the blogger's section. I wasn't up there, I was on the floor as a delegate, but I stopped by to say "Hi" to Steve Taylor, Dr. Dawg, and Danielle.

Of course, no Convention is complete without some evening get-togethers. The Prarie Caucus threw what had to be the biggest and best bash of the whole weekend, renting out an entire three story bar. It was a very cool setup. Lots of folks to talk to, so I ended up looking at my watch, and realized it was 2:30am... the time had just flown on by!

Lookie who I found! Not to many folks were talking to her (not surpisingly), so I at least figured I should say hello, and introduced myself. She graciously agreed to the photo, thanks Ms. Jennings! I think she's completely wrong on many, many issues and levels, and I think she was bold-faced lying at the press scrums she held at the Convention, but hey, she's just trying to put forward her vision of what she thinks would make this a better country. You have to at least show her some respect for that. (though I have one delegate from a neighbouring riding half jokingly chew me out for taking the photo with her...)

Then there's this other Liberal who showed up... Danielle Takacs, who galloped off with us Tories to Winnipeg for the weekend. Hey, I'm a nice guy, why wouldn't I stop over and say hello to a fellow blogger? That's my voting card she's holding, showing the red side... the "NO" vote. Thought it would be a somewhat appropriate photo... perhaps casting a "NO" vote for the entire Convention? After reading her posts though I did think to myself, "Did we attend the same Convention?" Had a good chance to talk to Dr. Dawg too, nice guy. Was able to help him with one computer problem, not the other one though... sorry dude!

Of course, the protesters showed up... at least a few of them.

No way was I going to miss snapping this classic stereotypical photo... a lefty protester driving a beat up Volvo wagon!

You gotta love the hypocrisy of the left... attacking Harper for holding the very same position as their little darling, President-elect Obama. Try this one on for size guys...

When I see you guys carrying these signs at protests, I'll stop calling you hypocrits.

And I'd like to dedicate this final photo to my regular reader, MW... take that, sucka. ;-)

Post Convention Post will be delayed

I was hoping to catch everyone up on my time at the Convention, however, family matters have interrupted that... I got a call during dinner last night after the Convention was over that my great-uncle, my closest relative on this side of the Atlantic and my de-facto grandfather my entire life, has passed away.  I'll post on the Convention if and when time permits over the next few days.

Before I sign off for a while, I wanted to quickly throw a couple of shout-outs to some of the folks I had a wonderful weekend meeting/hanging out with... Stephen Taylor (it was nice to get more than a 30 second chat in this time!), Darryl Wolk (Mark won!), Atheist Conservative (believe it or not folks, we're on the same page on a whole lot more than you might think, right man?  Thanks again for your kind words and support on P-117), PomoChristian (I think you won 2nd place for most times at the mic dude!), Liblogger Danielle Takacs (and I was NOT "flirting" with you, I really am just that friendly with everyone, no matter what their political stripe!), Dr. Dawg (sorry I couldn't figure out the mouse problem!), along with the author of "Officially Screwed"... and a whole lot of other folks on the floor or in the suites... if I forgot to mention you, I'm sorry!

On the Convention Floor

Winnipeg is a blast... Protesters showed up, only a couple dozen. Blogging from a friend's Blackberry, so keeping it short. Met Dr Roy, Atheist Conservative, PomoChristian, and a couple others. Met Marlene Jennings too, she's here.

More later, time to vote on Policy.

Off to the 'Peg! Vote for Mark! Support P-117!

Time to sign off and head on out to Winnipeg! As a final note, I hope everyone will support Resolutions P-117 (Young Offender Rehab) and P-308 (Right to avoid Union Membership), I hope everyone will reject C-101 (Age for Membership), and that all Ontario delegates will support Mark Dotzert for National Council!

If anyone is looking to get a hold of me on the floor, I can be reached at cc.winnipeg.2008(at)gmail.com... it's a temp address for the Convention only. Keep your message VERY short and include your cell # for a reply... along the lines of "CC, text me at xxx-xxx-xxxx" or "Meet me at room #000". Longer messages won't likely even get to me... you've been warned!

Life just got more difficult for the Tories

Warren is backing Iggy.

Though a lot of Tory bloggers hate the guy, he's a brilliant operative. He's been a significant part of the McGuinty war room in the last two elections... anyone recall how badly they destroyed John Tory during the campaign? I remember attending a John Tory event in Guelph... reporters weren't paying any attention to Tory, they all had their heads down reading the latest press release from the Liberal War Room.

If Warren's backing Iggy and Iggy wins (as it's starting to look like a coronation), then life just got a whole lot more complicated for us in the next election.

Add to that the juvenile and politically suicidal antics of some Tories (yes, I'm talking about your e-mails from this morning Mr. B...), and it's starting to look like the next election is going to be a real fight.

UPDATE: Hang on a sec... I just re-read what Warren said:

"Some months ago, I was in Montreal to give a speech to a group of Conservative, Liberal and Green Party students at McGill. Out of the blue, one of Michael’s staff people called me up, and asked if I would consider having breakfast with the Grit MP at a nearby hotel. I was a bit surprised."

Say that again? "Some months ago"?!?!? Do you mean, like, before October 15th? Did Warren just tell us that Iggy was busy quietly organizing for another leadership bid before Dion had even lost the election?

Talk about party loyalty... dear Liberals, is that the sort of guy you really want to support? A guy who's making plans to take over while the leader of your party still has a pulse?

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Kelly O'Malley comments on P-117

Well, Mclean's blogger Kady O'Malley had this to say about Policy Resolution P-117: (her comment in bold and italicized)

Young Offender Rehab
PROPOSED BY GUELPH
iii) The Conservative Party believes the government should work with the provinces and territories, and interested employers to put in place a Youth Correctional Rehabilitation Program. The program will recognize that poverty is one of the major roots of crime and that stable employment can be the most effective solution to break the cycle of poverty. The program will offer youth a voluntary opportunity for rehabilitation in which life skills are taught, enabling them to successfully enter the workforce through participating employers.

ITQ: I don’t know what surprises me more – that this resolution will apparently make it to the floor, or that it didn’t come from a riding in Quebec.

I guess she'd be even more shocked to know it was authored by a supposedly "far right" blogger from Guelph!

This policy is, to my mind, simply a common sense idea. Those who are surprised to see such a resolution at the Convention simply reveal their ignorance of Conservatism.

Conservatism isn't "mean spirited" as some of the Oppositions parties, and the media, would have Canadians believe. I guess that's another reason why I'm so motivated to get this Resolution passed... not only because it's a good idea, but to break some of the stereotypes that the Opposition tries to perpetuate.

So if you're going to Winnipeg, plan on proving the media and the Opposition wrong by passing Resolution P-117!

CPC Delegates - Support P-308!

Well, I've gone through all the Policy and Constitutional resolutions, lots of reading! Will likely go over them again on the plane, since there won't be much to see flying at night.

Anyway, been talking to a few folks, and along with Resolution P-117 that I'm hoping all you delegates will support, I'm also encouraging everyone to support P-308... a policy proposing that workers be granted the right NOT to be forced to join a union.

You all know, I pretty much hate unions. I hold Buzz Hardgrove personally responsible for much of the strife we see in Ontario's auto sector. (had we had a leaner and lower cost workforce, we likely would have kept more auto jobs here in Ontario, even with our rising dollar)

Anyway, at a previous job, there was a threat that a union may get a court ruling in their favour, which would have automatically dragged us into the union of another company we'd merged with... even though the vast majority of us didn't want to join. I think that workers in such situations ought to be protected by law, and not forced to join an imposed union should they so choose. It's about a worker's rights... isn't that something a union should support?

I hope you'll support P-308 along with P-117. Talk to Derek, who's spearheading this Resolution if you have any questions!

Caucus support grows for Mark Dotzert

The list of endorsements continues to grow for Mark Dotzert, National Council candidate for Ontario. On his website, he has statements of support from re-elected MP Harold Albrecht, newly elected MP Lois Brown, who herself was a National Councillor until her election to Parliament last month, along with newly elected MP Stephen Woodworth, who knocked off Karen Redman in Kitchener-Centre.

And now, just yesterday, newly minted MP Peter Braid, the man who sucessfully knocked of Andrew Telegdi by a mere 17 votes, has also joined Mark's Facebook group in a show of support. Would you consider voting for Mark at the Convention, and joining his Facebook group? (even if you can't make it, you can still join the group!)

The KW area went blue in this last election... let's make sure we help keep them blue with a strong organizing voice from KW and SW Ontario on National Council!

This blog endorses Mark Dotzert for National Council (Ontario)

Well, after several weeks of investigating, reading online profiles, asking questions of various contacts, and getting the final week bombardment of e-mail and letters from the National Council candidates for Ontario, I've made my decision on whom I'm going to support... I am publicly endorsing Mark Dotzert for one of Ontario's four seats on National Council. I encourage everyone to spread the word and join his Facebook group!

Of all the candidates, he was BY FAR the most responsive and available. I asked him some tough questions on the powers of National Council and the role of EDA's, and I must say on every subject we've touched on, I've liked what I heard. And his answers never once struck me as pandering... strikes me as a real straight shooter, honest, and genuine. Add to that his proven track record of recruitment and organizing... he's one of the guys we have to thank for knocking off Liberal whip Karen Redman!

Of course, that's not to say that none of the other candidates weren't responsive, or wouldn't make fine additions to National Council. Doug Hawkins seems to be a good choice too, he's high on my list of second choices, and Kevin Wiener strikes me as an interesting young guy... at only 18, he's already racked up some solid experience. Perhaps not enough to get my vote this time around, but he certainly strikes me as one to watch over the coming years. Then there's Kara Johnson, who is not only the only woman in the field, but is also the only incumbent running for re-election, and is likely a shoe-in as a result. Simon Chapelle and Mark Borer both have impressive resumes, and Mark's got the longest endorsement list of any of the candidates I've see thus far. (which is actually a bit of a turn off for me... give the impression of being the "establishment" candidate)

All in all, the field looks pretty impressive. Let's just hope we see some regional diversity this time around, rather than just a Toronto block of Councillors.

Is there hope yet for the "Trudeau" name?

If you're a regular reader, you'll know that the more I learn about PET, the more I dislike him.

But after reading today's Globe & Mail article about Justin, I must say... if he sticks to the path he taking so far, there may yet be a positive legacy for the name "Trudeau".

"What Justin Trudeau is doing is taking much the opposite route of his legendary father, who was handed a safe riding in Montreal without having to worry about knocking on doors and then handed a cabinet position shortly after arriving in Ottawa. Pierre Trudeau never had to concern himself with grassroots stuff thereafter. Justin Trudeau wants to do it his own way, from the bottom up."

A little hard work at the grassroots level, rather than an ivory tower mentality of his father, might just be a positive thing for the country, down the road.

Your Ontario National Council candidates

As promised, submissions to this blog for candidates for the four Ontario spots is now closed. Here are the names and information for the six (of the nine) candidates that responded to my request for information, in the order they were received:

Kevin Wiener
Doug Hawkins
Dan Hilton
Mark Dotzert
Andrew Carson
Simon Chapelle

Name: Kevin Wiener
Age: 18
Website: www.kevinwiener.ca
Current Positions: Secretary, St. Paul’s Conservative EDA
VP Policy, St. Paul’s PC Association
President, St. Paul’s PC Youth Association
Secretary-Treasurer, Ontario PC Youth Association
Executive Member, Queen’s University Conservative Association
Key Endorsers: Peter Kent, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas), MP Thornhill
Con Di Nino, Senator (Ontario)
Frank Klees, MPP Newmarket Aurora
Why Vote for Me?: I am committed young Conservative with a passion for this Party. I have seen first-hand the energy and enthusiasm that youth bring to riding campaigns and to the Party as a whole. On November 15th, elect One Young Person and ensure that recruiting youth and getting them involved is a priority for this Party.

Name: Doug Hawkins
Age: 56
Website: www.doug-hawkins.info
Contact: 1-866-525-5477,ext 2028 elect.doug.hawkins@rogers.com
Current Positions: Doug has chaired numerous campaigns;a founding director of Whitby-Oshawa Conservative Assoc;presently chair of policy and constitution cttees
Key Endorsers: Doug was nominated by 250 Conservatives from every corner of Ontario
Why Vote for Me?: Doug is an MBA;a successful business person and community leader with a strong problem-solving orientation.
Doug will help enhance communications within our Party;and strengthen our policy development process.
Doug wants to see the party set--- and achieve ---the goal of recruiting large numbers of new Conservatives,with a view to making significant breakthroughs at the ballot box!!!

Name: Dan Hilton
Age: 40
Website: www.danhilton.ca
Contact info: nationalcouncil@danhilton.ca
Current/Past Positions: Past President Carleton Gloucester, Currently on Board of Mississippi Mills EDA, President Scouts Canada Foundation
Key Endorsers: Gordon O'Connor MP, Steve Liakos EDA President, Liz Mackinnon EDA President
Why vote for me?: Family oriented Chartered Accountant with strong business and community background. Significant public company and not for profit Board experience. I offer integrity, good governance and most importantly, strong and accessible representation. We are a grass roots party that needs to hang on to that heritage. It is our strength and it is critical that the member's views have a voice on National Council. Let me be that voice.

Name: Mark Dotzert
Age: 48
Website: www.Dotzert.ca
Contact info: Mark@Dotzert.ca 519-662-6196
Current/Past Positions: Vice-President, Kitchener-Conestoga CPC EDA (2007-present)
Election Campaign Executive, Harold Albrecht, M.P. (2006 and 2008)
Nomination Advisor, Stephen Woodworth, M.P.
Membership Chair and founding member, Kitchener-Conestoga Provincial PC Association (2005-2007)
Business Owner, IT consulting for government agencies (1995-present)
Key Endorsers: Harold Albrecht, M.P. / Kitchener-Conestoga
Lois Brown, M.P. / Newmarket-Aurora (former National Councilor)
Stephen Woodworth, M.P. / Kitchener Centre
Why vote for me?: Mark Dotzert will take initiative to support grassroots members in Ontario through effective representation on National Council. He will work to ensure effective, timely communication and cooperation between National Council and EDA’s concerning membership and fundraising initiatives. He will promote strategies whereby the policy concerns of Conservative Party members continue to be heard, and he will support local EDA’s in recruiting strong local candidates.
CIMS reporting functions can be improved to facilitate local campaign management. Mark will utilize his 15 years of professional IT experience consulting for municipal agencies to advocate for this.

Name: Andrew Carson
Age: 60
Contact info: Office: 519-941-6300; Cell 647-273-4270; e-mail acarson@bellnet.ca
Current/Past Positions: President Dufferin-Caledon EDA; CFO Dufferin-Caledon PC Association; Official Agent to David Tilson
Key Endorsers: David Tilson, Q.C., MP
Why vote for me?: National Council has to make more effort to communicate with EDAs both ways (receiving & sending) as I am detecting some annoyance expressed by presidents of the EDAs. Councillors have to attend regional meetings and not just once in their term of office. This is asking a lot for a volunteer position, but that is what the job entails if we are going to make our Party grow and motivate our volunteer base that lets us win elections.
Name, Age: Simon Chapelle, 38
Website: www.simonchapelle.ca
Contact: e-mail info@simonchapelle.ca, mobile 416-347-2650
Current Positions: Prince Edward Hastings Provincial PC Association – Vice President and Fundraising Chair
Prince Edward Hastings CPC Board Member – Special Events Fundraising
Past Positions: 20 years of board and executive experience
Sudbury boards – provincial and federal – youth member through to president
1998-2002 – Northeastern Region Vice President – Provincial PC Party Executive – served two terms
2002/03 – Northern Organizer – Jim Flaherty Leadership Campaign
Why vote for me?: Experience, commitment to make a difference, I have a plan for building “Campaign Team Capacity” at the grassroots, support for youth engagement

NC ON: Simon Chapelle

And what looks like our final contribution from the National Councilor candidates, Simon Chapelle.

Name, Age: Simon Chapelle, 38
Website: www.simonchapelle.ca
Contact: e-mail info@simonchapelle.ca, mobile 416-347-2650
Current Positions: Prince Edward Hastings Provincial PC Association – Vice President and Fundraising Chair
Prince Edward Hastings CPC Board Member – Special Events Fundraising
Past Positions: 20 years of board and executive experience
Sudbury boards – provincial and federal – youth member through to president
1998-2002 – Northeastern Region Vice President – Provincial PC Party Executive – served two terms
2002/03 – Northern Organizer – Jim Flaherty Leadership Campaign
Why vote for me?: Experience, commitment to make a difference, I have a plan for building “Campaign Team Capacity” at the grassroots, support for youth engagement


Previous National Council candidate submissions:
Kevin Wiener
Doug Hawkins
Dan Hilton
Mark Dotzert
Andrew Carson

NC ON: Andrew Carson

The fifth respondent to my call for info is Andrew Carson...

Name: Andrew Carson
Age: 60
Contact info: Office: 519-941-6300; Cell 647-273-4270; e-mail acarson@bellnet.ca
Current/Past Positions: President Dufferin-Caledon EDA; CFO Dufferin-Caledon PC Association; Official Agent to David Tilson
Key Endorsers: David Tilson, Q.C., MP
Why vote for me?: National Council has to make more effort to communicate with EDAs both ways (receiving & sending) as I am detecting some annoyance expressed by presidents of the EDAs. Councillors have to attend regional meetings and not just once in their term of office. This is asking a lot for a volunteer position, but that is what the job entails if we are going to make our Party grow and motivate our volunteer base that lets us win elections.


Previous National Council candidate submissions:
Kevin Wiener
Doug Hawkins
Dan Hilton
Mark Dotzert

UPDATE: Support Resolution P-117!

I'd like to personally thank National Council candidate Doug Hawkins for quickly showing his support for Policy Resolution P-117, by joining the recently created Facebook group in support of this Resolution's passage.

The campaign for this policy resolution begins now! Check out the Facebook group, read the proposal, share your thoughts, and most importantly, support it with your vote in Winnipeg!

THIS is why I'm in politics... VOTE FOR P-117!

To all my fellow delegates who have received (or who have yet to) their Policy package for the Convention... please strongly consider supporting Resolution P-117 and vote to send it to the Convention Floor for ratification by the general membership!  If you have any questions regarding it, please don't hesitate to contact me, as I'm the person who submitted the proposal.

And for all my readers on the left... NO, it's not some so-con "take over the world" conspiracy proposal.  It's actually a rather "progressive" proposal to focus in on the roots of youth crime, and offer young offenders a realistic means of breaking the cycle of poverty.

Some of my longer term readers may recall that I hinted at putting together a policy proposal that focuses in on youth crime and its causes, a little over two years ago. (I mentioned it 2/3 into that post)  Well, the Convention is finally upon us, and I've just been advised that my proposal will be debated on Friday, where it will be discussed and hopefully selected as one of the Resolutions to be sent to the Convention for ratification.

SUPPORT RESOLUTION P-117!!!  Let's help our "at risk" youth break the cycle of crime and poverty!

On the bright side of last nights election

It looks like far-left Rush Limbaugh wannabe Al Franken will fail in his bid to take one of the Senate seats in Minnesota... by a mere 764 out of 2,420,816 votes, if the current numbers hold.

Thank goodness... a win by him would be like the second coming of Ted Kennedy!

It's over

It's 10:11pm, and with Ohio, Pennsylvania and Iowa in the "blue" column, and with Obama sitting at 207 Electoral Votes before California even enters the mix, it's all over.

Was interesting watching Fox online tonight.  I must say they lived up to their "Fair and Balanced" slogan, with senior Republican and Democratic analysts on the broadcast.  They said pretty much the same thing I've been thinking for a few weeks now... the wipe out of the GOP tonight is exactly what they need.  With the Democrats in charge of the White House, the House and the Senate, they've got no excuses left.  The people have spoken, and they're demanding results.  If they don't deliver, pronto, Obama's gonna be Jimmy Carter the Second... a one term Democrat.

Night all, I'm out.

You know you're a political junkie when...

You've got your widescreen laptop streaming CNN, the FoxNews stream on standby, along with various blogs and news sites open in Firefox, and on an external widescreen flat panel, three electoral college "projection" maps from Fox, CBC and MSNBC running in separate windows.

The results can never come in fast enough for guys like me... it's the same setup I had running at the campaign office on E-Day here in Canada.

NC ON: Mark Dotzert

Here's the information on Mark Dotzert, the next in our lineup of Ontario National Council candidates:

Name: Mark Dotzert
Age: 48
Website: www.Dotzert.ca
Contact info: Mark@Dotzert.ca 519-662-6196
Current/Past Positions: Vice-President, Kitchener-Conestoga CPC EDA (2007-present)
Election Campaign Executive, Harold Albrecht, M.P. (2006 and 2008)
Nomination Advisor, Stephen Woodworth, M.P.
Membership Chair and founding member, Kitchener-Conestoga Provincial PC Association (2005-2007)
Business Owner, IT consulting for government agencies (1995-present)
Key Endorsers: Harold Albrecht, M.P. / Kitchener-Conestoga
Lois Brown, M.P. / Newmarket-Aurora (former National Councilor)
Stephen Woodworth, M.P. / Kitchener Centre
Why vote for me?: Mark Dotzert will take initiative to support grassroots members in Ontario through effective representation on National Council. He will work to ensure effective, timely communication and cooperation between National Council and EDA’s concerning membership and fundraising initiatives. He will promote strategies whereby the policy concerns of Conservative Party members continue to be heard, and he will support local EDA’s in recruiting strong local candidates.
CIMS reporting functions can be improved to facilitate local campaign management. Mark will utilize his 15 years of professional IT experience consulting for municipal agencies to advocate for this.


Previous National Council candidate submissions:
Kevin Wiener
Doug Hawkins
Dan Hilton

NC ON: Dan Hilton

The third of the Ontario National Councillor candidates to reply to my e-mail...

Name: Dan Hilton
Age: 40
Website: www.danhilton.ca
Contact info: nationalcouncil@danhilton.ca
Current/Past Positions: Past President Carleton Gloucester, Currently on Board of Mississippi Mills EDA, President Scouts Canada Foundation
Key Endorsers: Gordon O'Connor MP, Steve Liakos EDA President, Liz Mackinnon EDA President
Why vote for me?: Family oriented Chartered Accountant with strong business and community background. Significant public company and not for profit Board experience. I offer integrity, good governance and most importantly, strong and accessible representation. We are a grass roots party that needs to hang on to that heritage. It is our strength and it is critical that the member's views have a voice on National Council. Let me be that voice.

Previous National Council candidate submissions:
Kevin Wiener
Doug Hawkins

Mallick writes another "winner" of an article

Once again, Heather Mallick successfully symbolizes everything that's wrong with Canadian journalism.

The sheer hatred and distain that this woman has for anyone who thinks differently than her is so reflective of the disgusting attitudes of the "elite" in this country... so many of whom litter the ranks of the CBC and the Liberal Party of Canada.

Perhaps a few refresher courses on "Canadian Politeness" are in order?

Thoughts on US Election Day

A friend of mine said it best in his Facebook status...

"Steve thinks there will be something rather tragic about tonight: a nation will celebrate 'hope' and 'change', yet can look forward to neither."

Couldn't have put it any better myself.

NC ON: Doug Hawkins

Our second National Council candidate to send me his info is Doug Hawkins...

Name: Doug Hawkins
Age: 56
Website: www.doug-hawkins.info
Contact: 1-866-525-5477,ext 2028 elect.doug.hawkins@rogers.com
Current Positions: Doug has chaired numerous campaigns;a founding director of Whitby-Oshawa Conservative Assoc;presently chair of policy and constitution cttees
Key Endorsers: Doug was nominated by 250 Conservatives from every corner of Ontario
Why Vote for Me?: Doug is an MBA;a successful business person and community leader with a strong problem-solving orientation.
Doug will help enhance communications within our Party;and strengthen our policy development process.
Doug wants to see the party set--- and achieve ---the goal of recruiting large numbers of new Conservatives,with a view to making significant breakthroughs at the ballot box!!!


Previous National Council candidate submissions:
Kevin Wiener

NC ON: Kevin Wiener

Our first responder to my call for National Councillor info comes from Kevin Wiener...

Name: Kevin Wiener
Age: 18
Website: www.kevinwiener.ca
Current Positions: Secretary, St. Paul’s Conservative EDA
VP Policy, St. Paul’s PC Association
President, St. Paul’s PC Youth Association
Secretary-Treasurer, Ontario PC Youth Association
Executive Member, Queen’s University Conservative Association
Key Endorsers: Peter Kent, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas), MP Thornhill
Con Di Nino, Senator (Ontario)
Frank Klees, MPP Newmarket Aurora
Why Vote for Me?: I am committed young Conservative with a passion for this Party. I have seen first-hand the energy and enthusiasm that youth bring to riding campaigns and to the Party as a whole. On November 15th, elect One Young Person and ensure that recruiting youth and getting them involved is a priority for this Party.

National Council race starts right on schedule

Was asked by a fellow Convention delegate about the National Councillor candidates, and why we haven't heard anything from any of them yet.  I told him "Just wait till next week... that's when the real campaign will get underway, and you'll hear from a whole bunch of them."

And right on cue... got a letter in the mail today from one of them.  While another one let me know via e-mail that his campaign website was now online.

The race really begins now...

As such, I'm going to send out an e-mail tonight to all the candidates I'm able to contact, asking them for a brief intro blurb to post on my blog.  Since no one else seems to be blogging much on the National Council race, and since many folks I talk to know little or nothing about the folks who are running, I'm hoping to help my fellow delegates find information about all the candidates.

So, if you're a National Council candidate for Ontario, here's what I'm looking for!  I've come up with a basic template to be filled out... which I will post here on my blog as I receive them. (if you are a friend of one of the candidates, or are working on their campaign, please pass on this message!)

Name, Age:
Website: (if any)
Contact info: (phone and/or e-mail)
Current/Past Positions:
Key Endorsers: (three max.)
Why vote for me?: (please limit to two or three concise sentences)

Again, I'll post the summaries individually as I receive them!  I'll also repost them collectively at the end of this week or on the weekend, in order to provide delegates with a "clearing house" to review all the candidates together.

So... get your submissions in to me ASAP!  First one to submit gets the first posting!  (NOTE: all submissions will be verified to ensure legitimacy)

For those of you who don't know the names of the candidates, here's the list (listed alphabetically, not preferentially):

Mark Borer
Andrew Carson
Simon Chapelle
Mark Dotzert
Doug Hawkins
Dan Hilton
Kara Johnson
John Walsh
Kevin Weiner

Thanks to Darryl Wolk for compiling the list.

Congrats to Team McGuinty... we're a "Have Not" province!

Way to go on successfully chasing jobs out of the provice guys... it's stuff like this that might actually get me back on-board with the John Tory Team.

President Clinton still a possibility?

Okay, scary tinfoil hat conspiracy theory here...

Obama wins on Tuesday.  The KKK has a fit, and somehow manages to take him out.  (and for the record, I'll personally pray that never happens)

Bidden becomes President.  With all the strife within Democratic Party, who else could he possibly name has his new Vice President?

Bingo, you get Vice President Clinton.  And you all know what I think would happen in that scenario... never make the mistake of underestimating the Clinton's.  Somewhere, somehow, they'd manage to make another "problem" disappear.

Viola... President Clinton.

Okay, time to put the tinfoil hats away kids.