Canadian Political Watch

[deja vu]

This thread is for all things political in Canada. Since the Liberal leadership is probably going to
change will start with that.


Liberal leadership contenders: Frank, Manley and some other adjectives

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion announced Friday that he will hold a news conference in Ottawa on
Monday at 2 p.m. ET. Many Liberal insiders hope he will down tools and walk off the job he worked
so hard at lo these last two years. Liberals are baying for new blood to rebuild and return the party
to power.

But here's a thought... it doesn't matter who the new leader is, because the Liberals have bigger
troubles than the face on the posters:

An Ipsos Reid survey last month revealed that almost two-thirds of respondents viewed Liberals as
dishonest; 80% deemed them stale; 63% thought them phony; and 66% perceived them "out of touch
with Canadians like you." By the time Tuesday night's numbers rolled in, their popularity finished at
an all-time low.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/10/17/liberal-leadership-contenders.aspx

Who would you want to see as the next Liberal Leader?

Bob Rae
Frank McKenna
John Manley
Michael Ignatieff
Gerard Kennedy
Ralph Goodale
Scott Brison
Justin Trudeau

A few to choose from, any one not on the list that you feel would be a good choice?

If you wish to discuss the election and results you can do so at:

http://www.speakezforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=95

[fishandchips]

It will be a toss-up between Frank McKenna, the former New Brunswick premier, and Justin Trudeau (though he's a young parent and votes will come from fans of his father's era). Mr. McKenna may have a chance.

Mr. Manley had cabinet positions in Paul Martin's government; Ontarians remember Rae Days when Mr. Rae was the provincial NDP leader. Mr. Ignatieff may be better left to the cocktail circuit-he's more bookish than Mr. Dion.

I wish Mr. Dion well-it would be lovely to have him around for Round 2 of Opposition Leader in Parliament Hill.

[deja vu]

McCallum expected to get temporary job heading Liberals

OTTAWA -- Toronto MP John McCallum is the probable interim Liberal party leader if Stephane Dion
steps down as expected Monday.

The Toronto MP and economist is a feisty critic of the government's economic policies -- the biggest
issue facing parliamentarians in the aftermath of the election campaign.

An interim Liberal leader is not expected to be announced officially until Thursday, when the Liberal
caucus is scheduled to meet.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=891852

Ralph Goodale is up for the job as well but neither should get it. Who dreamed this one up. Next thing
you know they will throw Shiela Copps name into the hat.

Why arent they considering Ignatieff, at least hes the lesser evil of the above people. What are they
thinking? If they thought the numbers dropped in this election, putting in McKenna, Goodale or Copps
wont help them climb, the numbers will just keep dropping.

This is such a bad idea.

[CielOnTap]

Please let Mr. Dion make his speech first--this weekend seems to be a leadership walk-the-plank countdown.

Mr. Dion still has the party leader job. Ms. Copps, I believe, is enjoying life outside of the political arena, though she does comment about the arena from time to time.

[CielOnTap]

Quebec City hosted the Summit of the Francophone Countries this weekend. The governments of Canada (federal), Quebec and New Brunswick (latter two are provincial) were the principal hosts to the representives of the various visiting Francophone countries.

The discussion topics covered the future of the French language (apparently, there are fewer countries using French for communications at the United Nations), a speech by French president Sarkozy (he will suggest that the G8 countries get together before December to work on the financial crisis), the environment, international politics, and democracy in relation to the State and economic governance.

While I was watching Jean Charest, Quebec's Premier, being interviewed on RDI this morning about the summit, I noticed an interesting headline scrolling along the bottom of the screen. Apparently, the visiting journalists were irritated by the excessive security at the summit. Now, I wonder if the security was high because of the Canadian Prime Minister (he likes controlled environments) or due to guests such as the UN Secretary-General and President of the European Commission.

As the summit occurred three days after the election, the Prime Minister was occupied with issues concerning Francophone countries. It will be worth observing what commitments that Mr. Harper will make in Canada's name, especially with that future G8 meeting expected to occur prior to December.

[CielOnTap]

Translation: Votes FOR Harper-143 seats
Votes AGAINST Harper-165 seats
Rate of (voter) participation-59.1%
Harper: Here are the numbers of a clear mandate!

[CielOnTap]

Tory campaign director to give up some duties
Andrew Mayeda , Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
OTTAWA - The Conservative Party of Canada's national campaign director plans to step back from day-to-day election planning as part of a quiet shakeup of the party's senior ranks, Canwest News Service has learned.

Doug Finley, the party's director of political operations, has informed the party he will no longer play that role, Conservative sources say.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=518dff1d-7ccf-4903-a6a9-52ebb9ccbaa5

[CielOnTap]

Frank magazine folds as subscriptions sag
Oct 29, 2008 04:30 AM
Frank magazine, the satirical scandal sheet that for nearly two decades savaged the reputations of some of Canada's most powerful politicians, business leaders, celebrities and media figures, has exited with more of a whimper than a bang.

The money-losing, Ottawa-based national publication – not to be confused with the older, still-thriving Halifax-based magazine of the same name – announced yesterday that it is ceasing publication of both its newsstand and online editions.
http://www.thestar.com/article/526422

One of Frank magazine's best stories was the one about the Royal Canadian Mint trawling the waterways for lost gold.
The magazine also had some great stories that later would be picked up by the mainstream press, though with no credit given to the satirical press. The magazine would indicate the date of its story and then indicate when a daily newspaper published a similar story.

Not a fan of the cartoons in the magazine, I did notice some creativity in the movie ad parodies, as well as in its Low Definition Television section.

Yes, a book about how Frank came to exist would be a way to close out the satirical press' time in Canadian political history.

[CielOnTap]

Prime Minister Harper's new cabinet was sworn in and the live broadcast was on CBC Newsword and RDI this morning. The full cabinet can be seen here.

Mr. Bernier is not in this new cabinet, so I assume he's on the bench for the time being. Mr. McKay is Minister of Defence and the Atlantic Gateway. Mr. Day is Minister of International Trade and the Asia-Pacific Gateway--have to find out how an Albertan can get a British Columbian-situated post unless he moved to a BC riding. Some ministers of state exist that I did not realize existed, including one for the Americas, one for sport, and one for small business and tourism.

[fishandchips]

Expect to see many happy, smiling ministers at the 2010 games (realize that organizing committee has copyright control over use of the name for games and how it is used-to find link in a jot) in Vancouver. No satirical press to make hay out of the event.