Sunday, May 17, 2009

Michael Ignatieff 1978: Trudeau, Travolta, And The Bee Gees



With some of the media trying to disregard the Conservative strategy of showing Michael Ignatieff's time away from Canada, I thought it might be a good idea to put in perspective some of the things relative to 1978, the year when Iggy left Canada.



  • Trudeau was PM
  • John Travolta was starring in Grease
  • The Bee Gees dominated the record charts
  • Music still came on albums
  • Disco was in.
  • The CBC had just launched the first news satellite
  • Wayne Gretzky had not yet played in the NHL
  • There were 10 million fewer Canadian's than today
  • Jimmy Carter was President of the United States
  • I still had hair

During Ignatieff's time away from Canada, we had Trudeau, Clark, Turner, Mulroney, Campbell, Chretien, and Martin as PM. Ignatieff never returned to Canada in all those years. He was "convinced" to return in 2005, when Paul Martin drove the Liberal party into the electoral ditch, only with a promise of being Liberal leader and PM.

So ask yourself, if Paul Martin and the Liberals had won the 2006 election, do you really think Iggy would have stayed in Canada? True Patriot Love indeed.

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12 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2009 at 9:27:00 AM PDT

    Reagan wasn't president until 1981.
    Carter was president in 1978

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  2. paulsstuffMay 17, 2009 at 9:35:00 AM PDT

    Right you are. Thanks.

    Must have been having a seniors moment :0)

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  3. AnonymousMay 17, 2009 at 9:38:00 AM PDT

    You mean, History's Greatest Monster, Jimmy Carter was president.

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  4. jadMay 17, 2009 at 11:32:00 AM PDT

    "if Paul Martin and the Liberals won the 2006 election, do you really think Iggy would have come back to Canada"

    Ignatieff was actually electd in the 2006 election for the first time, so your comment doesn't make much sense. Now whether he would have stayed in Canada if Martin had won the election ... that's a different story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SurecureMay 17, 2009 at 11:38:00 AM PDT

    Music came on albums? Heck, music still came on 8-track back then!

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  6. paulsstuffMay 17, 2009 at 11:46:00 AM PDT

    Good point Jad. I based that sentence on this:

    "In 2004, two Liberal organizers, Ian Davey (son of Senator Keith Davey) and lawyer Daniel Brock, travelled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to convince Ignatieff to run for the Canadian House of Commons, and to consider a possible bid for the Liberal leadership should Paul Martin retire.[34] As a result of the activities of Brock and Davey, assisted by former Liberal candidate Alfred Apps, in January 2005, speculation began in the press that Ignatieff could be a star candidate for the Liberals in the next election, and possibly a candidate to succeed Paul Martin, then the leader of the governing Liberal Party of Canada.

    After months of rumours and repeated denials, Ignatieff confirmed in November 2005 that he intended to run for a seat in the House of Commons in the winter 2006 election. It was announced that Ignatieff would seek the Liberal nomination in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore."

    I probabl could have worded it better, but I meant that Iggy would have hauled ass back to Harvard if Martin won the election. It wasn't until Iggy realized the Liberals were in trouble through Adscam and Martin might be toast that he decided to run.

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  7. jadMay 17, 2009 at 1:00:00 PM PDT

    I know the history, Paul, I just thought your comment did not make sense. Sounds much better now, and it was an interesting take on the topic, emphasizing all the mundane stuff that Ignatieff has missed.

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  8. paulsstuffMay 17, 2009 at 1:24:00 PM PDT

    Thanks Jad, I always enjoy your comments.

    Had a pipe burst and rushed my post a little bit while I was taking a break from clean-up..

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  9. AnonymousMay 17, 2009 at 4:39:00 PM PDT

    Prediction: by 2012 if he is not PM, he will leave Canada with his MP pension.

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  10. BC Voice of ReasonMay 18, 2009 at 8:18:00 AM PDT

    Hi Paul. I really enjoy your blog.

    One of the things that is being ignored is that Mr. Ignatieff has trouble thinking on his feet. This results in him jumping all over the place making statements that he later has to correct.

    He just had his 62th birthday.

    When will the media connect the dots.

    Realistically if all went well and he does not cut and run after the next election in 2 years, he will be 66-69 in the election that he might have a chance to win.

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  11. paulsstuffMay 18, 2009 at 8:28:00 AM PDT

    Good point. I think Ignatieff's flw when addressing a crowd ad-lib is he tries to tell them what they want to hear, then later on has to correct himself.

    It does appear to be a Liberal hereditary problem though. One look no further than John McCallum's famous "I drive a Chevy" incident.

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  12. trebMay 22, 2009 at 4:05:00 PM PDT

    why do you allow anons to comment??Usually only liberal trolls leaving idiotic statements..

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