You Know Your Time As A Kick-Ass Liberal Strategist Has Passed When....

You criticise the other guy for something your hero did previously. Warren Kinsella's latest, an anti-Timmies rant:


"Some smart Liberals were there to meet him - you can see kick-ass Liberal MP Bonnie Crombie in the photo - and make an important point. The media ate it up, as it were. The Reform-Conservative minions, terrified by that, told the RCMP to move the group away. (Um, is that legal?)"

Gee, I don't know WK. Didn't your hero Chretien get involved in some little situation involving the RCMP and the use of pepper spray on demonstrators?

From the Hamilton Spectator September 11th, 1998: "In 1995, The Prime Minister grabbed a protester, Bill Clennet, by the throat and pushed him to the ground.
By 1997, it seems, he maintained his tough guy approach to dealing with demonstrators, according to 1998 investigation which concluded orders were handed down by the PM, himself. Some students were arrested by the RCMP, and some were even pepper sprayed. When a reporter asked Mr. Chrétien about the RCMP's use of pepper spray on the peaceful protest, Jean did it again. Canada's leader replied, "Pepper? I put that on my plate."


Um, is that legal? The problem nowadays are these wonderful search engines that can find anything. Google, Bing, etc. So ya, bring on the election. And I mean the federal one, not the one airing it's dirty laundry in Outremont.

Opposition Parties Working Behind Closed Doors On Coalition

Received an interesting email from someone well connected to what goes on in the HoC. It appears that a coalition between the Liberals, NDP, and yes, the Bloc is still very much on the table. The difference this time is the three parties learned their lesson well from Canadians after the last debacle, with Dion, Layton, and Duceppe calling a formal news conference to inform Canadians about their coalition. Outrage among Canadians was quite amazing, with polls showing the Conservatives in the mid to high 40's as outrage spread across the country.

And yet, those same three parties are still talking about said coalition, albeit this one behind the scenes, out of the view of Canadian voters. Realizing a formal coalition between the three parties is akin to political suicide, the parties are now working towards the same goal as the previous agreement, while at the same time keeping voters unaware of their plan. Whenever the next election takes place, Conservatives will focus on the threat of a coalition government.

Phase 1 of the new coalition is to try and blunt that attack. Thus you now have Layton and Duceppe voting with the government. You have Ignatieff stating he will fast track the EI reforms. While the usual suspects claim this to be posturing among Lib and Dipper strategists to get the upper hand, what it really is is an attempt to say to Canadians, Hey, Stephen Harper worked with each of the parties, why can't the three parties work together as well?

Phase 2 will be the Liberals tabling a non-confidence motion, with Layton and Duceppe joining in with that tired old-line about the PM going back to his old ways, refusing to work with the other parties, and therefore the necessity to vote down the government.

Phase 3 consists of telling Canadians they agree we don't want an election, and approaching the GG to ask for a chance to form government. The goal is to remove the PM before the economy and Conservative polling numbers picks up even more steam, allowing them to say it was themselves who are responsible for the economic turnaround.

In effect they will be doing what most Canadians have already stated was unacceptable, achieve power without having to win an election, something none of the three parties realize they could achieve themselves. And if they have to throw the Canadian voters under the bus to achieve it, they won't think twice.

Political sleaze at its best!

Ignatieff's Political Career Nearing Readiness For Body Bag

First off, before anyone accuses me of being insensitive with the title, nothing could top Michael Ignatieff's over the top faux outrage over body bags being shipped to northern Manitoba reserves. This quote here takes the cake:

"It simply says: 'We expect aboriginal Canadians to die,"

Liberal MP's, including Marlene Jennings were quick to follow suit with equally outrageous comments. If only Iggy actually did a little research before spouting off. A member off Health Canada confirmed that the body bags were part of a "routine shipment", one that goes out every three to four months. Another representative also stated that the Manitoba reserves in question are in the northern remote, and access is sometimes difficult during the winter months.

It was also noted that there are deaths on reserves, like anywhere else in the world. Sickness, old age, suicide, drownings, exposure, accidents were all cited as reasons for the quarterly shipments of said body bags. And in the event of an H1N1 pandemic with resulting deaths, body bags lower the risk of further transmission of the virus from the deceased individual.

One would think that someone who boasts daily of his Harvard pedigree and time abroad might want to actually research something before jumping the shark with such over the top partisan rhetoric. While the PM and POTUS focus on the economy, trade, Afghanistan, etc., Iggy gives us another glimpse of why Stephen Harper is Prime Minister, and his own chances of becoming PM are dying a quick death, much like his predecessor, Dion.

Ignatieff Turns Back On Liberal Senator's Bill

Gee. just months ago, Liberals and journalists were whining about Conservative ads outside the writ period. Undemocratic, sleazy, turning Canadians off of politics. Among the most notable were Yaffe and Aarron Wherry. I'd provide links of all the posts Wherry did bashing the PM for ads outside the writ period, but that would probably overload the internet that Al Gore invented.

Remarkably, the entire MSM is eerily silent now that the Liberals have followed suit with their own ads outside of the writ period. Heck, even the Bloc are running ads. So hypocrisy is obviously at play here in a big way, with the fact that a Liberal senator thought so much of the situation he put forward a bill to have pre-writ spending included in campaign spending limits. Anybody know Iggy's opinion on that bill?

"OTTAWA – Senator Dennis Dawson today introduced Bill S-236, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (election expenses). This bill would classify all advertising bought by political parties in the three months immediately preceding the call of an election as an “election expense,” which would be included in the limits imposed on party expenses during the election campaign itself.


“The Canada Elections Act sets out very strict limits on what a party can spend during election campaigns. This bill simply ensures that if one starts campaigning by advertising just before an election, that spending is caught by the statutory spending limits,” explained Senator Dawson.

“With the introduction of fixed election dates, all parties know when an election will take place and can easily start spending on campaign-style advertising in the months leading up to the call. That undermines the values and fundamental fairness of the Canadian system as found in the spending limits contained in the Canada Elections Act. Frankly, this bill addresses a real gap in the Conservatives’ fixed election date law,” said Senator Dawson.

The bill expands the definition of “election expense” to include a cost incurred, or non-monetary contribution received, by a registered party, an electoral district association or a candidate, for property or a service that is used to directly promote or oppose a registered party, its leader or a candidate, during the three months immediately prior to an election campaign.

Bill S-236 addresses concerns raised in the past by a number of experts, including former Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley. While appearing before a Parliamentary committee in 2006, Mr. Kingsley suggested that fixed election dates would carry with them the need to regulate advertising by political parties before the actual writ period.

Ignatieff Accuses The PM Of Wanting To Win The Election

The more Iggy opens his mouth, the more I want an election. Imagine, the PM addressing a room of party faithful, telling them he wants to win a majority and squash the separatists and socialists. I guess Iggy was out of the country so long he doesn't realize that's been part of the Conservative way of thinking for decades.

So I guess if Ignatieff says this shows Canadians what the PM is really about, then he must consider it wrong and thinks the opposite way. That being he doesn't want to win a majority, squash the socialists, or, most notably, the separatists.

Must be that whole coalition thingy. The one he said he signed and supported and Bob Rae said he did not. Just imagine a 36 day campaign of this stuff.

Priceless.

Some Friendly Advice For The Liberals And Their New Ads...

Congrats guys, you've managed to improve your video quality immensely since that Dion Coalition debacle that everyone had fun dissing. Now, I understand that you guys have put out something in the area of $2 million for your new set of ads, with the first three just released. So being curious I gave the vids a once over. The first thing I noticed was I was feeling a tad nauseous. Now that's not that uncommon when I view Liberal dribble, especially when it's Ignatieff lecturing me on how Canadians can be better than we are today. Of course that doesn't say much about that last 13 years of Liberal rule. But there was just something about that video with Iggy in the trees that turned my stomach, and I realized what it was.

So my advice is, on the next round of ads, try using a TRIPOD!

Update: I just noticed a fellow Blooging Tory has done a similar post, and has made another remark I missed, Ignatieff stays centred but the background appears to move. Was this shot in a studio, like the ones at Sears that take child portraits?

http://alwaysright.ca/the-new-liberal-advertisement-and-why-they-should-invest-in-a-tripod/

When A Homeless Person Gets Motivated...

OK, this story might seem a little lame, but it is true and happened to me today. I went to the local No-Frills to pick up some cases of bottled water (sorry David Miller), and saw this older gentleman who appeared to be homeless, walking around the parking lot approaching people unloading groceries into their car. I assumed he was panhandling.

When I came out of the store with my cart full and began unloading it, he approached me. Maybe I'm a little jaded from similar incidents in Toronto, but I readied for the worst. I was quite surprised when he asked if he could return my cart to the store and keep the 25 cents you need to put in to get a buggy. He explained that he wasn't begging, but had fallen on hard times and this was how he was getting money for food.

I asked how it was working and he said he made about $15 a day, enough to eat properly, although he hated the fact he had fallen on such hard times and had to resort to it. An elderly couple parked beside me said he returned their cart for them and brought their 25 cents back to them, as they were on a tight budget and though only a quarter, it still meant something to their budget.

So I thought, here is this guy, who people automatically stereotype because of his situation, standing on hot ashphalt in the blaring sun to be able to eat, and he still does a good deed for the elderly couple. Long story short, told the guy he had my respect, keep his head up as things will get better, and gave him $10.

Groundhog Day

I feel like Bill Murray in the movie groundhog day. I wake up to hear the leader of the Liberal Party threatening to bring down the Conservative government Gilles Duceppe is on his I'll bring down da Tory's rants, and Jack Layton says he'll work with the government, and then goes on to say the PM won't work with anyone.

Sounds like early September 2008. The only difference is the Liberal leader is Michael Ignatieff instead of Stephane Dion.

Hey, wait. That's why it feels like groundhog day!

Is It Dalton Ignatieff or Michael McGuinty?

Working a ton of hours but just couldn't resist addressing Iggy's latest "thoughts", which were a result of a rainy summer season. It appears Iggy has taken a page out of Dalton McGuinty's liar liar pants on fire strategy of stating something he himself knows to be untrue. It appears Iggy is boasting that if elected he will get rid of the $50 billion deficit without raising taxes. So without raising taxes that would mean one of a few things:

1. Iggy plans on massive spending cuts. But where to cut? Health care.? Maybe. Put our healthcare system through the Chretien/Martin debacle all over again. Cut funding to the arts? Oops, better avoid that one, Remember the last election Iggy? I know. Let's change the rules for EI eligibility. That could bring in over $54 billion over the years. And you could save money by cancelling that EI reform blue ribbon panel.

2. Increases in government revenues. This might be a tough one without those tax increases Iggy just promised to avoid. I suppose he might insist on balancing the budget with increased revenues, but that would be the exact opposite of what Kevin Page and TD economist and uber-Liberal Don Drummond said could happen.

3. He could save millions by eliminating the vote subsidy thingy. Oops, never mind. Just remembered that whole coalition thing that supposedly was a result of those subsidies being eliminated.

4. Phone his BFF, Barak Obama, and ask if he might be willing to add another $50 billion onto that gazzilion U.S. deficit.

5. Come up with Adscam 2, the sequel. Only this time figure out how to get the advertising agencies to give the government money for nothing.

6. Hold $500 dinners 365 days a year, with all proceeds going to the federal treasury.

7. Have John McCallum do a series of Chevrolet commercials, increasing the sales of GM cars and making it more likely to recoup that auto-bailout money.

8. Appoint Bob Rae finance minister. Iggy said he wouldn't raise taxes. He never said Bob Rae wouldn't.

9. Increase lobster sales to China, something the Conservative government has disappointingly overlooked as a massive revenue generator.