...Paul Martin should be allowed to ever draw another paycheque from the Canadian taxpayer after today.
There were many notables in the Commons for his speech and some notable no-shows. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin, for example, was not in the House — even though both he and former Prime Minister Chretien were praised by Karzai for their commitment to Afghanistan. In fact, there were more than a dozen Liberal MPs — and perhaps as many two dozen — who were absent for the speech. This is all the more odd because it was the Liberals, of course, who first sent Canadian troops into Afghanistan. By comparison, I did not see an empty seat among the Conservative, BQ, or NDP benches.
What a disgrace.
Paul Martin was a failure as PM and we were paying him then so not much different. He is not interested in sitting as an ordinary MP and he will not be running again so he's telling his riding to go to Hell by not showing up. Let's hope they won't be stupid enough to elect another Liberano.
This is proof the man has no scruples.
It is no doubt eating his guts out to see Harper and the Conservatives doing such a superior job.
Yep. It is a disgrace, seeing as how the Afghanistan mission is a Liberal mission. What whould be even more disgraceful, though, is if Stephen Harper loses the next election because of foreign policy:
"A recent poll commissioned by the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations found that one-third of those surveyed believe Mr. Harper favours Israelis over Arabs.
The same poll, conducted by SES Research, also found that 54 per cent said they would consider changing their vote in the next election based on the government's Middle East policy."
www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=7af13fc3-037a-427c-b20b-7de592279f21&p=2
There is a chance that his seat could go CPC....all depends on the polls....but his seat could go.
I think the CPC will be rewarded for running a solid government. Remember the predictions were for Joe Clark like bumbling.
And isnt it nice that all we have discussed is policy and not scandal. How quickly you forget that this is how it should be and how bad it really was.
In all fairness, the Liberals do have a party leadership race distracting them. Martin not being a candidate, last I heard of, that's no excuse for him, but there may be reasons for other Lib MPs' absence that aren't merely opportunistic protest-the-action-we-initiatied-because-now-our-opposition-successors-are-being-more-persistent-about-it displays.
Anonymous sources say that AdScam Chretien/Paul Martin, Jr., and Cut'n Run Rae's Uncle, Mo Strong, are in China. Wrong! Them's in Ukraine.
Chretien believes, in his own mind, that he is Prime Minister of Canada. ...-
Further development of mutually profitable bilateral relations with Lithuania remains among priorities of the Ukrainian foreign policies, Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk said at a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas in New York.
Borys Tarasyuk stressed the importance of cooperation of two states in the context of European and Euro - Atlantic integration of Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Andriy Deshchytsia.
While discussing cooperation within the United Nations, the Ukrainian Minister thanked his Lithuanian counterpart for the Lithuanian Seimas' recognition of the 1932 - 1933 Famine in Ukraine as the genocide against Ukrainians and expressed his hope for Lithuania's support of Ukraine in pressing for the UN GA's passing the relevant resolution, too.
The parties agreed upon stepping up activities of east European countries, with a view of forwarding Ukraine's initiative of the region's priority right to obtain the post of Secretary General in 2012 - 2017.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk also met with former Prime Minister of Canada, and presently a lawyer with a leading Canadian law firm "Heenan Blaikie" Jean Chretien.
During the meeting the Ukrainian Foreign Minister aired Ukraine's appreciation of Canada's intention to include Ukraine into the group of 25 countries for the Canadian technical aid program.
In his turn, Mr Chretien said, while passing the above mentioned decision, Ukraine's strive for assertion of democratic values and large positive experience of the bipartite cooperation between Ukraine and Canada were taken into account. ...-
voy forums
'Anyone else old enough to remember the wonderful Leo G. Carroll playing the role of "Topper," a ghost who frequently appeared and then disappeared?
Casting no aspersions on Mr. Carroll, perhaps we can, in addition to calling ex-PMPM Mr. Dithers, add Mr. Disappearing Dithers or Mr. Topper Dithers.
The guy was a no-show when he was in office (he only seemed to be half "there" most of the time, with that deer caught in the headlights look on his face) and he's a no-show now.
No surprises, just extremely disappointing--disgusting, really.
I'm with Damian: No more paycheques for the Disappearing Act, Mr. Topper Dithers.
Agreed. Martin and Chretien should be ashamed of themselves. I really hope this turns into a big deal and they get some public-face-slapping in return.
He draws a paycheque because he's still the MP of his riding, albeit a backbencher.
He draws a paycheque because life as an MP is more than appearances at addresses of heads of state. Remember Harper's absence from the Toronto AIDS conference? This falls under the same category. Yes, it's nice that the leader of Afghanistan has praised Canada, but that doesn't require his presence.
The man is obviously not going to run again in the next election. He'll look after his constituency, and collect a solid pension cheque once the writ is dropped (and let's not forget, he *did* do a good job as finance minister), and fade into the sunset along with the rest of his Liberal contemporaries.
So let's cut the guy some slack. Given that he learned the hard way that he sucked at his job, there's no need to rub it in.
I doubt that her has much spare time to do his offical job due to the time he has to committ to CSL(ssssssshhhhhhh) and other buseness for Power Corp (another ssshhhh)
I ment he ......I think
Phantom..i might be able to overlook Martins absence if he was away on pressing matters(?)..but what of the 24 or so no-shows from the Liberal caucus?
Seems to me there is a high probability that many of these same people were no shows at the take note debate.
I also hope (though assume otherwise) that the full contingent of dippers had their collective horizons widened when Mr.Karzai spoke.
One can only dream...
Martin is a disgrace. For the man who so grandiosely yelled "I love Canada", it appears he now loves China more. Martin's love-in with Canada was evident only as long as he was top dog and we were of use to him. China is welcome to all the 'Demarais' lapdogs (Chretien, Martin, Rae brothers, Mo Strong, etc) None of them deserve to be Canadians.
Of course the Librano fat asses are tight with China. They are drawn to kickbacks, bribery, scandal like moths to a porch light.
In the interests of fairness, it was rumoured that PM has severe back problems (inset snide remark here) recently. that may have been why he wasn't in attendance but I highly doubt it.
Has anybody checked the street corners in PQ, he could be out there as we speak fighting the BQ.
Regards Jake
Gee, maybe he pulled a no-show because when Mr. Karzai thanked him he'd have to say something like "you're welcome", thereby reconfirming that it was a Liberal government that sent our troops to Afstan in the first place. One can imagine the squirming in Liberal quarters.
Can't top that "Back Problem" thing!
Kinda spells out who's really concerned about Afghanistan, doesn't it?
Just couldn't resist responding to the above post about PM "doing" a good job when he was Finance Minister. This is the FM that cut back funding to the provinces for health care, cut back funding to the RCMP, cut back funding for our armed forces, etc, etc. In the last ten years we've had Mounties posted to the North with no Artic footwear, Armed forces posted to a desert war theatre in jungle camo, and Canadians sent to America for life saving operations, and we still get these Liberal backers thinking that they 'DID' a good job. How soon we forget that these screw-ups should have been sued in a class action suit for running this country into the ground.
Phantom,
Not attending Parliament (when something of National importance is taking place there) is the same as Harper not attending a medical conference????
Uhmmmm, MP stands for member of PARLIAMENT. That's, you know, their place of work.
The better analogy would be not attending the aids conference if one were, say, a senior board member of one of Canada's leading aids organizations.
Phantom Observer: LMAO: "Remember Harper's absence from the Toronto AIDS conference? This falls under the same category."
No way it's in the same category at all. What alternate universe do you live in, anyway?
Give Paul Martin some slack? Why should anyone give him some slack? He has an opportunity now, after having been a lack-lustre PM, to be a decent and hard-working Opposition member, but what does he choose to do, instead?
He disappears off the face of the earth, even though he's being paid by the Canadian taxpayer to be a member of the Opposition. He and his Liberal Government started the Canadian military initiative in Afghanistan, so why the H*ll wasn't he in the House of Commons to welcome Prime Minister Karzai?
Lame, lame excuses for Topper Dithers, Phantom Observer. Hey, maybe because you're a Phantom, you can see things we can't...
All I see is a quitter. A poor loser. A most ungracious Member of Parliament. A poseur. A guy playing dirty politics. A guy saying "I'm taking my marbles home; I'm not playing anymore."
No example for my kids of "a leader", that's for sure.
ADSCAM,ADSCAM, ADSCAM! the biggest scandal in the history of Canada and we have people here criticising a new government of less than a year trying to get through the mess left by decades of sleazey practices. Adscam is only the biggest, there are others.
Paul Martin was in over his abilities as Prime Minister, that was obvious every time he opened his mouth. He got the job he coveted for decades and then had no idea how to handle it.
He was a charlatan. He is right to hide. We've seen enough of him.
If those men are in China it is to dismantle all the front companies they set up to broker money from canada for Kyoto credits. Another loss of income for the librano party hacks. What is all the talk about aids, Keith Martin was upset Harper didn't mention it, why should he. Aids is a self-inflicted life style choice disease. If the homosexuals of canada and the US had not spent so much time trying to deny this, it would never have spread like it has. Hows the drivers lawsuit coming, and again, how will he prove he was not Pierre's lover. How many gay mps are there in the liberal and ndp caucus.
Any bets Paul Martin will surface at the United Nations ?? Thanks to Maurice Strong. Any Bets Bob Rae Will succeed as Liberal Party leader ?? Thanks to MS. Maurice strong helped make PET and Mulroney and Chretien. PM Harper ??.. not a chance. No I didn't forget PMPM, wasn't made. Failed.
Rae will also get a big boast from Power Corp and the media. Thanks to Uncle MO. Why world polls now ? Simple. Can just see the headline to come;
WORLD POLL SAYS RAE BEST TO LEAD CANADA
Thanks MO, for One WORLD GOVERNABCE, EARTH CHARTER, KYOTO, OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL, THE UN, PETRO CAN, ONTARIO HYDRO RAIN FORREST. All that from Oak Lake, MB.
I hardly think that SH not appearing at a medical conference is the same as an MP not sitting in Parliment.
Talk about apples to oranges.
Looks like it might be useful for The Tories to lift Chretien's passport...
Hey i though that canadians voted that dweeb out
Does anyone have the list of the Libs NOT attending today(and any other members of Parl. for that matter)I would be very interested to know who didn't have the class,dignity,respect to show. Thanks in advance,Sammy
"... but there may be reasons for other Lib MPs' absence..."
Maybe they were rallying with Nasrallah in Beirut.
I seem to recall Cretien didn't attend the aids convention when it was last in Canada, and no one thought it was a big deal. It wasn't. Those conferences cost a lot of money and serve no useful purpose. They are pure politics. No responsible leader would attend. I applaud Mr. Cretien and Mr. Harper both for staying away. But even though Mr. Cretien is no longer in government, it would have been common courtesy to attend the Commons for Mr. Karzai.
Glad you pointed it out Damian, even though most of us had not forgotten.
These days that is how we spell all things lieberal... "D-I-S-G-R-A-C-E"
The Aids "Conference" did serve a very important purpose, it was a Lefty Love-In. It gave Stephen Lewis another chance to emote and cry in public over the Aids epidemic in Africa. The epidemic, which no matter how much we emote and send aid,the problem is still there.
Maybe we need to take another approach.
Mr. Harper's attendance at the Love-In would have served no purpose except provide a chance for the Loopy-Left to Boo him. Much as they Booed a gift horse like Bill Gates when he suggested perhaps abstenence might be one way to stop the scourge.
Chretien didn't attend when he was PM.Not a whimper.
Amazing how Mr. Dithers, now that he can no longer directly funnel taxpayer money to CSL, no longer sees the need to grace Parliament with his presence.
"Give Paul Martin some slack? Why should anyone give him some slack?"
Because he spent the better part of his career chasing the top job in the nation, only to learn first-hand that he wasn't qualified to do it. How would YOU like it if you had landed your dream job, and then got fired a year later because you were declared incompetent? Well, that's how Martin feels right now.
There's no way that Paul Martin will be running in the next election; he said as much in his concession speech back in January. He's on his way out, and therefore there's no further point wasting bandwidth to criticize him. Why kick a man when he's already down and not getting up again?
And the reason this meeting and the AIDS conference are similar is that, in the end, they are NOT defining moments. Harper's non-attendance did not damage his poll numbers. Martin's non-attendance is just another dent in a damaged reputation that's not going to get better in any case.
There were not two dozen Liberal MPs absent. Several of us on our side of the House counted 51 Liberals present, meaning 50 Liberal MPs -half of their caucus - didn't show for this historic moment, which was in large part a salute to Canada's soldiers. What a disgrace.
They had they same lack of respect for the Prime Minister's historic speech aknowledging the injustice of the Chinese Head Tax in June. Over half the Liberal MPs were no shows.
Thanks for the info Jason, looks like they decided to cut and run for weekend frolics.
Harper's speeches and demeanor on the World stage is too much for them, they're a hurtin' bunch.
The names of those absent should be widely circulated in their ridings. Are they the same ones who missed the vote to send the troops, or on the budget. Message to libranos, just because your days at the trough are over does not mean you are not supposed to at least show up to represent your constituents. Great amunition for your oppenent next election.