It would seem that without an agreed upon "vision" and without a notable recognized individual with leadership skills, the determination of the leadership of the Liberal party will be "deals"; a "what do I get if I come over to you" scenario. Why would I be surprised. It always seems to be how can I get more power when it comes to politics, especially in the liberal party.

125 fewer voters on second ballot than first.

It looks like Iggy is dead in the water. I guess Rae's walk to Iggy is all about keeping solidarity in the powercorp camp.

Rae days on the horizon? I'm off to vote for Morton!

Syncro

Stephane Dion, whose record is worse than that of George Bush on GHG emissions, is claiming to be the green candidate. And all of these clowns save Iggy still support Kyoto, notwithstanding the data which says that if we remove every car and truck from the road we still won't make the targets. If I were a Conservative strategist I'd be saying "yum".

"Dryden is giving an impassioned "I want my big government back" speech to his delegates. "

Exile the SOB to Russia. Seriously, he played on the wrong team in 72; based on his words and policies he's an outright communist who, like Mark Tewksbury, thinks anyone who opposes him is a redneck.

Captain Hairdo just went to Dion.

Rae walks to Iggy? What are you smoking? Kennedy just walked to Dion. Combined votes are around 1800, first place.

You haven't been paying attention, Andy.

To clarify Andy, Rae went to Iggy, shook hands, mumbled some platitudes about we're all friends here and may the best man win, the good of the party blahblahblah...

And although I couldn't quite tell for sure, he SEEMED to scoping out the area of Iggy's back between the fourth and fifth rib...you know, to ensure ease of the entry of the knife...

All the radio said (that I heard, anyway) was that Rae and Ignatieff had publicly embraced around the time the second round results were in.

This doesn't mean that Rae will support Ignatieff: it could mean the reverse. It does suggest that one of these two outcomes will happen, however.

Rae and Iggy were running as a tag-team from the beginning. Right now, they're both figuring out how to prevent Dion from his outside shot of sneaking up the middle for a victory. Rae wants it more, though, and will promise Dion the world for his support. Iggy will then embrace his old College buddy again, and be his right-hand man (or slink back to Harvard). But the fix was in a long time ago - Power backed both Rae & Iggy to stack the deck and ensure one of them would win.

i looks like it could be a win for bankrupt bob and power corp, just keep those brown envelopes of cash coming and he and his team will be out of debt in no time. the voters of ontario will surely endorse the man who put them into the big leagues of debt.

I posted a comment at the CBC News election blog and got an Editor to reply. Here's the bit:

Robert Q.
Toronto

This is all just a Liberal infomercial, paid for by Canadian taxpayers. Besides, the fix is in anyway...Bob Rae will win because that's what Power Corporation wants and its Power Corporation that runs the Liberals.

EDITOR'S NOTE: CBC-TV and CBC-Radio coverage of this Liberal leadership convention is the same style as it was in March 2004 for the Progressive Convervative leadership convention that elected our current prime minister as party leader. CBC.ca's online coverage of this convention is more advanced than in 2004, reflecting the evolution of the web. CBC.ca had a reporter at the 2004 Conservative convention but was not using real-time blogging technology at that time.

Looks like they're sensitive to suggestions of bias. Notice the use of the word "style"? Same coverage "style". I'll let your memories be the judge of that.

Anti this, anti that ?? Whatever. But is there no limit to appeasement ??

Would Dion not be the fourth Lib leader in a row from Quebec ?? .. Including Mulroney, 10 straight(almost) Prime Minsterships out of Quebec ?? .. Dion, a PM from another so-called nation ?? .. A citizen of France ?? Boggles.

In 20 minutes I have to be at the poll to scrutinize for Morton. Should be all over by the time I get back home. Seems a strong ABI is in the room. Dion is least likely to win a fed election according to a pollster. Rae supporters will not vote Iggy, so I think the fourth ballot will see a lot fewer voters. The environment is a big issue, and Dion did nothing for 13 yrs on Kyoto. I really don't believe the environment will be the deciding issue in the next election. It will be, not another que PM who can't speak either language well.

robert q:
my sentiments exactly- on both issues.

I'll see you at the poll Synchro.
It looks like Rae Days to me as well. I really want a firewall around Alberta for the next while. At least until the next federal election is over. If Harper gets his majority (please)we'll have time then to decide if Morton is a keeper or not. If the Libs take the federal prize (shudder) we'll NEED that firewall. Plus, if Alberta goes with liberal candidate Dinning and the fed goes liberal, look for Alberta Alliance gains. That's a problem because the AA is kind of weird, not scary, just weird. Not enough Albertans would switch, which might let the provincial libs run right up the middle. One possibility is that enough true PC candidates would move to the Alliance to make it comfortable for PC voters to follow. I wonder how the Alliance would view that.

NCF TO: 'Am in total agreement with your views on tag-team Iggy/Rae. I suspect that if Rae gets it (Iggy's was a far from winning speech last night; it's like he was sedated so he wouldn't make any untoward gaffes this late in the day), Iggy and his wife will gladly head back to Boston.

I don't sense any fire in Ignatieff's belly for this job--in fact, just the opposite. Now that he's been up here for a little while, sitting on the Liberal benches I kinda get the feeling that he's wondering "What the H*ll am I doing here?"

Robert Q.

This is all just a Liberal infomercial, paid for by Canadian taxpayers. Besides, the fix is in anyway...Bob Rae will win because that's what Power Corporation wants and its Power Corporation that runs the Liberals.

How unhappily true. I have no doubts that Ontario will vote in Bob Rae again. Why?

Because he will launch a program of systematic looting of Alberta, & the West in general. Put those Westerners in there place with a full out kind of pogrom. This will go down well in the East & Quebec. The politics of envy will turn this Nation into a corpse.

A divided one at that. Alberta will go. We don't talk we do the walk. No one hear wants yet another Quebec crook in power. Nor a fantasist with delusions of big government being a messiah.

It's why I voted for Morton as soon as I woke up.

People forget the civil war in the US was about federal powers versus State rights. We have not had that confrontation as of YET. Will this be a federalist federation of one Province dominating all? Or an equal partnership of peoples with simular goals? This next election may answer this question.

Just my opinion.

WHO GIVES A DEAD GOPHERS LEFT NUT?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Interviewing Lapierre right now: "some of these people came into the party only 6 months ago, we are all bon amis, I am an old hack from 1979..."

The question I'd have asked: "Except for that interval from 1993-2003 when you were with the Bloc Quebecois..."

Polly,

If Rae Days are coming back, I'd like a firewall around Ontario too - sigh...

I hear you, Ace.
Interestingly, some folks (Kinsella for one) are figuring that Iggy will go to Dion in an anybody but Rae movement.
It's brain damagingly difficult to imagine Dion beating Harper. It hurts so good.
I still want the firewall because Kyoto is NEPII. Although, reflecting on what little Dion has done for the environment, maybe it's just another lib campaign promise. Deja vu all over again.

I don't understand Kinsella's logic. Iggy and Rae are old college buddies. Iggy has no allegiance or history with Dion - who would be a useless National candidate, as well. I'd love to see Warren with egg on his face once again.

I'm just happy Rae is out.

Rae is toast!
One closet communist threat gone.

There are some things that friendships don't withstand...time, distance, political disagreement come to mind.
I like to see Kinsella wearing egg too.

WOW!

Kennedy sways tide away from Rae and over to Dion.

Who would have thunk it?

Not that it matters at all, but Dion seems to have a hint of integrity clearly missing in chamilion Bob Rae. = TG

Well, Dion's the big winner on the third ballot.

Rae's out (I guess I'll have to eat my hat; fortunately, I don't wear hats) and now everyone's wondering who's going to get his votes.

Over at Stephen Taylor's blog, the word is that the grassroots of the LPC are telling the backroom boys that they WON'T tell them how to vote, which is why Dion has surged ahead.

This race is now anybody's guess, now that it looks like Power Corp et al. are being thwarted. Will Rae give Iggy--who just spouted "This is just a fantastic Party" (or did he mean the convention is "just a fantastic party"?)--the votes needed for a Power Corp coup, or is the worm turning?

Who will be best--meaning a win for the CPC--against PM Stephen Harper: Dion or Ignatieff?

Rae is out and delegates free to go anywhere they want. Up for grabs I think.

Hahahaha!!
Rae's going to Dion. His delegates are free, but he's gone to Dion. So much for friendship. Oh wait, these are liberals and dippers.

Goodale, Axworthy with Dion . . .

Old gang, new *ethical* front in Dion.

Hmmm, probably will not fly. = TG

Ugh. I was hoping Rae would win, because I think Harper would fare the best against him. However, given the choice of Dion and Ignatieff, it seems to me that Dion is probably capable of winning an election, while Ignatieff might split votes with Harper and *shudder* bring on the rise of the NDP.

I'm going with Dion, though, to be honest, I'm just slightly more interested in the Alberta race.

A wondering opportunist like Iggy could likely be bought quite easily by Power Corp.

Ummm...is this leadership "vote" going to be audited and observed by reputable (i.e. non-Liberal) people? Since when do Liberals run clean elections?

Didn't Power Corp have two dogs in this hunt?
Iggy could still take it if Rae can persuade his flock to go with Iggy.
Power Corp is still lurking.

Given the rift in the libs between the Chretien and Martin camps, is this rift healed with either Dion or Ignatieff winning?

Well it certainly looks like Dion is going to take the race. Many people were calling him nuts when he first announced he was running. Politics is truly a strange business.

Joe Molnar asks, "Didn't Power Corp have two dogs in this hunt?...Power Corp is still lurking."

You can say that again!

France Chretien-Desmarais has just declared for Stephane Dion!

Iggy's lacklustre momentum doesn't seem to be speeding up; all the energy seems to be in the Dion camp.

Is Power Corp jumping to the front runner to keep its hand in?

Stay tuned!

Dion can pull Quebec and not offend Ontario. Question is Albereta and the West.

Dion has little personal baggage..= TG

"... is this rift healed with either Dion or Ignatieff winning?"

I think we are seeing a new rift in the making.

Has there ever been a better opportunity for mass arrests of the biggest criminal organization in Canada?

Apparently, in a recent poll, Stephane Dion's winability in a race with Prime Minister Stephen Harper is about 17%. Ignatieff was first, Bob Rae was second and Dion was way down the list.

'Wonder if this will still hold?

Bob Rae's walking around the convention floor, totally stunned at his defeat, as though he was lured into this leadership race with the "assurance" of a win. Sorry to say it, I don't like to luxuriate in another's misery, but it looks good on him.

He was altogether too smug last night. He's had the wind knocked right out of his sails. What does this loss mean? It's hard to see him running for a Liberal seat, unless he plays footsie with the winner, who looks very much like Stephane Dion.

On the other hand, if Power Corp is switching its "allegiance" to Dion, then Rae, in good (well, sort of) conscience, could run in the hopes of being made a Cabinet Minister if Dion were to win the next election.

Politics sure is promiscuous. 'Very strange bedfellows, indeed. I guess that's why the LPC are giving out all those condoms.

The optics aren't good for Stephane Dion being elected Canada's Prime Minister in the next election. For crying out loud, in the last 30 years, we've essentially had FOUR PMs from Quebec: Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien, and Martin. That's at least two too many.

I really don't think we need another one. In fact, I think we DON'T need another one.

Dion is not well loved in Quebec. Coming out against the nation notion won't win any nationalists to his camp and may offend even federalist Quebecers.
I can see little enthusiasm for ANOTHER Quebec Prime Minister in the west, been there and done that too many times. That's before we even think about Kyoto.
This should help Ted Morton today. Bring on the firewall.

Just wondering what will happen with the Igster,and Rae if they both lose?Do they stay in the family fold,or does Ig.ret.to the good old USofA?Does Ray ret.to his orange true roots?Will be interesting to see if they believe the crap they've been spinning,or if they drop out of sight? One can hope.

Forgot to add. If Dion wins. If one where suspicious enough, they could conclude this whole convention was a sham. To Install yet another quebecer- Frenchmen in power as PM.

Have an appearance of choice as well as free publicity with all the fuss of a convention poised with the chimera of change.

To render the CP gains in Quebec null, & at the same time assuage Ontario. By appearing like they had no choice but a francophone Leader. Who happens to be a shill for power corp.

Liberals would gain power & the freedom to loot again. The europianization of Canada would continue in multicultural socialism, while the liberal elite, stole more billions. With a willing media to hide there malfeasance.

i wanted bob to win so bad as i & many in ontario wanted to thank him again for his Rae Daze.

I think if he walks to Dion that there will have to be a promise that if dion ever became PM that he would be ambassador to say wherever?

29.5% of delegates voted for neither of the final two leadership hopefuls, The Lie-beral Party of Canada is fractured, no matter what they may otherwise claim publicly.

Revenant Dream,

It's all about holding the base in Vancouver/Lower Mainland, Toronto, and Montreal. Attacking Dion will be much tougher than Rae or Ignatieff and the sponsorship scandal might not stick. I think Dion has the potential to split the federalist vote in Quebec effectively enough to allow the Bloc to win.

The CPC has to hold Eastern Quebec - and look to gain just enough in suburban Toronto and the Maritimes to get a majority. It'll be closer though.

Talk about walking! Old Joe Volpe first walked over to the Rae camp and now that Rae is out, he's recalculated and moved over to Dion.

Who was it that said, "there's no whore like an old whore"? Brian Mulroney, as I recall.

The most important thing is that the delegates will get to the hockey game in time.

Who's Dion's chaufeur these days?

oops, I confused Dion with Pettigrew: different pile!

Jason Cherniak, Warren Kinsella, and Andrew Coyne think they know and they all seem on the same page: Stéphane Dion.

I'm not a huge fan as he's pretty milquetoast generally and not a defender of Israel specifically (unlike every other major Liberal candidate, he refused to issue a clear statement during the recent war with Lebanon), but then, it's their leader, not mine.

They really have slim pickings: Failed socialist leader even the unions turned against, well-heeled foreign-living academic who can't keep his foot from his mouth, young promising Gerard Kennedy, with nowhere near enough life experience, über-liberal Ken Dryden who's astonished and offended (and offensive when describing how) Conservatives are not liberals, ethically challenged freedom-of-Internet-speach control freak Joe Volpé, and Martha Hall Findley, smart long-range strategist, but too young with no profile (until now!), and Mr. Milquetoast.

So Stéphane Dion it is, maybe.
 
 
[reposted from subsequent thread]

If Morton wins in Alberta, it might alert Canadians to what Harper might look like in a majority government.

Go Morton.

Sikhs to Iggy
Saturday, December 2nd, 2006

more Sikh supporters of Kennedy have moved over to Iggy, this is in addition to the other Indo-Canadians who have moved to Iggy earlier. We are working to hear on a deal on something big with the Tamil delegates, who will hopefully come over to Iggy, addiing another 75 delegates.

I have been hearing that some […]

John Turner speaking to the Liebs right now and he said "we have to rebuild the party from the bottom up, not the top down."

So under John's reasoning we save the Lieberal leadership as is and replace all the underlings and minions working for the leadership?

Interesting definition of renewal for the Liberals if I do say so myself.

More stupidity from Jean Chretien :P

The Godfather comes back from china with a message from that other people's party...

Did Chretien win?

I'm watching Jean Cretin. He looks like a clone of Frankenstein. He sounds like the vacuous idiot he is. What a yesterday's man. What a yesterday's party.

He got one of his most enthusiastic responses by calling PMSH "Steve". Duh. But, the core of his meanderings have focused on PMSH. Good sign!

Go away, Jean.

"The Godfather just took the stage"

At first the fascination factor kept me watching, kind of like watching a train wreck. But after repeated bouts of throwing up in my mouth, I had to leave the room...

*reaches for the eye bleach*

And is it just me, or did John Turner appear to have one foot in the grave and the other on a bananna peel?

Listening to Creeton speak again reminds me how great it is to have Harper as PM and not this fool.

After Cretin's verbal vomit, I feel ill. I need a shower.

Cerberus hung around his keyboard until every other dog was hung. The last dog standing won.

Iggy is number one dog.

...-

That's it for me, folks
The voting is done. The die is cast.

I'm going up in a few minutes to be with the team and cheer on the awesome campaign of ideas that Ignatieff has led from the convention floor.

It truly is an amazing story, this brilliant scholar running for leadership, helping Liberals find their pride again, find their values and passion ...-
barf...arf...rf...CAW

John "Girly" Manley proclaimed Crouton's speech "electric" and said that had any of the 8 scumbags, er candidates, made a speech like that, we might be looking at a surprise winner.

And no one at the CBC thought to call *bs* on Manley.

"the godfather just took the stage"

There's never an "insurgent" around when you really need one.

John "Beaker" Manley, the Muppet Liberal.

Watch for the hand up his back.

Kate,

Change it back to "turn down the volume on you sets"...it's more appropriate when speaking of the Godfather

Petey can't get off his favourite question: "who's most Trudeau-like?"

What, you mean who's most likely to dress up as a Nazi, jump on a motorbike, and terrorize Quebec Jews?

I've had a busy day...turned on the tube for 2 lousy mins in time to hear the Cretin 'imply' that Harper 'stood outside a bathroom stall to speak with the Chinese leader...I wouldn't do THAT"....CBC is impressed with THAT...
Obviously, Libs are threatened by a real statesman being the leader of our country...no policies just try to bash Harper. TV is off now...gravol please....

The CBC camera was panning the crowd .. and there sat Mohammed "all Jews are targets" Elmasry.

Quite a big tent those Liberals have - including terrorist sympathizers.

Surely I'm not the only one to realize that we now will hava a choice between two steve's.

SD will be a very tough - the Toughest of the three finalists - to beat regardless of what the polls say.

The CP's dropping the ball on an environment policy that took effect immediately rather than 5 years from now will really hurt.

The biggest questions I have for Dion are:

What is his position regarding federal spending in provincial juristictions?

Does he favour a Carbon-tax?

The CP has to come out with some very aggressive tax-cuts and changes in the spring (income-splitting, doubling the childcare subsidy, chanages to Capital gains and personal tax rates) or put off the election for as long as possible.

Listening to the candidates and ex-PMs speak was a laugh-a-minute. Totally clueless about the conditions that a successful country needs.

If Iggy wins the Lieberals self destruct, they cannot handle his views on Iraq. He has also shown that he cannot string together a fact based sentence, lots of airy-fairy crap typical of the so-called academy..

If Dion wins the Lieberals support in Quebec approaches zero, the greens improve their chances, and the dipper-libs from Ontario are left bereft.Lots of fertile ground for the Conservatives.

All-in-all a great week for Canada but especially the Conservatives.

Forget Christmas we should celebrate this day for years to come.

How do you keep 4800+ aholes in suspense?

I'm just wondering, are my tax dollars being used to pay for this coronation? And I don't just mean whatever the CBC spends to broadcast ...

I've just sent this to the CBC Ombudsman under the title. "One Query and a Few Complaints". (As I watch, I could type all night, but have decided I'd rather not ruin my whole evening.)

"1) I'm just watching Newsworld coverage of the Liberal convention. (I can't remember when I last watched CBC "news".)

"Jean Chretien's just spoken. [I type slowly.]

"One of your commentators--I'm writing because I'd like to know who it was (not Peter M.)--has just said that Chretien's remarks were "self deprecating" and that he had made "clever little jabs at Stephen Harper".

"I'm interested in who made these comments because they are less than accurate.

"2) Mansbridge is just responding earnestly to John Manley's rah-rah comments about Chretien's speech. Does this CBC man--excuse the pun--have no sense of irony? E.g., no ability to be neutral or even APPEAR to be?

"3) Belinda had to READ her vacuous comments. Does CBC have no shame? Surely a better female commentator could have been found. (How about, among many, Diane Ablonzy or Rona Ambrose? Leading to . . . )

"4) Where are the Conservative spokespeople? (Rex Murphy's OK but not what's required here for "fair and balanced coverage".) My taxes are paying for this CBC-Liberal love-in.

"I guess you don't think it matters that Canadians notice the CBC's partisan antics. You're wrong.

"Conclusion: One of your commentators has just said, "They've [I don't know which camp] lost touch with what's happening in the rest of the room."

"Well, Mr. Carlin, the CBC's lost touch with the rest--outside of the Montreal-Toronto corridor (though I live there)--of Canada. This is unacceptable. (So is the juvenile coverage of this juvenile convention.)

"I'd appreciate hearing from you.

"Thanks."

No surprise, but the uber preening and fawning of both the convention itself and the CBC are nauseating.

Bless PMSH and all the Conservatives for their mature behaviour all the time, which includes staying out of our faces at every opportunity. I hope being the grown ups stands them in good stead when they face the "Baby: Watch Me! watch Me!" party in the next election.

Dion missed voting on the Liberal private members bill supporting Kyoto, go figure. Will he renounce his dual French/Canadian citizenship and become truly Canadian? The GG did just that.

More fun with online polls...
Whatever the outcome of the Liberal leadership race, do you think the Liberal party can defeat the current Harper government in a federal election?

http://www.canada.com/globaltv/ontario/index.html

h/t Joel at proudtobecanadian.ca

CBC Watcher,

Boag said that Harper is weak on foreign policy. Just like that, no attempt to attribute it to someone else, no weasely "some say." Nope, he expressed his own [incorrect] opinion as fact.

Waiting for the final result, a CBC commentator has just said, "The politicians are in the ring. We're not."

Oh yeah?

Smarten up, CBC. (That's definitely an oxymoron.) And, BTW, get out of the ring!

They're still counting votes?? I was outside shoveling more of that global warming dust that's all over my driveway. I thought this sad spectacle of a convention would be over by now.

Hyper crap on the tube waiting for the final result.

I've just thought, "Lucky Rae and Iggy!" They can leave this cesspool.

OK, now that it's decided, back up the paddy wagons, man the doors, and cuff each and every one of those criminals.

Oh sweet Jebus, who is that CBC moron woman asking Dion the questions about Harper?

Petey M says that Dion said he's going to offer a more generous government to Canada.

He made that up - Dion never said that.

CBCpravda "All Liberal , All the time"

latest headline
Chrétien to PM: 'Can I call you Steve, like George W.?'

L'anthem Officiel Du Canada

Allons enfants de la Patrie,

Le jour de gloire est arrivé !

Contre nous de la tyrannie [Conservateur]
L'étendard sanglant est levé.

Entendez-vous dans nos campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats,

Qui viennent jusque dans nos bras

Egorger nos fils et nos compagnes. ...

Vive La France.

...-

Chorus by Kyoto, the Husky dog:

OOOOwooo, OOOOwwwoooo...

...-

The tail again wags the liberal dog. Call me ill-mannered but this reeks of Quebec centric, Chretien connected politics.

Nice guy? No doubt.
Devouted to Canada. Yeah.
Understanding of or amenable to western aspirations. I think not.

But then look at the choices. A newly minted Liberal who happens to be a disreptutable ex-premier, who wants to take the party further to the left and a deep but not quick thinking academic who just wants to take the party. Imagine the audacity - it's like Ignatieff was picked up by some corporate/academic head-hunting company who promised that if he took the new posting, he could probably lead the country.

Despite some paper losses on a couple of investment trusts, I'm still going to be working my ass off for my local conservative, this election.

With the GG and Dion being French, I'm reminded of Russell Crowe's line in Master + Commander: Far Side of the World which would do well in a Conservative campaign ad:

Aubrey: Do you want to see a guillotine in Calgary?
Crew: No!
Aubrey: Do you want to call that raggedy arse Chirac your king?
Crew: No!
Aubrey: Do you want your children to sing the Marseillaise?
Crew: NO!

Vote Conservative and Stand For Canada!
Vote Harper!

Mississauga Matt, VERY sorry to say that, after being goaded by the disembodied CBC harpy, M Dion indeed did say that he would be "more generous" than Stephen Harper's government. We'll see. . .

What small regard I might have had for the new Liberal leader quite evaporated at that point.

so this is how Canada ends not with a Yank (Iggy) but with a simper( Dion)

So much for the Liberals re vitalizing the party and moving forward. For all the talk, they went back to a Chretian/Martin, Francophone, Adscam era Cabinet Minister. Harper must be salivating at the thought of taking on Dion in an election. Dion sided with Harpers Quebecois motion (no unity card to play against Harper). As environment Minister, Dion led the Liberal inaction on Kyoto (now he is the Kyoto champion), Liz May will give him grief on that file. The other great thing about the result was that Brison threw his support to Iggy. Now he is done! Iggy looked like he just wanted to go back to Harvard.
It almost seemed like the Liberals did what the PC's did to Campbell in 93. Hanging him out as the fall guy until some real contenders come to the plate with a lot less baggage.

I noticed that Orchard was near Dion: freaks.

And why doesn't the MSM mention that this guy is a citizen of France? They did state htat he was an "intellectual" that studied at the Sorbonne and understood "foreign affairs".

O No ... the liberals are united, they said so ... must be true.

oh u poor buggers.

u re trying to paint dion as being french when u urselves have compromised canada by electing an american. dion, you might recall, is hated in quebec cos his plan b is one of the most powerful arguments against separatism.

or maybe thats y u hate him. u re so obsessed with ur money that u d rather have an independent alberta than a strong canada.

harper got in on the apathy of voters like me who protest voted against that inept paul martin. not anymore. we ve got a winner this time round. hes smart. he doesnt carry political baggage. and, most importantly, he is canadian, unlike steve, the American governor of Canada.

Stephane Dion is the opposition. This is Soooooo good! We win.

Thank god the liberal love in is over - although we will have to have a couple of weeks of fluffing and fawing over the new leader.

I just about rolled on the floor laughing when someone(Mr. Beer and Popcorn Reid??) said that as someone who believed in a united Canada, Dion was going to be popular in the west and Stephen Harper's base was going to erode.

Riiiiggghhhttt - another French Canadian Liberal leader - just what the west has been waiting for

I'm relaxing--at least for now: Dion's speech is no more than vacuous platitudes.

I'm almost sorry. I'm SO tired of the "way down deep they're really shallow" mode of most Canadian politics----before the CPC and PMSH.

Dion's just said, "Bob Rae's a great Liberal," and "You have before you [on the podium] a dream team." Gag.

And Good Lord, deliver us.

"Dion's just said, "Bob Rae's a great Liberal," ..."

It's the truth.

canadion (cute!) just wrote, "harper got in on the apathy of voters like me who protest voted against that inept paul martin. not anymore. we ve got a winner this time round. hes smart. he doesnt carry political baggage. and, most importantly, he is canadian, unlike steve, the American governor of Canada."

Is canadion ignorant or is this person just stupid?

Dion: Canadian? Well, yes, half of him is.

Harper: American? Get real, canadion.

I think we will win a majority gov't with Dion as leader of the Liberals. It's a nice bonus to see Bob Rae $800,000 in hock with nothing to show for it. Kind of like how he left Ontario.

lloyd,Craig etc.now kissing Cretin's ass in the booth!What a love-fest,with Duff chiming in about all the warmth in the room..get me a barf bucket.

I squirmed when Martin in his speech just before introducing Dion as the new leader, talked about the poor aboriginal people. Who formed the government for the past 12 years, Chretien and Martin that's who and they want to blame PMSH for the plight of the first nations.

I'd like to see that debated with Harper.

Wow, the final scene on Global as it left the liberal love fest was a picture of Paul Martins smirking face with U2's "In the name of love" playing. Sickening!

And now a documentary about the life of John Turner? , this is blatent sickening propaganda.

Iggy might have fooled enough Canadians into thinking he was the second coming of Trudeau to be a threat to PMSH mandate. Rae might have sucked some of the NDP vote back to the Liberals. But Dion...is a gift form the Liberals to the Conservatives. As soon as Dion opens his mouth everyone knows what baggage he comes with. We're sick of Prime Ministers from Quebec and it ain't going to happen again for a long time. Bring on the election! The conservatives have nothing to worry about; the MSM is losing their influence; the Canadian voters will vote Conservative!

If JEAN CHRÉTIEN can call Stephen Harper "Steve"

does he call the new liberal leader Stephane Dion
"Steff" .

two solitudes , Stephen and Stephane

I've just popped off another note to the CBC ombusman:

"7: 12 p.m., Newsworld: CBC's coverage of the Conservative leadership race describes the Alberta Conservative Party as "diverse and fractured".

Funny, I watched the Liberal leadership race for over two hours on the same channel today and recall no such language being used to describe the differences within the federal Liberal Party.

Is this fair and equitable coverage?"

Round and round it goes. Where it stops . . . ?

I hope the CPC wins a majority and gives the elitist, hypocritical CBC just what it deserves.

It's been a very, very long time since I was a Liberal supporter. But, Dion has at least the possibility of being a strong opponent in any upcoming election, assuming, of course, that his party can marshall an effective campaign mechanism. He doesn't appear to have any noticable baggage (in the scandal sense), he comes across as a reasonably decent guy, he's obviously bright.

Funny, in yesterday's mail I received yet another request for "just one more donation" from CPC. I was going to trash it, on the basis that I sort of felt that I had given more than my share.

I retrieved it, and contributed some more. I really don't think that we should under-estimate this guy. No solid definitive reasons for it, just a feeling...

Some comic relief...

coming to an Alberta near you...-

Newfie Joke:

DANNY WILLIAMS' [Newfy Premier] ANTI-HARPER ROAD SHOW
Danny Williams says he will campaign across Canada against Stephen Harper if the prime minister does not back up a written pledge on equalization made during the last election campaign. (national
newswatch)

There are more Newfies drinking/carousing/singing/voting now in Alberta than in any other province. (Stats Newfy)

Liberals keep talking about a spring election - is there something I don't know?

Hip, hip, hoorah! This person could not be more delighted. The only doubt I had about Dion, though I had suspected that the murmured approval of the old bankers would still put the fix in for Ignatieff, was whether Dion could handle the personable and friendly stuff that politicians seem to require as an accessory. His acceptance speech put an end to those doubts. You would think he was to the manor born. And he planted his political issue flag dead center with a thump: a sustainable environment.

The Cons will have to hide their inert Minister in this field, she has no chance against this guy now that the Liberals have a guy with a mandate, hardly any baggage at all, and apparently squeaky clean. Oh, the poor cons. Well, it could not happen to a nicer bunch.

And I see by the reaction already things to note.I was wondering if this blog was created by some cluster of slaves chained to a desk in the Canwest dungeons, but the devastating rage of the entries on this particular matter show it is very much the work of an individual. What a remarkable amount of work she has produced, and with what steady application. It is to wonder.

And the followers. There really are such people as one has heard of in Alberta. And I thought it was a sort of folk myth, like mosquitoes the size of small planes in the North.

Never mind folks, it is true that your hero will be dusted off and sent packing, and soon enough Stephen the Unready will be back to plucking quotes from a 19th Century landlord's stooge, but look at the good side. We do not go from a zero environment plan to a genuine one by renaming the Cons Clean Air Act as the Healthy Air Act do we? And it is getting clear that we really do need to act, to act rather seriously in fact. So we have to have a government to do it even though every one of us will have cause to curse it for doing what must be done.
So take heart from the fact we are now surely going to get what we need as a nation. Once again the center is necessary. So medicare will be saved? Yup. And the poor will not be throttled? Nope. And women at work will still have gradually expanding and inforceable rights. Yup. And we will get our people out of that angry boil of a place, Afganistan, now that we know we are the only country dumb enough to die for American policy. Absolutely. And a real environmental plan will come? Absolutely.
Just one thing. All these countries that have sent some soldiers to that place, with conditions attached (you know, no combat please) do they not have similar conditions attached to their transport. Do we have enough, or any equipment that is Canadian that is available for sure to get out of there quickly? I was wondering if the Cons government might attend to that.
For the rest, the future looks real good. An election in the Spring, a new government, and to start working our way out of a sea of troubles.

Like I said: Hip,
Hip, Hoorah!

Danny can start his tour in Alberta with that famous Newfie handshake - both palms up.

Yo Garhane - "The Cons will have to hide their inert Minister in this field, she has no chance against this guy now that the Liberals have a guy with a mandate"

Yeah a mandate that included being recognized as a "fossil" by environmental groups, a mandate that despite being in government for some 10 years, did not manage to do one thing for the "environment" he seems so taken with at present, a mandate that includes, once again, a leader from Quebec, a mandate that includes being part of a party that stole money from Canadians.

I wouldn't buy Stephen the bus ticket just yet.

Well at the very least, I think the MSM has gotten all of it's overt, gushing adoration for all things Liberal out of their collective systems, at least for the time being. Now they can go back to the subtle, pervasive support for the Liberals, while claiming impartiality, of course.

Couple of highlights (low-lights?):

Repeatedly hearing the Liberal Party refered to as the "natural governing party" not by LPC members, but by representatives of our independant media. It's some great democracy we have here isn't it.

The obvious "paving of the way" for the future corronation of Liberal Party messiah, and Canadian royalty Justin Trudeau.(once again by our impartial MSM representatives) gag

Oh, and the spit take of the night, Dion's claim that Bob Rae understands current economics. (Well his understanding of economics couldn't have gotten any worse, could it)

Just after the third ballot, France Chretien Desmarais (Jean's daughter and Paul Demarais' daughter-in-law) declared her support for Stephane Dion.

Who would have known that Power Corp would support Stephane Dion? I guess they just like to back winners and seeing as their two horses in the race lost, they quickly shifted their support to Dion.

Maybe your feeling, Bruce, that CPC supporters shouldn't underestimate Dion is more than just a feeling. With Desmarais/Power Corp/Chretien support, there's a lot that Dion could "accomplish."

My neighbours had never heard about Paul Desmarais and Power Corp until I told them the long, sordid story today. If you're CPC, start spreading the story, start telling your friends, families, and neighbours about this Power Cabal, because the MSM sure as heck isn't going to.

Garhane - what exactly is a "sustainible environment"?

Dion isn't so much a leader as he is a "sustainable" drinking game until his English improves.

All Danny has to do is to convince out of province Newfies to do like the East Indians here do - send money home (but to the government not to their families).

I must admit to a few surprises. I thought Kennedy would go one more round but it seems he and Dion had settled on a price some weeks ago.

Secondly, I thought the powercorp twins would back one or the other in the end. This leads me to believe that Paul D. is really pissed right now or he had the lib. sense to back the darkhorse too. I suppose if there are any significant connections in that direction it's only a matter of time before they are exposed.

Kate rightly notes that the result is all about "the least offensive". In doing so the Libs have played to their base. I guess nobody was listening too much to Dean eh? Incidently..is this not the crime Harper is guilty of?

Interesting days ahead.The libs opt for their third consecutive leader from Quebec. Harper is "uncanadian" and Dion is a dually.

Later tonight we'll know what Alberta has to offer to this eclectic mix. If Morton wins this country has a chance. If Dinning wins....watch the decimation of the Alberta PC's in the next election by the Alberta Alliance. If Stelmach wins I'll be too damn confused to hazard a guess on the sun rising tommorrow.

God help us!!

Syncro

All supporters of the Conservative Party can now do a happy dance. Merry Christmas, Mr. Harper!

The Liberals rejected Ignatieff, who would have given the Tories a run for their money, and instead chose a leader who has annoyed Quebeckers by his support for the Clarity Act. As for the rest of Canada, I suspect the typical voter will find Dion to be somewhat less than charismatic.

For once, the mainstream media got it right. This is how Reuters began their news story:

"Canada's opposition Liberals on Saturday unexpectedly chose former Environment Minister Stephane Dion as their new leader, overlooking his political shortcomings that could undermine the party in an election widely expected next year."

More of the same crapola from the Libranos: the old boys will rule by proxy through Dion. Iggy and Rae were not "made men", so were not allowed to lead the family.

As Celine Dion would say, "God bless Canada"!

Garhane makes a totally inane "observation": "...the devastating rage of the entries on this particular matter show it is very much the work of an individual. What a remarkable amount of work she has produced, and with what steady application. It is to wonder."

What's to wonder at is this guy's/gal's idiocy. Sure, Kate has danced as fast as she can for the past 33 hours to come up with all of this "rage" (about 125 posts worth), while she manages a blog with a lot of other threads on it, her dogs, and her day job.

Garhane obviously has memory problems; s/he can't recall M. Dion's total inaction on the environment--talk doesn't equal action, the fact that his Librano Party has stolen million$ from Canadian taxpayers that they haven't bothered to pay back, that Canadians have pretty much had their fill of Francophone PMs (who, for some reason, all seem to be intimately connected with Power Corp), and that M. Dion is a DUAL CITIZEN OF CANADA AND FRANCE.

There's no way Dion should ever be considered for the PM's job as a citizen of another country. The GG had to give her dual citizenship up in order to become GG, so that should be the first thing Dion does as the Leader of the Loyal Oppostion. His loyalties to Canada are remarkably compromised right now.

Another message from me to the CBC ombudsman:

"Don Newman's just finished his postmortem with Robin Sears, Stephen LeDrew, and Allan Bonner.

"Where was the Conservative in this cozy little gab-fest?

"As I said, I've been watching for a few hours--about three now--and I'm still waiting to see a bona fida CPC spokesperson.

"You've covered the Liberal leadership convention with my tax dollars. As a proud supporter of the CPC and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, I'd like to know how the CBC has represented my viewpoint today.

"I look forward to your response."

I know the response will be the same dissembling the CBC has always has the audacity to posit. I register my concerns only for a paper trail. Equity and fairness from the CBC? Not on your life.

where is the CPC interview.
I guess they were here and couldnt be interviewed. this is only a step away from the Libs withdrawing their candidate so Joe (Im so slow) Clark could win in Calgary Central

just in from CTV(tass)
Tories claim role in getting Rae knocked off

3w.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061202/liberals_tories_061202/20061202?hub=TopStories

Say Garhane,

If this is an example of your being happy.......another sad-sack lefty

I did a great job of ignoring the convention until a family member asked to check things out, right at the pivotal moment as it turned out.

I though the MSM didn't approve of national leaders who wern't fluent in both languages???

And who was the moronic CBC reporter shouting at Dion right after he won?

check out the Rae and Dion picture on this page. Rae has more of a Scooter Brison look.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061202/dion_wins_061202/20061202?hub=TopStories

Until Stephan Dion renounces his status as a CITIZEN OF FRANCE he should not be sworn in as leader of HER MAJESTIES LOYAL OPPOSITION.

Until Stephan Dion renounces his status as a CITIZEN OF FRANCE he should not be sworn in as leader of HER MAJESTIES LOYAL OPPOSITION.

I should have read all the posts....but I just got in from work. So princess Demarais anointed the king eh.

Garhane you are a funny man/gal. Dion's record on the environment is abysmal once the rhetorical bullshit is removed.

But then there is his "decency" to count on right? Check this out from Cherniak:

I'm standing infront of the Dion box in a throng of people. As I watch the screen, I see the faces of all the people now supporting Dion. Martha, Gerard, Ken, Joe, Justin, Allan.

Through the central aisle walks the staff of the man who may soon be the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Somehow they look much more like security than volunteers now.

Oddly, I don't see many of those who have been with Dion from the beginning.

So Jason (I never met a Liberal I didn't love and I'm the blogoshpere voice of the Dion campaign) Cherniak and other Dion supporters were left out of the victory march.

As Jason said himself...."oddly"

Hhhhmmmmmmmm.....

Syncro

Uh, I can't understand one thing -- why the negativity about Dion and the environment? He only had the profile for two years, not the decade some people seem to have made him out to have had...

Kate; Concerned; et.al.

I've been trying to track down an official reference to Dion having dual French + Canadian citizenship. No luck. The guy was born in Canada, and I don't think that France just hands those things out as party favours. Anybody have the skinny on the how and why of this?

Eugene,

good point.

In fact Dionne never really did......well......anything.

To my understanding, Dion's French citizenship comes via his mother, who was born in France, and obviously, didn't become a citizen of Canada. I don't think he uses or holds a French passport. He'll probably renounce this 'by birth' citizenship or it will be used against him.

The G-G, on the other hand, applied for French citizenship for her daughter.

As for Dion and the env't, he didn't object to the Kyoto accord, despite his knowing that the levels set by Chretien were purely random, without empirical support and were unreachable.

Kyoto has nothing to do with emission control; it's a money laundering scheme to transfer money from the developed to the undeveloped countries - not as loans, but as pure gifts - the undeveloped countries can pollute as much as they want. So can the developed countries; it will just cost them money - and probably far less than it would if they were to rebuild their factories and industries.

The Liberal Party is now redefining themselves as 'all about the Environment' as a metaphor of purity. The corrupt, degenerate, patronage ridden, theft-ridden, stealing-from-the taxpayer party..will become Pure As The Driven Snow. They'll align themselves with Purity of the Environment. So, their goal will be Purity. Of the Environment. Of course, they'll continue to be as corrupt politically and economically as usual, but, image-wise - they'll be All About Purity. That's why they are Going Environmental.
To change their image. Will the public be dumb enough to swallow this?

One doesn't get the "least offensive" title by doing anything. Having said that - I think most liberals could have done nothing for two years.

Another note from me to the CBC ombusman tonight:

" 'Hope you've ENJOYED [emphasis mine] the highlights" of the Liberal leadership convention? Thus said Peter Mansbridge on Newsworld. (I watched and heard this just before 9:00 p.m.)

I didn't watch the CBC today in order to ENJOY: Liberals (and the CBC) usually make me feel quite queasy.

This is REPORTING?

Please tell me how such a comment by P. Mansbridge serves the CBC's mandate to be "balanced and fair".

Bring him on.

This dude can't hold a candle to Harper.

I think Dion has too many puppet strings attached. Too many shadowy Librano mobsters... oops!... I mean members... will want favors from him and too many leftist radicals will want him to push their agendae, just as happened with Chretien and Martin. I really don't think any Librano will tell his own people to feck off- after all, being a Liberal means mandatory reciprocal bum-scratching. Once in, one's in for life. Favors are given, paid back, owed, traded... Never go against the family, Stephane...

Stephane will have to abandon his intellect in favor of doing what he's told.

That's the nature of Liberals, after all, and why we don't want these guys back... ever. Corrupt, crooked, incompetent, uncaring...

This morning i googled two globe and mail columnists: simpson's column was about the liberals in decline and lawrence martin wrote about their critical failure to recognize the west. It was amazing to read two of the Globe's more prominent columnists being negative on the future of the liberal party in general, regardless of the leader they picked.
Also, of course, very cheering.
And i think they were right. Even members of the liberal media are beginning to see the handwriting on the well regarding the future of power in this country. Picking yet another candidate from quebec proves the liberals are stuck on yesterday....when all their troubles seemed so far away...now it seems. etc. etc. arf arf.

Garhane, I think that this was despicable:

" And we will get our people out of that angry boil of a place, Afganistan, now that we know we are the only country dumb enough to die for American ..."

F'n Liberals finally can do somehting to uphold and promote liberal values: and they want to run away and abandon hope for the people there. And pretend to do somehting: about the "environment" (liars!) about "aboriginals" (in their Liberal-chief run reserves), about ssm (WTF?) abortion (WTF?). You people are unreal. false. plastic posears. ignoble.
and Dion is gauche.

All I can say,is I'm glad this media love-in is over..had to shower,and scrub my eyes and ears with comet to cleanse myself!Can now snuggle up with my doggie,NOT named Kyoto,and watch something more palatable!Anyone notice that since Mr.Dressup died,his puppet Casey now has a new career...HE'S DON NEWMAN!

Dion looks like a deer caught in the headlights. As well he might.

Bruce at 7:26: I think your advice to "not underestimate Stephane Dion" is right on. Iggy and Bob Bray underestimated him and they, not he, will be gone shortly.

The Liberano$ have a terrible image to overcome in many parts of the country and, despite his less than charismatic appearance, Dion is able to project an image of sincerity that most of the pathetic Librano bunch can't. Personally, I don't care at all for his environmental evangelism, but he still looks better than the rest of that crew.

He will be a very tough sell in rural Ontario and the West, but he overcame a lot of handicaps to get where he did today. You are still quite right not to underestimate him.

Fantastic Day. The Liberals spent a Great deal of money and a lot of work on that famous movie from the 60"70"s. Are you ready for" How The West Was Won".

With all due respect, fc, Dion's still a Liberal.

"With all due respect, fc, Dion's still a Liberal."

And always will be, as Bray will always be a Dipper. And we sure don't want either of them as PM. I'm just saying, don't underestimate him, just because he comes across as a bit of a milquetoast.

I know, by "misunderestimating" PMSH, his opponents made a very serious error.

fc, I hear you. However, I don't think M Dion's in the same league as PMSH at all. (That doesn't mean he's a dead loss. He should be but, in politics, it doesn't mean he will be.)

That said, I was quite underwhelmed by Dion's plastic acceptance speech. Typical Liberal, shallow platitudes.

"He will be a very tough sell in rural Ontario and the West, but he overcame a lot of handicaps to get where he did today."

Yeah - Ignatieff's and Rae's

LOL...

'Mr. Anybody But' - is the new Lieberal leader.

And this after all the hoopla about Iggy or Rae becoming the new saviour of the POCV (Party of Canadian Values).

So fitting an end to so much BS.

This Lieberal/MSM convention was just as many expected - a frantic loony lovefest, aimed at garnering the support of more frantic loonies.

Keep on truckin' Mr. Harper. Thank God Canada has you and the Conservatives.

Perhaps S. Dion should clear this up.

Izzy or isn't he? France? Quebec? Canada? Choose your country, M. Dion.

Liberal HarperBizarro needs to know, too.

RSVP.

...-

HarperBizarro: Everybody For Dion...three pillars firmly planted
Does anyone know if it is true that Dion has dual citizenship - Canada and France. I'd like to know - I think it's important. The GG had to give hers up. ...
harperbizarro.blogspot.com/2006/11/everybody-for-dionthree-pillars-firmly.html

"Uh, I can't understand one thing -- why the negativity about Dion and the environment. He only had the profile for two years, not the decade some people seem to have made him out to have had..."

Uh, Eugene - see, I can't understand the negativy about the CPC, Ambrose and the environment - they've only been in power 10 months.

Think before you say stupid things.

Congratulations, Stephane. Before you go much further, your English makes Belinda's French sound like Voltaire--needs some work (no offense). Also, please re-iterate how your beloved Kyoto is un-reachable (as you admitted 3 months ago). Also remind us how you received the dreaded 'fossil' award last year. Oh yeah, do you and Gerard share the bed at Stornaway or do you take turns on the couch? Kennedy might be PM in 2011; you, however, will preside over the opposition for Harper's four year majority (with a fixed election date). Seriously, you are an honest guy (for a liberal crony) and certainly the least toxic of the Liberals realistic choices. You are the right man at the very wrong time (where were you in 1990?).

Congratulations, Stephane. Before you go much further, your English makes Belinda's French sound like Voltaire--needs some work (no offense). Also, please re-iterate how your beloved Kyoto is un-reachable (as you admitted 3 months ago). Also remind us how you received the dreaded 'fossil' award last year. Oh yeah, do you and Gerard share the bed at Stornaway or do you take turns on the couch? Kennedy might be PM in 2011; you, however, will preside over the opposition for Harper's four year majority (with a fixed election date). Seriously, you are an honest guy (for a liberal crony) and certainly the least toxic of the Liberals realistic choices. You are the right man at the very wrong time (where were you in 1990?).

"When asked what made a good leader, Chrétien offered": "Somebody who wins."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/12/02/chretien-liberal.html

Dion won't win the PM mother ship, but I'm glad to see the Liberal: “the party before the people” ethic is alive and well.

So Dion won. Just like I predicted yesterday. Its been more than a year since we had a quebecker as PM! Its their turn again. At least it looks like Harper stands a chance, but he does have a minority government, so unless we have a referendum to vote quebec out of Canada we could be in for more of the same.

mbaron

the Liberals have a guy with a mandate, hardly any baggage at all

Being a citizen of another country when aspiring to be PM is a little more than baggage - it's insurmountable.

Were he to become PM and some difficulty arose between Canada and France, where would his loyalty lie? He can say Canada all he wants, but that French passport says otherwise. He simply can't be trusted to put Canada's interest first.

WTH is wrong with the Liberals? Ignatieff, who couldn't be bothered actually living in Canada, was a serious candidate and now they select Dion with his divided loyalties. Are Liberals that ashamed of Canada and being Canadian?

Dion's the type that picked upon, every leftie in canada will feel sorry for and vote for. Be careful of this one! Nobody thought Harper could do what he did.

Yes, Anybody but "X" won; "Dionne", as sadliberal says....

"X" was stopped by STOPIGGY, aka Librano$. ...-

sadliberal said...

I'm a bigot because I believe Dionne[sic] can't speak English very well???????

That's just sad.

We're going to take "political correctness gone wild" all the way to our graves.

I'm sorry, but there's a reason why only fourteen percent of us wanted Dionne[sic] in the first ballot.

He's really not very good.

Us vs. them, "anybody but x" dynamics led to this. ...-

cerberus blog said Dion was his 2nd choice, ab initio; from the beginning. (LOL)

Environmentalism is a diversion tactic by those who don't want to face real problems (i.e. pacifists and leftist politicians), and the misplaced locus of existential angst for those who see the real problems (i.e. Islamic nutterism) with their eyes, but can't emotionally come to terms with dealing with them.

Not a word all weekend from a Lib about Islamic nutterism. Maybe Mohammed Elmasry warned them not to insult the prophet.

I heard on the CBC radio some Liberal comentator (can't remember her name) comment that maybe now the CBC would be able to survive. Implying that the Libs would not shut down the CBC as the Conservatives would. Wish i could remember what her name was. She had a gravelly voice though.

Anyone else here it?

CPC Website

OTTAWA – Today, the Conservative Party of Canada responded to the selection of Stéphane Dion as leader of the Liberal Party.

“Last election, Canadians voted for change,” said Conservative Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton. “With the selection of Mr. Dion, Liberals have ignored the Canadian people and have reached into their past to plot their future.”

“Mr. Dion was part of the Chrétien Cabinet during the sponsorship scandal and was in Cabinet as successive Liberal governments presided over the multi-billion dollar HRDC and gun registry boondoggles”, commented President of the Treasury Board, John Baird.

Mr. Dion was a failure as Environment Minister. During his time in office, he presided over a 34.6% increase in greenhouse gas emissions along with a precipitous decline in overall air quality, with Canada dropping to 27th out of 29 nations in the OECD. Dion’s record was so bad, he earned a sharp rebuke from the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. The Auditor General said that, under Dion, ``the federal government (was) not organized to manage its climate change initiatives effectively.”

“Mr. Dion’s lack of respect for provincial jurisdictions will make him a very hard sell in Quebec, where Liberals are no longer the federalist option,” said Public Works Minister Michael Fortier. Mr. Dion also marks a return to the old Liberal way of directionless government, admitting candidly during the leadership campaign, “do you think it’s easy to make priorities?”

"With all due respect, fc, Dion's still a Liberal."

And always will be, as Bray will always be a Dipper. And we sure don't want either of them as PM. I'm just saying, don't underestimate him, just because he comes across as a bit of a milquetoast.

Posted by: felis corpulentis at December 2, 2006 09:37 PM"

There are countless examples of those who have underestimated their opponents, using pre-conceived assumptions, which later turned out to be completely erroneous. To their ultimate peril.

Dion survived all odds and made it to the top in his party. That HAS to count for something.

He may look and sound like a milquetoast. So be it. He has demonstrated that he does, in fact, have sufficient fire in his belly to make it to the top of probably one of the most machiavellian parties in the Canadian political scene.

Give him credit for that, and potentially woe to those who underestimates him.

That's all I'm saying...

Here's a nice bit from Mercer on his G&M blog:

At the end of the day though, watching Dion on stage, I couldn’t help but be amazed at his physical presence. The Liberals went into this convention with a host of choices. They could have gone with a battle-tested politician, a former athlete, a world famous academic or a food bank founder from the West; at the end of the day they choose the nerd.

That’s pretty Canadian

garhane

In his stupid rambling made this comment

"Do we have enough, or any equipment that is Canadian that is available for sure to get out of there quickly? I was wondering if the Cons government might attend to that"

They will if given the chance, but if your bunch of lying, thieving wankers get back in the contracts no doubt will be cancelled. Just like the Cretin did with helicopters costing Canadians more millions of dollars for nothing.

Then of course the money can be given to that industrial welfare bum Bumbardier.

By the way the Brits, French and Dutch might have something to say about your typical Lieberal lie that Canadians are the only ones dieing in Afstan.

I would suggest you get your facts right before putting your stupidity into writing in public.

we get all up in arms when Mlle Jean the GG possesses french citizenship.

so she graciously relinquishes it.

the GG is solely ceremonial office. but we gets all up in arms about it.

now we have some possibility whatever, a FRENCH citizen running our country.

thats politics !!! thats lieberalism !!!

come OOOONNNNNNN canada !! wakey wakey !!! beware lieberals they are going to screw you unbelieveably and you are going to worship them as the do it.

a friggin FRENCHMAN running the country. un friggin lieberal believable. a freakin real macoy FRENCHMAN.

CANADA:

STEPHANE DION: NEWLY ELECTED LIBERAL PARTY LEADER,

FOSSIL AWARD WINNER,

AND CITIZEN OF FRANCE TO CAMPAIGN ON ENVIRONMENT.

The fact that M. Dion is a French citizen is not well known in Canada. This fact will now be widely made public by the MSM.

The fact that Stephane Dion was awarded Fossil of the Day from the enviro-wackos will now be widely made public by the MSM/CBC/CTV,CanPress, etc.

...-

Dion looks forward to election

Globe and Mail - 8 hours ago
MONTREAL - Stéphane Dion's victory at this weekend's Liberal convention sets the stage for the next election, with the new leader signalling

he will campaign against the minority Conservative

government on the environment issue.
cnews
...-

More from canoenews archives:

RE: The Fossil of the day award

Message:
Stephen Taylor has updated the fossil awards details. In the 2001-2006 period, the LIEberals proudly earned FIVE of these prestigious awards!

11/17/2006 22:06:15
RE: The

Message:
Ooops, it's worse!
The LIEberals earned six fossil of the day awards,

garnering four stories in the MSM. Minister Ambrose just received two similar awards, garnering 193 stories in the MSM. But remember, the MSM offers only fair and balanced reporting. There is no such thing as media bias!...-
...-

Kyoto says: OOOWooooo, oowwoowowo....

better a canadian citizen with dual citizenship who stands up for canada, than a canadian citizen who governs for america.

the tories aint ever going to get a majority, dion or rae or ignatieff. canada has too many canadians for a couple of americans on teh wrong side of the border to turn us into the 51st state.

now now go on. follow the smell of money. u kno u like it. tories care about money. liberals about everything else. can u tell me what tories care about apart from money? gay marriage? sheesh, two dudes getting married is a big deal? wrong country folks..

dions gonna win it back from steve for one reason - steve didnt win the elections - the liberals lost it. and they sure aint gonna do it agian. so go on, go to america, join the army fight in iraq.

dions honest intelligent and canadian. harper is bush's boy steve..aww...he called him steve.. rightwing whackos unite

A typical America-obessed dionista writes: "better a canadian citizen with dual citizenship who stands up for canada, than a canadian citizen who governs for america."

Lame, lame, lame. Paul Martin wanted to send Canadian troops to Iraq but Stephen Harper stopped him from doing so. Even George Bush did a better job on climate change than Dion.

"now now go on. follow the smell of money. u kno u like it. tories care about money. liberals about everything else"

Which of course explains the brown envelopes of cash so typical of the Liberal MO.

"dions gonna win it back from steve for one reason - steve didnt win the elections - the liberals lost it. "

The Liberals haven't won a majority against a united right since 1980. Suck long and hard on this one: the left is divided into 3 parties now. It's Harper time, baby!

"dions honest intelligent and canadian"

Only children, teenage girls, and Scott "Income Trust Leaker" Brison don't capitalize letters when appropriate. How old are you? 15 I'm guessing....

The LPC has shed its 2 Powercor candidates for a barely literate francophonie with socialist intent and the backing of the party's left fringe.

They have now entered a period of political irrelevance unlike anything they have done before and they will be fighting with the NDP for left fringe votes....I suggest they adopt the favored symbol of this LPC freak fest and call themselves the "condom" party...very fitting in both their nature and actions

mbaron, good call Thursday. I've been saying Dion all along. The only thing that matters is that the leader alternates between Anglo and Franco, which meant that the convention was just hype.

Didn't even watch any of it. The outcome was pre-ordained.

Why is it that lefties can never find the shift key?

to bollocks and pissedoff

can you use a "spellcheck??" please do because you are god awful spellers.....thank you

Don't underestimate Dion. He's a strategist.

He won this leadership by a strategy of linking himself with the fourth place candidate, Kennedy. The strategy was planned in advance; the third and fourth place candidates would merge and take their delegates to each other. That's what happened and that moved him to first place.

He now has another strategy - whitewashing the image of the Liberal Party and switching it from its current image of a corrupt gang of thieves, to a Pure, Holy, group of Crusaders. What?? How?

He's doing that by aligning the Liberals with the Pure Air of a Clean Environment. That's a strategical tactic. It has nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with redefining the popular image of the Liberal Party.

Don't underestimate Dion.

The environment is a huge emotional issue. It has been moved far away from factual empirical science - for scientists assert that they do NOT know the causes of climate change. There is no proof that CO2 emissions cause climate change. But, the Environmental Utopians aren't in this cause for factual reality; they are in it for the utopian idealism of it.

Dion is using this agenda as a cynical tactic. He is whitewashing the Liberal Party image. Moving it out of the corrupt set of images of a gang of thieves and into a set of images of an innocent, earnest young idealistic bunch of people focused on Purity, Cleanliness and Hope For the Future when All is Clean.

That's why he is focusing the Liberal Party around the env't. It's a cynical political strategy. Beyond facts, based in popular emotion.
Don't underestimate him. He works by such manipulative tactics.

How to deal with this?

First- it's important. Expose it as a political strategy of whitewashing. Make that very important.
Second - show that he has no environmental plan and that his previous plan actually increased CO2 emissions.
Third - the CPC must explain their plan in easy-to-understand charts, that show the year by year, task by task, agenda.

Then - the NDP will be worried that he is taking their long held focus on the environment away from them; he'll be bleeding seats from the NDP. And, I'd suggest that the NDP focus on the environment is at least genuine, if naive. But, their focus is not the cynical strategy of Dion.

If the CPC makes national security, law & order, and lower taxes the defining issues, they'll slaughter Dion's Libs. But if they get sucked into the dialogue of overwraught environmentalist whackos and leftist whiners like the SOWs who had their funding cut, they'll be vulnerable. They have to take the environmentalist blows from the Dionistas, keep their chins up, and say "is that all you've got?"

How about some blog images of Dion handing out soap buckets to whitewash the Liberals? How about showing that no matter how hard you scrub, the rot remains underneath?

Don't underestimate Dion. Just as he had a long term plan of how to win the leadership (by merging the 3rd and 4th place candidates) - he has a long term, well-thought out plan to get the Liberals back in power.

His first task is obvious from his immediate act of taking possession of the topic of a Clean Environment. The first task he long ago selected, was to change the image of the Liberal party from a corrupt gang of thieves to a Holy Crusade of peaceful hippies for Purity, Peace and Cleanliness. It's a crusade - and extremely attractive to the mindless leftists who will hop on the bandwagon. And attractive to the young, who see it as their Hope of the Future.
The fact that they are all being manipulated in a cynical strategy for political power - well, these types never realize they've been defined as sheep.

I agree with you, NCF TO that Harper must focus on this agenda - of point by point specific actions on national security, law and order, taxes etc - but Dion is a strategist. His agenda is to put the Liberals back in power.

The focus on the environment will only be the first step in a set of tactics. The environment is a tactic used to immediately redefine the image of the Liberals from corrupt thieves to noble crusaders for purity. That's its agenda.

Expose this as a cynical manipulative strategy; expose that it's whitewashing and the rot underneath continues. Expose that the Liberals have no real plan.
But- it's an excellent immediate strategy - setting Dion up riding into Ottawa on a pure white charger.

But- there will be other tactics after this first whitewashing. That is, I don't think Dion will move too heavily into this; it has a simple agenda of changing the public image of the Liberals. That's all. He won't get into the 'meat' of it - for it's too difficult. The environment is not something that humans can control; the science isn't there, we can't predict it - so, the Liberals won't go there. They are using it as a political tactic.

The agenda of the Liberals is always about winning. I'd suggest that the CPC show, repeatedly, clips of Chretien's comments on Winning. That all that matters is 'winning'.
Not the people. Not good legislation. Just winning.

Dion will then move on to other tactics, after he's whitewashed the party...

A key weakness of the Liberals, however, is their centralism. They are still in the 1950s and 1960s, and think that the centre of Canada is Ontario-Quebec when their population base was equal. They don't admit that the population and economic base has shifted. Quebec is at a dead-end. Ontario has grown twice that of Quebec, and the West is now more than Quebec. The Liberals won't admit that and don't know how to deal with it.

Rather than being a cynical ploy, I think the environmentalism fetish is more an example of the intellectual bankruptcy of liberalism and the Liberal Party. It's all they've got! They can't touch fiscal responsibility, integrity, national security, law enforcement, immigration control, US-Canada relations - they've failed on them all. There's nothing left but hug-a-tree.

I would advise the CPC not to work too hard on this file - it's a losing proposition. The environment is the one stick remaining that the left has to smack the Conservatives with. Let them use that twig. Harper can talk beyond it on a host of more important issues that the Libs can't answer to.

RGT, Martin is no Anglo. He's also heavily connected to Power Corps, just like every Quebec PM, including Mulroney, since at least Trudeau. And, if Rae or Iggy had won, Anglo or not, they too are simply Power Corps' puppets. (John Rae, Bob's brother, is a major Power Corps CEO. That weasel, Mo Strong's, also one of the key Power Corps players.)

And, as batb notes, at the recent Liberal love-in, a Desmarais daughter publicly threw her support to Dion, a Chretien partisan.

Canadians need to wake up from their torpor and find out what's really going on here.

From the Star article: "All in the family; Liberals, Conservatives for the Desmarais business family, it doesn't really matter who is in power. The Montreal-based clan has been plugged into Ottawa for decades, reports Peter Hadekel
The Toronto Star
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Page: F1
Section: National Report
Byline: Peter Hadekel
Dateline: MONTREAL
Source: Special to the Star"

Google "Peter Hadekel, Desmarais Family" for the full text.

Then tell all your friends: if they're Canadian, they'll probably learn something new here. Then I hope they'll be bloody angry at being made such dupes by the reigning monarchs--what supreme irony--in Quebec. (I don't exactly hold my breath.)

Dion is a placeholder, and will not be the Prime Minister. His job will be to rebuild the Liberal party. Iggy is being groomed to lead the country, not a fractured opposition.

HALP US DIONISTA WEE R STUC 'N IRAK

Well I've already heard "not another Frenchman" on my travels this morning, and I'll bet in the rest of rural Ontario it is a popular statement.
Since the libs seem to now carry red and green signs why not change their color to brown? A much more fitting color for what they have to offer Canadians.

Lord have mercy on the Libs if, as Krydor alleges, "Iggy is being groomed to lead the country, not a fractured opposition."

My take on Iggy is that he's going to exit stage left just as soon as he can gracefully leave the riding he hijacked from the duly-elected Liberal candidate in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

I don't sense any fire in his belly at all for this job but, rather, between the lines he's asking, "What the H*ll am I doing here?"

I think he'll be heading back to Haaavaad Yaad as soon as his term is up. That speech on Friday night, despite Jeffrey Simpson's saying it was "passionate" and "nicely-crafted" (what was HE on when he wrote that?), was not a winner's speech, it was not a future leader's speech.

It's almost as though Iggy deliberately delivered a stinker to make sure he wouldn't be chosen as leader--otherwise I can't for the life of me think what he was doing. My daughter, when she was in grade five, gave better public speaking speeches than that.

Kate: Is there any way you can mark certain comments, like garhanes above, to be reposted after Harper wins his majority, and hopefully Dion pulls a Kim Campbell. Also, publish a receipe for crow pie whan that happens. Thanks

Mary, should Kate mark your comment, too, just in case?

Nobody know how the next election will go, but I think the Liberals made the right choice. In the next campaign, Rae would have been called a commie, Ignatieff a hired gun, and Kennedy not yet ready. Dion will obviously be attacked too, but it will be harder to sell using tactics that are based on mob-think.... my $.02.

Several comments have asserted a dim environmental performance by Dion as Minister of Environment in the minority government of Martin. The fact is that Dion spent more than 7 years of his 10 years in Parliament fighting for the country as Chretien's point man on the separation fuss. He not only led in that, he absorbed a great deal of personal attack in representing, persuading, and leading the Federal Cause. When Martin finally pushed Chretien out, Dion was dumped as Intergovernment Affairs, by Martin and so he was out of Cabinet until Martin needed help, and then was put back in as Envirn. Minister at June 20, 2004 and then we had an election where the cons. succeeded just after the end of 2005. So his effective time as Minister was about 18 months.
How did he conduct himself in that? Listen to Elizabeth May, who said he was easily the best Envir. Min of either Chretien or Martin and ":...he did a magnificent job..." at the UN climate change conference in Montreal (December of 2005). And you will remember that the Liberal government fell on the day that Conference opened. And you can read the accounts of his public reports on the net as to the Vancouver Board of Trade at Sept. 2005 where he lists many programs launched and his plan to spend $5 billion to match or at least close the gap on our Kyoto performance.

So the posters who refer to a poor Liberal performance on Kyoto are correct, but I think their comments need to be adjusted somewhat when the question is what did Dion do.

One commenter criticizes one remark about who is still in serious combat for the USA policy in Afganistan, and that person correctly notes that the Brits are also still there, but one must recognize that the the UK population does not support the policy any longer and doing so in the past has destroyed the career of their previously successful leader.

As for some commenters who say that Dion is "not well liked" in Quebec, how often have we seen pols who are described as not well regarded in the west, or having trouble with their English, doing very well for themselves and their p