... making a merger with the NDP seem all the more plausible.

Liberals are just moving more to the left.

Bob Rae what a choice!

From the frying pan... into the fire!

Will Bob call for RAE DAYS, where the caucus doesn't show up every other Friday???

Nailed it, Mark.
Get ready for a 2 party state, finally.

Most of the Ontario Liberals who voted LPC last time are probably going to vote CPC next time.
The realization of this should allow Prime Minister Harper more latitude to implement purely conservative policies.

Time will tell.

Was hoping the light was a bug zapper.

Luv it . and the vote subsidy being cancelled too.
went to the Liberal website. have to wash out my eyes now. but they have no information , just a meet Mike Ignatieff button still.

"Liberal Party of Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada."

No blog in Canada can make me laugh in a sentence or less than this one. Thanks!

The funny thing about the Liberals is they are still analyzing their defeat here in Toronto. Over and over, the editorials go. They all think it was during the debate, picking even the exact sentence. When they admit they lost the election the second they chose him, there MIGHT be some hope for these people. The Liberals out here are simply so out of whack (try drinking beer with them...bring a stick.) with the rest of the country -- even Torontonians -- it's over. My opinion is they will be over and done with in a few years. That is my prediction. Done.

http://iggyann.com/small-dead-animals/

No blog in Canada can make me laugh in a sentence or less like this one. Thanks!

The funny thing about the Liberals is they are still analyzing their defeat here in Toronto. Over and over, the editorials go. They all think it was during the debate, picking even the exact sentence. When they admit they lost the election the second they chose Iggy, there MIGHT be some hope for these people. The Liberals out here are simply so out of whack (try drinking beer with them...bring a stick.) with the rest of the country -- even Torontonians -- it's over. My opinion is they will be over and done with in a few years. That is my prediction. Done.

http://iggyann.com/small-dead-animals/

I apologize for posting twice..have no clue why that happened.

Take the most socialist guy around who destroyed a Province, than say your Party is in renewal. Only a Marxist could eqate that with logic.

That Rae beat out Garneau is only fitting in view of the fact he's been spaced out a lot longer than has Garneau.

LOTD
From the comments...

Progressive_Tory
12:35 PM on May 25, 2011

I guess Liberals were worried about the Marc Garneau attack ads; "he didn't come back to earth for you".

Oh my, I've been out of Canada for a while.

The same provincial NDP Bob Rae who was in Ontario?

Wow. I'm speechless. I'm going to assume he didn't have a damascene conversion and move away from his roots, right?

As much as the liberal party bugged me, I'm not looking forward to there being just one center to looney left party as an alternative to the (centre to lightly right wing)conservatives.

I like that the looney left had it's own - never to be elected party - now they are going to take over the Liberals from the inside and masquerade as centre left.

ugh.

Expanding on Len Pryor's observation, the headline should be:

Space cadet beats spaceman.

And what the heck has BoobRae done to his hands? Has he been removing his fingerprints with acid?
I leave it to your readers imagination why that might be necessary.

I think it says a lot about what the LPC has become that they choose a leader with far left views and it's unimaginable that they would choose a leader with conservative views.
What I think it says is that the LPC never was and sure isn't today a party that represents the political center as they have so long claimed.

Their only chance at renewal/relevance would have been to move the party right and force the CPC further to the right.
Instead they fight harder for votes on the Left.
Keep splitting the Left, LPC, keep doubling down on a failed strategy and hopefully building acrimony with your erstwhile coalition partners.

Yes I'm enjoying this, it's a good time to be a Conservative.

Modern Canadian Proverb:

"If a new Liberal leader gets elected and no one is paying any attention, did it really happen?!"

If we can take the Lieberals at their word (sic), I think this is a reasonable choice. Rae's experience will be vital to a Liberal comeback, and I don't think the 'bench' is very deep. That said, I've little confidence in the "Rae Rules", and lots of confidence that the Liberals will continue to do things wrong.

Politically speaking, I think it’s anyone's guess how the Left will settle during and after the next election. It will be interesting to see if the NDP can maintain their seats in Quebec. I'd wager that the best hope for the Dippers is to “throw” the ROC “under the bus” and attempt to maintain their dominance in the isolated region. Even the Dippers understand the necessity of a condensed voting bloc verses widely dispersed support. Also, the stupidity of NDP voters in the ROC will probably work to the NDPs favor, as they will not intellectually understand they've been "thrown under the bus". They are westerners that voted NDP after all.

Anyways, all of this prognosticating is based on the NDP being a good representative for Quebec in the HoC; which I doubt they are capable of. I suspect that the Left will split the vote more so in 2015 with the Dippers losing seats to the Bloc and perhaps some to the Liberals. Who knows?

My point is... there is ample opportunity for the Bloc and the Liberals to bite into the Dippers share of seats. So long as the Feminists march with the Islamists, who march with the Joos, who march with the Tigers, who march with the Anarchists, who march with the Communists, the Progressive Left will continue to shed the support of individuals to the Conservatives with their incoherent policy platform.

"Liberal Party of Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada."

LIL Rae has been anointed by Desmarais.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

It's interesting. Since, theoretically, the interim leader is not supposed to seek to be the 'real leader' who is to be chosen sometime in the far-off future, then, Rae gets his chance to build up the party without any party or even any House accountability.

That is, since the Liberals seats in the House are now irrelevant, Rae can do and say what he wants to appeal, not to someone to elect him as leader, and not to the House, but to Canadians. Outside of the zone of a parliament or an election. That is - he can move entirely into the Realm of Words.

But Layton, who used to have that freedom to operate solely within the realm of words, has now been moved into a measure of accountability. He's the official Opposition. He has a host of newcomers to mould into a legitimate set of policies - policies that go beyond words. And, he has the problem of Quebec.

Quebec IS a problem. Quebec lives, like all socialists, also detached from reality. Nestled safely within the generous cocoon of the Canadian taxpayer, nestled safely within its constant threats of leaving home, Quebec lives an unaccountable and unrealistic lifestyle. Can Layton continue to deliver this lifestyle? That's all that Quebec is interested in.

Frankly, it would strategically nifty for Harper to hinder Layton's actions in 'getting the goods for Quebec'. This would appeal not only to the tired taxpayers of Canada who are fed up with having a teenager as a province - and it would diminish Layton's credibility. Hmm.

Meanwhile, Harper's ending of the taxpayer subsidy to political parties effectively means that the Bloc is finished. Good. Having a federal party open only to an electorate in one province was a disgrace to democracy.

Fascinating stuff.

Maybe the staffers can work for five days but get paid for four. Rae thought it was a good plan before.

Osumashi:

Beat ya' to it at 1:54.....

Robert W.:

I agree nobody cares, but the last elected Liberal leader was Stephan Dion, no?

And we all know how that worked out, which expains in the Lib's version of reality why they keep appointing (annointing?) leaders.

Also, what happened to that rule the Libs have (had?) about having to have a leadership convention within six months oof the resignation of the leader?

These guys can't even follow their own rules, no wonder they're sinking into irrelevence.

D'oh...

Still, it COULD happen.

That clinches it: The Librano$ definitely have a death wish, having crowned Bob Rae (????) Interim Leader.

If they'd chosen Mark Garneau, a relative newcomer with some genuine credibility (except that he's a Liberal), I'd be thinking, "Yeah, I guess they do want a change and Mark Garneau may be the best they've got."

As it is, we've got Bob Rae, whose puppet strings are being pulled by Power Corporation, where his brother's a Big Cheese.

When will these Librano$ ever learn? They can try to tar and feather the CPC with the "they're-the-party-of-big-business" all they like, but Canadians just aren't buying it.

You can't get Bigger Business than Power Corporation.

C'mon, Bob. You must think we're all a bunch of morons.

The Liberal Elites have just shown the rant and file liberal members how much they hold them in contempt. Once again the power brokers ala Tarrana annoint the leader, please raise your hand if you believe Ray won't run as the permanant leader?

I keep asking my brother-in-law how that voting liberano thing is working out for him.

I will let you guess at his reaction....

Rose: " ... please raise your hand if you believe Ray won't run as the permanant leader?"

No can do, Rose. When my husband said, hearing this news, "well, at least he won't be running for the Liberal leadership when it happens." Sidelong glance at him, then saying, "What cabbage patch were you born in?"

The problem with the Librano$ is that you can't believe anything they say. They've got to gain some credibility with the voting public and I can't think of a worse way to begin the process of revitalizing their party than anoint Bob Rae as interim leader.

They just don't get it.

Typo warning in my above post. Yikes. Bob Rae has that dumbing down effect on me.

They've got to gain some credibility with the voting public and I can't think of a worse way to begin the process of revitalizing their party than anoint Bob Rae as interim leader.

Next thing you know, Sheila Copps will be kissing him at a Liberal Convention/Dog&Pony Show.
=:^D

How sour and useless must you feel if you're Marc Garneau today?

Knowing that you couldn't beat the man who destroyed and devastated Ontario all those years ago as an NDPer, just to win a token placeholder appointment as LPC interim leader must just sting - really sting.

Basically the Liberals doesn't trust or want Garneau, a supposed better and less polarizing choice than Rae on paper, to just hold the wheel for a short stint, and to not make things worse until a new real leader can be found or fabricated.

It's going to be at least four+ very looooong years for the former heralded spaceman.

waiting for the CBCpravda poll so I can vote for Justin Mick Keith Trudeau.

Why does Boob Rhi always look like he is stifling an urge to pass gas?

You keep calling Rae, Dion, Ignatief the party leader. These guys are merely the face of the party. The real leaders are in the backroom deciding what is best for Canadians and how to get back into power to line their pockets.

And that my friends, is why the Liberals will not be able to renew themselves

PMSH should enact a law to retroactive allow the auditor general to look into the books of any trust set up by the government. Anyone/Anything that gets money from the governments should be auditable.

PET Cemetery Report.

Block that chop.

Recall Citoyen Kyoto Dionky and Oprah.

...-

"Now that the Conservatives have been re-elected with a majority government, there is nothing the opposition can do to block parliamentary approval of this budget."

"Per-vote subsidy on chopping block in Flaherty’s June 6 budget
BILL CURRY"
(G-M)

Bob "Lamp" Rae can't attach to the robust Ontario host so sucks onto a dying slow swimmer.
Good riddance.

"If a new Liberal leader gets elected and no one is paying any attention, did it really happen?!"

Indeed.

Suppose they gave a party and no one came?

Ha ha!

Since Stephane Dion was thrown out the Liberal Party of Canada has been an adjunct to one or two Toronto law offices. I mean, who but a Liberal
party insider has ever heard of Alfred Apps? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Apps)
Why, even in Toronto, let alone in Quebec or Alberta, is this not likely to work?

I sense that, deep down, Bob Rae is pretty fed up with things about now.

He left the NDP (a marginal party of no real significance) to seek greater glory with the Liberals (the party of the movers and shakers).

Now the Libs are the losers on the irrelevant margins and Jack's party is the official opposition with a ton of Québec seats!

Ouch.

Bob, may I suggest a way to help your party now?

Euthanasia!

As interim leader, do the right thing: put it out of its misery and join Gilles at the superannuated MPs' bar.

You know it makes sense.

I'm sure the LPC braintrust thinks that no one is going to notice yet another figurehead to be puppeteered by the Demarais clan.

I say GREAT .... this is a sure sign that we are witnessing the final days (ok ....maybe months) of the great scam.

God bless PM Stephen Harper!

Take over of Liberals by socialist hordes is now complete.

Not that it was a great leap or something.

Charles Adler shares his thoughts.

Rae Daze...........

Darwin Award!

wow. nothing shouts "we're turning the page" quite like installing the guy who couldn't beat the guy who couldn't beat Dion in a leadership race. on the bright side, for those hoping to supplant Rae as perm leader, the bar couldn't possibly be set any lower than a stodgy socialist NDP-turncoat retread. so at least they have that going for them....

Brad in Waterloo,

It does somehow seem appropriate to have the 2nd runner up leadership loser leading the 2nd loser party. Symmetry ... I guess.

Did they punt all the "his wife's a jew" big shooters?