Now is the time for action – call his office.
Contact the Party.
Reach out to his supporters, let us lend our voices and our courage!
Stay Stephane Stay!
But, whatever the fate of the man who’s come to be known as the best Liberal Party leader in the history of Canadian conservativism, let us be grateful in the knowledge that Stephane has left us with a gift even greater than himself…
So now is the moment for action – call your Liberal and NDP MP’s!
Tell them they must not waver.. they must not give in to doubt and partisan accusation – that they must fight, fight, fight the forces that would tear their Coalition apart!
Tell them their parties deserve no less!
Great chart, Kate. No need for SIX degrees of separation here. But to the Liberals its “Move along folks, nothing to see here.”
MJ: This begs the question. WHO is funding Bob Rae’s cross Canada coalition junket? Since he is currently in a political leadership campaign he cannot legally accept more than $1,100 per year in money or donations in kind like hall rentals, plane fare, hotels, etc.
Since Rae does not speak for the Liberal party but only for himself these would be his personal leadership expences.
That includes paying for it himself even though he is a multi millionaire. His other multimillionaire Rae brother John, Vice President of PowerCorp was his major donor for his last leadership race. It was a so called “loan” for I think $700,000- chump change for these guys to get back into your pocket don’t you think?
One would surmise that Elections Canada is watching Rae’s expenditures/’donors closely on this whole campaign. And if not – WHY NOT?????
Perhaps we could start a new campaign to convince the Liberals to keep Dion:
-The 100% Majority-
Yes, 100% of Liberal voters this October voted for Stephane Dion to be their Prime Minister. 100% can’t be wrong!!!!!!!
Leadership spin on CBC Newsworld: “The Liberals are being forced to deal with a personal crisis”
“personal”?
This is a party that will meet behind closed doors to select (impose) a prime minister on Canadians. That’s anything but “personal”.
As quoted by Phil:
“Stop f&cking bashing Ontario! Which province do you think was responsible for the majority of payments to other provinces? ”
Which province has paid the most into Confederation and received the least- except for
abuse and denigration? Alberta.
“Which province just elected 51 Conservative MPs?”
Ontario from last election count. What’s the point??? Conservative does not necessarily mean support for or protection for the West. Mulroney did little to nothing for us except add in the GST which is now a permanent tax sent to OTTAWA where we had none previous. Thanks a ton Brian…Understand if you will that the power guard and monetary distribution center in Canada is based in ONTARIO and QUEBEC. Their arms are short for the West, but plenty long enough for the locals. Again, if Ontario was funding Quebec alone, I’d say go for it.
“I didn’t hear anything for Ontario from this coalition except billions to unions backing the NDP.”
YET. You know that the largest unions and the automotive industry is going to get the Lion’s share of any public dole. That really helps the West out.
What you have yet to realize possibly is that that cabal is bound and determined to stifle the West’s growing power and influence by desttroying its economy- one that is vastly different from their own Industrial based one. In doing so they bring the power back into alignment with the traditional locations. They did this purposely during the NEP- in fact Chretien himself said this was exactly the reason for the program.
So nothing at all for Ontario is rubbish. This is designed to preserve the power base and structure of Ontario. Quebec holds the hammer and uses it to extort funds from the rest of the country, and Ontario willingly plays along as long as they get to play king maker. It is a two headed dragon that the West CANNOT OVERCOME WITHIN CONFEDERATION.
Permanent equitable change must be done by striking with the same hammer that Quebec uses. The mould has been created and proven.
Why re-invent the wheel?
Just for the record I came FROM Ontario. I visit on a regular basis. I know the negative attitudes toward Albertans held by virtually all Ontarians and have experienced them first hand on numerous ocasions. I play a little game when in an unfamiliar environment. I bait them a bit with standard Ontario fare of redneck Albetans always whining about something or another, and sure enough out comes the real deep down stuff, and it’s not pretty. They do not understand, nor do they care to. They only care about their own small circle of friends, work and just want the country to stop bitching about things. For them things are wonderful. And so it is. Ontario has protected it’s assets and position of power and influence very well, and they know little else. Why should some startup province have the right to complain about our country that is so wonderful (in their eyes)? I’ve heard it all from Ralph Klein being an inbred invertibrate to us being the most uneducated people in the country. Sometimes I let them in on the game at the end, sometimes not.
I also know the attitude of Ontarians held against Quebecers (that want to separate); they are bloody tired of the game. So are we all. Quebec has just learned how to play Ontario for a share of the spoils. Ontario is not about to give that up because of some whining from “OUT WEST”.
MJ, I’ll let ET answer for himself but my take on it all is this:
Even though poll after poll coming out is CLEARLY SHOWING (not sort of, not maybe, not possibly, but absolutely) a vast opposition to the way the Coalition tried to take over the government, it’s most curious to many of us why the remaining Coalition leaders are still as determined as they are to get their incredible nag (lame horse) across the finish line.
Things seem fairly clear about Jack Layton’s reasons. With the NDP in a power position, they could demand record levels of money [legally] go towards the causes of their primary supporters, the big unions in this country.
But Bob Rae is another matter. Does it really make any sense why he is continuing down this path that seems certain to end in disaster, possibly as early as next Thursday? Why would he engage on such a political suicide mission? Looking for an explanation one plausible reason is that his major supporters at Power Corp. are demanding it.
Has anybody noticed that Bob Rae does not ever seem to get along with anybody unless he is in Power?
He took down Joe Clark. He instigated disruptions and divisions in the Ontario legislature by rabble rousing and ultimately took power.
He is now instigating divisions, hatred and disruptions in the Federal government and within the Liberal Party in his quest to get power.
Nothing Stephen Harper or any other leader can ever do will be enough for an ego maniac who only wants power at all costs.
Rae has already said that – he refuses to even try to make this parliament work and is using propaganda to stir up controversy and divisions across the entire country.
I believe this man is very very dangerous . Who else agrees with me?
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?CANADIAN
The online petition just passed 309,000 signatures. For the benefit of SDA bloggers Angry and Phil, I would point out that a huge number of the signatures are from Ontario. I, for one, am going to be careful to distinguish between “Ontario” and “progressive Toronto”.
“The Liberals are being forced to deal with a personal crisis”
That would be because they have recently been collectively diagnosed with MPD-…Multiple PERSONALITY Disorder with a side order of cognitive dissonance.
Hmmm … “SDA gets results” ..indeed it does …. one should be careful – God will not be mocked – we don’t want Stephane Dion to get any encouragement in his political aspirations.
“In doing so they bring the power back into alignment with the traditional locations. They did this purposely during the NEP- in fact Chretien himself said this was exactly the reason for the program.”
~Angry!
You’re right, Angry!, except it was Marc Lalonde that leaked that.
check out the poll at CTV . here is our chance.
should stephane resign? he is vain enough to read these.
http://www.ctv.ca/
Jay Currie has a brilliant one-liner that skews several targets in just a few words:
“The Toronto Star, Pravda for the Toronto Party, reports:”
http://jaycurrie.info-syn.com/well-that-worked-out-well
Angry, the Ontario left is being suckered by this coalition.
There is not guarantee that the economic stimulus being touted will be distributed with any kind of regional parity. Why would the Bloc permit such a thing? And Bloc has veto.
mj – the 1,100 limit on donations is to a political party. Rae is, heh, not yet a political party.
Furthermore, his promotion of the Coalition can’t be viewed as an election campaign because the Coalition is not ‘up for election’.
As for his campaign to be elected Liberal leader, again, this has nothing to do with that, at least, de jure.
So, I don’t see that there is any legal reason why Power Corp can’t fund Rae’s cross country trip in favour of the coalition.
Just as there isn’t any legal reason why the Big Unions can’t provide signs and other stuff for the pro-Coalition rallies.
RobertW, Angelo Persichilli has an astute column about Rae in today’s Toronto Star. Persichilli is pro Liberal. However, his view is that Rae, feeling he has no hope of winning the Liberal election as leader, is taking the strategy that the coalition will appeal to Liberals, if HE is seen as its leader. The reason is that they might feel that they could get back into power.
The fact that the method of getting back into power requires an alliance with the NDP – ah, well, they probably figure they can get rid of them in some deep river..and that alliance with the Bloc – ah well, they’ve always been allies with Quebec anyway. So..you do what you have to do. I doubt if Rae has given up on the Coalition. His tactic is now to wrest is from Layton and make it His.
I was looking for a place to post this idea, which I have yet to hear anywhere else, regarding Harper’s leadership in the house of commons:
“Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.” -Colin Powell
When Powell endorsed Obama, he became a darling of “progressives” worldwide, so they have to listen. But in light of this “stay Stephane” campaign, maybe I should keep it to myself?
If this is what a unite-the-left campaign looks like, I think we need an election, soon.
CBC RADIO has a call in show on right now with Rex Murphy. Lots of Harper Bashing bulls$$$ going on. The guest was Jim Travesty. Conservatives need to call in and set the mis information right.
Just heard on Roy Green’s show:
Jeremy, a caller from Winnipeg, said in a highly sarcastic voice: “Jack Layton and Stephane Dion should be thanked. They keep telling us that they want to help us all avoid the nuisance of having to go to the voting booth yet again. Yes, that’s quite a sacrifice to have to take 10 minutes out of one’s life to determine the future of the country. Thanks Jack and Stephane, your care for us is much appreciated!” (Paraphrasing)
Marie, yes, but he gets along well with the pixie child, Rick Mercer. How many men do you think he’s skinny-dipped with?
Angry wrote: “I’ve heard it all from Ralph Klein being an inbred invertibrate to us being the most uneducated people in the country. Sometimes I let them in on the game at the end, sometimes not.”
Funny thing is that Calgary enjoys the highest per capita educated in the country. Who are really the knuckle draggers? Anyway, I was born & lived in Ontario, lived 26 years in Beaconsfield, Quebec so I know the mentality of some. I now live in Calgary and when I first moved here, I was disappointed at the lack of cultural focus. I missed something, there is a cultural focus, just not the same as Ontario & Quebec. By the way, I also lived in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia & BC. Anyway, back to my point, Western Canada has a SERIOUS amount of drive, an entrepreneurial focus. If I am not mistaken Alberta has the highest amount of small businesses in the country. They seem to succeed where many fail. Not all people from the east are brain dead there just seems to be a higher concentration of them east of Manitoba and I do not mean that facetiously nor is it meant to offend those in eastern Canada. I state it as fact. The real knuckle draggers are liberal-socialists! The word “liberal” is very misleading and purposely meant to null one into a sense of comfort but the word and the ideology are WORLDS apart!
Publically funded men skinny dipping together=diversity. Excusez-moi, just trying to imagine the Liberal spin.
ET, just read the Angelo Persichilli column. Very, very interesting! My prediction though is that the NDP will stay intact. The Video Professor loves the limelight and seems to prefer being the big fish in a small fond rather than Mr. Second Fiddle. Plus, conservative Liberals would be so very much against it.
Just been over a bit at the canoe.ca forum, jousting with leftards.
The common denominator? They’re towing the party line, of course:
“we just had an election, and the coalition is a legal option”
They refuse to answer the challenge of a new election, and here’s my fave, “51% of Canadian’s have been fooled by Harper’s propaganda.”
The left is truly delusional, and, as we see through their actions, completely undemocratic. Their vision of democracy, is to only it in bits and pieces when it suits them.
I want to be in Jack’s immediate vicinity if/when an election is granted to PMSH
Can you say meltdown?
interesting. Jack and Gilles set up the lieberal party for the kill and let Harper deliver the blow.
http://jaycurrie.info-syn.com/well-that-worked-out-well
the leftovers on the left can blame Harper.
iggy to be left under the bus.
“we just had an election, and the coalition is a legal option”
It would be if the combined seats of the Liberals had the most individual seats and with the NDP combined they surpassed the Conservatives.
But The Conservatives alone have more seats than the combined seats of the Liberals and NDP.
Throughout my life I’ve often found that immigrants who have lived in less than democratic countries, best understand what it means to allow the drip-drip-drip erosion of our democratic rights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3uGrKLxDdo
I fully realize that Radical Leftists, especially those who’ve grown up in Canada, are genetically predisposed to understanding what I’ve said above. C’est la vie.
The left will revise history as it suits them, and slants it to defend their entitlements.
Such as we see with their spin right now.
I believe the GG really has no choice but to call an election. That’s the tradition when a governing party loses a confidence motion. Whether it’s 6 weeks or six months, it should not matter. Any other option, such as a coalition, is more unstable than the original.
It is too hard to believe that there is universal support for alignment with the NDP/Bloc. The cracks are already showing. Can you imagine the infighting between the hardcore left of the NDP, and the centrist Liberals?
This thing won’t hold together, there is just too much discord and divergent trains of thought. And they will air their dirty laundry publicly, best of all
Yikes, I meant to say “never understanding”
should read:
It would be if the Liberals had the most individual seats and with the NDP combined they surpassed the Conservatives.
Set You Free
I just went through the Fiberal Party’s constitution and found their loophole. They can appoint an interim leader until the leadership race but this places much pressure on the GG, allowing them to govern with a coalition run by an interim leader. Unstable would be an understatement, not to mention that part of her responsibility is to ensure that any proposed coalition should be stable enough to govern the country! Appointing a coalition under those circumstances would undoubtedly cause MANY Canadian voters to rebel at the very least. But who knows what’s in the Fiberal appointed GG’s mind. My prediction is that Canadians is in for some SERIOUS SH**! For consider this…much of Quebec has the will to secede from confederacy however lacks the means in which to do so, Alberta/Saskatchewan & BC have the means but lack the will. MUCH of those provinces voted Conservative they have the means but lack the will. If the coup d’etat takes place, they will undoubtedly have the will!
Here is a link to the Fiberal’s constitution it begins on page 51
http://www.liberal.ca/pdf/docs/lpc_constitution_e.pdf
Dan, good of you to keep trying! When talking with our friends on the Radical Left do you ever feel like an uncle of a 2 year old: “Jimmy, this stove is hot – very, very hot – don’t touch it or it will be a big ouch!!”
But yet they stridently shout at you, giving you all sorts of contrived statistics about why touching the stove is perfectly safe.
In the case of adults I could live with it if only they “touched the stove”; if only they suffered the high taxes, if only they lost their jobs, if only they had to suffer the ridiculous social engineering experiments.
But that’s never the reality, is it?!
no, the coalition is not a legal option. It amy superficially seem to be legal for the simple reason that there is nothing in the constitution either for or against it. But it is not a legitimate option because it abandons us, the electorate.
We, the people, were not given the option during the election, that such a situation could result from our vote.
In those countries where coalitions are normative, the electorate is aware of this – and furthermore, the option to form a coalition is available first, to the winning party. That would be, in this case, the Conservatives.
I repeat, that we cannot destroy our democratic system, which operates by means of a transcendent Reason, ie. it operates by the rule of law, within limits, principles of justice, and legitimized by the people, …and move into a governance that abandons these principles and is instead focused on individual Will to Power, without limits or legitimacy.
And, ad nauseum, it has to be again pointed out that a coalition has no right to govern our nation if it sets itself up as immune to the electorate by putting one political party in as powerbroker – with this party out of the electoral reach of over 80% of the electorate. That reduces all national MP votes to irrelevance and sets up the Bloc, as the de facto Ruler of Canada.
The Liberals seem to have lost any understanding of the nature of democracy.
Robert W., Marie, ET (and Kate too with that great chart): I don’t doubt the close link between Bob Rae and Power Corp., because I know it’s a fact. All I’m asking is whether we know that it’s legal for him, a Canadian federal politician, to receive huge amounts of money from them without breaking the law (or for Jack! Layton to receive the same from unions). ET gave an explanation, but I don’t know whether it’s right. Am I allowed to give $5,000 (i.e. far above the legal limit) to my MP Shelly Glover to use for political purposes on the grounds that she’s not a political party? I don’t think so. Or are we in a grey area? Any lawyers out there with an answer?
The coalition is a legal option. No matter how hard you try to play it, more people voted against Harper than for him.
We, the electorate, have not been abandonned. We were asked to elect a parliament, not a government. This little technicality is lost on everyone here, it seems.
We the people put in a minority government with Harper. We, the people, knew that there was a possibility that he would not get anything done if he did not cooperate with other parties. We the people knew, and know, that any minority government can fail a vote of confidence at any time.
Dion, the dippers and the Bloq do not DESERVE to be in power for a number of moral and logical reaons, but there is nothing illegal in what they are doing. When you remove all the obfuscation and self-righteous indignation, the blame ultimately falls on Harper – he miscalculated big time.
Is this about the economic stimulation package? No.
It is about trying to cut the main source of their funding.
Was Harper correct to do it? Yes.
Did he do it in the right manner? No.
He should have at least done it in a phased manner that would allow the other parties to switch over from a public system to a private on. That would be the moral,reasonable, and logical way to go about things. Instead he chose to go the legal, but bizzare route of trying to shove defeat down his opponents throats without having a majority and expectt them to roll over. There was nothing wrong with his idea. There was everything wrong with the way he enacted it. Dion et al did not roll over. They bared their fangs instead. Reverse the tables. Put Dion in Harper’s place, and put Harper in Dion’s place, and tell me honestly that Harper would not have taken the same route. None of you would be able to – not with any honesty anyway.
Harper is the greatest politican in Canada. First he united the Right. Now he has united the left. And credit goes solely to him. He has nearly singlehandedly made Dion the PM, a task that was too difficult for the legions of Liberal hacks out there.
If Dion actually succeeds in pulling this stunt off, then the Liberals should go around putting up statues commemorating Harper as their single most significant benefactor.
The coalition will fail. That is a guarantee. Maybe a couple of months of it will be a good thing. Whither the Liberal brand.
Young Justin may have his father’s name, but he has his mother’s brains. He’s a fool.
The coalition will fail, I agree, but if it ever gains power, it can do a lot of damage in a short time. We really don’t know which way the GG will go if the budget is defeated. She may tell Harper I went with you the last time. Now I’m going to give the coalition a chance. That’s a very real possibility, and that’s why I’m against Kate’s ideas of telling MPs to support the coalition.
So B-Ray and Iggy The Silent will battle out the leadership rapdily. A sudden-death Super-Hero duel.
B-Ray is out pumping the Grand Collusion across the country and has the Liberal Party Establishment’s support; hey, The Cretin is a familly relative and his brother runs Toronto Dominion.
Iggy the Silent is also Iggy The Outsider. He probably doesn’t want the Grand Collusion but it may be too late to stop the train wreck.
It took months to build the Grand Collusion and it m aty bne unstoppable, hence the quietness of the Silent One.
As a Canadian, I am ashamed of what Trudeau has done to this country. He has created a gang of socialist morons! They always have heir hands in some else’s pocket. Go out and earn your own money! If Canadians elect another Trudeau with the same moronic ideology, Canada is finished. Justin is rumored to have a bigger ego than his father’s and that was monumental! The definition of a parasite, “animal that lives on or in another, usually larger, host organism in a way that harms or is of no advantage to the host”. Sure sounds like a liberal/NDP to me!
Look guys, I’m trying to plan my yearly week vacation; can’t we just have some certainty here?
To the point: When will a vote on the budget happen. Is this the time line:
Return January 26th Speech from the throne.
January 27th Budget speech
January 28th Vote on the budget ???
January 29th Thursday trip to the GG
Thursday evening, I’m needed to do Arterial signs.
Is this the way it will go? Seriosuly.
That would mean I will have to bring my vacation forward to Jan 16 – 25; normally a little early for me.
Astard: “Harper is the greatest politican in Canada. First he united the Right. Now he has united the left. And credit goes solely to him.”
Whether the Left will be united for days, weeks, months or years remains to be seen. In fact it’s too early to say that they are united even now. But more important: is it to the Conservatives’ disadvantage for the Left to be united? I don’t think so. If they remain the party of the centre-right, there are large numbers of Liberal voters who would vote for them, and plenty of current hand-sitters who would show up to vote because the only alternative to the Conservatives would be too terrible to contemplate.
Anyway, I see zero chance of the NDP and Liberals uniting.
Quebec isn’t going anywhere. They can never win on a straight question – they will try and use some bizarre if, then else construct.
If Quebec leaves Canada, large parts of Quebec leave it. All the Northern Region controlled by the Inuit/Makavik would take the exact same Quebec separation question, substitute “Inuktitut” for French language and Inuit for French people and they would get at least 95% vote to leave Quebec/stay in Canada.
Time to call Quebec’s bluff. They are addicted to Canadian $$largesse – their quality of life is based on $$billions given to them every year. The Bloc & PQ would lie through their teeth about Quebec being better off – the vast majority of Quebecers firmly believe they give far more than they get (that’s some cognitive dissonance) but real numbers would eventually creep through the blind nationalistic dreams.
Time for ALL provinces to be treated EQUALLY.
cal2 at December 7, 2008 2:26 PM
wasnt it Bob Rae that said. tax cuts will not put money in Canadians pockets?
No, I think it was Craig Oliver or some other nitwit “newsman” interviewing Flaherty last Sunday.
RW you’re right. I saw that interview. It was Craig Oliver. Though I can’t say whether or not Bob Rae said it too.
Giggles has just stated that Harper has divided the liberal party.Harper is good. He started a political crisis by tabling an economic update,which made the others form a coalition immediately instead of debating it.He then started a unity crisis by saying that the separatist Bloc were actually separatists. Now he has made the liberals fight each other. Harper is good,anyone that can do all that without breaking a sweat is my choicw for PM.
Posted by: astard at December 7, 2008 6:07 PM
“Maybe a couple of months of it will be a good thing.”
I respectfully disagree that a couple of months of de facto communists in a coalition governance of my country would in any way be a “good thing”.
It’s bad enough they are in opposition, God help Canada if ever they get five minutes of legislative power.
Imagine what PMSH could attain for numbers if he had a cheerleading team like dufus Dion has had with the MSM. The fact that Steven Harper has achieved what he has with the constant attacks from the self haters in the MSM is admirable. The list of angry faces is endless, the Harper haters like Oliver,Robertson,Mansbridge,Fife,Boag,Mcdonald,LaPhelmn,Wente,Martin,Weston,Travers,Ivison,Newman Neuman, ah should I continue, no just the angry looks on all their faces is enough to know we here on the other side have won, we are all smiles, and that my friends is true tolerance.
Astard says: “…..The coalition is a legal option. No matter how hard you try to play it, more people voted against Harper than for him….”
As I understand it, the number being tossed around is 62% did not support Harper. And if you Google one of the first hits is Bill C-62 —– The Bankruptcy Act.
Clarification of my previous comment: If you Google “62% Canada” one of the first hits is Bill C-62 The Bankruptcy Act. (thank you html editor)
Craggy Oliver has just suggested that since western Canada is upset with the political system and Harper is the head of the political system,maybe Harper should leave. Unfriggin believable. Well no ,par for the course. How old is giggles anyways,maybe it’s just bad lighting today,but I could almost imagine her and craig ,never mind.