Date: December 3, 2008
For release: Immediate
Prime Minister Invites Provincial Premiers and Territorial Leaders to a First Ministers Meeting on the Economy
Building on the productive discussions of that meeting, Prime Minister Harper issued an invitation today to Canada’s Provincial Premiers and Territorial Leaders for a follow-up First Ministers’ Meeting, to be held onJanuary 16, 2009. This day-long meeting will be accompanied by a session with Aboriginal Leaders on economic development opportunities for Aboriginal Canadians.

Via pokerjunkie.com;

The Kahnawá:ke Gaming Commission (“KGC”) and its agents, having viewed the CBS News item entitled “The Cheaters”, extends the following clarification and information which, although provided to the show’s producers, had been left out of the storyline.
1. The Ultimate Bet (“UB”) cheating was initiated while UB was owned and operated by Excapsa (a public company whose Board of Directors included several high-profile Canadians). Pursant to a settlement agreement finalized in November, 2008, Excapsa agreed to pay Tokwiro ENRG US $15,000,000. [Author’s Note: Among the 224 Excapsa shareholders, many of whom were identified during the firm’s liquidation proceedings, were David Peterson and Norman Inkster. Peterson is the former Liberal Party Premier of Canada’s Ontario province who at one time served as Excapsa’s non-executive chairman, and Inkster was a former chairman of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Both held public roles with Excapsa and were identified with the company prior to its sale to Tokwiro ENRG in 2006.]

Background: The Absolute Poker cheating scandal

Luckily, I have an iron-clad alibi.
I was in Vancouver.

Bourque exclusive IGGY RETHINKS COALITION

Senior Ignatieff insiders are tantalizingly whispering to Bourque that the Toronto MP is having grave doubts about supporting the shocking Dion coalition bid, now labelled by many as the “Separatist Coalition”, given the defining support it has from both the BQ’s Gilles Duceppe and former PQ Premier Jacques Parizeau.One longtime senior Ignatieff backer, under condition of anonymity, confided that “Michael is in a tenuous situation and he is feeling a lot of heat from caucus colleagues and constituents alike. Frankly, we think we got snookered by Bob Rae on this one”. It nets out to this, according to this longtime Liberal and echoed by many other key backroom players: ordinary Liberals across the country, the card-carrying bbq-ing door-knocking envelope-stuffing phone-banking kind who make up the backbone of the party and who would need to be counted on to support his leadership aspirations, are vehemently rejecting the Dion argument that a deal with the separatist Bloc Quebecois is in the best interests of Canada. “Bullshit”, said one Liberal power-broker, who was quick to point out Dion is tilting at Liberal history for the sake of a short stint at 24 Sussex. “Dion is nuts”, he told Bourque, “I am ashamed he is leading the party of Laurier, Pearson, Trudeau, and Chretien – my God, Chretien, the guy who poured out his federalist heart against Rene Levesque’s country-killing forces so long ago – I am ashamed Dion is selling us out.”.

(copy/paste error fixed, sorry)

Ray Heard;

The Liberal Party, which I joined in 1961, has done a Nixonian deal — no, make that a Neville Chamberlain deal — with two devils, the separatists and socialists, that will destroy it, just as the British Liberals fell after WW1 by compromising their principles in pursuit of unattianable power.

“Coupscam”

Hard. (Bumped)

Down 630 points in 15 minutes. What a country!
Sun sets on Your-Buck-Ninety-Five-Or-Your-Country Coalition
TSX records biggest point drop ever – 864.41 points down.

UPDATE!! According to John Baird (on Charles Adler) Gilles Duceppe will have veto power over every single bill put forward by the coaltion.
Oh man, I do think I see the twinkling of the asteroid about to extinguish the Liberal Party as we now know it.
If it doesn’t take out Confederation first.
Related thoughts from Kelly McParland.

(Bumped)

Update – where SDA leads, David Asper follows!

Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 07:29:56 -0600
From: Noam D. Garrett
To: harpermustgo@hotmail.com
Subject: Harper must resign to save our party
[snip]
Please help in spreading the word about this petition to urge Harper to resign to save our party:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/resign_now_harper/

As if a fake name and Hotmail wasn’t big red flag enough …
X-Originating-IP: [192.251.226.205]
IP Address: 192.251.226.205
Hostname: anonymizer.blutmagie.de
We’ll be seeing lots of this in coming days.

John Ivison;

A person close to Mr. Ignatieff said that any deal with the Bloc Québécois and NDP struck by Mr. Dion would be a “poison chalice” for the next leader. He said that Mr. Ignatieff has the support of more than 50 of the 77 Liberal MPs, so the success or failure of a coalition proposition will depend on how the leadership candidate views any deal.
Although Mr. Ignatieff has publicly maintained the official Liberal line that the government should fall over its handling of the economy, his supporters say any coalition deal with the left-wing NDP and separatist Bloc is fraught with risk. It would only take nine Liberals to be absent from the House next Monday for the government to survive and the source said he fully expects a number of no-shows

It’s alive!

“Dion is like Frankenstein’s monster – he’s on the slab and just had a jolt of life injected into him. He’s going full tilt ahead with this coalition but his caucus isn’t going with him,” the source said.

Heh.
More – Maybe not so imaginary…

Name That Coalition!
	Coalition of the Swilling
	Two Scumbags and a Blockhead
	Bloc Torontois
	Canada Schmanada Party
	Naturally Governing Separatist Party
	The Wests Last/Best Reason to Leave
	The Raucous Porkas Caucus
	Left, Lefter And I Keel You If You Speak English
	New Libs on the Bloc
	The Faltered, The Done and the Wholly Toast
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Only three years ago, the Liberals were flush with cash, with over $17 million flowing from the government allowance and contributions from supporters.
Fast forward to 2008. Of the 305-member list of top donors from 2005, a mere dozen have contributed the maximum to the Liberals this year, even though the limit is far lower.

No party that refuses to support their own, with their own money, has the right to demand so much as a nickel from any Canadian.
So much for the “existential threat”. If you want them to exist, then get out your cheque book and shut the hell up.

As is the norm here at SDA, the best ideas come from the comments – With Kate’s permission perhaps it is time to speculate on a name for the coalition. Perhaps the Traitors, Commies and Clueless party?
My favourite so far – “The Coalition of the Swilling”
Add your own in the comments. It’s time for a new thread, anyway.
Update – already several exceptional suggestions and a first-rate rant…
New Libloq
The Progressive Pork Party
The USSR – Union of Separatists and Socialists against the Right
New Libs on the Bloc
The Raucas Porkas Caucus
Bloc Torontois
“The Treasonists… The Terminally Stupid party… The Pathological Self Preservationists… The Can You Repeat the Question Again Party… The Peoples Temple of Trudeauvia Party… The F##K Democracy Party… The Entitled to their Entitlements Party… The Canada Schmanada Party… The Don’t Vote For Me, and We’ll Seize Power Anyhow Party… The Naturally Governing Seperatist Party… The Clarity Act Seperatist Alliance… The New, New France Party… The Nationalist Socialist, Seperatist Alliance… The Gerard Kennedy Just Won’t Shut the Hell Up Party… The MSM Party… The Coup D’Etat Party… The We’re Not American Party… Sorry, I could go on, but won’t.”
Voting Has Begun – help spread the word!

Evening Update – via a reliable source:

This story started with a Canadian Press story that obviously did not understand House of Commons procedure. The Ways and Means Motion being voted on Monday is for tax measures only. The elimination of political subsidies will be in the enabling legislation for the fiscal update as planned, it will be a confidence vote.

With the Liberals held hostage, Jack Layton has reportedly laid out his list of demands – including both the finance and environment portfolios.
I told you this’d be worth it!
Bourque seems to be on top of the other news headlines, so I’l redirect you there…
Original post continues below:

Opposition hold coalition talks, Grits may dump Dion

One option under consideration is to suspend plans for the May 2 leadership convention and just go straight to the cage match…. developing….
Updates:
A CBC poll goes horribly wrong.
Breaking – after calls to the Saskatchewan “a leadership convention date has yet to be decided” Liberals produced a “this number is no longer in service” message, opposition parties are reported to be seeking advice on coalition-forming from Jean “when I’m finished with Paul Martin he won’t get elected dog-catcher” Chretien.
ROTFLMAO Update… via John Gormley Live. … With the opposition parties on record vowing to take down the government over the “lack of a stimulus package” in the economic update … Harper The Merciful has announced he’ll remove the party funding portion and separate it from the confidence vote… developing…
To the Liberal/NDP supporters whining that the CPC is exploiting the opposition’s financial vulnerability to play “partisan games”, I offer this advice – get out your checkbooks and shut the hell up.

BREAKING: New Democrat challenges American to replace French citizen* for leadership of the Liberal Party Of Canada… developing….
* Quite so.

“Down to Three White Guys”.

By the twiddling of his thumbs, something Ignatieff this way comes;

Stéphane Dion is refusing to delay his Green Shift plan if he forms a government although his deputy leader, Michael Ignatieff, says he’d consider changes to the scheme because of the difficult economic times.
“I know that the contrary has been said in the papers,” Mr. Dion said in French to reporters Thursday in Halifax.
But he said that Mr. Ignatieff had confirmed a shared view with Mr. Dion that the Green Shift plan would stimulate the economy.
On Wednesday, as Mr. Dion was defending his Green Shift plan to reporters and saying he would not delay it or change it if he became Prime Minister, Mr. Ignatieff was telling a different story to the editorial board of Montreal’s La Presse newspaper.
[…]
Yesterday, Mr. Ignatieff tried to clarify his remarks to La Presse. But his comments still appeared contradictory. In a telephone interview, he said, that the Green Shift plan is “the condition for the economic survival.”

Don’t forget to Vote!

Part deux;

It’s ironic that the guy known for stooping to any low to win, has to come out of retirement to school the Doomsday Quadruplets in the intricasies of public confidence in our institutions. Where is the media in pointing out this amateur hour of Chicken Littles.

They’re busy missing the sound of Bob Rae, sharpening his knife.

With the possibility of a Liberal minority looming, which of these is the most likely?
	Rae will plunge a knife into the Dion campaign.
	Ignatieff will plunge a knife in the Dion campaign
	CP: “2 unidentified Liberals injured in freak bagel slicing accident”
pollcode.com free polls