tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39174574180530467482024-03-12T20:45:20.411-04:00blogging a dead horsecanada's number one equine-themed politics blogBlogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.comBlogger370125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-62354186429375472282010-03-23T22:00:00.007-04:002010-03-27T09:25:45.457-04:00It’s all gone quiet over here (and the last word on Canada's Liberals)Astute observers of the internet in general, and equine-themed politics blogs in particular, will have noticed an eerie silence from this site of late.<br /><br />Canadian politics has rarely been as interesting as it is now. Minority governments have treated Canadians to greater transparency of their legislative process (when the legislature is permitted to meet that is) and given more relief between the parties’ approaches to issues and impasses.<br /><br />But while there is more to write about than ever, there seems to be less and less time to write – at least anything worth reading that is. And as the <a href="http://blogginghorse.blogspot.com/2007/02/for-your-consideration.html">very first post to this site </a>said, the problem with blogs is quality. Do your research, make tight arguments, avoid the ad hominum and with any luck, you will write the kind of blog you would want to read. But in short, if you aren’t trying, don’t try.<br /><br />All to say that for the next little at least, it’s all going to get a whole lot quieter around here.<br /><br />But instead of leaving it like this, let’s leave it like this …<br /><br />The Liberal Party of Canada will never be an alternative to the Conservatives, precisely because so many Liberals agree with Stephen Harper.<br /><br />The evidence of this is legion, but the most recent is right <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100323/family_planning_100323/20100323?hub=TopStoriesV2">here</a>.<br /><br />Today the Ignatieff Liberals pushed the biggest, ugliest, loudest, hot-buttoniest political hot-button Canadian politics has to offer on the right / left divide … and members of the Liberal caucus pushed it right back.<br /><br />In their attempt to entrap the Conservatives on abortion, the Liberals exposed their own two-facedness on this touchstone issue of social conservativism when John McKay, Paul Szabo, and Dan McTeague voted against their party’s motion, while other right-wing Liberals Albina Guarnieri, Gurbax Malhi and Derek Lee abstained.<br /><br />This isn’t the first example of Liberals pretending to stand for something only to show they stand for the opposite; it is only the latest.<br /><br />Today, if you want women to have the right to choose, there are Liberal MPs for that. But if you want abortion outlawed and returned to back alleys, there are Liberal MPs for that too.<br /><br />If you are in favour of public health care, there are Liberal MPs for that. But if you want private for profit delivery, there are Liberal MPs for that too.<br /><br />Does this sound like a party that is an alternative to Stephen Harper?<br /><br />This Red/Blue convergence is borne from the fact that the modern federal Liberal Party, bereft of leadership, has taken the aggregation of interests to the bizarre extreme of aggregating opposite interests and calling it a party.<br /><br />The sum of it is that there is no greater unity of opinion on any issue in the Liberal Party of Canada than you would expect to find on a city bus. The difference is, at least the people on the bus know where they are headed.<br /><br />So, just like they have years ago in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia, and most recently Nova Scotia, Canadians looking for a change from the old politics will look past the tired and confused Liberals, to Jack Layton’s New Democrats. The change will come.<br /><br /><em>"Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world."</em> - T.C. DouglasBlogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-20584597716274182442010-02-03T13:37:00.007-05:002010-02-03T13:52:41.488-05:00Do-nothing Tories take a bold stand in favour of doing-nothing<a href="http://westislandgazette.com/files/westisland/imagecache/small/images/Picture%203.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 313px" alt="" src="http://westislandgazette.com/files/westisland/imagecache/small/images/Picture%203.jpg" border="0" /></a>Aaron Wherry follows-up on the <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/press/new-democrats-call-for-royal-commission-on-violence-in-sports">New Democrats' call</a> for a commission to study increasing violence in sport. He notes the un-surprising <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/02/03/let-us-put-our-faith-in-gary-bettman/">Conservative un-response</a>.<br /><br /><em>"A spokesperson for Sports Minister Gary Lunn said it is up to the various leagues to police themselves. ”We feel it’s a question best left to the leagues and the role of the federal government is to support players and athletes in their development and to support their coaches to make a good training environment for youth,” press secretary Vanessa Schneider said."</em><br /><br />So let's break it down for hockey moms and dads: not only do the Harper's Conservatives not share your concern about <em>Manhunt III</em>-levels of violence on the same ice as your 7 year-old, but they also plan to make you pay more for the privilege of agonizing over it through their HST on rec hockey fees.<br /><br />And this is supposed to be Harper's <em>base</em>?Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-90602947449067339742010-02-02T15:44:00.001-05:002010-02-02T15:48:30.173-05:00A swing and a miss for Stephen TaylorOnce again, careless Aerosmith fans are struggling to understand the latest content emanating from <a href="http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2010/02/the-ndps-nathan-cullen-on-orientals-and-the-rcmp/">Stephen Taylor’s primordial blog</a>.<br /><br />Featured is a Dion-quality video of New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen being interviewed by what appears to be a less rugged Adam West from the original Batman series.<br /><br />On the basis of four and a half minutes (blessedly edited) of childish questions, Taylor has seen fit to declare Cullen politically wounded – so much so that he compares the affible MP to right-wing footnote Randy White’s unfortunate running of the mouth circa 2004.<br /><br />Now let’s take a step back and evaluate shall we?<br /><br />Cullen answers off-color questions from some buffoon in a plastic suit with appropriate awkwardness.<br /><br />Randy White was <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/03/06/white050306.html">taped as part of a documentary </a>saying he favored governments and legislators using the notwithstanding clause to overturn court cases he disagreed with … including extending rights to gays and lesbians.<br /><br />Not only is the equivalence lost, it's afraid to ask for directions.<br /><br />But keep up the … um, work, Mr Taylor.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-6685666349089360022010-01-28T10:22:00.003-05:002010-01-28T10:34:55.089-05:00Support growing for New Democrats' call for Senate abolitionThe <em>Toronto Star</em>'s Bob Hepburn has penned this <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/756759--abolish-the-senate-instead-of-trying-to-reform-it">well-argued piece </a>today in which he aligns with Jack Layton and the New Democrats' long-standing call for the abolition of the unelected, unaccountable Senate.<br /><br />In it, Hepburn points to the growing political will for this common sense reform that was first put forth by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) back in the 1930s:<br /><br /><strong><em>“Support for abolishing the Senate is fairly strong in Canada. Provincial governments in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba favour killing it and it has been NDP policy for a long time. Also, an Angus Reid survey last August found 33 per cent of us back such a move.”</em></strong><br /><strong><em></em></strong><br />In 2010 should Canadians still be forced to pay $90 million a year for the privilege of mainitinaing the jet-set lifestyles of party hacks parroting the party line while masquerading as legitimate legislators?<br /><br />Canada's Senate: Don't fill it, kill it! ... and it's about time we got on with it.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-22910310096330257512010-01-26T10:28:00.006-05:002010-01-26T15:28:58.326-05:00"I’ll see your proposal, and raise you Ned Franks"Liberals badly misjudged the public mood against push-button prorogation. Appearing every bit as wedded to the old politics as Harper, Ignatieff <a href="http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9014757.html">declared last week </a>that there should be no limits on the Prime Minister's prerogative to shut down the House of Commons whenever the mood strikes.<br /><br />New Democrats on the other hand, directly addressed the public’s desire for change with a <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/democracyworks">proposal to limit </a>the prorogation power. The absent Liberal response did <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/20/a-pretty-good-day-for-the-ndp/">not go down well</a>.<br /><br />So yesterday, Ignatieff backtracked, jumping on the NDP’s bandwagon while exposing their nagging insecurity over the whole matter by suggesting to the media that their 7-point proposal had “<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/trumping-ndp-michael-ignatieff-lays-out-tough-new-prorogation-rules/article1443101/">trumped</a>” the New Democrats’.<br /><br />Enter, Ned Franks, Canada’s leading expert on constitutional and parliamentary procedure to <a href="http://news.guelphmercury.com/printArticle/590300">take the air out of </a>Ignatieff’s “<em>Keep it Complicated, Professor</em>” approach …<br /><br /><strong><em>“Franks was not keen on the Liberal proposals, which he found unnecessarily complicated. He said history has shown that there's often good reason to prorogue after only a year or for longer than a month. He preferred the NDP's more straightforward proposal.”</em></strong><br /><strong><em></em></strong><br />But for his part, Layton has kept to his high-road approach, by <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/press/layton-welcomes-liberal-support-for-new-democrat-proposal-to-limit-prorogation-powers">welcoming Ignatieff's support </a>and pledging to work with Liberals and the Bloc to put the breaks on future prorogations.<br /><br /><em><strong>UPDATE: </strong>And then there's Coyne ... with a </em><a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/26/a-caroline-precedent/"><em>369 year old word </em></a><em>for the cynics.</em>Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-80794938183706175822010-01-22T09:36:00.003-05:002010-01-22T09:41:18.218-05:00Conservatives on party allowances: full coffers and empty wordsOver at <em>National Post</em>, is <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2470217">this story </a>about Harper’s oft-unhelpful former advisor Tom Flanagan. Flanagan is suggesting that the publicly funded political party allowances that the Conservatives have pretended to hate since November 2008 are now so entrenched in the system as to make them impossible to eliminate.<br /><br />To prove his point, Flanagan need only look as far as his own party to find irrefutable evidence. <br /><br />So convinced are the Conservatives that the $1.95 per vote allowance is the stuff of <em>pure evil</em> and “<em>a waste of taxpayer’s dollars</em>,” that they <strong>haven’t </strong>failed to cash all <strong>$40 million</strong> worth of these subsidy cheques since they became government. Seriously, has it not occurred to anyone in Harper’s HQ that it’s more than a little absurd to argue against the subsidies while gladly pocketing <a href="http://www.punditsguide.ca/2010/01/liberal-2006-leadership-deadline-passes.php">$2.6 million worth of them </a>every quarter?<br /> <br />It’s not unheard of for parties to willingly disadvantage themselves to in the name of principle. There is no reason why Roy Romanow, Ed Broadbent or any other of a long line of New Democrat politicians shouldn’t have been appointed to the Senate. Past prime ministers have asked them to. Indeed the advantage of having sage NDPers organizing fundraisers and recruiting candidates from their perch in the Senate would be as big an advantage for the party as it is for Liberals and Conservatives. Yet, New Democrats, long opposed to the undemocratic Senate have denied themselves this perk. Indeed Harper’s Reform Party said they were so opposed to MPs pensions that several of them opted out in the 1990s … only to opt back in later.<br /><br />So, where is this kind of principled opposition when it comes to the Conservatives and the $1.95 subsidy? Seriously, if they are opposed to it, when will they stop cashing the cheques? Until they do, they have zero credibility on the matter and are just playing the same old politics as the Liberals. Until they do, they should stop complaining about something they are as much a party to as any other.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-16115826041668299232010-01-21T08:05:00.003-05:002010-01-21T08:09:35.667-05:00No fair! Liberals were about to call for a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Democracy!Paul Wells <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/20/a-pretty-good-day-for-the-ndp/">links to Liberals</a> unhappy with their party's most recent example of being inable to stand for anything unless the New Democrats stand for it first.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-77901227435770849722010-01-15T10:46:00.006-05:002010-01-15T10:55:38.080-05:00A ray of hope for our politics: Peggy Nash to return to Parliament<a href="http://www.nupge.ca/files/images/2007/preas%20gallery.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.nupge.ca/files/images/2007/preas%20gallery.JPG" /></a>Some welcome news for all Canadians this morning at <a href="http://www.punditsguide.ca/2010/01/peggy-nash-to-run-again.php">PunditsGuide.ca</a>: former New Democrat MP Peggy Nash has announced she will be making her return to the House of Commons.<br /><br />As the invaluable website reports:<br /><br /><em><strong>“Nash </strong></em><a href="http://www.phpndp.ca/"><em><strong>announced this morning</strong></em></a><em><strong> that she will run again in the next election and try to reclaim her Toronto seat of </strong></em><a href="http://www.punditsguide.ca/riding_e.php?riding=1121"><em><strong>Parkdale – High Park</strong></em></a><em><strong> from Liberal M.P. and former leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy, the Pundits' Guide can exclusively report.”</strong></em><br /><br />The accomplished and personable Nash narrowly lost her Toronto riding in the last election owing in part to the over-hyped campaign of the disappointing Gerard Kennedy. Sympathy from a <a href="http://www.thestar.com/article/512033">dirty tricks campaign </a>in the riding next door buoyed Liberal fortunes as well <em>(Which reminds: cutting brake lines and vandalism are pretty serious charges. Whatever became of those charges? One can’t imagine they were just dropped after the campaign, now <u>were they</u>?)<br /></em><br />Nash, who has made history as the first woman to negotiate across from the big three auto makers, will make a strong addition to a House of Commons that now perhaps more than ever is badly in need of strengthening.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-70667338916476981012010-01-12T21:25:00.004-05:002010-01-12T21:34:30.306-05:00Give your Hedz a shake.<a href="http://macleans.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_0302.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 181px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://macleans.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_0302.jpg" /></a>Over on her "Hedz Sayz" Facebook page, Hedy Fry, the spelling-challenged Liberal MP has taken the unusual step of doing something. Unfortunately, her latest action since <a href="http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/print.aspx?postid=510969">helping Gordon Campbell with his HST </a>is to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=287450727537">attack New Democrat Libby Davies </a>who is on a hunger-strike against homelessness.<br /><br />In assailing Davies, who is unquestionably one of the leading lights on homelessness in Canada, Fry makes the baffling suggestion that New Democrats are responsible for the absence of a national housing program.<br /><br />Um, just one second, Hedz.<br /><br />For the record – your record as a matter of fact - it was the Liberals who killed the National Housing Program that New Democrats built with Pierre Trudeau. Don't take this Horse’s words for it, read your own budget:<br /><br /><strong><em>"Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will phase out its remaining role in social housing except for housing on Indian reserves." - Source: Paul Martin, Minister of Finance, Budget in Brief, 6 March 1996, p. 11</em></strong><br /><br />But buried in Fry’s spleen venting is enduring evidence of how little the Liberal Party has changed since Canadians sent them packing four years ago. The demise of Paul Martin’s clumsy and amateurish Liberal government came not at the hands of the New Democrats, as Fry insists. It came from the ballots of millions of Canadians who finally said “enough” to Liberal arrogance and their culture of entitlement.<br /><br />Four years on, and Liberals at the highest levels still haven’t clued into that simple fact. That kinda says it all.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-14122440744873817992010-01-12T10:53:00.003-05:002010-01-12T11:10:59.208-05:00Liberals respond to prorogation with the same old partisanshipThe Ignatieff Liberals have once again poisoned the well of cooperation among opposition parties by putting their tired partisanship first.<br /><br />The Conservatives never counted on a reaction like this. Weeks after Harper turned off the lights on the House of Commons, not only has the outcry and criticism continued – but it now appears to be snowballing. From Tim Hortons to call-in shows, Canadians – particularly small c-conservatives - are venting their disbelief with how indifferent Harper has become towards our national institutions. Today, a group of academics are weighing in with <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/01/11/prorogue-protest-professors.html">200 of them slamming Harper’s heavy handed </a>decision to silence parliament.<br /><br />Now it’s the opposition’s turn. For their part, the Liberals have decided not to work with the New Democrats and Bloc, but instead have <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/01/12/12432076.html">planned to gather in Ottawa to hold hearings with “experts”</a> this month on what House Leader Ralph Goodale calls “an agenda that would guide a future Liberal government”.<br /><br />It’s so typical that it barely needs mentioning, but yet another national crisis is upon us, and the Liberals have defaulted to deciding that this about them and their nostalgia for government - not the broader public interest. Why on earth would New Democrat or Bloc MPs want to participate in hearings to "guide a future Liberal government”? <br /><br />But Liberals don't care about that. On their chess board, their entitlement beats every other piece. Just like they did in the coalition period a year ago, Ignatieff has seen the opportunity to work with other opposition parties, but is rejecting that to instead focus on himself and tinkering with his broken political machine. <br /><br />They are missing the point that it's precisely this hyper-partisanship that has been killing our federal politics. It is this this hyper-partisanship that has gotten us to where we are. It was Harper's own partisanship that resulted in the Conservatives shuttering parliament in the first place. How does Ignatieff responding with even more partisanship help? <br /><br />It doesn't, which is why more and more, the Liberals aren't the answer to Stephen Harper.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-32967593168779597352010-01-08T12:03:00.007-05:002010-01-08T12:14:49.848-05:00"A culture of cover-up": Prorogation backlash sticks to HarperProcess doesn’t matter.<br /><br />That’s the conventional wisdom in the Conservative backrooms. The strategists who whisper earnestly into the ear of Stephen Harper believe that Canadians aren’t inclined to remember how we got from A to B, only that “the Conservative government is delivering on B.”<br /><br />And that’s certainly the lens through which prorogation must have been viewed at the planning stages. The strategic braintrust in the PMO collectively concluded that closing down parliament for more than 60 days would be viewed as a yawner for most. The majority of Canadians could care less about parliamentary procedure, or Harper’s weak-as-dish-water reasoning for it.<br /><br />Those strategists seem to have miscalculated, as today's <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/747947--majority-blasts-pm-s-shutdown">Angus Reid poll concludes</a>.<br /><br />The second prorogation in as many years isn’t the story. Instead, the story is that a majority of Canadians are growing into the perception that the Conservatives are being led by a uncompromising autocrat who routinely puts his political fortunes ahead of the country -- in the current example, engaging in a cover-up over what his government knew about detainee abuse in Afghanistan.<br /><br />Much like the Liberals' "cluture of entitlement," a "culture of cover-up" is the kind of impression that can stick to a party.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-34197177628073817652009-12-31T09:55:00.003-05:002009-12-31T10:02:46.237-05:00Stephen Harper ends 2009 the same way he began it: on the runLike most things that happen in Ottawa, <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/744459--commons-shut-down-opposition-furious?bn=1">this </a>had been predicted.<br /><br />The rumours of prorogation were rampant weeks ago. That’s when the New Democrats put out this release calling 2009 “<a href="http://www.ndp.ca/press/reality-check-2009-stephen-harper-s-year-on-run">Stephen Harper’s Year on the Run</a>”. The clever release contains a few examples - like the PM skipping-out of questioning on detainee abuse to attend an apparently urgent photo-op with lacrosse players - that a lot of observers may have forgotten.<br /><br />With only a total of 141 House sitting days, the first two sessions of Stephen Harper’s second parliament have been among the shortest in Canada’s history. Indeed, one has to go all the way back to <a href="http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliament.aspx?Item=a30aaff3-4b37-4184-9400-434cbc76d5ed&Language=E">Louis St. Laurent’s 1949 parliament </a>to find two opening sessions of shorter duration.<br /><br />But unlike St. Laurent, Harper is leading a minority parliament. And in this context, Harper has taken to overusing prorogation the same way sports teams are inclined to use up all of their time outs at the end of a losing period – to regroup and hopefully throw the winning team off their momentum.<br /><br />The irony of course is that once upon a time, Stephen Harper was an avowed defender of the supremacy of parliament. He doted on every way in which the Liberals had weakened the ability of MPs to effectively represent their constituents. He loathed the concentration of power in the Chretien / Martin PMOs. When Chretien moved to prorogue in 2003, then opposition leader Harper blasted:<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#666666;">"What we are also learning once again is that the Liberals apparently want to prorogue the House … They want to run out of town, get out of town just one step ahead of the sheriff. Is the Liberal government committed to staying here as planned throughout the month of November so that it can be held accountable in the House for its actions?''</span></em></strong> - Stephen Harper, Canwest News Service, 20 October 2003<br /><br />But all of that was before 2006 -- before Harper found himself in the Prime Minister’s chair and transformed himself into a power - and prorogation – addict, just like the Liberal leaders he once loathed.<br /><br />But as we end 2009, there <em>is</em> some good news. Yesterday, Nanos put out their <a href="http://www.nikonthenumbers.com/topics/show/151">year end leadership numbers</a> which show a larger number of Canadians are turning to the New Democrats’ Jack Layton. Honest, approachable, and the one leader with experience to work across party lines to get results, 2009 has solidified Layton’s position as the anti-Harper.<br /><br />Happy new year, Canadians.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-6828478693169470712009-12-15T12:37:00.005-05:002009-12-15T12:47:00.772-05:00The narcissism of small Liberal and Tory differences<a href="http://www.canada.com/news/national/Liberals+apologize+photo+showing+Harper+being+assassinated/2342953/story.html"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415519304287433394" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhurk8TRMUVX0eg4Eh8TjaLiOBG_UxoohfICvHPAl_xtfUOOw0AbB1eilVJCJlAlQ-o6lbzlFiud3-Q1znid2K2yVWruarHJlgZMCWsWMD9BSgDJcSt5HErU3FiGWHPlTg071aNfcJdrIMX/s400/dynamic_resize.jpg" border="0" />This kind of thing </a>has become sadly predictable. But, reassuringly, not so predictable that it doesn’t merit the criticism it is receiving.<br /><br />In fairness, let’s first acknowledge that Canadian politics has always been home to its share of baseless and tasteless attacks. But let’s also accept that recent years have also witnessed a spike in both the number and viciousness of childish political attacks – particularly between the Liberal and Conservative teams.<br /><br />Who can forget these rhetorical high-points? ...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/article708371.ece">Conservatives forced to remove image of bird defecating on Liberal leader </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Liberal+Cotler+demands+apology+from+Conservatives/2305174/story.html">Conservatives accuse Liberal MP of bring “anti-Israel”<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2181409">Liberal MP apologizes for calling Conservative MP “fat”</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thewesternstar.com/index.cfm?sid=161733&sc=505">Liberal MP calls Conservative an “idiot" who should "go back to making tea"<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/02/21/harper-house.html">Liberals demand apology for Prime Minister’s slur</a> (Incredibly, Liberals made this their lead in question period for about a week, if memory serves)<br /><br />So, why has debate between the Liberals and Conservatives become <em>so</em> poisonous that a photo of the PM being gunned down is deemed “okay” by the professional communications staff running the Liberal website?<br /><br />Consider this: Speaking about student politics at the University of Toronto, the <em>Old</em> Bob Rae once famously opined that “the reason it was so acrimonious and so divisive is because the stakes were just so low.”<br /><br />In other words, when what you are debating are matters of such small difference – bringing in the HST tomorrow or next week; appointing 17 Senators instead of 18; torture versus “torture-lite” – the tone of the debate becomes the only thing you actually control.<br /><br />Unlike New Democrats who can put real differences on the table between them and Stephen Harper, Liberals find relief in the ad-hominem. It’s all they have left.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-33737944447784311792009-12-08T14:40:00.004-05:002009-12-08T14:47:18.929-05:00How to Write Liberal Party PolicyIf imitation is the fondest form of flattery, then what is the higher virtue in flagrantly ripping-off someone else’s ideas?<br /><br />That’s the question being asked about Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff’s <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/12/08/ignatieff-pension.html">pension reform</a> package today.<br /><br />The man who haas spent his more productive years chiding hapless undergrads for not properly citing Heidegger ‘s <em>Identität und Differenz</em> has today passed-off as his own a re-tread of the ideas New Democrats have been pushing for months -- if not years.<br /><br />But rather than throwing Harvard’s plagiarism policy at him, New Dems are instead having a bit of fun at Ignatieff and his top staffer Peter Donolo …<br /><br /><a title="View PR-091208-Iggy-pensions2 on Scribd" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 12px auto 6px; FONT: 14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/23844943/PR-091208-Iggy-pensions2">PR-091208-Iggy-pensions2</a><object id="doc_763171434126446" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="500" width="100%" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" name="doc_763171434126446"><param name="_cx" value="17965"><param name="_cy" value="13229"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=23844943&access_key=key-nulyddevx801xk5di2&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list"><param name="Src" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=23844943&access_key=key-nulyddevx801xk5di2&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list"><param name="WMode" value="Opaque"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value="LT"><param name="Menu" value="-1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="FFFFFF"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="true"><br /> <embed src="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=23844943&access_key=key-nulyddevx801xk5di2&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_763171434126446_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" mode="list" height="500" width="100%"></embed> </object>Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-66129105496870111552009-12-03T16:46:00.006-05:002009-12-03T16:58:54.021-05:00Where were these 28 Liberal MPs?So this afternoon, Liberal MPs <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091203/HST_survival_091203/20091203?hub=TopStoriesV2">voted with the Harper Conservatives to pass </a>the first stage of their unpopular HST legislation.<br /><br />And while New Democrats could be counted on to oppose new higher sales taxes on BC and Ontario families, 28 Liberals failed to show up at all!<br /><br />They didn’t vote with Michael Ignatieff in favour of higher taxes. But they also didn’t defy their leader to vote with up with New Democrats against the tax hike either.<br /><br />These Liberal MPs - including 16 from BC and Ontario just didn’t show at all. If they don’t believe Ignatieff is right on the HST, shouldn’t they say so? And if so, shouldn’t they vote against it?<br /><br /><strong><em><u>THE 28 MISSING HST LIBERALS</u></em></strong><br /><br />Scott Andrews - Avalon<br /><strong>Navdeep Bains - Mississauga—Brampton South (Ontario)<br />Mauril Bélanger - Ottawa—Vanier (Ontario)<br />Maurizio Bevilacqua - Vaughan (Ontario)<br /></strong>Gerry Byrne - Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte<br />Denis Coderre - Bourassa<br />Stéphane Dion - Saint-Laurent—Cartierville<br />Mark Eyking - Sydney—Victoria<br /><strong>Hedy Fry - Vancouver Centre (BC)<br />Mark Holland - Ajax—Pickering (Ontario)</strong><br />Marlene Jennings - Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine<br /><strong>Jim Karygiannis - Scarborough—Agincourt (Ontario)<br /></strong>Lawrence MacAulay - Cardigan<br /><strong>Gurbax Malhi - Bramalea—Gore—Malton (Ontario)<br />Keith Martin - Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca (BC)<br />David McGuinty - Ottawa South (Ontario)<br />Dan McTeague - Pickering—Scarborough East (Ontario)<br />Joyce Murray - Vancouver Quadra (BC)<br />Robert Oliphant - Don Valley West (Ontario)<br /></strong>Massimo Pacetti - Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel<br />Bernard Patry - Pierrefonds—Dollard<br /><strong>Yasmin Ratansi - Don Valley East (Ontario)<br /></strong>Geoff Regan - Halifax West<br />Michael Savage - Dartmouth—Cole Harbour<br /><strong>Mario Silva - Davenport (Ontario)<br />Michelle Simson - Scarborough Southwest (Ontario)<br />Paul Szabo - Mississauga South (Ontario)<br />Bryon Wilfert - Richmond Hill (Ontario)</strong>Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-22957009484103488392009-12-02T10:05:00.001-05:002009-12-02T10:09:08.434-05:00Ignatieff to help pass sales tax hike – rewarded with lame talking pointsNever one to miss a chance to appeal to his well-connected friends, Michael Ignatieff announced yesterday that he will be backing Harper’s sales tax shift in Ontario and BC.<br /><br />Liberal MPs from those two provinces are already greeting the news that they will be voting for higher taxes with <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/liberals-openly-question-ignatieffs-support-for-hst/article1384965/">predictable enthusiasm</a>. <br /><br />They are right to be worried. Consider that in the last election Liberals lost 16 MPs from Ontario and 4 MPs from British Columbia just for <strong><em>considering</em></strong> a tax hike. Imagine what it will cost them when they actually help Harper / McGuinty and Campbell bring this tax hike in!<br /><br />But don't worry! Dalton McGuinty is here to help. In exchange for Liberals offering up their 38 Ontario seats and five BC seats to the New Democrats, McGuinty’s crack communications team has offered panicked Liberal MPs these 14 irrefutably lame talking points:<br /><br />There, that ought to do it.<br /><br /><em><strong>Subject:</strong> 14 Irrefutable Facts on the HST<br /><strong>Date: </strong>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:25:58 -0500<br /><br /><strong>14 Irrefutable Facts on the HST</strong><br /><br />1. We are implementing the largest tax cut package in Ontario history.<br />2. We are cutting income taxes for 93% of Ontarians starting January 1.<br />3. 90,000 low income Ontarians will be removed from the tax rolls on January 1.<br />4. We are cutting taxes for businesses to make them stronger, especially in the manufacturing sector, so they create jobs.<br />5. These tax reforms will actually cost the government money. $3.4 billion in the first four years alone. The HST is not a "tax grab." Individuals who refer to the HST as a “tax grab” are either playing political games, are uninformed, or they are insulting your intelligence.<br />6. 130 other jurisdictions have a single sales tax (value-added tax)and none of them have ever reversed it, including the NDP in Nova Scotia.<br />7. In the Maritimes, they saw a 12% increase in business investment after they brought in the HST.<br />8. Economists on both the right and left support our tax reforms.<br />9. Poverty groups and business groups support our tax reforms.<br />10. The Institute on Ontarios Competitiveness and Prosperity supports our tax reforms.<br />11. The Conservatives supported the HST just 7 months ago.<br />12. The Conservatives and NDP do not have a plan to turn the economy around and create jobs.<br />13. We have a plan that experts say will create 600,000 new jobs.<br />14. The opposition wont commit to undoing a single tax change in our package.<br /></em>Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-80839934819696159872009-12-01T22:15:00.002-05:002009-12-01T22:29:07.754-05:00This Horse is in the RunningThe worst kind of blogging is blogging that is about blogging. <br /><br />The very <a href="http://blogginghorse.blogspot.com/2007/02/for-your-consideration.html">first post </a>here <em>way back </em>set out that there would be none of that in this lonely corner of the internet. There's just too much else going on in the wacky and deadly-serious world of Canadian politics to get all self-referential and navel-relevant.<br /><br />That said, excuse this tiny exception. Seems some nice soul has nominated BaDH for a <a href="http://demochoice.org/dcballot.php?poll=cba09r1pol">Canadian Blog Awards '09</a>, along with some other amazing blogs.<br /><br />So, um, just sayin' is all.<br /><br />Now back to regular non-blogging blogging.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-51367797328976469992009-11-27T11:42:00.006-05:002009-11-27T13:35:28.751-05:00How well do you know the Senator you never voted for?<a href="http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/Images/OfficialMPPhotos/37/Lavigr.JPG"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 142px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 230px" alt="" src="http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/Images/OfficialMPPhotos/37/Lavigr.JPG" border="0" /></a>Canadians already rely on <em>Consumer Reports’</em> rankings to avoid taking home the cappuccino maker most likely to squirt searing milk in their eyes.<br /><br />So isn’t it time we applied the same rigour to something <strong>far more expensive</strong> than tooth whiteners and Shamwow-knock-offs?<br /><br />For instance, Canadians spend $81 million a year on 105 high-flying, canapé scarfing, unelected, unaccountable pretend legislators in the Senate. Shouldn’t we know more about them?<br /><br />New Democrats think so …<br /><br />Today the party awarded their second “Senator of the Week” award. This time to the Senator who charged the most in travel and perks for the least days worked.<br /><br />The "winner"? <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/press/senator-week-raymond-lavigne-most-expensive-per-days-worked">Raymond Lavigne</a>. The independent Liberal Senator, it turns out, charged over $50,000 for each of the TWO days he attended the Senate last year! But as the award notes, Lavigne <em>“has a good excuse: the Liberal-appointed Senator is on leave while being investigated for '<strong>alleged use of Senate resources for personal gain'</strong>.”</em><br /><br />I-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e!<br /><br />Incidentally, the Senator of the Week from last week – <em>the most expensive overall</em> - can be found right <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/press/senator-week-senator-nick-sibbeston-most-expensive-overall">here</a>.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-58894046158624338792009-11-24T14:45:00.013-05:002009-11-24T16:45:48.979-05:00Iffy still re-thinking Thinkers' ConferenceRemember Michael Ignatieff’s big thinkers’ conference? You know, the one that is supposed to fill the chasm-like void in Liberal Party policy with ideas befitting the modern era?<br /><br />Hey, wouldn’t it be funny - so as to put a<em> poke-your-eyes-out</em> like point on the problem plaguing Iffy and his team - if they couldn’t even settle on a date for the damn conference?<br /><br />Well, um, here’s this then …<br /><br />First there was <a href="http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal-Politics/2009/05/03/Ignatieff-wants-platform-by-June/">this</a>:<br /><br /><strong><em>“Sometime this summer or fall, Ignatieff said he also intends to hold a 'thinkers' conference' that will address some of the 'big long-term questions' facing the country over the next 25 years, going well beyond the more immediate scope of the campaign platform."</em></strong><br /><br />Then there was <a href="http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/687586">this</a>:<br /><br /><strong><em>"A much touted 'Thinkers' Conference' expected this fall has instead been postponed until next year, possibly in January."</em></strong><br /><br />And, um, then <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/709825--michael-ignatieff-s-think-fest-to-set-stage-for-renewal">this</a>:<br /><br /><strong><em>“The federal Liberals will hold their much-postponed 'thinkers' conference' in Montreal in mid-January, leader Michael Ignatieff says.”<br /></em></strong><br />And today, with all the fanfare owing a process resembling five pre-teen girls texting back and forth to decide when to meet to try out a new hair straightener, there’s <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/24/the-big-think">this</a>:<br /><br /><strong><em>“I am pleased to announce today that the Liberal Party of Canada will host a special conference in Montreal, March 26 to 28, 2010, 'Canada at 150: Rising to the Challenge'.”</em></strong><br /><br />So now, here's the obvious question: what does this say about Iffy’s willingness to defeat Harper when Liberals have now parked their scheduled and re-scheduled thinkers’ conference right in the middle of where a spring election is supposed to go?Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-16569445248352706532009-11-22T12:35:00.005-05:002009-11-22T12:49:49.177-05:00The Choice: Is the progressive wing of the Liberal Party readying to walk?Janine Krieber appears to have signaled that a segment of the Liberal Party is readying to part ways with Michael Ignatieff and the party’s current leadership.<br /><br />In her now <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/729113">widely reported Facebook message</a>, Stephane Dion’s wife tells Liberals “the time has arrived to make a choice” between a party led by Ignatieff “that risks winding up in the dustbin of history” and “a dedicated party, one that doesn't challenge its leader with every dip in the polls.”<br /><br />By now, it is no secret that the Liberal Party is more accurately <em>two</em> parties. In brief, one segment of the party is of a progressive-reformist bent, committed to thinking big thoughts on matters of the day and working towards the unfulfilled goals of previous generations. The other party – and the more influential of the two – is an establishment bloc based out of the cocktail parties of Toronto's social elite that is just as conservative in its tone and tempo as the Conservatives.<br /><br />Perhaps tellingly, it was just about this time last year that the hopes of the “progressive” side were dashed as the “establishment” side reasserted itself. The hasty installation of Michael Ignatieff as leader confirmed that Stephen Harper would get his second chance. All the promise of the historic Liberal-NDP accord was over.<br /><br />Since then, Ignatieff has overseen a collapse in Liberal support from 37 percent and a lead over the Conservatives to a miserable 24 percent in the <a href="http://www.canada.com/news/making+gains+Liberal+Tory+expense+Poll/2247668/story.html">most recent poll</a>. Krieber’s diagnosis is that the illness which has stricken her party under Mr. Ignatieff is fatal.<br /><br />The challenge to progressive Liberals looking at the future in front of them is whether they are prepared to stick with a party that has lost its heart and faces disaster in the next election under a leader plagued by his own contradictions, or as Ms. Krieber urges, are they ready to make another choice?<br /><br />And is that other choice - “a dedicated party, one that doesn't challenge its leader with every dip in the polls” – a none too veiled allusion to Jack Layton’s New Democrats?Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-17217985830076541132009-11-19T11:48:00.008-05:002009-11-19T11:58:10.832-05:00Where’s Iggy?The Conservative ranks are reeling today.<br /><br />Richard Colvin’s testimony that senior officials tried to silence his warnings about Canadian government complicity in the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan is the most serious indictment the Conservative front-bench has faced in its four years.<br /><br />In response today, New Democrats have <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/press/prison-torture-in-afghanistan">rightly called for a public inquiry</a>.<br /><br />Peculiar though is the complete absence at this time of Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff -- not just from the file, but from Ottawa.<br /><br />According to the Canadian Press, the Liberal leader is about as far from Ottawa as you can get:<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#666666;">KENORA, Ont. _ Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff attends town hall with local Liberal candidate. (7:30 p.m. at Cascade Room, Best Western Lakeside Inn, 470 First Ave. S.) </span></em></strong><br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#666666;">THOMPSON, Man. _ Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff meets with students from the University College of the North, and then takes part in Q & A session. (11 a.m. at University College of the North, Room P4-100, 494 Princeton Drive)<br /></span></em></strong><br />At the time of unparalleled controversy in Ottawa and accusations of Conservative complicity in torture, why is Ignatieff not in Ottawa?<br /><br />Liberals say Ignatieff is out of Ottawa <em>reconnecting with Canadians</em>. But the reality is that even Liberals realize Mr. Ignatieff has zero credibility to be appalled by torture given his own appalling position on the matter:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/766fbhLyoO8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/766fbhLyoO8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />The Liberals and their leader can expect to be lost in the wilderness for some time.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-91907322348985726762009-11-19T10:49:00.007-05:002009-11-19T11:13:38.037-05:00Liberal sling mud over patronage straight from their own troughThe Ignatieff Liberals have decided that the <a href="http://www.liberal.ca/en/newsroom/media-releases/16935_harper-rewards-hundreds-of-conservative-insiders">Conservatives' patronage </a>is the soft underbelly to erode their public support.<br /><br />They may well be right. The names Husakos, Manning (Fabian that is), and Finley all speak to the growing pile of patronage in Stephen Harper’s fiefdom.<br /><br />But have the Liberals really thought this through? Are they really in any position to credibly lecture <strong>anyone</strong> on using public positions to reward their partisans after their years of doing exactly the same?<br /><br />These questions should be put to the strategists behind this line of attack ...<br /><br />You know, brand new Chief of Staff Peter Donolo and his pal Director of Communications Mario Lague. The two former Liberal staffers who came back to the fold after cooling their heels as the Liberal-appointed <a href="http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/oic-ddc.asp?lang=eng&Page=secretariats&txtOICID=&txtFromDate=&txtToDate=&txtPrecis=Donolo&txtDepartment=&txtAct=&txtChapterNo=&txtChapterYear=&txtBillNo=&rdoComingIntoForce=&DoSearch=Search+%2F+List">Consul General of Canada at Milan </a>and the Liberal-appointed <a href="http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/oic-ddc.asp?lang=eng&Page=secretariats&txtOICID=&txtFromDate=&txtToDate=&txtPrecis=MARIO+LAGU%CB+&txtDepartment=&txtAct=&txtChapterNo=&txtChapterYear=&txtBillNo=&rdoComingIntoForce=&DoSearch=Search+%2F+List">Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Costa Rica</a>.<br /><br />Your contractor is on the line, Mr Ignatieff. Something about cracks forming in your glass house.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-65341147434970313422009-11-18T17:49:00.002-05:002009-11-18T17:54:22.104-05:00Good ship Dono-OLO springs an early leakIt seems it’s <em>plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose</em> for the federal Liberals.<br /><br />Peter Donolo’s mission to tighten-up the badly listing <em>Good Ship Liberal</em> took an early blow today.<br /><br />Seems yet another chapter in the interminable feud between Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff was acted out in the Liberal caucus today. Caucus meetings are ultra-secret of course, yet we Canadians are privy to details of <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/liberals-get-realistic-on-gun-registry/article1368417/">the Liberal bun-fight over Ignatieff's decision to not whip the gun registry vote</a> courtesy of Jane Taber and a reliable anonymous Liberal source.<br /><br />Some will argue that one leak on his second day is too quick to chastise Mr Donolo. But let’s face it, this one man's return to the ranks of Liberal staff has been more overhyped than the putrid final three <em>Star Wars</em> clunkers (even though the rumored Donolo collectors glasses at Burger King have yet to materialize). <br /><br />In short, the criticism Donolo will face as Liberal fortunes continue to slide under Ignatieff comes in direct proportion to the hype that has accompanied his arrival.<br /><br />And once again, Liberals only have themselves to blame.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-71197876811628090642009-11-10T10:54:00.007-05:002009-11-10T11:22:44.774-05:00Ignatieff fails the better-than-Dion test.First off, congratulations are due to Fin Donnelly, the newest New Democrat MP who won handily the New Westminster-Coquitlam seat vacated by legendary New Democrat MP Dawn Black.<br /><br />But the story on E+1 is that Michael Ignatieff failed his first electoral test. To be fair, the nugget of truth in Liberals’ spin is that no one expected them to win any of the four seats. That’s correct. But no one expected Ignatieff to do worse than Stephane Dion either. Yet that’s precisely what happened. Ignatieff failed the “better than Dion” test.<br /><br />In British Columbia, where the Liberals convened only six months ago to anoint Ignatieff leader, Liberals lost 9 percent of the popular support Dion had managed to collect – despite Ignatieff and <a href="http://www.teambc.ca/2009/10/visiting-liberal-mps-will-be-knocking-on-doors-in-the-by-election-campaign-with-liberal-candidate-ken-beck-lee/">no fewer than seven high-profile Liberal MPs </a>campaigning there.<br /><br />In Riviere du Loup, Ignatieff lost 14 percent of the popular vote Dion had eked out of voters there in 2008.<br /><br />And in the Hochelaga riding in Montreal, where Liberals traditionally compete with the Bloc for seats, the Liberals lost 31 percent of their vote share, coming third behind the New Democrats.<br /><br />Ignatieff has done the unthinkable. In these by-elections, he managed to do worse than the worst leader in the worst election in Liberal Party history.<br /><br />Taken together, (with thanks to <a href="http://www.punditsguide.ca/index.php">Pundits Guide</a>) the election results look like this:<br /><br />Con = 35.7%<br />NDP = 24.4%<br />Bloc = 20.8%<br />Lib = 14.8%<br /><br />As the hacks and flacks say, the only poll that matters is on election day.Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917457418053046748.post-3466887251978182652009-11-05T16:30:00.003-05:002009-11-05T16:33:23.862-05:00Dead Chamber costs explode 220% - 3 times more than program spendingYou never hear from them (except as <a href="http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2009/09/you-have-1-new-duffy-gram/">spam</a>). No one ever cast a ballot in favour of them. And there isn’t a soul in the land who could tell you which one is supposed to represent their part of the country.<br /><br />Yet we are all obliged to pay <strong>$81 million dollars a year</strong> to have partisan hacks in the Senate masquerade as legislators on par with elected MPs. Obliged because, unlike New Democrats, a succession of Liberal and Conservative Prime Ministers haven’t had the courage to say “enough.”<br /><br />Today the NDP’s Peter Stoffer exposed the <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/press/stoffer-slams-harper-s-senate-spending-spree">exploding costs </a>of Canada’s unelected, unaccountable Senators. Anyone who believes in democracy will find the details appalling.<br /><br />In the past 14 years, the overall costs of government program expenditures has increased only 73 percent and the cost of running the House of Commons has increased even less: 69 percent.<br /><br />Yet Senators – including those appointed by Stephen Harper racked up <strong><em>$19.5 million</em></strong> in travel and office expenses – <strong><em>219 percent</em></strong> <strong><em>more</em></strong> than in 1994.<br /><br />Senators have no constituency offices, they have no case work, and they sat only 61 days last year. Yet Stephen Harper thinks it’s A-Ok for partisan hacks to spend an average of $187,000 each on travel and perks last year.<br /><br />Stephen Harper used to say “<em>An appointed Senate is a relic of the 19th Century.</em>” But that’s before he gave up any shred of accountability in favour of doing politics just like Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien used to.<br /><br />The full details of how 105 strangers are spending your money on their lavish lifestyle are here, courtesy of the New Democrats:<br /><br /><a title="View 091105-Senate-Costs-FY2008-09 on Scribd" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 12px auto 6px; FONT: 14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/22168587/091105-Senate-Costs-FY2008-09">091105-Senate-Costs-FY2008-09</a><object id="doc_488162040990276" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="500" width="450" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" name="doc_488162040990276"><param name="_cx" value="11906"><param name="_cy" value="13229"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=22168587&access_key=key-1o84ljadatu1x0q1iw6w&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list"><param name="Src" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=22168587&access_key=key-1o84ljadatu1x0q1iw6w&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list"><param name="WMode" value="Opaque"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value="LT"><param name="Menu" value="-1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="FFFFFF"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="true"><br /> <embed src="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=22168587&access_key=key-1o84ljadatu1x0q1iw6w&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_488162040990276_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" mode="list" height="500" width="450"></embed> </object>Blogging Horsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07814673326602261801noreply@blogger.com0