A little bit of this, and a little bit of that…

The Liberals have been fairly silent again today. Once again, Harper’s pushing everyone else to the back pages:

• As we pointed out a while ago, income splitting is in the CPC’s future. I’m going to have to get a spouse.
• The CPC also wants to dole out money for you to become a baby-maker. I love money. I love money way better than I love the government setting up daycare franchises. But, hey, that’s just me.
• Layton loves private health care. Whoda thunk it? (And yeah, I know, I’m way behind the ball on this. Exams and stuff. Life isn’t all fun and games, you know.)
• And then, you know, we had some Nazis in Quebec or something.

I guess that’s about it. Oh, one other thing: that Strategic Counsel poll makes no sense. None. Two off-the-cuff, utterly uninformed guesses: No one’s paying atention yet. The margin of error is unusually large.

Speaking of which, everybody remember: the SES nightly tracking poll is now released SEVEN days a week, at 2pm every day. And it is like crack.

But who likes polls anyway?

Things that make you go

hmmmmmm.

It’s a 3-day rolling poll…  so this would be the first release to be, I believe, fully after the GST announcment.  And, yet, what do we see?  A drop in CPC support.

I’m betting there are more than a few people in the Tory camp scratching their heads today.

Tories in Quebec

Adam Daifallah, co-author of Rescuing Canada’s Right, has a very interesting post up about allegations made regarding the state of the Conservative party in Quebec on a radio program popular there.

Synopsis: It ain’t purdy.

Week’s Wrap Up

I was kind of harsh at the beginning of the week, I think.  On Harper, that is.  He wrapped up the week well.  In fact, he dominated it.

Too bad he hates hippies.  Who doesn’t like to smoke a doob at the end of a long day of campaigning?

Oh, and where’s the bounce from that GST announcement?  Anyone?

Ah, Buzz…

you’re a fuckface.

What? WHAT?!

All is not lost over in the CPC’s war room. They might even have a decent rapid response team.

The GST – in his own words

01 December 2005

OTTAWA – Paul Martin and his senior advisors such as Mike Robinson are calling the Conservative GST reduction plan “regressive”. Funny that, considering Mr. Martin’s previous opinions on the matter:

“The GST is a stupid, inept and incompetent tax.” (Paul Martin, Hansard, November 28, 1989).

-30-

For more information: Conservative Party Press Office (613) 755-2191

Huh. Who’d have thunk it?

GST Cut

Well, I suppose this will be marked as the first major policy announcement of the campaign. And so early (in the morning; it’s 930am, and I’m already out of the loop)!

A cut of the GST to 5% by the CPC.

We’ll see how this one turns out. I suspect it will be popular with the voting public. My economics undergrad education instilled in me a deep love for consumption taxes, but I plan on being filthy stinking rich and buying a lot of shit… so I’m torn about this move. You have to take what you can get, I suppose, and I somehow doubt that we’re going to see promises to cut the highest marginal income tax rate from any of the parties.

As real economists start to bitch and whine about the move, I’ll update this post. Later, skaters.

Update: Ah, both economists AND pollsters weigh in in one handy-dandy article. And that’s just the kind of shit I aim to bring you, the reader (not plural, b/c I’m not sure anyone actually reads this).

End of the Day Wrap-Up

Think the Liberals won this day.  That makes it 2-0.  And oh my, it was so close for Harper, too.  If only Harper hadn’t been contradicted by MacKay on his major policy announcement of the day, I think I would have given it to him.

Disagree?  Bitch about it below!

Finally, does anyone have any information on whether or not the CPC-ML has yet nominated any candidates?  Their website is strangely silent, and they always field the most entertaining cast of characters.

And with that…  I will see you in the morning.

Four debates

Winners: Harper and Layton.  Mostly Harper.  I always get the feeling that Layton’s a bit of a used-car salesman.  But what do I know?  Apparently pudgy, white, upper-middle-class kids aren’t in touch with the common man because, if I recall correctly, Canadians seemed pretty “jiggy” with Layton’s performance during 2004’s debates.

Loser: Martin.  This guy sucks at debating.  No joke.

Biggest losers: The public, who will be really pissed when debate 4 pre-empts Corner Gas on CTV…  or something.

War Room Amateur Hour

Anyone who followed the CPC with any regularity at all during last year’s election campaign should find this news utterly unsurprising: the CPC’s war room is woefully terrible.

Paul Wells has this:

“Jason Kenney held a news conference in which he complained — incorrectly — that Martin speechwriter Scott Feschuk had insulted ethnic minorities. Feschuk had written a humorous note on the Liberal party website referring to ’socially awkward Omni subscribers.’

“Kenney thought Feschuk was talking about viewers of Omni TV, a multicultural channel based in Toronto. In fact, he was actually referring to now-defunct Omni magazine, a science and technology publication long cherished by nerds.”

So, I mean, that’s bad, right? Like, stupidly, and inexcusably bad? It gets worse. Hours after Paul Wells has made fun of this and it had broken in the media, the CPC sends out a press release from the War Room re-iterating Kenney’s stupid claim and asking if the Liberals are going to stand beside it.

There’s only one explanation: CPC staffers have money riding on the outcome and they’re trying to throw the election.

Tailings

• The CP continues is terrible political writing with this opener: “The Ghost of Campaigns Past has returned to haunt Prime Minister Paul Martin as he attempts to put the sponsorship scandal behind him and win back voters in Quebec.” Yes, Jean Chretien has re-started his lawsuit against Gomery.
• The RCMP is going to be investigating rumours about leaks to certain favoured investment-type people in advance of the Finance Minister’s announcement on income trusts.

And, just because I have nothing else to say, CTV’s Election Blog is actually starting to prove worthwhile reading this campaign.  Headlines right now include such gems as: The Battle in Quebec — for Ontario; Where the Leaders Are; and a take on the federal election from Clinton’s speechwriter.

And, the CPC Plan for Prosecution…

The CPC, meanwhile, announced a plan to for some kind of independent, special prosecutor (boy, if I know anything from American politics, it’s that if Harper cigar-bangs an intern – and there have been some cute Conservative interns in the past – and later perjures when asked about it under oath, he is going to really regret this). Here are the key points:

“No longer will the Attorney General face the conflict of deciding matters involving his own Cabinet colleagues or his own party.”said Mr. Harper.

Details of the plan includes the following:

• The Director will be an independent, qualified prosecutor chosen in consultation with other parties in Parliament;
• The office of the Director will be responsible for all federal prosecutions;
• Once the RCMP investigates findings of the Auditor General, the Ethics Commissioner or other officers of Parliament, it will be the impartial Director who decides on prosecution;
• To ensure complete transparency, the only way for the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General to overrule the Director would be by means of a public written notice.

Liberal Plan for Prosperity

The Liberals announced their “Plan for Prosperity” this morning. From the press release:

In order to meet our goal of ensuring that Canadians enjoy a quality of life that is second to none, the Plan proposes action in four key areas.

• Creating Opportunities for All Canadians: In order to fully participate in the 21st century economy, we must ensure that all Canadians have the opportunity to acquire the skills, training and education they need.
• Advancing an Innovative Economy: Canada must create a leading-edge economy that creates and adopts new technologies within a framework of environmental sustainability.
• Positioning Canada at the Centre of Global Commerce and Networks: Canada is a trading nation and we must adapt to changes in the global marketplace, including the rapid growth of India, China and Brazil.
• Building the Right Investment Environment: The best way for government to support jobs, growth and prosperity is to create the right conditions for private investment and innovation.

The Plan sets out a medium-term plan for the Canadian economy. It cannot be achieved in one year or one budget, but the dramatic turnaround in our economy over the last decade proves that it can be achieved, to the benefit of all Canadians.

I don’t know what any of this means, but man does it sound chock-full of substance!

Oh, Bourque…

What would we do without you?

A candidacy in shambles. It wasn’t meant to be this way for the self-styled saviour of Canada. Michael Ignatieff, the 30-years-abroad egghead who’s Harvard-based perch was thought by acolytes to be the perfect springboard for a thinly-veiled assault on the Prime Minister’s Office, all conveniently dollied-up as the second coming of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Now, however, his undemocratic drop-in “acclamation” is being rebuffed in Etobicoke-Lakeshore as determined local Liberals, including the president of the Toronto branch of the Ukrainian Congress, move forward with their own nomination meeting tonight. Indeed, the Liberal riding association has now indicated that Ignatieff is not even a member in good standing. So much for the concept of democracy, eh Mr. Ignatief ? This growing nightmare can only find one logical outcome, insiders say. Ignatieff will have to step aside. Worse, senior Liberals in Toronto, Bourque has learned, are readying a game plan that will allow the egghead to step aside in favour of devoting more time to his students, lest the growing unrest surrounding his imposed candidacy split the Liberal vote in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. A little egg on the Great Ego’s face, after all, might be the perfect reminder to him that democracy has a process and it must be followed. UPDATE: After Bourque divulged Ignatieff’s grave difficulties, his appearance on a TV panel this morning was cancelled. Developing.

I’m sure Bourque won’t mind me pasting the whole thing here for posterity’s sake seeing as how, well, there’s not much permanency to these blurbs of his.

Today’s Front Pages

Looks like yesterday’s issue was same-sex marriage.

Broadsheets are so pretty.