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?
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 words01 December 2005OTTAWA – 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?
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.
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.
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!
It appears Gurmant Grewal (Newton–North Delta, BC) will not be seeking re-election (link).
He cites the opposing campaigns planning on using the whole conversation-recording fiasco against him, and his party as a whole. Kudos for putting party above self. This would have been a hell of a lot easier, Gurmant, had you not waited to fork over the tapes.
Fortunately, his wife Nina will continue the Grewal legacy in her re-election attempt in Fleetwod–Port Kells.
He looks like a fairy; his rhythm is slow and retarded.
I feel like I’m watching a crappy CBC kids’ show.
I think he just used that stupid cliche, “walk the walk, talk the talk.”
Holy crap, he sounds like he’s telling a story to children. The moustache doesn’t make it better.
One sign you’re running a budget campaign? Drinking water from a dixie cup.
Harper is about to make a statement in the House of Commons foyer. Topic of discussion over on the CBC: will he be the “angry man” he was last time?
The Liberals are, “Lurching from one scandal to another … trying to avoid the people’s verdict.”
He’s using a teleprompter. It’s great to see the Conservative campaign paying attention to detail for once. Not a bad speech. It definitely gives him a softer image, as does the graying hair.
Nothing new here: accountability, taxes, crime, health, child care, pensions, trade/industry, and regionalism are the issues he listed off as areas needing “change.”
He’s unveiling platform points over the coming weeks. Not a bad move if you don’t want your policies stolen.
Short speech, repeated in French. The CBC has a better (i.e. more tolerable) translator.
Press questions:
What is different from 2004? People didn’t vote for you then. What has changed? “The facts are clear.”
Do you love this country? “Canada’s a great country…”
In what way were the Liberals involved in organized crime? “We’ve heard testimony of money laundering, kickbacks, threats and intimidation … that’s the definition of organized crime where I come from.”
Fear campaign you already expect is coming? “Hope beats fear 90% of the time.”
What values will you be personally be defending, aside from honesty? “I talked about conservative values, such as democracy, safety, health care, communities that act with compassion, freedom for families. I think conservative values are true Canadian values … the Liberals are trying to be conservative…”
Too far to the right? “Our campaign will be a campaign where we will present our policies and plans for the future. Certainly, Liberals will be saying things such as that …”
How do you intend to govern with no seats in Quebec? “I intend to win seats in Quebec”
Martin just exited Rideau. The GG just dissolved Parliament.
He’s blamed the opposition parties. “Most of us do not want the campaign during the holidays” is what CTV’s crappy translator said.
If there’s anything I’m not looking forward to, it’s listening to shitty translators who think they speak English.
Now Martin is trying to tell us about his “record.”
Economy, fairness, social justice. The other leaders “hold very different views on what government should be.” Thank God.
Some press questions:
Negative campaign ads? [hesitation] “…of course I’m going to be pointing out the differences…”
Christmas break? “I’ve been told by a high authority here that I’m taking Christmas off” (his wife?)
Why such a long campaign? “People want to enjoy their holidays and I think think they have a right to … there are important national issues at stake here … time to debate the issues.”
…56 days. Cripes.
Back into the motorcade. Tom Clark of CTV notes that he didn’t mention a word about Gomery. I think it’s a touchy subject for Liberals.
Paul Martin decided to hop into his motorcade instead of taking the confident stroll to Rideau Hall from his place around the corner. I guess his legs are broken… and he lacks confidence. He probably doesn’t want to look like a mopey loser going to tell the GG that he was incapable of keeping a government.
He’s not out yet, but they’re saying January 23.
And so we begin a new running feature on Federal Election News and Rumours: fucked up shit from the networks. Here, we will chronicle the weirdest and wackiest crap we see on the networks’ campaign coverage.
Number 1: The CBC’s mystery diarist.
More to come.
Most of the coverage tonight of Harper tonight featured his wonderfully perfect family.
Looks like he’ll be parading the children around again in hopes of bringing out the “family man” character. It’s especially important to play this up during the Christmas season. It’s one subliminal way of appealing to the “hard right” while being more ideologically pragmatic.
Yay, optics. It will be interesting to see the creative ways the leaders will be non-campaigning during the holiday season. Perhaps a photo-op of the family spreading the Christmas joy to the local Salvation Army shelter? I definitely see lots of charity/philanthropy in all the campaigns. Maybe this is a benefit to having Christmas elections. If anything, we’ll have campaigns pretending to have heart.
I’m watching CTV, and I just saw that both Craig Oliver and Allan Gregg were discussing Harper’s “scary” factor.
What is scary?
I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure it implies having an understanding both of what Harper will do when elected in addition to the faith or assuredness that he’ll keep his promises.
Is this so bad?
That all depends on what you consider to be a scary promise. Harper’s main message will likely be accountability. I’m not sure that he’ll be touting any objectives from Focus on the Family. I like to think of the scariness factor being a gauge of how closely you adhere to liberal or conservative factors. That is, the further you deviate from the mushy middle, the scarier you’ll be painted.
Relevance?
Less scary = greater public appeal (more “centrist”) = selling out hardline values
In case you were wondering, Harper’s scary factor went down by ten points since the last election. Coupled with better overall polling and out-fundraising on the Conservatives’ part, it’s gonna be an interesting Christmas.
In other news, Michael Ignatieff claims to have been “misunderstood” by Ukrainians.
I’m starting a little late, but let’s see what happens.
It’s approximately 5:50PM and Craig Oliver is barely managing to keep his head from blowing apart. He does not like Mr. Ignatieff. Nope, not at all. Craig’s making very clear that Ignatieff’s support for “George Bush’s war in Iraq” and his affinity for America all but disqualify him from becoming Prime Minister. Also, according to Craig, Ignatieff is no Trudeau, because Trudeau put his “life on the line” to work against Duplessis’s “immoral” government. Holy Christ. I don’t care what you think about Ignatieff – could someone FIRE Craig Oliver? What a dickwad. He’s senile and useless and I hate him.
610pm, and we have the house leaders Tony Valeri, Jay Hill, and Libby Davies (who’s a lesbian; ask Shirley Chan, star Liberal candidate from 2004). Dave Chatters and Darrell Stinson are going to be voting despite health concerns. Jay Hill is bitching about the Libs not calling an election in January. Here’s Libby Davies (good lord, she’s a beastly looking woman, but her accent is kind of sexy, no?). Since nothing of substance is being said here, I’m going to make comments apropos of nothing:
614 pm. Holy shit! Jay Hill just said that the CPC will have policy! And early! He even looked serious.
621pm. NDP strategist Jamey Heath is dealing with male pattern baldness as best he can.
625pm. Olivia Chow, Jack Layton’s life partner, subsidized housing sharer, limo carpooler, and perpetual loser, gets ready to lose again!
642pm. Craig Oliver is still a dick.
644pm. Strategic Council. 42% think CPC responsible for dissolution of Parliament. Who cares? CTV.
647pm. Vote!
654pm. Speaker Milliken announces that there’s a reception after the vote to exchange season’s greetings. Much good-natured chuckling in the House.
709pm. 171-133.
does not appear to share our undying love for negative campaigning:
Hey, here’s a handy tip for campaigning leaders
Try not to say anything appalling.
Oops! Too late.
