Liberals go ahead of tories in the polls.

[George Wallace]

...or leader of both countries - - maybe we could share him  ;D

Isn't that what 'Anti-monarchists' are complaining about already?

 

[rmacqueen]

I like that after two days of almost total coverage they cut of Dion in the middle of his speech to go to Hockey Night in Canada

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

Interesting comments this morning on CFRA.

1. Dion is a dual citizen (France & Canada)

2. The coverage given the Liberal convention and commentary by the media was approx 4 X the coverage given the Conservatives and Steven Harper, and was far more generous to the Liberals than it was to the Conservatives

The media want the Liberals back in power so bad it's disgusting. Several times during the coverage on CTV Oliver and Robertson referred to the other contenders "serving under a Dion Administration." Um excuse me boys but the Liberals are in opposition. "The Administration" refers to the ruling party.
Many times Robertson referred to Dion as a future Prime Minister....says who? certainly not the Canadian people yet.
the CBC wasn't much better.
The media are miffed that Harper has their number and only talks to them when he wants to...not giving scrums every 5 mins to talk about the latest opinion poll the way the Liberals did.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I like that after two days of almost total coverage they cut of Dion in the middle of his speech to go to Hockey Night in Canada

The blush is already off the rose. He's old news after one day :

 

[Kirkhill]

...or leader of both countries - - maybe we could share him  ;D

On the other hand maybe he could make like Martin with his ships and "recuse" himself from the discussion everytime France comes up.  Never visit France. Never talk to the French President or Prime Minister.  Have nothin to do  with French oil companies and French defence suppliers...... >

 

[mjohnston39]

The media want the Liberals back in power so bad it's disgusting.

+1

 

[wannabe SF member]

What about general opinion about him throughout Canada.

 

[rmacqueen]

What about general opinion about him throughout Canada.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if most Canadians are taking a wait and see approach

 

[Fishbone Jones]

What about general opinion about him throughout Canada.

Go read the papers and listen to the news. Do your own research for a change. Google and militaryphotos is a good place for a youngster like you to hang out in your thirsty quest for knowledge. You pose some good questions in your many, but we don't have the time to spoon feed you everything.

 

[wannabe SF member]

Go read the papers and listen to the news. Do your own research for a change. Google and militaryphotos is a good place for a youngster like you to hang out in your thirsty quest for knowledge. You pose some good questions in your many, but we don't have the time to spoon feed you everything.

point taken and processed

Thanks for the website though .

 

[spud]

But, did you like her hair?

Well, I am partial to blondes (the other white meat).

 

[gk404]

Well, I am partial to blondes (the other white meat).

When I saw Mrs. Stronach, all I could think of was that old lame joke... What do you call a blond that dyes her hair brown?..............Artificial Intelligence.  ;D

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

I see the new Leader is already making stupid un-informed statements about the Sandbox. He wants a Marshall plan for Afghanistan! He does realize that we are still fighting insurgents I hope and that security is still a major issue before we can start expecting Capital ventures to invest money in what is still a war zone?

From the Globe and Mail this morning (the mop and pail) “Can we have a kind of Marshall Plan as we have done in Europe, in Japan, in Singapore, in Taiwan, in so many countries before that?” he asked. “We need to stop being neo-conservative. You need to believe in the role of the government to help an economy to be built. For that we need a Liberal government.”


The Marshall plan was a plan to rebuild a nation who had been destroyrd by war but whose military had been defeated, surrendered and were by and large willing to be part of the process.
To the best of my knowledge the Taliban want no part of building up things.
Will the Canadian people understand that? or will they continue to believe whatever the Libs or the NDippers want to spin?
I know I know...rhetorical questions...shaking my head here :

 

[a_majoor]

If the Liberal leadership candidates try to write off their debts contrary to the elections and accountability act, then the word should be spread. Canadians have spoken on the lack of Liberal ethics and accountability in the last election, if the Liberals don't or won't change, then the voters may speak up more forcefully:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061205.LIBSDEBT05/TPStory/TPNational/Politics/

Candidates could get loan relief
NDP says loophole could help erase payments to donor corporations
BILL CURRY

OTTAWA -- Liberal leadership candidates may never have to pay off hundreds of thousands in corporate loans because they may simply be written off, the NDP's ethics critic, Pat Martin, warns.

Now that the party is over, candidates are faced with debts to repay at the same time as the party itself must raise money for the next federal election.

The leadership race was the first contest by a major political party under the campaign finance rules brought in by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

Those changes amended the Canada Elections Act to ban corporate donations to leadership candidates and limit individual donations to $5,000. Should the Conservatives' Federal Accountability Act become law this month, that limit would drop to $1,000 beginning Jan. 1.

The punishment for violating the donation rules is a summary offence, which normally amounts to either a small fine or a few months in jail.

But when the small Canadian Action Party said this year that it could not pay back the $829,000 debt owed to the party founder, Paul Hellyer, which dated back to 1997, Mr. Hellyer simply wrote it off.

Mr. Martin said if such moves are permitted, it could allow corporations or wealthy individuals to break the donation limits through loans that are then written off.

"It's a massive loophole that you could drive a truck through," Mr. Martin said.

The NDP MP said it does not make sense that leadership candidates believe they will have a better chance of paying off their debts after the race, than during.

"It defies credulity frankly. I don't believe they [the lenders] expect to be paid back," he said.

With the Accountability Act currently before the Liberal-dominated Senate, Mr. Martin said the Liberals have a self interest not to pass the Tory ethics bill.

According to the most recent declarations, the candidates have the following debt levels: Bob Rae: $845,000; Stéphane Dion: $430,000; Ken Dryden: $300,000; Gerard Kennedy: $201,750; Scott Brison: $200,000; Joe Volpe: $180,000; Michael Ignatieff: $170,000 and Martha Hall Findlay: $130,000.

It is expected that the totals will be considerably higher when the final numbers are made public.

The candidates were allowed to spend a maximum of $3.4-million each, but have not yet declared their expenses.

Post-campaign debts have at times produced colourful and unusual developments.

Failed Liberal leadership candidate Donald Johnston took to playing Broadway show tunes in 1985 for $150 a ticket in Montreal. After finishing third in the Conservative leadership race, Tony Clement was helped out in 2005 with a $100,000 donation from second-place finisher Belinda Stronach.

At a meeting on Sunday between the Liberal leadership candidates, sources say the possibility was raised that the Liberal Party may help pay off the candidates' debts, but no conclusion was reached.

Candidates such as Mr. Dryden, Mr. Brison and Maurizio Bevilacqua, who dropped out midway through the campaign and owes more than $100,000, insisted yesterday they intend to pay back all the loans within 18 months.

"The question is for all of us and us as a party, how do we deal with it," Mr. Dryden said. "And I don't know what the answer is."

Mr. Brison said he has a plan in place to pay off all of his debts and has been successful on the fundraising front.

"Many of the people who already supported leadership candidates can probably expect when we get into the new electoral finance year, they will be called on again," he said.

Mr. Bevilacqua, who is well known for his organizing skills, says the money will simply be paid back by holding fundraisers.

"I mean, there's only one option you have and that's to get out there and raise the money," he said. "You have to work very hard."

Candidate debt

Candidates for the Liberal leadership race declared the following amounts of debt:

Bob Rae $845,000

Stéphane Dion $430,000

Ken Dryden $300,000

Gerard Kennedy $201,750

Scott Brison $200,000

Joe Volpe $180,000

Michael Ignatieff $170,000

Martha Hall Findlay $130,000

NOTE: Candidates have not reported spendings.

They were allowed to spend a maximum of $ 3.4-million.

SOURCE: ELECTIONS CANADA

 

[Kirkhill]

So who backed Stephane Dion to that tune?

There's a strategy from the race track of betting the nose and tail.  Betting on the favourite  AND the long shot.  Chretien people were heavily invested in Rae.  Martin people in Ignatieff (who apparently either didn't have much of a war chest or else was more effective at raising usable funds). 

Chretien himself picked Dion from obscurity to become his Quebec advisor and was seen to be grinning broadly after Dion won.

For the Liberals, its all about power.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

So who backed Stephane Dion to that tune?

For the Liberals, its all about power.

Don't be suprised if the finger points back at a number of Power Corporation holdings.

 

[spud]

Don't be suprised if the finger points back at a number of Power Corporation holdings.

O ya, there's a nice little incestous pipeline through Power Corp to the Liberal party.