New Survey on best PM

[GAP]

Even the liberals think Harper is the best PM.

Of the following individuals, who do you think would make the best Prime Minister?

Stephen Harper 42%
Stephane Dion 17%
Jack Layton 16%
Gilles Duceppe 7%
Elizabeth May 4%
None of them 7%
Unsure 6%

Survey Data

 

[brihard]

What frightens me the most is that the NDP is almost on par with the Liberals...

 

[GAP]

What frightens me the most is that the NDP is almost on par with the Liberals...

Yup......at the bottom

 

[gaspasser]

The divided Liberals would be fools to call an election now just for the sake of appearing "powerful".
Just today, the news reported that there is descension amongst the ranks of those loyal to Cretien and those loyal to Dion.
I think it's time for someone to step up and BE a Leader and set some party priorities and co-locate their collective fecal matter.
My 0.02.
8)

 

[GAP]

From my POV I see the leadership candidates mouthing the words of support, but I don't see any enthusiasm there....

 

[Journeyman]

The NDP cannot find support in Canada as long as the global (and hence, Canadian) economy keeps running. If 1929 re-occurs, they'll be at the front of the gravy train saying, "see, we told you."

This poll however, is about potential Prime Ministers, not parties. I think even the Liberals understand* that Dion is a page-holder, awaiting a credible Liberal leader...or one that's already in the wings, but requiring the marginal party factions to get gripped.


* I'm just guessing here. I can't think like a Liberal; I've dealt routinely with the real world. 

 

[a_majoor]

This poll however, is about potential Prime Ministers, not parties. I think even the Liberals understand* that Dion is a page-holder, awaiting a credible Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.

Sad to say, there seems to be a certain current of support for this idea (did you notice the media reaction to his presence during the Liberal Leadership Convention, for example), despite the annoying fact that this person has no real CV or discernable qualifications besides the family name. For people who believe the Liberal Party is a front for Power Corporation, this actually makes sense; find a puppet who is identifiable to the masses yet easily controlled by the "true" powers that be. Certainly M. Trudeau would be an ideal solution for Liberals looking for name brand recognition without having to specify actual programs and expected results of government policy.

Given the MSM's inability to do actual research or background investigation I can see a potential slam dunk happening; although what will happen to the Liberals in the real world may be something else entirely. My prediction still stands: the Liberals will disintigrate as left wing voters migrate to true left wing parties (NDP, Green, BQ). How messy this will be and what remains behind I cannot say.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Well they used to say that Broadbent could have been the PM if he changed parties.

 

[a78jumper]

The same was said of Robert Stanfield, but the press did a number on him dropping a football after being tossed it repeatedly with perfect catches. But then again PET was just oh so cool as are all of his surviving offspring, though one of them did kind of have a problem with going AWOL from CTC summer 1996 after being CB'd for the weekend.

 

[CougarKing]

At least Boisclair isn't on the list.

 

[retiredgrunt45]

I think Mr. Harper has surprised many of us. Canadians in general didn't know what to think of him earlier on, but presently he has shown that he has the skills necessary to become a great PM. Unlike former governments he has taken to appointing younger ministers, which i feel is great. The younger ministers have the ears of our younger Canadians and have inspired a new interest in Canadian politics. But on the down side they don't have some of the experience that of an older savvy politician, but over time will learn. My 23 year old daughter who had absolutely no interest in politics before the PC's has now take a keen interest, that say's something for what Mr. Harper is doing right.

Another stroke of genius is appointing a retired military officer as the MND. Some may criticize Mr. O'Conners performance over these past few months, but let's remember that he has first hand knowledge of how the military works and I think that is indispensable to Mr. Harper. He has had to make some hard choices on fairly shady subjects and I think he did fairly well considering who he had to answer to on the opposition side of the house. Even under the present circumstances I think it would be prudent for Mr Harper to keep him on as the MND. Also he is the only MND that has for the past 40 years given the military what they needed to get the job done, that alone is a huge step in the right direction. Unlike the Liberals who like dancing to the Mexican polka "1 step forward 2 steps backward".

A thumbs up for Mr. Harper.

 

[a_majoor]

A bit of a double header here. While I am not old enought to remember Louis St Laurent (heh), I will go with Edward's placement of him as #1, and make my case for Brian Mulrouney as #2 (for the FTA, among other things).

Here is the other end of the spectrum, so we can see just how broad a span we have to cover:

http://torydrroy.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The overthrow of chretien reveals much corruption

Norman Spector's article today is very interesting. It confirms my opinion that pseudo chretien was a thug who ran a criminal enterprise the fiberal party of Canada. It also reinforces the links of the fiberals and the RCMP that Steve Janke has brought up.

Sponsorship, Arar, Air India: uncovering the dirty secrets
By NORMAN SPECTOR
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 – Page A21

Since the overthrow of Jean Chrétien's friendly dictatorship, Canadians have been living through an era of glasnost. To be sure, the revelations here pale in comparison to what the ascendancy of Mikhail Gorbachev revealed about the Soviet system. Still, what we're learning about the way we've been governed is not pretty.

When The Globe's Jeffrey Simpson coined the phrase "friendly dictatorship" to describe the Chrétien era, Canada seemed to be heading inexorably toward a one-party state. Future historians will likely credit Stephen Harper for keeping us from appearing in poli-sci textbooks alongside Mexico and Japan. However, in the first instance, we must thank Paul Martin, our own Gorbachev-like figure.

As events unfolded in 2004, it was Mr. Martin who was in the prime minister's office when Auditor-General Sheila Fraser reported that officials running the sponsorship program had run amok. Though Liberals will forever shake their heads, had it not been for Mr. Martin's coup against Jean Chrétien, the Gomery commission would never have been established.

Mr. Chrétien repeatedly insisted that any sponsorship-related problems were best left to the RCMP; we now know why. No one ever suggested that the prime minister or any of his officials had been involved in criminal activity. However, far from merely providing "input," Mr. Justice John Gomery concluded that Chrétien chief of staff Jean Pelletier was effectively running the sponsorship show. And Judge Gomery held Mr. Chrétien "personally responsible for the actions or the inaction of Mr. Pelletier and other exempt staff in his office."

Ironically, the RCMP itself figures in several of the other uncomfortable truths that have been exposed in recent years. Again, thanks to Paul Martin's decision to establish an inquiry, we now know the circumstances surrounding the deportation of Maher Arar to Syria. It was the RCMP that originally flagged Mr. Arar to U.S. authorities as a possible extremist with ties to al-Qaeda. And, aside from not providing adequate oversight, senior RCMP officers were found to have provided selective information to the Privy Council Office when lawyers acting for Mr. Arar and the media began to ask questions....

Part two is why we need a very strong PM at this moment in history:

http://jr2020blogspot.com/2007/05/fit-to-govern.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Fit to govern?

Diane Francis has been doing a "credentials audit" of the federal political parties as a measure of their fitness to successfully steer Canada’s economy in an increasingly competitive world. It doesn’t look good.

In her National Post column last week the Conservatives (subscr req’d) come up short:

    ....two dozen people who are qualified to run a charity, launch a special-interest group or be Minister of Justice because they are lawyers.

    ...only one person qualified to be Minister of Finance [David Emerson].

In a second column the Liberals faired even worse:

    ...."talent pool" is so bereft it is downright worrisome.

    ...no savvy technocrats ...no street smarts. This is a crew capable of running Greenpeace, a farm, giving university lectures or running a law firm.


This week’s column covers the NDP and the Bloc. No surprises here:

    ...both have different names but are, at the root, merely European labour parties.

    ...[neither have any MPs] who would have the slightest clue about the nuances of tax, capital markets, income trust or most economic policies.

The recommended solution:

    Canada's governance gap could be closed if candidates:

        1) were required to pass a rigorous economic IQ test and
        2) were paid the average of their past five years' salary with a cap of $500,000. This would encourage trained applicants to run.

That’s what I like about the American system - a separate, appointed, highly qualified executive branch to run the government.

However, it’s unlikely that anything will change (for the better) anytime soon - so I guess we just have to count our blessings and be thankful we’re as well off as we are.

edit to fix link