Confessions of a Liberal Mind

Opening Remarks of 2012 Biennial Convention

2012-01-13T12:38:00.003-05:00

In an interesting twist of events, Bob Rae goes off the cuff, and totally disregards his prepared remarks. I had a chance to read his prepared remarks and they were a bit different then what he ended up saying. He gives a passionate speech that defended the party and our history and future.

I will be making an appearance on the webcast around 2pm, doing a panel style interview on http://convention.liberal.ca/ Take a look.

Live Blogging from Biennial

2012-01-12T14:04:00.001-05:00

As of tomorrow morning, I will be liveblogging sessions from Biennial. I will only be live blogging the sessions that are available to the media. I don't feel like exposing any party secrets to everyone.

More Biennial talk

2011-12-20T23:00:00.004-05:00

For the past 2 days, I have received various robocalls and emails from various candidates. This has been annoying to say the least, I would prefer personal emails or phone calls, but then I come back to earth and realize that I am just a regular delegate, and semi-annual blogger. Though I understand why the candidates are making their calls this week, I personally would like a personal email or even a phone call.

The people that I am supporting for their positions have reached out and called me or even talked to me in person, and I feel this touch is very important in an internal Liberal race. Also, don't call my house during the day, no one is home. Some of us Liberals do have jobs. Is it asking too much to have a personal touch for a National Executive Board Election? I don't think it is, but then again I can just influence other delegates from my riding on this issue.
One more endorsement for now......

National Vice-President English
This is a very important position on the National Executive, and I believe that our next VP English should be experienced and know the party inside and out. That is why I am endorsing James Morton for VP English. I found his platform to be very thorough, and agree with his opinion on the importance of the PTA's. I have also had the chance to sit down and chat with James and have found him to be a thoughtful and dedicated Liberal. I feel James Morton's experience as both a candidate, exec board member, and blogger give him a great depth in the various levels of political involvement and think that he will do a great job as Vice President for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Biennial is coming....

2011-12-07T21:58:00.003-05:00

The Liberal Party of Canada is choosing a new national executive at the Biennial convention in Ottawa in January. The people in the party have a lot of choices to make in terms of party renewel. I think there are some people that warrant specific endorsements as to why they should be elected in their positions. This is not a full list of my endorsements and ther will be more to come.

Presidental Endorsement
First off, lets start with the Presidency, the incoming LPC president basically has 2 years to change the party before the new leadership team comes in, and from there things get a little cloudy. Only one candidate has struck me as someone that truly represents a clear vision of the future for the Liberal Party, and that is Mike Crawley. While other candidates have talked about bringing people back from the past, Mike has talked about the future and his bold new red vision really has resonated with me. I found that Mike understands the role of party president and is running as someone running for a table officer spot, rather then a politician as Sheila Copps has appeared. When I was at LPCO exec board in Niagara Falls, I felt that out of all the candidates, Mike got it, I mean that he understood how grassroots Liberals feel, and how to change the party and work within its structure as president. I feel he is the best hope to really change things for the better.

National Policy Chair
In a crowded field, the National Policy chair has a very important job in moderating the policy process of the Party for the next 2 year cycle. Though this is a crowded field with 2 passionate young liberals running for the position I feel that Maryanne Kampouris is by far the most qualified of the candidates and would do the best job as a national policy chair. Maryanne knows the party policy process inside and out, especially in her role as LPCO policy chair. She has been fair in her role, and hasn't put any special interest above others in her Ontario role. I believe that her experience and knowledge of the internal policy system would be very advantageous in a period of rebuilding and she would be a fair policy chair that would help the party and its grassroots find its vision for the future.

National Membership Secretary

The National Membership Secretary is a very hotly contested position for 2012. There are a couple of qualified candidates but I feel that Kyle Harrietha is the best candidate for the job. I've worked with Kyle in the past, and feel his experience of being an Alberta Liberal, with ties to Ontario give him a great perspective on the breadth of membership issues the party has as a whole, and I feel that he would do a great job as the National Membership Secretary of the Liberal Party.

I will have more endorsements to come, but this is my first post in a series of 2 regarding people who I am supporting for the Convention in Ottawa in January.

Update

2011-12-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

Its been since May, since I wrote a blog, but there has been some really interesting developments in the Liberal Party Of Canada, so tomorrow I will have my endorsements for the National Executive election.

I have met with candidates from all the positions and formulated my choices. So it should be good.

Just when you thought it was going to be one sided

2011-07-12T11:42:00.002-04:00

The Ontario Liberals Strike back. This add comes out today on TV. I got a peek at it first cause I know some people who are like in the know. Take a look for yourself, I think its effective.

Rock Bottom

2011-05-03T23:55:00.003-04:00

So last election was supposed to be rock bottom for the Liberals, but we have a brand new low this time around. This craziness goes back to 2006 and that ill fated leadership race in Montreal. Anyways, the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't been in the playoffs since the Conservatives have been in power. I hope this trend doesn't continue.

Prominent NDP Supporter, Bonjour Quebec!

2011-04-27T23:23:00.004-04:00

Bonjour Quebec.

Did you know that Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins is a prominent member of the NDP? Did you know he addressed their bienial conference in the past? Do a google search for Andrew Ference and NDP, and well its pretty easy to see.

Well, did you see him address the province of Quebec last week? I think this picture speaks for itself. This picture is indicative of the doublespeak the NDP has regarding their policies in Quebec and outside of it. Food for thought eh!

Muskoka Adventures, G8 edition!

2011-04-22T20:31:00.003-04:00

I made a couple of video blogs about the G8 pork in Muskoka. Take a look

New Con ad, looks very American

2011-04-05T19:17:00.001-04:00

So, this new Con ad crossed my desk. I saw it earlier, but then I got another email comparing the ad to an American tea party. The resemblance is uncanny. Looks like its a pretty good copy, if you change some of the stock imagery. What do you think?

Open Letter to Stephen Harper, from Michael Ignatieff

2011-04-01T09:14:00.003-04:00

This just crossed my desk this morning. Everyone should read this to hear the real story. Don't believe the anonymous sources, believe this directly from the leader of the Liberal Party to the Leader of the Conservative Party. Open letter to Stephen Harper Dear Mr. Harper: I am writing about the one-on-one debate that you challenged me to two days ago. You will recall that when you issued your challenge, I immediately responded, accepting it with enthusiasm. As you stated, there are only two people who can be Prime Minister after May 2nd: you or me. Canadians truly deserve to see us go face to face in a contest of ideas, values and very different visions for our country. That is what democracy is all about. Like many Canadians, I was disappointed and puzzled when you reversed your commitment, and tried to back out yesterday. I don't understand why you have gone back on your word, or why you would wish to disappoint Canadians. However, it is not too late for you to rectify the situation. Since our original exchange on Wednesday, many invitations to host the debate have come in from prestigious organizations across Canada. So there are any number of venues and times to choose from. Perhaps I can make this easier for you. I will meet you at the time and place of your choosing. There is no need for complicated or convoluted debate formats. Just two podiums – and you and me. A true, honest-to-goodness battle of ideas and visions. This is the kind of contest that Canadians are yearning for. I know because I have been meeting ordinary Canadians of all ages, backgrounds and political allegiances at events across Canada. It’s absolutely exhilarating. In fact, I would recommend that you try it. In closing, I urge you to reconsider your reversal and stick to your word. I strongly believe our fellow Canadians deserve this chance to see the different visions of leadership between the only two people who can become prime minister of this country at the end of this election. Sincerely, Michael Ignatieff Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

Irony

2011-03-30T22:59:00.001-04:00

Libs put out a policy that will help youth get to post secondary education in the future. Damn good policy to get kids to post secondary education and create a better society! Could this help get the youth vote out? Are they too busy watching Justin Bieber and playing xbox360? Let's hope their parents take their time away from tmz and perez to vote ;)

Harper Coalition 1.0.

2011-03-28T11:03:00.000-04:00

Stephen Harper on Coalitions

2011-03-28T10:52:00.009-04:00

It has come to the Globe and Mail's attention that Stephen Harper's continual coalition BS rant is of his own strategy. I have come up with a few coaltions Stephen Harper has been part of. This is by no means a complete list, and if you have any suggestions please send them to me.

Canadian hockey team bandwagon coalition

Every year Harper jumps on the bandwagon of the last Canadian team left in the playoffs. Remember when he was at the Oilers game 6 vs Carolina. Remember how he suddenly became a habs fan last year? Do you remember, that Harper is like me, a lifelong member of Leafs nation, who resorted to cheering for Ottawa when they made a cup run. This time of bandwagoning coalitioning is bad, especially from a fellow lifelong Leaf fan. I am dissapointed in this, and call on the Prime Minister to only support the Toronto Maple Leafs. No more hockey coalitions Mr. Harper. FOR SHAME!

Urban leather cowboy coalition

Well, what can we say about this coalition, usually riding motorcycles, or parading in Toronto in late June? This is the most eclectic of Stephen Harper's coalitions. I think this is also the most inclusive. From the Hells angels, to those guys in S&M bars, they are all part of the leather vest coalition which Harper is a proud member. Giddy-up.

Coalition of socialists, separatists and Conservatives

Here, take a look at this letter pasted in here.

THE 2004 LETTER Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D. Governor General Rideau Hall 1 Sussex Drive Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A1 EXCELLENCY, As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government's program. We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority. Your attention to this matter is appreciated. SINCERELY, Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P. Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Gilles Duceppe, M.P. Leader of the Bloc Québécois Jack Layton, M.P. Leader of the New Democratic Party

This is pretty self explanatory, Harper wanted to enter into a coalition with separatists (BQ), and the Socialists (NDP) in 2004. It took him a few years to flip flop back and forth against the coalitions, but lets not let the facts get in the way of a repetitive and stupid stump speech for Stephen on the campaign trail.

Coalition of the willing (war in Iraq)

Oh yeah, Stephen Harper was in favour of Canada going to war in Iraq in 2003, remember how well that turned out? Turned into a bit of a quagmire. Stephen wanted to follow his best friend George Bush full bore into the Iraq invasion. History has taught us facebook is a much better way to do regime change in that region.

National Citizens Coalition

Stephen used to be president of this organization in the 1990s. Apparently they are a lobby group that is a coalition of right wingers who wanted to put a firewall up in Alberta or something along those lines. Stephen Harper, President of a Coalition! Gotcha!

So this is a brief history of Stephen Harper and coalitions. He talks about the, but they are littered in his past. Something to think about voters, whenever he goes on and on about the non-existent coalition.

Getting Dumb on crime

2011-03-04T12:15:00.006-05:00

One thing I really like about Conservatives is even when they are totally wrong, they still think they are right and will stick to being wrong. That is until their leader tells them they are wrong, and they flip flop faster then a hipster vegan at a McDonald's restaurant.

I just read a piece in the Globe and Mail this morning, quoting Asa Hutchinson on the mistakes of the American prison system. Hutchinson is an Arkansas Republican who worked for the Bush administration. So he isn't exactly a pinko or a wussy liberal type. Hutchinson believes the American system focuses too much of its costs on housing inmates, and punishing them rather than being a system that works and prevents re offending.

The real beauty part of it is Hutchinson believes mandatory minimums are unfair, and that having longer prison sentences doesn't do anything for a prisoner to prepare for the real world. This is a Southern American conservative basically bashing his own system, and thus also debunking the planned justice bill "Harper's" Government wants to bring in.

So, lets get this straight, these policies don't work at all. For 35 years, the American prison system has been successful at locking people up, creating violent prisons, and raising the level of recidivism. This is what the Conservatives want to do to Canada? This also costs billions of dollars to do.

Is this perhaps one of the worst ideas this government has come up with? Yes.

Is this going to be extremely expensive, and cost the taxpayers money to basically created meaner, strong prisoners? Yes.

Aren't we all hoping the Conservatives have this as their main plank in the next Federal Election? Yes.

Crime is a complex issue, and it doesn't require simple minded solutions, it requires the full force of the state in terms of the social safety net as well as the justice system in reducing crime, and poverty which comes hand in hand. By simplifying this issue, the Conservatives think Canadians aren't smart enough to comprehend this problem, and that we want simple solutions? Are we that much like Americans, in places like Arkansas, and Texas? Do you share those values. Think about it, hard....

Decorum and Newsworthiness in Politics

2010-12-09T10:17:00.005-05:00

When I decided to write about this topic, I had just listened to Don Cherry rant and rave about Pinkos when introducing Rob Ford as the new mayor. The media reaction when from outraged to mocking, but no one mentioned the fact that Cherry's speech was totally inappropriate for the type of event he was at. I would expect some class and dignity in a swearing in ceremony. Instead we get name calling and ramblings from a beloved hockey commentator who should stick to talking about hockey.

I think the 24 hour news cycle, and political news shows has done more to derange the narrative politics in this country then anything else. It has become who can be the most outrageously partisan, and most snarky rather then debating points on merit of their ideas. The Conservatives have been the masters of the snarkiness, and when I see Vic Toews, or Peter Van Loan on Powerplay I watch for a few minutes and tire of their "liberalitis" aka everything bad is Liberals, we are not Liberals. The tv hosts are no better, in letting these clowns get their bully pulpit and often just end up using it to spout talking points rather then have a discussion about the issues.

A big part of the problem is the Prime Minister, who controls his MPs through fear and intimidation, when was the last time we saw a Conservative talk contrary to the PMO without any consequence? This leads the other parties to cry foul, and they try to message in a similar form in the media. Why was Julian Fantino hiding during his by-election campaign. The media tries to hold them accountable, but they get caught up in their collective ADD (its hard to get a quote when you can't answer a question), brought on by the trickle of information and opportunities to find a potential scoop from a cabinet minister.

This ADD is often caused by the various polling companies, who make money somehow on changes in the views of the electorate which are often in the margin of error. Polls create a permanent spin cycle, when there is no news often the only thing to talk about is polls. Lets be honest, any poll coming out in November and December as winter starts, and Canadians prepare for the holidays, will have no bearing on an election in the next spring. Polls are snapshots of a time period. I think their revelence often only applies to panelists on Powerplay, and Power and Politics. To the rest of us, its barely a barometer.

On this tangent, i happened to read an interesting article by David Akin, talking about reporters (with the public) and politicians (with reporters) being distrustful and cynical even in the off hours. It was an interesting observation by David, to note that both Politicians are subject to scrutiny and snarky intrusion in this age? Is there a way to change it? Probably not, but we have to ignore non news days, and maybe then politicians and journalists will try harder to spin less, and be more "normal". Negativity, random speculation, and snarkiness is what I see a lot of in political news by everybody. Do we really want children watching question period? or even a debate on P and P? Think about it?

Meeting Rob Ford

2010-10-27T10:21:00.006-04:00

In Honour of Rob Ford's first day on the job, let me tell you a story I have about meeting the man.

For those of you that don't know, I work at a high school. Our school hosted a townhall meeting in May this year for the mayoralty candidates. All of the candidates except George Smitherman attended, so I had a chance to meet and chat with all the front runners. The people I chatted with the most happened to be Rocco Rossi and Rob Ford.

Rocco was gracious enough to recognize me from before and we talked about writing and politics. I remember coming out of our conversation thinking, Rocco is a great guy, but I don't think he is going to win. I personally think he should make a run for something in the near future.

When I met Rob Ford, he came up to me, and the first thing he said was, Now here is a guy who has played Football before (I am 6'3 and not skinny). I introduced myself, and Rob asked me if I played Football. I said no, because my school never had Football when I was in high school, and that I run the Rugby program at this school, as well as playing both hockey and rugby. Rob then started trying to sell me on the merits of a Football program for my school, almost in way that was pushy.

He then told the students he would bring a football program to the school. When you have a school that is full of skinny Chinese kids, the first thought I had was, we barely have enough big bodies for a tight 5 (biggest meanest forwards in the scrum) in Rugby, how are we going to have both and offence and defence. Rob went on to tell the kids he would be setting up Football at my school. He then proceeded to tell the students to give him a call, and that he could give them jobs for the summer.

My impression of Rob is that he really cares about Football, and having more football teams. He is also a guy that I found easy to talk to, very personable like a guy behind a bbq. Will this make him a good mayor. I don't know, I am not an expert on judging adults. This is just an interesting story I had about meeting Rob Ford during the campaign.

How to win the 2010 mayoral election!

2010-08-20T00:08:00.005-04:00

So, I put on my strategist hat tonight, and I realized that I could fix all the front runners campaigns. I figure if they hired me as a highly paid consultant I could have them in the big office in City hall by the end of October. So I am doing this all for free, I am telling each candidate how to win the election! They should print this up and use every suggestion I say!

Rob Ford: Rob Ford has become the populist candidate, but he needs to come clean, do a big apology press conference about his past indiscretions with the law, then to go back to his regular campaigning. He is hitting notes with the public, and anyone who wins Scarborough and Etobicoke is destined to become mayor of Toronto. The honest truth is that Rob would never resonate with the downtown types, and that he should write them off with voter apathy and focus on the homeowners in the suburbs who are currently angry with the potholes in their neighbourhoods and what they see as downtown excess. A recent article called Rob the Barack Obama of the campaign, i would personally say he is the George Bush (year 2000 edition), a personable guy who should play up his little guy against the world side, and for the most part it is working. What would i change for Rob, he has to not deny anything, no more hiding. He needs some polishing on the statesman side of things. I'd offer to write some speeches for him, appealing to tax payers sensibility and to getting rid of potholes on roads across the city. Ford is the front runner, he needs to keep his torrid pace and keep hitting his popular notes about waste at city hall. His message to homeowners and taxpayers makes sense, and a lot of people agree with what he says, even if the downtown chatter classes are acting all offended.

In his policies, Ford needs to do a few things. First, he needs to show us where all the waste is, and create a 4 year plan to cut waste at city hall, and maximize taxpayers dollars. Until he does this, a lot of educated professionals will be sceptical of Rod Ford's plans to cut government. I am one of these people. I ask Rob, where are you going to cut? And how do you plan to keep our city running if you are slashing things? It makes perfect sense to me that Ford has to put out some numbers and explanations for his plans this should be his main policy. If he doesn't put out some concrete fiscal management plans it will look more suspicious and amateur as the election looms closer.

Rocco Rossi: Rocco needs to start taking shots at Rob Ford, as well as he has been at Smitherman. Unlike Smitherman, Rocco doesn't have any political baggage for Ford supporters to bring up. Rocco should start calling out Ford as a reason for council being dysfunctional in the past few years. I would go on the attack, and keep pushing yourself as the sane choice for fiscal responsibility. Talk about how you want to make real cuts at city hall, not just superficial ones that Ford will make. Become a real agent of change, Rocco needs to focus on the issues and attack, and get his message out there. I haven't really seen Rocco branding himself as a sane version of Rob Ford. Once again, he needs to hit the suburbs hard, North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke are the key to winning the city. Out here is where all the homeowners are, and they tend to vote. Mel proved the key to winning Toronto on a centre right platform was through winning the suburbs, and Rocco needs to do this with his ground game.

Rocco needs to continue to pound away with his message of fiscal responsibility, and he needs to really hit on the issues that are important to the people. The theme of the summer has been disenchantment with establishment at city hall, and Rocco needs to keep playing this up. Since he is in third right now, Rocco should go farther out, and his team should listen to the suburban voters, they are the key to winning the campaign.

George Smitherman:
George's campaign has seemed to stumble around a lot. The media has not been very kind to his campaign. His policy website is chalk full of ideas for the city, but the average voter doesn't need 50 different ideas bombarded to them in their vision of Toronto. George Smitherman has a perception problem, first off, he is seen as a downtown big city Liberal. He lives downtown, his team is full of these downtown ideas, and often downtown thinkers are at odds with those of us who live in Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke.

George has to play up his suburban roots, he has to get out of the Toronto Centre mindset and get the pulse of the voters elsewhere in the city. Out here we don't care about bike lanes (I think removing road lanes for bicycles is a bad idea on Jarvis, and I am an avid cyclist), we want roads that aren't filled with potholes, like Lawrence Avenue east of Kennedy. George needs to find a smaller vision to ensure election, he needs to silence the doubters with a more simple message, and keep the big thinking to after the election.

In a nutshell, this is what i think these candidates need to do to win the election. Will they listen to my advice? I doubt it. But they have some serious work to do to win.

Vote TO 2010

2010-08-12T17:55:00.002-04:00

In the next week, I am going to send out questionnaires to all the major candidates running for mayor. I hope they will answer them, because I think as an undecided voter and blogger, it would be interesting for them to answer some non-traditional questions. If you have any suggestions for questions, please send them to me, I am going to be contacting the campaigns tomorrow morning!

Wish me Luck!

Underwhelmed

2010-08-04T15:14:00.005-04:00

So the Toronto Mayors contest has become a political hacks dream. I am an undecided voter, and I am underwhelmed by all the candidates. Whether its Rob Fords idea to make council half the size, or Rocco Rossi wanting to sell off physical assets of the city, or George Smitherman focusing on issues that are Federal in nature and so 2003 (someone's opinion on gay marriage). To compound the silliness of this, going into someones past record would definitely drag some skeletons out of Smitherman's past. So its like taking a punch to someone, and that opens you up for a roundhouse kick in the face.

This is what happens when the political hacks get the controls of a campaign. They use their extensive knowledge of politics in the past, and see the digging up and research of someones past as important. In the case of the Smitherman camp, I'd say a lot of downtown Liberals are going out on a limb to push Ford's former views on gay marriage, which have absolutely ZERO RELEVANCE in a Municipal election campaign.

They forget that the people who vote in municipal elections are usually rich, and old, and that the suburbs have a huge role to play. Yes, Unless you get the retirees and the people in Scarborough and Etobicoke, you will not win the election. The only person who is really harnessing the suburban vote right now is Rob Ford. The angry homeowner is plentiful all over these areas, and Ford seems to have the momentum there from what i have read in both the local papers out east and in the citywide rags.

My social media experience is this, fellow federal and provincial partisans taking shots at each other from their respective Rocco and George camps. Seriously guys, if you are volunteering you abilities, I suggest you use for a greater purpose than an online pissing contest. It makes both Liberal sides look like idiots and doesn't help an undecided voter like myself want to vote for either side.

That is what I am getting at, I watch the facebook and twitter fights and I think damn, I don't want to vote for any of these candidates if their staffers and volunteers are going to just bait each other and smack talk. It has been a revelation to me, as an undecided voter, the level of toxicity that the partisans can get, and I have come to understand voter alienation only this summer, after voting in every election since I was 18 years old.

The gist of my argument is this, if these people have this group of political hacks at the controls, what does it say about their ability to be mayor of the city? The guy in the chicken suit is hilarious if you are a political hack, but it smacks of amateurism for the average person who is more concerned about market value assessment and taxpayer value, than Rob Ford's opinion on aids 5 years ago. So this is basically a message to the Grits in the race, a wake up call so to speak. You guys need to get your houses in order, clean up your messaging, target undecided voters. The municipal vote base is so small compared to the equivalent Federal and Provincial that this race is wide open.

Being the undecided voter, I wish all of you well in your campaigns, and I hope that one of the candidates can actually give me a reason to vote for them. That is all I am asking for, a reason.... Until then, I think I am going to sit this one out.

Canada and the World afternoon session

2010-03-28T13:51:00.002-04:00

So far the panel is fairly interesting. The emphasis of this group is on NGO's and how they work at representing Canada around the world. To be honest I lost interest in this panel because it reminded me too much of a "me me me" panel.

Unfortunately, I will be missing Michael Ignatieffs speech as I have to go to the airport. bad timing for a Sunday. Post mortem to come later on.

Canada and the digital world

2010-03-27T14:51:00.003-04:00

Here are some random thoughts and observations from my spot on press row. The question line for this topic is much longer than any other. Highly appropriate considering the nature of this conference. This session hasn't turned into a parody of buzzwords and technobabble, it has very wide scope,and the questions have pushed the panel all over the digital map.

My impressions of this group is that it is a very technologically driven group, and the consensus view is that Canada needs a national strategy for broadband, and for content in a digital world.

The digital divide will hit Canada hard, unless they develop a strategy to improve our internet situation, a digital strategy so to speak, rather than making accessibility. The issue is that Canada has been left behind in terms of connectivity,and that we need to be innovative.

Copyright
They tiptoed around copyright, taking a view that one shouldn't make laws on the go, I find that people are far too afraid about making big changes in copyright legislation. Just look at music industry and its problems.

newsmedia

Sheridan Scott believes that the news media has a place in the future, That the news media should continue to be a trusted source of news, even in our 24 hour economy. That the credibility that the news media has should keep it in its place, and that it should continue to do its job. The panelists addressed small communities and local reporting touting partnership between government and private enterprise to service smaller communities,

Culture
We need a strong national broadcaster with a strong voice for Canada in the digital world. The panelists continually have pointed the bbc and its player as a standard for what a national broadcaster should be as an example.

main recommendations

Sheridan said that we should have clear national goals for digital economy, and that broadband is a ticket to future prosperity and be able to deliver cultural strategy

Andre stated that its very important to celebrate an encourage our creativity, and the propensity of Canadians to create and government support the ability to create content, and we need to combine institutions and agencies in creature of culture, Minister of Culture and Communications necessary. Bringing together various levels.

Glen to conclude, Government action needs to be defined in a free market to citizens rather than consumers. Base judges and actions based on citizenship. Cultural strategies geared towards inclusive citizenship.

That's all for today.
thanks
-Jamie

Canada 150 Energy session

2010-03-27T13:38:00.004-04:00

The North American energy Market

Michael phelps takes a stand on carbon, that the best way to reduce carbon emissions is to tax it. That is best way to reduce it. Dan comments that carbon should have a price, either through the market or a carbon tax. Giving it a well established price, and or working both a market price and a carbon tax.

Issue of devolutionis up,panelists not sure about power of the territories, Dan Gagnier dwels on the amount of hydro electric energy that is untapped in the north due to the lack of royalties offered to the aboriginal population. Hydro companies should form partnerships with these groups.

The political football in the room is the carbon tax, and Phelps handles in interestingly, and is more nuanced tothe issue. Dan then talks about the implementation of the carbon tax, and how it must be brought in. I feel that a carbon tax is inevitable if people are logical rather then emotional about this issue,.

In a nutshell, carbon should be taxed in a revenue neutral fashion, that the cap and trade system is more for making money, and that other parts of the world have already done this. In all honesty I found that this conversation was extremely adult, and nonpolitical, It was from a purely practical standpoint,and I found it very interesting. The panel brought a diverse group of questions and comments. Is the carbon tax a political football? I don't know, I should ask people outside this room.

Canada #150 Live From Montreal Day 2

2010-03-27T13:03:00.002-04:00

its around 1pm and the afternoon session and Sheila Watt-Cloutier is about to take the stage. She will be talking about the future of the arctic and its people. But the 3 flat screens all say Energy, which is the next event.

There have been 12000 visitors to the Canada 150 website to view the webcast. i am sitting behind the cameras,next to some regular big time media reporter dudes, and some fellow bloggers here enjoying the festivities.

Canada 150 Conference arrival....

2010-03-26T13:36:00.005-04:00

Having just recently arrived from the aiport, I have just arrived in the blogging area at the conference. it is empty except for a blogger from the msm. Fist impressions of the conference has to be connectivity. I have never seen a conference so wired up top to bottom on the internet.

more to come...

You think CBC would have interns...

2010-03-12T10:49:00.001-05:00

That would have found this video, and put it on air farce, 22 minutes, the Rick Mercer Report. This is hilarious and bizzare.

The Kids aren't alright.......

2010-03-11T19:38:00.005-05:00

Its that time of the year again, OYL AGM time, the time when my blog gets a lot of traffic from University dorms and libraries. Let me begin my story with this. This morning I received an email from David Valentin, the outgoing OYL student Director. Here it is in its full context.
Here is David's Letter.
I want to make you aware of a very serious situation. Last night, cheating was discovered that appears to support the OYL Forward candidate for Eastern Region at the AGM this weekend in Richmond Hill.

A fake email address was created to impersonate a Riding Association President. It was used to appoint 3 delegates by sending an email to the AGM's Chief Returning Officer. The Association President has confirmed that this is not his email address, and that he did not appoint these delegates. Like all of us, he is not pleased with how easily and carelessly the people responsible misrepresented themselves using his identity. If this happened once, how many other delegates were appointed fraudulently?

We may all be shocked, but we cannot allow ourselves to be shocked into silence. We as an organization cannot ignore proof of cheating. We must stand up. We deserve better and we can do better.

If you agree with me, please make your voices heard to ensure the integrity of the results of the AGM this weekend.

Furthermore, we ask that the AGM Returning Officer Brian Whitmore (oyl.cro.2010@gmail.com) re-verify all riding association appointees by scan or fax that includes the Riding Association President's selection, signature, and photocopy of ID.

Voice your desire for a fair, open, and accountable Annual General Meeting this weekend.

As Young Liberals in the political system, we learn responsibility quickly, and this is an unfortunate juncture in learning that.

Cheating cannot be tolerated within our commission. Join the fight for a fair, open and transparent Annual General Meeting.

Thank you –

David Valentin
OYL Student Director

Now, lets take a look at the alleged email sent by the Leeds Grenville Riding president.

So, there you have it, a gmail account, with numbers used to add delegates. It doesn't look like the email of a riding president who is a lawyer in the Brockville area. In fact, I have been told that this particular person has his secretary do his emailing for him. Here is an email sent by the riding president to the CRO for OYL 2010.

From: Janet Pepper [mailto:janet@gregorybestlaw.com]
Sent: March 11, 2010 11:19 AM
To: oyl.cro.2010@gmail.com
Cc: brenden.johnstone@gmail.com
Subject: Ontario Young Liberals - AGM

I have had a chance to review the email allegedly sent by me. It is not my email and was not sent by me.

Gregory O. Best

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.436 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2734 - Release Date: 03/11/10 07:33:00

Now, this email checks out. So by now, you are wondering, does Jamie know deepthroat, lets say that I have my sources, and that some youth seem to enjoy sending me stuff. They appreciate my discretion, and I get a good scoop. So you ask now, who are these people and who are they connected too.

Well, deepthroat, lets call her Deepthroat (any reference to Watergate is purely for ironic purposes) my source, happens to be facebook friends with members of the OYL forward slate, and all 3 of these people are non-political friends of the guy running for policy chair. So There you have it, the connection, from the slate to this gong show.

For me this is another reason why we should abolish the slate system in youth politics, it creates a hyper competitive environment where youth scheme up ways to screw over fellow young liberals. People should run on the power of their own campaign rather than as a team. If these teams don't play fair they should be kicked out of the league. Maybe some type of constitutional amendment may be in order, but till then I can complain from my soapbox.

PS: As of 8pm tonight, those 3 delegates have been disqualified.

The system only works if there are people there to make it accountable.

Live Ignatieff Townhall

2010-01-21T14:12:00.004-05:00

For those of you who have questions for Michael Ignatieff, please feel free to join this online townhall, which is starting at 2:45pm. Since i am busy at work at that time feel free to ask the Leader about?
Why the Liberals won't Prorogue?
Why the Liberals would be better at reigning in spending?
And many other questions.

This is a rare opportunity to hear from a party leader. I highly doubt that the Prime Minister would subject himself online. He wouldn't want candid and hard questions being asked of him. So take the opportunity, and find out what is on Michael Ignatieff's brain today.

The link is here http://lpc.ca/1k

"I do not know Tom Flanagan"

2010-01-13T10:28:00.002-05:00

Shelly Glover, Conservative MP, has never met the architect of Stephen Harper's electoral success. She also has no idea who the prominent commentator is. Here are my theories why.
1) New Conservative memo, that in the media's presence all Con MP's must disavow any knowledge of Flanagan.
2) THE PMO has decided to recreate the history of their electoral success, a new history minus Tom Flanagan
3) Since Tom Flanagan now has his own opinion, the PMO is making sure their MP's never exercise theirs with their iron fist.

Enjoy the clip.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T01:21:00.003-05:00

I have to apologize to all my readers. I haven't been writing as prolifically as i should have been in the past month or so. I hope to remedy this by the end of the year and get back on the horse in the new year.

But until then, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

The Yes Men totally punk the Conservative Government

2009-12-15T14:38:00.003-05:00

It took a couple of anti-globalization activists to really put the Conservative Government on notice in the media to show that they have no real plan to battle climate change, and would prefer to ignore Kyoto protocol obligations. Canada is officially the laughing stock of the first world in terms of our government and their lack of any environmental policy. We are blessed with having unlimited natural resources, yet we continue to pollute at unsustainable levels in our largely uninhabited country.

The profile of the yes-men, and their reputation around the world shows how far Canada has fallen in its reputation and profile in the world sice the Harper Tories have been in Power. They have targeted such luminaries as George W Bush, Dow Chemicals, and the World Trade Organzation. I would reccomend the Yes men movies to anyone who has a progressive world view. Here is a trailer of their 2009 film.

once in a while someone says something crazy and the media doesn't pick up on it....

2009-11-24T12:22:00.002-05:00

Tom Flanagan, remember that guy who was the mastermind of the Paul Martin being soft on child porn. Well he said....

Flanagan cited the example of Stockwell Day suggesting that a lawyer by the name of Lorne Goddard, who had defended a client accused of possessing child pornography, believed the same thing as their client — “that the lawyer himself believed that it was OK to have child pornography.” Flanagan then continued, saying “But that’s actually another interesting debate or seminar: what’s wrong with child pornography — in the sense that it’s just pictures? But I’m not here to debate that today.”

Now I am going to let you the readers decide what you think about a prominent Conservative saying these type of things. Imagine the outrage the right would have if someone on the left said something like this.

If Peter Van Loan were talking to the mirror would he get confused?

2009-11-05T17:38:00.001-05:00

Its about time the press got short with this guy. He is the most partisan, and over the top member of cabinet. This report about the gun registry needs to come out, I don't like it when Tories endanger average Canadians.

The money just keeps going out the door...

2009-11-03T16:22:00.003-05:00

I haven't had much time recently to blog about the issues, but I have noticed one thing about this government. They have an uncanny ability to spend large amounts of the taxpayers money on very little. Whether its big signs on GO train cars across the lakeshore line around the GTA, or big signs on Stone Road in Guelph talking about a bike lane, or even commercials on big american tv shows, this government has become an ad agency's dream.

It is all very reminiscent of the late 1990's where the Ontario Tories cut and snipped everything but spend lots of money on advertising how great their plans for education were. It scammed voters for one election, before they were given the boot in 2003, and hopefully this won't be the case Federally.

Running up a huge deficit while only spending stimulus on advertising, while projects rot and wait is a sure fire way to not help the economy. If Harper thought calling Paul Martin "Mr. Dithers" was amusing, what should we call Harper and his gang of free spending republicans. That is what i leave up to you the reader. I think the Bush Tories is a good start.

Its been a month since my last post...

2009-10-24T11:19:00.001-04:00

So I should remind all you lovely readers that I will be back in full force, next week. After some busy obligations are done on my work front. I have so many giant cheques to give out to all of you!

Inside Harper's Head

2009-09-23T12:36:00.002-04:00

In case you wanted to know how our PM thinks, here is how his head works, according to his schedule today. I used a special mind reading technology to find out what exactly he was thinking. This is experimental, but i think its pretty clear where his priorities lie.

Harper Snubbed by Obama...

2009-09-16T12:34:00.001-04:00

So much for Canada's greater role in the world under the Conservatives. Harper proves once again that when he speaks internationally, no one listens.

Once in a while...

2009-09-02T13:35:00.004-04:00

Something crosses my desk, and it just makes me laugh out loud, like really LOUD.

Will be back blogging in no time.

Late again...

2009-07-09T12:32:00.001-04:00

Being late is never good when you are supposed to set an example for others. Check out Stephen Harper, guess he had to blow his hair into place and he was almost late for his G8 photo op.

I'm glad the Toronto Star editors read my blog

2009-06-16T12:34:00.002-04:00

Their editorial has a similar title to my last blog post. Thanks Toronto Star

Looks like the ball is back in Harper's Court

2009-06-15T12:41:00.004-04:00

That puts him in an interesting place. It's time to see whether Harper will help Canadians in obtaining EI faster, or put everyone in jeopardy by causing a Federal Election this summer. Do your worst Stephen.

FU TO?

2009-06-09T10:19:00.001-04:00

Hey Baird, why don't you just wear an Ottawa Senators jersey next time?

sincerely
-Toronto

Sexy Issue goes Nuclear!

2009-06-08T20:40:00.002-04:00

I think any issue involving cancer is not sexy. The isotope scandal has now broadened thanks to an audiotape of Lisa Raitt talking about it as an issue in an interesting context.

The real crux of this issue is that the now-resigned staffer left an audiotape with the Halifax newspaper and totally forgot about it.

Looks like Raitt's days are numbered!

Iggy responds to the Tory attack dogs

2009-05-20T16:10:00.002-04:00

With grace and dignity!

Once in a while, I get an email that changes everything!

2009-05-08T12:39:00.002-04:00

This came across my desk this morning, totally surprised me as I had not been paying attention to the exchange rate lately.

From:
Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 11:36 AM
To:

Subject: JOB REPORTS - SCANDAL that will possibly bring down Finance Minister

Morning gentlemen,

It just crossed the wires via Bloomberg that Statistic Canada Probes speculation labor data disclosed early (leaked).

The Canadian dollar violently appreciated in over night activity before the release of the better than expected jobs data, and funny enough do you know who speculates / comments before the jobs data was released and who would have the data from statistics Canada…the good old finance minister and his office. A leak of this sort is similar to the income trust affair it is a market mover and unethical to illegal. With the finance minister’s office having the information better to start to asking questions about who knows what and when and who had the information and what they did with it.

Most best regards,

live blog speeches

2009-05-02T18:11:00.006-04:00

i hate thundersticks. hated them since world juniors.

They trot Trudeau out for the count. 97%, wonder who spoiled?

typing with one hand is hard...

obama is really popular.

Video was a nice touch.

opening of speech michael gets ovation by inviting public to join.

333 guy from toronto being canucks fan is weird.

336 talk of uniting people of canada. libs understand canadian way.

337 common standards for ei, strategy for recovery and learning

338 seize opportunities, life long learning

339 world class early learning and childcare, standing o
340 the university pledge is very popular too

341 french section

344 talks about etobicoke lakeshore, very nice. "surprise ourselves, astonish ourselves, and surprise the world"

346 environment and green technology, very liberal ideas

352 wireless failed, lost my spot

thanks all for reading
-

Saturday Afternoon notes

2009-05-02T16:18:00.004-04:00

The session this morning was full of energy an enthusiasm.

About OMOV, Bob and Belinda really brought their A game out. I personally thought Bob's speech was great, and it was a really classless move to cut off Belinda's was classless and totally surprised me.

2. There is a consensus to grow the party, membership wise, and new ideas are welcome, This gives me a great sense of hope.

3, I haven't taken any pictures as I left the cable to hook up my computer at home in Toronto. Such is life!

4. Lots of familiar faces, hope everyone is having a good time, and hopefully i can meet some new people tonight.

5. I had a good nights sleep last night

6. Mark Holland, told me he sees OMOV as a way to reignite the party,and he agreed with me that the YLC amendment didn't help enfranchise all Youth and did the opposite.

7.big party tonight in Stanley Park,should be fun

8.hopefully no aggressive pan handlers there

9. Canucks game tonight,lets see how rowdy it gets on Robson st.

10. just had a chat with the President of the Liberal Democratic Party of the UK. First time I met a baroness.

Constitutional Plenary session 1, live blogging

2009-05-02T13:38:00.008-04:00

The session is starting, and sub amendments will be dealt with first. As per the rules of the convention.
1044 pdt, the rules of debate are being told,while stragglers are finding their seats..

Amendment #1 OMOV Nav Baines is speaking in favour of the weighted OMOV, looks like a lot of heavy hitters are lining up to talk. Nav is talking about its balance, simplicity, and cost effectiveness. Nav gets great applause.

Subamendment: Braeden Caley is talking about the ylc subamdendment,using the ylc talking point.

25 people in favour of debating sub amendment

amendment is debated...
first speaker in favor of ylc amendment thinks its important
JT speaks against it! Says its a disincentive against the Youth. Justin is very passionate, and gets a huge response

YLC person in favour...

Chair just says only 2 in favour, and 2against, 4-5 heavy hitters against won't get chance to talk.

1055 John Lennard, is totally getting a huge response, talking about youth leadership,

1056, Chair is only allowing one more speaker, many people are outraged.

1057, caeley is back using talking points

1058 Cait Townsend is talking against the motion, 2 main objections, inherent contradiction according to the spirit of OMOV, Cait thinks everyone should be treated equally.

Voting on YLC amendment, wow, YLC got killed "he's dead jim" says a delegate next to me.

YLC just got pwned!!!

1105 semantics about the visually impaired and resolution reading.

1105 Belinda and Bob are first in line to speak for OMOV

1106 Belinda Stronach is up first, she is here because its in the best interest of the party that we adapt our amendment, and that it reflects Liberal values as the party of the people. She thinks that every members vote should count equally.

1107 VP of NS Liberals calls it false democracy, and that small ridings can be bought and sold. interesting argument. He also talks about the lack of youth, women, etc....

1109 Bob Rae speaks in favour, Bob says that the Liberal Party is an open party, not a private club, organization that belongs to the people of Canada, Canada is a country of democratic tradtions, and that this constitutional amendment is important to the future of the party.

1110 YLC member is against, saying that Rural riding is more powerful than a rural riding, says its not true OMOV.

1111 Stephen K is talking, don't want to mess up his last name,talks about the geographic reasons and gives everyone direct say.

1112 speaker against for weighting, urges to vote it down. tempered applause to the speaker.

1114 Voting in favour, OMOV WINS!!!

1120 Just noticed fellow blogger James Morton in front of me, without any furry animals.

1126 Limiting EDA delegates to conventions defeated handily. The Spirit of democracy is alive and well.

1128 Amendment 3.1 Changed operating in Executive in title of chief operating officer, passed.

1129 Amendment 3.2 Changes national exec to national board of directors passed

1130 amendment 4, Alternate representation on the national Executive, Passed

1131 Amendment 5 Recomendations of the membership working group, adds National Membership secretary to the National exec, as in a full voting aka the Rob Jamieson amendment. amendment passes

1132 amendment 5.3 associate membership passed

1136 5.4 Party Membershps for Canadians Living abroad... Good Idea according to me. Amendment passes, time to hand out memberships at The Maple Leaf in London UK.

1137 5.5 Suspension and Revocation of Memberships, see PDF on website, has to be by the National board of directors,has to have proper time,and must be passed by 2/3 votes, and appeal to come back. Creates Rules for people expelled,remember the sponsorship scandal!!!
people are talking on this amendment. Jack Siegal is totally against this amendment, when jack is against amendments, its a big deal. Jack is a well respected legal counsel in the LPC. This amendment needs 2/3s of the vote to pass. It doesn't have 2/3s support as the ballots are being counted. Amendment fails.

Thats all for me, more observations to come....

OMOV, a new era of the LPC? or more of the same?

2009-05-02T13:12:00.002-04:00

I am currently sitting inside the main convention hall, where emergency resolutions are being debated. Voting is going on the next room over, for the executive positions. I had the chance to talk to various members of the party and their opinions on One Member One Vote.

The major consensus amongst the people I have talked to is that the they are all in favour of the OMOV resolution in its original form, and that the YLC amendment is not very popular amongst senior Liberals. I have only talked to one senior Liberal who has expressed support for the YLC amendment. Compared to maybe 15 against it. Only time will tell, Looks like the YLC are parading people up to the microphones. Trying to impress senior delegates,We will see what they have to say....

stuff i hear around Vancouver

2009-05-01T20:31:00.002-04:00

1)The Canucks rule, according to drunken hockey fans last night

2) cab drivers like this Michael Ignatieff guy..

3) The YLC race is going to be really close.....

4) No election signs for the provincial election....Is that normal for this province?

5) OMOV should pass, ylc amendment, lets hope not...

6) One candidate for YLC prez, his riding candidate is endorsing the other. Well, he is endorsing John Lennard... Interesting says I.

7) Vancouver is under construction,and the locals,well they don't mind!!

8) Lots of suites tonight, should be interesting

9) Vancouver is easy to get lost in....

Liveblogging Canada and the World

2009-05-01T14:39:00.014-04:00

Lord Alderdice; President of the Liberal International, is talking about how Canada helped the Peace Process in Northern Ireland. Thanks Canada, He is talking about the Liberal International group.
I didn't know that the Liberals had over 100 partner parties around the world.

1145 Lord Alderdice is talking about the positiveness that LPC brings to the world and Liberalism in general. Bob Rae is watching intently, Bill Graham is reading something.

1146 LA is talking about how Canada is a country that can be accepted and trusted as they lack the baggage and have the resources and energy, that people look to Canada because we aren't going to their resouces and they(Canada) acts with generosity.

1149 LA is talking about Canada's Liberal values and principals, very good so far. Bob, Denis and Bill are taking notes.

1150, LA is talking about Canada as a beacon of light and inspiration to the world, closing remarks.

1151 Bill Graham is back,talking about Liberal values, and how Canadians and Liberal policy, human security agenda helped Ireland and the world.

1152 Graham mentions that "other" political party can think, but most people aren't allowed to speak...then he starts talking in French, heavy English accent.

1153 Grahams french is hard for me to understand, talks about Canada in La Fracaphonie, and our international role in human security.

1154 Talking about our influences in human rights, etc,

1155, talks about our geography in Canada, that we are part of North America, and that we have 3 oceans, and recognize that our foreign policy should adapt and change...]

1157 BG is telling stories of avoiding Iraq, and the consequences they deal with after with JC at the helm

1159 talks about our role in peace and security via Liberalism in the world, concluding defence policy with foreign policy. strengthen foreign afairs, and not eviscerate it.

1200 gives shout out to Obama identifying pakistan as problem in that region. Obama always gets major applause!!!

1202 BG is talking about taking advantage of new voice that thinks like us in the white house. Putting it to us that we break out of our narrow bounds of trade, that Canadians be ready to increase our global business, and break out of the nafta box.

1204 BG is concluding golden thread that runs through his life, political life, domestic and international issues are no longer divided, Think of domestic not being divorced from foreign affairs.

1206 Denis Codere and Bob Rae, my 2 facebook friends are taking questions!! Send any questions I should get up and ask to COALM at twitter!!

1208 Question about foreign policy, on Canada/Cuba relations. BG answers!?!?!?!? BG makes a joke about helms/castro relationship, isn't really answering question, talking about Obama allowing visitors to Cuba, and that Canadians as Liberals strive to work with Cuba, and that trudeau criticized Cuba while working with them too.

1210 question about UN security Council, and expanding it... Bob thinks the challenge with reforming the Un is that the permanent members have to agree with change. Bob pays tribute to JC and PM, and the g20 and their work to make it an organization, Bob says that the world of the future will be remarkably different, and that we are under no illusions to see the change through on the wold stage.

1213 Question from teacher (history) talking about Canadas past foreign polciy achievement,talking about canada's lack of voice under the Cons. Teachers like to talk, more of statement then a question.

1215 Question about poppy farming in Afghanistan(questions often get off topic in these things)
LA answers the question,talking about poverty in Afghanistan. Talks about thoughtful engagement in the world and not excluding parties from talks and multilateralism. lots of big words.

1218 Question about Haiti
DC answers, talks about accompanying money with proper education, training, not just aid, actually developing and helping out the Haitian people, partnering with them etc.

This Q and A is dragging, got interrupted

1523 Bob is talking about the Cons and where Canada no longer is in terms of International affairs. Sitting next to a guy from Burkina faso, thats pretty cool

1524, Bob says we do it by doing it, identifying issues to be addressed, references both Pearson and Axeworthty (Sp?), then talks about involvement in Sri Lanka and Darfur.Bob is nailing this, will make a great foreign minister.

1527 LA just smackdowned the CONs saying the World needs a Liberal Canada back.

1528. Question about Oil, and how as an oil country we have to import Oil to Eastern Canada...
DC responds with national energy, and some QC nationalist position. I can't seem to blog and translate at the same time, appologies!!!!

1230 Question from a guy from Scarborough, not me, more of a statement on trudeaus role in getting Soviets to talk to Americans. Not a question, more of a statement on disarmament, references obama.

1233 Bob talks about disarmament, and working with NK and Iran, engaging actively and costructively. No figure waging, and lecturing.

1236 My attention span is shot, I just checked my work email. Denis is talking about working with other countries in business etc.

Thats all for me folks!!!thanks for reading.

Just arrived at the National Convention

2009-05-01T13:54:00.003-04:00

The Vancouver Convention Centre is buzzing with activity as all the delegates have arrived. By the time I registered around 1pm edt, there was an air optimism in the hall ways. There was a definite aura of renewal and energy.

For those of you who think that this convention is simply a coronation of Michael Ignatieff, you would be in for a surprise. On the lowest level,there were all the candidate teams hawking their wares and policies to the newly registered delegates. Democracy is alive and well in the Liberal Party of Canada.

Endorsements

There are a number of candidates I hope will win in the internal elections.First off, I think John Lennard is the best hope for the Young Liberals of Canada,as president. He is dynamic, energetic an not afraid to speak his mind. I can relate to that. When I talked to John, he talked of renewel,as well as focusing on other segments of the Young liberals,such as high school students and Young Professionals. I think its brilliant. Go John...

Another person Id like to endorse is Maryanne Kampouris who is running for the national policy chair. Maryanne has worked tireless in Ontario as the provincial policy chair, and has helped get Ontario's wing of the party to work online and develop new policies using technology. I think Maryanne will do a great job, and I hope she wins.

Its weird when stuff crosses my desk

2009-04-30T01:00:00.002-04:00

The Young Liberals are getting more and more creative.

been busy lately...

2009-04-23T18:59:00.002-04:00

Starting a Rugby program at a school with no Rugby team for 15 years is hard work, and this is taking a toll on my blogging.

Anyways, glad to hear the libs are out of the red!

It will be a fun night tonight at CJPAC, wonder how many of them read my blog??? Guess I can ask? Hey I'm Confessions of a Liberal Mind, who are you?

I will be on full force next week to ramp up to the convention, I might even endorse and support people. What do you think I should do?

-Jamie

One Member, One Vote, One Crazy Amendment

2009-04-11T14:02:00.005-04:00

Let me get this out of the way, I will not be a delegate at the convention in Vancouver this year. I decided to take on the roll as a blogger, and I have even purchased a mini-pc in which to fulfill this role in Vancouver.

The weighted One Member One vote, for the ridings is the best compromise position regarding democracy in the Liberal Party. I would have preferred a straight bare bones version of this amendment with no weighting, but the riding weighting is a fair compromise to properly represent the country as a whole, which the party has not been doing for most of this past decade in both opposition and government.

In examining the Young Liberals of Canada's amendment, my first reaction is that this is a poison pill. This amendment is greedy, undemocratic, and totally elitist. The Young Liberals are very important to the party, but according to those within its ranks only represent about 10-14% of the total population of the party. Giving the group a built in 25% representation would only further give the Young Liberals a self important voice rather than working to have a strong voice through recruiting of more "real" members, rather than signing up their friends to vote in provincial executive races.

Young Liberals play an important part of the party, through their enthusiasm in bringing about progressive policies, but they often play out high school type fights and politics (we should all expect more out of University students), which I myself have taken part in maybe once or twice (regretfully, crazy days of past).

Through all of this, I have heard one voice from the Youth that sounds mature and not entitled. That voice being John Lennard, the Presidential candidate for the YLC. He believes that the Youth need to grow, and double their membership, rather than force a quota on the rest of the party. John shows real maturity and leadership by taking this stand, and also shows that he is committed to the OMOV in its original form.

I hope that this amendment fails, as I have only heard negative responses from senior Liberals I know, and I think the Youth of the party need to do some soul searching into what is best for them and their role in the party. They already have cheap delegate and event fees, and have a great influence in policy through their most awesome level of voluntarism.

Lastly, I've been getting emails from people running for National Exec positions. Its interesting to see the only communication from exec members is during the time they wish to run for a position. Hit me up after you get elected...
-Jamie

The Goose is cooked.....

2009-03-25T23:01:00.001-04:00

Once in a while a talking animal catches my attention and i have to show it to all my friends. This is one of those times.

Its time to get Irish!

2009-03-17T17:02:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy St. Patricks day!

Only on St Patricks day, or maybe Groundhog day can our new Science minister be forced to believe in evolution. Which country do we live in?

Ireland has one more game to continue its grand slam season in Rugby!!! Best of Luck to them!

jobs jobs jobs!

2009-03-13T12:25:00.002-04:00

Grit Girl strikes again, with the stark facts on the Conservative Government and their poor stewardship of the economy, and their concern for keeping their own jobs. Numbers don't like, Tories well they might.

Back again, some political notes from the past month

2009-03-12T00:11:00.005-04:00

It is funny how life plays games with you and takes away the urge to write. Since I last wrote, I have had multiple people start following me on Twitter, received a few emails asking if i was still blogging, as well as been morally outraged at least once, maybe twice in the past little while. So let me get back on my high horse.

World Affairs....

Well, This isn't really world affairs, but I was really disappointed in the various Universities having Israel apartheid week on campus last week. Especially with some branches of CUPE actually supporting this. I think this type of categorization and this event really just smells like a disguise for antisemitism, which I have no time for. Honest debate does not involve calling a democracy with fair elections a fascist state.

In Sri Lanka, a brutal civil war continues, while people debate constantly about the middle east. While bloggers were fighting on and on about the Middle East, the Government of Sri Lanka refused repeatedly to allow any media into the war zone, as well as shelling hospitals with artillery! At the same time, the Tamil Tiger's launched a suicide attack, as well as air raid on the capital. This conflict is twisted, and the only truth of the story is that innocent people are dying, and the world should intervene and solve this conflict.

Canadian Politics....

Harper continues to hide from the economy, finally making a speech about doom and gloom the other day. His first speech on the economy this year. Once again, he appears out of touch with Canadians. He has been thinking of ways to attack the Liberals, not work with them. Too many easy analogies, too much bad governing by the Conservatives. Lets hope they don't try and hurt the military.... Ooops. I spoke too soon...

Liberalness....

Interesting developments at LPC, no travel subsidy, just a discount (its like a free gift sized discount) on flights for bienial. I just noticed Vancouver hotel rooms are expensive. Anyone know why?
The Young Libs are in quite a race for President. John Lennard comes out guns blazing with a full policy initiative, and some really interesting ideas about making the Young Libs more inclusive as well as an egalitarian endorsement list bereft of Young Lib back scratching titles. I found this very interesting and contrasting to his main opponent. Sam Lavoie names every provincial exec supporting him, full titles, from every province execpt Quebec,interestingly enough. It looks like the Youth are going to have quite the race on their hands for the Presidency of the YLC. As someone who works with youth, I enjoy anything to do with outreach into politics for teens and young adults.

More to come in the future, come back and visit....

Conservative Pork Barrelling of Canada continues

2009-02-05T15:12:00.004-05:00

Looks like the cat is out of the bag in regards to the infrastructure funding. 78% of the funding will be towards Conservative ridings, so the majority of infrastructure money will not be spent in Toronto, or Montreal. As they are the red outposts of Canada.

This is typical nasty Conservative spin, and we really need to examine these spending issues in both the committees and the House of Commons. It also shows why we need to hold the Conservatives accountable, with their economic updates. These types of spending plans are unacceptable, and Canadians should not be punished if they did not vote for a minority government.

Truthiness and Canadian Politics

2009-02-05T12:27:00.002-05:00

Looks like Stephen Taylor bit off more than he could chew when it came towards Michael Ignatieff and his donations to the Liberal Party of Canada. Yes, Michael and his wife have heavily donated to the party in the past few years, as we all know2 how much they care about Liberalism.

As usual Warren Kinsella sets the record straight.
Michael Ignatieff has donated through the Laurier Club in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Both Michael and his wife, Zsuzsanna Zsohar, have donated the maximum amount to the Michael Ignatieff campaign in 2009. And, in 2007, Zsuzsanna donated $1,000 to Michael’s riding and $1,000 to the Liberal Party. Our leader and his wife are doing their part to donate to the Liberal cause.

Anyways, it was an interesting exercise in reading spin, and the way that Taylor continues to use truthiness and wording to make accusations. Yes, Warren Kinsella used to be Liberal Communications guy, but last time I checked he still lives in Toronto, and runs Daisy Consulting Group. That's what his business card says, so I don't see Warren as a staffer in Ottawa.

In reality, Stephen is using semantics to try and send misinformation around the Liberal ranks, but luckily we are here to set the record straight on political donations as well as anything else they which to spin their tires around.

New Policy for this blog....

2009-02-03T03:36:00.002-05:00

No more anonymous comments. If you want to comment, you need an ID.

OYL AGM, what is now known.....

2009-02-02T12:33:00.003-05:00

The OYL AGM took place this past weekend. The big story across the blogosphere was the voting irregularities and the forging of delegate badges by the OYL first team.

In an executive meeting after the convention(I know this on good authority), the new President admitted that she tried to have one person vote illegally, and that this person was rejected by the CRO.

Thats the truth that is out right now.

The idea of forged delegate badges is a serious one, and the people who did this should really think about what they are doing to the Liberal Party, and think of the party on the badge, not their desire to win a Young Liberal election.

What will happen next? I don't know, but the Ontario Young Liberals have some serious soul searching to do.

I will keep you updated as this story develops.

OYL 2009

2009-02-02T00:57:00.002-05:00

Just when you thought you were out, they drag you back in......

Frantic text messages at 1:30 pm on Sunday....

If you have any anecdotes about what happenned in Ottawa this past weekend email my blog email Jamiecallingham at the gmail. I don't disclose sources so you people are safe.

I will get to the bottom of the shenanigans by tomorrow.

But first off,
I wasn't there, I was in Toronto.
I saw the Marlies beat Hamilton 4-2 on friday!
I saw the Leafs beat Pittsburgh 5-4 0n Saturday!

Sunday, the stuff happened

13 Billion Dollars, and still no directions or leadership

2009-01-21T14:24:00.011-05:00

The Tories record on the economy speaks for itself. Just look at this chart highlighting the Tories greatest fall hits on the economy.

The Tory financial disaster has escalated and continued. For a refresher, check out this chart of doom, as done by a Liberal activist in December, documenting the fall, and fall of the TSX in regards to statements made by the Federal Conservatives in regards to the economy.

Just when you thought things could get worse, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has come out with a report today stating that the deficit should be somewhere in the area of $13 billion. This is an insane amount of money and really shows that you cannot spend money like an NDP socialist, and cut taxes like a Republican. This has created a budget crisis without any economic stimulus package for the economy to get started. Why did this happen do you ask? I have some theories.

1) Tories are more concerned with the green shift than the economy. Yes, they focused all their energy on attacking the Liberals last election than on fiscal restraint

2) Tories play Canadians for patsies and use GST cuts to give working class Canadians the impression, they are saving money, when the real beneficiary, is the rich guy buying a new yacht for 800 grand.

3) The Tories economic policy is based upon a dart board and throwing darts at it blindfolded with each square, some type of pork barreling project or tax cut that creates no real impact on the economy.

4) The Conservatives have hired the recently unemployed Trailer Park boys as economics advisors.

The Tories have fallen asleep at the wheel, and the economy is now a runaway truck down a huge hill in terms of budget deficits. This Government has acted inprudently and acted and spent like a spoilt teenager with their parent's credit card. The media has given Harper and his cronies a free ride as they have mismanaged the tax payers money, and have mortgaged the country so they can spend more money and try to hold onto power.

This money could have been used to fund day care for Canadians, improve infrastructure, or even as stimulus, but instead the mismanagement has created a Mulroneyesque budget deficit. This is history repeating itself. Canadians have to ask themselves, can we trust these people with our money. I don't think so, but judge it for yourself.

No Desire or inclination...

2009-01-07T14:53:00.001-05:00

To comment on the Middle East situation. Just hope a truce happens.

My World Junior Highlights

2009-01-06T00:12:00.006-05:00

It started out as a couple of drunken text messages on New Years day. Did you see the game tonight? yes, I did. Want to go to the next one? Yes i do? Do you? Lets get tickets!!!!!! The game we targeted was the Semi-final game between Canada and Russia on Saturday night.

This lead to my brother making a 4 hour drive from the cottage in Muskoka to Ottawa, and myself flying on Porter Air from the Toronto Island Airport to Ottawa on a Saturday Afternoon . Needless to say we were excited to make it to the nations capital, and it was for reasons of hockey.

We walked into Scotiabank Place, first as Canadians, and Secondly as Toronto Maple Leaf fans. We were fired up to see an amazing game which we travelled hundreds of kilometres to see. We entered an arena full of Senators fans, a bunch of leaf fans who gave us thumbs up (we both wore Maple Leaf Toques throughout the game), and various other street people (habs fans).

The game was a back and forth battle, that was highlighted by the Russian's speed, back checking, and will to keep coming back. Every time we thought Canada put them down a goal, they came back almost instantly. The crowd was loud and proud for Ottawa standards, though the people behind me didn't like it when I stood up a couple of Canadian breakaways (always do this at ACC and everyone else stands) .

The game came down to 2 plays, the Russian defenceman who shot the puck and iced it with about 20 seconds left. Then the face-off after, which led to a scrum, and which John Tavares threw the puck towards the net which Jordan Eberle then put in the top shelf with 5 seconds left.

This moment will always stick out in my mind, I jumped out of my seat yelling, screaming, embracing everyone around me (even fans of other NHL teams), jumping up and down in disbelief. It was one of those truly Canadian moments which those of us in the building, and watching on TSN will remember for the rest of our lives . The goal was in a scramble, not as pretty as the Gretzky-Lemieux Pass of 1987, or the Jonathan Toews shootout show against the Americans, it was more like the 1972 Henderson goal than any goal in recent memory. Being their to witness it was icing on the cake.

Once the Overtime started, and went with a few decent chances. The Canadians got looser as the 10 minutes wore on, and they had more quality chances than The Russians. Going into the shootout, the crowd was confident, as Canada had the snipers ready to take action, and they didn't dissapoint.

After watching Canada win gold tonight, my expensive trip was validated. Though 5 seconds difference could have made my trip not worthwhile. I was glad to have witnessed a classic game, rather than the antics of the Swedes tonight. All in all, I am happy that Canada has won 5 in a row.

Here is a youtube video I put together of the anthem after the game. Great patriotic stuff!

dreidelgate

2008-12-26T18:09:00.005-05:00

Looks like the Tories are up to their crazy partisanship. Shame on them for threatening the Jewish Community, just for inviting Michael Ignatieff to a menorah lighting! Looks like Tony Clement's aides are threatening and bullying the Jewish community. So much for reaching out to the Liberals, through threatening communities that welcome their leader. You think in this time of the season people would be better, well not Tory aides.
Take a look at this report.

Seasons Greetings

2008-12-24T14:03:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone,

I would like to extend to you all, a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years to all of you who have read this over the past year and enjoyed my writings. In the spirit of the year, I hope everyone who is reading this has time to enjoy with family and friends to celebrate.

I appreciate the comments from readers, as well as their criticism and its time like these that remind me how this is a fun hobby, that I can use to send my opinions to an audience.

And here for a little treat, is where Santa is right now.

-Jamie

30 Billion reasons the Tories can't run the government

2008-12-19T16:48:00.003-05:00

Stephen Harper is an "economist". Yes, he has a masters degree in economics, but his lack of grasp on the economy and spending and understanding the market has me wondering what kind of economist is Harper.

His statements make no sense, and if we took his stock advice, well we would be even more broke than before. Its proven now that he has no plan, lowering the GST only created a deficit situation even more inevitable after spending like a drunken sailor.

I have commented many times on the lack of fiscal foresight and insane spending by this Conservative Government, and this 30 billion dollar deficit is just the cherry on top. Let's remember that 8 weeks ago Harper said there is no recession. That during the fiscal update offered no stimulus, until threatened with being removed from office. He closed down parliament when he was going to get defeated by the house.

This type of systematic mismanagement, and fiscal incompetence shows how badly damaging the Conservative are to this country, and makes me wonder what kind of "economist" Stephen Harper is. Because I think he has studied "ostrich" economics, aka the art of putting your head in the sand and pretending there is nothing going on outside, while the place is in an earth quake.

Just a few thoughts

Appointing Senators, thats a very Liberal idea.

2008-12-11T12:36:00.004-05:00

It's funny how desperate Our great El Presidente Harper is. He wants to push through senate appointments to a body which he has refused to acknowledge and badmouth and request change his whole political career.

Lets get some direct quotes from Harper....

Here is my favorite
"This is the most important step we must take in dealing with Canada's democratic deficit, because there is nothing that will limit the prime minister's stranglehold on the political system more thoroughly and more permanently than establishing a Senate elected independent of the prime minister."-- Toronto Star, 28 Dec 2003

Independent of the Prime Minister, meaning not afraid, like Tory MP's are of the PM.

In regards to senate elections....
The federal Conservative Party promises the gradual election of the Senate. "A Conservative government led by Stephen Harper, its platform says, "will appoint only elected senators to the Senate."-- Globe Editorial, 18 June 2004

"I don't plan to appoint senators, that's not my intention, so we will be, in some cases, waiting upon an election system," he said.-- Toronto Sun, 14 January 2006

My god, he almost has a principled view on the senate. Too bad he changed his opinion. Stephen loves power, he craves it. He will do anything and slam anyone as long as he can stay in power. We are dealing with a desperate man, with a desperate agenda, in desperate economic times.

Just some thoughts....

Remember everyone...

2008-12-10T09:06:00.003-05:00

The last time the Liberals were in power, and the economy was humming along, despite an economic slowdown in 2001. The government had a surplus, a massive surplus with an emergency contingency plan...

Now we have the Conservatives, with Harper and his hyper-childlike partisanship, Jim Flaherty who despite being a smart guy, seems to be Harper's lackey. Let's talk about the lack of contingency, the partisanship, the bad economic stewardship. This recession was coming from a long way off, look at how the sub prime loan thing lingered and grew into the financial crisis down south, but Stephen and friends covered their ears started yelling, "lalalalalala lying lying, there is no recession, Conservative good, Liberal bad". They wasted the contingency on god knows what. They created tax cuts that benefit the rich, rather than income tax cuts to the poor. They have squandered over a billion dollars on "consultants" after campaigning against the practice.

These are plenty of reasons for the Liberals to unite, and fight. Just look at this laundry list of incompetent decisions. The pathetic mismanagement of the economy, and lack of any reason to run away till January really show the Tories are crazy about holding power.

This leads to my next point. Michael Ignatieff is the man to lead the Liberals against Harper. We must unite around Michael and his team, and work together to raise funds, campaign, fight back against Conservative lies together. This is going to be hard for a lot of people, but I think the end result of exposing the Conservatives for being bad at Governing is a good result. Just look at our team, no lackey's, no yes men, all smart MP's and candidates. Its time for the party to work together.

Its all about electability.....

2008-12-08T14:51:00.002-05:00

Whenever I watch the UFC, they always have these redundant beer ads about a light beer being more drinkable than its competitor. The Angus Reid poll on the weekend has established one thing amongst the Liberal Leadership contenders, Michael Ignatieff is the most electable candidate. Let's be honest here, there is a lot of egos and infighting in the party, but we are only a tiny percentage of voters. Voters want more of Michael and they have expressed their interest in seeing him as leader.

Numbers don't lie, and these type of polls are only a shot at the potential growth which Michael Ignatieff has compared to Bob Rae. Bob's legacy from his NDP years hampers him across the electorate, from Alberta to Ontario, whereas Michael has no such baggage and is seen as a strong voice to lead the party.

Now, with the leadership race now heating up, as the Hon. Stephane Dion has announced he is resigning we enter into interesting times for the Liberal Party of Canada. There could be an election, or there could be a coalition. I have no inside knowledge on what is happening in this direction, and the party must start soul searching as to what our role will be in the near future. I think we should thank Mr Dion for his leadership, and his legacy as the man who took on the separatists and beat them at their own game.

Big Labour strikes back...

2008-12-02T18:23:00.002-05:00

My brothers in big labour have struck back at the Con propaganda machine. Reasonable says I...

The Grand Coalition Government of Canada

2008-12-01T17:47:00.004-05:00

It has a better ring than Canada's New Government

Let me be the first to say that I am impressed by politicians for the first time in a long time. But I would like to thank Stephen Harper for making this all possible. His lazy economic policies, his strange and vindictive attack against his political foes, and his bad overall governance have put is in a situation for a coalition government to take a shape and form very soon.

How did we get to this? It's quite easy... The Conservative Government has sat on their hands for the past 2 years, they have done nothing to help create jobs for Canadians. Flaherty has offended Ontario, Harper has been partisan when he should have been a Prime Minister, and they tried to govern like a majority in a minority situation. They have only thought about themselves and have failed to address the issues that we face as a country. In typical Conservative fashion, they deny there is a problem, just as they did during the election. But now the signs are there, and the media has finally grown a pair.

This coalition has come out of the Conservative mismanagement, and will be up against a powerful Conservative propaganda/leak machine that has already tried to derail the agreement with the Ignatieff story, and the NDP tape leak. The Coalition will have to be open and transparent to have success, and I think this new era of cooperation will help foster this transparancy in all 3 parties.

Credit for this coalition has to goto Stephane Dion, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe. I for one have not exactly been the biggest fan of the NDP, but Jack has really shown me a new side of him. The idea of puting people first in tough times shows how the 3 parties have matured in the face of Harper's juvenile antics. Dion has taken the lead, and his goal to raise decorem in parliament might be possible under this coalition.

Leadership for our economy is what we need as a country. Look at the example of Unemployment cases rising by 90% in Oshawa in November, and its safe to say we are in a recession, in Jim Flaherty's riding! I don't know how he can face his consitituents who are hurting and need help. The stimulus plan will help Canadians shore up their savings and retirements in a direct injection to the economy, another thing the Conservatives seem to have forgotten about.

So now, the spin cycle goes beserk. The Conservatives are going to demand a $300 million dollar election, and make up all sorts of outrageous claims about Jack wanting to nationalize everything, and the Liberals bring back a carbon tax. So i decided to give a head start.

So lets get it out of the way, Conservative arguments of the future

-Stephane Dion is evil and wants to carbon tax you to death
- Jack Layton is an evil socialist who wants to tax business to death
- We already addressed the economic crisis with tax cuts 2 years ago before it happened
- We won the election 38% of Canadians vote for us, Stephen Harper is the leader?
- Its not fair, we should be the government......
- Stephane Dion is not a leader (oh crap, we already used that one)

Liberal Caucus backs Dion

2008-12-01T14:57:00.003-05:00

This is great news for the Liberal Party of Canada, it shows that Michael, Bob and Dominic are supporting Stephane Dion, and they are united "tous Ensemble" together. It was dissapointing and disheartening to hear various people believe the articles planted in the National Post about Michael Ignatieff. It is safe to say that Michael is supporting this 100% and his loyalties are not in question.

From CTV newsnet

Mike DuffyNewsNet closed captioning>> Scott: We're going to go back to ottawa, where ctv's mike duffy hassome updated information on the drama that's swirling in ottawa rightnow. Mike, what do you have?>> Mike: Well, I've just had a word from across the street at theliberal caucus, which is still underway, but it's about to break up.Stephane dion met with bob rae, michael ignatieff and dominic leblancthis morning. He showed them the terms of the deal that he, mr. Dion'sstaff and he had been working on with the ndp. They agreed that theterms were good and they went to the liberal caucus, where they -- weare told unanimously said that they support mr. Dion in being the leaderand in this deal going ahead he will be the prime minister on an interimbasis until the liberal convention in vancouver in may and that they'regoing to write a letter to the governor-general telling her that theopposition parties no longer have confidence in the government and thatthey've all agreed that stephane dion is the man and that there areterms of an arrangement that would guarantee political stability overthe next two and a half years. Liberal-ndp coalition with the bloc onthe outside but offering their support for a period of 30 months so thatthe new government can get into place. Just repeating that, the threeliberal leadership contenders met, stephane dion this morning, saw andwe are told approved of the terms of the arrangement with the ndp. Theythen took that message to the liberal caucus, which will break anyminute now, but undoubtedly, that will be the word coming out, the nextstep is to send the message to the fwochb governor-general who isoverseas but essentially it all turns on the opposition partiesdefeating the government on the vote a week from today.>> Scott: Mike, does this handcuff the liberal leadership liberalleadership candidates in any way is this>> Mike: We're not clear. Obviously the liberal leadership race will goahead. We are not clear whether or not members -- whether mr. Dion andmr. Ignatieff and mr. Leblanc will have roles as cabinet machinesministers or whether they will be free to campaign. I think the viewearly this morning was that mr. Rae thought you could goeth. I think mr.Ignatieff had a slightly different view, ie, that it would be better notto be in cabinet, so they would be free full-time to cross the countryand meet liberal detle. So that part isn't clear yet, scott, but as soonas they come out I'm sure we'll get an answer to that question as well.Liberal caucus just about to wrap up but as i say, the interim dealapproved by the three leadership candidates -- and they've brought theirendorsation of stephane dion as the new prime minister of canada to theliberal caucus meeting now underway.>> Scott: Now, mike, i know things are rapidly developing here but whatdoes this do internally with the tories?>> Mike: Well, it's not clear what the tories can do to fight back. Theycan make their own representations to the governor-general, but this isirregular. It certainly is irregular. I don't think that it'sunconstitutional. It's foreseen in the rules, if a government loses theconfidence of the house, that the governor-general could call on anotherperson. I think the tories will be attempting to portray this assomething that started not as a result of anything that they did but asa result of the outcome of the last election, because you'll remember onthe weekend, I think it was, we had thomas mulcair telling reportersthat they had discussions with the ndp beginning two or three days afterthe last election, long before parliament resumed, long before theeconomic update was on the table. I'm not sure that much turns on this,but that undoubtedly, i think, will be one of the arguments the torieswill put forward, is that this is not as much an attempt to show a lackof confidence in the government as it is to subvert -- this will be thetory argument -- subvert the will of the people who spoke in the federalgeneral election.>> Scott: Absolutely the best soap opera on television right here on ctvnewsnet, mike. Thanks very much.

Ivison was wrong wrong wrong!!!!

2008-12-01T10:31:00.002-05:00

Michael is not going to be interim leader. He hopefully will be leader after May 1. But until then Stephane Dion is the leader of the Liberal Party. Any Liberals who believe the National Post need to look at other media sources that actually have a Liberal viewpoint.

-Jamie

PS, see Bob on Canada AM, and Michael on Question Period....

Michael actually is onboard

2008-11-30T22:59:00.004-05:00

Already the anti-Michael crowd has tried to paint Michael Ignatieff of not being on side for the coalition, but Andrew Steele of the Globe and Mail, not the National Post has a great response to the wild accusations addressed at Michael (I agree with his analysis 100%). To be honest I think the National Post story is a plant from the anyone but Ignatieff camp, and Michael's interview on question period really shows his loyalty to the leader right now. Judge it for yourself...

Iggy on-board

Andrew Steele, today at 9:00 PM EST

I've known John Ivison for years, back from 2003 when he was the National Post's columnist at Queen's Park.

But I'm not sure I buy his conclusions that Michael Ignatieff is off-side with the idea of defeating the government and creating a new regime.

This Ignatieff interview on Question Period today is probably the best I've seen the Etobicoke MP. He's confident and clear, and not taken off-message by multiple luring questions from Jane Taber.

But more than anything, he is rock-solid behind defeating the government and producing a new Ministry.

Sure, he makes the point that he is not privy to any negotiations, but that seems logical. In these uncertain times, the Liberal House leadership needs to negotiate with the leadership camps as much as the other parties.

But why would Ignatieff expose himself so publicly and so clearly defending the concept of defeating the government if he did not believe it?

He could just as easily duck media exposure on the topic by continuing a leadership campaign tour of distant ridings.

He could make the fact that he is not privy to negotiations his first and only talking point.

If the plan were to have enough Ignatieff-supporting Liberal MPs avoid the vote so the government survives, that would obviously trace back to Ignatieff and leave him culpable for any unpopular moves by the Harper government for the remainder of their term in office.

It seems to me Ignatieff would be highly motivated to support defeating the government. Even if he does not become Prime Minister immediately, it leaves him with a very strong prospect of the job in the near future and one in the hand is worth nine in the bush.

But more to the point, the opposition have that look in their eye people get when they have decided to do something. They seem entirely fed up with the Harper Ministry and committed to its defeat.

The opposition may blanche for a variety of reasons.

But if I were Stephen Harper, I wouldn't be investing my hopes in Michael Ignatieff being a fifth columnist for the Conservatives.

Fire's across the blogosphere

2008-11-28T19:12:00.001-05:00

First Harper gives the speech of an angry high school student!!!

Offers nothing new....

Whines about being elected with a minority...

Man, we live in heady times....

if they blink, punish them

2008-11-28T12:34:00.002-05:00

Lets all hold on for a sec, I just read that the Tories are blinking on political funding. But are they blinking on anything else? no? Not at all!

This mini budget is the worst piece of economic update since the Mike Harris years. Selling off Federal buildings in no way helps the long term planning and Government of Canada in the future. The lack of any help and stimulus show that Deficit Jim is just hiding the debt with some creative accounting and doing nothing for the average Canadian.

Should we vote against this thing. Yes.

Spinning the wheels and the mud just flies

2008-11-27T14:51:00.003-05:00

This is a continuation from my post this morning....

Its time to be honest. This political funding issue is just a giant smokescreen for the Tory Government, and it can only benefit them. Lets get to the crux of the issue, Jim and Stephen have spent themselves into a tizzy, and have brought this Mulroneyesque budget deficit onto themselves.

So to hide the fact that they are incompatent managers of the Canadian economy, they cry foul that the world economy has affected this financial situation, when this situation was caused as usual by Tory stupidity. its a smart bait and switch move, lets be honest. And we need to show the public what the Tories are up too. The Canadian budget is barely affected by 20 million dollars in funding to political parties. This will only cause more jobs to be lost ( even though they are political ones).

We have to ask about this update, where is the help for the average Canadian? Why aren't they doing anything for those workers who have recently been given the pink slips? What are they going to do to help?
This isn't a debate about action on political funding, its about the Tories and their tactics. IF they want to gety dirty, we should expose their true mean spirited ways and their lack of ability to manage the government.

Thats the truth of the matter, not this mud and smoke about Political funding. That is the bait and switch they want everyone to focus on. Let's focus on the truth to start, and then make sure democracy is strong after. After reading my last post, some of my points are a tad redundent.
-Jamie

Smoke and Mirrors

2008-11-27T08:10:00.003-05:00

I can't sit idly by and watch the reports roll in that Deficit Jim is about to cancel public funding for Political Parties. Last time I checked, minority governments were run by consensus, not by partisan hackery.

This government is showing us once again why they are unfit to govern, putting partisanship over the greater good of Canadians. Instead of finding some viable cuts, the Conservatives show contempt for our democratic institutions and laws. They show their lack of serious intent when it comes to curb spending and not go into deficit. This is a typical move designed to hide the real issue of fiscal incompatence and further make the government more divided and partisan.

The main crux of the issue is this, the government is in this situation not because of the economy, but because of their "teenage credit card holder" spending policies. Now they are trying to cover their tracks and politicize their own spending problems by messing around with political spending which was brought into strengthen democracy.

This post is short and sweet,as I am at the office.

Conservative Long term economic planning

2008-11-25T17:01:00.002-05:00

Lets be honest....

it doesn't exist.

My Endorsement for Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

2008-11-19T12:33:00.004-05:00

Just about every blogger has already declared who they are supporting for leader, so I have decided to end my political blogging embargo for the near future. I believe that the Liberal party needs grassroots renewal and a team that is ready to win the election now.

I decided this time around to go with my head, rather than my heart (last time I supported Gerard Kennedy). I feel that Michael Ignatieff is the man, best fit for the job to lead the Liberal Party back into government.

Despite my numerous criticisms of his campaign team, and his delegates during the last leadership race. I feel that Michael has grown leaps and bounds from 2006, and has used the position of Deputy leader to become one of the strongest members in the House of Commons. I also believe that losing the 2006 leadership race was the best thing to happen to Michael, it forced him to reach out to the non-iggy Liberals, and it allowed him to talk to grassroots members of the party since becoming Deputy Leader.

I also believe that Michael is the most electable choice for the country in the next election. I feel that he has the name power, that Dominic Leblanc lacks, and doesn't have the stigma that Bob Rae brings to the 416/905 belt from his years as Premier of Ontario. This is the honest truth, and in tough economic times, the media will go over all of our candidates and their plans with a fine tooth comb, and this is where Michael's advantage will really shine.

These are just a few of the points which i bring to the table. Feel free to agree or disagree, but I will be supporting Michael for leader.

-Jamie

Noticed something today....

2008-11-05T20:34:00.003-05:00

Is liblogs about Canadian Politics or American Politics?

Hard to say today....

I'm taking a break from this silliness down south...

Read my sports blog, its bs free.

Meet the New boss, same as the old boss.

Friday Liberal Silliness....

2008-10-31T10:48:00.003-04:00

So I happened to check on liblogs this morning, and 2 things really seemed out of place.

First, Red Tory is demanding to be removed from liblogs for taking on another Liberal blogger in some type of blog war which started over American politics. As usual it was comments that made things worse, and has led Red Tory to want to leave liblogs. I like Red Tory's blog and have been a long time reader, but he did attack another liblogger for their views on American Politics! The problem arises from comments that were left on the blog he was "debating" with, and those comments should have been deleted. The level of attacking was pretty high on both sides, and I think they should have had a more civilzed debate. Red Tory's presence on liblogs makes it a better place, and I would be dissapointed to see him leave the blogroll.

But this leads to my next point. American politics is a backburner issue for me, as we need to focus on the LPC, rather than the Barack Obama lovefest. I do want Obama to win, but I have firmly believed that we should keep our own house in order, rather than focus on the madhouse to the south of us.

Second, Scott Ross seems to think that there is some type of conspiracy theory regarding the election of Stephane Dion as leader of the party. Hate to break it to you Scott, but Gerard Kennedy is most responsible for Dion's victory. Kennedy, and maybe Bob Rae's delegates who were barely on speaking terms with the Ignatieff people. Kennedy was the king maker, not these fake delegates, and bait and switch thing you did.

Politics is a dirty game, and you can't go whining about decoy delegates. If one party at leadership was doing it in 2006, all the leadership hopefuls were. Dragging Adam Miron's good name through the mud is a pretty strange way to rebuild the party. Adam is a Liberal through and through, and has worked tirelessly for the party in his roll as National Director of the Young Liberals of Canada.

From this silliness, I have come to some conclusions. First off, Bloggers have huge egos. Secondly, personal attacks on the internet, should be dealt with properly, and by properly meaning in a professional way. So if someone slandered Red Tory in a blog comment on my blog, I'd probably delete it. Thirdly, complaining about the leadership race of 2006 is silly, and if you have problems with the result you can always invent a time machine and travel back in time to do something about it.

I realize by reading the interesting behaviour of bloggers, that the only thing I take seriously when writing, is my views, and my level of writing. I don't take the personal childish attacks seriously, or the trolls. This is only going to make things more interesting in a Leadership Race. Tempers will flare, camps will be formed and people will get on their high horse. This is an interesting time to be a Liberal, but the only advice I have for other bloggers is to remember to be rational and write in an intelligent fashion.

-Jamie

Political Music, its relevant

2008-10-29T00:25:00.004-04:00

This video Rocks, Progressive meaningful music is coming out the United States, mainly thanks to 8 years of Right Wing Government. The Reagan years produced the foundation for modern punk, the Bush years is the evolution of political music into the mainstream.

Against me Rocks......

This Offspring Song rocks "Hammerhead". This video is trippy and the images are interesting, its like they got the guy from some of the Tool videos to do a subversively political message... Its different to say the least...

Re-Education (Through Labor) - Rise Against
The New Rise Against Album is amazing, just listen to the lyrics. I was really unhappy not to see them play in Toronto last time around. I am going next time for sure!

Yeah and last but not least.....

Does Axl really care about democracy in China? Im not sure? do you care?

Check out this blog...

2008-10-28T23:40:00.001-04:00

In the near future, I will be sports writing again.

Check out my sports blog. Jamie on Sports, for daily updates on the world of sports.

An Open Letter to the Leadership Contenders of the Liberal Party of Canada

2008-10-23T22:01:00.004-04:00

This is my second open letter to the Liberal Party of Canada. Though this letter is addressed to the contenders who want to take over the job of leader. I hope they read it, and I hope they adhere to some of these suggestions.

To Whom it may concern:

As a grassroots member of the Liberal Party of Canada, I have some concerns about what you are going to do to the party.

First off, you must convince your followers, that they are Liberals first. I don't want any kool-aid drinking, talking point spewing, sycophants who just piss me off and only enrage people who are there for the party. So you must first convince your devoted followers that they are devoted followers of the Liberal Party of Canada, regardless if you win or lose the leadership race. I don't think that is very hard to do.

Secondly, you have to accept that the party requires big changes, and that the party must be change drastically. That means get rid of the old fart brigades that exist in Ottawa and Toronto. All those Liberal "Insiders", basically lawyers on Bay Street who seem to only come out of the woodwork around a leadership race, should be pushed off a proverbial cliff, put out to pasture, and told to put up and shut up. This includes anyone who is in the party because they are related to someone important from 30 years ago, we need young, ambitious people who want to win. Not some old people who are reliving Trudeau's glory years, which is before I was born.

Thirdly, You need to revolutionize the fundraising apparatus of the party, and bring it from the 1970's to the 21st century. The party is broke, and I think any leadership candidate should not run a debt, and donate 25% of their fundraising to the Liberal Party of Canada as a token of their commitment to rebuilding the party and strengthening its foundations.

The Fourth thing you should do, is take the use of the Internet and web 2.0 seriously. This Obama guy down south seems to be onto something in using the Internet in his campaign. I don't want your old fart brigade to ruin this, bring in some young savvy people like me to tell you about these good ideas and concepts.

So if you follow these rules, I think I might be able to help you out. I could write a nice endorsement, maybe even call up some of my friends to buy memberships in the party. I just hope you and your team realize that the party must be united, and must be changed for the better. Let's put the knives away, and play fair.

Yours in Liberalism
-Jamie Callingham

My Open Letter to Liberal Party of Canada and its Membership

2008-10-19T18:26:00.004-04:00

To whom it may Concern;

My name is Jamie Callingham, and I write Confessions of a Liberal Mind, the blog. I am also the Policy Chair, for the Pickering-Scarborough East Federal Liberal Association. I am writing this as I feel we need to keep Stephane on as leader. The party needs stability right now. We don't need an expensive leadership race that will bankrupt the Party. The knives may be out, but this is a good time to rid the party of the lazy people resting on their laurels, and who are 20 years behind the time.

What the party really needs is to get rid of all the lazy people at the top, from the campaign chair, who directed a disastrous campaign that lacked any real war room, and who's marketing and messaging were sub par.

If this is the best Harper can do on his not a leader position, good luck to him next time. We must remember not to make any rash decisions that will hurt the party in the long run, for people who are only Liberals to support certain factions and individuals in the party. We need to support the Liberal party as a whole.

These people do not have our best interest at heart, and that is why I feel that Stephane must continue to be at the helm of the party, looking our for us Liberals who are here regardless of who is a leadership contender. I hope you pass this message on to the leader, and the message I am conveying from the people out in the grassroots.

Yours in Liberalism
-Jamie Callingham

Disapointed, but not surprised...

2008-10-14T16:08:00.003-04:00

The NDP Bloggers have decided to be the Ralph Nader's of this election, and say that strategic voting is only good if its for the NDP. This is basically Parroting their leader, and putting the NDP ahead of the greater good of Canada. Putting signs up for the NDP in a riding where the candidate has resigned like Durham is one of those selfish moves.

In most parts of Ontario, the left vote split hurts the Liberals, and allows the NDP to finish an awesome 3rd in most ridings outside of Toronto and Hamilton. In Saskatchewan, it's the Liberals that run 3rd, same in Manitoba. These are the ridings where strategic voting is in play. Now, I am not going to even address those ridings where it is a big fight between the NDP and the Liberals, because those tend to be the nastiest races in the country. From looking at the history in Trinity Spadina, the sign damage in Hamilton Mountain, and the vandalism in Parkdale High Park show some real strange behaviour, which I find unacceptable.

This type of short sightedness and the cult of Jack people are putting the NDP nowhere in most parts of Ontario, and thats where most of the bloggers are from. I agree with Scott Tribe, and his assessment on the chances of the Liberals in parts of the prairies and some western ridings. I am just lucky to live in Pickering-Scarborough East where we are safely in the drivers seat with Dan McTeague and the gas prices for tomorrow today. Where I don't have to trade any votes with anyone, and I am picking the most competent in terms of advocating for my community.

So before you leave tonight go check out the www.voteforenvironment.ca, they are unbiased towards any single party. I think thats the best way to go if you are in a battleground riding.

good luck to all
-Jamie

Think about the economy before you vote?

2008-10-14T14:54:00.003-04:00

Think about gas prices, think about those manufacturing jobs lost today. Think about the fundamentals of the economy?
Are they strong?

Are they weak?

Think about how each party wants to steer the economy? Think of how the Conservatives have ignored problems till they were obvious to everyone?

Its a clear choice.

I know who I am voting for. In Pickering-Scarborough East, Dan McTeague gets my vote. He will represent us well in Ottawa.

Strategic Voting

2008-10-13T18:08:00.003-04:00

This is a call to you people that live in those places where there is a 2 horse race. The People in Durham Riding, the people in Muskoka-Parry Sound, the residents of Barrie. It time to swallow your pride if you are a progressive and vote for the party that best represents a better Canada. In most of these swing ridings I would urge you to vote Liberal. Do you want more of this? Seriously? In Ridings where the Liberals are a distant third, well you might want to trade your vote with someone else in another part of the country.

Voting Strategically has its place, and the ridings I just gave as examples are ridings where the Liberals finish second due to the vote split. In areas where the Liberals are a distant third, I would suggest voting for a party besides the Liberals and not the Conservatives.

Elizabeth May said it best, she wants what is best for the country. Not what is best for her own ambition, she called Jack Layton out, and I agree with her that Jack Layton is obsessed with power, at the cost of the country. A vote for the NDP in most of these battleground Ontario ridings outside of Toronto will be a vote for the Conservatives.

The importance of this election and the candour with which May seems to understand show that she is my choice in the Riding of Central Nova. I hope she unseats Peter McKay who has only acted like Harper's lackey since the merger of the PC's and Reform Party.

So think hard, and visit the prediction and voting sites if you are an undecided voter. Vote with your mind, not your heart. We must get rid of these neo-conservatives tomorrow!

CTV

2008-10-12T22:36:00.004-04:00

Canada's Tory Voice!

You know how they have the celebrities around the CTV logo, touching it or playing with it. We could have the sheep from Scott Tribe's logo, going bahhhhhhhh.

Just remember when watching CTV, its Canada's Tory Voice.

-Jamie

Last weekend push

2008-10-11T09:15:00.003-04:00

Its only 3 days till the election, and we are in a genuine horserace despite the Conservative attemps through the Mike "Biggest Conservative Cheerleader Ever" Duffy. Warren Kinsella puts the ATV interview in a great context, with Bart the fish, and I've never been asked a question at a job interview if I had the job today, What should I have done 2 weeks ago?

The Cadman Tapes are unaltered! Yes, the truth has finally come out, and the tapes of the Conservatives were not altered despite the accusations and smeaing by the Con propaganda machine! Yes, Harpers own expert says that the tape is not altered despite Harpo and friends saying it is a Liberal Conspiracy!

I found this great site yesterday about Jack Layton and his team. Jack's team highlights the level of candidates the NDP seems to get. The NDP seems to attract candidates with crazy and extremist views, from the 9/11 Conspiracy people to those who want to get naked in front of teenage girls the list seems to go on and on. I think every voter choosing between the Liberals and NDP should have a look at this, as local representation is just as important as the leader you want to vote for. How many other skeletons are in the NDP's closet? And is there any accountability in the choice of candidates by Jack Layton?

There you have it, my first post in a few days. My dog got incredibly sick this week, and she is currently making a full recovery. She is a 6 year old Yellow Lab, who is looking to make a full recovery.

Friday Notes

2008-10-03T16:58:00.003-04:00

From the look of the polls, the Liberals are back in the fight. Right now it is time for the Liberals to focus on their team. To show that we have the best people to form the best government. 5 points is barely a lead, and its time to close the gap. I hope the central campaign has some good ideas.

It's going to be a scrap and fight to the finish, but the Liberals have what it takes to win. Let's hope the Tory platform is typical trickle down economics and that this can further help the voters shift to the Liberals. Hopefully more Canadians will see the true colours of Harpernomics in the next 2 weeks, and show their disdain at the ballot box.

Secondly, I invite all of you to attend Dan McTeague's Online townhall. This will be streamed live from www.votemcteague.ca , in video. Dan will be talking questions, from those who sign up for the website. This townhall will run from 8pm to 9:30 pm, and shows how this candidate has embraced web 2.0. I believe this is one of the first online town hall's ever done in Canada, for a political format.

Some Hockey Analogies on the Debate

2008-10-03T08:32:00.004-04:00

Warren Kinsella had a cool hockey analysis on the debate, so I decided to call him on that with my own hockey analogies. I think comparing hockey to politics is cool.

I thought Elizabeth May was the one all over the ice, I thought she gave Harper a good elbow in the crease, and Steve Paikin just totally let it go on a number of occasions. Much like hockey officiating late in the playoffs. May played like she had nothing to lose, total fire wagon debating in my mind. Her knowledge of issues in the Atlantic provinces show she is serious and well read and would represent Central Nova Riding very well.

Layton didn't really do anything for me. He seemed more like a small agitator playing looking for the captaincy of the team. For some reason I have trouble taking this man seriously as a player, being his seriously weak bench, and seriously wild promises which make no sense. Totally reminds me of Darcy Tucker, last season for the Maple Leafs.

Dion didn't overwhelm or underwhelm, I'd say he was a solid stay at home defenceman who had a couple of blasts from the point. Dion got his message across, and communicated the Green Shift very well. He was clear and concise, and impressed me with his passion. He was poised and didn't panic and his english was nowhere near as bad as some pundits put it out to be. But he was not the MVP as Cherniak seems to think.

Harper was the goalie, under siege on a PK the whole game. But seemed fairly calm, and gave some good excuses when the puck was in the back of the net. But like most goalies he had a strained look during those times where it was just an attack on his platform. It was like Harper was running on his record, in my mind a very mediocre record. I think he needs a new goalie coach. He did get one really good hack right on the back of Layton's legs, on the private health care comment. So much for being a proletariat Jack!

Duceppe to me played like one of those floater type forwards, only in it for offence, not backchecking, only taking easy rushes and 2 line passes to get a breakaway on Harper. He had some good chances but it was a half hearted effort as Duceppe had put in his A-game last night.

thats my take
-Jamie

Disclaimer: Jamie Callingham is a big Toronto Maple Leaf fan.

The Most Practical Part of the Green Shift

2008-10-02T18:26:00.008-04:00

Despite the rhetoric and the complicated nature of the green shift there is one section that helps Canadians, and is very simple to explain.

Fist off, Gasoline is exempt from the Green Shift. It is a total fabrication and lie, that the price of gas will go up in this plan. The Journalists who have never read the green shift should ask Mr Harper, why he is lying about taxing gasoline. On Page 28 of the green shift it is clear to me that the zero percent tax on gasoline helps Canadian families more than any other plan. Also, the price of gas has risen excessively in the past 18 months under Tory rule. The only thing they did was eliminate the office of Petroleum Pricing Information.

Secondly, let me cut and paste page 31 of the Green shift.

Price vigilance
Gas price increases are due to many factors, including restricted supply. There is also an increasing international demand on oil supply, as emerging economies such as China and India increase their own rates of consumption.
We also know Canadians are frustrated with spiralling energy costs and the lack of information and justification that often accompanies these increases. Canadians deserve clear and complete information and the provision of such information will make the market place fairer and more transparent. To accomplish this, we will restore the federal Office of Petroleum Price Information to monitor energy price fluctuations and provide clear, current information to Canadians. Work on the creation of this office was started under the previous Liberal government but was shut down by the
Conservative government. The Minister of Natural Resources will be accountable to Parliament for the Office.
Canadians are also concerned about the possibility of anti-competitive behaviour affecting energy prices. To allow for more effective enforcement of the Competition Act, we would examine introducing a dual-track approach to the criminal conspiracy provisions of the act to allow for a civil law regime to work beside the existing criminal law regime. The high criminal burden of proof currently contained in the Act makes properly prosecuting anti-competitive activity or price manipulation extremely difficult. A more reasonable civil standard of proof and will make successful prosecution more realistic and will help protect the consumer.

I posted this to cut through the BS, and show Canadians that the price of gas will not be taxed anymore, and that the Green Shift will take the oil companies to task. Its time for an honest debate, its time for the Conservatives and the media to be honest and actually read the green shift.

The Liberal plan on gas, as communicated by Dan McTeague, offers Canadians a hope, that they won't be gouged. The Liberal plan offers Canadians transparency and honesty from the Oil Companies (not a toothless Ombudsman like the NDP).

This is the opposite to the Conservatives who have acted like puppets of big oil. They have shrugged off the excessive high prices paid by Canadians at the pumps, and continue to pay lip service to average Canadians, while rolling out the red carpet for the oil lobby. Once again, I have to say; Do we really want more of this?

Here is Dan McTeague's video on gas prices, and the Liberal solution to this problem.

Websites I personally recommend

2008-10-02T17:12:00.003-04:00

The Liberals online strategy is looking stronger. There are some good efforts going out there and we need to show everyone where to visit.

First off is http://www.behonest.ca, a site put together by the Dam McTeague campaign team in Pickering-Scarborough East, asking the Conservatives to have an honest debate, in a v-log form. You can even submit videos to team McTeague on which issues you think we need to keep the Conservatives honest to.

Secondly is www.bushharper.com, a flashy site showing how Stephen Harper is closely following his ideological brothers, the republicans in the United States. This site shows that Stephen is taking all his cues from the Red State team, and asks Canadians, do we really want a Bush II? Seriously do we? I don't.

The third and final site, which I think shows the most flaws in the Conservative Party is http://www.harpernomics.ca, this site shows how the Harper Conservatives play fast and easy with the economy, and even badmouth our industrial heartland. We are taking the Cons to task where the media has fallen asleep at the wheel. Lets not forget income trusts, Flaherty's statements on Ontario, and the massive spending without responsibility this government has put together. I urge you all to take a look at these Liberal sites, and see for yourself what the Conservatives are up to.

The true face of the Conservatives...

2008-09-30T20:36:00.005-04:00

The Conservatives and their true colours are starting to show. Yes, we should heed the warnings that yes they admire the Bush Administration, and have taken a simliar tack in terms of both foreign and economic policy.

Look at the collapse of the American economy and look at Flaherty and his lack of care for thousands of jobs lost in Durham Region. Look at the plagiarizing of Harper in 2003, and see how they want to impress the neo-cons in Washington.

Do we really want more of this? Seriously, I don't! I want a government that is accountable to Canadians, ready to lead a strong foreign policy that is respected in the world. Think about this when you voter?