Posts Tagged ‘Stephane Dion’
What the Hell is Going On?
The internal gamesmanship within the Liberal Party could not be more ridiculous or inappropriate. I can appreciate that Mr. Ignatieff has had some bad experiences since returning to Canada and running to lead the Liberal Party. I would reference his first race, but by all accounts they never really stopped and it is really just a continuation. He was the front runner with caucus support last time. He didn’t win. He is the front runner with caucus support this time, so he is now trying to steal it before anything can go wrong. The Liberal Party has rules that allow people like me, who have been a member of this party considerably longer than guys like Mr. Ignatieff, to have a say in who leads us.
I know from the scathing emails I’ve received and the venom flowing from Liberals in Mr. Ignatieff’s direction that grassroots Liberals will not accept a ’smash and grab’ approach to the Party’s leadership. His actions are dividing the party, and the real grassroots, who always have to contend with ‘instant liberals’ during Leadership races will leave over this. I’m hearing that in the emails I’m being sent as a Riding President. While I appreciate receiving these notes, the Council of Presidents who is meeting tomorrow night will not even get a voice in this completely undemocratic charade.
Michael Ignatieff should not be running to be the interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. His people should have supported the last leader delegates elected when they rejected him, perhaps if they had, this last election would not have gone so badly. Whomever becomes our party’s next leader will have real issues to contend with. The Liberal Party is broke, the grassroots have been stomped on, and there will be internal division in whatever is left once this process is over. We need someone who can unite the party, raise money and give us a hope in hell of winning back some of the ridings we’ve bled over the last four elections.
The process needs to be fair and democratic. We need to have an opportunity to allow for all Liberals to have a say in who our next leader is. We cannot afford a divisive power grab. We cannot afford for caucus to screw over the individual members that make up this party. They will do so at their own peril. Who will hammer in your signs, raise your money or pull your vote if you disenfranchise the grassroots?
I backed Dominic LeBlanc because I thought he would be the best person to lead the Liberal Party moving forward. I was upset today when he withdrew from the race, and equally upset that Dion is going to step out of the Leadership and allow this process to happen. Bob Rae will now need to hold firm, and give members of the party the right to voice their opinions. If the Ignatieff camp push him out of the race too, I fear this may be it for the Liberal Party of Canada as we know it. It is simply too weak for anyone to drive away supporters of other leadership campaigns. From all my conversations with Ignatieff people, that is the game. It is ok for them to not support our current leader, but any difference of opinion over the future of the party is enough to see you shut out. – I won’t expand on this point just yet, but do want to register my displeasure with what the Liberal Caucus in Ottawa is undertaking this week.
Should Ignatieff take the Leadership this Wednesday, the coalition is dead on arrival. He has made it clear through his waffling (my single largest issue past and present with supporting his candidacy) that he will not support working with the NDP to form a progressive government. The Liberal Party will be back to sitting on their hands, red faced and embarrassed or into an election we can’t win because we won’t have had the time to rebuild.
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Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square Rally for the Coalition
Today I went to the Rally for the Coalition Government held at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto today. There were literally thousands of Canadians who came out in the cold to listen to speeches by Dion, Layton and Mary Walsh of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. It was a great event, and good to see so many progressive Canadians come out to show their support for the majority of MPs working in coalition to govern Canada. It was an amazing rally with a whole lot of excitement among my fellow citizens who stood outside in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square.
It is clear that Toronto does not want Stephen Harper governing and his divisive politics have bridged the previous divides between the NDP, the Liberals and the Greens. Together with organized labour, progressive voices came together, waved flags and cheeky signs and stood up for our democratic system. Chants of “hey hey, ho ho, Stephen Harper has to go!” rang out over and over again during the rally, as did President Elect Obama’s now famous rallying cry of “Yes we can”. I certainly hope we can.
The message to Harper is clear. Canadians will not stand for him subverting Parliament for his person gain, and the good people of Toronto are continuing to reject his right wing agenda and will stand up against his attempts to ignore the economic downturn, hurt workers and women’s rights, and damage national unity.
I recorded Dion’s speech and part of Layton’s to share with you. I stopped recording Layton’s because my ungloved hands just could not take anymore. I’m sorry I was not better prepared or a stronger person for those who wanted to hear more of Jack. I should also apologize for the quality of the footage. I have no excuses or communications staff, but am willing to admit, I also don’t have a camera and was using my cellphone – a Motorola Q9 which for what it can do, did alright I think. Take a listen regardless however.
On a more personal note, it was the first rally I have been able to drag my sister Jessica to during my eight or so years of involvement in politics. She too had an excellent time, not withstanding losing feeling in her toes along with me and our fellow Toronto residents who stood up for our democracy. I hope there were many others like her who have suddenly been engaged by an issue that is just too big to ignore.
Here are the videos and Pictures:
Song – I don’t Like Stephen Harper – Sung at Toronto Rally
“I don’t like Stephen Harper, I just wish he’d go away”
Mary Walsh Inviting Dion on Stage – Funny
“Get a good round of applause in while you can, it may not last, Mr. Stephane Dion” – Mary Walsh
Stephane Dion Rally Speech – Continued on Next Video
“For the first time in our history, the Prime Minister of Canada ran away from the Parliament of Canada” – Stephane Dion
Stephane Dion Conclusion and Partial Layton Speech
“Please join me once again in welcoming and thanking Stephane Dion, a man of great courage. I am part of a 62% majority. I get the feeling you are too.” – Jack Layton
Pictures: – Click to enlarge
Below are some thumbnail pictures I took at today’s rally at Nathan Phillips Square. The quality isn’t great as they were shot on my Motorola Q9 and not using a proper camera.
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Parliamentarians Need to Cool Down the Rhetoric
A lot of what is being said by Parliamentarians over the last number of days is unbecoming any Member of Parliament or the Senate. Invoking the memories of dead politicians, shouting “traitor and sell out”, stoking the national unity fires, friendly fire, and even Adolf Hilter references are all way beyond the limit. These are the reasons why Canadians tune out. Over the last couple of days, I’ve walked around downtown Toronto, at the Eaton Centre, on campus and in the financial core – besides me talking into my cell phone into someone else who is equally interested, everyone else is just going about life like Parliament isn’t acting like a bunch of asses. That is scary.
Leave Hitler Out of It:
I’m going to start with Derek Lee’s Adolf Hitler reference. For those who did not hear, Derek Lee, a 20 year Veteran of the House, and a life long politico suggested Harper’s proroguing of the House was somehow similar to Adolf Hitler’s burning of the Reichstag in 1933 as part of his plan to seize total power over the German government. What Harper did was wrong, and has set a horrible precident, but is in no way equatable with the atrocities that Hitler committed. I don’t like Harper one bit, and believe everything must be done to topple his government, even if it means an election, but in fairness to him, and to those who died as a result of Hitler, nothing Harper or anyone has done since World War Two can be equated with the atrocities and legacy of Adolf Hitler. We must always remember that, and out of respect to the dead, never try to score a cheap political shot like that. At least a retraction and very likely an apology is in order.
Leave the Dead Out of It:
Another reprehensible act, this time committed by Ministers LeBreton and MacKay is the musing about the views of the late Pierre Trudeau and Bob Layton into the prospect of a Coalition Government. Most people know Pierre Trudeau was a Liberal Prime Minister and one who really shook up Canadians politics for good or for ill. What many may forget is that he and the NDP worked together more than once. In 1972 – he barely won the election and it was the NDP who allowed him to govern for two years before winning a majority. In 1979, he lost the election to Joe Clark, and it was with the NDP he brought down that Tory government and won another Liberal majority. Not only should MacKay not be suggesting Pierre Trudeau would be disgusted with his party and possibly “rolling in his grave” but he particularly should not be misrepresenting the history of a dead man. LeBreton’s comments are far more personal and equally inappropriate. Many may not know that Jack Layton’s father, Bob Layton was a Progressive Conservative Minister in the Government of Brian Mulroney. LeBreton – an old Mulroney chum suggested he too would be rolling in his grave at the thought of what his Son was up to. My guess is like all families there is a bit of a generational difference in political opinion, and Bob Layton, like any father would likely be proud of his Son’s success and thrilled at the prospect that like his father, and grandfather, Jack Layton may sit in Cabinet one day. Regardless, it is not LeBreton’s place and is a deeply personal attack that should not happen.
On National Unity:
All this nonsense about “the Separatists” needs to stop as well. How irresponsible for a Prime Minister to stand up in the House and mercilessly attack a party that has been moving away from talk of separation while still finding a way to keep their day jobs as MPs. It must be a delicate tight rope for Duceppe to keep his own ideologs at bay so that the Bloc can focus on extracting the best possible deal for Quebec from the House without worrying about the rest of Canada, instead of seeking a mandate to separate. Shouting ‘traitor’ and ’sell out’ at the opposition benches is absolutely inappropriate behaviour as is suggesting some how all MPs are not equal because of party membership. I am a devout federalist. I firmly believe my Canada includes Quebec and I support and would myself do everything absolutely possible to keep Quebec in Canada. It is for this reason that sniping at the Bloc when they are being the most responsible they ever have been, to me seems totally off base, and is sure to trigger a West vs. Quebec issue. Remember – it was the Tories that gave us the Bloc and the Reform – and the Tories that are taking us back to the old fault lines again.
Liberal Infighting:
Finally – friendly fire. Liberals – just stop it. If caucus wants to do something, grow up, look past leadership and pick an interim leader who will focus on doing the best job for the party, not their preferred successor. If you’re going to do something, do it quickly and quietly and don’t mess up the coalition. We don’t have enough ammunition to beat the Tories so we need to stop wasting it on ourselves.
On a final note:
I am very worried about national unity right now. I fear that having an illegitimate government stoking the flames of national unity in both the West and Quebec during an economic downturn is the recipe for disaster. I’m worried that the last big player in the 1995 referendum on the Federalist side has been dragged through the mud to the point that he is no longer able to stand up with the same strength and there is no clear successor to run a vigorous campaign to keep Quebec in Canada should another referendum occur. I worry about the prospect of western alienation should the coalition form government and see no way that the potential for this to blow up to go away until Harper does and another election is held, whenever that is. But those to me seem like the best choices if we are to preserve our Parliamentary Democracy. Everyone needs to be responsible. The Bloc cannot rile up Quebec into some Alberta bash fest, and the Conservatives need to keep BC-AB-SK-MB on ice as well.
We are in strange new times, and need to understand that there is a real potential to seriously mess up the country while this pissing match plays out. This morning on the radio I heard that 750 jobs in Oshawa are gone because a shift is coming off the line in February and that another group of workers has been laid off for 5 weeks right around Christmas. These guys don’t care about any of this stuff. They care about keeping their homes, finding another well paying job and rebuilding what they’ve lost. We can’t afford to lose sight of that either and they can’t afford for Government to lose sight of that for them.
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