Liberal Platform leaked

How I spent my summer on a Liberal bus asking for money and support for my political party.

Pablum (from the Latin word pabulum, meaning food). This was an infant cereal product that unlike other cereal mixtures had the necessary minerals and five of the six known vitamins that growing children needed. The five vitamins were A, B1 and B2, D and E, and were produced from a mixture of wheat, oats, corn, and bone meal plus wheat germ, dried brewer's yeast, and alfalfa. This was all ground, mixed, dried, and pre-cooked.

Mr. Nice Guy

The Liberal Platform was developed with Pablum in mind and they were very careful to remove any ingredient that might be used in an attack ad.

Click here.

Liberals Fall Down And Can't Get UP?

Let's blame Harper

The Lib blogs have been very quiet lately.  The Liberal Express has had a few bumps. Content or adult conversation has been a rare commodity from both. Since losing power in 2006 it appears they have fallen down and can't get up.

Early warning signs in 2009 that a content was NOT a priority.

• Both spent weeks on Wafers
• Both were consumed with a G20 photo
• Both tried to create a controversy with the Olympic Committee, Torch Relay, Clothes
• Both decried the H1N1 response, contracts to have it backfire with a staged interview on the CBC, apology for the 10% from the Liberal Party sent to a reserves and discovery the sole supplier was a large donor to the Liberal Party. A local nurse ordered extra bags. Some local health boards did a good job some did not.
• Both chased the Economic Action Plan and Deficit without offering an adult conversation/alternative demanding only Report Cards in 2009
• 30 Liberal MPs missing key votes on a regular basis after a promise to NOT sit on our hands by Ignatieff.

Video here

Canadians have voted for political parties for a large number of reasons. It appears the Liberals have still not learned humility with the 2006 and 2008 results. It may be too late for the remaining party faithful.

Update: 9:55 am
Phew, it is back up but still no meat on the bones, just more complaints about our PM. Where is the beef?

Liberals Can't Handle "Good News" For Canada: Updated

02.05.10 - Getting it done for Canada! Canada US negotiations has helped solve a trade irritant after months of negotiations. The premiers from provinces and Mayors from Cities agreed to give the the Federal Government the authority to resolve the "Buy American" provisions. The US Congress with a Democrat majority were NOT interested in resolving the problem but the President has chosen to spend some of his personal capital on expanding free trade in helping improve his personal ratings at home with the help of the Prime Minister of Canada.

The United States and Canada ended a year-old dispute Friday as Washington agreed to waive "Buy American" provisions barring Canadian firms from projects under a massive stimulus package.

In return, Ottawa will also provide US suppliers with access to construction contracts across its provinces and territories, as well in as a number of municipalities -- seen as a breakthrough by Washington. -AFP 

In the US some politicians are using this opportunity to attack free trade.

In Canada we have politicians who prefer to play games as well with free trade between Canada and the US.
Negative Spin:
On September 29, 2009 the Liberal Party chose to insult our efforts in resolving our trade with our largest partner. They tried to blow up a low key entrance into the side of the Whitehouse as a snub to our Prime Minister. Why are the same personalities in the Canadian media and the Liberals trying to discredit the work of our current government?

“We have a very, very serious problem with this relationship and I don’t think I’m going to be able to fix it until I become prime minister,” he said on CTV’s Question Period, with typical self-effacement.

Mr. Ignatieff’s contention that the Harper government has mismanaged the relationship with the United States. - John Ivison

 09.25.09“The Conservative government has one month to work with the provinces and achieve a national consensus for a proposal countering ‘Buy American.’ Stephen Harper’s failure to constructively engage the Premiers on this issue to date has already cost us precious time and jobs. Canadians need results, not more delays from this Conservative government.”-Liberal Press Release

02.05.10 Liberal Trade critic Scott Brison said the agreement is too little, too late."The fact is much of the stimulus has been spent, and the rest will be expiring soon," Brison told reporters.
"The government has failed to negotiate a good agreement in a timely manner, and as a result Canadian jobs have been lost and Canadian competitiveness has been affected negatively.- CP

Anyone remember the Liberals mocked the forty-two minute visit by our PM with Obama? Nothing changes for the disloyal opposition members of parliament. Until they are back in 24 Sussex, the response to Haiti, H1N1 and resolving a trade dispute will never satisfy them. Will the disloyal members of parliament lead another back room deal and reform the coalition after the election with the separtists to protest their political party subsidy.

Why is the Liberal Party attacking the efforts of both leaders and government employees who spent months on this file? Political games?

Our diplomatic,civil servants, business leaders, municipal leaders working on behalf of Canada deserve more respect than the Liberals give.Shame on the Liberals for not supporting Canada in this effort.
 






Update:

The fact a deal was struck at all came down to one simple fact -- political will. As Lawrence Cannon, the Foreign Affairs Minister, said, the Prime Minister and the President "sent a strong message down through the system to get it done." One U.S. official characterized the relationship between the two men in simple terms: "It works."
In an interview yesterday, Mr. Cannon said the President deserves kudos for using his executive powers to push through the deal, so that it does not require Congressional approval. As Canada prepares to play host to the G20 leaders in Toronto this spring, he said the accord "sends a strong message to the world that open trade is the way to go."-John Ivison



As I said earlier both the President and our Prime Minister have opposition in  "getting it done". Is the criticism based on rational problems or is it special interests who do not want open markets or free trade?

It was, then, one of the great surreal moments in Canadian politics, when Liberal trade critic Scott Brison stood up to the microphone yesterday to complain about the "pathetic" deal the Conservatives had just struck with the Obama administration on Buy American...

Who is being a poster boy for pathetic? A party who failed to fix the softwood lumber deal for years? Insults millions of Americans on a regular basis that do not vote Democrat. Resort to gutter politics by introducing "Pro-Abortion" marker from the Liberal into the G8, G20?


My favourite read on the Liberals regarding repeated political games is here. Please visit and post your displeasure.

We aren't that stupid, Michael, and, frankly, you are scum. (Favourite line of 2009)

Why do Politicians in Ottawa prefer to play games with the electorate?

 Why do Politicians prefer to play games with the electorate? Is this posturing to be taken seriously or is this an attempt by the Liberals to push the NDP and Bloc to act more responsibly?

A very small number of people believe Canadians are interested in going to the Polls again. Is the posturing by the leaders of each political party acting in the best interest of their party? Are they interested in facing the voters or are they trying to re-cast their role in the upcoming parliament?

I suspect the political posturing is a key element in the latest election threat. The CPC have been in power for over 1300 days. Their track record was judged on October 14, 2008 and resulted in a larger mandate falling short of a majority 12 seats.

Excluding Quebec, the rest of Canada rewarded the Government with 57% of the seats. In Quebec all three Federal Parties won 24/75 seats against a regional protest party interested in leaving Canada.

Some leaders in the opposition and punditry have suggested the decision by the Francophone vote to support the Bloc is a repudiation of the current government. Since the inception of the Bloc have the Liberals won a majority of seats in Quebec? (October 2008 CPC 9, LIB 14, NDP 1)

Six weeks after returning with a larger mandate the Government introduced the Economic Update and the opposition decided the government became unfit to govern and would be replaced by a Coalition with the Liberals,NDP being supported with Bloc votes for 18 months.

One week before the House was to break for Christmas, the GG granted the PM a timeout (prorogue)  to present a new budget and keep the confidence of the House.

At the end of January 2009 the CPC maintained the confidence of the House with the support of the Liberal Party.

In Sudbury the Liberal Party leader announced he would no longer support the Government. For some Canadians including the Press the posturing has referred to this as "Ground Hog Day" or De Jevu.

In the meeting the Liberal leader denied the returning to normal has anything to do with the polling numbers.

Internal numbers leaked by the Liberals and the recent Poll by Strategic Counsel show potential seat gains for the Liberals at the expense of the NDP/Bloc.

Will the Bloc and NDP allow the posturing of the Liberal leader to affect their roles of opposing the government on every single Bill and voting non-confidence?

Will the Bloc and NDP change their posturing and decide to telegraph their "lines in the sand" to the government to avoid a no confidence motion to defeat the government. Will they join the Liberals in a no confidence motion at the earliest opportunity, win concessions  for votes or risk going to the Polls.

The timing of the Liberal announcement supported a boost of seats according to internal Polls. If the lead over the NDP and Bloc vanishes in the next three weeks will the Liberals follow? Will the Bloc or NDP blink if their numbers show a loss of seats?

Campaigns matter and this site has a great snapshot of preparedness and organization. It looks like the NDP, Greens, Bloc, Liberals are unprepared in nominations.

Money is very important. How do they rank (Party Finances)? Clearly the CPC are in a substantial lead. Some would argue the Liberals recent improvements make them more competitive.

The Conservative Party raised more money in 2007 than all the other political parties combined, according to data released by Elections Canada. The Conservatives earned 62% of the fundraising dollars, while the Liberal Party raised 18%.-March 2008


Do the CPC have the most to benefit from the repeating their narrative of not wanting an unecessary election in a fragile recovery? The CPC has been quick to sink any backroom deals or concessions for keeping confidence in the house.

If the opposition decide they no longer have confidence in the government, the PM will ask the GG to dissolve the Parliament.

Ballot Questions:

Handling the Economy

"Almost half of Canadians (47%) are satisfied with the way the federal government has handled the ongoing economic crisis, while 45 per cent are unhappy with their actions."-Angus Reid Sept 3, 2009

Voter Discontent

"32% support the opposition parties toppling the Conservative government; 57% are opposed"- Angus Reid Sept 3, 2009



In the next few weeks, the Polling will again be used in determining the posturing. Expect more internal leaks from the Liberal Party to discourage the NDP and Bloc to defeat the government.