Water Court Foyer of the National Gallery of Canada
http://www.siegelproductions.ca/ottawarocks/viennese.htm
The Liberal Party is falling apart, and will not recover. Like all liberal parties in Europe, it will become a weakling at the mercy of ephemeral coalitions. By refusing the historic coalition that would have placed it at the helm of the left, it will be punished by history.-
Janine Krieber Professor at
Royal Military College of Canada
Her background and expertise should not be dismissed in her criticism of the writings on the current leaders regarding his writings of torture.
It’s been a year since the Dion putsch, so Ms. Krieber can’t be accused of lashing out in the heat of the moment. She’s had time to think, and her words carry particular danger in that they appear to reflect a conviction held by others in the party.-
Kelly McParland
This is what Janine Krieber got right
1) Igantieff has been an unmediated disaster.
2) The rot goes well beyond Ignatieff.
3) Paul Martin was a cancer. -
The Maple Three
Insiders Unhappy:
Over the past several years, I have seen that the position of VP Org has been neglected, in terms of energy, commitment and resources, and coincidentally, we have seen a dramatic drop in Liberal held seats in Ontario. - James Curran
What is the biggest challenge facing the Liberal Party of Canada in Ontario today? -
BCer in Toronto
All Parties are challenged by the ambivalence and apathy that has permeated throughout the political system, in large part due to the focus on strategy and tactics, rather than solid policy development and meaningful dialogue.
While at the riding level, fundraising in most parts of the province is a challenge, I believe if we look at the bigger picture, the most significant challenge facing the federal Liberal Party in Ontario is that we have not rationalized a general and coordinated strategy for the organization.
To put it bluntly, we have no plan to implement and therefore, there is little or no buy-in from the members and ridings and this affects all aspects of the Party's operations, from membership to fundraising and from policy to participation.
We are having difficulties attracting new members and ensuring that we are a Party that is growing, rather than a Party in decline.
We must address these fundamental shortcomings by focusing on the creation and implementation of a solid plan.
The Liberals have had
NO PLAN for YEARS. The Liberals spent a few weeks pushing a fake scandal trying to win back the
Catholic Vote at the expense of our PM attending a
state funeral. They decry our PM arriving a minute and a half behind some leaders for a photo op. They sided with a Chinese dictator in rebuke of our PM, they lined up with activists organizations who have a vested financial interest such as Green Peace. Liberals are pushing a new tax on Canadians use of Carbon, GreenShift redux and publicly stating they will not raise taxes.
Social Background Characteristics: The Shrinking Liberal Core
The Liberals were able to coast to victory in 2000 with the support of two key groups: visible minorities and Catholics. By 2008, the Liberals could no longer count on their loyalty. The visible minority vote dropped 14 points between 2000 and 2004 (see Figure 2).3 The main beneficiary was the NDP. The Liberals did not lose any further ground in 2006, but in 2008, they lost a massive 19 points. And now it was the Conservatives who benefited. In fact, minority voters were almost as likely to vote Conservative in 2008 as they were to vote Liberal.-
The Anatomy of The Liberal Defeat
In 2000 Jean Chretien has the Perfect Storm. He was able to take advantage of a split right and a weakened NDP who were NOT competitive in Ontario. Ontario and Quebec was responsible in giving the Liberals their last majority.
In 2008 the Liberals suffered the worst defeat in popular support in over 100 years. The Liberals have been reduced to the three largest cities. It has been nearly a decade since the Liberals have enjoyed the "Perfect Storm".
In November 2009 during a global recession, posting a large deficit, Canadian voters sent two more MP's to join the CPC caucus. The Liberals failed to win a single seat or make a decent showing in any of the ridings.
Follow The Money:
In a few weeks the
finances will become public again for the political parties. The Liberals can't ignore that several of the leadership candidates in 2006 have failed to repay their
loans. Elections Canada will be unable to give another extension. Some estimates are over
one million dollars will be counted as campaign expense for the party reducing their ability to fund the next campaign. The
GST overpayment is estimated at another million. My opinion is the party is in serious financial difficulty and has not attracted a significant list of new donors. I wrote a post several months ago on this
funding shortfall. Since than Rocco Rossi has resigned and several key liberal staffers from Toronto have left their positions at LPOC HQ.
Are they having a problem making payroll?
