Turner to Harper: By-election is in the hands of Prime Minister

"The Liberals new Rebel"

Firstly, Ya gotta love the power pose in that picture, amidst the leather jacket. Turner is one rebel without a cause - if I can put it so lightly.

I just finished watching the press conference - a lot of rhetoric except one particular part of Turners speech in that [and I paraphrase - as I have yet to locate a full trasncript of the speech]

‘I would agree to a by-election if the Prime Minister will call similar elections for Emerson, Fortier and Khan’

Which I’m sure the Prime Minister will reject - I mean Im not the biggest fan of Stephen Harper’s, but he’s not a political idiot. You don’t risk three shaky seats over some political dual put forth by Turner. But if Harper did agree (in some unbelievable stroke of luck for the Liberals) - the move would almost surely return Emerson and Khan’s riding’s to the Liberals - but that’s just dreaming. But kudos to Turner on a bright political play. Hes (to some degree) taken the pressure off his previous feelings of floor-crossing by offering to go into a by-election.

Garth goes Liberal

Interesting move, and to be honest I was taken by surprise on this one. For months Garth (Turner) and the Green Party looked like a pretty strong match. But much to my surprise Turner’s going Grit. I mean on a political level - a Turner for Khan trade looks pretty good for the Liberals. But wow, this sure does look bad for the Grits from a PR point of view.

I mean for a few weeks it looked like the Liberals finally had the upper hand on the whole floor-crossing debate with the move of Wajid Khan. But if one really looks at these two MP’s “moves“, they have some similarities. Both Khan and Turner were outcasts amongst their parties - Turner was to outspoken; so the Tories kicked him out. While Khan was to quite; so the Liberals kicked him out. The only difference I can see is in the possible responses of each of Khan’s and Turner’s constituency. One might recall that Turners riding of Halton has been held by a Liberal since 1997, for the exception of Turners 2006 win with the Tories. Whereas in Khans riding of Mississauga-Streetsville (which has come about from the former ridings of Mississauga-Brampton South and Brampton West) have all been strong Liberal seats since the mid 1990’s. Nevertheless, these thoughts do not condoned floor-crossing on the basis of prior electoral results - there’s really never a stand-out winner when someone switches parties. That MP will always have the stigma of being a floor crosser and in the short term it hurts the political party to whom they have flocked to.

I never liked the idea of MP’s moving to another party without an immediate by-election. Obviously there are circumstances for both Khan and Turner’s move’s but nevertheless I hope Turner and the Liberals do the right then and commit to a by-election.

There is a press conference at 5pm tonight; lets sit back and see what Turner and Dion have to say on the matter and we can move forward on the subject (hopefully with some encouraging news - namely a by-election).

So Party On Garth!

Stephen Harper - Hates Dion's Dog?

Check out this is clip of Stephen Harper feeling the "heat" (I sure do love those cheesy climate change jokes) on global warming. Notice as Stephane begins to press the matter, Mr Harper begins to get defensive resorts to the tried and tested Tory tactic of bringing out the big guns - yup - sponsorship scandal! Mr. Harper quite literally ends the debate by insulting Stephane’s dog…I mean really? Is this politics today! Ha Ha…beating the dignity out of some dog, only on the count of its name…Poor Kyoto.

I’m quite sorry for the spree of video's lately, I am quite busy with school commitments at the moment. I assure you as soon as I have the time to write something coherent - I will do so with haste.

So keep up the good fight!

George Bush’s Nephew!

I recall seeing this clip sometime ago, and to my amazement I found it after some time amidst some Youtube lurking. The resemblance in attitude and appearance is uncanny, I especially love that Bush charm at the end when Pierce tells Campbell that he’s “gonna go hit the bed” followed by that ol’Bush family chuckle.

Trudeaumania Redux?

Its no big surprise that Justin Trudeau- Liberal Studmuffin (as countless women have described him) and heir to the Trudeau legacy - has thrown his name in as a candidate to run somewhere in the area of Montreal in the upcoming elections. Before Liberals get all worked up and feel that “The Trudeau” has returned amongst us - realize this - Justin is not Pierre.

The one thing the Liberal Party has come to understand is we can not dwell on the past, and hope for another Pierre. Justin is his own man, and will win or lose whatever riding he contests on his OWN merits. The key for Justin is to break away from his name. He is a bright guy, but hopefully he does not fall into this “the next Trudeau” trap - otherwise he will surely fail in this endeavour.

As long as Justin does not run in Outremont (a relativity safe Liberal seat) then he will have the support of this blogger - and by not running in that riding he will show that he is willing to fight to become an MP. Justin would win Outremont, no doubt about that, but he will not have earned it. And right now, the one thing Justin needs, is some political capital, in order to ensure he is respected as an individual and not just the son of “The Trudeau”.

Jack Layton compares the NDP to Communist China

Jacks been on a tear with the silly comments in recent weeks, The poor guy tries to rip into the Conservatives on BIG OIL and BIG ASS and failed miserably, which was even more embarrassing for Layton with Harpers witty response (a rarity from someone who comes off so, well, robotic)

But today Layton had this “huh?” quote when he went on record describing his hopes that the Conservatives could reach out to the NDP on Kyoto and find some common ground. Layton stated and I quote:

"I think this government has a big opportunity to do a 'Nixon goes to China'." LINK

Oh Jack…I don’t think Canadians look to kindly if deep down in side you think of yourselves as Communist-Dippers locked in an environmental struggle with Nixon-Tories. But if the Liberals have to fight an election against Authoritarian Communists and Nixon Republicans, I think a Grit landslide could be assured.

Praise the Glorious Leader Jack Layton.

May Flowers

As the debate on Global Warming heats up (no pun intended) in Canada - that battle of public opinion is being waged between Liberals and Conservatives (and yes even the NDP). But what is missing is an absence of real debate on the matter. Liberals don’t think the Conservatives are sincere in their attempts to combat global warming, the Conservatives feel that Liberals have no track record on the matter - and the NDP are just angry. All the parties have argued the politics of global warming, yet none have made a real strong case to win over the hearts and minds of the Canadian people on the matter.

Enter Elizabeth May.

To think that our political parties will agree on perhaps the biggest issue of the new century is hopeful wishing at best. But Elizabeth May brings this progressive voter a flicker of hope. To those who have been under a rock for the last 2 years, May is one of Canada’s most respected environmental voices and the leader of the Green Party. Former lawyer, activist and Environmentalist - May has also served as the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada. She has had the ear of Prime Ministers and Presidents, and yet she sits without a seat in the House of Commons.

Now I don’t think May will single headedly solve Canada’s environmental problems - but her absence from the House is absurd. If Canada wants to have a real debate on the environment, I would expect that we as Canadians had an Environmentalist - who has worked on the subject - with a strong voice in the House. If you seek spiritual advice, one asks a priest, If you seek economic advice, one asks an economist - likewise when Canadians ask to understand the real dynamics of Environmentalism, we get our knowledge from partisan politicians.

See the Problem?

I’m unsure where May will be running in the next election, Iv heard she will again challenge the riding of London North Centre where she came second to Liberal Glen Pearson. Iv also heard rumblings that she will perhaps run in a riding near her childhood home of Cape Breton. Regardless, Grits, Tories and Dippers alike all owe it to the electorate to vote this women in somewhere, somehow. Unlike her dud of a predecessor Jim Harris - May has the makings to really blossom in the House and make the Green Party a viable voice in the arena of Canadian politics.