Category: Government

Well, there really hasn’t been much buzz over this weekend, has there? Nope, not much at all. Nada from the NDP, nary a trifle from the Tories, and the Greens seem to have gagged themselves (okay, so the weekend wasn’t a total writeoff…). The Grits, however, did finally manage to corral some poor bastard into running for them in London North Centre. So, without any further ado, adon’t or whatevertheheckhaveyou, here we go with what I’ve got for ya. Grab a coffee and have yourself a read. But make it a small one; there ain’t much here…:

The Freeps
Second round for Ross, Pearson
Pearson to carry Liberal banner

And here we go again. It now looks like we have a full slate in the London North Centre riding except, of course, for the Grits, who still haven’t been able to find anybody that wants the job (what’s that old adage about rats and ships, again?). I have to admit, I was damned surprised to see Stephen Maynard fall on his sword like he did, especially after the showing that he managed to pull off in the general election back in January. Getting some orders from above, were ya, Steve?

He denied top party brass, including NDP Leader Jack Layton, pressured him to step aside for the more experienced Walker.

No, of course you weren’t. 😉 Okay, folks; here we go with all the byelection ‘bojumbo you can find here:

The Freeps
Walker handed NDP banner
Grits pick hopeful Sunday
Megan Walker launches byelection campaign

The TO Star
Gay priest seeks Bloc nomination
Bloc acclaims priest as candidate

Canada.com
Gerard Kennedy not running in byelection
Bloc Quebecois acclaims controversial priest as byelection candidate

LifeSite
Pro-abortion/Pro-gay Marriage Quebec Catholic Priest Running for Office

CTV
Elizabeth May formally chosen to run for Greens

Well, what can I say? Another day, another bunch o links. And oh, lookie here! Why it didn’t take the MSM any time at all to start subtly wafting out the Christian Boogeyman angle. Seriously. Click the link that says “Tory byelection candidate tied to U.S. faith-based diplomacy group” and see for yourself. The Vancouver Sun and Ottawa Citizen carried it too. While they don’t come right out and say it (big surprise), the implication is obvious: vote for Haskett and the big, bad Tory party that’s been “taken over by Evangelical Christians” will turn Canada into a theocracy. Talaban a la Canuckistan. Gimme a break. 🙄

The Freeps
Candidates do parachute in and win
Grits still seek candidate

Canada.com
Tory byelection candidate tied to U.S. faith-based diplomacy group

Vancouver Sun
Byelections show it’s bare-knuckled politics as usual in Ottawa

canoe.ca
May wants to colour London riding green

Well, yesterday was kind of interesting. We got a candidate, the Dippers kept on dawdling, the Greens geared up and the Grits… Well, the Librano$ still haven’t been able to find any poor slob dumb enough to want to hang their sleazy brand on his c.v., although that might be changing tomorrow. Or not. Who the hell knows? You know, I’d almost feel sorry for them if it hadn’t sucked so much being one of the millions of taxpayers that they screwed over for more than a decade. So sympathy’s pretty much out the window, I guess.

Well, enough o’ that. Time to get on with what I’ve been burying my nose in so far today. Some good, some bad, some just there (whaddaya gonna do, eh?). Here goes:

The Freeps
Haskett, Burghardt again?
Green leader to run in London byelection

Canada.com
Controversial priest wants Bloc Repentigny nomination

TO Star
PM uses by-election to weigh Ontario support

Green Party Media Release

My Take?

Well, it was nice to see good news for a change. No, not directly related to the byelections, but it does show something. According to the pollsters at Angus Reid, the Tories are currently sitting nine points to the god across Canada. Sure, the Grits are up by 3 points, but what do you suppose is going to happen to that number after they drop the Rae-bomb on themselves in December (as many think they will)? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Bob Rae could very well turn out to be the best friend Stephen Harper ever had. For the time being, however, we have these two little byelections to worry about first.

I really do have to hand it to Lorrie Goldstein over at the TO Sun sometimes. While I don’t agree with everything he writes (come to think of it, I don’t agree with everything that anybody says, Harper included), I do enjoy his wry observations of the assorted idiocies perpetrated against the Canadian public, whether they be by politicians, pundits, celebrities or whoever. In his column today, he takes aim at the soap-opera atmosphere that pervades the national political discourse of late. Hey, everybody needs a good chuckle every now and then, right?

On today’s episode of The Days of Our Dingbats:

Will Peter apologize to Belinda?

Will Belinda forgive Peter?

Will Peter’s dog forgive Peter and Belinda?

Will Tie confront Peter about Belinda?

Will Condoleezza confront Peter about Belinda?

Will Belinda tell Bill about Peter and Tie?

Will Jack forgive Peter if he apologizes to Belinda?

Will Canadians forgive Jack, Peter and Belinda for acting like a bunch of !@#?! idiots?

Will Garth and Stephen reconcile?

Will Garth find happiness with Elizabeth?

Will Stephen find happiness with … uh … Stephen?

Will Stephen and the Parliamentary Press Gallery eventually reconcile?

Will anyone care if Stephen and the press gallery reconcile?

Will Stephen and George continue to be friends?

Will Rona ever clear the air?

Will Michael and Bob ever be friends again?

Will Michael figure out what a “war crime” is?

Will Bob reveal his troubled past?

Will Rick and Bob ever go skinny-dipping again?

Will Bob ever play kissy-face with Rick again?

Will Canadians ever be able to look at either Rick or Bob again without losing their lunch?

Will Scott discover what happened to his leadership campaign by looking at his BlackBerry?

Will Jean and Paul reconcile at the Liberal leadership convention?

Will anyone care if Jean and Paul reconcile at the Liberal leadership convention?

Yup, we did.

Well, it’s official, folks. London North Centre has its Conservative candidate for the upcoming November 27 byelection. Although I wasn’t able go get my hands on the final count before I left, one fellow from Tom Weihmayr’s camp, who didn’t want his name used, oversaw the counting (and was downing himself a stiff one afterwards) and admitted bluntly that “it wasn’t even close.”

I admit that I went to tonight’s meeting leaning strongly in favour of Haskett to begin with but it was still close for me, right up till the last few minutes. While I like Haskett as a social conservative, Tom Weihmayr has spent years in Canada’s military and I have always believed that it is good for someone to have served their country before playing a hand in leading it. I was actually beginning to have trouble making up my mind until the last minute or so of his speech.

Tom spoke well, with a confidence and an ease that Haskett didn’t put forward so well (she seemed a bit out of practice and stumbled a few times), and a lot of what he was saying was striking all the right notes with me. He pointed out, rightly so, that in the coming campaign, the Liberals will stoop to any dirty trick, “throw as much mud as they can; dig up old quotes to embarrass the candidate, the party and the Prime Minister; do and say anything to discredit their opponent” no matter how low it may be. And he was bang-on right.

Then, when he was doing so well and I was starting to think that I might have been leaning the wrong way, he shot himself in the foot. Saying that, if he were sent to the House and Iggy were in charge of the Librano$, he would “vigorously challenge Michael Ignatieff on his long absence from this country. How can he pretend to know the concerns of Canadians when he hasn’t even been here?” Clearly a barely concealed swipe at Haskett’s 6 year hiatus from the London area.

If Tom ever decides to try again, and I think he should because he seemed a damned decent guy when I spoke with him, foot in mouth notwithstanding, I’d like to give him a little free advice (bearing in mind that you get what you pay for, of course):

1. Don’t complain about Hypogrit mudslinging and then scoop up and fling a handful of your own and
2. If you are going to take a swipe at your opponent (and hey, politics is a rough sport), come right out and do it up front.

You almost had me, Tom. You were that damned close. And I’m not just saying that. As it was winding down, you said to me “don’t worry, I’ll be back.”

I hope so, Tom. I really do.