Category: Canada

Whew. Okay… here we go… one election down, one to go. Is it just me, or is anyone else around here starting to get a slight case of politico burnout? Between the mayoral race, having all of our wards redrawn, and now the federal race in London North Centre beginning in ernest, I’m starting to feel like I’ve been fed meatloaf too many days in a row (anybody else remember that one)?

Anywho, moving right along here. Now that all the hot air from the municipals has died down (for a few years, at least), I can get back to the business of shooting my mouth off about the race to replace the much unlamented Joe Bananas. Hopefully, we’ll be able to hear a thing or two from former mayor Dianne Haskett as well, now that the local vote is in the rearview mirror.

For those of you not already aware, Haskett has been quiet as a church mouse so far in the campaign, eschewing the media in favour of good, old-fashioned one on one contact with voters to get her message out. Whether this is good strategy or not remains to be seen. Then again, her uncampaign in the summer of ’97 paid off pretty well, didn’t it? Locals will remember that as the time when Dianne, in protest against being fined $5000 by the OHRC for exercising her right to freedom of religion, voluntarily withdrew from her duties as mayor for three weeks (without pay) and didn’t campaign at all in the last three weeks of the election. She then whomped her closest competitor, Grant Hopcroft, at the polls by a 2 to 1 margin.

While Grit candidate Glen Pearson has been busily bleating that Dianne’s been muzzled by the Machiavellian PMO, Haskett has promised that we’ll be hearing more from her now that the municipal millstone is out of the picture.

Haskett said late last week she has been relatively quiet so as not to interfere with the municipal election. She said that should soon change. [Freeps]

We’ll just have to sait and see. And now… the links:

The Freeps
Byelection Notebook
CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK: Former president sidetracks May
Pearson to PM: unleash Haskett

Canada.com
Liberal byelection candidate has sport with silent Conservative opponent

Globe & Mail
Liberal by-election candidate ridicules silent opponent
Opponent says PM is muzzling by-election candidate

Movin’ right along. As some of you have already noticed, independent London North Centre candidate Rob Ede has taken me up on my offer from yesterday and put up his first post earlier today.

While the media seems to have been rather on the quiet side on the subject of the byelections lately, the blogosphere seems to have woken up and taken notice. Seems there was something going on south of the border someplace that had them distracted for a while there… 😆 Anyways, here’s what there is for today:

The Freeps
Campaign Notebook

CanadianChristianity.com
Christian women contest election in Ontario

Hobbs Is Right
Help Elect a Tory in London North Centre!

StephenTaylor.ca
Blogging Tories can fundraise for Dianne Haskett

Well now, isn’t this interesting? According to a story in today’s issue of the Freeps, runaway jailbird Ahmed Moalin-Mohamed is definitely on the run, but on the run from what may be another matter entirely. It seems that Moalin-Mohamed may not be on the lam from the cops after all; he might be on the run from something a little more hard-nosed than the hug-a-thug nanny club that passes for our justice system these days. According to one “source inside London’s criminal world,” may be more worried about good, old-fashioned private justice than about the courtroom variety:

Ahmed Moalin-Mohamed, 23, made some dangerous enemies by being charged with shooting four people in downtown London on Thanksgiving weekend, the source said.

He was reportedly beaten inside Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre — though that could not be independently confirmed — and put into protective custody.

“Someone shot at the wrong people,” the source said.

Forgive me if I don’t bother feeling sorry for him. Also forgive me if I don’t necessarily buy it, either. Either way, he made his own bed and sooner or later he’s going to have to lie in it.

[ADMIN NOTE: Yesterday, I extended an offer to independant London North Centre candidate Robert Ede to contribute to this site and tell the rest of us what he’s about. Well, Rob took me up on it so here, unedited as promised (and longwinded as forewarned), is his first post. Any other would-be MPs wanna chime in? -Dennis]

Dennis,

Thanks for this opportunity to contribute to your blog.

I’m canvassing today in s/e corner of riding and attending an all campaign pow-wow with the E-Canada Returning officer.

As some of your readers might have seen in my announcement and platform, I see this election as a very unique set of circumstances that may create impossible-to-predict results.

I started to do a precis of what I’m about … but instead I’ll shoot you the Press Release my wife didn’t like … and I’ve not sent anywhere else (yet … or maybe ever … are you married?)

Press Release Nov 09 2006

Independent Candidate – Sees By-election as ‘perfect storm’ opportunity for Harmony, Education & Understanding

Robert Ede, 53 a Realtor from Thornhill, ON has joined with 6 other candidates to contest the Federal By-election to be held Nov 27, 2006 in the riding of London North Centre.

Ede, as an independent, is not affiliated with any political party and is conducting a campaign of his own design and content.

Themes include a discussion on the definition of the Crown, re-establishment of the 1867 as-written in BNA Act roles for the Governor General, Privy Council, Senate, House of Commons and Prime Minister.

Robert, aided by his wife and official agent Keum-Ra Strachan-Ede, are presenting 11 foundational points about Canadian governance that he feels “are never discussed at elections and will never be on any party’s platform” .

Ede admits the points he raises are “too complicated and too fundamentally important for conventional political strategists to want to present – it’s not possible to reduce the concepts to a catchy slogan”.

Based on his door to door campaign to obtain the written consent of 120 voters for his official nomination “Londoners are fed up with being fed pablum & platitudes at election time – they’re skeptical of any party’s election promises”

Ede’s campaign entitled “Money, Power & Simplicity – Understanding Canada’s Government System and then Doing Something to remedy its shortcomings” is the culmination of Robert’s 14 year personal study of the BNA/Constitution Acts and their predecessor documents dating from 1763. Ede says he’s “so boring that I enjoy poring over the Public Accounts & Annual Financial Reports”.

No stranger to politics Robert established a Charlottetown Referendum Committee in 1992 (hence the BNA/Constitutional predisposition of his program) and ran for a small party in Richmond Hill ON, nationally in 1993 and provincially in 1995. Ede moved to the Federal Progressive Conservatives from 1995 until 2003 serving on the Riding Executives in Richmond Hill and Markham and attending their Policy Convention in Winnipeg in 1996.

Most recently, Robert attended the Calgary Congress in late September 2006, intrigued by the Conference’s agenda including Western alienation, Alberta Separation and Senate Reform.

Ede says he was “abandoned” by the P.C. & Reform/Alliance merger and has been conducting his writing and research projects “without any of that baggage – I don’t feel obligated to oppose or support any existing idea or program, just because some former Party or its Leader did or didn’t — I consider each issue on its own, depending on whether it fits or is incompatible with my own overarching vision for Canada”

Quite gung-ho and positive about his prospects, Robert says London is the most-perfect setting possible because London Canada is thought of as the city most truly representative of cross-Canada sentiments and values – many large firms run their market-trial programs here. Ede calls the timing of these By-elections a “perfect storm”, presenting the ideal conditions for his independent campaign, “We have (and will probably have next time) a Minority-government Parliament – no party will be significantly raised up or no government will fall, based on the results of the 2 by-elections. Further, in a minority Parliament, every MP’s vote counts … an independent member will have a significant role to play on every vote in the House.”

“In addition, and best of all, there will be no Leaders Tour, no Leaders Debate, no national advertising campaign (with the 308 local elections just riding the coattails) – these By-election will solely be about what the individual Candidates represent and how the Voters of London North Centre and Repentigny react to those people and ideas”.

Presenting a tightly-spaced 4 page platform, Ede says his campaign boils down “to finishing the Patriation-of-Sovereignty that was started by the 1982 Constitutional changes” and asking Canadians to consider 3 essential questions:

“Whose Dominion is the Dominion of Canada?”
“How shall we live?”
“Who will decide?”

Admitting that an intellectual campaign has never been tried before, he says “Londoners have a well-established pride and sophisticated knowledge about their city, its history and Canada and its history, I’m not concerned about anyone not understanding what I saying nor missing the point on why I’m saying it – the University is smack in the middle of the riding, many professors and staff live here”

Ede counts “a partial victory every time a voter says to me, Really, I didn’t know that or Thanks, nobody ever explained it to me like that” and suggests that with “several of those epiphanies each day, along with a little they tell two friends, who then tell two friends … all things are possible.”

Robert maintains that the campaign “will be a success, if only 9 or 6 or 3 of my 11 points become an integral part of this by-election and are introduced to the nation-wide political discussion … even if I am not elected.”

As an example of his unique and outside-the-box approach to communicating his message, Ede is borrowing from and adapting two historic events, first by suggesting that this election could become know as the beginning of the “Great Peace of the Canadian Confederation” he alludes to the pledges of co-operation and unity the Six Nations made to each other when they established their Confederacy and its bi-cameral governance system. His ” U.C.L. United Canadian Loyalist” designation is of course modern version of the honour bestowed on post-Revolutionary, Crown subjects who fled the new republic and helped hurry the establishment of Canada.

Unrattled by nay-sayers who “wonder where he gets the energy to fight such an uphill battle” Robert Ede is ready willing and able to take on “the giants” even on unfamiliar turf.

“I know that if enough people get a chance to read what I’ve put in my handouts and on my blog or come to an All-Candidates meeting – they’ll be convinced that I can win and that an independent MP is probably the best thing they can have represent them in Ottawa”

— 30 —

Yup, ol’ King Ralph done gone an’ done it agin. The longest serving premier in Canada may be on his way out, but he’s sure not gone yet. Ol’ Ralphie has the Grits, MSM, feminazis and a hoary host of other usual suspects in an utter tizzy after making a risque and Ralphingly off-colour crack about the Librano$’ favourite insult to dogs everywhere, Belinda Stronach. Never mind that the jibe was delivered at a charity roast in Calgary. After all, it’s not like roasts are a place where anybody ever gets mercilessly raked over the coals now, is it? For both of you that don’t already know, here’s the joke:

“And I wasn’t surprised she crossed over – I don’t think she ever did have a Conservative bone in her body. Well, except for one… speaking of Peter MacKay…”

Now, I don’t know about you, but I thought that was damned funny, and apparently so did plenty in the crowd that night, including one woman that came dangerously close to an “I laughed so hard my wine came out my nose” incident. But hey, why let a good raucous joke get in the way of working up a good steam of indignation?

Let’s face it, boys and girls; when Ralph has something in his head, no matter what it is, it’s only a matter of time before it falls out his mouth. And Ralph doesn’t give a tinker’s dam if anybody else can take a joke or not. He never has before and he’s sure as hell not going to start now.

Ralph has been known throughout his entire public life as a man that shoots from the lip. He didn’t tone it down when he was a public servant, so just why does anybody think he’s going to change now that he’s on his way out? For those of you not familiar with Ole King Ralph (almost a third of my traffic comes from the US), here’s a list of some of my favourite Ralphisms (which also show that Ralph doesn’t play political favourites when it comes to barbs):

Ralph on the subject of…

Edmonton v Calgary:
Edmonton isn’t really the end of the world — although you can see it from there.

Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae (NDP):
I think that he’s a very educated person, but he’s a dumb politician.

Former Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow (also NDP):
You would never know Roy Romanow was a lawyer because he was a basic down-to-earth individual. I had a lot of time for Roy, notwithstanding our political differences. Roy, I had a lot of time for; Bob Rae, I had no time for, whatsoever.

Quebec:
Quebec is part of Canada as much as a cat in the mouth of a crocodile is a part of the crocodile.
Flipping an environmentalist the bird:
Randy Lawrence ran up on stage where we were all seated … and gave us all the finger. So I gave him the finger back.

Governance:
There’s an old saying in politics. Anyone dumb enough to run for the job probably is too stupid to have it.

People gunning for his job:
Whoever becomes the premier will have a tremendous amount of challenges. That’s why I wake up in the morning and I say: ‘Why am I here?’ It’s because I am not all there.

His other career options:
To go into TV these days you have to be young and pretty. I am neither.

Okay, so I missed a day there. I don’t think it was such a big deal, though; there really wasn’t much that happened in Byelectionland yesterday. Today, however, looks to be a little bit more interesting.

Yup, the much-anticipated mud has begun to fly in London North Centre with the Greenies bleating that Haskett (who seems to be the candidate to beat, judging from the seemingly disproportionate amount of fire she’s drawing) is a stereotypical Christian nutjob and the Tory camp firing back not at the Boogers (who they, apparently, don’t think would be worth the ammunition), but instead at the Librano$ and the NDP for their habit of being crybaby, criminal-coddling creampuffs. The Dippers, in turn, lobbed a clanger on the rug by saying that the Tories are anti-military. HUH!?!?? 😯 Well, I was sort of griping about things being boring, wasn’t I? Silly me. 🙄

Then, bright and early this morning, I get a comment on my last Byelection Buzz post from none other than independent candidate Robert Ede:

1. Comment by Robert Ede November 9, 2006 @ 7:28 am |Edit ThisWhat’s your email, I’ll put you on my mailing list

Well, I’ll be danged. Hey, Bob (can I call ya Bob?), let me start off first by saying thanks for stopping by. Always glad to have candidates taking in interest in what the rest of us have on our melons, but what do you need my email for? Have something you want to say, do you? Something you’d like to get out to the masses, like maybe your positions on the issues?

Well, Bob, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do: I’ll see your mailing list and raise you a contributorship. That’s right: I’ll set you up with a user account and you can log in here and put up your views and opinions on the issues that concern us in your own words, entirely unedited by me.

Yes, I’m a card-carrying Tory and no, I can’t imagine what you might possibly say to get me to vote otherwise but I’ll still listen to you, and so will my readers. Being a bit of an old-fashioned type, I have this bothersome belief in that whole democracy thing and that means doing what I can to make sure that the people who do the voting get to hear from all sides before they make up their minds, even the sides that I’m not voting for.

So, whaddaya say there, Bob? Think of it as a chance to get your message out. After all, nobody ever got elected to anything by preaching to the converted. Just send your response to admin@rightcrazy.com and I’ll set you up, licketysplit. Hope to hear from you soon.

Cheers 😀

The Freeps
Party staff assisting with byelection
Byelection mud slinging begins