Category: Canada

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.

Well, boys and girls, the game’s on in London-North-Centre (where no Librano$ seem to want the job) and in Repentigny and that means having a lot of spare time gobbled up. What it doesn’t mean, however, is that I won’t have any opinions or anything to say. I just won’t have as much time to say it. From now until Nov. 27, I’m going to try to make a daily habit of posting what links I can find on the issue. From the MSM, blogs, or whatever, I’ll toss it out.

This will save me time from regurgitating a lot of stuff that others have already said (and sometimes said better, the bastards) while still being able to make sure that all my own little bones of contention are flung as far and wide as possible. You’ll also notice a little google RSS at the bottom of the right sidebar now.

Granted, most of what I put up is going to be focused more on London than on Repentigny but hey, I don’t live in Repentigny. Get over it. 😛 Here’s what I’ve got for Tuesday, October 24:

The Freeps
Byelection race taking shape
Nothing political in vote timing, PMO assures
City council candidate jumps into federal race in London-North-Centre
Walker faces fight for NDP nomination
Walker in NDP candidacy storm

Conservative Life
Would the real Liberals please stand up?

Globe & Mail
Fortier defends decision not to run in by-election

TO Star
Green Party eyes two seats in House
Fortier’s big chance

Canada.com
Byelections seen as test of Harper’s management

Ottawa Sun
Timing is everything

My Take?

There seems to be a lot of whining, especially from the Hypogrits, about the timing of these byelections. Funny. I don’t remember hearing so much as a peep out of them when the Librano$ were calling elections whenever it looked like the wind was blowing the right way for them (with plenty of time left in their mandate, no less).

By the time you start reading this, I’ll likely be off to the London Conservative nomination meeting tonight. Who am I going to support? Not sure just yet. While I favour Haskett’s socially conservative stance on many of the issues, I just can’t shake the vaguely slick feeling that we’re getting Iggy’d here…

Guess I’ll just have to wait and see what they both have to say on the issues that matter to me. Things like national defense, judicial activism, defense of religious rights, law and order… You know; all that nasty right-wing stuff. Especially law and order. I live in a bad neighbourhood. 🙁

We’ll just have to wait nad see.

Yet another huge unsurprise from the Grit-dominated Senate. “Red Chamber,” indeed. Am I the only one nauseated by the irony in that? I didn’t think so. Moving right along, then: the high and mighty trufflesnufflers in the Upper House raised their snouts from the trough today and oinked out their acumen on how to improve the “deeply flawed” Federal Accountability Act, Bill C-2.

In their never-ending quest to make sure their asses are covered when they get their hands on the public purse again safeguard the Canadian lawmaking process from short-sighted right-wing nutjobs that think Joe Lunchbox should have his uneducated snout in the Sacred Business Of The Government, the high and mighty hogs urged the House to reject Harper’s preposterous policies in favour of their high calibre pig in a poke. Proposed changes included (but weren’t limited to; oh, certainly not):

• remove the Canadian Wheat Board from the reach of the Access to Information Act
• allow Sustainable Development and Technology Canada to “better respect the sensitivity of the information” received from their applicants
• “better protect the privacy” of donors and the contract terms of performers at the National Arts Centre
• change the limit on political donations to $2,000

Yessiree, if the Librano$ have their way about it, this thing will be left with no teeth at all. Time for a little more action on Senate reform, does anybody think?

For those that haven’t already heard, tonight is the nomination meeting for the Conservative Party candidate for the upcoming London-North-Centre byelection. The event is being held at the Polish Combatants’ Hall at 80 Ann Street (just click here if you need a map). Hope to see as many of you as possible there. Get off yer butts, get out and vote! Here is a timetable of events for the evening:

7:00 pm – registration desks open up

7:30 pm – John Stirling – president will open meeting with O Canada

7:35 pm – introductory remarks – Jim Knowles

7:45 pm – speeches – Dianne Haskett (introduction 5 minutes, 15 minutes for the candidate)

8:05 pm – speeches – Tom Weihmayr (introduction 5 minutes, 15 minutes for the candidate)

8:25 pm voting commences