This Andrew Scheer guy is not a good guy

All day, Liberal candidates, such as Marc Garneau, have been tweeting and re-tweeting a little snippet of Canadian political history that really underscores Andrew Scheer's deep disrespect for this country and its most valued institutions:
 https://twitter.com/MarcGarneau/status/1184468914123751424?s=20

https://twitter.com/i/status/1184468914123751424
https://twitter.com/MarcGarneau/status/1184468914123751424?s=20 https://twitter.com/MarcGarneau/status/1184468914123751424?s=20https://twitter.com/MarcGarneau/status/1184468914123751424?s=20

from Wikipedia.org:

"O Canada" (French: Ô Canada) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which, words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The original lyrics were in French; an English translation was published in 1906.^[1] Multiple English versions ensued, with Robert Stanley Weir's version in 1908 gaining the most popularity, eventually serving as the basis for the official lyrics enacted by Parliament.^[1] Weir's lyrics have been revised three times, most recently when An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender) was enacted in 2018.^[2] The French lyrics remain unaltered. "O Canada" had served as a de facto national anthem since 1939, officially becoming the country's national anthem in 1980 when Canada's National Anthem Act received royal assent and became effective on July 1 as part of that year's Dominion Day (today's Canada Day) celebrations...

"There are no regulations governing the performance of "O Canada", leaving citizens to exercise their best judgment. When it is performed at an event, traditional etiquette is to either start or end the ceremonies with the anthem, including situations when other anthems are played and for the audience to stand during the performance."

When Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger perished on August 15, 2016, his modest bill to de-gender the lyrics of the english version was still two years from seeing Royal Assent, held up on Scheer's say-so by the Conservatives in the Senate. But at least the Right Honourable Mauril Bélanger lived to see his bill pass third reading, wherein Andrew Scheer pointedly (and uniquely) stayed seated while all his fellow Parliamentarians stood and sang the anthem's newly female-inclusive lyrics.

(Again, from wikipedia.org):
"On May 6, 2016, consideration of Bélanger's bill to make the national anthem gender neutral was blocked when Conservative MPs used up the hour of debate time and refused consent to two motions backed by both the Liberals and the NDP to extend debate and allow time to hold a vote to send the bill to committee.^[13][14] As Bélanger's health was deteriorating, Liberal MP Greg Fergus described the Conservative's procedural delay tactics as an attempt to prevent Bélanger from seeing the bill passed, while Conservative MPs insisted that they were debating an important issue and had followed parliamentary procedure.^[13][14] Fellow Liberal MP Linda Lapointe gave up her timeslot for private member's business on May 30 to allow Bélanger's bill to be heard and go to a vote for it to be sent to committee the following day.^[15] In June 2016, the bill passed its third reading with a vote of 225 to 74 in the House of Commons.^[16] In July 2017, the bill was in its third, and final, reading in the Senate;^[17] the bill was passed on January 31, 2018 and received royal assent on February 7, 2018 to change "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command", after Bélanger had already died."

I wonder how many other Canadians feel a little sick to their stomach to see Scheer's churlish, petty behaviour in this moment. It has been haunting me all day.

I hope this anti-Canadian dipshit does not become our Prime Minister next week. It would be a horror story of Trumpian proportions.

- 30 -

10-18-2019 UPDATE: Scott wrote to his Green Party candidate

*** 10-18-2019 UPDATE: after waiting 12 days for a response from Mr. Daniel Green, (also after having voted in the advance polls for his Liberal opponent, Rachel Bendayan - oh well) today, at 3:10 pm, I received the following response:

Hello Randboro,

Thank you for your email.

We at the Green Party of Canada understand that you were troubled by a recent story on the Green Party of Canada’s stance on abortion.

Rest assured it is, and has always been, the Green Party of Canada’s policy that all women must have timely access to safe, legal abortions.

Although the Leader does not have the power to whip votes, all Green Party Members of Parliament must endorse the Green Party’s values, including a firm support of a woman’s right to choose. There is zero chance an elected representative of our party will ever reopen the abortion debate.

We vet all candidates to ensure they agree the abortion debate is closed in Canada. Any who disagree are not allowed to run.

We hope that we can continue to count on your support.

Best,

Kat Lorimer

--
info@greenparty.ca 

So... I guess I wasn't wrong at all, was I? How can anyone know how their MP would vote on any issue before them, given this canned response from the Party HQ?

*** END of 10-18-2019 UPDATE (original post below) ***


Given the nature of the Green Party of Canada, and their leader's stance that all votes will not be whipped, I decided that I would reach out to my local GPC candidate, Daniel Green, to understand his own positions:

Mr. Green,

As a committed humanitarian and former GPC financial officer for the riding of Papineau, (but mostly because of my devotion to the continuance of life on this planet) I voted for you in the recent by-election and was pleased to see you came in a strong third.

I did not know then about your party's position on not whipping votes.

That said, I feel the Green party platform is insufficient for me to determine whether or not my vote should go to you again on the 19th of October. I find your bonafides on environmental issues to be substantial, however it behooves me to ensure your stances on other contentious issues would not leave me crestfallen should you come to represent me and the others in Outremont riding in the HoC.

For this reason, when Justin Trudeau speaks clearly about women's right to choose on the decision of abortion, I rest confident that your rival, Ms. Bendayan, will not let me down. When he speaks about any other policy, I feel confident in voting for my Liberal candidate, even if the policies they put forth today are less than the climate crisis demands. Because they give me confidence they will be what they portend to be, as a government. As of now, they have my vote.

Am I wrong?

Sincerely,

Scott Murray

Top Ten Other Things Andrew Scheer Didn't Lie About, But Was Never Asked

"I've never tried to hide that (I am a dual US-Canadian citizen)," he said in a scrum with reporters in Halifax. "I've never been asked about it by Canadians. My father has always been open about where he comes from. I haven't been asked about it."--Andrew Scheer

10. Being a vampire.
9. Didn't wear underwear as House Speaker. Not even once!
8. Still waiting for that peach fuzz to break out into an actual beard.
7. Has promised Faith Goldy's firstborn to a little man known for spinning straw into gold, who also came up with enough last minute votes to magically give him the CPC leadership!
6. Underwent conversion therapy to seem human-like to Earthlings.
5. Likes to do his toenails with manly black polish - just like Gene Simmons!
4. Forever pestering buddy Jim Vallance to jam out a song he wrote called Summer of 2003
3. As Prime Minister, plans to create a ministry of Reminding Folks he was Down With Brexit Before It Was Cool.
2. Likes to call various world leaders out of the blue to request they investigate Donald Trump's political rivals, offering saskatoon berry jam for the favour.

And the Number One Other Thing Andrew Scheer Didn't Lie About, But Was Never Asked:

1. Has been secretly meeting with Jason Kenney for years in a totally normal and extremely heterosexual way, just to chit-chat and play rock, paper, scissors, okay?! Jeesh, you guys!!

- 30 -  

My grand-daughter was born December 3, 2018

She will not reach 12, apparently, before life on this planet is doomed to be inhabitable for humanity.

I take that very seriously. As soon as I became a father, that kind of thing started to matter - vibrantly; excruciatingly. Until then, it served as ...what? An excuse for nihilism? Bottoms up!

With my wife, I share a four-cylinder, gas-guzzling SUV, but at least we live in a highly energy-efficient condo in Montreal, heated (and powered) exclusively from renewable hydro-electric power, thanks to Robert Bourassa and other prescient Quebec politicians. We use public transit as much as possible, walk, or use shared services to economize, and understand that our gas costs more if we fill up on the island of Montreal, so we only take the car when we really have to.

And I expect this will be the last internal combustion vehicle we own - and appropriately so. Energy usage will not decline, but here in Quebec, I feel that we really understand that reality as a fundamental concept, alongside the practicality of maximizing our facility to harness whatever renewable energy resources we can access.

I have listened to the voices telling us the oil in Alberta and Saskatchewan will replace higher carbon-footprint coal used in China currently (to manufacture products we buy to assuage our Dollar-store need to consume, consume, consume extra plastics to make our lives more fulfilling - and yes, that rabbit-hole I have plunged myself into on many occasions myself). I call bullshit on that "need" to get the tarsands product to tidewater. Justin Trudeau is nominally championing that in order to (lamely) show he is not like his dad; as if he could somehow square that policy with being on the right side - i.e.: the non-suicidal side.

What to do?

I like JT because he espouses ideals that are high-mindedly progressive towards correction of bias and prejudice generally. But for all our sakes, this is the time to realise there is a bigger, more pressing crisis that requires his leadership. Time to stop playing nice and put his clout to the one issue that merits war-like attention: arresting climate change.

After all, what planet does he presume his kids and mine might inhabit?

- 30 -

Every Canadian should read Bob Rae's column in the Walrus

It is all about Canada-USA relations, and in particular, this uncomforting reality:

"It’s time we understood just how far apart our two countries are and act accordingly"

The whole text is here.

Interestingly, it comes just hours after the publication of this warning for the EU from the Guardian:
EU must 'prepare for worst-case scenarios' under Trump, top official warns

From that article, from European Council president, Donald Tusk:

“More and more people are starting to believe that only strong-handed authority, anti-European and anti-liberal in spirit, with a tendency towards overt authoritarianism, is capable of stopping the wave of illegal migration.”

“If people believe them, that only they can offer an effective solution to the migration crisis, they will also believe anything else they say. The stakes are very high. And time is short.”

Time for all of us to stop ignoring the painful truth. If you're not with Trump, you're not only against Trump,...

you're at war

- 30 -

Requiem for the Hangover of a Canadian Immigrant - Original Song # 36

Eleven months in

Still finding your place

You cheer for the Habs

Watch The Amazing Race

The kids have made friends

Learned some French, ate Subway

But you cannot find work

And you have just four weeks’ grace

Lo and behold

It’s Canada Day

The PM looks lost touring a tipi in the rain

The natives around you

No flags do they wave

Just beers and grilled beef

And a look of disdain

CHORUS

Don’t fly your flag so mighty

So high

Don’t mix bloody Caesars

With ginger and rye

Know that at the root

Of every symbol is some lie

Don’t mix bloody Caesars

With ginger and rye

The cure for your hangover

If you haven’t yet clued-in

Comes from filtered Florida OJ,

Picked by Mexican migrants

Mixed with Brita-filtered water

(Thanks to the Germans)

And a Samsung-brewed coffee

Picked by Indonesian kids

CHORUS

  

If the Maple Leaf still means

Anything worth a fight

It’s writ ‘tween the lines

Of that Charter of Rights

So don’t hang your patriotism

On a populist rant

On a tax-payer’s gripe

Or an immigrant’s back

- 30 -

Harper not about to have sex with sheep. Nope nope nope

That appears to have been the gist of the point made to the CBC news camera of a Harper-Con supporter at today's Conservative campaign event. Point taken. And lo and behold! The Ford brothers - even the crack-cocaine smoking one - are trotted out to help rally the faithful in a Toronto riding the Conservatives are desperately hoping to hang on to in the dying days of their uber-ugly campaign.

Hey, everybody, let's sing:

The wheels of the bus fall off, off, off; off, off. off; off, off, off...

Election theme song from Hey Rosetta! & Yukon Blonde

Land You Love

Land You Love - Hey Rosetta! & Yukon Blonde from Phil Maloney on Vimeo.

This brings a tear to my eye everytime I play it. Thank you, Hey Rosetta! and Yukon Blonde.

Share! Share! Share!

Will the really smart Trudeau - Sacha - please stand up?

Dear Justin,

I was very disheartened to hear our current PM today distort your thoughtful positions on restoring diplomacy with Iran and pulling out of the bombing campaign in the Iraq-Syria joint civil war.

That said: nice ad!

I have to say though, that I was previously crestfallen to see all Liberals in HoC vote for C-51 because it is such an aberration; yet I know the victory taken from the NDP on their vote against was purely Pyrrhic, as the bill was going to pass with or without either party's votes, and I believe your braintrust presumed it was mostly only a set-piece to provide the Cons (literally now, given Del Mastro's new status) with fodder for attack ads.

However, it does speak to how desperate Harper must be, with so much of his bench dropping off. If the likes of Pollivere (forgive me but I really don't care if I am misspelling his name, which itself is as pretentious as his very ken), and Kenney and Raitt and Lebel and Kirstie Alley - or, you know, the one that looks like her and wants to single-handedly breathe dragon-fire onto the Supreme Court, Ambrose or something - if they constitute Peevey Stevie's shining Cabinet stars,... that tells me his cupboard is just about bare.

I looked with an open mind at the NDP platform today, and while my progressive-minded bent was aligned with much of what they put out there, in a practical sense, I couldn't square much of their plans with the individualized needs of the provinces (standardized daycare, Senate abolition, and minimum wage in particular). The line you spoke last week in response to the Senate was perfect - that when you get the ear of the provincial premieres, the conversation should focus on bread and butter issues; not some navel-gazing exercise with horse-trading for constitutional tweaking this way and that, as Senate abolition would constitutionally require. That was only a burning issue for a week, really. Not a game-changer, so I think once people think about it, they'll see your stance is the best one of the major three parties.

With so many Liberal provincial governments currently in power, doing right by the provinces is a winning strategy, as their own ground troupes might be more invigorated to fighting for you, and it does nothing to irk most voters. As a former GPC supporter, I was particularly wowed by the stuff proposed on realchange.ca and I hope there will be more like it.

Mulcair has a singular option for Proportional Rep that we are bound to swallow should he win in October. Your 18-month consultative plan is much better policy. So is most of the LPC policy. Keep putting it out there and explaining in plain language where it surpasses NDP policy and don't ever forget to use the other differentiator: the LPC is the only party that is not in the hard-line hawkish Israeli back pocket. Hopefully Duceppe - a hard-scrabbly type who won't get bested by the NDP twice - will do the heavy lifting in shining this light on the NDP for you. His francophone sovereignist constituency was turned-on by Layton and can be equally turned-off by Mulcair, knowing how fully he stands behind whatever Israel does, no matter how horribly the Palestinians fare under their occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

Lastly, keep being you. Resist kowowing to the cynical politics of most of our political class, and please continue to speak off-the-cuff without fear. Your genuineness is what made people believe in you from the get-go, after all. Mulcair is stronger and fiercer, yes, but the soft power you so effortlessly harness is what sets you apart.

P.S.: Do tell me that your bro Sacha is not going anywhere; because as long as he remains the RFK to your JFK, I think the "Not Ready" meme is going to be DOA (imperfect as that metaphor admittedly is).

Warm regards, Scott Murray (formerly of Papineau riding, now in Dorval) - 30 -

Justin Calling

Justin Calling to Albertan towns

Now get prepared for the writ to come down

Justin Calling to the oilsands

Forget about Pierre and his Energy plans

Justin Calling, now look here to us

The new Trudeaumania is on the up'n'up

Mulcair isn't catching

Harper's on the way out

The Cons are corrupted

The Greens got no clout

A BQ error, leaves the left in the clear

And Justin is calling and I'll...

Go for the winner!

Justin calling, yes, I was there, too

An' you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!

Justin calling to the gun registry arm

Forget it brother, that's a horse that's long gone!

Justin calling to the zombies of Ignatieff

Quit bitchin' bout, those (true) ads all negative

Justin calling, and I don't want to flout

But while you were sulking, I glad-handed about

Justin calling, see we ain't getting high

But there's taxes to be raised from making it legalized

Mulcair just ain't catching

Harper's on the way out

The Cons are corrupted

The Greens got no clout

A BQ error, leaves the left in the clear

And Justin is calling and I'll...

Go for the winner!

Justin calling, yes, I got swept up too

And you know what they said? Sacha's onboard too!

Justin calling through the Mop & Pail bile

After all this, won't you give me a smile?

Justin calling

I never hoped so much, so much so much!

- 30 -

The Inconvenient Truth about Thomas Mulcair's "Four-Car" Garage Swiftboating

So my dad and "Tom" (Thomas Mulcair) met up at Briarwood Park in Beaconsfield the other day.

Yeah, really. Two grandfathers laughing it up with a couple of toddlers. They didn't know each other beforehand, but my dad can still spot a pol with a national profile, and the wily salesman that he is, he was none too shy about starting up a conversation.

I had no idea the leader of the Opposition was my dad's neighbour, nor that he had long-since been, for roughly 30 years, since about the time we ourselves moved there from Sherbrooke.

Will wonders never cease? I wanted to know: What street does he live on? Beaconsfield Blvd? The ritzy Hyde Park perhaps? No, no, probably the more laid-back hippie-wetdream champagne-socialist Kirkwood Avenue?

"Lynwood, I think," was my dad's reply.

"Lynwood?"

"Lynwood."

I defy anyone to find a more pedestrian, unpretentious, straight-up homey suburban road in this entire country than Lynwood Drive in Beaconsfield, Quebec. Go ahead and Google-map it if you don't believe me.

So interestingly, I was out visiting my folks just the day after learning of this, bringing my own two kids and upping the grandkid quotient in hopes of divining a follow-up visit from the potential next Prime Minister of What We Hope Will Still Be Somewhat Recognizable as Canada After The Harpercons Have Had Their Way.

I reckon this was about the same time this despicable smear job was being prepared for print, replete with skillfully photoshopped pic of a "four-car" garage (nobody could own a house with that much garage space unless they were psychotically trying to guzzle enough tarsands-derived gasoline to ...insert maniacal slobbering laugh... bloody-well guarantee climate change hell for all the misbegotten creatures of the Earth, of course).

Yeah, Dr. Evil has nothing on our Tom.

For what it's worth, I am not a big fan of Mr. Mulcair, although he is a darn sight better than probably 90% of the people you might find yourself hemming and hawing over on Election Day.

Anyway, on my way down to visit my folks last Sunday, I decided to venture down Lynwood Drive, perhaps the only road in that southwest sector of Beaconsfield where I never once took up delivery of the Gazette in the late 1980s.

I just wanted to see which was the nicest house on that street, the kind of house a man of his stature might deem worthy of himself to have as his domicile. I have to say, I went right past 109, purportedly Mulcair's address, without even considering it, it was so ordinary.

What does this tell us? That Mulcair owns perhaps the middlest of middle-class cottages, while the homes (former and present) of such Canadian political luminaries as Pierre-Elliot Trudeau (Town of Mount Royal) and Brian Mulroney and Jean Charest (Westmount, both) are among the poshest of posh to be found on the island Jacques Cartier named Ville-Marie over 350 years ago?

Big whoop.

And with Warren Kinsella piling on pathetically, (complain about something real, Warren, okay?) all I can say is that my respect for Mulcair has just shot up ten-fold.

And as for that "four-car" garage? Take heart Tom, because if that's the best they can do, they got nothin'.

Québec Students: You're Coming Along

After school is over you're playing in the park
Don't be out too late, don't let it get too dark
They tell you not to hang around and learn what life's about
And grow up just like them, won't you let it work it out

As I type this, thousands of youth are out in the streets of Montreal, in defiance of a police decree set at 22h30 EDT that their protest tonight is illegal. They are ostensibly protesting the planned hikes of tuition fees set in the last Quebec budget by the tired and corrupt Liberal government headed by former Mulroney Conservative Jean Charest.

This Spring, they aren't out there looting after a professional hockey loss.

They aren't out there sitting in tents in a park like the Occupy movement.

They're rather mobile in fact, as if they well understand the difficulty for the police in hitting a moving target.

And they clearly aren't in any mood to negotiate.

As someone who watched in horror while the 2010 Toronto G20 summit devolved into a disgraceful showcase of police belligerence against peaceful protesters, I shudder to think of where this is all heading.

My question for CLASSE: was it ever really about tuition fee hikes? Or was that just an excuse to get the ball rolling on a push for revolutionary social change? And how many of your followers will follow as far as you want to take this?

In the context of a super-corrupt and tired Charest government, I have to think this is all becoming the biggest test of our social fabric since the '95 referendum.

- 30 -

Just saw the english Mulcair ad

My reaction: Why is this man on my TV looking all psycho-eyed in a suit and trying to make nice with me?

As an anglo Quebecker, I really don't like the Sherbrooke resolution that got so many Bloq supporters to vote NDP. I consider that a classic and shameless sell-out move on the party's part.

I have a big problem with anyone kowtowing to the separatists, because their project is rooted in xenophobia, and my very existence on Québec soil is an irritant to many of them. Their vision of Québec has no place for me.

There's a reason Chretien passed the Clarity Act.

The NDP is a party replete with such short-sightedness, and I see no indication of a change of direction on their part. If anything, I imagine their next move will be to become more corporate-friendly (especially given the carefully rendered signals of this ad, wherein Mulcair is wearing a dark suit and situated in a board room).

I would hope the left-of-centre Liberals and the Greens could eventually merge with the NDP and get a real solid leftist alternative in place. Then maybe we could have a party that would feel strong enough they don't need to make such concessions. But I won't hold my breath.

Jack Layton: A real gentleman and a citizen politician - 1950 to 2011

I am privileged to have once met and interviewed The Honourable Jack Layton. He was introducing three local candidates at Bar Bobards on boulevard St-Laurent during the 2006 election.

At least two of those candidates, it should be noted, were fervent Québec nationalists whose acceptance speeches left little doubt they were steadfastly looking for a platform to push Québecois separatism.

I should note that I had previously formed a rather withering opinion of Jack's father (the Honourable Robert Layton) when as a cub reporter during the 1988 election, I saw him in action as a Mulroney Progressive Conservative incumbent, getting booed at an all-candidates debate for suggesting Lac St-Louis water would become clean enough to drink if Mulroney was given a second mandate. As it turned out, Robert Layton was easily re-elected by West Island voters who ultimately voted for him as default support for passage of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

Utterly honest
So I was curious to ask son Jack, back in 2006, why he'd spoken so reverently of his father - who had himself succumbed to prostate cancer some four years earlier - on the two occasions I had come out to see him speak as NDP leader. Well, Jack looked me square in the eye and said he had great respect for his father, but that didn't mean they saw eye-to-eye on very much, politically. In fact, he related, that was the one area they were always at loggerheads, notwithstanding having a loving and respectful relationship as father and son.

Can you imagine a more honest, human, and respectful answer? Not I. And I have no idea if my question - which I only posed because I had never heard him asked it before - caused him to rethink his stump speech. But I never again heard him speak of his father's influence when introducing himself as the NDP leader, as if he had determined the astute voter might be as confused as I was, given their almost diametrically opposed politics.

It is in this spirit that I remember and revere the man whom I unfortunately must still blame (partially, at least) for putting Harper in the PM chair, by whipping his party to vote down the Martin government; something historians will doubtlessly argue was or wasn't a seminal moment in the NDP's existential journey as an independent political force.

A mixed legacy on policy
I also recall his insistence on going cap and trade instead of carbon tax when the latter made more sense, and finding his reasoning on that choice rather wanting. I recall with sadness his decision to have his party vote against a 2007 (?) Liberal motion to end the Afghanistan mission in July, 2009, based on the fact they really should be brought home immediately (he was quite right on that point of course), which unfortunately ended up with the misguided mission continuing on much longer. Also, Jack's reticence at allowing Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to be included in the 2008 election debates rankled.

Meanwhile, I championed Jack Layton grandly for forcing the 2005 Martin budget to be amended to halt planned corporate tax cuts while increasing social spending in the period where the NDP held the balance of power. I even voted for one of his throw-away candidates while living in the Outremont riding after Paul Martin had parachuted a former Bloc-Québecois founder (Jean Lapierre) in to take Martin Cauchon's place.

And yesterday morning I cried - yet not so much as on last July 25, when we all saw death tapping impatiently on Jack's shoulder - to hear of his passing.

Despite anything else, Jack Layton was a good egg. He tried. He fought. He brandished humour and a forthrightness that was touching and palpable in both official languages. He worked with dedication to his ideals with true and rare conviction. In short, he stood for something, and he made sure that it was a something he could get fully behind. Then he would make a convincing argument that you and I and every other Canadian could get behind it too.

As long as we listened to our hearts.

What next?
Now, a huge gabble of neophyte NDP Québec MPs will have to find their way in the HoC. They also must prove their worthiness to their constituents, despite being stripped of the coattails of the one guy in whom the voters put their full-throttle faith. And that was no small leap of faith either. These voters bravely abandoned their BQ candidates who had mostly done nothing less than tirelessly represent their constituents' interests in Ottawa with pride and passion for several years.

No, the Bloquistes can only blame their party's connection with separatism on their historic defeat to the mostly unknown Dippers that won their constituents' votes based almost solely on Jack Layton's endorsement. Continued NDP support in Québec will be a very tough sell, regardless of Thomas Mulcair's considerable respect in this province.

But that sort of speculation should be explored another day. For today, I am pleased that our Prime Minister has been honourable enough (against type) to bequeath a state funeral for Jack Layton.

Hard to believe as I type his name that he is no longer with us.

Jack, all in all, you did good by us Canadians. Posthumous gratitude in spades. Many, many thanks. RIP, if that is at all possible for you!

- 30 -

R.I.P. Canada

R.I.P. Canadian Long-gun registry.
R.I.P. Women's reproductive rights in Canada.
R.I.P. The Canadian Senate.
R.I.P. Same-sex marriage (we barely knew you).
R.I.P. National funding for the arts.
R.I.P. Canada Health Act.
R.I.P. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
R.I.P. The Governor-General of Canada.
R.I.P. Any Canadian action on climate change.
R.I.P. CIDA.
R.I.P. Canadian democracy.
R.I.P. National funding for universities and research.
R.I.P. Any hope of a national daycare program in the next five years.
R.I.P. The Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms.
R.I.P. Any effective political opposition to The Party.
R.I.P. Dissent (what do you think the new jails are for?)
R.I.P. A future for Québec within Canada.

...please feel free to add more in the comments.

We now are ruled by the All-knowing Great Leader, who will not be swayed by any finger-waving from the opposition benches. Stephen Harper is a Christian Fundamentalist, whose views are shaped by his beliefs. He now has carte-blanche.

How far will he go?
Just watch him.

- 30 -

French Debate Kicked Ass (mostly Harper's)

I hope people were watching, because tonight's French-language leaders' debate was lively, passionate and substantive. After fighting sleep at about the half-way point in yesterday's English-language debate, tonight I found myself riveted.

This is in no small part due to Gilles Duceppe's fiery energy tonight, after being content to sit quietly on the side-lines for much of the previous night. But also, because Ignatieff really came across, and contrasted strongly against Harper, who himself seemed unsure of his French, and off his game generally. I found Harper did not seen strong tonight, which is the worst thing for the guy who is the current PM to convey.

Layton was taken off his game again by Duceppe's jabbing on the Bill 101 question. Harper's only really good moment was when he pointed at the two of them and asked the audience to imagine them working together in a coalition. That's not saying all that much.

Duceppe went whole-hog on his separatist cred tonight, and that is perhaps a sign he may be setting down some touchstones for a potential jump to provincial politics. He may be positioning himself to take the Parti-Québecois mantle from Pauline Marois, who appears weak going into a confidence vote among the party faithful in coming weeks.

Back to Ignatieff. He looked tough, secure and in charge. His French was generally good, and when it wasn't, his obvious passion made up for it. That is key for the Québec population, so good on him. He can ride this into a lead in coming days.

Again, that's if he plays his cards right.

- 30 -

Ignatieff: I hear a statesman

This piece by Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail harangues Michael Ignatieff for his lack of specifics, but I think he sounds pretty reasonable here:

There was no mention of the hydro mega-project in the Liberal platform, released Sunday. But when asked about it Monday, Mr. Ignatieff spoke about involving Quebec – and maybe even Ontario – in a “pan-Canadian approach” to inter-provincial energy sharing.

“It’s not just a matter of Newfoundland and Labrador,” he said.

He argued that a Liberal government would not play off one province against another, suggesting that is what Mr. Harper is doing.

A federal government, he said, needs to “sit down with the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the province of Quebec. ... Let’s think about this medium and long-term.”

He added: “But for heavens sake if we don’t sit in a room pretty soon we are going to be suboptimal as a country when we could be a superpower.”

The Liberal Leader suggested finding a way to “wheel this power through Quebec” and said that Canadians have to start “thinking big” on energy or risk having highly segmented markets that don’t speak to one another.

Contrast this approach to that of Harper, who has riled Québec premier Jean Charest by supporting federal bucks to develop the means to both harnass and transport reams of viable, renewable electricity to presumed New England markets via the maritime provinces - all to curry favour with the new premier of Newfoundland and Labrador in the hopes of taking a couple of parliamentary seats from that province. Never mind the ill will such a move might provoke in other jurisdictions.

It puzzles me that, despite this regional favouritism, Harper still refuses to cough up the dough his most prominent Québec ministers all but promised a few short months ago, to build a new NHL-ready arena for Québec City, on the grounds it would be unfair to other major cities in other provinces who are in the same situation.

I mean, what's a Québecois voter to think, anyway? Gilles Duceppe will gladly provide the answer. Ignatieff, too, except (poor bastard) he's gotta please somebody in 10 different provinces. Not just one.

Hence the statesmanship of his comments today.

And hence this blogger's newfound respect for the man. He is fighting the good fight, and it's possibly Canada's last best hope for a united future.

Moi, je m'occupe d'lui aider dès ce moment-là.

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Why I support the Greens but vote otherwise

I am a big Green supporter and believe they have the best platform. Dagnammit, I joined the party and contribute a few bucks to show that I care. But I also live in Quebec (and on the island of Montreal) and my local candidate both:
a) is a relative lightweight, and
b) has no hope of winning, but might garner enough votes to keep my second choice from winning.

Hopefully most of the other GPC supporters aren't in a similar bind. But I frankly prefer to return Justin Trudeau to his seat than to help get a (yawn) Bloq Québecois elected by uselessly splitting the federalist vote.

There is a bigger picture here. The last few years showed us that keeping Harper to a minority government does not preclude his screwing with everything the majority of Canadians hold dear, including the use of the Senate to thwart the will of the House on partisan grounds. He'll do it again. And again. Right now, we need a Liberal government, imperfect as it may be, to stave off the loss of our country's most cherished shared values.

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Smells like '93 Spirit

Well I'll be damned if Michael Ignatieff isn't suddenly hitting his stride. Now I can't say I have ever been a big believer in the man as a potential PM, but today has me thinking back to 1993, when a guy who had been reviled as a weak and ineffective Opposition Leader came to power after realizing what he needed to do.

Yeah, Chrétien. I recall how much we hated Mulroney and how much we hated how seemingly unimpressive the opposition leader was. But it all changed once the campaign got underway.

It smells like 1993 spirit to me now.

The man is confident and he is campaigning without a net, and in fine form dans les deux langues officiels. I think I see a strategy here:

Get a pile of Quebec seats back from the Bloq and therein take on the swagger of the guy who can woo the sexiest girl at the prom; and that impresses people in the rest of the country (particularly, Ontario).

The anti-coalition declaration on Day 1 was a brilliant first move. Harper is so cossetted from media scrutiny on a daily basis (upon his own doing, note), that he cannot deal with the least bit of adversity from them in the even-keel setting of an election campaign. And it shows.

Yeah, it's way too early to call, but give the Ignatieff Liberals full marks for coming out of the gate stronger than expected, and poised to make a game of it.

I think he might even get a majority, if he keeps it up.

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Greens, NDP to merge; Layton and May step aside, with support of key Liberal defectors

Could you just imagine a headline like that? Only if you accept the fact that the federal Liberal party is finished as a viable political entity. It was this particular realization, coupled with Warren Kinsella's post earlier today, that got me thinking along these lines.

Michael Ignatieff, since wresting control of the Liberal Party of Canada a year ago, what have you accomplished? You raised some cash and bored people to tears at every lectern that would plug in a mic for you. Then last Autumn, you boldly stated you were going to challenge the PM in an election at the first opportunity. Then you backed down sheepishly and announced you would be hosting a fabulous thinkers' conference the following Spring.

Allow me to let you in on something (I pray you are sitting down): believe it or not, within hours of its closing, scarcely anyone in this country noticed your big ol' "thinkers conference" even took place. Your middling popularity perpetually wanes like the attention of students listening to a meandering lecture on the nuances of meaning in a post-modern world; their minds wandering as they wonder how their liberal education will ever help them land a meaningful job with hope of putting more than a bit of food on their families' tables.

Meanwhile you and your party are getting railroaded at every turn by a wily, unscrupulous opponent. Your brightest stars and best ideas are the equivalent of Ovechkins and Kovalchuks on otherwise directionless teams, fizzling out hopelessly when the time comes to put up or shut up. Not since Robert Stanfield has a major party been led by someone with such a mix of blandness and dubiously-principled mediocrity.

I hope it hasn't escaped your attention that, when lumped together, the Greens and the Dippers are the favoured option of more Canadians than your own party, historied and entrenched as it is. As a scholar, I trust you can see the significance of this. Tilt at your right-centre windmills all you want, but it isn't getting you anywhere (least of all, into 24 Sussex).

Jack Layton, dear Jack, please please, do go (yes, now). You have done a decent job making your party politically relevant again without completely selling the furniture. You and your party's members have been stalwart cage rattlers and fought the good fight (mostly). Alas, you have had your chance to get the country to trust you and it just hasn't happened. Face facts, Jack, and step aside to allow a fresh face to come forward that can inspire more than just your base.

Elizabeth May, dear Elizabeth, you have gallantly tried to unseat a nasty bit of work in Peter MacKay, and have sold out too easily in launching yourself across the country in search of that magic riding that can propel Canada's first GPC member into the HoC (oh, teehee, would that be you, personally ***blush***?), but this is starting to get ridiculous. No other candidate is helping the cause - if that is the true goal - except by providing more federal dollars to the party coffers just by being so hopelessly listed on the ballots of all the nation's ridings; and thus giving the local Harpercons an even better chance of coming up the middle to win those ridings without any real support. This strategy has sadly failed you and the Greens for two elections now, despite owning the moral high ground definitively. You are an eloquent and intelligent leader, but it just is not going to happen. Please understand this and step aside for a new leader to take hold of a new, merged party.

So who are the party backroomers with the courage, pull and good sense to will this sort of merger to happen? Which individual has the fire, moxie, charisma, wherewithal, smarts and financial backing to make a run of it in leading such a party?

Who will lead the United Progressive Party of Canada?

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