Day Twenty-one
The Tim’s brigade set off bushy-tailed and dripping for six polls worth of door-knocking on Saturday morning. Of course it rained. Then rained some more. But that did not stop us as we tromped through Oakville and Milton, spreading truth and light, and muddy footprints.
Interestingly enough, there’s virtually no evidence on the ground in Halton of this big blue wave the media know-it-alls and pollsters are yakking about. Each week of the campaign so far we have covered several thousand homes, and every night we phone bank another grand. Add to that the hours I spend on the side of morning commuter routes gauging the all-important thumb-to-finger index, plus the time the whole campaign team spends in the community listening and talking.
On top of that, we carefully measure how many lawn signs have been requested and compare it with the aggressive campaign Esther and I ran in 2005-6, as Conservatives. Then we log the number of volunteer requests that come in each week, along with each email, phone call and walk-in. By every measure, there is zero slippage from the last campaign (which we won, by the way), and actually a steadily growing pie chart of identified voters.
So, what gives? Where are these polling numbers coming from?
Beats me. But I did hear the much-vaunted CTV-Globe daily poll of 45 “battleground” ridings (Halton is at the top of that list) has a sample size in this area of 45 and a margin of error which is huge. I’d say this is a joke.
But you don’t need to tell us that. We know already.
The evidence is all over the place, you see, of a Conservative house of cards in Halton.
The opposition campaign started out with the Tory candidate being a media spokesperson for child care, stating categorically that Dion would trash the $100-per-month payment parents receive. Of course, that was a lie. Now that the Lib platform has made it clear the payment stays, she’s gone mute.
Lying. Not so good for a lawyer’s reputation.
At the same time, the Tory candidate was caught giving “quotes” which she had not written. The words spoken by her during a media briefing in the Conservative war room in Ottawa, and also attributed to her in a press release, were written by the party’s campaign staff. In fact what she “said” in English, cabmin Josee Vernier “said” in French. Ooops.
Not so good for a senior bureaucrat’s credibility.
At our first all-candidates debate, which focused on the environment. the Conservative candidate lauded the importance of environmental assessments and her experience heading the Toronto Port Authority. Unfortunately I brought up one assessment on the Toronto waterfront in which 91% of the community respondents objected – and she overruled them. It also came to light the TPA has lost over $22 million while she’s been running it – all taxpayer money.
Not so good for a wannabe MP’s resume.
And, of course, there are the internal divisions tearing apart the local Conservative association, because the candidate refused to stand for a nomination, and waited instead for Stephen Harper to appoint her.
Not so good for integrity.
I posted on this yesterday, and published a copy of the letter being circulated to CPC members – asking them not to support her. I would imagine this has been devastating. In fact, I know it has. Few volunteers. Trucked-in sign crews. Botched public meetings.
A final indication of how messed-up the anti-Garth forces seem to be at the moment is the volume and ferocity of comments coming to this blog over the past 24 hours. Trust me, there is no surer barometer of the frustration, anger and rising impotence of the Harper party forces in this region (and beyond) than the crap they barrage me with. Some day, I’ll show you.
By the way, I mentioned the 7 am thumb-to-finger index. It’s currently at 7:1. The margin of error isn’t. And the wave’s red.
140 comments ↓
A great blog. I think you are okay in your riding, Garth. And you have given us hope that it is far from over in Ontario.
Good Luck, Garth I hope you’re right.
That’s right, Garth. Damn the polls! Just go by your gut level sense.
The only poll that counts is on October 14, and 16 days is a long time in politics.
Ohhh Garth, you fill me with hope. It’s quite annoying.
Garth, you sound like “Eyeball” in the Coca Cola advert for the new product “Zero” Coke, where the tongues declare they don’t like him because he is “A big fat liar”! And Eyeball replies, “I am not fat”!
Well just maybe there is a media conspiracy to stroke the big ego into complacency, I hope!
On the subject of that Zero calorie Coke campaign, the creator of those ads is a genius and should be contracted to do a Liberal advert for this campaign, or is this too late now?
I can just see it now with sweaterboy [wolf in sweater] telling the sheeple they are in safe hands while the siliva is drooling down off his lips!
Could you post the thumb to finger index whenever you conduct it? Should be interesting to see if it moves in any way as we get closer to the election. Have you tried to get the afternoon thumb to finger index as well? Could be more people are cheerful in the mornings.
Brilliant Garth! The CRAP-O-METER metric! The more CRAP postings on your blog the worse they feel things are going!
Garth.
Please read Robert Fisk here.
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/print.asp?ID=9414
Ask your party to unite in bringing the troops home after the election.
This from a respected British journalist.
Garth Turner reaches the deep end and sinks rapidly…personal attacks on his opponent when all else fails.
Count how many times Stephane Dion’s name made it into this post…0
How is it a ‘personal attack’ to point out my opponent lied in a media conference or squished the people? As for the leader count in my posting it is Dion = 1, Harper & Layton & May & Duceppe = 0. That’s loyalty! — Garth
Ha~! That’s great to hear…the rest of Canada is inundated with all these tall tales of Dion and the LPC’s demise, and when it comes down to where it matters most, the people on the street,
First, I would seriously like to know who these damnable “highly placed liberals” who spout off to the press, and second, why the press likes to shove this crap in our faces.
But where it really matter most:
Honesty and policy – Dion and the LPC wins hands down.
Austin
P.S. Nationally, the LPC has to start taking Layton on and not just Harper.
“A vote for the NDP amounts to Jack”.
Actually, Garth, I’ll have to correct you here. I’m the originator of the sample size of 45 comment — which is untrue. The owner of another site has corrected me on this — the sample size is 420. However, the sample size per riding appears to be 27, and the margin of error is 4.8%. This still makes it pretty meaningless; however, you should correct your article.
I stand corrected. Twenty-seven frigging people. Sheesh. — Garth
Garth,
I think I just saw some of the subtle and illegal type of underhanded advertising. No doubt we’ll see a lot of subtle crap in the next two weeks:
On CBC Newworld tonight, 9:45 MT (11:45 ET) there was a fast-paced, youth oriented segment, with a slick looking guy in a suit — lying — that Dion had only just last week put up a Face Book page.. the lie, stated with sneering insincerety (Dion’s been on Face book a couple of years.)
You’d have to catch the blurb to see what I mean, but it was clear that as a youth you’re supposed to be outraged that he would only just have suddenly put a page up. Anyway, it’s just another lie, but a new venue for distributing lies about Dion. False Advertising, but election advertising nonetheless. It was set up like an infomercial of “who’s doing what” on the internet. What a bunch of scum. I think there is no doubt the media fix is in, and they’ve even figured out how to dupe info onto CBC.
So then, after the Dion slime, the pace perked up and chatted happily about the new jazzed up Layton web site. It flipped really quickly, and suddenly became very upbeat, about Layton’s site.
Pretty blatant.. It was a special feature blurb, like an “ad” !! What a load of crap.
That’s THIRD PARTY NEGATIVE ADVERTISING !!!! Subversion tactics/advertising if I’ve ever seen them!
…
People, watch for this sort of crap — and document it. No matter what, send the time, date, media info in (to Garth?) after the election, and let’s get an investigation going.
Remember, Harper’s group, the Friends of Science targeted Ontario ridings, at the last minute, last election and later bragged they helped Harper win 5 crucial ridings. They were not registered with Elections Canada and that investigation is still ongoing. April 15 the report was released and University of Calgary was forced to disassociate, but FOS is alive and well. No doubt they too will weigh in this election with slush money advertising..
http://www.desmogblog.com/university-of-calgary-friends-of-science-audit
U of C Professor Barry Cooper was using a university slush fund to direct anonymous cash to the Calgary-based climate change denier group, Friends of Science last election and they say it got Harper elected.
http://www.desmogblog.com/oil-companies-funding-friends-of-science
The G&M says that FOS has taken undisclosed sums from Alberta oil and gas interests. The money was funneled through the Calgary Foundation, to the University of Calgary and on to the FOS though something called the “Science Education Fund.” [last election] All this appears to be orchestrated by Stephen Harper’s long-time political confidante and fishing buddy, U. Calgary Prof Dr. Barry Cooper. It seems the FOS has taken a page right out of the US climate change attack group’s playbook: funnel money through foundations and third party groups to “wipe the oil” off the dollars they receive.
This comes as no surprise considering the FOS has been linked to some of the most notorious oil money-backed scientists in the US.
…
Harper and Layton have “Friends of Science” big oil and big media and others, but the Liberals have grassroots friends called “citizens of Canada”.
See the film “Good Morning Vietnam” to have a very clear perspective on how the msm works.
They report what they’re told to report, and nothing more.
The ‘net is a powerful tool, and there is nothing the big-wigs can do to stop the flow of info., whether good or bad.
This is one of the reasons why Bell, Telus and American firms want to regulate it’s use.
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By brain on 09.27.08 10:57 pm
Noted. Thanx for the heads up.
I have a third letter to the ed. almost ready to go, but I want it in the last few days of the week, when more readers show up (Sat.’s paper is best — damn, it’s fun stirring the shit!).
As long as people react to it, then it’s getting the message out to the undecideds, and it causes folk to at least ponder the alternative.
****************************************
“. . . rising impotence of the Harper party force . . . Dionagara to get it up for this election? Just wondering, that’s all! — Truth B Told, 9:04 pm
There may be more to this than meets the eye . . . hmmmm, get Hotlips Hairyhen on the blower pronto!
“The margin of error isn’t. And the wave’s red.”
Sure, Garth, sure.
But, as usual, you are missing the point. We all KNOW you will be winning in Halton. That is NOT the point.
The point is that although you will be winning one battle, Harpo IS winning the war. And, with his win, Canada is going down the toilet in a “quick swirl of crap”. AND it is mainly Liberal’s fault.
Having said that, YOU know it is true. Also, YOU know that Garth is for Garth ONLY and NOT for “the people”. You… you… little demagog.
But, then, who care, right? People are stupid. Voters are stupid. Who freaking cares if we live in a Corporatocracy… as long as the appearances of democracy are maintained.
And, you know what Garth? YOU KNOW THAT! You actually ARE for that because you ARE just a cog in the big machinery. How sad.
Me? I am packing. I gave Canada a good decade plus of my life. Enough!. If Canadians are THAT stupid, they they deserve what’s in store for them! Good night and good bye!
Good post. I snickered quite a bit.
I read someone write somewhere, or heard on the radio, that a lot of “younger” people are never reached by pollsters because they tend not to have landlines, and rely on cell phones. These people are a lot less likely to vote for regressive, repressive governments (if they vote at all).
I mused 10 years ago that the “kids” coming of age now would help to save our sorry selves, and that the natives would do likewise. I hope that the young’uns realize their power and wield it. I’m doubting that too many natives will vote Conservative/Repucli…(never mind) though, their lot has only worsened in the last ~ three years. I just hope that they realize their strength, and do vote.
There are still two weeks to go, and I think that rather than distracting from our election, the US election will stir comparisons, and stimulate interest.
The Couillard book will surely cause some kind of uproar just a week before the polls. Patronage, idiocy, and other intrigues are what catch peoples’ interest.
Another point is the fairly large cohort of undecided voters. My feeling is that they are trying to decide to a) vote at all; b) trying to decide which “lefter” party to vote for.
I wonder too, about your, and your party’s stance on the Security and Prosperity Partnership – particularly the egreement that Harper made last spring regarding US troops, Black Water types, and such crossing the border, and taking command and control of Canadians. I am particularly concerned about this, as I live in Vancouver, and I feel that I have to leave, because there is no way on Earth that I will take direction from a foreign military/paramilitary agent.
This is not a tin foil wardrobe dysfunction, and no one is talking about it. Very few people even know about it, and look at me funny when I talk about it.
For me, it is bigger than the economy, or the housing/credit/stock market bubbles. It is classic problem-reaction-solution. You create (or in the case of the Wall St. melt-down – that has only just started – allow, and encourage to happen. Then there is the huge reaction as banks fail, people lose their homes, and start freaking out. The solution is Martial Law, and people like Garth Turner, and CBC journalists, and singers, and writers, and me, and brain, and a host of others, start getting early morning visits from people in blacked-out Suburbans.
Garth, the polls do not have the level of granularity that you guys have. Besides, with Nanos having been harperudgeoned into submission, there really is no independent pollster out there.
Peter Donolo was a spinmeister for Chretien. Just wonder what it is he is spinning now!
Dion must start to act offensively rather than to react defensively. He must project his own vision, and start to re-emphasize the benefits of the green shift. There is too much water under the bridge to back off from these foundational policies of the Liberal platform that mark Dion as different from the other parties.
Canadians want something different, not the same old, same old.
Keep it up Garth.
I am watching all this from very far away. I presently live in Europe. Canada needs straight shooters such as yourself. Good luck to you and to Canada.
Christine
I hope this will resonate across the nation. Somewhere in the system there needs to be a better way to put the Liberal message out to voters.
Are you saying the number of people they poll in the battleground riding is only 45? How can that be reliable? Is how small the sample is in all of the ridings that are in this ‘group’?
Absolutely perfect!
What you’ve done is caught your opponent in a lie(s). If there’s one way for a candidate to distroy their credibility, its to be caught. And if they didn’t want to be caught, they shouldn’t have said it in the first place.
We know where the “skeletons in the closet” are when it comes to the CPC platform; past record of flip-flops, unaccountability, misrepresenation of facts, inaction on the environment, unpublicised carbon tax in their platform. So lets go catch some more CPC candidates in those lies.
It may not do any good, but it will be nice to see them skirm when they know someone isn’t buying it!
I don’t believe the polls reflect reality–no one I’ve talked to is voting Conservative, and many have sent me information about vote-swapping.
In my area, the Liberals are a shoo-in, and I don’t live in the GTA.
I hope people watch the debates, and that the party leaders each get a fair chance to represent their vision. I hope Dion speaks up against the idea of sending 14-year-olds to prison–a place I’ve been to as a visitor many times, and not a place for youth. Do the liberals have any ideas to counteract this one? There is research out there that should be cited by Dion, which makes Harper’s ideas sound like the 18th century.
“Somewhere in the system there needs to be a better way to put the Liberal message out to voters.”
By Caper on 09.28.08 6:58 am
Agreed! This past campaign can be a learning experience about how NOT to get the message across. Someone like Garth could show us a better way than we have seen in this national campaign.
Garth, this we know from south of border that to-days polling system is out of date, big time. Most if not all younger people do not use land lines and read fewer newspapers than ever before. Couple this with the fact our younger crowd are more engaged in blogs and Internet discussions causing them them to question and provide their parents and families with a much different point of view than the Good ode boys. Will this provide a different result on election day, who knows? but I would state that, what has been seen on national TV so far wrt the the young liberal crowds standing in lines for change could shock many on election day on both sides of border.
“we tromped through Oakville and Milton, spreading truth and light, and muddy footprints”
by the liar conman scammer Turner.
the truth??????? OMG!
You would not know the truth if it hit you square in the face. I can see it know. Please,, Re Elect Garth the Maverick, gag, that fights for you.
You make me sick Turner.
It’s hard to conceive that ass holes like you even exist.
It’s amazing how much bull shit one person can spread around.
Made up any ‘quotes’ for your candidate lately? You have a gift for expression. — Garth
“the all-important thumb-to-finger index…”
Now that’s funny!
From yesterday’s post:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09262008/watch.html
Put the kids to bed, get your partner, grab a glass of wine.. watch both, about 25 minutes ea.
“BILL MOYERS: So, this brings us to what you call the political crisis of America. And you say, “The actual system of government conceived by the framers no longer pertains.” What pertains?
ANDREW BACEVICH: I am expressing in the book, in a sense, what many of us sense, even if many of us don’t really want to confront the implications” …
.. enjoy some honest television
By Barb the proofreader on 09.27.08 6:28 pm
Hi Barb – I saw the program Fri. evening. So true. Bill Moyers is a class act.
I forget who posted that Naomi Klein piece from the Huffington Post, but I sent it to my niece and asked her to check out Bernstein’s piece as well. I’ve been sending her various articles this past week or 2 and she’s been forwarding them to her friends.
She recently moved and has ensured she’ll be able to vote & is encouraging her friends to do so as well. She’s 23 & many of her friends are in the arts community.
You don’t have to go back to the 18th century. 1959. One need only speak a few words to make the impression real for the folks who are thinking only in the abstract about this sentencing-14-years-old-to-life as a good thing and not really considering the realities of its implications:
♦ – Steven Truscott, 14 years old, sentenced to hang.
♦ – Public school graduates, 14 years old, sentenced to life.
♦ – Steven Harper, incrementalism.
And they can’t even shave yet.
Proof that Harris cloning exists.
http://www.torontosun.com/canadavotes/news/2008/09/28/6908046-sun.html
You go Garth!
Looking at Nanos yesterday, do I see some slippage in Harper’s polling numbers on who would make the best PM? Has he peaked too early? Or maybe the mask is slipping.
James – Chatham,
A few days ago you mentioned an all-candidates-meeting in your riding in which the Conservative candidate was slick, his opponents not challenging him. So I decided to take a look at who’s running there. The first thing that struck me was that your Conservative MP is yet another car salesman. How many is that now? But maybe there’s method to their madness, choosing folks whose tongues are conditioned to guilding the lily. I then looked at the Liberal candidate and was quite impressed with his credentials, which I repeat here:
Clearly, from my perspective, the incumbent can’t hold a candle to the competitor. Gets back to the quality of the team and how important it is to make that distinction. It is the team at work that solves problems, gets things done, and makes the business a success, not the CEO.
There are a lot of misconceptions being promoted in your riding (eg. like the SSM arguments still circulating, it would do well to indicate that anti-SSM champion Steven Harper did not even show up to vote on the bill, a real disconnect). I’ve witnessed the quality and thoughtfulness of your posts here; I think you would do well to take those same thoughts and apply them closer to home:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/riding/121/ridingtalk.html#socialcomments
There’s someone there promoting the “Dion is a whimp” position. Here’s a comment I read at another site several weeks ago that nicely says it all when it comes to countering that misconception:
Hecklers approach Dion, he hands them a microphone. Hecklers approach Harper, he hands them the RCMP.
If you win, and if there’s a sea of blue all around you, you should write a book on how to run a local campaign ala Warren Kinsella. I’d be first in line to buy it.
I couldn’t help but notice though, that your canvassing team is almost all in blue! Was that on purpose?
Guerrilla tactics. — Garth
Morris: Kind of finicky today aren’t you? Garth must speak the truth if you are reduced to expletives to express yourself.
Your rant speaks to your own inability to defend your candidate.
Where does Jack Layton draw the line: more offensive quotes from NDP candidate in Durham
DURHAM—NDP Leader Jack Layton must finally take action and declare Durham NDP candidate Andrew McKeever unfit for public office following the revelation of further disgraceful comments by his candidate.
“Additional Facebook posts originating from Mr. McKeever’s personal Facebook page have surfaced. It is clear that these offensive and irresponsible remarks were intentionally designed to silence his critics and, most importantly, occurred on more than one occasion. Given what is now known, Mr. McKeever should resign – effective immediately,” said Bryan Ransom, Liberal candidate for Durham.
Here are additional offensive quotes to Ms. Krystalline Kraus on her war deserter Facebook site from Andrew McKeever:
“You are a fascist b*tch.”
“Why should a U.S. Soldier be kept in Canada in the first place? Are you looking for us to be occupied? Or is it simply that Krystalline Kraus needs to get laid?”
“Looks like the Nazis that run this f**king group have yet again deleted one of my posts.”
“Your hero was a f**king shyster liar. You are obviously little more than a credulous stooge and perma-naysayer, sh*t I can find dozens of people like you on any street corner…they are typically crackheads begging for money.”
“Glass is either a pretend deserter or a bona fide deserter. Geeze. This is rather interesting. Regardless he will shortly cease to be a problem in Canada (he never was a Canadian problem). Hopefully he’ll be butt-stroked or something when he hits American soil.”
These comments follow revelations that surfaced earlier this week where Mr. McKeever wrote Facebook posts using obscenities and threatening violence against a woman who had a different viewpoint than his own.
So Mr. Layton, where do you draw the line on offensive conduct? Does Andrew McKeever reflect the values and positions of the NDP?
From http://stoppingharper.blogspot.com/
Garth,
Required is quite correct. Your thumb/finger index predicts the obvious result in Halton, and unless the riding population increase since 2006 consisted of Kool-aid-Blue Tories, you should win handsomely as the well-known, active, effective and unique Liberal incumbent in a riding that has had a solid Liberal base of 28,000 votes over the last four elections, even in 2006 where your Conservative margin of victory was only 1,897 votes.
The problem is nationally, where the thumb-to-shrug index reigns supreme at this point. MSM fix or no, I do not see a Conservative wave and cannot detect a Liberal one. Is the LPC getting a different reading in ridings via candidates?
So far the campaign is dominated by CPC misinformation (lies about what it has done or will do), disinformation (lies about the Liberal record and platform) and lack of information (facts to demolish the other two.) This is electoral manipulation, not democracy. I am not sure that digital democracy has developed sufficiently to restore the real thing.
The debate might be a chance for direct democracy unfiltered by the media, but it is scheduled in conflict with the US VP debate, there is only one in the language of over 3/4 of the population and that happens to be Dion’s second language, and it is diluted by five leaders given equal time and exposure. A fellow almost might suspect a fix by the “independent media commission” running the debates.
Two weeks to a victory for Canadian democracy as we knew it, or a Liberal disaster. It’s one or the other.
Of course it is not. Try to be as incredibly perceptive on the national campaign as you are on the one in Halton. — Garth
Garth, want to make a bet? $25,000 says you lose.
Yeah, right. Make a bet with an anonymous, nameless, faceless, gutless, troll named “afsgfr.” — Garth
Saturday Night Spoof with Sarah Palin. Enjoy. There are reports that McCain’s melanoma is very serious. And Palin could become the so called ‘Leader of the Free World’ God, we’re in deep sh@it, if the Harper & the Repugs should ever attain power. We’ve already seen what Harper has done to this country. I read some of yesterday’s posts re McCain & his choice of Palin because Rove and Chainey are the controllers. I may not be able to express myself as well as others on this blog, but I see the light, or should I say I see the darkness.
Enjoy!
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/couric-palin-open/704042/Enjoy
Good morning from the Kommissar!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHANE DION
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Dion Leads, Harper Lags
http://danielletakacs.blogspot.com/
Over the past few months and in this campaign, Harper has had many chances to show himself to be a “strong leader”, but time and again he has failed. Instead, despite the media narrative, it has been has been Stéphane Dion who has stepped in to fill the void and act as a Canadian Prime Minister should….
- Dion was the first to release the costing of his environmental platform and spell out what it would cost Canadians and what it would achieve. Still waiting for Harper to do the same….
- Dion has put forward a plan endorsed by environmentalists and economists. Meanwhile, environmentalists are ashamed of Jack Layton and surely economists are appalled by Stephen Harper.
- Dion was the first to call for an inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair. Harper railed against the idea before caving (but of course shows real leadership by stalling the inquiry until after the election).
- Dion led in Montreal to establish a 182 country consensus on post-Kyoto framework. Stephen Harper and John Baird instead obstructed an over 100 country consensus at Bali and earned us condemnations across the globe.
- Dion called for Maxime Bernier’s resignation as Foreign Affairs minister for months. Harper relented only after a dozen more embarrassments.
- Dion was the first to call for a public independent inquiry into the listeriosis outbreak. Harper still insists on a private closed door one and staunchly defends his incompetent and horribly insensitive Agriculture minister despite calls from numerous scientists and food safety representatives for strong action.
- Dion was the first to raise the troubling practices of the Conservatives relating to the In and Out scandal. Harper has stonewalled at every turn trying to prevent Canadians from having all the answers.
- Dion was the first party leader to call for the repatriation and a fair trial for Omar Khadr (as every other western leader has done for its citizens), while Harper stands essentially alone in the world in his belief that Guantanamo Bay is a place where ‘justice can run its course” (not even McCain and Obama believe this).
- Dion was the first to come out in favour of having Elizabeth May in the leader’s debates. Harper waited till he stood alone before caving.
- Dion was the first to call for a Commissioner for Gender Equality and his party has fielded the highest percentage of female candidates (36.7%) in this election. Harper is dead last in his commitment to women’s issues and giving an equal voice and equal representation in the House of Commons.
- Dion has proposed economic solutions to get our economy rolling again, while Harper offers no plan and says only “don’t worry, be happy” when more and more experts are saying Canada has serious troubles ahead that need to be tackled.
- Dion has stood firm in casting out any candidate who have run counter to basic Liberal party principles. Neither Jack Layton nor Stephen Harper can say the same. Or do these candidates they are hanging on to actually reflect their party’s principles?
- Dion was the first major party leader to release his full platform and its costing in this election and economists, environmentalists and numerous stakeholders from across the spectrum (cities, infrastructure, education, crime, farming) have endorsed the numbers and the plans. Harper may not even have a platform, let alone a costed one. When Stockwell Day was asked for the costing of some of their proposals his response was “Doing the math on these things isn’t easy.” That’s the steady hand for our economy? That’s Conservative leadership?
With Canada’s economy in trouble, our standing on the world stage never worse, and a climate crisis worsening we need a Prime Minister who leads, not lags.
A Prime Minister who would govern with convictions and purpose, not through focus groups and polls.
A Prime Minister who leads a team ready to do the heavy lifting of running a government along with him, not a one-man show.
A Prime Minister who promises serious solutions, not pie in the sky ideas that aren’t affordable and won’t work.
A Prime Minister who has a plan for the next 10 years, not just until October 14th.
Canadians deserve a lot better than the Prime Minister we have now and only Stéphane Dion is ready and able to take his place.
We just have got to be reminding Canadians who the real leader is in this race and who is the one that is obviously most prepared to get down to work on tackling this country’s challenges after all the votes are counted.
For all the talk of the media the fact remains that a large majority of Canadians do not want Stephen Harper as their next Prime Minister. I hope that majority can work to see we don’t still end up with him on October 14th, but Liberals need to keep working to ensure that more and more Canadians see over the last half of this campaign that Stéphane Dion would be a Prime Minister we could all be proud of.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Stephane Dion will lead Canada with a new type of governance, which we desperately need, to a richer, greener, fairer Canada. Canadians Unite, leave the right and vote for the man named Stephane.
Bonnie
PS It is my birthday too:>) I am celebrating my 70 years on this planet by working for a political party for the first time in my life because Stephen Harper has got to go. I love my family and Canada and he cares not for Canada; only power and control, and the Bush rethuglicans whom he imitates.
By Morris the Cat on 09.28.08 8:42 am
Yeah, right. Make a bet with an anonymous, nameless, faceless, gutless, troll named “afsgfr.” — Garth
I will handicap the riding election at 2-9 for Garth if it makes it easier to place bets with anonymous people?
Garth, as soon as I have seen the Liberal part of the national campaign make tracks, I’ll try to be perceptive on it, incredibly or not. So far I’ve seen the “bully” kick sand in the “scrawny kid’s” face, but I have yet to see the scrawny kid pounding the bully after the Ben Weider course.
Just make sure that the debate will not give us another do-you-think-it-is-easy-to-make-priorities moment, leading to another you-didn’t-get-it-done leadership campaign, and four-to-eight years of Harper reshaping Canada into the leaner, meaner country he wants.
It is due to this type of fabrication that the msm media has become pretty much discredited and unbelievable. I do not pay much attention to them anymore.
By Required on 09.28.08 2:06 am
———————
If Harper gets his majority and the country goes down the toilet, which I think is a little too extreme, even for Harper, how do you figure it is the Liberals fault?
I think if Harper gets a majority all those that voted for him are going to be really pissed off in a few years that they gave him that mandate. I will be one of the first to say ” Told you so.” Myself I have no choice but to vote strategically and vote for NDP in my riding as there is no Liberal Candidate. My Riding is retiring Bill Blaikie’s riding.
It’s crunch time. With a little over two weeks to go the Liberal’s really need to step up to the plate and knock one out.
I want to know why with literally over 100 reasons not to vote for Harper-
http://www.100reasons.ca/articles.php?tag=All_Articles
- we haven’t seen a commercial rolling out these out. I can imagine a commercial in which the worst 50 are rolled across the screen all the while the narrator talking about Harper’s true vision for where he is/wants to take this country.
For the life of me I can’t understand why the Liberal’s haven’t pounced on Harper’s record of neo-conservative regressive policies while in government. Why hasn’t Harper been challenged on his decision to break the law for short term political gain; whether they are cheating again with campaign finances; the rationale behind cutting programs as as literacy and court challenges; Linda Keen; incompetent ministers; death penalty (for 14 year olds?); and the list goes on and on and on.
I truly hope the last leg of this election sees the Liberals take a much more aggressive approach in showing who Harper really and where he wants to take our country.
With regard to the big blue wave – I too am not seeing it, but that means something wonky must be happening with the polling – or … I don’t know maybe Canadians really warmed up to sweater vest guy. It is kind of strange. Anyway, as the election approaches I hope the NDP and Green support, along with the undecideds, swing to the Liberals and we get rid of the worst PM this country has ever had.
PS It is my birthday too:>) I am celebrating my 70 years on this planet by working for a political party for the first time in my life because Stephen Harper has got to go. I love my family and Canada and he cares not for Canada; only power and control, and the Bush rethuglicans whom he imitates.
By Bonnie L on 09.28.08 10:36 am
Happy Birthday Bonnie L. I’ve still got 9 years to go. I love you’re spirit. Just watching Dion in Ont. today on the National. Lots of applause. But, I was disappointed with both the local news media & the National when he visted Halifax. I was there & the hall was overflowing with supporters & shouting Dion. There were lots of people up in the rafters.
Going to be a bit late with my promised post people (wedding dance
)
Going to be a bit late with my promised post people (wedding dance )
By brain on 09.28.08 11:49 am
AHA, ME PROUD HEARTY, We hopes you’re not worshipping the porcelain bowl during your ablutions.
Yeah, right. Make a bet with an anonymous, nameless, faceless, gutless, troll named “afsgfr.” — Garth
By afsgfr on 09.28.08 9:54 am
Garth, I resent that. My grandfather’s name was Afsgfr, which was one of the most popular male names in his home country of Ykhprzxt.
On an unrelated note, i.e., my irritation with the MSM during the election, I also keep hearing–along with the usual “High-ranking Liberal insiders moonlighting as cold-callers for the CPC”-type headlines–that Dion “can’t get his message across.” If he was the first, and perhaps thus far only, leader to release his platform and cost it, is the media’s criticism related to his personal charisma, or to their illiteracy?
Going to be a bit late with my promised post people (wedding dance )
By brain on 09.28.08 11:49 am
Apology accepted. Sounds like you had a great time. I’m off to birthday celebrations and won’t be able to “spam” until Monday. Trust that I will to the “joy” of many of my friends:>)
I expect to have a “good time” along with four other family “September” birthddays today.:>)
Happy 53rd Birthday Stephane Dion!
Question, Why is the MSM giving harpo a free ride in the now 19 deaths that his policy on food inspection have caused?????
But, then, who care, right? People are stupid. Voters are stupid. Who freaking cares if we live in a Corporatocracy… as long as the appearances of democracy are maintained.
And, you know what Garth? YOU KNOW THAT! You actually ARE for that because you ARE just a cog in the big machinery. How sad.
Me? I am packing. I gave Canada a good decade plus of my life. Enough!. If Canadians are THAT stupid, they they deserve what’s in store for them! Good night and good bye!
By Required on 09.28.08 2:06 am
As a voter, born Canadian Citizen, educated in Sask. & Alta., worked most of my life and now retired in Ontario, I AM NEITHER STUPID, NOR SILENT! If you need help in leaving I will gladly oblige with several good thumps and kicks to get rid of trash like you.
Your shallow shabby thinking is typical of what is wrong with our nation today. When We the People get with the program and teach you some manners, humility, and practical street justice, you might start to think in terms of what you can and should do for your country instead of what has my country done for me lately! In the vernacular of my fellow steel makers, just f**k right off, mother licker!
DAMN!
Garth,
I sent my aunt (and some others…) your Green Shift vs Con “non-plan” posting . She sent me back the John Coates letter that had been recently sent to possibly 50+ seniors on Sept. 27.
DAMN! That bloody farce is still being sent around.
So, I hope you do not mind, but I sent the comparison right back to each and every one of them.
The Harperites have huge pockets, and too much money for falsehood.
Our only defense is a true grassroots digital revolution.
C’mon folks, everyone who posts here must get a mail campaign going, and sustain it until the Ultimate Poll Oct. 27.
The more I talk with “the average guy”, the more I realize they are not paying attention. We need to get them involved.
NOW! NOT WHEN IT IS TOO LATE!!!
Strike a blow for democracy in the digital information age. We can beat the MSM – and their lack of objectivity.
In honor of M. Dion’s Birthday… (Bonnie L too!)
Libra
The Myth:
On the one hand, Librans cannot make their minds up about anything. On the other, they are extremely decisive. Or then again, perhaps not. It all depends on how you cut the cake. The traditional expectation though, is that Librans will cut that cake into exactly equal pieces and then share it generously with their friends. Or will they?
The Truth:
Thankfully, Librans are not the dithering scatterbrains that some astrologers paint them as. Nor are they manically obsessed with equality. Nor, come to that, are they wishy-washy folk who can find a way to agree with anyone. They can, of course. Librans are famous for their charm. It is though, a bit of an affectation. Librans, actually, are argumentative. They love to play Devil’s advocate and though like to look at situations and weigh them up, they are happy to accept an imbalance, as long as it is in their favour. On one point only are the old clichés correct. Librans do like sharing.
The Key To Success:
As a Libran, you are blessed with an ability to see both sides of every story. You suspect though, that you are also cursed with an inability to tell which side you prefer. Not so. When you feel unsure about something, there’s always a good reason. Be less doubtful of your doubts and you’ll have far more to celebrate in your future.
Garth Turner reaches the deep end and sinks rapidly…personal attacks on his opponent when all else fails.
By John Frain on 09.28.08 12:11 am
Its shows insecurity when you call these statements, about failed policies, personal attacks.
But, isn’t that what an election is all about? As has been said, Canadians vote governments out, not new governments in.
The election is first about an appraisal of the current governments policies and how they managed the economy. Its then about what the alternatives are to replacing that government.
Personally, I feel the Libs haven’t paid enough attention to the former in their campaign. (Garth excepted)
For example, nothing has been made of IT’s. Now you can argue that lost savings means little to Canadians, except to those directly affected by the flip-flop, and probably wouldn’t give traction. But put it in the context of “tax leakage,” allowing companies to be sold off and now they will not pay ANY taxes with the average Canadian will have to make up the difference. Then put it in the context of accountability, and the 13 pages of blacked out documents.
These are reviews of failed policy and a government that raised the bar on accountability but failed to walk the walk. Nothing personal.
G’day’all, and for Bonnie L., a very Happy Birthday — the real celebration is on the 15th!
****************************************
Kentucky Fried Politicians, or A story with a moral
John was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young egg-layers (hens), called ‘pullets,’ and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs.
He kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced. This took a lot of time, so he bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters.
Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells.
John’s favorite rooster, old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but this morning he noticed old Butch’s bell hadn’t rung at all!
When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.
To John’s amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn’t ring. He’d sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.
John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.
The result was the judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.
Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making.
Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren’t paying attention?
The moral of the story is:
Vote carefully this year, the bells are not always audible.
****************************************
Heads up, and for only one reason — not politics.
If DC doesn’t have a bail-out plan in place by supper time here, the Asian trading markets will have opened and, in all likelihood will be tumbling.
The US$700 bln. bailout is merely a smokescreen to divert sheeple’s attention; the supposed total is around $5 Trillion.
Derivatives are another matter altogether — on rense.com, one figure mentioned was $1 Quadrillion. I’m not smart enough to count that high!
Hypothetically, the Dow may head south by 3,500 points, and the TSX will likely follow suit.
One casualty already — last night on wrh.com, a report said that a financier (male) jumped in front of a train, as he (unknowingly) had caused investors to lose millions.
Now folk will know why a battalion is coming back from Iraq, and will begin patrolling various US cities’ streets from Oct. 1.
Almost time for an October Surprise — vote Libs., Bloc and Greens in, everyone else is toast!
With regard to the big blue wave – I too am not seeing it, but that means something wonky must be happening with the polling – or … I don’t know maybe Canadians really warmed up to sweater vest guy. It is kind of strange. Anyway, as the election approaches I hope the NDP and Green support, along with the undecideds, swing to the Liberals and we get rid of the worst PM this country has ever had.
by Markus D. on 09.28.08 11:38 am
I certainly haven’t seen a wave of blue signs in my riding. I’d say the Red signs out number the orange by 10 to 3, maybe 10 to 1 for Cons. We’ve also got a municipal election (along with school board election) about 3 days later than the Fed one. BTW, one can vote online for the municipal election. Well, I’ll be doing it in person.
BTW, the winds are picking up here. Kyle is on the way.
Did anyone catch Fife’s (I think)blog on how Harper’s inner control team allow each reporter to ask one question ONLY and how reporters were not allowed off the plane until they started videoing a few protesters outside his plane. Harper is so psyched out he won’t allow his candidates to particate in all candidates’ debates. All across Canada, local candidates are not allowed to participate. Even Lunn wouldn’t participate. Some democracy, eh. What puppets they are. Stevie’s so afraid they might go off the PCO/PMO ‘talking points’ that he won’t allow them to participate. Stevie’s a real leader – NOT. Has any con candidate a backbone?
The Key To Success:
As a Libran, you are blessed with an ability to see both sides of every story. You suspect though, that you are also cursed with an inability to tell which side you prefer. Not so. When you feel unsure about something, there’s always a good reason. Be less doubtful of your doubts and you’ll have far more to celebrate in your future.
By maybe Rhino? on 09.28.08 12:55 pm
Hey Rhino – I’m a Libre also. My hubby is always accusing me of taking too long to make a decision. I was an IT business analyst and liked to look at ‘various options’ before I made a decision. Je suis ‘Balance’.
Made up any ‘quotes’ for your candidate lately? You have a gift for expression. — Garth
By Morris the Cat on 09.28.08 8:42 am
Hairball Morris ?
I sent my aunt (and some others…) your Green Shift vs Con “non-plan” posting . She sent me back the John Coates letter that had been recently sent to possibly 50+ seniors on Sept. 27.
DAMN! That bloody farce is still being sent around.
Hi Rhino – can you post the link from Sept 27th?
Tom Flanagan, Harper’s right arm man, admits tactics:
Tom Flanagan quote, Harper’s closest confidant:
April 16th
Flanagan is impressed that Harper managed to execute his stealthy revolution in Canadian public policy with barely a whimper from the public. But that, too, was the strategy according to the University of Calgary professor and Reform party founder.
“Part of the execution of the plan was that there would be conservatives attacking him, like John Williamson (of the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation) and Gerry Nicholls (Harper’s successor as head of the far-right National Citizens’ Coalition). That’s extremely useful, to have that kind of pressure there, berating the prime minister for not doing enough.”
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/columnists/top3/story/4161048p-4748030c.html
These quotes are self-explanatory:
AUGUST 6th, 2007
The Hill Times
Conservatives uninterested in ‘minority brinksmanship,’ says Tory whip
?Chief Government Whip Jay Hill says PM not interested in calling opposition parties’ election bluff
[note all of the following]:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority governing Conservatives who are embarking on the next session of Parliament, a likely Cabinet shuffle, and a Throne Speech, do not have any plans to play games of “minority brinksmanship,” [yeah.. right] despite a public push from Tom Flanagan last week to do so, but do want to make this Parliament work for as long as possible, says Chief Government Whip Jay Hill.
“I stand by that policy, I believe in it as part of our Parliamentary tradition and heritage and this Prime Minister has been conservative in his use of that power, to declare votes as confidence,” said Mr. Hill (Prince George-Peace River, B.C.) in an interview last week with The Hill Times.
Mr. Hill was asked to respond to a commentary written by Prof. Flanagan and published in The Globe and Mail last week.
In it, Prof. Flanagan argued that Mr. Harper’s Conservatives should call the opposition parties’ bluff in the next Parliamentary session by declaring more confidence votes in the House in an effort to beat back the threat of an election and to take a stronger hold of the legislative agenda.
Declared Mr. Hill: “Our policy has been, and Mr. Flanagan knows this, our policy has been for years now to believe that the confidence votes will be as they traditionally are, around money bills; in other words, budget votes, main estimates, supplementary estimates, supply bills, anything to do with expenditure public funds to that extent. Over and above that, Prime Minister Harper has used this very sparingly because he respects the Canadian people.
[he certainly does not]
?…
And..
?“Before the passage of C-16 [fixed election dates bill], a Prime Minister could have responded by declaring gridlock and asking for an election. Even a behind-the-scenes threat to that effect would have probably sobered up the opposition parties because none actually want an election right now. But with C-16 in place, the government may have to resort to different tactics, declaring high-priority bills to be matters of confidence and daring the opposition to defeat them,” Prof. Flanagan wrote.
PDF document
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/pdf/2007/080607_ht.pdf
Librans, actually, are argumentative. Yep, I’ve been accused of that most of my life. I have mellowed as I aged I believe – tho my husband would disagree with that point.
By Bonnie L on 09.28.08 10:36 am
Congratulations to you and M.Dion.
Its an anniversary of sorts for me as well, exactly 20 years to the day when I first set foot on Canadian soil.
When I arrived I was asked why I didn’t emmigrate to our neighbours to the south. The answer was easy, values.
And while Jean C. was arrogant and Paul M. took his time making decisions, I believe they upheld Canadian values.
Harper on the other hand, his values are not those of the Canada I landed in.
I didn’t have a vote during the Mulroney years, but I do now!
Problem with Harper and crew is they can lie successfully because if anyone bothers to fact check, it is too late by the time the truth comes out.
Mr. Accountability and Integrity has proven to be anything but, yet the public perceive him to be. So he is playing on the stupidity of people to fail to fact check…and it’s working!
We deserve to get screwed by a Harper Majority!
Mr. Leader, take a tip from The Captain.
Speak slowly and convincingly. Points are getting muddled at high speed and the MSM are picking up on that.
ABC.
News Bulletin from the streets
Vandals a sign at election time.
Is this a sign of times damaged campaign material is causing headaches for Liberal Garth Turner. I have never seen this sort of theft and vandalism before in my life.
This is not the Canada I want to see or my children.
I encourage the public to be on the watch and report to our local POLICE.
This is a criminal offence under the law.
This is not Garth talking this is a Volunteer talking.
We will be watching for the person or persons responsible for this coward less act
I hope the public is made aware of this.
DAMN! I sent my aunt (and some others…) your Green Shift vs Con “non-plan” posting . She sent me back the John Coates letter that had been recently sent to possibly 50+ seniors on Sept. 27. So, I hope you do not mind, but I sent the comparison right back to each and every one of them.
Our only defense is a true grassroots digital revolution. C’mon folks, everyone who posts here must get a mail campaign going, and sustain it until the Ultimate Poll Oct. 27.
The more I talk with “the average guy”, the more I realize they are not paying attention. We need to get them involved. [VERY TRUE!] NOW! NOT WHEN IT IS TOO LATE!!!
Strike a blow for democracy in the digital information age. We can beat the MSM – and their lack of objectivity.
BY MAYBE RHINO? ON 09.28.08 12:44 PM
________________________________
Maybe Rhino, call her and see if she understands what Harper is doing. It’s best to call her in this case. If she understands, then ask her if she can go back to the Coates letter that SHE originally received, and hit “Reply All”. Tell her it’s very important to counteract Harper’s tactics, and remind her of 1933 except now we can do something.
________________________________
If you receive the Jon C. Coates hoax, PLEASE do this:
Click on “Reply To All”
Copy & Paste the following reply:
Hi ,
I’ve seen this letter before and checked it out, and unfortunately “Jon C. Coates” was pulling a hoax. He later admitted to the misinformation contained in it. He also claimed he once briefly volunteered for the NDP and that a friend of his asked to send his letter out to others. It was subsequently falsely embellished by Bush-style Neoconservative bloggers who further embellished it and sent it off to many people.
There are MANY false statements in the letter to make people not believe in the Green Shift. I’ve read it, and it is a very good idea. It’s very good for the economy because there is generous financial benefit for each taxpayer, all of us, in generous tax rebates to offset any emissions reduction cost.
Mr. Coates later admitted he did not use The Green Shift calculator — he simply falsified his numbers.
It also turns out that his uncle is Robert Coates MP, a top Conservative Party Member, and former President of the Conservative party of Canada.
Many people posted back there were several errors, that any reasonable calculation of what Jon C. Coates personal rebate would be under The Green Shift are closer to $750 or more, depending on the household.
Mr. Coates later admitted: that including his wife, whom he had accidentally on purpose left out, there were actually four people in his household, not just himself which was implied in his original letter — he was not forthright in the letter, and I dare say he was extremely misleading and damaging since The Green Shift is an excellent plan for Canadians and our future, and has been heralded by experts from all sides.
So after he finally admitted there are actually four people in his household, his rebate would be very generous.
So in August, two months after his original mini larceny to the Chronicle, Jon C. Coates finally used the Green Shift Calculator at:
http://www.thegreenshift.ca
The hoax could unfortunately damage to the reputation of the best plan for Canada’s future. He made it all up in hopes no one would catch his initial lies, but at least it sheds a light on some of the methodology the Neoconservative bloggers of The New Conservative Party had attempted to misinform the general population about another party’s platform. It’s one of numerous underhanded tactics that Harper has set up along the way to fool us.
I’m glad that you sent it out but sorry to say the Coates email was set up so as to be “believed” by everyone. That is a sorry state of affairs. I’m sad to say Canadians are being duped by Mr. Harper.
I just hope others will catch this too. In our busy lives, (and the fellows who created the letter knew this), most people would likely not catch the Nixon-styled Dirty Trick to misinform earnest Canadians.
________________________________
Robert Coates MP was President of the Conservative Party of Canada, Jon C. Coates’ uncle. Hardly an impartial fellow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Coates_(politician)
BONNIE L,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
(I had a note on my calendar for Dion’s ..but how did I almost miss yours ?!?
Hi Rhino again. Re your comment from a ‘Horoscope’ Librans, actually, are argumentative.
I will admit I was. I grew up as one of 6 children (in the middle). It was a rather dysfunctional family – not really strange at that time. I, and all my siblings agree, was the only one that overtly argued with my father. He actually said to me that he would try to ‘break me’ and would call St. Jean de Dieu to have me committed. He called me unmentionable names at the age of 13 (of which I was totally not guilty of). Gees, I was a virgin until 20. For some reason, my elder sister would say nothing and she was his favourite. When I * my elder sister finally left, my father started to attack my younger sister, until she left. Our younger brother, the baby of the family, was spoiled. My Mother lived through all of this, supported me as best she could. Did I hate my Father. No. I loved him in his latter years, but could never be in his company for more than 2 or 3 days at a time as we would get into an argument. He was a very intelligent man, but under the influence of alcohol, could be rather autocratic. I could tell, just looking at his face, what his persona was. I counted at least 6. I believe I can still read people’s inner feelings by their facial expressions & body language.
I don’t believe in revealing all, a la Opra and her offshoot, Dr. Phil, but I do believe in honesty. We have far too little of discussion of the roots why underprivleged children end up on the wrong side of the law. Harper’s idea is ‘throw them away for life’ His idea is even constitutionally questionable.
Going to be a bit late with my promised post people (wedding dance )
By brain on 09.28.08 11:49 am
Hope you have a great time Brain. We can wait another day.
“Somewhere in the system there needs to be a better way to put the Liberal message out to voters.”
By Caper on 09.28.08 6:58 am
Call all of your best friends and close family for starters. Do it today. A call first is best. Mention it in the grocery store to the clerks.
Newsweek: What They Got Away With
Flip through the slide show and check out the golden parachutes.
Now 700 Billion more…and that’s just a start?
Happy birthday, Bonnie L!
Bonne fête, Stéphane Dion!
—–
Interesting article about CIA interference with the Irish vote on the EU treaty.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4837672.ece
The EU are investigating CIA involvement in the Irish vote in an effort to weaken the EU (and the euro I suppose). NO ONE must be more powerful than the “world’s only superpower”.
Could it be happening here?
It already has.
Let follow the Aussie example and throw the U.S.-approved and supported candidate out unless we want to look like every other country the U.S. has interfered with lately.
—–
Re Bill Moyers and his interview with Andrew Bacevitch – class acts, both of them.
—–
Note to family, friends & neighbours:
When I door-knocked there are residents who were surprised their names are not on the official Voter’s list>. I don’t know if that’s odd.
Also, the law has changed and to vote you need to prove your identity and your address.
You can take two pieces of I.D. like driver’s license just in case your name has also been lost from the voter list.
You may vote in Advance polls on the following dates:
Friday, October 3
Saturday, October 4
Monday, October 6
noon to 8 pm
For easy information access and your polling station
1-800-463-6868
http://www.elections.ca
When you vote, you MUST prove your identity and address. You have three options:
http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=ele&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e&textonly=false
The Harperites have huge pockets
BY MAYBE RHINO? 28.08 12:44PM
I noticed in The Hill Times edition – PDF
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/pdf/2007/080607_ht.pdf
Several interesting articles in looking back now, amongst them another likely Harper loophole — probably one of a hundred loopholes as they pour their acid on our trust:
Bigger loopholes still exist under Election Act: experts
Hey, if that’s true, can people really donate $199.99 to each and every Liberal candidate across the country? It would seem so from the article. My apologies if the below PDF copy has question marks or doesn’t post properly:
(PS Garth or Maybe Rhino, what date was Garth’s “non-plan” post? I also asked for Garth’s one-page Green Shift that Charles Oxley mentioned the other day but haven’t received it yet. Maybe someone can post that please?)
Money in politics experts responded
last week to a series of stories in The Globe
and Mail. The newspaper reported that
any Canadian could exceed by more than
$60,000 the legal donation to a political
party under a loophole because an individ-
ual could theoretically contribute $199.99
to each of the party’s 308 riding associa-
tions without getting caught. The parties
tell Elections Canada of individual dona-
tions of $200 or more, but because riding
associations are grouped together without
a breakdown for cross-chequing.
Riding associations file their financial
transactions as separate entities and are
not required to amalgamate their financial
returns with the central party to verify that
donors did not exceed the maximum dona-
tion limit of a combined total of $1,100 to
all riding associations and another $1,100
to the federal party, it’s possible that indi-
viduals could donate $199.99 to all of the
federal riding associations for a total dona-
tion of more than $60,000.
“The point is well-taken, you could
donate $199.99 to 308 ridings and that’s a
real problem,” said Environmental Defence
policy and campaigns director Aaron Free-
man, who also co-wrote the book The Laws
of Government: The Legal Foundations of
Canadian Democracy. “I think we have to
keep the ‘problem’ in perspective. What
we’re concerned about here is money buy-
ing influence.”
Garth,I have sent you a picture my son in Calgary sent to me.It shows a Stephen Harper sign,beside it someone has placed their own’ Vote A.B.C.’sign! In Calgary!You gotta love that!
Where does Jack Layton draw the line: more offensive quotes from NDP candidate in Durham
From http://stoppingharper.blogspot.com/
BY GO GREEN ON 09.28.08 9:47 AM
I agree the new additional quotes make it far worse. Jack Layton has no choice but to call for his resignation.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/features/decisioncanada/story.html?id=0c40d81b-8196-498e-8e71-c23fe0e7390a
Go Green, I watched that video again last night. It’s a conservative view, one that anybody can understand… and “hear how it rings true” that this has all been a farce. A long farce.
——————————-
Don’t let Harper get away with the final blow here.. The American’s — and now Canada’s New Style Conservative politics have been cloaked in a sham for 40 years, win at all costs, implement backward social agenda, hide it in plain sight. The general population had better catch on, pronto. Two weeks. It CAN be done.
Who do you trust. The leader is the most important consideration.
Call people you know.
Happy Birthday Bonnie! You’ve been doing a great job on this site.
I am seventy-five and am, like you, concerned with the futures of our children and grand children. Hopefully, by the time you’re seventy-five, we will leave this country and world in better hands. I hope to live to see this day because young parents are so busy these days with paying the bills and keeping their kids involved in healthy activities that they barely see what is happening.
My kids are going to vote Liberal because I do my best to tell them what is going on. They are smart kids and should know but I can see the difficulties they have balancing everything. My son-in-law had a sign put on his lawn and my daughter said he got it on his own. I think I have pretty high credibility with my kids and they know I care enough to put my time and money where my heart and mind are.
Your family will be proud of what you are doing and right now, while I’d like to be painting, this is more important to me too.
Take a couple of hours off to celebrate
your well-spent years!
As a Libra, I do have the ability to see which side I prefer & it’s not being in love with the CON ARTIST we unfortunately have as a PM. IMO, the only reason they are leading in polls is because they have continuously enjoyed free advertising & partisan bias reporting by the pathetic Media we now have in Canada. The media has done everything they could, short of admitting it, in making Mr.Dion appear to be a weak leader. Don’t rule out either that the CONS pockets very likely have been lined with the un- explained donations of $8000.000 plus that was questioned & not accounted for by Election Canada. I am guessing that it likely flowed from the Republicans south of the border. Remember that one?
There are a lot of people out there, especially in the 20, 30, 40 years old age group that like to cheer on a winning team regardless of what polices they represent. One only needs to look at young sports announcers on hockey for example as to how bias they are in reporting sports. As soon as a team loses a few games, they switch their talk from positive to negative, switch their alliances & call them losers. I call them “Wishy Washy” Does that not sound similar to politics & the Media reporters? Well I for one refuse to give my vote to a particular party just because they APPEAR to be the wining team. I vote for the party that has the best interests of ALL Canadians from sea to sea to sea at heart. I refuse to be bullied & sell my soul to the devil.
Btw, can anyone tell me if the Cons MP,s in your riding’s are talking with their constituents in their campaign or are they being silent & letting the “ CON Leader” do the talking for them? Has their yet been any ‘All Candidate Debates” in your riding’s as yet? There hasn’t been one yet in my riding so far that I’m aware of & that’s troubling. How can anyone in good conscious vote for anybody if they can’t ask questions & have them answered?
As we celebrate Thanksgiving on Oct. 11Th. It is my wish that we will bring this Alliance CON government to their knees. Now that would be something to be thankful for.
A very Happy Birthday to you Mr. Dion & also to you Bonnie L. I will be celebrating my 65th Birthday on Oct 12th. If I were to be granted one wish on my Birthday, it would be to see the last of the Alliance Party who is trying to destroy our country Canada.
Regards,
Irene
Interesting article about CIA interference with the Irish vote on the EU treaty.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4837672.ece
The EU are investigating CIA involvement in the Irish vote in an effort to weaken the EU (and the euro I suppose). NO ONE must be more powerful than the “world’s only superpower”.
Could it be happening here? It already has.
Let follow the Aussie example and throw the U.S.-approved and supported candidate out unless we want to look like every other country the U.S. has interfered with lately.
BY CM ON 09.28.08 3:11 PM
——————————-
CIA ‘backed’ Irish battle against Brussels treaty
CM, thanks for posting that!
“Interesting” is a quite the understatement CM
Yup, what Harpster & his big peeps are all about — the article is like looking into the belly of the beast
The Sunday Times
September 28, 2008
Now Brussels has found a new explanation as to why Ireland voted down the European Union treaty in June – a CIA and Pentagon-backed plot, devised by American neoconservatives to weaken the EU.
The European parliament wants an inquiry into whether Declan Ganley, the multi-millionaire chairman of the Libertas group that campaigned against the treaty, could be in the pockets of US defence and intelligence services.
The calls have been led by Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the firebrand 1968 student leader turned Green MEP, who pointed to Irish press reports that “revealed there possibly exists a link between the financiers of the no campaign in Ireland and the Pentagon as well as the CIA.
“If proved true, this would clearly show there are forces in the US willing to pay people to destabilise a strong and autonomous Europe”, he said.
Cohn-Bendit’s suspicions were backed by Hans-Gert Pöttering, president of the European parliament: “The facts must be put on the table. We cannot allow Europe to be harmed by people who demand transparency but do not provide it themselves.”
Last week the parliament’s most senior MEPs discussed the issue and urged the Irish Standards in Public Office Commission to investigate Ganley’s finances.
“The suggestion is not only wrong but ludicrous,” said a CIA spokesman.
Speculation by MEPs appears to rest on the fact that Ganley’s company Rivada Networks has telecoms contracts with the US military worth more than €200m (£159m).
..
Cohn-Bendit pointed to the right-wing Heritage Foundation in Washington as the intellectual source for the CIA’s plans to derail European unity.
By Dube on 09.28.08 9:39 am
Your analysis of Chatham-Kent-Essex is correct, the better candidate is the Lib. But since the one with the gilded tougue, Mr.DVK. and others are spreading falsehoods, its upto those running against him to dispell the untruths and put him against the ropes with the facts.
The same is true at the national level.
Locally, the candidates have another debate this week. Nationally, the leaders debates. If the Libs really want to replace Harper, they have got to give the electorate reason. The Libs have to stop being defensive about their platform and expose the Con platform for what it is. So far, it isn’t happening.
S.H.U.D.
Stop Harper’s Unity Derailment plans
Or do you prefer “SCUD” ..
Stop Conservative Unity Derailment
Protect Canada. Keep Canada together. Start reading all the information available to you. Protect Canadian’s unity, our social fabric, our values, our future — perform your civic duty to get informed and vote down Harper’s plans, which his own people admit are done with “stealth”. This is the most important election of our lifetime.
Donate, volunteer, support and vote for your local Liberal Candidate. They need you.
All Canadians need to pull up their bootstraps – get out and help each other get this done.
Me? I am packing. I gave Canada a good decade plus of my life. Enough!. If Canadians are THAT stupid, they they deserve what’s in store for them! Good night and good bye!
By Required on 09.28.08 2:06 am
Travel safely and have a good trip.
Yes Dion is a great leader alright. He demonstrated that when the fired Manitoba Liberal candidate was informed not by Dion or anyone in the Liberal party but rather by a CBC reporter that she had been fired. If you call that leadership then you need to give your head a shake.
By Barb the proofreader on 09.28.08 3:41 pm
Green truth
posted by Garth Turner on 09.20.08 @ 8:05 pm
http://www.garth.ca/weblog/page/4/
The one for Go Green will be trickier…
Happy Birthday Bonnie L and Mr Dion.
I find it so depressing that we don’t seem to be able to get the truth out.
Mr Dion would make an excellent Prime Minister while Mr Harper has been a terrible one. No sea of blue here in my little province.
Garth as Liberal I have to say that I think you are right with regards to your riding, you will win. But you are not a barometer for the rest of the country let alone this province. A great deal is riding on the upcoming leaders debate, Dion has to win or at the very least be precieved to have one. There are all kinds of Liberals who are in trouble. Gerrard Kennedy is getting the run of his life in High Park and may well go down. If the left gets fractured anymore the Tories are going to run right up the middle and sweep even though the popular vote would not be in their favour.
Sunshine up the whazoo is great but reality is saying a differnt thing from all directions.
Oh boy, this sounds familiar….
Add this one to the list of “hiding” Conservative candidates
http://thegallopingbeaver.blogspot.com/2008/09/add-this-one-to-list-of-hiding.html
“. . . Garth’s one-page Green Shift . . .” — Barb the proofreader, 3:41 pm
Hello Barb.
My e-mail is chox@shaw.ca — I’ll send to you what Garth sent me!
Hi Garth
I saw you waving last week to cars entering the highway. Nice to see your presence in Milton. I wanted to ask a question about the Green Shift plan. From what I understand we get a break through our income tax what we may end up spending if we use carbon emissions recklessly, but what about people who are no longer working? My parents are retired and drawing pretty modest pensions. Is there something built in the plan for people like them? Also they live in Nova Scotia where a lot of people use oil to heat their homes.
Of course, since the tax cut also applies to them. Use the tax calculator at http://www.thegreenshift.ca to find out the reduction. In addition, the GIS will be increasing by hundreds of dollars a year, so the combination should more than compensate for any oil price increase. Also tell them that the Conservatives have a climate change plan which will put an even higher price on carbon – starting in 2010 – with absolutely no tax reduction. — Garth
Take a couple of hours off to celebrate
your well-spent years!
By Pat G on 09.28.08 4:05 pm
Pat & Bonnie L. – Gees I would have taken both of you to be young chickens. You’re attidude is amazing and you both seem to me to be so with it. I guess technology and being in touch with the outside world proves one is only as old as one feels. Way to go ladies. I’m feeling like a young’un, but hope I would last as long as you gals.
By Barb the proofreader on 09.28.08 3:41 pm
Hi Barb, I believe you are correct except I doubt anyone would because most people with that amount of money to give away like tax breaks and perhaps they would not do so. Interesting non the less.
On another note I think M. Dion had a good birthday with Rex Murphy. He just started to roll, I am sure he was pleased and Rex and others were impressed.
Garth, who signed the letter that you posted yesterday? Surely someone wanted to make sure their name was on it?
Its authenticity has been validated a few times over. — Garth
Me? I am packing. I gave Canada a good decade plus of my life. Enough!. If Canadians are THAT stupid, they they deserve what’s in store for them! Good night and good bye!
By Required on 09.28.08 2:06 am
…gave Canada a decade? So, your not Canadian but feel you can attack Canadians nastily. About that door on your way out….obviously, we’re not losing a thing here.
Many happy returns Stephane and Bonnie….from what I’ve read, something is going to change course for you to the better.
Morris the Cat: Did it take you long to come up with that response? Talking to a 12 year old give you inspiration?
CPC can have these kind of people – who else would want them.
re:Charles Oxley 1:14 PM – I understand where you’re coming from – I’ve been watching all that information as well. It’s extremely worrisome.
And in the nick of time – harper the pestilance announces a surprise bogus election. The pre-election deployment of combat troops, as explained on globalresearch.ca, is eery, to say the least. And when these NEOCONS here in Canada, cancel debates or don’t show up, or keep the public away – what does that say? What are they really hiding from Canadians – and during an election yet?!?!?
The all candidates debate to be held on Oct.1 with Brent Fullard, has been cancelled because 1 candidate (FLAHERTY) refuses to appear!!!!
Anyone that would vote for a candidate who refuses to debate, during an election, has to be a true moron. And if harper and his fellow candidates, (some being APPOINTED, and not elected) want to run on their recent record, then let the cannons loose. Their record is a litany of tearing Canada apart. And what do all their cuts to important programs add up to? DEATH by a thousand cuts!
I enjoyed listening to Stephane Dion speak on CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup this afternoon. The email questions and comments sent in by listeners can be read here. I sent in the following question:
“Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have spent millions to manufacture a false image of Mr. Dion as being a weak leader. The fact is, the really weak leader in this campaign is Stephen Harper. His extensive use of bullying tactics are well documented. Harper’s obsessive need to micro-manage and control everything that occurs in government shows that he is fundamentally insecure. We all know that the behaviour of a bully serves as a mask for self-doubt. In contrast, Mr. Dion exhibits many of the traits of a truly strong leader. His ability to listen carefully to the ideas of others, his skill at building consensus, and his honesty are essential leadership characteristics that we will never see from the mean-spirited and manipulative Stephen Harper.
Mr Dion, my question to you is: Will you, during the remainder of this campaign, be more assertive in exposing the Conservative propaganda as the nonsense that it is.”
I missed part of the program, so I don’t know whether Stephane Dion addressed my particular question. I was very much impressed, however, with the things he said and with his positive attitude. Various callers encouraged Dion to be more aggressive in countering the negative Con ads, but Dion absolutely refused to descend to the level of ad hominem attacks so characteristic of the Cons. At one point Rex Murphy asked Dion a question to the effect of whether he thinks Harper is an immoral person. Dion insisted that he will comment only on the evilness of Harper’s actions, but that he simply will not be critical of the person. He said that he always holds hope that the character flaws of a person may eventually be rectified. Dion expressed these sentiments in a very genuine and spontaneous manner. I would be proud to have a man of such integrity as the leader of this country.
Call all of your best friends and close family for starters. Do it today. A call first is best. Mention it in the grocery store to the clerks.
By Barb the proofreader on 09.28.08 2:47 pm
Thanks. Being from Cape Breton, I know that the Liberal Candidate will represent me in the next parliment.
I am concerned with the areas west of me.. ie Quebec and Ontario.. the Praries and BC.
The media are running the election and they have decided that the Conservatives are going to win. Should media spin be considered third party campaigning? It has become so obvious without them actually openingly stating their bias.
Various media outlets once made it clear that they represented a certain party agenda but as far as I can determine only the Toronto Star still admits its bias.
Should there not be a disclaimer required by other media outlets so that they do not became a means for parties to defy election spending rules?
James,
Glad you caught that typo; I always see them after pressing “Say It!”, but find it pointless to fret about it. Nevertheless, I think in a Freudian-slip sort of way, there is some applicability to ‘guild’ too, as in:
(1) – Midieval society.
(2) – A group of diverse species, especially animal species, that occupy a common niche in a given community, characterized by exploitation of environmental resources in the same way.
Great looking campaign team Garth. And when they’re not busy serving coffee they’re busy trying to get you elected. I love that. Grassroots Canada. Go Garth Go.
What have you done for your candidate? — Garth
News Bulletin from the streets
Vandals a sign at election time.
Is this a sign of times damaged campaign material is causing headaches for Liberal Garth Turner. I have never seen this sort of theft and vandalism before in my life.
This is not the Canada I want to see or my children.
I encourage the public to be on the watch and report to our local POLICE.
This is a criminal offence under the law.
This is not Garth talking this is a Volunteer talking.
We will be watching for the person or persons responsible for this coward less act
I hope the public is made aware of this.
By Volunteer on 09.28.08 2:28 pm
This not just in Garth’s riding, it is happening across the nation from what I can find out. Did you see the Justin Trudeau sign on a pole on Montreal half burnt off? This was on either CPAC or was it CBC? Others are having there signs “walk off” during the middle of the night, too. Dr. Sean Godfrey in Oshawa, and another candidate in Don Valley area of Toronto. This is not by accident that it is only the Liberal signs! Criminals are cowards!
Jack Layton gives the term “champagne socialism” a totally new meaning:
http://www.ndp.ca/page/6984/print
This piece written by Janice Kennedy,Ottawa Citizen,is,or at least should be, somewhat or totally disturbing to all Canadians including those that live in Quebec.
Just two paragraphs from the article.
Besides being odiously two-faced, the approach is profoundly insulting to Quebecers, who (the ads suggest) are not only uniformly non-Canadian but also one-dimensional and insular.
Contrast this strategy with Liberal party ads that, in French, feature Dion speaking passionately about Canada’s role in the world, federalism and Quebec’s strength inside Canada. Or the NDP and Green presentations, none of which try to shed their Canadian identity in either official language.
Mr Dion is on Toute la Monde en Parle..CBC Radio Canada.As I mentioned last week,the host asked Harper to make an appearance and was told don’t call us we’ll call you.
I have to admit that I have been disappointed in Dion but that does not mean that I see Harper as a better choice. Harper does not represent my values but neither does “Champagne” Jack Layton. They may be working together in important ways to destroy the Liberal Party because both parties see power in driving a wedge in this country.
I do not want to see the Liberal Party go the way of the Progressive Conservative Party. I don’t want to see a country that swings wildly from left to right destroying everything important it the path.
Living in what is considered a safe Liberal riding I could give my vote to the Green candidate because I know many PCs who are telling me that they will be voting Liberal this time.
The Green Party represents my values more than the ideological parties of the left and right.
This election does not present a choice that I can relate to. It represents a group of leaders willing to say anything to get elected. There is no substance to this election but most of that can be attributed to a biased and poor quality media.
Sorry Janice Kennedy’s piece..
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/columnists/story.html?id=f6be523d-f657-447e-ae07-d82f0dcc07d3&p=2
Con-clones tanking big time :
The latest poll from “Freedom News Network” has the Cons back of the Liberals by fifteen points .
They will be swept in Ontario and Quebec leaving them a small rump from ASlberta and BC .
Polling was done over ten days and 5,000
people were called .
Accuracy is 1,9 nine out of ten times .
The Bloc will win a majority of the seats in Quebec except Montreal where the Liberals will retain the seats they have as well as winning back Outremont .
Pat & Bonnie L. – I would have taken both of you to be young chickens.. Way to go ladies. I’m feeling like a young’un, but hope I would last as long as you gals.
BY GO GREEN ON 09.28.08 5:59 PM
Me too, girls, although I’m the same age as hopefully our next PM! My grandmother lived to nearly 105.. but with this election, I’ll be lucky to make it to the end of the week!
———–
Many thanks Rhino & Charles! Will do!
———–
BY DAVID BAKODY 28.08 6:09
I bet there’s tons of slushy oil slick spread out & back a la CPC. That’ll be the next scandal, the Out & Back Scheme.
———–
Interesting article about CIA interference with the Irish vote on the EU treaty.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4837672.ece
—
Re Bill Moyers and his interview with Andrew Bacevitch – class acts, both of them.
BY CM ON 09.28.08 3:11 PM
And CM I had an earlier reply to you that didn’t make it through the filter, to say thanks for posting that article, very interesting. Yes, great PBS video link, by a good conservative.
Caller Comments here:
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/checkup_20080928_7853.mp3
Dion Answering Calls here:
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/checkup_20080928_7853.mp3
[Heh heh ... Lays the groundwork for a Thomas Mulcair re-election bid.]
By KOMMISSAR JACK on 09.28.08 12:07 pm
Jack, we were able to ‘retrieve’ an exchange between Thomas Mulcair of your party, when he was speaking to Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney at finance committee hearings last December 5.
We would like a free and open admission on your part that you totally supported the Harper government when Flaherty destroyed Income Trusts, October 31, 2006, DESPITE THE GOVERNMENT LIE MULCAIR REFERRED TO.
39:2 Committee Evidence – FINA-14 2007/12/5)
1615)[Translation] Mr. Thomas Mulcair:
“I want to begin by asking you a question about income trusts.
In your previous position, as an expert, you played an active role in the economy, and that had a significant influence. As you know, our political party was not favourably disposed towards income trusts. However, we never lied to people the way the government did.
This is what I would like to know. In your view, in light of what has occurred with income trusts, have the basic premises that were behind your recommendation proven to be accurate? I am going to cite the specific example of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, which has purchased certain income trusts, including PrimeWest Energy Trust.
In your opinion, are these new companies, which are now managed offshore, contributing to the Canadian economy in terms of tax revenues?
That was one of the basic premises underlying the decision you presided over.”
Garth, I tried to post this link 3 times and its not getting through. Please post this for me. Once you do, you’ll realize why it needs to get out there. I know what this is going to do. It could… well… our lives are defined by how we face our tests in life. There are enough of us on this site that will spam this to all the media in Canada and now… now more than ever, all media and Canadians need to know whats at stake. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You just watch your back
“Thou shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain”.
This post is “the package” I promised from this earlier post (brain on 09.27.08 10:57pm) and I want everyone to spam it to all media.
This was this mornings headlines from MSN:
“Dion gears up for rally in TO
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080925%2felection2008_election_sunday_080928
When one reads it, its like an ad for the NDP. The headline below has been running for 2 weeks now. Every single day… Ontario battlegrounds leaning Tory: poll
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080925%2felection2008_ont_080927
Other MSN stories:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ca/abc/Election_08/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CP_EN_ELECTION&showbyline=True&newsitemid=137646061
http://news.sympatico.msn.ca/abc/Election_08/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CP_EN_ELECTION&showbyline=True&newsitemid=116595044
Whats our point?
Our point is that MSN feeds and CTV feeds with this election have been extremely favorable to Harper AND the NDP and very negative towards Dion for 3 weeks or more. With the Green train tour by Elizabeth May, there isn’t one CTV Globemedia or Can West journalist on the train. The real news and main issues never sees the light of day. And thats just the headlines! The poll numbers were also initially cooked. Of all polls, Strategic council (CTV) has had the Harper party ahead of other polls by at least 5% for the last two years. Its true. Its all a matter of record and keep this in mind. Every media link/feed is being kept and recorded. The world is watching. A large number of nations including some of our major friends and allies in the U.S. are watching this. As you read these words alone, remind yourselves that there are a half a million hits a week here or more from media, jounalists world wide, professors, and those who defend the principle of democracy itself.
Early on, in comparison to the only accurate pollster out there, Nanos polls, Strategic council had the Conservatives ahead of the Libs by 8% in Ontario while Nanos had the Libs ahead of the Conservatives by 11%. Folks, I’m not making this up. One cannot have a 19% spread in polls with a plus/minus percentage of 3%, 19 times out of 20. These were the numbers 3 weeks ago and since, accurate Nanos polls are suggesting the constant positive media spins for the Cons & NDP have worked, coupled with negative spins against the Libs. Is it issues or is it propaganda… Watch Mike Duffy and tell me its not biased. So what created the narrowing of the gap we see in polls now where Nanos numbers has the Libs tanking at 25 – 26%?
PROPAGANDA
And its working.
Daily news favoring the Cons/NDP coming from MSN/CTV/Can West/Globe & Mail have been steady since a week before the election but the real tell here in all this is the dramatic change in most polls initially except for one, Nanos, showing a dramatic shift of voter support going Lib to Con in Ontario roughly 3 weeks back. I argue that these numbers were initially cooked and combined with propaganda to create the poll number effect we see today.
Folks, you all need to understand just how big the media giants Reuters Thompson and Can West are in order to get the scope of what kind of influence they have over public opinion AND what they stand to gain with a Conservative majority. Imagine for one moment the huge media void that will be left behind with the CBC gone and who will capture that market share and BINGO! You have your media motive for major bias towards a Con majority and a push for NDP support to divide and hopefully destroy the Liberal party.
Oh, and by the way… did Jack Layton cut a deal with Harper to become the leading opposing party in all this? You bet he did. This buffoon cut a deal with Harper to get favorable media propaganda his way at the expense of our democracy and the expense of every Canadian. You all think about that because its true and I’ll prove it with motive alone.
In all my life, there is one question I’ve observed…. one question that anyone with a conscience will have to ask and that question is… WHO BENEFITS. With all judgment, it comes down to the question of motive… does it not? And I’m telling you all that in the case of media propaganda coming from CTV/Globe & Mail/Can West, its major and its premeditated. Here’s proof and keep in mind that it comes down to motive and to see it one must ask the question… who benefits?
http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2008/01/16/CRTCRuling/
The above link is a must read to fully see the implications of what media is having on our democratic process.
With Canwest/Rogers Cable/CTV Globemedia/Thompson Reuters gaining huge from the CRTC Harper controlled ruling in favor of larger market share for the above named media (which is cross owned, I’ll explain with links below), Harper gets pieced off with a majority as a reward and if Harper gets rid of the CBC, he gets another majority for guaranteeing market share to what is all owned and controlled by one boardroom in Thompson Reuters which controls Rogers Communications through directors that sit in both boards of Rogers and Woodbrige Corp which controls CTV Globemedia, Globe & Mail, MSN. Can West is also an ally for further market share of the destruction of the CBC. Essentially two corporate entities (Can West/Reuter & Thompson) will control all of Canada’s media except for most of the Suns (Vancouver Sun is Can West), Macleans and the Toronto Star. The links below remind viewers of the dangers to media concentration and media oligarchies in Canada.
http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/09/17/BigMediaShowdown/
http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/07/16/CanadiansWantMediaChoice/
http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/07/03/BlackAndAsper/
This last clip above offers the media solution that the Liberal Party of Canada must pledge before this election is over if they haven’t already. We are calling on the Liberal party of Canada to make a pledge to legislate the 10 principles below through the CRTC and make it constitutional if necessary to preserve our democracy through media regulations. A clip from the above link:
1) Order the CRTC to not approve television broadcast licenses for companies that own daily newspapers in the same market. Prime Minister Trudeau did this in 1982. Prime Minister Mulroney undid it in 1986.
2) Create legislation to break up concentration of media ownership where it is already too high. Canwest’s level of ownership in B.C. wouldn’t be legal even in the U.S. No one should be able to own all the major newspapers in a major market.
3) Prevent future deals that overly concentrate ownership.
4) Require owners to reveal profit margins for regional operations. The people who pay for subscriptions and advertisements should know if their investments in the local media scene are being siphoned away to Winnipeg, or being reinvested in local quality.
5) Foster media owned and operated by membership based societies. This member “co-op” model lets citizens take the lead in creating and supporting and democratically participating in decisions about their media. But because real journalism is expensive, government could provide money to membership-based media that garners a critical mass of support.
6) Provide tax write-offs to those who join media membership based societies.
7) Create tax incentives for media philanthropy. Some of North America’s best publications (very much reader driven) exist because someone with wealth and ideals insures that they do. They would not come close to surviving on subscription and advertising fees alone.
9) Develop a community-based web portal to provide alternative perspectives. The portal could be managed by public libraries, provide CBC news and information to attract a critical mass of viewers, plus access to dozens of alternative news and information sources such as The Tyee, Vancouver Community Network, Working TV, Indymedia, and as many others as want to join in.
10) PRESERVE THE CBC.
If some of these ideas seem impractical, may I leave you with this suggestion: Be bold and creative in your remedies. It would be a mistake, I believe, for Canadians to feel bound by what incremental changes other countries may be trying. We border a giant that offers a vivid picture of how too much media power and wealth in the hands of too few can warp a nation’s ability to know itself, to tell itself what it needs to hear in order to solve its problems, and to find its way.
Let me reiterate what is happening. The fix is in. Media has got this election rigged but to see just how rigged it is and who benefits, one has to follow the ownership/power/money trail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters
Its important to read Reuters history and Thompsons, to get a full feel of just how concentrated our Canadian media is with just two corporations controlling the majority of Canadian media, and just where media is going in the future.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thomson_Corporation
This second link has this information, a list of directors that is the “who’s who” in the old boys room. A clip:
Members of the last board of directors of Thomson were: David K.R. Thomson (chairman of the board since 2002), W. Geoffrey Beattie, Richard Harrington, Ron Barbaro, Mary Cirillo, Robert Daleo, Steven Denning, Maureen Darkes, Roger Martin, Vance Opperman, John M. Thompson, Peter Thomson, Richard Thomson, and John A. Tory.
The Thomson family owned 70 percent of the company.[3]
The Thomson family controlled The Thomson Corporation through a family-owned entity, The Woodbridge Company, based in Toronto. (Along with 70 percent of Thomson Corporation, Woodbridge also owns a 40 percent stake in CTVglobemedia, which now owns The Globe and Mail daily newspaper in Toronto and CTV, Canada’s largest commercial TV network.) David K.R. Thomson and his brother, Peter J. Thomson, became co-chairmen of Woodbridge on their father’s death.[3]
The question… you should all be asking is… “who is John Tory”?
Does “Tory” ring a bell? You know, “the Tories as in the Conservatives?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Tory
John A. Tory is the father of Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader John H. Tory and John H. Tory as many Ontarians know, is the PC provincial leader of Ontario but thats not all John H. Tory does. He’s the main shareholder of Woodbridge Corporation and Woodbridge 40% owns CTV Globe Media. John A. Tory is also best buddies with Ted Rogers who founded Rogers cable. John A. Tory has also been a corporate director with Rogers since ‘79.
Who is John H. Tory?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Tory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Communications
Considering the bias media coming from the Woodbridge company that Reuters/Thomson now owns…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woodbridge_Company
A clip:
The Woodbridge Company Limited is a Canadian private holding company and the principal and controlling shareholder (53 percent) of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters was formed in 2008 when The Thomson Corporation, a world leader in providing integrated information solutions, acquired Reuters.
Woodbridge is the primary investment vehicle for members of the family of the late Roy Thomson, the first Lord Thomson of Fleet.
Woodbridge also owns the largest (40 percent) interest in CTVglobemedia, a Canadian multimedia company with ownership of CTV and The Globe and Mail. CTV owns and operates 27 conventional stations, with interests in 35 specialty channels, including TSN. CTVglobemedia also owns the CHUM Radio Division, which operates 35 radio stations throughout Canada. Other CTVglobemedia investments include an interest in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and the Air Canada Centre.
We are seeing an almalgamation of media ownership here that is now global. Reuters is world wide. Even FOX news, the U.S. Republican channel, is part owned through what has become one of the four largest media outlets in the world. (Reuters/Thompson profited 7 billion last year)
They could very well now be one of the three largest media giants in the world and their view is a Conservative one, all the way.
So is the fix in? CTV, Rogers Cable, the globe and mail… not to mention the Lenard Aspers favoring of Harper with every speech he’s ever made in this nation, now we can include Can West Global:
And who is Can West?
Publishing:
National Post
St. John’s Telegram
Montreal Gazette
Ottawa Citizen
Windsor Star
Regina Leader Post
Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Calgary Herald
Edmonton Journal
Vancouver Sun
Vancouver Province
Victoria Times-Colonist
Other Publications
The Van Net Newspaper Group
The Vancouver Island Newspaper Group
Windsor-Essex Community Papers
Television:
Global Television Network
CH Hamilton
CH Vancouver Island
CH in Montreal
CHBC – Kelowna, British Columbia
CKRD – Red Deer, Alberta
Prime TV
Men TV
Mystery
DejaView
Lonestar
Fox Sportsworld Canada
Xtreme Sports
And once again, Woodbridge, who owns 53% of Reuters Thompson, who do they own and control?
CTV
CTV Globemedia (MSN)
Globe & Mail
CTVglobemedia also owns the CHUM Radio Division, which operates 35 radio stations throughout Canada.
If anyone ever took the time to read these links, they would easily see why the fix is in and why Harper wants the CBC gone from existence in a big bad way (and why he labels the oppostion as anti-semites and favored the Israili position with the Israeli/Lebanon conflict so unashamedly).
Harper is a media puppet, a big oil puppet, the last people he serves is the average Canadian.
What can I say? The media fix is in and it shows with crank polls and ugly media bias coverage where damaging news to the Conservative brand gets buried, opposition to Harper gets bad press and opinion pieces reveal pure bias in favor of Harpers “Tories”.
The media fix is in except for one thing, y’all.
They haven’t succeeded in couping Canada’s government. There are still 17 days to go!
This isn’t about left or right or red or blue anymore in case you all haven’t gotten it yet. Its about whether or not we want a free democracy in Canada and it can only come with a media that isn’t in bed with politicians to the point of getting them elected for control of all of Canada’s mainstream media. Democracy can only come with a media that isn’t corrupt and destroys our democracy with propaganda. If you want to be lied to by mainstream media continually, see major issues like the disappearance of Pacific Salmon buried to put the focus on the economy instead of the environment, vote for the corporate media/oil lobbyist Harper. He hasn’t changed stripes since the beginning when the National Citizens Coalition donated $50 G’s to his campaign in 93′.
http://nationalcitizens.ca/cgi-bin/oms.cgi?rm=show_category&cid=1
The link above reveals the same campaigns Harper fought for from late 97′ to 01′
A click onto this links reveals this:
http://nationalcitizens.ca/doc_bin/agenda_canada.pdf
Keep in mind that all of what you are reading is pure propaganda in the link above. It calls for the privatization of public medicare. The end of the farmer elected/controlled wheatboard. The end to our current election laws that keep everything democratic. The list is long and ugly. The National Citizens Coalition wants corporate ownership/control of all of Canada’s current economic sectors protected by government regulations and crown monopolies.
Keep in mind why it is that our crowns and regs that protect Canadians from foreign ownership and control are there. They are there, people, to insure consumer protection from price gouging and to insure that ESSENTIAL SERVICES are INCLUSIVE to everyone. This isn’t a socialist system we have. Its a humanitarian one! Look at the markets in the area of commodities and manufacturing and tell us capitalism isn’t wide open.
This election boils down to who will own our resources from service (public health/insurance/banking) to grain handling to the media itself and folks… whoever controls the media CONTROLS THE MESSAGE! And Harper knows it well. Now… so do we.
Note Harpers past once again here in the link below. He fought for these things mentioned in this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Citizens_Coalition
And this link is rather telling:
http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=0010
One last time, dear patriots of our fine nation of Canada. The media fix is in. Not many Canadians know what you now know. WERE GOING TO REMIND THEM. (This is where I want the message to end)
Once again, I want the Liberal war room, its Liberal supporters across the nation to spam this piece to every news outlet however large or small, however controlled it might be. We are going to test the patriotism of every newspaper journalist and editor in this nation. We are going test the media ranks at the grass roots level right here and now.
The list of media and its journalists are not as long as you think. Within hours, I’ll have most of the website mailboxes posted here. In the coming days, we are going to send more messages. Letters to the editor, front page buys, the works, folks. We are going to send a message to the media and the U.S./Canadian corporate puppet plant Stephen Harper and his brainwashed Harper party. “YOU DO NOT MESS WITH GRASS ROOTS DEMOCRACY!!”
When Stephen Harper and all the corporate board members which will in future be named for all to know who’s responsible and accountable with the attempted coup our our democracy, they messed with a Joker and this Joker, especially with wild deuces, trumps kings. The only long suit the Harper party has is media control, control of the message.
WATCH US PLAY OURS.
Once again, I want all Canadians to spam this piece to every media outlet. We are about to start a movement to reclaim our democracy. My next piece will be the mailing list to all Canadian media including and most especially weeklies. With your help fellow patriots and defenders of the true north strong and free, we will have our Canada back!
With their 15 point margin last week, the campaign was looking like a runaway freight train for the Harper Conservatives. However, a number of new factors have diminished the Conservative lead, which is still comfortable, to 9 points.
First, Harper’s culture comments renewed BQ support in Quebec. Combine the Richardson comments related to immigrants causing crime and Harper’s comments asserting Dion wanted the economy to perform poorly and the gap narrowed from 15 to 9 points. These two comments represent a tenuous lifeline to the Liberal campaign.
We have to hammer these idiots mercilessly in the next couple of weeks.Dropping over six points over night is huge .
It says Canadians are paying attention an not ready to re=elect the all clown party .
Van obviously prefers a leader like Harper who welcomes candidates and elected M.P.’s who preach intolerance and hate towards gays, First Nations, and opponents. Say what you want–crocodile tears will suffice for forgiveness from your ethically, morally challenged leader, Steve.
I would be proud to have a man of such integrity as the leader of this country.
BY EDDY ON 09.28.08 6:30 PM
Ditto. I also caught Rex Murphy today. More than one person called in to complain about the media coverage.
M. Dion was FANTASTIC!
Happy Birthday M. Dion!!
By Dube on 09.28.08 6:51 pm
Gild or guild, the message is the same.
The CPC are a cult; one leader, many minions. I trust the electorate won’t give them the credibilty of a mainstream party.
I, too, hit the “say it” button to soon. Even after I’ve checked t many times, once it hits the post, I still find typo and grammatical errors.
The Bloc will win a majority of the seats in Quebec except Montreal where the Liberals will retain the seats they have as well as winning back Outremont .
By Men With Hats on 09.28.08 7:36 pm
You have a link cause I can’t find anything on these guys.
Thanks.
[Heh heh ... Lays the groundwork for a Thomas Mulcair re-election bid.]
By KOMMISSAR JACK on 09.28.08 12:07 pm
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/riding/225/ridingtalk.html?Authorized=1&AuthenticationKey=1_1_1e513bed-df07-4f8b-a8fd-c296d743da61.pakceabnbholai
I don’t think Judy Wasylycia-Leis, although a HIGHLY ACTIVE PARTICIPANT, at finance committee hearings, is going to like the deluge of questions she’s going to face in future.
In a very real sense, the government lied and the NDP gave it their blessing!
Tried posting “the package” a few times and its not getting through
Lil help!
I checked into your blog to see what is happening in the Liberal world.
It is good to hear that things are going well in your riding.
Here in London other than seeing signs you would not know if the Liberals are running a canadidate.
I see the Green Shift has been canned at least for the time being. If things keep going the way the news was reporting today nationally it looks like the NDP may be in Opposition. I also believe the cosy up to the green party backfired and it appears to me that the four parties on the left of centre are quickly moving to the centre and slightly right.
“. . . does not present a choice that I can relate to. It represents a group of leaders willing to say anything to get elected. . . .” C. B. Innes, 7:21 pm
Agreed on one point, slightly different view on the other.
I have stated that Sandy and I have chosen to vote Libs., to move our votes away from someone who will be lucky to receive 10% of the total (Greens).
That is one’s own freedom of choice — Strategic Voting.
As to the mud-slinging, etc., one can only hope that the backroom staff would see the great benefit of a leader to simply focus on the issues at hand, and not be bothered with the constant bickering and rhetoric surrounding his / her leadership skills.
This approach makes much better use of the six weeks’ preparation time, gives a great boost for any leader, as people would notice that that leader did not have to stoop to guttersnipe levels of other politicians.
There is not much time left, but Dion could do himself a world of good by focusing on what Libs. are offering, and let everyone else babble on.
For a taste of parties and candidates in another riding, here is Kady O’Malley live-blogging an all-candidates meeting in Ottawa Centre to-day – http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/09/28/searching-for-democracy-on-a-sunday-night-liveblogging-an-ottawa-centre-all-candidates-debate/#more-9716
Pay particular attention to the words and actions of the CPC candidate.
By Judy on 09.28.08 8:15 pm
Sorry Judy once you try to deflect the discussion by changing the topic you have lost the debate. Why didn’t you address the issue of Dion not informing his candidate that she had been fired. Good try but no cigar. It appears it didn’t occur to you that I was talking about Dion and not Harper.
I was talking about Dion and Liberals handling of the firing. They didn’t show good leadership skills in this case. That is a fact but since you didn’t address my comments directly I take it then you yourself wouldn’t mind for example being notified by a third party (the press) if you were fired by your company boss.
It appears that Dion with all his education and trying experience didn’t learn about proper conduct in firing people from management 101.
BGtw, I may not like the way Harper has acted either but at least he supports his candidates even when they say stupid things. Loyalty is a good thing. Dion on the other hand has not shown any in this particular case. Harper’s action reminds me of Liberal leaders of the past by the name of Chretien and Treaudeu. They supported their candidates and MPs in the same manner.
This was a piece I worked on around the 1st of September. I saved it and thought I’d share it with you all now because it has relavence. As you all know, the support for the Libs was high but what dropped that support? There was a break between Nanos polling and the rest for at least a week. Most didnt’ notice, but what did transpire was what followed the numbers that went contrary to Nano’s polls. The opinion pieces. The media stories. And as I aluded to earlier with big media wanting greater market share with the CBC gone, the motive to do so is there. Entertain yourselves with something I wrote oh… around September 1st.
Why is media paying bucks to pollsters for crap numbers? To sell news. To create news. To create stories where they otherwise might not exist. To generate an advertizing dollar. To, as it is easily enough found out by Can Wests lobbying of the CRTC, support the party that will give them greater market share of the industry and its as easy as switching the methodology of their polling.
All media needs is a party that has no principles that can be bought or pursuaded to loosen/tighen regs in favor of their own market expansion and we’ve got bias media is quick as that. Or maybe a political party with lots of corporate donors who will pay for the bias and media with no principles, takes it. Money is money after all…
Again, here are the numbers for all to see:
Angus Reid (online poll):
Cons 36%
Libs 28%
NDP 18%
Bloc 9%
Greens 8%
Source: Angus Reid Strategies / Toronto Star
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,012 Canadian adults, conducted on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent. (and I’m heavily disputing it as their methodology is hopelessly flawed)
Strategic Council (CTV tracking poll):
Cons 37%
Libs 29%
NDP 17%
Bloc 9%
Greens 8%
The national sample size is 1,000 people and the margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Results are based on tracking among a proportionate national sample of Canadians 18 years of age or older.
Keep in mind that nationally, both polls from Angus Reid and Strategic Council are predicting a national accuracy of + or – 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. (and I’m heavily disputing this accuracy as well due to tracking poll methodology)
So what does Nanos polls do differently? They cold call as opposed to Stratigic Councils tracking polls and Angus Reid’s online polls and here are the recent Nano’s polling results.
http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/polls/POLNAT-SU08-T315.pdf
Libs 35%
Cons 33%
NDP 17%
Bloc 8%
Greens 7%
Undecided 16%
And there are major differences between the pollsters not only in how they conduct their polls but in how they represent the numbers. Only the Nano’s poll gives the percentage of undecided voters.
Why is that?
And why is it that when looking back in the last election Nano’s was within .1% point of accuracy? And too, why was it that Nanos had Con support moving upward the last few days of the election by 4 points while Angus Reid had the Cons dropping 2 points and and Strategic Council had Cons support dropping a whopping 6 percentage points in the last few days and even so, Cons support end up 2 to 3 points higher than the election results? At one point with less than a week to go in the Jan 2006 fed election, there was a 12% spread between Nano’s and Strategic Council and both were claiming accuracy of between 3.1 and 3.4%, 19 times out of 20.
Disparencies like that aren’t exactly things that build confidence in polls. But…
Polls count. They can create a lemming effect, a false comfort to a party. People gauge their views against others as something to compare to and often, the opinions of others sways their own, its that true and if you all don’t think so, think again about what journalists and pundits have to say about the numbers, true or false.
Polls are also followed by countless opinion pieces based on those polls and folks, thats where the propagnanda comes in.
Having said this, there is only one pollster that I trust and its because Nanos polls uses the best method possible to conduct polls. Angus Reid will surely see the folly of their ways in terms of accuracy with their recent switch to online polling in the face of harsh criticisms to do so. Strategic Council tracking polls which phone up the same old blueblood for the same old numbers void of demographic standards. Only Nanos cold calls with demographic standards in place.
Maybe I’m reading too much into the major discrepancies of the three major pollsters… and then again, maybe not. Ontario polling needs to be the most accurate as its got 106 seats out of 308. The one province where the numbers are night and day with Nano’s polls compared to Angus/Strategic Council is Ontario.
In Ontario, Nanos polls have not seen the Libs dip below 40% support in a year and a half and folks, they are cold calling. The last Nanos poll had the Libs at 42% and the Cons at 29%. Angus Reid since switching from cold calls to online polling found numbers all over the place compared to Nanos:
The provincial breakdown shows the Grits with a
slight advantage in Ontario (37% to 34%), and
the NDP at 12 per cent. In Quebec, the Bloc is
barely ahead with 32 per cent, followed by the
Conservatives with their best showing of the
year (30%) and the Liberals as a distant third (19%). The Tories are also first in Alberta (51%), Manitoba
and Saskatchewan (53%), Atlantic Canada (38%), British Columbia (33%).
The one thing to note about Angus Ried polls as well is that nationally there isn’t much fluxuation but provinicially, they are all over the place.
Strategic Council is a whopping 12% or more apart consistently with Lib support (Strategic Council has the Libs consistently at 30% while Nanos has the Libs around 42% in Ontario) and Strategic Council has a current 12% spead with the Cons at 41% in Ontario… with tracking polls and Nanos has the Cons at 29%… with cold calls. Its a consistent 12% reversal with Lib/Con support between Nanos and Strategic Council.
When there is a consistent 12% spread between pollsters between two parties, it gets tough for the public to trust polls at all. Thats a 12% spread with Con support between Strategic Council and Nano’s polling. And a 12% spread between Liberal Ontario support between Nano’s and Strategic Council which leaves one final question. If polling is supposedly so inaccurate, why has Harper become the biggest PM spender by far in Canadian history on federal polling? (cold calls by the way) Because cold call polling can be trusted.
My precious longwinded point? Only one paid pollster is using methodology that can be trusted to work between the three pollsters and thats Nanos. The two pollsters that can’t be trusted have journalist/pundit spins put on their inaccurate numbers in the media that is highly mis-leading. I’m saying straight out that its a propaganda war out there with lies built on inferior polls and it might work. But then again… an informed electorate… it might not. Either way, accurate polls reveal Libs leading and gaining nationally so dig down, find the confidence its going to take to get an honest government in there with a legal election this time (even though this time Harper is still finding a way to break the rule of law) and by all means, DONATE and support the Libs for whats best for Canada and Canadians!
By Dube on 09.28.08 7:47 pm
Thanks for the link, Dube. Both of your posted links point to hour 1 of the program. Here is <hour 2, in which M. Dion very effectively answers caller questions.
There is only two legitimate questions for a pollster to ask .
“If you are going to vote who is your candidate and what party ”
All the rest is ,just,coloured bubbles .
Van: So you agree that Harper;s support of candidates that rant against gays, First Nations people, and immigrants of any ilk is a display of leadership? Is it any wonder the Conservative tent only has room for a chosen few with biased leadership like that.
Thank you everyone for the best wishes. It was a great day.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Either way, accurate polls reveal Libs leading and gaining nationally so dig down, find the confidence its going to take to get an honest government in there with a legal election this time (even though this time Harper is still finding a way to break the rule of law) and by all means, DONATE and support the Libs for whats best for Canada and Canadians!
By brain on 09.28.08 9:58 pm
Is this the article you want us to send out over the wires?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Saturday Night Spoof with Sarah Palin. Enjoy. There are reports that McCain’s melanoma is very serious. And Palin could become the so called ‘Leader of the Free World’ God, we’re in deep sh@it, if the Harper & the Repugs should ever attain power. We’ve already seen what Harper has done to this country. I read some of yesterday’s posts re McCain & his choice of Palin because Rove and Chainey are the controllers. I may not be able to express myself as well as others on this blog, but I see the light, or should I say I see the darkness.
By Go Green on 09.28.08 10:10 am
I am a retired nurse who worked in a cancer clinic. Melanoma is a sneaky, usually disastrous disease—no signs for 10 years then you get a lump in your armpit, your groin, or elsewhere and when biopsied, it shows recurrent melanoma that is very difficult to cure. Sadly for him, I think John McCain is a time bomb. He has beaten the disease twice I understand. Stress plays a part in cancer and I would think a presidential campaign is pretty stressful.
IMHO it will be disastrous for the US and the world if unfortunately the melanoma bomb goes off in the next four years with Sarah as the VP then becoming president.
Herb,
I really liked this entry; thanks for the laugh to start my day:
Dube,
thought some people would enjoy Kady’s report. I only know Megarry as a spokesman and perpetual candidate for this and that at the municipal level, but now he strikes me as the incarnation of the CPC spirit – sure of the cause, self-centred, and out of touch with the real world.
My problem is that I have to cast a vote for one of the others – and assign $1.75 a year to a political party until the next election.
If you want a good background of how Lisa Raitt has abused the waterfront and waterfront citizens go to this website.http://www.communityair.org/ .
Here is a youtube quick study on the problems othat Lisa has brought to the waterfront http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsDLSpawyrU
Neither Halton or Canada needs the services of Lisa Raitt. Her past performance as CEO of the Toronto is a warning to all that think that she is competent.
Honestly, I don’t see it as too much of a problem in your case. First off, I see that you have Paul Dewar as your current representative. While I think the NDP is out to lunch on the business side of the ledger and think Layton is a joke, I have liked some of the things I’ve read Dewar championing. So if you find yourself holding your nose because of his party, at least you get a good MP out the deal.
I don’t know much about the others running (although from O’Malley’s piece at least, I found the Marijuana guy to be entertaining and maybe not that spaced-out on some issues), but if you were to choose Liberal, I personally find Dion to be quite ethical and heading down a path I support — a grass roots choice who is bucking against the back-room boys like Kinsella and Ledrew, unlike Harper who has embraced all of the trappings of the back room in a big way. I didn’t get to here Dion on Cross Country Checkup yesterday so downloaded it my MP3 player today, listened when I got a moment, and was quite impressed by his explanations and criticisms of Harper. Give a listen if you haven’t already:
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/checkup_20080928_7852.mp3
And if you choose Green, Elizabeth May is at least someone who is worthy of respect (although I think the party’s plan is a bit too radical).
Personally, I’ll be voting strategically to get one less Conservative seat — in my case that means Liberal – and I’m delighted because I genuinely do like Dion. It’ll mean that for the first time in a long time that I’ll be voting for someone whom I really want to vote for, rather than voting for someone because he isn’t the guy I don’t like.
Dube,
wish it were that simple. Dewar has grown into the MP role, and should retain his seat (wave of sympathy after his mother’s death won’t hurt.) So it’s not a question of denying the CPC a seat. However, Layton’s personality cult has turned me right off the NDP, and I would hate to support him with $1.75 a year for four years.
The problem I have with Collenette is the same one I had with Marjorie Lebreton: service as a PM’s maitre d’ at the public trough (Appointments Director/Secretary). That marks her as party functionary and takes her out of the category of people I would like to see as MPs. Collenette no doubt would be effective in House and Party because she knows the ropes, but I would expect her to look after Party and ambition first. (The Liberals must consider Ottawa Centre as a launching pad for functionaries, since they had another “insider” running unsuccessfully in the previous two elections. Maybe a regular Joe might win.)
My secret agenda remains to “erase the disgrace”. After that, it’s who do I really want to support for the electoral period, and here it’s iffy. Layton is out. I like Dion, but the Liberals are still on probation in my books. I also like May, but the Greens are uncharted waters. I probably won’t make up my mind until staring at the ballot in the booth.
Herb,
If it comes down to non-of-the-above wasted protest vote, then go for the guy who’s party gives meaning to “wasted”. I saw the videos that Pyotr posted on the thread that was posted 2 later than this one, and he was actually quite good. Must have quite the network of synapses because i witnessed no apparent side-effects.
Dube,
having watched all four clips linked to by Pyotr, I like that wellspoken and knowledgeable rebel too, BUT I have a problem with guerilla operations in an all-candidates meeting.
I have been to political meetings where single-issue and fringe speakers laid waste to real discussion and understanding. Now a video camera and youtube open new possibilities of hijacking meetings and maumauing your opposition. Presenting only your side and making the other candidates appear to sit there like tongue-tied idiots is not my idea of digital democracy either, so no support for the pot smokers from me.