calmecam

A member since October 03, 2007 17:39

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Comment History

Liberal Green Shift - High Risk and Potentially High Reward (Video Blog Post) (2008-06-23)

• Hi Nik: I agree with your assessment except for one thing. You say: "...but what we do know is that the political focus will be on Stephane Dion and th...
• Part 2 -- The Final Analysis: We're currently witnessing a quasi-total reversal of the last election when Harper, very smartly, just steadily went about h...
• Methinks me recall reading this exact same post on a CBC thread... lol
• Wow! I can't believe how many posts accumulate on the CBC threads!! Some of the discussions have nearly 600 entries! I got buggy-eyed trying to sift th...
• larryl: The words I chose were "exact same post" (and not "exact same ideas"). There is a reason for which I chose the words I do. When I say "exact same"...
• parnel: I also agree that it is a bit about nibbling votes away from (especially) the NDP and possibly the Greens. I think it is more the NDP than the ...
• hollinm: Define "significantly". Given that the Green Party's plan which calls for an immediate $50/tonne carbon, and they would put it on gas, would r...
• What happens when the emission levels go up (as you know they will) under Harper's Totally Groovy Aspirational Target Intensity-Reduced Super Cool Save the O...
• Well parnel, we are halfway there! Even though the US economy is in shambles, the US has yet to record a single month of economic contraction. The housing...
• I love it when the Conservatives trot out terms such as "NEP" and "it's a tax grab not a tax shift". Follow the money... The Conservative Tax Shift, Pa...
• RE: "By the way the Conservative plan has not been fully disclosed at this point so we will see how well Dion in his mangled English competes with Harper in ...
• RE Russell McOrmond: "Why does Canada always have to be behind other parts of the world? Why it it seen as too soon for Canada to be late?" We had to spen...
• Tom Good: If "during" an energy crisis, when the point is being driven home to us and to our wallets that energy IS expensvive, is not a good time to do s...
• hollinm: Your points SO don't even begin to hold water, I already know I'll need more than one window to respond. RE: "Liberals can say that they will not...
• Part 2: RE: "The full environmental plan for the Conservatives will be unveiled in the Fall..." All this time we've been told they were taking "real ac...
• No, the NDP shouldn't roll over, but they also should stick to their principles. Harper and the Conservatives aren't any more likely to put their support ...
• I agree with Non-Alligned: Just because parties such as the NDP, Bloc or Greens may not be predicted to be the government anywhere in the near future does...
• RE: "Of course without threats to oil production in the middle east the price would return to reasonable levels." Reality check time! What with the rea...
• Yes I will continue to vote Anything But Conservative (including Liberal) because based on my (admittedly limited) knowledge of world and Canadian politics, ...
• Repeatedly typing the words "feckless leader" as they pertain to Dion in your posts doesn't do a thing to convince me that the Conservative plan for GHG redu...
• Sadly, yes! When hollinm tries to come up with a cogent argument, I end up painting him into a corner. This is what he's been reduced to. Sad isn't it?
• RE: "When the oil boom ends again they will blame the east and all the immigrants will be happy to join the U.S. since they have no loyalty to Canada." Ye...
• Actually, it is not so much central government the CPC wants to destroy as it is every single Canadian institution that could provide a check, balance or con...
• Tom: Your complaint was about timing. I reminded you that we didn't take action when we were rolling in money. We certainly won't take action after this e...
• You forgot the locusts.
• We could live in fear of having a spike in energy rates so they'd be SO high that we'd be on par with Signapore and California.... OR We could pick up ...
• Tom Good: I'm not so doe-eyed as to believe Dion (or anyone) has ALL the solutions, but I also happen to be of the belief that whether the sky is falling ...
• Feeble attempt at humour? Ouch! I thought it was rather inspired myself... but then again, I'm admittedly biased on the matter. I don't know what to...
• We do have something similar to Rock the Vote here already, but it is obviously not as well financed. Muchmusic and MusiquePlus took the lead on that a few e...
• I agree, in general, with the posts about US voting. When the whole "hanging chad" thing started, at first I wondered: "Who is Chad and HOW did he pregnan...
• RE: "You say in your next comment that too many think the environment is an either this or that consideration----neither I nor most who write on this blog, s...
• larryl: I've done no such thing! I compared the US voting process to the Canadian one and showed where and how the US process does not allow them to sa...
• In your last 4 posts on this thread you've raised the spector of: 1) Speculators and ONLY speculators having an impact on the price of oil to the exclusio...
• RE: "My post said you "almost" admitted elections can be rigged" Yes it did. But everything that follows depends on what you mean by the word "can". ...
• larryl: My writing is hardly ambigious. You are making extra special efforts to go out of your way to understand what I write in a different manner than w...
• larryl: RE: "It is quite possible that I have misconstrued some of your comments but you will not admit that some of the things I said were even a remote ...
• Ummm... Thanks for the compliment! I enjoy debating you as well. When we stay on topic, that is. (lol) I agree (oops, there I go again admitting you ha...
• RE: "I, for one, do not think I should be punished with a higher tax burden for living in my country." I agree with you on this Tom. However when it co...

The Bernier Resignation - Is it more than political "eye candy"? (Video Blog Post) (2008-05-30)

• It is true to no PM has a crystal ball, but as you yourself stated previously: "Having said that the Bernier affair should have been dealt with more quickly ...
• Exactly westerner! Because a woman who was once married to a member of a biker gang who winds up dating a Cabinet Minister isn't attention-grabbing on its...
• Sorry to inform you that the four exclamation points after your statement won't be enough to make it so, westerner. This one's got legs. Sure, we won't...
• Well MRM, in your world they might... But given that the last federal election campaign was about two years ago and EC has already evaluated the expenses...
• Ummm. Iggy and Rae have been best of friends for years. They were even roommates back in their university days. http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content...
• gerry l You forgot: C) Harper commits Italian military to a revised NATO mission on behalf of Berlusconi
• Ummm Tom: Whether the citizens of other countries pay attention to Canada's internal politics is a total non-issue. They can't vote in our elections just ...
• The Liberals are anti-Israel!??
• See everybody! This is exactly what I mean when I call some of the people on this list "sophists". I said the story has legs, but westerner takes only ...
• While I agree that a "one-man show government", "the bench is not deep", and "Cabinet is always changing" narratives are very real potential consequences, I ...
• I love how the anti-Dions on the list keep on saying "one trick pony" and "not a leader". May I remind you all that following the referendum, Dion pretty ...
• ...and last but not least, westerner confirms this weakness via the good old fashioned personal attack, the last resort of someone who's been debated into a ...
• Nah dude, that would be giving the Conservatives exactly what they want: A chance to go to the electorate BEFORE the courts rule on the in-and-out scheme, an...
• I fully agree Tom! It is so nice to be able to have a civil exchange of ideas with someone who doesn't necessarily share my perspective all of the time bu...
• It was parnel, for that... and other reasons (it always provokes a chuckle when someone acts as if repeating something or saying it louder somehow makes it so).
• Better to have two tricks than to be a trickster.
• If memory serves, some Reformers also suggested the rest of Canada have a referendum on whether to kick Quebec out, and yet others wanted to firewall Alberta...
• And more, because you gave me SO much to comment on... RE: Carbon-tax Isn't funny how in some posts the pro-Cons complain Dion didn't present a real pl...
• "Whatever!" -- The ultimate expresssion of maturity, intelligence, and emotional composure of bubble gum popping valley girls who are inspired by Britney an...
• And JUST HOW is this is different from rabid Conservatives (thank Goddess that there still are some PCs and Red Tories out there to help with gene pool) call...
• hollinm: This is now at least the 12th time I've told you on this forum that I am not a Liberal, but you've just proven my point that you believe that if ...
• RE: He's doing nothing for the economy? Where is your argument that he is destroying the economy with his actions. How about this! The first quarter o...
• Again hollinm, I agree with everything you say about the communications strategy. The Liberals did deny, deflect and defend when it came to Adscam. But th...
• Let's not forget: 1) What role did Doug Finlay and John Reynolds play in the Ottawa Mayoral Race attempt to induce Terry Kilrea to drop out of the race in...
• Even though hollinm has not yet completely mastered practicing what he preaches -- He did call me "arrogant" earlier on, and did offer only "Whatever!" as a ...
• MRM: You seem to not be able to grasp the diffence between a tax shift and a tax increase. A tax increase, as you correctly claim, can't be neutral, but a...
• Thank you rsharp Yes it is hard, but if we are going to start to get anywhere in this country we need to stop yelling at each other, calling each other cr...
• Oh parnel, I'm not saying you shouldn't taunt them. Heavens no! LOL If one is willful in their stupidity, they deserve every taunt they have coming to the...
• And yet another personal insult. It's almost compulsive with you isn't it? Wait a minute! Could it be? MRM, you wouldn't happen to be Steve Harper hims...
• When the Conservatives bought the ads they spent their own money. Once spent it was gone from their bank account. Any money involved after that fact is NO...
• Fantastic! Now let's explore how they apply to Harper 1 : lacking in fitness or aptitude : unfit Well considering that an Italian ...
• And the Conservatives despite having almost three years to show they can do a better job can't move up in the polls with Harper. What gives? The Libs were...
• LEDA This is not a Liberal or Conservative thing. This is a question of either you obey the law or you don't. When you are a political party charged w...
• No MRM, by my logic, you can only compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges. The pollsters didn't ask Canadians how satisfied they were with the Lib...
• EC originally considered these mere spending irregularities and simply refused to refund them. End of story. But Harper had to be petty and vindictive. ...
• MRM: For once, we fully agree! I applaud you!
• RE: " lets stop the bickering and find out what our corrupt politicians of all stripes are doing to us." Hear! Hear!
• My word MRM, you're getting so shrill that you are making this way too easy for me. It is merely sport now, but here we go 1) Yes, but I'm sure that t...
• Nik: I've thought about it more and I think that the possible answer to your question is as follows: We don't know yet if it is more than eye-candy, bu...
• RE: "I don't how I gave you the impression that I don't love a sexy titillating story like the next person. Love those pictures." That was actually very f...
• MRM: Just so you know, I am perfectly OK with some gentle ribbing (wink! wink! nudge! nudge!), some taunting in jest, and witticism. I love a good laug...
• MRM: In the spirit of gentle ribbing... I never thought YOU'D consider it an attack to be mistaken for Stephen Harper ;-) I agree with raising the leve...
• Hey parnel, How 'bout joining us in our little détente room? It is starting to get cozy in here. :-)
• parnel: Technically speaking, being überflexible in your interpretations of facts makes one specious, spurious, intellectually dishonest and/or an opportu...
• When it's not followed by anything else, I agree. ;-)
• Whoa! That's a pretty big and serious allegation you're making there!!! Elections Canada is a non-partisan organization reknowned across the world for...
• It had nothing to do with Bernier's family. I simply had agreed that MRM had called you a bigot and not a racist, that your comments about the French had ...
• Ummm... I think westerner was speaking of you parnel. You might need to take a step back, and a deep breath, to see the forest. I respectfully submit that...
• For clarity's sake rsharp, when I speak of taunting, I mean gentle ribbing and things of the like that are supposed to be in jest and in good fun... like bac...
• Umm no MRM, that is not what I said (and you know it). What I said it that this would have never happened had the Conservatives not engaged in a legal pro...
• MRM... you need to apply your very words to your statement that EC is biased against the Conservatives. Can you prove it? As I explained above, the "vi...
• Trust me larryl, I know the meaning of the word bigot. I've been on the receiving side of bigotry many times. I know what it looks like. Also, for the sak...
• Now this, I can agree with 100% :-)
• LMAO!!! MRM, you are hilarious. I'm actually slowly becoming a fan! What's happening to meeeeeeeeeee!?
• Actually, since some of us agreed to détente, MRM has proven to be a worthy debate opponent, and to have a pretty killer sense of humour too! You might wa...
• I agree that some people are odious, but it is also true that certain environments provoke people to be odious. I remember reading about an experiment in ...
• RE: "But to spin this into stealing an election is way over the top." Maybe and maybe not. Truth is, we'll never know just how much influence buying ab...
• RE: David Frum I read the piece, but I don't agree with his view, though he defends it eloquently. He bases his argument that spending limits on nation...
• I posted this above, but am doing it again here as it directly relates... I read the David Frum piece, but I don't agree with his view, though he defends ...
• 1) Of course my comments on this one were speculation. I admitted as much when I stated "Maybe there is nothing there..." That said MRM, even YOU aren't so n...
• Nik: Now that about a week has gone by, I'm pretty sure this is no longer eye-candy. The Conservatives, and Harper especially, have been pretty much un...
• My post should have ended with: "The world is having a giggle fit!"
• Hi rsharp: Was that on radio or on TV? Either way, could you tell when/where I can listen to it. I always enjoy listening to what he has to say, even when...
• Good moring to you as well, larryl: You make a valid point. Looking at the info you provided, it is true that the strange ordering of the posts made it...
• Laughing My A** Off
• larryl: If you read MRM's posts SINCE some of us here have agreed to a little détente and raising of the debate bar, even though MRM is on the Conservativ...
• I believe it was a change in campaign financing rules brought in by the Chrétien government right before JC headed for the golf course designed to take big m...
• lol -- Like I said... sometimes it is so easy, I only take the time to respond for sport. One has to keep their debating skills sharpened after all :-) Th...
• Have safe travels wherever they may take you MRM Of course I would read Frum's article. I have no problem exposing myself to views that are different from...
• MRM Given that above you tempered your statement about "Liberal appointees" by admitting you were speaking of EC staff in general, and then by saying that...
• Good! ;-)
• Ah! A double-entendre... lovin' it!
• Yeah right hollinm: That is EXACTLY what I do. About the worst thing I've called Mr Harper is "the Prime Mismanager". Oooh, real insulting. In my ...
• Thanks!
• I agree with your statement 100%. How hateful of me.
• MRM: It's kind of hard to NOT say that you are intentionally misquoting me when your "understanding" of my post is that I share your view EC is targetting...
• larryl: No JC changed the entire structure. Before those rules there did not exist an annual stipend based on votes obtained in the last election. T...
• MRM: I promised I would not launch personal attacks or call you names. I never promised: 1) To not call you out on mistatements, leaps of logic, erro...
• Now back to your points... 1) & 2) Agreed 3) All of what you say is true but it omits two very important elements. The funds had been committed. Nobody...
• I think it was a decision made by a group of people here, of which I am one. MRM and rsharp were also part of it.
• Hear! Hear! Ms McDonough contributed enormously to our country, and all the while remained a Lady. More people of her integrity, devotion to constituen...
• LOL larryl: I'd have loved to have been a political speechwriter, but alas, I'm but a self-employed translator. However, if you know of any openings......
• The structure for stipends didn't exist, but there was an existing structure for political party financing. The stipend replaced big corporate/private donati...
• The UN??!! Surely you grossly overestimate my capabilities! But thanks for the compliment ...unless you're trying to get me out of the country (lol)
• hollinm I'm sorry to have assumed that all the points were addressed to me but given that the word "parnel" did not appear once in your post and that the ...
• parnel: How does allowing one candidate in a riding who would have access to unlimited amounts of money to make use of that money make the riding MORE com...
• hollinm Me too! The "how hateful of me", was a little inside joke to the people in the forum who believe that anyone who says anything remotely critica...
• I have to somewhat agree with parnel on this one. Before I had even seen Mulcair's face on TV during the by-election, the general consensus in the media w...
• rsharp: The Lib strategy is to treat every confidence vote for which they show up in small numbers as a "marker" to tell Canadians where they stand. Th...
• parnel: I didn't say the Liberals had trouble raising money at all. I said that they had more trouble than the Conservatives in raising large volumes ...
• rsharp: As has been the case in Canada since forever, some media and pollsters have a more Liberal editorial slant, others a Conservative slant, and some ...
• I had never thought of that! Interesting... Thanks for the compliment. Much appreciated.
• hollinm: Bygones! ...and thanks! :-) "Sometimes we all get carried away with our verbiage and, as they say, forget the internet can be very unforgiving...

The Economy - Political Opportunity and Minefield (2008-05-26)

• RE: "Truth be known he may want to go outside of his elected MPs to hire people for cabinet who feels has more competency than those elected. Can you imagine...
• Dear MRM: Please indulge me in requesting your assistance to correctly understand some of your recent posts... According to you, from what I read above...
• Flaherty won't be around to deliver the next budget. He's trying to high-tail it out of Finance ASAP so that he is not in office when the economic numbers...
• If the Liberals were in office, had introduced a new income trust taxing regime, and grandfathered existing trusts, at least there would have been a structur...
• Because this just above was not a response (nor you trying to get the last word in) -- lol
• Well of course it is about what is best for the Liberal Party, and why shouldn't it be in this particular case? Harper, the alleged brilliant strategist, ...
• Well of course Couillard's story is not believable! But neither is Bernier's or Harper's.They are all lying!! The document was at her place for FIVE whole...
• The rumour mill says that Flaherty -- a man who proved while he was at Finance in the Harris gov't that he couldn't tell the difference between a surplus and...
• Or as Green Party leader Elizabeth May has stated... How odd that Jack Layton of the NDP would NOT consider a carbon tax as part of the environmental solutio...
• I fully agree rsharp! The Conservatives still believe that "leadership" will be the issue in the next election, but the main issue will be "leadership sty...
• Oh hollinm! I wish you had respected your previous promise to me to "never" respond to one of my posts again. I think it came after I had debated you int...
• I have to agree with supper on this one. But for clarity's sake supper, hollinm doesn't make stuff up, he is what we call a sophist (person who's reasonin...
• Thanks parnel. Your comments and compliments are much appreciated.
• You raise some very good points. I will go check out the full plan. Thanks for the tip.
• larryl: I did said that Harper, Bernier, AND Couillard were lying, but I didn't say that everything they said was a lie. Everything coming out of their...

Election fraught with risks - Nanos Ballot - Lib 33, Con 31, NDP 19, BQ 10, GP 8 (2008-02-08)

• Sadly, all of us as Canadians pay, but not only in terms of money. Our political system has been infected with American-style hyper-partisanship, and as such...
• You've got it SO right when you say: "We are all fed-up with the old rhetoric". Of all our current party leaders, Dion is the one who is the most like Oba...
• Your comment about calling this new band of Conservatives "Tories" is bang on! I've been writing to the media for two years asking hosts and journalists t...
• Hi Blossom! When you asked: "Where is Mr. Harper these days?", it provoked a chuckle. I remember hearing a story that he was going to Quebec City for C...
• Gordo: I too saw Mr Prentice's pathetic performance on Question Period... and good on the interviewer for calling him out on his evasiveness. Mr Prenti...
• Blossom: Those of mediocre minds will always label as a rambler a person who not only can actually substantiate their views with facts, statistics, and ex...
• Hi Mike: Not to mention the dealying tactics on the future of Afghanistan. First passing the buck to a panel for months upon months, then not taking ac...
• Hollinm: Actions speak louder than words. 1) Why the is man who couldn't tell the difference between a surplus and a deficit in Ontario holding the cou...
• I agreed with your post fully until your final paragraph. PM Harper might have been a decisive leader... you really can't say that anymore given that a fe...
• Not so quick Gordo... LOL! The Conservatives conveniently forget that the GG has the option of asking Mr. Dion whether he can form a functioning governeme...
• Yes we do... we test-ran Martin, and we test-ran your beloved Harper. Why do you think they only got a minorities the first-time 'round?
• Oh ye who art devoid of faith!
• Harper himself might not be an ideologue, but his party is heavily funded by hyper right-wing, Neo-con, and Evangelical ideologue and as such, he's trying to...
• I have to agree on this one. Harper's repeated bashing of and dismissiveness of Ontario is quite a head-scratcher considering how badly he wants that majo...
• Hollinm: I think if the choice is between who Canadians most want to see defeated, the answer is clearly Harper. Harper might be viewed as the better l...
• Hollinm: If the choice is between the Bloc winning Quebec and Harper winning a majority, even I'd vote for the Bloc!!! I don't agree with any of Mr. Du...
• Blossom: Never propose a truce to an ideologue. It is equivalent to Chamberlain's "peace at any cost". Ideologues don't live in a little place the res...
• Hollinm: Saying that could counter every point made doesn't say much. So could a sophist... and sophistry is something at which you've proven quite adept....
• I agree! All the politicians are saying that "nobody wants to go to an election on the Afghanistan issue". I don't know who they're speaking of but it ...
• Thanks for your comment Tom! I have a slightly different perspective. I think that the Conservatives will run an American Republic-style dirty campaig...
• Hi Mike! But it is pretty much too late to secure an official NATO-approved mechanism for proper troop rotation before an election. Mr Harper was very ...
• Hollinm: I know you think highly of yourself, but you are NOT the only financial supporter of the Conservatives. As far as proving it, which other part...
• That is where you are 100% wrong! Stephen Harper made many decisions with which I agree. Among them: The establishment of the mental health panel, the cho...
• Yes, because Mr Dion couldn't have possibly meant that NATO through its forces could contribute something meaningful to the solution, such as supply more man...
• Oh... and when the substance of your reply is more about my person (or yours for that matter) than about the actual arguments I raised, it is a sign that you...
• Nik: I agree with most of your assessment and I believe I can explain why there is election buzz in the air when the numbers don't seem great for the Libe...
• Blossom: With all due respect, I think that the cost of an election (about $300 - 400 million) is totally negligeable when compared to the costs of allowi...
• Media litteracy 101 would say that if read between the lines, Obama clearly infers the race issue. "Yes we can!", "They said it couldn't be done", and "Chang...
• You are welcome for the memories, except that I goofed (lol)... The term I ment to use was "braying". My apologies to all horses, and horse-lovers ever...
• Blossom: I have to say that you are more optimistic than I am about the possibility of a Liberal majority at this time. A minority is only 50/50 in my boo...
• Thanks, Blossom! But if we're playing "I'll take Where Are They Now? for $600, Alex!", the answer would be "John Baird".
• Hi Gordo: For some reason the RSS feed about this new subject didn't come to my inbox. It was only when I saw Nik on CTV that the bell rang in my head tha...
• I. too, am very much enjoying being able to discuss ideas without being called all kinds of names, and having my intelligence insulted at every turn. Like...
• Exactly like it did in the Quebec elections Hollinm. How nice for you to acknowledge and admit publicly that Canadians got nothing for the almost $4 bill...
• Hollinm: You always ask others to supply proof to support their statements, but you never provide any of your own. On this particular argument, all you...
• Hollinm: 1) Someone who is PM material shouldn't be making the mistake of opting for partisanship in a time of war when statesmanship is what is required....
• Finally a statement with which I agree: "parties are supposed to be big tents". It is too bad that PM Harper's tent has no room for Sikhs, Muslims, gays, ...
• Your position on the matters on which you are correct -- because you have made some pretty brilliant points in these discussions and have even shown that you...
• Hollinm: There you go again making the argument about me personally rather than about my point. Man, you do like to get personal and go for the jugular wh...
• Don't hold me responsible for the fact you can't deal with the reality that your beloved fearless leader is divisive and practices wedge politics. Don Mar...
• Gordo: Both your previous posts are bang on! Yet, both the posts take wildly different perspectives. This is the major source of Dion's confusion -- a...
• Hi SaskKen! Thanks for your compliments. They are much appreciated. I actually believe that there are HUGE differences between the Conservative and Lib...
• Nik: Do you think that there could be an Obama-effect from the current US political race here in Canada? The Reformers/Conservatives and Liberals have ...
• Tom: Your assessment is entirely plausible, though I try not to think about that particular outcome too much. It would keep me up at night -- lol (not rea...

Too many election risks (2008-01-22)

• I agree that the political environment is much too risky for someone with PM Harper's penchant for "message discipline and issue control" (I'd have said "bei...
• Now that Harper's been trotting around Quebec with Dumont (who is unpopular as he's perceived as a weathervane because he goes as the wind blows) and calling...
• Oh snap! -- LOL
• Hear! Hear! ...and the lack of meaningful consenquences for illegal and/or unethical behaviours, as well as the utter lack of accountability for actions/d...
• 1. Any economist worth their salt will tell you that given the choice between a regressive tax cut (cutting consumption taxes such as the GST) and a progress...
• AECL and the Nuclear Safety Commission may have bureaucratic wars between them (much like CSIS and the RCMP do come to think of it) which lead to stupid infi...
• I agree with everything you say. One thing though with regard to the economy. Everyone in the world get caught flat-footed by this correction even though ...
• LOL! Firing Linda Keen was the best decision in the last 15 years?? Seriously!? Talk about setting expectations waaaaaay low and then using a sledgeha...
• I checked out the link. If this is true and given the panel was paid for their time to do this work, I'm left with one question: Wasn't paying for work th...
• Breaking bread with her legal team, happily discussing the lovely lawsuit for wrongful dismissal (and possibly libel and/or slander) she'll soon drop on the ...
• Why is it that everyone who is supportive of PM Harper assumes that everyone who does not agree with them is partisan? Must be something in the water. Fo...
• Of course there is not YET lawsuit against the Conservatives -- or on "the Government", as you semantically claim, but if I remember correctly, the current g...
• You did, in fact, acknowledge that there was blame to go around on the issue, but NOT for "everyone" as you now claim. If you re-read your post, it very clea...
• Bernier, I fully agree with your assessment of the leadership factor in this decision, and the lazy job the media by lobbing soft ones at those who come to p...
• 1) May is more in love with Dion personally than with "her Liberals", otherwise she'd have joined the party officially. It's subtle, I know, but it matters t...
• Thank you Gordo05! Your kind compliment is very much appreciated.
• There you go with seeing Liberals hiding everywhere in the shadows again, Canuck! In case you didn't notice Canuck, Linda Keen is still a member of the ...
• Ah! Now I see! You don't have a problem with Liberal lame ducks who "do no perform for what they are getting paid"... You have a problem with women, perio...
• Canuck, you're obviously not interested in presenting a plausible alternative point of view with factual substance. Since you're not debating with me, I'm no...
• I agree that the interventionist nature of this government is worrisome. I saw Mr. Dion's recent interview on Mansbridge One on One and found he held his ...
• Looking back at your previous post, your point about Pelletier was that him launching a wrongful dismissal suit was useless because he ultimately did not get...
• (Gasp!) Hollinm, are you saying that "the nutty professor" actually got it right when he listened to Canadians and chose to abstain rather than sending us in...
• Well, if Manley didn't bother to find out what was and wasn't done by the PM and the government on the file, then I'd say the report isn't worth the paper up...
• Hollinm, you keep saying that you stick with the Conservatives "warts and all", in part because Dion and the Liberals are not yet ready to govern. For som...
• I think if we're down to debating the terms "demoted from the CEO position" and "fired from the CEO position", we're spitting hairs. Yes, she is still a memb...
• How on Earth could PM Harper (or any other member of Cabinet who is responsible for some aspect of our contribution to Afghanistan for that matter) meeting w...
• At last we fully agree on something! :-) I too agree that it is good we can keep a sense of humour and debate like adults. Uunlike one particular poste...
• a) Court cases: I didn't accuse them of doing these things, I said that they were in court for these things. I think that you can agree that I did say this a...
• Don't get me wrong, I'm quite aware that I live in the real world. I don't expect perfection, but I do expect an elected official to be able to say: "I'm sor...
• Oh puh-lease! I don't need a photo of Minister Bernier in a meeting being briefed by the military about the change in procedure... It is a fact that Gener...
• I make up my own mind and come up with my own opinions, thank you very much. I don't require pundits to think for me. You also always speak of "proof" and...
• LOL! Truer words have never been written. No matter what your political stripe is, I agree, it is headaches all around.
• Thank you Nik. It really was getting to be a BIT much.
• I have to agree to a great extent. I, however, think that there is a reason for the seemingly pathological nature of the lying: pathological pride. PM ...
• I have to agree. I think there might be a good old-fashioned rope-a-dope going on. If PM Harper's leadership style and refusal to admit error is, in fa...
• Yes Bernie, I do hate it when they use such flimsy arguments. It makes me feel as if my intelligence, as well as those of my fellow citizens, is being rightl...
• What bothers me even more is that they've been caught in a bold-face lie (something that can't even be passed off as having "misspoken" or having made a mist...
• You are bang on! Ms Keen was hired by PSAC back in 1986 when Brian Mulroney was PM and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was the government. O...
• Today was the first day we got to see how the Conservatives were going to handle the explosive Afghan detainee issue in the House of Commons and it seems tha...
• I've stated it before Gordo05, if someone if your household was exhibiting similar paranoid behaviour to that of PM Harper and the Conservatives, you'd likel...

Latest Nanos Poll - Federal Deadlock - Tories 35, Grits 34, NDP 17, Bloc 9, Green 6 (2007-11-14)

• Nathan B, you make some very astute points. I looked at the responses from the SES poll on what people like/dislike about Harper and Dion and frankly, the...
• parnel, I'm not sure that your assessment about the Liberal brand in Quebec is correct. It is quite tarnished indeed, and I think this might be a generationa...
• A very good assessment, in my view, Tom Good! Harper IS undoubtedly a strong party leader and the entire face of his party. Unfortunately, he's not a stat...
• ...add to that that some of the past candidates affected by the "in-and-out" scheme are speaking out. One even recently joined the Greens (who Canadians will...
• The results for the question of "who would make the best PM?" is always one that is skewed because, no matter who the PM is (with rare exceptions such as at ...
• I agree, Alison! Given that the Conservatives are SO strong in Alberta, it would provide more clarity to see just how much the voter base in that one prov...
• Hear! Hear! We need a leader with some vision. Someone who can paint us a picture of some lofty, long-term, heights we can achieve if we all pull together...
• I think Canadians are starting to realize that any warm fuzzy feelings they felt toward our good old fashioned Progressive Conservatives (where Red Tories we...
• Again, I fully concur, Tom Good. Dion definitely is not a neophyte and particularly, with the example of Martin who preceded him, he shouldn't be making t...
• I have no doubt that he's getting some grassroots action going again, and you are correct in stating whether it'll be enough in time for the election is THE ...
• Thank you for your kind compliments about my post, mar. I have to extend them to you in return. You are correct in stating Dion's major weaknesses as bein...
• I agree. The more I hear about the consensus model our Northern territories use, the more I like it. No political parties, just individuals. What a con...

Speech from the Throne - Tories Continue "Leadership" Narrative (2007-10-17)

• I very much agree with your comments Hal, and fortunately Mr, Dion was able to get the vote to pass and he was pretty crafty in the way he went about it as w...
• I agree with what you say, slavitch, about simply standing out of the way while your opponent self-destructs. Strategically, it would be foolish to draw atte...
• I'm confused about that too! Ipsos-Reid has the Conservatives with a 12 point lead, the G&M/CTV poll has the Conservatives with a 5 point lead, and Enviro...
• The thing is that PM Harper had it pretty easy on the "leadership" issue. PM Chrétien was always viewed more as a competent manager than a leader (his lit...
• Alfee, respectfully, I put it to you that given PM Harper's penchant for playing with words (aspirational targets, intensity reduction, consensus, clean air)...
• The Speech from the Throne did not say that Kyoto was "unrealistic" and "unattainable", The Speech from the Throne said that it was impossible to reach th...
• Thank you for the compliment and yet another example of the difference between the two. If Dion could convince Casey to come over to the Liberals, he could h...
• Regardless of political stripe, I think it is a tad disingenuous to say that Mr Dion is causing his own destruction. Is Mr Dion not a natural politician a...
• I agree with you that PM Harper has made a very big strategic mistake in that he has ceded to Mr Dion the luxury of deciding when the Conservatives will be b...
• There was a time when Steven Harper's leadership capabilities were rated as high as Stephane Dion's are now... and look at Stevie now!
• But the thing is that PM Harper would NEVER go to the GG to ask for an election and everyone knows it. Doing so would make him look like a "sook" who went...
• I agree fully with this comment, parnell. If PM Harper would putting into place good policy rather than simply being politically expedient, he would have ...
• The issue isn't the content of the bill, it is the way PM Harper went about doing his job. In politics, the manner in which you get the work done matters jus...
• Methinks you've ONLY been looking at the Ipsos-Reid poll that has the Conservatives 12 points ahead of the Liberals. Environics and G&M/CTV has the spread...
• Yep... like I thought... you ONLY looked at Ipsos-Reid. How nice to feel safe in putting all your eggs in one basket! Regardless of political stripe, i...
• I agree this is the narrative the Conservatives would like to see, but the problem with the strategy is that it is retail-politics: the creation of the "appe...
• Really? Wow! Thanks for clearing that up. I thought that given the potential influence of polls on the media and the public that there was, in law, a m...
• Ton anglais est fantastique, mon ami ! :-) French is my second language, so I can fully empathize with you. I agree that the media has been doing a ver...