Does Chretien Want to lead the Liberals Again?

[M.Dancer]

Chretien was seen on his way to his downtown Ottawa office, but when asked about the coalition talks he feigned an inability to understand English.

“Je ne comprends pas anglais,” he said.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008...28/7565901.html

I ham sorry I deed not ear that keshtin, coode you repeet that keshtin?

[DrGreenthumb]

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008...28/7565901.html

I ham sorry I deed not ear that keshtin, coode you repeet that keshtin?

That'd be cool if Cretien came back, I'd even quit the NDP and vote 4 him.

[August1991]

This news report, if true, only shows how foolish and egotistical Jean Chretien and the federal Liberal Party are.

Stephen Harper is making fun of them all.

[jdobbin]

This news report, if true, only shows how foolish and egotistical Jean Chretien and the federal Liberal Party are.

Stephen Harper is making fun of them all.

Please. Harper is scrambling about to prevent his ouster. It is howling of coward and bullying that got himself where he is now.

You're suggesting this was all part of his master plan? If so, why is he backing down on several fronts?

[Smallc]

Harper made a huge mistake. Plain and simple.

[madmax]

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008...28/7565901.html

I ham sorry I deed not ear that keshtin, coode you repeet that keshtin?

Do you know his nickname on the world stage before he was finally pushed out by Martin?

It was........

DINO as in DINOSAUR because he was so old.

Chretian: We need to find a New Leader........One Like Me Someone who has been around(Salt and Pepper with your own Chretianspeak)!

They call me

DINO you know

..... DINO......DINO.......... DI**

How about...........DION....................

Chretian: NO NO NO, this guys an IDIOT, I won't back him.

Liberal insider: Its the best that we can do. Raes name is short, and Ignatieff is too long. DION name is just right.

October 15th, 2008

DION

Chretian: Hey ED, Ed Broadbent. We have no leader, and we want to take down Harper. What do you think?

Ed: Sure Jean. Anyone but DION is good, he's an idiot. Get rid of DION, DINO. You be Prime Minister and I be Minister of Finance

Edited November 30, 2008 by madmax

[BC_chick]

Do you know Kretins nickname on the world stage before he was finally pushed out by Martin?

You should probably change that before somebody reports you, it's against the forum rules.

Edited November 29, 2008 by BC_chick

[madmax]

You should probably that before somebody reports you, it's against the forum rules.

Its amazing the trouble Wikipedia will get you into.

[edit] Foreign leaders

Dino (short for Dinosaur) - Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada [5]

[BC_chick]

I was talking about "kretin"

[madmax]

Yeah, need to put his name in spell check. Here are some other offender and if you cannot handle that his name was not the joke, but his nickname was, then I feel bad for your lack of humour. Hit the report button I consider it a badge of honour to know that I offend the left the right and the up and down, without trying.

Cretien

Chretian

Kretchen

Chretchen

and the proper spelling

Chrétien (Nice Accent eh)

Edited November 30, 2008 by madmax

[BC_chick]

A while ago they made me change an offensive term in one of my posts and it wasn't even as bad as "kretin"... this isn't about having a sense of humour or not, this is about showing respect for our PMs. I remember for a while we couldn't even get away with Steve for Stephen Harper, and that's the short-version of his name.

Either case, I thought you're more civilised than that and would just change the offensive post. But whatever. Wish granted.

[madmax]

Either case, I thought you're more civilised than that and would just change the offensive post. But whatever. Wish granted.

While I understand the period you were talking about, it was more to release tensions and people were acting petty and beligerent. The irony of a typing error becoming offensive and the joke not offensive or funny, is rather humouress to me. I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out....but no, I am not going to worry about it.

Its not like I am losing the Prime Ministers Chair.

[M.Dancer]

This news report, if true, only shows how foolish and egotistical Jean Chretien and the federal Liberal Party are.

Stephen Harper is making fun of them all.

Maybe the thought is; while the Liberals were smug and glib they ruled.....how much more smug and glib can you get than to by pass the electorate and sieze power?

Bring of Chretian, The Gliberals are back.

[Smallc]

Their not seizing anything. Their following the constitution.

[M.Dancer]

Their not seizing anything. Their following the constitution.

Lets not play semantics...they are within the consitution and are legally entitled to by pass the electorate and sieze control away from the conservatives and take it for themselves despite have the lowest popular vote in their history....

I am starting to think that the Liberals have no respect for Canadians and carfe only for their pusuit of power.

[Smallc]

Lets not play semantics...they are within the consitution and are legally entitled to by pass the electorate and sieze control away from the conservatives and take it for themselves despite have the lowest popular vote in their history....

I am starting to think that the Liberals have no respect for Canadians and carfe only for their pusuit of power.

None of this would have happened if the Conservatives hadn't been so interested in playing political games. This time, it backfired, and it could cost them power....for a long time.

[M.Dancer]

None of this would have happened if the Conservatives hadn't been so interested in playing political games. This time, it backfired, and it could cost them power....for a long time.

Yeah....then it will backfire for the coalition as Canadians wake up to a frankengovernment they did not have a chance to vote for....

Really, its a win win situaton....

And hopefiully they will get around to ending the undemocratic vote subsidy.

[Smallc]

And hopefiully they will get around to ending the undemocratic vote subsidy.

Fine, roll back the entire package.

[Smallc]

I mean economists just loved this update. What could be wrong with it?

The Gazette

And of course, it has badly undermined the credibility of a government whose nasty partisanship used to be balanced by an image of competence. Now it looks both partisan and inept.

Edited November 29, 2008 by Smallc

[capricorn]

In situations like the one in which we all find ourselves, panic understandably prevails. But probably the worst time to make a big decision and take strong action is in the middle of a panic attack.

Also bear in mind that consumers (and voters) can smell fear. Rather than inspiring consumer confidence, it's very likely that frantic government intervention - especially from a political quarter that believes that less is more when it comes to government, not that you can tell by the bloated 38-member Cabinet - would undermine it.

That's all the more true given that no central government ultimately exerts that much control over its own domestic economy in an age of global trade and capital markets. That's particularly true in an economy like Canada's which is a) based on globally-traded commodities and b. principally driven by exports.

The reality - although no Canadian politician would ever admit it publicly - is that the Tories are waiting for Barack Obama to take ascend to the Oval Office. We may be loathe to admit it, but the fact is that it just doesn't make much sense for the Canadian economy to devise any sort of plan without a good sense of what our principal trading partner and economic influence is going to do.

Furthermore, anyone who doubts the amount of long-term damage that can be done by short-term, half-baked action, only has to look at how many trillions of dollars the U.S. government has thrown at its economic crisis - and how little impact all that frantic spending has had.

To their credit - something that, frankly, isn't always that easy to give these guys - Mr. Flaherty and the Tory government did not rise to the bait of the Opposition or the pressure of distressed business leaders. They decided to wait instead of plunging Canada back into an extreme deficit scenario.

It certainly wasn't terribly savvy to insist, as Prime Minister Harper did during the recent election campaign, that running a federal deficit wasn't an option. The fact is that the Tories don't have much choice. But although government deficits have been anathema for more than a decade now, not all deficits are created equal.

The one that Mr. Flaherty et al are talking about is closer to one per cent of GDP than the eight per cent that was more common in the past. And as long as we are able to make that important delineation and to resist the temptation to aggressively stimulate the economy with government spending, the less we have to fear the "D" word.

Clearly, no one is quite certain what works in situations as complex and dire as this one, it seems the one thing that doesn't work well - and hasn't in the past either - is government spending.

Stimulus packages are based on the notion that feeding new money into the economy increases demand and then, production. The catch, of course, is that the new funds have to come from somewhere. And that usually means that every new dollar that's spent by government has to first be borrowed or taxed out of the already-battered economy.

That's not to say that new infrastructure spending is a bad idea. Not at all. But it's also got to be strategic and properly funded. And the middle of a credit crisis, when the cost of meager capital is soaring, probably isn't the ideal time to engage in a public/private partnership to build bridges.

The federal budget will be earlier than usual - most likely in early February. But by then, President Obama will be in place, markets will be better adjusted to the new normal and the time may be right to build some bridges - political and otherwise - for the water to flow under.

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/...mentid=14431902

Well folks, that analysis makes sense to me. I admit I can't balance a checkbook and am allergic to anything smacking of economics (for which I received a paltry C mark in university). But one thing seems apparent to me. The Conservatives are walking a tightrope and we'll soon find out if they can balance to the other side without falling to the pavement.

Edited November 30, 2008 by capricorn

[Oleg Bach]

Why not get McCain up here and cover his spotted little old head with a fine French sauce. The Americans were at least smart enough to enstall someone that has some miles left on his youthful frame - Canadians in desperation are raiding the crypt.

[BC_chick]

The Americans were at least smart enough to enstall someone that has some miles left on his youthful frame - Canadians in desperation are raiding the crypt.

Justin!

{swoon}

Edited to add: (yes, I was joking)

Edited November 30, 2008 by BC_chick

[Oleg Bach]

Justin is not his father. Everybody knows that the son inherits the mothers brain and the daughter the fathers...Do you really want Marggie in male form running the nation? Think of it.

[BC_chick]

As I indicated, I was joking, I was merely responding to your comment about youthfulness vs. 'raiding the crypt'.

But in all seriousness, I think some of the things being said about him are a little premature. Though I agree that he's no Trudeau Sr., I find it unfair to say he's got his mother's brain and his father's looks. The little bit he's achieved so far has been admirable. He won his and he didn't take the easy route of going into an easy riding. Love him or hate him, you have to give him credit for that.

Let's see where he goes from here and then we can be in a fair position to see which one of his parents' brains he inherited.

[Oleg Bach]

He maybe unlike either of his parents. Genetics are not always directionally dispersed from one to the next. He may be a throw back to some other ancestor...and be capable of even greater achievements than his father or his dearest little old mummie. I don't know much about this young man. It would be nice to have intellect and kindness in a pragmatic mix that may come with maturity...besides - all Canadians are live and let live liberals in their core. Not really a bad idea...to be kind and bright - Take George Bush for instance - It was his life long training that he recieved that made him operate the way he did - with a deeply instilled cold deceptive programed approach. If Bush was left to his own personal device..He would have made a good president..there was compassion in the man. A compassion he was not allowed to use. Justin has a heart.....I might just go for the king with the heart.