Derek 2.0

You realize they just walked back their opposition to FPTP and a national referendum right? I don't expect Trudeau to ram through anything, anymore than I expect his budgets to balance themselves. Lip service to electoral reform and voter engagement is easily paid by the Tories (going forward) through a national referendum...........and isn't something seen as a major hurdle in the direction of the party.

I understand that, but from what I've been made to understand, enough "former Liberal Senators" would side with the Tories to block wholesale changes carte blanche That makes no sense, the NDP are reverting to old levels of support months after a federal election, with a lame duck leader..........I wouldn't expect them to be gaining or even holding ground on the current Government. And that says it all........the NDP are leaderless/rudderless etc........until they're not........... Trudeau has nothing to offer them, and they have nothing to gain.........ranked ballots could very well torpedo the NDP in favor of the Greens. ------------ This is why I hold little concern, at this point in time, over electoral reform........and think O'Leary's suggestion of online referendums for major hot button issues could supersede prior avenues of electoral reform by the Liberals/NDP/Green........at the end of the day, O'Leary seeks to address voter empowerment by selling voter engagement in the political process via the Amazon or Ebay method.........from the comfort of home and a click of a mouse.

And how do they form Government? By winning the most ridings, from receiving the most votes in said riding. I'm sure you could, and it would be as topical to the conversation as the Tories views on Martians ........in other words, electoral reform/changing how we vote is unlikely going into the 2019 election.

I largely agree, and feel (absent a Trudeau implosion), anyone easily associated with the Harper inner circle is toast..........likewise, any outsiders that are unable to connect with Canadians without appearing robotic........to my mind, that leaves Kevin O'Leary......maybe Brad Wall.....some yet unknown outsider???/ Jason Kenney would be in tough to even win the CPC race, let alone winning against Trudeau.

No, it won't.......Southern Ontario and Metro Vancouver mater. They will with ease, and Kenney isn't electable. Kenney doesn't have a hope in hell against Trudeau............

I'm not worried, and didn't get the sense at the Vancouver convention, that its something to worry about........it might simply be an ostrich with head in the sand, but from my understanding, absent a referendum, its doesn't have a hope in hell of getting through the Senate, being blocked by not only Tories, but also some of those "former Liberal senators"...............I think this is evident by the Liberals slowly walking back the committee composition, and making noises that FPTP and a referendum are now on the table............ But going back to O'Leary, an idea spit-balled by him for "voter engagement" at the convention is any official petition with something like over 50k signatures, would result in a national online referendum............that proposal, playing upon populism and voter engagement, would do far more to wet the craving for voting reform and put the Tories miles ahead of the other parties............

I agree to some degree, but remember, Harper needed two elections to form Government.......that could very well play out against Trudeau, in which the Tories would need to gain ground and put him into a minority Government first, then form government in a follow-up election.

Of course they are, O'Leary, a newcomer to the party, is blowing the other established candidates out of the water in polling..........that is one of the few avenues of attack against a Kevin O'Leary from within the CPC........the other, would be the media painting him as a Trump, which is further from the truth........as O'Leary has already noted, the only thing they really have in common is that both their shows were created by the same guy.

You're the one assuming they would loose their seats in Quebec because O'Leary doesn't speak French......I don't think it would mater, and they could very well loose them by selecting what the media portrays as another Harper......like Jason Kenney. I've met Kenney at two conventions, I have nothing against the guy, but any that can be portrayed as inner circle Harper won't win in 2019, and could very likely loose seats......... Rempel currently has more experience in Government then both Trudeau and even Harper when they won their party leadership......... with that said, experience maters little in retail politics......look at our current snow board instructor Prime Minister....... With Rempel, her drawbacks are more internal politics found within the party...........she might be able to beat a Trudeau, I just don't know that she could win enough support to win the CPC leadership.

They need far more than a dozen seats..............none of the current and speculated field, that speak french well, baring a Trudeau implosion, will win Government, and in some cases, could hand Trudeau an even larger majority. You're worried about the media playing up O'Leary not speaking french? Kenney is the mini-me Harper, they would have a field day with Jason Kenney.......again revisiting retail politics, the only former Harper cabinet ministers that might have a chance against Trudeau would be a young Rempel or maybe a Lisa Raitt (i.e. a Women).

I don't think so......Harper was able to form Government and govern without Quebec, and he was an evil Westerner...........O'Leary grew up in Quebec and lives in Ontario........I don't discount that the media would attempt to make it an issue, but I don't see it hurting him in any real way.

Hmmmmmm

I agree fully......Paul Martin made Harper look like a personable sort....... Retail Politics at it finest...........from the recent (before convention polls) the two "leaders" in the CPC leadership race at the front: Peter Mackay and Kevin O'Leary.......on paper, in my opinion, the moderate Peter Mackay would make a great leader, yet (per retail politics) Kevin O'Leary sells.......as I posted above, Mackay is followed by nearly 18k people on Twitter......Kevin O'Leary, over a 1/2 million......O'Leary is liberal on social issues, moderate on foreign policy and hawkish on fiscal policy........combined with being from Quebec, a self made millionaire, a mixed race minority (Lebanese/Irish) and of course name recognition and media/public speaking savvy. Absent a major economic implosion or scandal on the part of the Trudeau Government, of the current mentioned Tory field of potential leaders, in my opinion, only an O'Leary could beat Trudeau in 2019 and form Government.

Or Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada.

Interesting, perhaps you need to read my post again......none the less, as I said, it comes down to vote share, there are currently more social conservatives than "so-called Liberals" that are put off by religion and refuse to vote for the Tories because of their views. Your reasoning makes no sense. Again, its not the slightest bit misguided, but clearly logical........if being "soft on crime" made sense, and would translate to votes, parties would campaign as such..........yet being seen as "soft on crime" by moderate swing voters, that decide elections, is as popular as genital warts.

What proportional system? Our current system aside, regardless of how Canadians vote, for political parties, the objective is to receive the most votes possible.

Why? Religious social conservatives are apart of the base.....I agree that religious based social policy shouldn't be at the fore front for the party, a reflection of both the majority of conservatives and Canadians, but to abandon them would just cede their vote share to rump parties like Christian Heritage etc. Again, that is not the case with this subjective subject.......now if you mean pay lip-service to "popular science" like the Liberals do, thus taking the topic largely off the table for ~70% of voters, I agree fully. Never happen......law and order policies are politically popular.......the Tories didn't loose the election because of their law and order agenda. Again, like "science", aboriginal issues aren't popular retail politics........and like science, lip service can be paid strategically and regionally and at riding levels.............the ~70% of voters that vote Liberal or Conservative in Southern Ontario that decide elections don't really care about natives in Northern Manitoba or the NWT...... -------------- What the Tories will eventually leverage to win Government is economic (see pocketbook) issues and not being Trudeau....... As spoken to by Mr Wonderful himself, in ~4+ years time a capable and charismatic Tory leader will be able speak to Canadian voters and ask them if they are better off with the economic policies of Justin Trudeau and his billions of borrowed spending.....................if the Tories fail to select a well spoken and personable leader, regardless of the merits of their policies, we had might as well start another Tory leader thread for the 2023 election early.......simple as that.

I could get behind Blaney versus the current named contenders.....had a great deal of respect working with him (along with many others) and his office during the drafting of C-42......but like an O'Toole, I'd consider him almost too nice to be a party leader.

My "guess" comes from a CPC observer at the convention........rumor? Sure, but then smoke=fire.

I didn't hear anything to suggest anything violent, but more along the lines of marriages ending.

His family has a history with alcohol (see Jordan Tootoo) and he was a noted piss-tank when he was in territorial politics.....not too many drug addicts, outside of huffing gas, in Nunavut. The rumor I heard, suggested there was some unusual grab-ass and hanky-panky at the Liberal convention in Winnipeg......who knows, there is certainly something rotten in Denmark......how else can one explain the differing reactions by Trudeau to this and O'Regan earlier this year?

Interesting, I never assumed the CEF itself was involved nor heard its mention, instead referencing the tens of thousands of Canadians (and Newfies, Aussies and Kiwis etc) that served with(in) British forces...... Thanks to your crack research team, mine was able to dig deeper into Fryday's history........including this from the Toronto Star (100 years ago) suggesting several CEF battalions from Fryday's regiment served in Ireland as a occupation peacekeeping force. No, these are the continual actions of diplomats since antiquity. In regards to Vickers, clearly his actions were the reaction to decades of professional policing, involvement in a high profile terror attack, a British concern of increased Irish PIRA sponsored terror (literally a week prior the increase to the threat level from Irish terrorists was made public), all at a ceremony in honor of those that died in the wake of the Irish rebellion (the forebears of the IRA) at an event boycotted since its inception by the political wing of the IRA...... The protester didn't get hurt (a first in any protest in Ireland/Ulster?)........hardly worthy of a ballad by Bono, nor a cause for renewed cries of Tiocfaidh Ar La.....

In regards to the Irish uprising, simple, as members of the British Empire, Canadian troops (under British overall command) took part in quelling it....several Canadians even died..... Of course its a mooted point, as Canadian diplomats across the globe will take part and attend local ceremonies and events in their host countries.....that is after all a hallmark of diplomacy.........

Clearly subjective, but I think the Irish managed that before Vickers going full Patriot Games on a protester.... Really? Why would the Canadian ambassador attend the 100th anniversary of a significant event that help lead to partition and the creation of the Irish State? Does that Waldo question when our ambassador attends 4th of July events down South?

Yes indeed.......and that would be confirmed by MI5 raising the terror threat level from the PIRA a week prior.......at an event honoring soldiers killed by the Provos a century earlier. Forgive me if I find no fault with Vickers' actions, and solace in the fact the incident was caused by a Republican poverty pimp and not an IRA proxy strapped with Semtex. Meanwhile, Trudeau's reaction: In other words, the Prime Minister has yet to see any polling and will continue with his soar arse atop the fence