shoop

OK, I see where you are coming from. From your description I don't really know if the analogy it Albright-Gore-Clinton is really apt. ps, the issue is alive for many people. Just because certain posters attack, attack, attack there is no reason to pay heed to their negativity if they aren't going ot make rational comments or respect the rules of the forum. A PM to Greg over the "chill man" attack/post could be in order.

The ads got a pretty favourable story on the CTV news. Didn't watch the CBC story, oh that's right there is no CBC news at the moment.

IHMO that is giving Martin and the Liberals far too much credit as a cohesive team. Power to him for responding so quickly, but there is no way the whole thing was set up in advance.

Wow, Martin backed off that one quickly. PM reaffirms he'll call vote after Gomery reports How could anyone have thought to try the 30 "parliamentary days" line? If I was trying something that lame I definitely would have done it "on background" too.

Sorry for getting sucked into Mirror's thread hijack. Must admit I have basically no knowledge of French-Canadian political commentators. Would Pratte and LaFerriere be apologists for Martin or for the Sovereigntist side?

Linda McQuaig presents some support for her political views. But she is blatantly pushing an agenda, and will readily admit so. Citing her as a source is as valid as pointing to the work of Naomi Klein. Either you buy what they are selling or you don't. Not attempt at objective analysis on the part of either.

Learn what actually are considered "statistics". The numbers representing standing in the house prove what I said earlier. The Liberals will be lucky to make it to the Gomery report. Who knows what the Conservatives will do? The new ads may be a sign that they are gearing up for a fall election.

He bent over and caved to the Premiers' to give them money he never even promised yet.... Hasn't addressed the 'democratic deficit'. Has done nothing to raise the tone/level of civility in the house. Has been out West more because the money has dried up in Ontario and Quebec. Hmmm, he probably could have instituted electoral reform, instituted a review of the GG nomination process among others with no opposition in the house. He has thrown DFAIT into disarray by attempting to split the department, a split that still hasn't been approved by the House.

The media critic the Globe got to review the ads gave them a thumbs up. Media Critic Weighs In On Tory Ads

The ads are good. Minor quibbles with a few things, editing is a little suspect for example. But in general they are going to help they party. Any clue who the strongest players, in Wells' view, that got left out are? What is it with Wells' need to say "I told you so"? Is the guys ego really that fragile?

Let's keep the insults and putdowns off the board please.

Why start up with personal attacks again?

Most Canadians have never voted New Democrat federally and never would. The federal ND caucus is such a bunch of no names that the Canadian public couldn't possibly think of anyone to select as a possible replacement for Whacko Jacko, or care for that matter. The purpose of this poll was to get people thinking about future Prime Ministers... Maybe Svend could run. Could a Prime Minister get into the U.S. with a criminal record?

Why are you ignoring the idea of increasing the income threshold and amount paid for the GST credit? By reducing the GST to 5% you are reducing the amount of GST that CEOs pay. By refunding more money via the GST credit you are putting more money in the hands of the lowest income Canadians. Or do your really want to put more money in the hands of CEOs?

Could be that Martin is dithering and they are putting up trial balloons to see how people would react? A little early for that. A couple more weeks before people start to pay attention to politics again.

Care to provide a reason for that without the overt partisanship or unsubstantiated 'plummeting' comments? Harper is within striking distance of winning a minority. If he wins he saves his job. If Martin only wins a minority he is toast. At this point I would say a CPC minoritygovernment is far more likely than a Liberal majority government if an election were held in the fall.

Some of the quotes from this article are brilliant. Do you think any Canadian citizen made that mistake? I know I routinely ask myself "hmmm, how many parliamentary days till Christms?" wtf? That one will go over like a lead balloon. What are the odds this big mouth MP was one of the multitude of candidates clamouring for Drydent to come help them locally June of last year? The Liberals are heading for a political minefield if Martin tries to screw with the date of an election in 2006. If they make it till then...

The NDs changing their stance really makes the independents sort of irrelevant. If the NDs, CPC and BQ decide there should be an election, well there will be an election and there is nothing the Liberals can do about it. I don't think Martin will reneg on the promise for a number of reasons. The Liberals are no better than 50/50 to survive that long in the first place. If he backs off, coupled with whatever comes out of Gomery, the opposition will force and election and the broken promise plus Gomery results will be THE issues.

Great point. No worth arguing economics with the NDs. They just don't get it. Mirror's proposed 2% cut in the GST would put the budget into deficit. Go ahead, propose that one Jack. Won't really get you many votes...

I think the CPC may try and lower the decibel level in the house for this session. Harper got hammered for being too negative throughout the last session and has gotten some good press for his statesmanlike handling of the Michaell Jean affair. Now that the NDs are truly back in opposition the Libeals will be taking quite a pounding as it is.

You KISS theory of economics hurts the poor. Why not advocate the changes to the GST rebate I advocated? Or are you the so much the second S in your theory of economics that you can't understand why it would be better for the poor?

Because the Liberals always alternate. Jean Chretien was a francophone ergo Paul Martin must be an anglophone.

They can't get too stuck on picking a leader just for demographic reasons. Lord is a possibility but he pissed off a lot of people in the party by pulling out at the last minute in 2004. Kim Campbell is the warning about picking a leader for optics, and not making them earn the nomination. Maybe they could get Mario Dumont to run in the next election and groom him as a potential leader. It isn't all that far-fetched. He did encourage Quebeckers to vote Conservative in 2004.

It's interesting that Prentice is even on the radar. Prentice has the potential of being a very good choice. In the last PC leadership he was able to draw support from the social cons despite being a true Red Tory. He is one of the only Conservative MPs who voted in favour of SSM. He is moderate enough to overcome fears of the scary Albertans, but can he win the leadership?

Mirror, are we actually agreeing on something? I think a CPC minority is the best thing for the party, and the country, at this point. A minority would give the party the chance to learn about how to govern, while forcing them to be moderate and appeal to a broad spectrum of Canadians. It would also give the party the opportunity to project a more moderate image nationally and build support in Quebec. The Conservatives would be fortunate if they won, in that the electorate would want to give them a chance to govern for a while. Nobody really wants a never ending succession of elections. It would also give Harper the opportunity to groom a potential successor. We'd have to see a list of names as to who that might be. Besides the Martinite wing of the Liberal party are such arrogant bastards it would be great to see them turfed to the sidewalk.