tml12

Is your hatred that much that this is all that can be raised as a criticism: that he inherited French citizenship? As far as what he thinks about the U.S., what evidence that you about his feelings one way or the other on the U.S.? Just a guess...the French (and Quebecers) have been historically anti-American for whatever reason.

Bush's initiatives have some areas worth a look. Harper has dismissed those ideas. We can't claim that Harper is a Bush clone. And now we can't say Dion is anti-American. Imagine that. Dion is a Quebecer who is a French citizen. Something tells me appreciation of America isn't high on his list.,

Of course not...Liberal government, though, and you've got a whole new situation.

"Those Bastards" Well,I hate to admit it,when you look at it that way,he's right. I mean if the shoe was on the other foot,we'd raise a stink for sure, but, he , to me exudes an air of sanctimoniousness that makes me want to wipe that smirk off his face. The one thing i can't abide it's being lectured to by a man,who up until his being appointed Ambassador,probably knew as much about Canada as the average American and could have cared less. American officials dictating to another country-that would never happen We do not know why the U.S. has Arar on the list. In terms of Wilking, like it or not he's right and has every right to defend American sovereignty. Who cares about how much knowledge of Canadian history he has? That is completely erroneous to this topic. How much knowledge of Mexico do you think our Mexican ambassador has?

Any young voter who has voted NDP in the past, if they have voted in the past, might find some appeal in this. You can't remember or reading about when the CCF/NDP made their bread and butter pointing out the failings of the banking system? As for the joke on changing votes, I can say that living in Manitoba, I've known long time NDP voters who have been turned of by Layton. He came to Manitoba this past week and gave a speech to farmers where he repeatedly erred by talking about the SARs problem on farms. Even NDP cabinet minister Rosanne Wowchuck whispering BSE to him again and again was not enough for him to correct the mistake until it was too late. http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2007/...399924-sun.html I really don't think is a campaign winning issue.

And I thought Iggy was king of the award winning one-liners.

If you want a discussion on Liberal leaders open a new thread on the subject. The differences in the Liberal party under different leaders leads to the only thing that matters to them. Power. They don't care about any particular ideology, and just want to win. Unfortunatley for them winning is about picking the right leader. They picked the wrong leader with Martin and it looks like they picked the wrong leader in Dion. Don't listen to ignorami telling you when you should start a new thread in such a dickish manner... I am not going to start a new thread to debate whether or not Chretien/Martin or Trudeau should be in the same party because I think all of us know the answer to that question is OF COURSE NOT because, as you correctly states, the Liberals are in it for victory.

I seem to recall tax reductions in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan in the last year. Neither province has a deficit. Saskatchewan is about to become a "have" province. I will admit to not being familiar with those governments. What I do know is that the NDP's platform (from ndp.ca) seems very much like the kind of things Trudeau would have pursued, which is exactly why most Trudeau Liberal friends I know vote NDP now and not Liberal, because they recognize that the Liberals have become a party of the Central Canadian moderate right business elite (not to mention, we all know Trudeau left Canada with a deficit). Is this a more appropriate thread for you to answer my question about why you consider left-wing Trudeau and centre-right Chretien/Martin to be in the same party? Because it is clear to me they had 180 degree agendas.

Or Green. They could be the big unknown this election. NDP voters that care about the environment should really vote Conservative. Between the two realistic chances to form the government (Liberals and Conservatives), the Conservatives have a MUCH better record on the environment...remember when Mulroney was voted the greenest PM?

I dunno...but they ensured a fixed Liberal majority with a fragmented opposition.

Such as what? A one party state? Which present NDP government doesn't have a mixed economy? Of course the NDP has a mixed economy...that does not mean they will not spend my tax dollars like drunken sailors and leave that debt to my family.

Completely agreed.

He may have a shot with Ontario, but I'd say Quebec's a write-off for him. Just look at the polls, he's the most unpopular in that province. unlike the ROC, his disapproval is merely an indifference, there's strong emotions against him there. Harper is not a write-off in Quebec...he just had a rally here on Monday.

I'm not an NDPer but I certainly don't think of them as Communists. The NDP may not be communist but they advocate a form of left-wing politics liberal democracies have staysed away from since the fall of the USSR.

And I agree, completely. Well said geoffrey.

I'm not sure where the USSR comment has come from. Who has mentioned anything about the old Soviet Union? The NDP is closer to the old USSR than it is to the liberal democratic capitalism that has prevailed since then.

True enough. The likes of jdobbin are too ignant to actually be here for debate. He probably believes that Marc Yvan Coté, the banished-for-life Liberal that Dion mused about allowing back into the party, should actually be allowed back into the party. Good on the Conservatives for being so quick to respond. OMG if this story snowballs like it appears to be we could have an election very, very soon. Shortly after the budget methinks. No guarantees, but I think it is amazing that the Conservatives had an anglophone Minister and a Francophone minister scrum to talk about the issue tonight after only a couple hours. Looks like the war room is already in full gear. Oh man I hope so...the thought of a Conservative majority makes me real giddy... I'll do anything for Harper in the next election...ANYTHING to keep the Liberals out of the power they so desperately crave in order to bring the country back into their myths and lies. I hope this story snowballs and that the Liberals get caught trying to make up for their waywardly mistakes...

The Liberals can't understand why Cote should not be allowed into the party because they themselves are immune to corruption...they can't understand why "the people" would vote against their "natural governing body." The Liberals are like a bad case of the cold. Hopefully, we get rid of them in the next election for a good few years.

Why ignore the link? They talked about it on January 11th. Why ignore the already posted link? Ricki Bobbi, the left will always ignore the reality that after the USSR collapsed, they and their teleological view of history collapsed and capitalism prevailed. Don't try and justify reality to them...just feel real sorry for them.

Don't know if this discussion should be conducted in the Afghanistan thread. Is that your excuse or do you recognize the reality and do not wish to respond (the reality being Chretien/Martin who are really centre-right and Trudeau who was far left-wing).

The NDP has nothing to offer Canada. Elections are really a battle between the Liberals and the Conservatives.

All you have to do is read Leafless's posts if you want to know the general state of Canada-Quebec relations. I am an anglophone Quebecer so I believe in Canada before Quebec and thus am in no position to pretend to understand where francophones are coming from.

I completely agree...Montreal and Quebec in general have TONS of private health care clinics. I pass the one Paul Martin used to go to many times. Speaking of the Liberals, isn't that how the last Liberal government fell...when Martin refused to agree to an NDP proposal to permanently ban private health care in Canada, even though technically ALL private care is illegal under the revised 1984 Canada Health Act. By the way, the doctor in the states I happened to know through a connection...I would have gladly illegally paid to have done it here.

I agree with the first aspect. The Liberals in reality are a pro-business economy focused party. Paul Martin was one of the best Finance ministers the country could ever dream of having. The second I'm shakey on. Harper blew it on income trusts IMO, that's a major hypocracy from a guy that called them "the victory of the citizen over the taxman" when in opposition. There has yet to be any evidence from the Minister of Finance that they had a negative effect on the Canadian economy, and in another thread, I posted signficant sourced expert evidence that they were one of a very few things keep us above the respectable line in terms of economies. An economist wouldn't have made that call... he would have looked at the evidence first. He made that call for politican gain in Quebec, at the expense of everyone in Canada. Same with Quebec as a nation. Same with the plan to give Quebec $1.5b of Alberta and Saskatchewan money in 'revisiting equalisation' and making it 'more fair.' Harper is better than the other alternatives right now, but he's still not performing adequately in my opinion. I'd give him a C right now as a grade. My life has not been impacted too negatively since he's been in charge, but it also has not at all be affected positively. Dear Geoffrey, I completely agree with everything you said in that post... When I said "money where his mouth is," I meant in comparison with other politicians at this time. The income tax thing was BS, Quebec as a nation was BS...all true, completely agreed.

Why bother? I realise the futility in knocking on doors. My family had to do that for my younger sister when she was refused proper treatment in Canada (the government said it's simply not going to bother with her anymore). What about the millions of families that can't afford that similar care because of the added transportation and addition costs of going to a foreign country? One-payer systems in a world of private care actually create the largest division between the rich and the poor. Now that I'm on my own, I have access to far less health resources than when I lived at home, where my parents could fly me somewhere for half decent treatment. So I'm not being irrational, I'm looking for a fair and just system so that Canadian's can get the health care that even the Supreme Court says they should be able to purchase if it's not given to them by an outdated and wasteful system. I have gone to the U.S. for health services before. New York has GREAT health care...I don't know about where you are but I have been very happy with the health care I got there (it was worth every penny I paid for it). Recently, someone I know had to go to the ER because he was suffering a heart attack. He was misdiagnosed by several nurses (the cardiologist left at 5). A biology student who I know had correctly diagnosed his condition. The health care system in this country, for a developed nation, is disgraceful.