Ricki Bobbi

I don't believe the first part. If the NDP want to run against the Liberals, which would be very smart, then they have to show themselves as a credible governing alternative. The best way to show they could govern credibly would be to work with the Government. They don't have to do it for long, but just on a few occassions. Absolutely agreed on the second part. In 2004 the NDP ran against the Conservatives. Results = 19 seats. In 2006 the NDP ran against the Liberals. (Lend us yoiur vote???) Results = 29 seats. Why wouldn't they run against the Liberals?

Easy honey, don't get your knickers in a knot. Two examples of stupid behaviour by men isn't enough to tar 3 billion people world wide. Was this the Provincial or Federal attorney general? Which party? Mayes' just made an error in judgment. Never email something that could get you in trouble. Obviously he just forwarded it, but it wasn't a bright move...

Great point Fortunata. The Quebec hydro profits should be included in the formula. My guess is that Quebec would still be a have not province even if they were included. But not by much...

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...

So the anger over Radio Canada's inaccurate story will abate. Link. Energy revenue will be kept out of the equalization formula. So much for Radio Canada's false report. Us hinterlanders need to have a little faith...

I think it is beautiful. Dion has put himself in a not over this one....

Ahh, but thankfully those same members chose a leader with such a politically tin ear. *Steve supporters* do you feel like a big man using such ignorant terminology.

So you have never volunteered on a campaign, ever? The NDP seem to think Edmonton Strathcona is winnable for them. Just sneaks into your 350 KM radius I believe

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.

I think Gilles Duceppe said it best after Dion tried to step away from his comments on Coté. My brutal translation... This is very good news for the Bloc, CPC and NDP. Allows the Bloc to stir Québecois anger about Sponsorship again. Gives Jacko the motivation to go hard after the Liberals, and a realistic chance of replacing them as the alternative to the Conservatives. For the Conservatives it takes the focus off them and puts it on the Liberals. Dion's in a real tight spot here. He can't distance himself too much from the likes of Coté because there are some hardcore Liberal activists who truly believe Coté and his fellow criminals did nothing wrong. So if he does the correct and honourable thing, i.e. confirming these guys are out of the party for life, the party stalwarts could turn on him. If he does allow them back into the party. Woooo boy he becomes target number one of all the other parties. What a great, great night.

I think Gilles Duceppe said it best after Dion tried to step away from his comments on Coté. My brutal translation... This is very good news for the Bloc, CPC and NDP. Allows the Bloc to stir Québecois anger about Sponsorship again. Gives Jacko the motivation to go hard after the Liberals, and a realistic chance of replacing them as the alternative to the Conservatives, for the Conservatives it takes the focus off them and puts it on the Liberals. Dion's in a real tight spot here. He can't distance himself too much from the likes of Coté because there are some hardcore Liberal activists who truly believe Coté and his fellow criminals did nothing wrong. So if he does the correct and honourable thing, i.e. confirming these guys are out of the party for life, the party stalwarts could turn on him. If he does allow them back into the party. Woooo boy he becomes target number one of all the other parties. What a great, great night.

The Liberals did nothing about it in 13 years in power. The Dryden plan was ineffective. Scott Reid belittle the Conservative plan and in so doing helped the Conservatives win the election...

Why ignore the link? They talked about it on January 11th. Why ignore the already posted link?

Futility of knocking on doors? Hmmm, methinks you have never even taken the time to do it once. Door knocking can make a huge difference in close ridings. There have been a number of elections decided by tight margins. The next election could swing on a dozen or so tight ridings. If you ever decide which party you can stomache go help out. There are many more things than door knocking needed to win an election. So you are making an argument for those families who have the money and would be willing to pay for private health care but not the incidental costs of driving to the US and a couple nights in a hotel? Hmmm, methinks there are very, very few people in that position. 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. That Supreme Court decision is probably why we will see private health care much more accessible in the not too distant future. IIRC the court set aside their ruling for a period of time to allow the Government to catch up. I do forget how long it was for...

He made the decision on Income Trusts for political gain in Quebec. Never heard that one before. Do explain...

The irony of these two statements is classic. Your *working hard* is whining on message boards. You refuse to do the grunt work for any party because it's beneath you. Your whining does nothing in real terms. Nobody is stopping you from flying to the US and buying whatever health services you want...

This has very positive shades of Paul Martin. (Positive for the Conservatives.) Something tells me when we see the post-mortem of the next Conservative election victory this well be the first of many missteps by Dion that lead to the Liberal's defeat...

So the project on reducing pediatric wait times is a bad thing? Couldn't it allow for creating of a template for providing a wait times guarantee in other medical specialities? Do clarify what the debilitating surgeries and minor surgeries are then the time would make sense. Yeah, fully-private options .... Nobody in this country favours that. How much work have you put in on creating the Geoffrey party? That would be the only party in the country to encompass your views. Allowing fully-private options is a sure way to guarantee a Liberal majority.

Something tells me he is too *unmotivated* to put in the time required volunteering for the Liberal Party of Canada to earn his place in the lineup for feeding at the taxapyer-funded trough prior to the next Liberal Federal Electiion victory. (Hopefully many, many, many years in the future.)

No need to go that far. Can the Liberal supporters here stand behind their leader's views on Cote's re-instatement to the party? If not, do you really think you picked the right man???

Why would I listen to 21 minutes worth of rambling about ancient symbols as a means of communication? Masonic symbols on Canadian money? Simple research provides simple answers. A 21 minute indoctrination video is just plain freaky...

Uhh, that's American money not Canadian. The only archiecture would be Masonic Temples...

$3.8 Billion saved??? People who choose to stay at home or have family members help provide childcare aren't forced to subsidized people who make different choices???

Dion is showing political instincts that are sure to hurt his party's chances in the next election. A shrewder poltiician would have kept this guy on the sdeline until the next election at least. I guess Dion ain't that shrewd.

It will take a lot of hard work between now and the next election, but it is definitely a possibility that Harper will get the chance to serve a second term. I think the Harper-haters are divided into two camps. 1. The true Liberal-partisans who are repulsed that Canadians actually rejected them and lust to be returned to power. They are the one's who spread the lies about *scary* *scary* *scary*. Lies that have not proven true, but their refrain has changed to*scary if he gets a majority*. 2. The true social democrats. Who are appalled by Harper and see very little difference between the Liberals and Conservatives. They instinctively hate anything American and buy into *scary* *scary* *scrary*. Filled with a sense of entitlement, they believe the Government should be the solution to everyth ill society faces. They don't care how much it costs as much as they aren't the one's who paid for it. These two groups comprise about 40 to 45% of the electorate in English Canada. Thankfully they will be increasingly divided between the Liberals, NDP and Greens. This will leave the other 50 to 55% of the remaining voters who are open to the possibility of the Conservatives. Another well-run campaign and the Conservatives will be able to appeal to a large majority of these voters...