maplesyrup

This looks like it will be a close fight if the last election is any indication. Does anyone know anything about this riding and who/why will win it? 'Lauzon To Seek Federal Conservative Nomination' Seaway News http://www.cornwallseawaynews.com/index.cf...fm&NEWS_ID=2110 'Current Canadian Alliance Candidate Guy Lauzon will hold a Media Conference on Saturday January 17, 2004 at 10:00 am at the Ramada Inn to announce that he has officially declared his intention to seek the nomination to become the Conservative candidate for the riding of Stormont Dundas Charlottenburgh in the upcoming Federal Election. The Media Conference will see Lauzon address the crowd, followed by a question period for members of the media.' ------------------------------------- 2000 election results Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh (LIB 13,912) xBob Kilger LIB 19,117 Guy Lauzon CA 16,136 Michael Bailey PC 3,636 Kimberley Fry NDP 1,681 Ian Campbell NL 214 Georges Elie Novy CAP 176 1997 election results Stormont-Dundas (Lib 19,582) xBob Kilger Lib 22,699 Charles Dillabough Ref 8,932 Leslie O'Shaughnessy PC 8,722 Sydney Gardiner NDP 2,667 Ian Campbell NL 293

Is Grant Hill stepping down? 'Menzies quits post to make federal run' http://www.producer.com/articles/20040115/...0115news09.html 'Alberta farmer Ted Menzies has stepped down from his national farm leadership positions to try to win the right to run for a seat in Parliament in an expected spring federal election. The Claresholm grains and special crops producer announced Jan. 12 he is seeking the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Macleod constituency, south of Calgary. He has resigned as president of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, or CAFTA, and as a member of the federal government's agricultural trade advisory committee, citing the need to maintain the credibility of those groups. ' --------------------- 2000 election results Grant Hill CA 30,838 Cyril R. Abbott PC 6,102 Marlene LaMontagne LIB 4,121 Dwayne Good Striker NDP 2,934

What is really going on here? ----------------------------------- 'Alberta Liberal Leader Ken Nicol makes jump to federal politics' http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...15/CPN/32988031 'Nicol, who represents Lethbridge East in the Alberta legislature, told a news conference he plans to seek the Liberal nomination in the federal Lethbridge riding. Nicol, 59, said he had a responsibility to deliver the news first to those who voted for him. "I am acting responsibly on behalf of my constituents," he said. The federal Lethbridge seat is now held by Alliance MP Rick Casson, who got over 22,000 votes more than his Liberal challenger in the 2000 election. Political observers in the riding say Nicol would be hard-pressed to unseat Casson in the next election, widely expected to be held this spring. "This has to be one of the strongest Alliance ridings, or now Conservative ridings, in the province . . . so it certainly would be a very tough haul," said Geoffrey Hale, a political science professor at the University of Lethbridge. "I would think that if Prime Minister (Paul) Martin tried to recruit Mr. Nicol, there would be some quiet promise that the Liberals would look after him at some future time if he isn't successful."' --------------------------------- 2000 election results Rick Casson CA 30,379 Vaughan Hartigan LIB 8,130 Kimberly Denise Budd PC 4,062 Garth Hardy NDP 2,648 Don C. Ferguson GRN 944 Dan Lamden CAP 263 1997 election results Rick Casson Ref 22,450 ohn McGee Lib 7,703 Greg Weadick PC 7,395 Victor Lough NDP 2,143 Nellie Slingerland CHP 385 J-C Lessard CAP 301

This is a very unique situation in Canadian politics. Have we ever had a situation where the three political parties all have, or will have new leaders, within one year? Maybe that is why things feel unsettling. ------------------------- This week has been a very good week for the NDP with l'affaire Sheila Copps. ------------------------------ A question: Will the new Conservative party be able to hold its Western base, if as I suspect, the new leader comes from Ontario? ------------------------- I'm quite disappointed about what happened to Chuck Strahl. ----------------------------------------------------------- Bachand, I can accept what he did. -------------------------------------------- Keith Martin, that's another story. What a strange fellow.

PC4EVER I'm curious and though perhaps you might know. What has happened to former Prime Minister Joe Clark? We haven't heard anything at all from for some time now. Has he basically retired from politics now?

Now it not just BC where the Liberals have membership rule problems. Ontario membership people are depriving Sheila Copps of membership forms. And Copps just said on CBC Newsworld that she is being forced to be fingerprinted by the Paul Martin Liberals. The CBC reporter siad to Copps "you not really considering running for the NDP, are you?" Copps responded: "You are putting words in my mouth." Copps stated she wants to run for the Liberals, but she was keeping her options open, including the NDP.

'NDP open doors to frustrated Liberals' CP Ottawa Citizen http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen...e9-33b26b84b53b 'Sheila Copps's interest in the federal New Democrats demonstrates just how conservative Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals have become, NDP Leader Jack Layton said Thursday. Layton threw the door open to frustrated Liberals and red Tories who he said are becoming disillusioned with what he called the right-wing drift of Canadian politics, particularly under the Martin government. "I want to throw the doors of the NDP wide open to progressives all over Canada,'' Layton said.' '"People who believe that Paul Martin's conservative choices are taking the Liberal party and Canada in the wrong direction.... It's a corporate drift away from Canadian values.''' 'Layton said he has also spoken with veteran Toronto Liberal MP Charles Caccia, a Copps supporter who is said to be saddened by what's happened in his own party.'

Sheila Copps is going to be on CBC Newsworld later on today. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict: Gordon Campbell will not survive as BC Premier before the next election in BC He will not be replaced by either Gary Collins or Christy Clark. Paul Martin is going to have to replace basically his entire BC Liberal party executive/structure. Liberal polling will tell Martin that he will be forced to backtrack on Copps, and that she will stay with the Liberals. The federal Liberals, if not already, will shortly be in freefall in BC, and eventually this situation will impact on the rest of the country . This situation in BC is no longer a local story, it has gone national. Yesterday the federal Liberals thouight the warrants were going to be opened in BC so they had Keith Martin announce his switch. Well it backfired on them, and it gave Canadians more of a chance to focus on what Keith Martin really represents. Two tier health insurance. Give me a break. What a major assault on Canadian values. Keith Martin will not win his seat in BC. Paul Martin is really stumbling now. What a huge mistake he made, to have not asked his BC people to step aside, until this huge mess is BC is sorted out, as suggested by Jack Layton and the NDP.

Winnegeg Mayor Glen Murray turns down offer to run for Liberals in next election. Wonder what he knows.

Drug squad raided home of B.C. aide Sought evidence of the proceeds of crime, station said, citing police sources By MARK HUME, ROD MICKLEBURGH Globe and Mail http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/Articl...siness/Canadian 'The Dec. 28 search at the home of legislative aide David Basi was conducted by members of the RCMP's drug squad, CTV News reported last night. Citing police sources for what it called "exclusive details" of the search warrant used to gain access to Mr. Basi's home in Victoria, the local affiliate of the television network said the RCMP was looking for evidence of the proceeds of crime.' No charges have been laid

I'm curious about Quebec. Does anyone know what is the position of the Quebec Conservative members generally on abortion and same-sex marriage? And does anyone know what Stronach's position is, on these 2 important Conservative party issues? My impression is that the main race it's going to be between Stronach and Harper, and that the Clement supporters will decide who is going to win, by their second choice, on the preferential ballot.

It isn't going to happen for Harper. The people with the deep pockets want a national party to run against the Liberals. I'm talking perception here. 'Conservatives will battle for leadership in `ground war' Rules offer no frontrunner advantage Every riding will carry the same clout' by TONDA MACCHARLES Toronto Star http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/Conte...ol=968350116467 '-new way of picking the leader does not give Harper no big advantage, despite his strong support in the West. -key to this race will be what one party source called "the ground war, not the air war." -campaign fought in the trenches. -details of the vote will be decided this weekend 1-every riding in the country carries the same clout when it comes to picking the leader. Every riding, big or small, will contribute 100 points toward the vote, which means a Quebec riding with 20 members will have as much say in the outcome as a riding in Alberta with 6,000 members. -308 ridings — using new boundaries that will be in effect for the federal election —there are 30,800 points at stake. f-irst candidate to win more than 50 per cent plus one of the total — 15,401 points — will be the victor. even if Harper should win all 90 ridings, and 9,000 points, in the West, he'd still be well short of the winning threshold. -other big voting blocks are in Ontario, with 103 ridings representing 10,300 points, and Quebec, with 75 ridings. -Atlantic Canada's 32 ridings are worth 3,200 points. -Quebec, once again, is wide-open territory — ripe for a savvy on-the-ground organizer to sell memberships and sew up the necessary votes. -Remember the foray by organizers for Alliance leadership contender Tom Long into Gaspé cemetery rosters to stack membership rolls in the 2000 race that saw Stockwell Day emerge the winner? There are rules against it. -But one Quebec politico predicted yesterday that kind of political hustling may well win the province again: "I think the one that is going to have the money to buy some memberships and do the Tom Long thing without getting caught is going to win this leadership in Quebec." 2-it will be a preferential ballot. -electors across the country will mark their ballots once, and rank in order of preference their choice of candidate to lead the party. A voter's second choice, therefore, could matter as much as the first, because if no clear winner emerges after the first count, the least popular candidate will drop off the ballot. The second choice of that candidate's supporters will then be counted, and a new tally announced. -Harper's organizers are worried about the outcome of a second count, believing he may not be able to "grow" his support in a second round. "He needs to be the first choice of more than 50 per cent of the voters," said one supporter at the launch of Harper's campaign. -if, as that supporter frets, people either love or hate Harper and have him at the top or bottom of the ballot, there's not much chance of his winning more support on the second round. -Party organizers have not decided whether there'll be a third count of preferential ballots if no winner emerges after two counts. Prospective leaders of the new Conservative Party of Canada learned yesterday they'll have to ante up $100,000 before Jan. 30 to join the race.' I think that last point, apparently shoved in at the last minute, is the reason Chuck Strahl will not be running. What a shame. Tony Clement has just announced he is in at a press connference but will be making a more formal announcement later on. Sounds like Clement will be the SARS candidate, and Clement just said there is no way for the new Conservative party to be successful , that there is any perception of a takeover. Clement says quite categorically that the party needs a new leader, with the ability to unite and then elect. At his press conference the name Larry Spencer came up. Tony Clement self described as the holiday Inn guy. What you see is what you get. He did not too bad, the press are rough, no question about that, but Clement stood there and took questions fired at him for 45 minutes in both English and French.. To my friend Neil.F. below, I would presume that Jack Layton and the NDP would want the strongest Conservative leader possible to challenge the Paul Martin Liberals from the other side of the spectrum. Realistically the Conservatives in 2004 are not running to forn the government.

Aftershocks in the federal Liberal party following the major police investigation in BC. To be discussed on Don Newman's show Politics on CBC Newsworld at 7:30 AM (ET) this morning. - Copps may be headed to NDP -Winnipeg major Glen Murray turns down Liberals offer to run for them -Liberal hopes for big gains in BC crushed. Norman Ruff well known University of Vctoria political scientist stated last evening on the Vaughn Palmer show that the Liberals will get max 8 seats in BC. Ruff also said to look for the NDP to make gains in BC.

'SFU plans stiff fee hike Budget shortfall means students face increase of at least 20 per cent' by Wendy McLellan The Province; with a file from Lena Sin http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?i...6A-5FEC857EAF19 'Simon Fraser University students are facing tuition-fee hikes of 20 to 35 per cent for the coming school year as the university grapples with a $15-million budget shortfall. A tuition increase of 20 per cent would put SFU above the national average for university fees. A 35-per-cent hike would make the university's fees among the highest in the country, second only to Nova Scotia institutions.' Another result of all these tax cuts.

This is the one of the many reasons why Ed Broadbent, if he wins the party nomination, is going to easily win his seat in Ottawa Cenrtre for the NDP. 'Civil servants' union vows to fight Martin cuts' -from Globe and Mail http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/...Story/National/ 'The president of a union representing 49,000 civil servants has changed his mind about seeking a nomination as a Liberal candidate in the next federal election because of cuts to the public service made by Prime Minister Paul Martin.'

'Barely half say Bush should be re-elected' http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3960306/ 'The poll found that 42 percent believe the president does not deserve to return to office, compared with 51 percent who think he does.' I'm not sure this is good news for President Bush as the Democrats have not even chosen their candidate yet.

This is good strategy on Copp's part. Either Martin will be forced to back off or she will run and win for the NDP.

'Prime minister not 'wedded to Canada Health Act' says newest Liberal' http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id...8f-4e73e52c8f03 'A former Canadian Alliance MP says he wants to pitch private Canadian health care to new Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. And B.C. MP Keith Martin believes he'll have a receptive audience. "The exciting thing on health care that Paul Martin has said is that he hasn't trumped up and said he's going to be wedded to the Canada Health Act," Keith Martin, a medical doctor, said Wednesday.'

If we think CEO Martin's corporate tax cut was bad, wait until we have the 2 CEOs up in Ottawa with his CEO buddy Belinda. Then we can have no corporate taxes at all. So all the moralizers don't want to pay taxes. And what is the alternate? There is only one alternative as the government will have to generate revenue somewhere. We have massive increases in booze, drugs, gambling, and debt. Brilliant strategy. -ideas from John Barber in today's Globe and Mail

The timing of Keith Martin's switch to the Liberals is quite suspect as there was a possibilitiy that the warrants concerning the RCMP raid on the BC legislature would be released today. As it turned out they weren't released to the press today. Don Newman of CBC Politics just interviewed Keith Martin and really had him on the ropes with all his inconsistanties. Whoever briefed Don Newman did an excellent jobbecause Newman did a great job of grilling Martin, including bringing up David Basi's name, who Keith Martin has met with. John Koury, interviewed on the same show, says the people in the riding are quite upset with Keith Martin. ---------------------- 'Raids tied to trade of inside information Police probe whether federal Liberal offered B.C. officials benefits for sensitive information' by Peter O'Neil, Jim Beatty and Lori Culbert Vancouver Sun http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.asp?...C5-EF74D113F1AA 'The political link to a police investigation that led to searches at the legislature involves possible violations of two sections of the Criminal Code dealing with government corruption, The Vancouver Sun has learned. Sources say the investigation is focusing on the offer of a favour or benefit from someone linked to the federal Liberal party in return for sensitive information from provincial government officials.' ---------------------------------- No one has been charged. --------------------------------------- 'Internal divisions hamper Grits' plan to recruit women' -from CBC Manitoba http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/Vi...b_women20040114 'Neville believes Martin's own advisors are standing in the way of women. She says Martin's election strategists are hijacking Liberal Party nominations across the country, replacing many female incumbents with Martin loyalists.'

Chuck Strahl is frustrated with the process, the rules for the Conservative leadership race, which he reads about in the press, he hasn't been given access to the membership list, other candidates are using the party political donation number. That's too bad if he pulls out

http://www.garth.ca/ ------------------- John Koury to challenge Keith Martin

'NDP courting Sheila Copps to switch parties, run for New Democrats' http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...114/CPN/6669014 'The former cabinet minister and two-time leadership contender spoke Wednesday with NDP Leader Jack Layton and later refused to rule out the possibility of switching to the New Democrats. "I've always figured when a door closes another door opens, and I wouldn't rule anything out in politics," Copps said in an interview.'

Don't be too harsh on the CBC folks. It's rare for them, or Canadians for that matter, to have other parties besides the Liberals, forming the Canadian government. So, if some of their material comes out a bit one-sided, like the follwing article by Larry Zolf, it's understandable. The Liberals are in power so much, it's hard for the people around them to not think they are the only game in town. 'Website wars: Layton vs. Martin' http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_zolf/20040114.html ''When Martin began to show some signs of the difficulty in getting two cents a gallon of federal gas tax to the cities, the media quote Jack Layton, former city councillor and one-time president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, as saying Martin was "stalling." Layton noted that Martin had campaigned on that promise and should have been "ready to roll out his plans immediately upon his coronation last month."'

Belinda Stronach is entering the leadership race. The formal announcement will be made next week.