maplesyrup

Let's not lose track here about what they are being recognized for: Tme Canada's magazine Newsmaker, of the year for 2003, is what it is for. It's news because it is controversial. I'm glad your father-in-law survived. Merry Christmas.

It's in now in our unelected prime minister Paul Martin's ballpark now, as the Supreme Court of Canada decides, in a 6-3 ruling, to uphold Canada's drug law. Whatever side one is one, it's absurd that Martin, who has no mandate whatsoever from Canadians, will decide this issue. Great system we have!

Winnipeg's mayor, Glen Murray, being interviewed on a panel with Toronto mayor David Miller, and Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell, inferred today that he was not, repeat not, going to be running for the Liberals in the next election. For some background on this story go to : http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/.../19/291432.html

Although Prime Minister Martin has not yet visited our Governor General, to drop the writ for our next election, that is expected in May, one senses we are already in pre-election mode. It seems like every day now, we are being made aware of different events and issues, that will impact on who will be representing us in Parliament, next time around. For example, last week, as far as the opposition parties are concerned, there were 2 significant events. 1 - Ed Broadbent, former leader of the NDP announced that he is running for the nomination for the NDP in Ottawa Centre. 2 - Strong rumours that New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord would be running for the leadership of the Conservative Party. And, oh yes, an Ekkos Research poll was released. Today we are being notified about a story concerning the price Sheila Copps is going to pay for having run againt Paul Martin for the Liberal leadership: http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/Conte...ol=968793972154 Marien Meinen, former Canadian Alliance candidate in Ontario, won't be running in the London, Ontario area in the next election due to a personal family-related reason: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePr.../19/291430.html Also earlier today on the news, only heard it once, and then it disappeared, about some issue in relation to Toronto's waterfront. If anyone knows what this is about, please post the details.

Goldie.....you raise an interesting issue - Canada's media. Here is another article that came out yesterday but has had some editing I believe, from when I first read it. It is about the Conservatives in Quebec. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2003/.../293192-cp.html

Today the Toronto Star has published another fedral election opinion poll. The survey was taken Dec 3-16, 2003, and 1,550 Canadian were interviewed. http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/Conte...ol=968793972154 While many of us may find the results discouraging at the moment, it's important to know how Canadians are thinking about their political representation in Ottawa, and also to know what voters are looking for in a political party to represent them come voting day. These results will change as we get closer to election time. This polling was done prior to Bernard Lord's decision about entering the Conservative leadership race, and the former leader of the NDP, Ed Broadbent's political re-entry. Timing has a lot to do with the results. Better days ahead.

This may sound very far-fetched at the moment, but we actually could be heading into a minority government situation, after the next election, expected in May 2004. What is paramont is who a political party chooses as its leader. Neal F is correct that it does not matter one iota which province a leader coming from. And forget what a lot of our political pundits, or so-called experts are saying. A lot of them have tunnel vision, or they have a particular agenda, often secret, to promote. We live in a fast changing world, and a lot of them aren't up-to-date, whether or not intentionally. What does matter, whether one likes it or not, in Canada, if one aspires to be a national leader, is whether or not the leader is fluently bilingual. Timing is everything in politics, just as it is in a lot of other things in life. I'll explain what I mean. Paul Martin - from Quebec & bilingual Jack Layton - from Ontario & bilingual Brian Tobin, who comes from Newfoundland, probably would be a lot more effective than Paul Martin as leader of the Liberal party right now. But unfortunately for him the timing was wrong, as Paul Martin has had a lock on the Liberal party's leadership for some time. As an aside, notice though, that Tobin is still around, and if Martin blows things and needs to be replaced, the timing may then be right for Tobin. (Newfoundland - bilingual) Frank McKenna, former premier of New Brunswick, similarly had federal Liberal leadership hopes, but once again, maybe the right person for the Liberals, but the wrong time for him as well. McKenna is expected to run in the next election which, if Lord does does win the leadership of the Conservatives, will make New Brunswick a fascinating battleground. (New Brunswick - bilingual) Svend Robinson ran previously, for the leadership of the NDP, not the most recent race that Jack Layton won, but the one before that, against Alexa McDonough. Robinson would have been much more effective than McDonough, however once again timing, right person, wrong time. British Columbia - bilingual) One major reason that all these folks have a national presence is their command of both of Canada's two official languages, English and French. If that's a problem, you need to get over it, if you wish to really suceed in Canadian national political affairs. Remmeber what our election campaigns are mainly about. Once a day, for is it 30 or 60 days, the average Canadian Joe and Jane public, the folks whose votes you depend on to get your party members elected, watch a brief clip of what each party leader says on their evening news. They decide who to vote for, primarily on what they see of the respective party leaders. Yes policy is important, but thre are party conventions, the party caucus, etc., to deal with those issues. What is key to a successful election campaign is who you choose as leader. Issues are much better being dealt with as a group and, quite frankly, more democratic. I think the Conservative party is staring a gift horse in the mouth. Bernard Lord is/has: 1 - youngful energy - what is the House of Commons, an old folk's home? (absolutely no disrespect intended towards seniors here, I have immense respect for them, but we need some of Canada's youthful energy and vision, as well) 2 - great credentials - successful and current Premier of New Brunswick with two election victories. 3 - bilingual - essential for a national leader in Canada 4 - francophone - what a great opportunity to attract Quebec and other francophone votes, and remeber Quebec has 75 seats, 24% of the total number of seats (the Liberals have usually alternated their leaders between French and English, and it has been quite effective for them). Where Lord comes from, which province it is, is of no consequence, and coming from New Brunswick, with the current perceptions in the eyes of the Canadian public, could even be a bonus. One final thing, if the Conservatives have nationwide dreams of getting elected, to form a government, they will have to moderate, and possibly get rid of some of those loose cannons, that quite frankly scare a large part of the Canadian society, and whose comments have done a lot to damage the Reform/Alliance politically. Remeber timing is everything, so seize the moment. Conservative party leadership voters will have to decide whether or not they want to win. Chretien did and he was in the House of Commons for 40 years, I think, and Canada's prime minister for 10 years. Oh yes, Chretien was bilingual too. First the PCs were worried about being taken over by the Alliance, and now the Alliance members are worried about the leader coming from the PCs. Life is strange. Politics is the art of compromise, and don't ever forget it. You will never get all you want, and if you seriously take the time to listen to another person's point of view, you might be surprised. We don't know what the future holds. Vive le Canada libre! And yes I agree that Canada's first past-the-post system is quite unfair, and quite unrepresentative of the Canadian electorate, with political parties forming majority governments with only high thirties, and low forties percentwise of the popular vote. Proportional representation is the answer, but that conversation is for another time. If anyone is interested in the subject there is an excellent website at: www.fairvotecanada.org

In approximately 1 hour (I thought it was 4, but it must be 5 PM EST) Don Newman's show Politics on CBC Newsworld will be discussing Bernard Lord's candidacy for the Conservative Party. I predict it will be Chuck Strahl and Bernard Lord on the final ballot, and that Lord will take it. We might be heading into a minority government situation but right now, Prime minister Martin is looking over his left shoulder, not his right. The NDP are coming on like gangbusters at the moment, and their upword momentum in the polls is showing it. Watch for the NDP to be even higher in the next polling, since Mr Broadbent has thrown his hat into the ring in Ottawa Centre, which he will win. Ottawa Centre is quite a symbolic riding by-the-way, as it includes Parliament Hill. Martin's close buddy Richard Mahoney thought he had a catwalk there. Nothing like going for the jugular, eh? I'm sure Mr Martin is having lots of bad hair days these days. Cheers,