Canada's Federal Liberals

[maplesyrup]

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.

Edited January 15, 2004 by maplesyrup

[KrustyKidd]

Two tier health insurance. Give me a break. What a major assault on Canadian values.

We live in a two tier world anyhow. You pay extra for better service in almost all things. Business class vs first class, what is the problem with paying in order to circumvent a line? Why should health care be different?

A major assault on providing better service to all, a major assault on getting what you pay for.

[maplesyrup]

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

[maplesyrup]

(No charges have been laid)

'Basi's federal connection upsets some B.C. Liberals'

by Vaughn Palmer in the Vancouver Sun

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouvers...BE-6F50DF6768B3

'That being the degree to which Dave Basi, the fired aide to provincial house leader Gary Collins, was involved in organizing on behalf of the Paul Martin federal Liberals.

"That is certainly a concern of ours," Krueger told reporters. "Certainly he should not have been involving himself in federal membership drives if he was on our payroll. We have an internal rule that our staff don't work on federal campaigns."'

[maplesyrup]

Geez, who wrote this dribble, Paul Martin? Actually perhaps he did, as it came from one of his buddies.

'Chief executives view Martin as a PM yet to be tested: Federal election may interfere with agenda for broader engagement'

by Tom d'Aquino

National Post

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/community/foru...E=02&f=3&t=1014

'On the one hand, Prime Minister Paul Martin has made a fundamental commitment to addressing what he calls "the democratic deficit." Already he has taken steps to give more power to members of parliament and to parliamentary committees, allow more free votes in the House of Commons and enable public scrutiny of key government appointments.

Taken together, the measures he has announced or proposed have the potential to open up the decision-making process considerably. For organizations like ours and for anyone interested in influencing public policy, the new structures and practices will provide more opportunities for input. However, they also will require more extensive efforts to work with a broader range of elected representatives and government officials.'

So what d'Aquino is really saying here, is that unless you are big, with vast resources, it will be too difficult to lobby.

'In summary, I think we all have to remind ourselves that while Paul Martin may be a good friend and a former member of our council, he is now the Prime Minister of Canada and his business is politics. As he addresses the political challenges of 2004, he will do what he believes is right for his party and for the country, and it is inevitable that we will not always agree. We certainly should not rest on our laurels and assume that our ideas will get any preferential treatment from the new Prime Minister and his team.'

This last sentence is such nonsense, that there is hardly a need to bother commenting on it.

Mr D'Aquino is a real comedian, sharing his humour with us like this.

Edited January 19, 2004 by maplesyrup

[maplesyrup]

'Something wicked is coming for the Liberals'

by Paul Sullivan

Globe and Mail

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/Articl...omething+wicked

'For some reason, B.C.'s latest scandal prompts memories of Something Wicked, maybe because the scandal, like the novel, is spooky and mysterious.

Since Dec. 28, when RCMP and Victoria police raided the offices of a number of high-ranking political operatives working for, or linked to, the B.C. and federal Liberal parties, the fog of mystery has grown only thicker. The RCMP investigation hints at scary things in the fog: organized crime, drugs, money laundering and political corruption. But so far, B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm has refused to take the wraps off any of the documents associated with the raids, and Liberals, both federal and provincial, are keeping their traps shut, in order not to jeopardize the investigation, to say nothing of their hold on power.

As in a gripping novel, the clock is ticking, the action rising, the suspense unbearable. How long will it be before the caul of corruption wraps its inky folds around them all? Judge Dohm will again hear media lawyers' arguments to release the documents on Thursday. Meanwhile, Victoria, which is really a small town not unlike Green Town, the mythical burg in Something Wicked, leaks like a sieve, and people whisper their secrets. Many of the secrets involve Dave Basi, ministerial assistant to B.C. Finance Minister Gary Collins. Mr. Basi was fired immediately after the raid. So far he and fellow functionary Bob Virk (who has been suspended with pay) are the only casualties of this carnival macabre, but if half the whispered secrets are true, more than a few careers will be ruined.'

Later on today, a dozen lawyers, representing the media, the Liberal Party of Canada, and mystery clients, will be trying to get the warrants unsealed. Last week the media was turned down for the same request. The media seem to have a very close relationship with the police these days, being present for the RCMP and Victoria police raid on the BC Legislature last December, and at former Premier Glen Clark's house a few years ago.

(No charges have been laid)