Liberals In Trouble

August1991 · April 10, 2004

I wonder if he doesn't now regret calling a snap election for, say, January? And where was his head when he let the A-G do the report? Heck, it could have fallen under Chretien's watch if PMPM had not moved the coronation date up.

Frankly, I figure under any scenario, the result would have been the same. There is something about Martin that means he doesn't have it. The Turner/Campbell-looks-good-on-paper but it doesn't work... IMV, Canadians are fickle.

Anyway, we're facing a 1979 style election.

August1991 · April 11, 2004

What is this? Surely The Toronto Star doesn't want to keep this scandal alive. If Travers writes an article, it must be because there is something out there that won't go away. How to make it go away? Blame Chretien and then find a way to blame Mulroney?

Well, the Mulroney allegation requires much stronger evidence than the "check newspaper archives" line.

This is not investigative journalism. Instead, it suggests something deeply ugly and a strange note of desperation.

Liberals understood who Guité was and what he could do for them because they watched in frustration as he did it for Brian Mulroney's Tories. Check newspaper archives and discover that as far back as 1991 Guité was playing fast and loose with federal guidelines to ensure Tory-friendly firms benefited from — wait for it — yet another national unity advertising campaign.

Toronto Star Travers

August1991 · April 17, 2004

The member of Parliament representing the Toronto riding that is now home to the widow and son of an alleged Al Qaeda leader is urging the government to charge the family under Canada's new anti-terrorism law.

Should the PM order the Solicitor-General to investigate this? And why should a Liberal backbencher have to raise the issue of charging these people with sedition?

Or is this, in effect, a Liberal backbencher opening a debate about immigration policies?

Toronto Star Khadr Anti-Terror charges

What's going on?

maplesyrup · April 17, 2004

It is another one of these hot button issues, where we will get a lot of knee jerk reactions, similiar to same sex marriage.

PM Martin has already stated that they are staying and have freedom of expression in Canada.

August1991 · April 19, 2004

This is Diefenbaker 1962 rich. Liberals NEVER do stuff like this.

Dennis Mills:

“In fairness to the new team in the Prime Minister's Office, they barely knew where the washrooms were and then they had this cataclysmic moment.”

Ex-Liberal Cabinet member:

“You now have the impression the B-team is in charge and they're wrecking the place,” he said in an interview.

Unidentified Liberal MP:

“Brain trust?” snorted one Ontario MP when asked about Mr. Martin's advisers. “You mean the no-brainer trust . . . I call it the mistake-a-day club.”

Raymonde Folco, Liberal MP, Laval-West:

“A lot of people are dead set against Mr. Lapierre,” said Ms. Folco. “Not just the anglophones but deep red Liberals are very upset.”

Canadian Press on Martin's Thugs

playfullfellow · April 19, 2004

No matter what, I think the timing was right for a bit of scandal. This has knocked a bit of the arrogance of the Liberals out of their pants. It has shown the Canadian public that there is somewhat of a stink in Ottawa and now is their chance to get rid of some of the dead wood there. I still think the Liberals will win the next election, much to my dismay, but the numbers will be much more diversified which will bring increased debate on issues. This will also get people to look a lot closer at some of the policies from Ottawa and they realize that the cost of these policies are way out to lunch.

August1991 · May 9, 2004

"Until Martin apologizes to Chrétien, personally, for allowing his staff to call him a criminal there will be no peace. The Martin people have been told that. They know it. Not a single significant Chrétien/Trudeau person will help out these idiots. And that is the truth!"

G&M Lists the issues

Does the Liberal Party of Canada have issues or what? Geez, this is like two Dons needing a meeting. Or two gang guys dissing each other.

Will they make peace before the election? Do we get a Lovey-Dovey thingy in Toronto?

falling leaf · May 10, 2004

maplesyrup

I actually think we are at least a year away from the election. Right now Martin is just about done like dinner.
Now the fun is about to begin

I think Martin is toast. Jack layton is in for a big shock, He will not get the votes he needs to win. I think Harper going to take the lead.

I like the strong silent type who does not , slander the others.

Both Martin and Layton have said enough to not get my vote.

I am now waiting for the debate! I think Harper will come out on top, leaving both Martin and layton in his dust.

August1991 · May 12, 2004

This happens in every election but it just seems to be happening more often to the Liberals this time out. And there's an ugly edge to it.

Yesterday, all 14 members of the party's Burnaby-Douglas riding association executive announced their resignation to protest against Mr. Martin's appointment of Bill Cunningham as the Liberal candidate there in the coming federal election.

G & M - Another Installment

maplesyrup · May 13, 2004

It is not racist, but people scorned will use every tool at their disposal to win an argument.

There is no question what happened in Burnaby-Douglas will have an impact on the vote, as it contributes to destroying this image of a progressive Mr Democratic Deficit. Martin may well rue the day he ever used that term

willy · May 13, 2004

Liberal party member demands police investigation into alleged fraud in riding candidate nomination
VANCOUVER/ CKNW (AM980) -- A supporter of an unsuccessful federal Liberal candidate is slinging more mud at the party's selection process, this time in Vancouver-Centre. Efforts are underway to launch a police investigation into the party's nomination process in the riding.

McCann says the nomination process was rife with unethical, irregular and illegal procedures and action. He's alleging fraud and corruption in the process that selected Fry as the Liberals' candidate.

McCann quit the party after the race.

He runs a Granville Island art gallery and is a former riding association executive.

After quitting, McCann says he's been a Liberal party member for over 30 years and he says he has never seen a more undemocratic process.

He says he has given a lot of money to the Liberal party, but he's a Canadian first and a Liberal second.

McCann claims the party's operations remind him "of Richard Nixon and Watergate" and he says there's an attitude of "I'm gonna hang onto power in any means that I can".

McCann says he will be voting in the next federal election but he will not be voting Liberal.

Meanwhile, Vancouver-Centre MP Hedy Fry is on route from Ottawa and so far, there is no comment about McCann's allegations from her constituency office.

The Liberals keep steping in it in BC.

August1991 · May 17, 2004

One of the unkindest cuts of all came from Vancouver-area Liberal MP Herb Dhaliwal, the former Chretien minister who recently wondered aloud if Martin might be another John Turner. Yikes.

Despite PM PM spin, this is not over.

Ottawa Sun Greg Weston

Am I wrong to think that Lapierre's outbursts won't help in Quebec and may well hurt in ROC?

Liberals predict cracks in Bloc support
Canadian Press, Sunday, May 16, 2004

Granby, Que. — The electoral battle in Quebec heated up a week before it's expected to formally get under way Sunday when leading Liberal candidates denounced the Bloc Quebecois' new slogan.

The sovereigntist party is running under a banner that suggests it is untainted by scandal.

G & M Lapierre BQ slogan

BTW, the BQ slogan is a good play on words.

August1991 · May 23, 2004

the Martin PMO -- a sometimes heavy-handed shop that seems to run on equal parts of tension, anxiety, bravado and testosterone.

They were fun, they were hip, they were good communicators and they knew how to win. They held great promise -- Mr. Murphy, Scott Reid, Brian Guest, Ruth Thorkelson, and Paul Corriveau. Others such as David Herle, Terrie O'Leary and Elly Alboim had stayed outside the official structure of the PMO, although they were hardly any less influential.

G&M Blame the advisors

Interesting history of the past few months.

No doubt these assistants have many enemies in Ottawa. But as the expression goes, trees die from the top, and fish rot from the head.

Watch for resignations - as during the Turner campaign - and some old Chretien stalwarts invited back.

Victory has many fathers; disaster is an orphan.

August1991 · May 27, 2004

Are these guys the gang that couldn't shoot straight or what? This is turning into comedy. And this is all happening during a five week election campaign!

Martin refused to answer when asked whether his party would reimburse before the June 28 election any of the estimated $650,000 received from a handful of advertising firms linked to the scandal.

But the prime minister's Quebec lieutenant, Jean Lapierre, insisted there were no tainted funds in the Liberal bank account because the party's Quebec wing inherited a $3.8-million debt when Martin became leader in November.

CTV Liberal Party Funds

Kliege · May 27, 2004

So Martin says that the central issue, the only issue in his words, will be Canadian Values.

We agree.

The only problem is that embezzlement, fraud, theft, corruption, cronyism, patronage, waste, lies and broken promises are not in Martin's "Value Vocabulary". Or in Dalton McGuinty's, a fellow Liberal.

This election is all about values, ethics, honesty and good governance. It is also perhaps the last chance that Canadians have to stop the Liberals before they completely corrupt the political process and steal the remaining money in the Treasury. Who knows, stealing from the Canada Pension Plan may be their next move.

Honesty: The cornerstone of "values" is honesty … the comfort of believing a politician when they make a promise. We demand it of our ourselves, our civil servants, our police and our courts. Why should Martin and the Liberals be allowed to lie consistently, just so that they can get re-elected?

Ethics: Is it ethical for Martin and the Liberals to say they want to "fix" health care, when the current sorry situation is a result of Martin personally cutting the federal share of funding from 50% in 1993, to 13% in 2003? Is it ethical to say, in his 2000 budget speech:

"… $1 billion will be invested in much-needed medical equipment, such as MRIs and CAT scanners and $21.1 billion will be added to the Canada Health and Social Transfer; this so that the provinces and territories can accelerate the changes necessary to ensure that Canadians receive the high quality health care they deserve; to increase the number of doctors and nurses, to shorten waiting lists, and to reduce the time spent in emergency rooms." (source: http://www.fin.gc.ca/ec2000/speeche.htm)

Needless to say, we never saw that money nor the MRIs either. But here we are in May 2004 and he's promising exactly the same thing again?

Martin also promised when he took over that the Ethics Commissioner would report directly to Parliament, rather than to the Prime Minister's office. Needless to say, Martin "forgot" this pledge.

This isn't ethical, it's downright deceptive and outright lying. So much for Martin's ethics.

Fraud: If creating false invoices, and paying Liberal-friendly advertising firms hundreds of millions of dollars for doing nothing but carry a cheque across the street isn't fraud, then we need a new definition for fraud. As for "getting to the bottom of this before an election is called", that statement was fraudulent too.

Theft: Chuck Guité and a Groupe Action executive have been charged, so there's a good start. But the Auditor-General's report on the "probity" of government payments to Canada Steamship Lines will be only tabled after the election, so there could be more to come, less if the Liberals are returned to power to be able to suppress the truth again.

Effective Whistle-Blower legislation would have enabled government corruption to come to light. But after introducing a watered-down version of what was needed, Martin and the Liberals let the proposed Bill die when he called this election.

We could go on and on, but you get the point. If you want crooks, elect Martin and his Liberal brethren.

Because at stake here is good governance … the knowledge that the books are balanced, that there's no slush funds for embezzlement to take root, that Parliament has authorized programs and expenditures, and that the proper management controls are in place and functioning.

Martin and the Liberals fail in every category. 28 Scandals, 36 on-going police investigations, Canada Steamship Lines, HRDC boondoggles, Gun Registry, Sponsorship Scandal … you name it, they've done it: embezzlement, fraud, theft, corruption, etc. It's not isolated, but systemic and continuing to this very minute.

How can we expect good government if we elect crooks to run the bank for us?

Canada could use some fresh ideas, presented to the public for consideration and discussion. Name one vision of substance articulated by Paul Martin since he became Prime Minister:

"Overcoming the Democratic Deficit"? After mouthing this fine-sounding objective, he tramples over Liberal riding associations and members to appoint his own candidates (9 times), ensuring democracy is laid waste in the Liberal Party.

"More representation from Women"? Sorry, there are fewer female candidates in this election.

"Proper representation for each voter in Parliament and the Senate?" Sorry, Alberta, BC and Ontario have been under-represented for decades in these legislative bodies. The Maritimes and Quebec are over-represented, however … wonder why that is?

No, if we want to stop these crooks in their tracks, we have to take action now. If not for us, then for our children and the new immigrants that will arrive in Canada expecting to find an honest, fair, and ethical government.

That's not the Liberals. Choose Change.

Canadians deserve better.

August1991 · May 27, 2004

Now PM PM is picking a needless fight with the Ontario premier. WTF?

Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday if he was in charge in Ontario, he would never have introduced health premiums. "(Premier Dalton McGuinty) dealt with it in a way that he saw fit," Martin told reporters after touring a Montreal hospital yesterday. "My way would be different."

If I understand properly, PM PM promised health money to the provinces so a journalist asked McGuinty idf that meant the health premiums were no longer necessary. McGuinty says the premiums are here to stay because the extra money is only a PM PM election promise.

This puts PM PM's nose out of joint so he criticises a Liberal premier.

Is PM PM playing with a full deck?

Calgary Sun on PM PM and Ontario health

And what is this doing in a Calgary paper?

maplesyrup · May 27, 2004

I do admit to being a bit confused.

It seems that things are not going that well for the Liberals during the first week of the campaign, yet last night's SES CPAC Poll shows them at 42% - majority government area.

What is going on here?

Is it that not many people are tuned into the campaign yet, or are the Liberal ads that effective?

Strange.

idealisttotheend · May 27, 2004

IMHO, the Liberal ads and the website are some of the most effective election advertising I've seen in a long time. Everyone knew Harper was a liability, maybe if they hadn't had the $100,000 limit in their leadership convention someone else would've been elected leader and the election result would be far more in doubt.

Is PM PM playing with a full deck?

Remember the escalator incident and the stories of Finance officials quitting over his temper? I think we have always seen more of PM PMs advisors than PM PM himself. Yet, he is still one of the most intellectually honest and smartest people to hold the position in a very long time. I wonder though if the buisness community pushed the merger of the right so hard because they were afraid of him even though he is often painted as one of them.

Kliege · May 27, 2004

SES CPAC Poll was taken before the election was called that is why the Liberals seem to be at 42%, which does not reflect other polls which show the liberal at 35% to 37% and looking at recent history they will only go down more as the election gets closer and there is a huge number of undecide voters. Plus the numbers of those who feel there needs to be a changein the country are above 50%

The liberals ads are not that effective, one way you can tell this is that the Liberals and Paul Martin keep changing there message and the reactions of Liberal party leaders Goodale,Lapierre and McGuinty. There is always signs that the civil war within the party between Martin and the old team under Jean have not healed and will cost them dearly come the election.

There is no doubt about it, the Liberals are running scared. The wheels on this train are finally coming off.

August1991 · May 27, 2004

Yet, he is still one of the most intellectually honest and smartest people to hold the position in a very long time.

I think Paul Martin is a Paul Desmarais creation - like Maurice Strong. Ambitious "idea" guys with big egos.

I'm no conspiracy nut but do you know how Paul Martin came to be head of CSL? Where did Martin get the $180 million to buy CSL? (The figure I heard before was much smaller, and my understanding is that Desmarais lent him the money.)

[Paul Martin] was employed by the giant Montreal-based conglomerate Power Corporation of Canada, controlled by long-time family friend and one of the wealthiest businessmen in Canada, Paul Desmarais. In 1973 Martin assumed the presidency of Canada Steamship Lines, a subsidiary of Power Corporation. In 1981, Power Corporation sold Canada Steamship Lines Inc. (CSL) to Martin and a partner, Laurence Pathy, for $180 million.

Paul Martin Bio in random web site

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IMHO, the Liberal ads and the website are some of the most effective election advertising I've seen in a long time.

The sites look good. But why are there two? Or is the same in other provinces?

Liberal Party of Canada (Federal Branch) www.liberal.ca

Liberal Party of Canada (Quebec Branch) www.qc.liberal.ca (Note that Lapierre's photo is bigger than Martin's - ego then ego.)

maplesyrup · May 28, 2004

New Dem have separate sites in each province as well.

Here are a few:

www.ndp.ca

www.npd.qc.ca

www.bc.ndp.ca

Kliege · May 28, 2004

The polls and the campiagn that make it abundantly clear that we are in first epic election since 1988. I've been predicting a Liberal minority for quite some time but I'm now feeling more and more like Stephen Harper will win the next election. Even though they're going into the election in front, the "hidden" numbers have got to be absolutely petrifying for the Liberals. Just so you can follow along at home, the numbers I'm quoting are pulled from either the COMPASS or the Ipsos-Reid polls. Let's start with the Compass poll:

1) The Liberals once again sit at 39% in this poll which is consistent with every other poll we've seen. However, the Conservatives are now at 31%. This should be extremely scary for the Liberals since it will only take a 4% swing in vote to leave the two parties in a dead heat. And since polling has existed, the incumbent party has dropped an average of 7% during elections. And the absolute scariest number is this one: In Ontario the Liberals lead 42% to 39%. That translates into 40 Conservative seats by my count. Given that there's no way the Tories get under 60 seats in the West and that translates to an opposition party with over 100 seats for the first time since 1980.

2) An interesting part of this poll is the "issue section". They ask respondents how they'd vote if the election were decided on certain issues. On "Health and Education" which are the Liberal strong points, they have a very modest 38-29-24 lead on the Cons and NDP. The Liberals also do very well on the economy, terrorism, leadership and separatism. However, I can't see any of these issues, except perhaps leadership taking a dominant role in the campaign. What I can see being a major issue is the sponsorship scandal, which actually puts the Torries in front 37-30. The Torries also take the lead on "change" (wouldn't they have to by definition?).

3) The poll found that the Liberals had little chance to make gains by attacking Harper on tax cuts, or the fact that he's from Alberta or the fact that the Conservatives are full of "religious fanatics". Considering the Liberals appear hell bent on "demonizing" him and attacking him on tax cuts...well...I think the results may be closer to the anti-Chretien gameplan of '93 than the anti-Day gameplan of '00.

4) 76% say there was "much corruption" in the scandal and the Liberals "helped their friends". 71% think Martin was in the loop. And in a very telling number, 40% feel they are worse off than they were four years ago, compared to 27% who feel they are better off.

Now we move on to Ipsos, who have the Liberals with a healthier lead but with absolutely scary peripherals. Consider,

1) 61% of Canadians believe the Liberal Party is corrupt. And that number is at 70% in Quebec. When I first saw this, it occurred to me that this means the Liberals won't do anything unless people are willing to vote for a corrupt party. Well, it looks like they are. 35% of Liberal voters feel the Liberal party is corrupt. Eek!

2) 58% of Canadians believe Martin is "too friendly with big business". Remember the CSL fiasco that hit the week before the sponsorship scandal? My prediction is the NDP will capitalize on this massively. I heard a report the NDP was planning to go to the Barbados for one day during the campaign to play up the offshore flags angle but backed out. Regardless, you'll have the NDP attacking on CSL, the Bloc on Sponsorship and Harper on money management. It's going to get ugly.

3) "only 23 per cent of Conservatives say they might change their minds, whereas 29 per cent of Liberals say they could." Uh-oh. Guess who has more growth pottential?

4) 2 in 3 Conservatives say they will definitely vote this election. That compares to 56% for the Liberals. That 10% swing means the Liberals will lose about 3% of their lead on voter turn-out alone.

5) And finally, we get to the absolutely scary stuff. 47% of Liberal voters feel the country is better off with a minority government. Unbelievable. 36% of Canadians feel the Liberal Party deserves to be re-elected under "the new leadership of Paul Martin". wow. They question was even phrased to favour "Team Martin" and they could only get 36%. How on earth do you get over 36% when only 36% of Canadians feel you deserve to be re-elected. Not surprisingly, 60% of Canadians feel it's time for another political party to be given a chance to govern.

Putting all of this together and we see that the Liberals cannot win a majority unless:

-People who feel they are corrupt vote for them

-People who feel they don't deserve to be re-elected vote for them

Now, as I mentioned before, with the exception of 1974, the incumbent party has lost support during the campaign since modern polling came into being. Given that the Liberals have the weakest support, the voters least likely to vote, and the pottential to lose an election fought on the sponsorship scandal and I don't see how they can reverse history. This party has to drop at least 5% during the campaign, which leaves Harper dangerously close to them. I still think Martin will eek out a minority since some NDP vote might bleed to the Liberals but I would not be surprised to see the Conservatives on top.

And despite this, Herle and co are set to drop the writ this Sunday. I don't know what the Earnscliffe focus groups are telling them but if it's anything like these two polls, it's a mind-boggling decision to go right now.

August1991 · May 28, 2004

Sorry to interrupt, Kliege.

MS:

New Dem have separate sites in each province as well.

www.bc.ndp.ca is the BC provincial NDP site. The provincial Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) has a site too: Parti Libéral du Québec (PLQ)

But the federal Liberals have at least two sites. Why? Do the federal Liberals have other sites in other provinces? Do other federal parties have several web sites?

I don`t want to make a big deal about this. `White man speaks with fork tongue`. I'm just curious.

idealisttotheend · May 28, 2004

But the federal Liberals have at least two sites. Why?

Courting the soft sepratist vote, it is the only possible reason. Also shows how the federal Liberals see the country, somewhere Trudeau is screaming in agony. And rightly so I submit.

I think Paul Martin is a Paul Desmarais creation - like Maurice Strong. Ambitious "idea" guys with big egos. I'm no conspiracy nut but do you know how Paul Martin came to be head of CSL? Where did Martin get the $180 million to buy CSL?

I agree totally. Ever since the mid 70s the BCNI (and it's dirivates including Power Corp) have seen fit to make sure both Liberal and Tory leaders have at least one foot in their sphere. Mr. Desmarais is plenty smart enough to see the potential of a son of a prominent cabinent minister driving a truck for his company. What I can't reconcile though is why the buisness community pushed so hard for the Right merger with Martin firmly in control of the Liberals. To keep Martin honest or because they think Martin might act in a manner not in their interests, to push him to the right? I can't figure it out.

August1991 · May 28, 2004

This is beyond rich; it's a scream. Needless to say, this got much more coverage in Quebec than the Tory bilingual flap.

Former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano is suing the federal government and Prime Minister Paul Martin personally for $4.5-million over his dismissal as ambassador to Denmark.

Mr. Martin's reaction was terse: "It's his right," he said.

Lapresse made a point of stating that that was all PM PM would say.

G&M Gagliano Suit

The irony is that this crew took taxpayers once and now, they're coming back for more by claiming other crew members were incompetent!

It's too bad Dalton Camp and John Diefenbaker didn't live long enough to see this. It may well take the Liberal Party of Canada 20 years to recover from this.