Conservatives

[takeanumber]

MS: That just confirms what we already knew about Harper and Day.

They're bent over while getting rammed by the Americans from behind.

[Cartman]

I used to think highly of Harper, but if he has to re-consider his leadership after one loss with significant gains (seats) and no policy convention, then I think he should just hand over the job to someone else. We need strong leadership in this country, not a whimp that seeks out affirmation at every challenge. Wonder why he was initially in favour of the war in Iraq and then suddenly, mysteriously changed his mind? At least Stockwell believed in himself.

Whatta baby! :angry:

[maplesyrup]

Canada: Why not vote for the Conservatives?

The upcoming Canadian election on June 28th, 2004 will be an important one. The Liberals have been in power since 1993. Many people are discontent with the various scandals that have received a lot of press over the past year or so. Some people are also upset about the recent Ontario Liberals' provincial budget.

One should try to recall, however, the pre-Liberal era. The Mulroney government had its fair share of scandals. Some of Mr. Mulroney's closest friends were apparently the main beneficiaries of the BRE-X scam. The Airbus scandal. "Free" Trade. The Conservative government also implemented the much-hated GST, after explicitly promising not to raise taxes. Without the GST, sales tax in Canada would be pretty close to most of the States.

There is always going to be some amount of waste and corruption in government. You see the same type of problems in large corporations. It is simply the nature of a large, bureaucratic organization. Certain types of people will always use their situation take advantage of others. I don't think that it is fair to say that one party has any more or less of this problem than another. I think it is much more important to look at that party's platform and the major issues.

A bit dated perhaps (June 14th), but lots of pertinent information here.

Interesting that the sponsorship scandal kinda disappeared during the last 10 days of the campaign. Do you think now with a minority government the opposition will stir things up again? What about Sheila Fraser - what is she up to next? And isn't the sponsorship inquiry due to begin soon?

[maplesyrup]

Quebecers pay price for `firewall'

You reap what you sow!

[maplesyrup]

Shadow Cabinet

Harper announced his shadow cabinet today.

Some interesting appointments include Belinda Stronach in Int'l Trade, Chuck Strahl as Deputy House Leader and Democratic Reform, Stephen Fletcher in Health, Josee Verner in Quebec Economic Development and la Francophonie, Norm Doyle as Caucus Chair, and Jay Hill as Whip.

42 people altogether, but includes only 9 women, or 21% female - not too impressive there.

[Cartman]

Hmmm...maybe Kim C. WAS right about women being excluded.

[maplesyrup]

I think we need some kind of affirmatve action plan to get more women and minorities into our House of Commons so it is a microcosm of our Canadian society.

[maplesyrup]

The new Conservative party has decided to have its first policy convention in Montreal, the 17th to the 19th of March, 2005. Strategically this is a brilliant move.

[kimmy]

No complaint about it being in Montreal, but why on earth are they waiting so long?

-kimmy

[August1991]

The new Conservative party has decided to have its first policy convention in Montreal, the 17th to the 19th of March, 2005. Strategically this is a brilliant move.

And I see PM PM has held a cabinet meeting in Kelowna. If movement could guarantee progress...

Joe Clark was another big fan of flying around the country, generally to no effect.

[mirror]

Link

Finally, after a long summer drought, some good news for Conservatives:

Team and plan

Four months after I started arguing that Stephen Harper should get off the heckling tip and start selling a team and a plan, I'm not going to be the one who complains about his new round of television ads, which are designed precisely to emphasize team and plan.

Well, I may not complain, but perhaps I can quibble. The ads are still a bit light on plan. They leave out a few of Harper's strongest players. And the problem with Harper's 'A' team, even as he defines it, is that they're too bright to convincingly pretend there actually is a brightly-lit Conservative Situation Room where the leader scribbles on a whiteboard as he leads them in brainstorming. I swear that near the end of one spot I can see Rahim Jaffer trying hard not to giggle.

Still, you don't have to do this well. You just have to do it. Everyone should emphasize team and plan. Cutlts of personality don't fool anyone. That's one of 1,000 reasons why the Paul Martin Team should have been a lot more about the Team and a lot less about... well, you know.

Anyway, Harper's finally sort of figured it out. These ads are not going to turn around strong polling trends, but they're the best news the Conservatives have had in many weeks.

[SirSpanky]

Weird; I was thinking why the parties mainly promote their leaders instead of a strong team this morning before I read this.....eerie.

So question for those who've followed politics longer than me (probably everyone), why don't the parties produce advertisements about their candidates, and the team that they want to form the cabinet? Just my opinion, but I would vote for a strong team, rather than a single leader any day of the week (a simplified arguement I know, but I think you get the picture).

[shoop]

So question for those who've followed politics longer than me (probably everyone), why don't the parties produce advertisements about their candidates, and the team that they want to form the cabinet?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are a few reasons, but it is very easy for the media to fall into covering a cult of personality. Be it Trudeau, Reagan, Thatcher, Mulroney. It is much easier to focus one's coverage on an individual than on a team.

The second reason is ego, pure and simple. National leaders end up with huge egos, some would argue it takes a huge ego to suffer the slings and arrows necessary to make it to the top. Who would want to face PM Dithers wrath when he argued for a campaign focused on Himself?

[mirror]

Link

OTTAWA (CP) - The summer barbecue season is behind him, but Opposition Leader Stephen Harper is still being raked over the coals as he readies for the fall session of Parliament. "There is significant disquiet in caucus," a senior Conservative said this week.

"People are not happy with what's going on with same-sex and with softwood lumber, which should be our policy to own and hammer the government with, but it's not happening," the source, who asked not be identified, said.

Harper's penchant for being his own chief of staff is contributing to what the source called "the gift to (Prime Minister) Paul Martin that keeps on giving."

Sure looks like Harper has a lot things to learn yet and a lot of work to do.

[shoop]

In the interest of providing a fair picture of the article here is what was said a little further down the page. (Fairness, do one-track mind a**holes like you get that concept mirror?)

But Conservative finance critic Monte Solberg said criticism of the leader is not widespread, and is to be expected from some quarters.

"While there may be pockets of unhappiness, it's in the fringe."

"You're always going to have negative stuff from people whose ideas are not being used by the leader," Solberg said.

Hmmm, not the end of the world. Just the regular machinations expected in any party.

[mirror]

Would you expect Solberg to say otherwise?

It's what Nicholls, head of the National Citizens Coalition, said further on in the article, which is probablly one of the most damaging part of the article, as this is one guy you would think supports Harper:

As Harper toured the country trying to soften his image, people lined up with free advice, including Gerry Nicholls, who succeeded Harper as head of the National Citizens Coalition.

"Politics is all about defining yourself and the party you lead before others can define you," says Nicholls.

"He has not defined himself," and wasted time flipping burgers on his summer tour when he should have been dishing out policy, Nicholls says.

"Their strategy centred on getting people to like Stephen Harper . . . when they should have been getting people to agree with Stephen Harper," Nicholls said.

The Conservative leader did announce policies his party would propose on tax breaks for big city rapid transit users and made get-tough-on-crime announcements, but it was not enough for critics.

"They have failed to promote themselves as a pro-free-enterprise alternative to the Liberal party and until they do that, I think they're going to be in trouble," Nicholls said.

"No one is interested in Liberal-lite, we already have a Liberal party."

Grumblings continue about Harper's office,

[mirror]

This following article is about Conservatives in British politics but I think it is the route Conservatives should go in Canada in order to appeal to a broader cross section of Canadians:

Link

[shoop]

Would you expect Solberg to say otherwise? 

It's what Nicholls, head of the National Citizens Coalition, said further on in the article, which is probablly one of the most damaging part of the article, as this is one guy you would think supports Harper:

If you read the context of his comments he is complaining about Harper not being vocal enough on issues that marginalize the party.

Hmmm, Harper being attacked by the far right for moderating too much = CPC moderating itself to appeal to more mainstream Canadians.

As much as guys like Nicholls might whine it is all the much better for the CPC. No where else for the NCC to go and they get more of the swing Ontario voters.

Duhhhh, Mirror can't see the logic because he is too caught up in his juvenile attack the CPC at every moment game and too stupid to put any thought or analysis into his posts.

[mirror]

Would you expect Solberg to say otherwise? 

It's what Nicholls, head of the National Citizens Coalition, said further on in the article, which is probablly one of the most damaging part of the article, as this is one guy you would think supports Harper:

If you read the context of his comments he is complaining about Harper not being vocal enough on issues that marginalize the party.

Hmmm, Harper being attacked by the far right for moderating too much = CPC moderating itself to appeal to more mainstream Canadians.

As much as guys like Nicholls might whine it is all the much better for the CPC. No where else for the NCC to go and they get more of the swing Ontario voters.

Duhhhh, Mirror can't see the logic because he is too caught up in his juvenile attack the CPC at every moment game and too stupid to put any thought or analysis into his posts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Another impressive post. Cheers!

[mirror]

Off the barbecue circuit -- but not the coals

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper leaves the barbecue circuit this week with a party divided in Central Canada -- especially in Quebec where a number of nominated candidates have quit in despair over the Tories' lagging fortunes.

Others listed as the official candidates in their riding say they have no intention of campaigning for election.

And among those who will hang in to fight, there have been repeated complaints about a lack of communication and organization.

"We're working very hard here and nobody wants to listen to us," said Ann Julie Fortier, the Conservative candidate for the riding of Berthier-Maskinongé, who cornered Mr. Harper about the problems when his summer tour took him to her area.

If I were a Conservative supporter I would understandably get very frustrated with Canada's mainstream media which often acts as a mouthpiece for the Liberals. Can't you wait for the CBC to return?

It seems like the Conservatives have now been relegated to the Canadian political junkheap by most of our media. Guess what, finally Conservatives are now really beginning to feel and understand what it's been like for New Democrats in dealing with the press over the years. Conservatives and New Democrats can't do anything right, and Liberals can't do anything wrong. How do Conservatives like Freedom of the Press now?

[mirror]

Anyone want to run for political office in the next federal election for the Tories? Apparently they have lots of openings. It is quite sad to see a once mighty political party crashing and burning like this.

Tory Leader hunts for new troops

But some also feel that the battle is lost. One recent poll put the Tories 16 points behind the Liberals in Ontario.

"It seems to be a long campaign and it seems to be a hopeless one in this city," Mr. Soobrian said. "Some of these candidates know they can't win, and compound that with a long and drawn-out campaign. I guess that's the decision they have made."

Two candidates resigned in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough during the past weekend. Tim Dobson, the Tory who placed second to Liberal Dan McTeague in Pickering-Scarborough East last year, said he was no longer interested is running, as did Tony Backhurst, the Tory candidate in Scarborough-Rouge River, who also ran in 2004.

2244