Ignatieff's magnificent summer tour...

[Molly]

I'm hearing much more from/about Ralph Goodale than from Mr. Ignatieff- this seems to be almost the only place anyone is noticing the summer tour.

And the only ones bringing up Mr. Trudeau are Conservative partisans. I find that downright amusing, and wonder why they find him so fascinating. Still smarting from Joe Clark's short-lived governance and resounding defeat?

[capricorn]

At the risk of irking some posters, here is an update of interest on the Liberal bus tour. Ignatieff had this to say to Prince Edward Islanders a couple of days ago.

“We need to have a message that says to P.E.I. real simple — this is a province that has benefited continually from sustained federal investment,” Ignatieff told reporters.

“This is a province that benefits from equalization. This is a province that benefits from transfer payments. This is a province, in other words, that believes in government and the Conservatives are a party that loves power but don’t actually believe in government.”

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2010-08-03/article-1649979/P.E.I.-needs-strong-federal-government%3A-Ignatieff/1

It sure looks to me like Ignatieff is saying that PEI is a have-not province that must rely on federal handouts to survive.

Someone there must have got the same vibe.

When asked if P.E.I. doesn’t need a government that tries to get the province off federal handouts, Ignatieff said he’s not talking about handouts.

“I’m talking about hands up, we’re talking about participation,” said the man who wants to be prime minister.

“Economic development in the Atlantic provinces of Canada depends on the constant participation and involvement of an active federal government.”

Harper said something similar some years ago but the words were not as veiled as those of Ignatieff. Harper alluded to a "culture of defeat" in the Atlantic provinces. (Of course, wanting to be re-elected, I'm sure Harper regrets those words today.) Here we find a marked difference between the two leaders. Ignatieff, being the more educated, uses more words and different words to essentially say the same thing as what Harper said. That's my take.

[Smallc]

Harper said something similar some years ago but the words were not as veiled as those of Ignatieff. Harper alluded to a "culture of defeat" in the Atlantic provinces.

That isn't at all the same thing, sorry.

[capricorn]

Actually, Smallc, now that I look at it, you're absolutely right. Harper's message is different from Ignatieff's. Harper wants the tap turned off while Ignatieff wants the flow to continue.

"I think in Atlantic Canada, because of what happened in the decades following Confederation, there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome... Atlantic Canada's culture of defeat will be hard to overcome as long as Atlantic Canada is actually physically trailing the rest of the country."

—Stephen Harper

(New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, May 29, 2002)

"There's unfortunately a view of too many people in Atlantic Canada that it's only through government favours that there's going to be economic progress, or that's what you look to... That kind of can't-do attitude is a problem in this country but it's obviously more serious in regions that have had have-not status for a long time."

—Stephen Harper,(Toronto Sun, May 31, 2002)

"I've taken my position, and frankly it's the same position that I took all through the [Alliance] leadership race. I delivered [speeches] everywhere I went, including in the Maritime provinces on several occasions, about the spirit of defeatism in the country and what drives it and how we have to address it."

—Stephen Harper,(National Post, May 31, 2002)jjj

http://www.bloggingcanadians.ca/NewDemocratBlogs/why-do-conservatives-hate-atlantic-canada-and-why-would-anyone-in-atlantic-canada-vote-conservative/

Now look at Ignatieff's comments.

“We need to have a message that says to P.E.I. real simple — this is a province that has benefited continually from sustained federal investment,” Ignatieff told reporters.

“This is a province that benefits from equalization. This is a province that benefits from transfer payments. This is a province, in other words, that believes in government

Ignatieff's message to PEI is the province has benefited from sustained federal money, i.e. federal transfer payments and the like, and the Conservatives are threatening to turn off the spigot.

[nicky10013]

I'm hearing much more from/about Ralph Goodale than from Mr. Ignatieff- this seems to be almost the only place anyone is noticing the summer tour.

And the only ones bringing up Mr. Trudeau are Conservative partisans. I find that downright amusing, and wonder why they find him so fascinating. Still smarting from Joe Clark's short-lived governance and resounding defeat?

I disagree. I've read a lot of editorials praising the tour, saying that he actually looks a lot more relateable than he once did. Even the National Post ran such an article.

[Smallc]

Actually, Smallc, now that I look at it, you're absolutely right. Harper's message is different from Ignatieff's. Harper wants the tap turned off while Ignatieff wants the flow to continue.

Ummm, yeah, and if you're not a conservative, you don't see that as a bad thing (the tap being left open).

[capricorn]

Nicky, I've read in the media that the tour is a good idea. I agree this is something that Ignatieff had to do. As to the success of the tour, the jury is still out. If anything, it gives Ignatieff a taste of what an election campaign would look and feel like.

Edited August 5, 2010 by capricorn

[capricorn]

Ignatieff's tour took him through the Windsor area and other parts of southern Ontario. Hankering to reel in union, NDP and Green support, he referred to the commonality of policies between the three parties.

Using the "big red tent" analogy and saying it's "in the centre of life,", he rallied Liberal supporters in two area stops including a raucous gathering at the Ciociaro Club. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin, Essex candidate Nelson Santos, Windsor-Tecumseh candidate Pat Brough, surrounding MPs, MPPs and municipal government members, joined Ignatieff at the Ciociaro Club with Ignatieff also touring the Comber Fair earlier in the day. It was part of the Liberals plan to "do politics in public" and to "change the ways politics is done" in Canada.

Ignatieff said the Liberals were "right down the middle" and accused the Conservatives of being "a right-wing, reactionary government." He said there are Conservatives wondering where the "progressive" is.

"Canadians are crying for an alternative and we've got to give to them," he said.

Ignatieff said the Liberals stand for many of the same issues as the NDP and Green Party such as a clean environment, a strong union movement and social justice. If people have those beliefs as well, Ignatieff suggested that the Liberals were the answer.

"If you vote for the NDP, if you vote for the Green Party, you know what you are going to get – four more years of Stephen Harper and you'll get nothing at all," he said to a cheering crowd.

http://www.amherstburgecho.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2708000

I wouldn't know, but voting NDP or Green seems to be getting scarier and scarier as time goes on. Best to stay in the exact middle, the very centre of Canadian politics, where Ignatieff says we will find the Liberals.

[bloodyminded]

Ignatieff's tour took him through the Windsor area and other parts of southern Ontario. Hankering to reel in union, NDP and Green support, he referred to the commonality of policies between the three parties.

http://www.amherstburgecho.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2708000

I wouldn't know, but voting NDP or Green seems to be getting scarier and scarier as time goes on. Best to stay in the exact middle, the very centre of Canadian politics, where Ignatieff says we will find the Liberals.

The Greens remain a mostly unknown quantity, but the NDP are hardly radicals. My trepidation about them would be based on questions of sound management, not ideology. Mind you, I have voted for NDP, even federally. But then, I've voted Liberal and Conservative, too, so that makes me not too bright anyway.

[capricorn]

The Greens remain a mostly unknown quantity, but the NDP are hardly radicals. My trepidation about them would be based on questions of sound management, not ideology.

I just can't take the Greens seriously. As for the NDP, I am sufficiently turned off by their coziness with labour unions that I cannot give them a second look. The NDP as the official opposition is something I could live with. I always know where the NDP is coming from. As for the Liberals, let's just say they keep me guessing.

Mind you, I have voted for NDP, even federally. But then, I've voted Liberal and Conservative, too, so that makes me not too bright anyway.

The important thing is that when required you cast a vote. In my mind, there is no such thing as a "not so bright" voter. In the political sense, it is the non-voter that I categorize as "not so bright".

[bloodyminded]

I just can't take the Greens seriously.

I don't even know where they're coming from. Maybe they'll tighten their organizational and message skills eventually.

As for the NDP, I am sufficiently turned off by their coziness with labour unions that I cannot give them a second look.

Sure. No doubt we see things differently, but I at least understand where you're coming from.

The NDP as the official opposition is something I could live with. I always know where the NDP is coming from. As for the Liberals, let's just say they keep me guessing.

You and everybody else. Including their supporters, in my opinion.

The important thing is that when required you cast a vote. In my mind, there is no such thing as a "not so bright" voter. In the political sense, it is the non-voter that I categorize as "not so bright".

I agree that voting is important. I was just pretending to be self-effacing.

Edited August 11, 2010 by bloodyminded

[capricorn]

I don't even know where they're coming from. Maybe they'll tighten their organizational and message skills eventually.

To be honest, (I'm not proud to say) I never even looked at the Green Party's website. I make no apologies for saying this disinterest stems from my dislike of Elizabeth May. Maybe a new Green leader will spark my curiosity.

I agree that voting is important. I was just pretending to be self-effacing.

You can't hide from the mighty capricorn.

[bloodyminded]

To be honest, (I'm not proud to say) I never even looked at the Green Party's website. I make no apologies for saying this disinterest stems from my dislike of Elizabeth May. Maybe a new Green leader will spark my curiosity.

I was about to say that I have looked at it, but I'm not sure a one-minute perusal counts for so much. So, there you go.

Maybe I shopuld have worded it differently: perhaps they DO have a strong and cohesive platform...but if so, they have not managed to communicate it.

Edited August 11, 2010 by bloodyminded

[capricorn]

perhaps they DO have a strong and cohesive platform...but if so, they have not managed to communicate it.

Agreed. Maybe if a Green member was elected to the House of Commons they'd get more media exposure.

[capricorn]

I've been keeping tabs on the Liberal Express tour, as I'm sure a lot of you have. Ignatieff was not amused that, following Harper's ATV escapade and the semi criticism of a journalist, Harper replied "I think I make the rules".

“Politics is not a spectator sport,” Ignatieff told the crowd here. “We need your help. We are up against the toughest political machine, the nastiest political machine in the history of Canadian politics.”

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/08/29/15177361.html

That statement pretty well encapsulates the message he has broadcast during his Canadian odyssey.

It's reported Ignatieff has now completed his cross-country tour. Yet, I had read the tour was to be extended into September.

When Ignatieff gathers his MPs in Baddeck, Nova Scotia for their end-of-summer retreat starting on Sunday, he’s expected to announce that his cross-Canada bus odyssey — dubbed the Liberal Express — will carry on into the autumn months.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/853651--ignatieff-s-old-fashioned-bus-tour-to-continue-into-fall?bn=1

I'm sure this will be all cleared up in the next couple of days.

Now Ignatieff is off to Baddeck, Nova Scotia for the 3 day Liberal caucus. Perhaps this meeting of the brightest Liberal minds will result in a Red Book. Perhaps too, the poor marks Ignatieff as leader is garnering in the polls will be the subject of conversation in the hospitality suite, in hushed tones, of course.

[PIK]

I disagree. I've read a lot of editorials praising the tour, saying that he actually looks a lot more relateable than he once did. Even the National Post ran such an article.

So he rolls up the sleeves and goes to a tim hortons ,which I would bet he has never been in one before . But soon as he is given the keys to the challenger jets he will be back to acting like royality.

[ToadBrother]

So he rolls up the sleeves and goes to a tim hortons ,which I would bet he has never been in one before . But soon as he is given the keys to the challenger jets he will be back to acting like royality.

The only one I've seen acting like royalty is Stephen Harper, who literally lifted Charles I's justifications for ignoring Parliament for his prorogations and attempts to deny Parliament its lawful, constitutional right to access any and all government documents at its pleasure.

Ponder that, my fine Tory friend.