Star Candidate?

[plusgood]

What are peoples thoughts on this?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Story/National/

I hate this kindof thing. I think nomination meetings are very important to our democracy, especially if you consider the criticisms of our electoral system.

It is also interesting that he would accept entering the political scene in Canada under controversial circumstances considering the fact he is often promoted as a potential leadership Candidate.

It's too bad that he didn't have the kind of star-candidate appeal to win in a non-safe riding. He is taking a riding where MP Jean Augustine had 50% of the vote, 20% above her Conservative challenger.

[scribblet]

What are peoples thoughts on this?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Story/National/

I hate this kindof thing.  I think nomination meetings are very important to our democracy, especially if you consider the criticisms of our electoral system.

It is also interesting that he would accept entering the political scene in Canada under controversial circumstances considering the fact he is often promoted as a potential leadership Candidate.

It's too bad that he didn't have the kind of star-candidate appeal to win in a non-safe riding.  He is taking a riding where MP Jean Augustine had 50% of the vote, 20% above her Conservative challenger.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe he's a hawk on foreign affairs.

It appears that the nomination process was rigged,

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive...5/27/c0369.html

Protest in front of Liberal Party Headquarters in Toronto - Sunday, November 27, 2005

TORONTO, Nov. 27 /CNW/ - After prolonged speculation about whether and where he would run, Michael Ignatieff appears to have found himself a safe haven in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

snip

Despite the abridgement of time, and the difficult nomination filing

requirements, two candidates were in fact able to prepare and submit the

required forms, including police and credit checks, as well as the required 30 signatures in support of their nominations.

The two candidates delivered their nomination documents to Liberal Party headquarters in Toronto, only to find that the office was locked before the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline. Liberal party staffers could be seen through the second storey windows but they refused to answer repeated knocking on the doors and phone calls to the office.

The two potential candidates are more than qualified to seek the

nomination. Marc Shwec, a bilingual (English/French) engineer and MBA, has been active in community and volunteer work. Ron Chyczij, also an MBA, is the president of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Riding Association and is active in many community and volunteer projects.....

[plusgood]

Yah, I'm not too sure about him on foreign affairs either.

From my understanding he supported the war with Iraq and missile defense? Now, in terms of Iraq he's a big human rights advocate and that plays into it, rather than any of the geopolitical goals the US Admin may have, so that's an important distinction to make. Sometimes I wonder if I opposed the Iraq war when thought about on those grounds. I guess that wasn't the issue I was raising, but its still important.

I think any process where the PM appoints candidates or denies the nomination process has the potential to be assessed as rigging.

[shoop]

Martin rigged in 2004 and he will do it again this time around.

Such is life it's not as if Martin promised to make the nomination process more open. Oh wait he did!

I think any process where the PM appoints candidates or denies the nomination process has the potential to be assessed as rigging.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[plusgood]

haha. yeah. I recognize that this type of thing has a long history. I'm sure other party leaders do it as well. I just think its a fairly important issue worth thinking about.

I am one of those people who are bothered by the Single-Member-Plurality electoral system. I think it completely hinders democracy. For that reason I see competition at nomination meetings to be very important.

If this is a liberal safe riding then Ignatieff has just been appointed MP.

As I mentioned originally I am also bothered by the fact this star-candidate does have enough star-power to win a non-liberal seat.

This is also made more difficult by the fact that I generally like Ignatieff.

[Dan]

haha. yeah.  I recognize that this type of thing has a long history.  I'm sure other party leaders do it as well.  I just think its a fairly important issue worth thinking about.

I am one of those people who are bothered by the Single-Member-Plurality electoral system.  I think it completely hinders democracy.  For that reason I see competition at nomination meetings to be very important. 

If this is a liberal safe riding then Ignatieff has just been appointed MP.

As I mentioned originally I am also bothered by the fact this star-candidate does have enough star-power to win a non-liberal seat.

This is also made more difficult by the fact that I generally like Ignatieff.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its good that he got the nomination.

He's an anti-Ukranian racist and will either lose his seat soundly or prove that the Liberals are hypocrites.

[Riverwind]

I hate this kindof thing.  I think nomination meetings are very important to our democracy, especially if you consider the criticisms of our electoral system.

Frankly, I don't think the nomination process is particularily worth defending. Chuck Cadman lost his nomination because is opponent went and signed up a bunch of memberships while Cadman was trying to do his job in Ottawa. There are many stories every year how nomination meetings are hijacked by single interest groups which don't represent the community at all.

In other words, I don't feel a candidate that is hand picked by the executive as any better or worse than one that made it through the nomination process. Ultimately, it is up to the voters to decide who becomes the MP.

[tml12]

haha. yeah.  I recognize that this type of thing has a long history.  I'm sure other party leaders do it as well.  I just think its a fairly important issue worth thinking about.

I am one of those people who are bothered by the Single-Member-Plurality electoral system.  I think it completely hinders democracy.  For that reason I see competition at nomination meetings to be very important. 

If this is a liberal safe riding then Ignatieff has just been appointed MP.

As I mentioned originally I am also bothered by the fact this star-candidate does have enough star-power to win a non-liberal seat.

This is also made more difficult by the fact that I generally like Ignatieff.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its good that he got the nomination.

He's an anti-Ukranian racist and will either lose his seat soundly or prove that the Liberals are hypocrites.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He is not a racist, he was just a big fan of Russian imperalism. Yet, I cannot fully comment because I did not read his book.

[August1991]

Ignatieff will go nowhere in politics if he has a thin skin and he wants to fight old battles:

But Ignatieff said today his words were taken out of context, and dismissed the protest as an attempt to create strife in the Liberal ranks on the eve of an election call.

"I was saddened to learn (Sunday) of an attempt to distort my words and pervert my meaning in a discussion of the Ukrainian experience in one of my books," Ignatieff said in a release.

"Anyone who reads the entire chapter in question, rather than merely the phrases that have been cited in isolation and out of context, will quickly recognize that my sole purpose was to rebut, not assert, the odious stereotype of Ukrainians that has been wrongly and unfairly attributed to me."

Toronto Star

Trudeau left many questionable quotes about the Liberal Party but I don't recall him ever rising to the bait when queried about it.

The Toronto Star, on the other hand, is going to support the guy with every splash of ink possible:

Michael Ignatieff clearly remembers the moment the seed was planted that led to his decision to return to Canada and enter politics.

He was delivering a Massey Lecture in Toronto five years ago, and talked about Canadian approaches to human rights and the importance of the Charter.

"A student got up and said: `If you love this country so much, why don't you live here?'" Ignatieff recalled.

Graham Fraser

(That is one of the most obsequious, fawning columns I have ever read... Check it out just to see what one looks like.)

----

I guess the Liberals are desperate:

From the link above:

The two candidates delivered their nomination documents to Liberal Party headquarters in Toronto, only to find that the office was locked before the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline. Liberal party staffers could be seen through the second storey windows but they refused to answer repeated knocking on the doors and phone calls to the office.

Lastly, I am surprised the following quote in a Hebert column did not receive more attention:

In Toronto, Michael Ignatieff has been shopping for months for a seat to make the jump from academia to politics. So far, the only vacant Liberal riding in the GTA is that of Carolyn Parrish and it is home to a significant Muslim community that is unlikely to be enamoured of a Liberal candidate such as Ignatieff, who supported the Iraq war.

Chantal Hebert

I was thinking of sending that along to Mark Steyn because that has been his point. Here we have a candidate for federal politics who, apparently, must find a suitable riding because of his position on terrorism.

[Kiraly]

----

I guess the Liberals are desperate:

From the link above:

The two candidates delivered their nomination documents to Liberal Party headquarters in Toronto, only to find that the office was locked before the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline. Liberal party staffers could be seen through the second storey windows but they refused to answer repeated knocking on the doors and phone calls to the office.

I found this interesting too. If the man is such a "star" you would think he would sail through the nomination process. Why worry?

From what I understand, these two candidates will be allowed to run, but I'm sure Ignatieff will get the nod by a landslide.

[canuckcat]

What are peoples thoughts on this?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Story/National/

He's a parachutist for sure. I've heard lots about him in regard to his potential as a future leader of the country. It all depends on how he survives his first few months in the meatgrinder we like to call the Liberal Party of Canada. The fact that he initially supported the war in Irak will weigh heavily upon him and most likely make him unsuitable for anything more than a pawn in Canadian politics - also he is almost an American, having spent most of his working life there. But one never knows, he hasn't even stepped upon the stage yet and already has stirred up quite a flurry.

I think many Canadians imagine that we, of all people, deserve a wonderful new dynamic leader... one who can take us onward and upward through the 21st century... well it may not happen... we may enter a bland limbo... minority government status quo for another few years... or until the Quebec situation becomes a melt-down...

but I think all-in-all, the current Paul Martin gov't is doing a great job of adminsitration...

taxes are a tad heavy tho...

[scribblet]

Here is copy of the press release issued today by the Etobicoke - Lakeshore Liberal Riding Association.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall at that meeting.

_________________________

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ETOBICOKE. The Executive of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Federal Liberal Riding Association wishes to clarify the status of the nomination applications filed by two members of the riding association.

Although Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) officials have yet to communicate their decision to nomination applicants Ron Chyczij and Marc Shwec personally, Michael Crawley, President of the LPC(O) has indicated in his press release that the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) and the Ontario Campaign Co-Chairs have rejected nominations of both applicants.

The nomination application of Marc Shwec was purportedly rejected on the grounds that he "was not and does not appear to have ever been, a member of the Liberal Party of Canada." Myroslava Oleksiuk, Membership Secretary for the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Federal Liberal Riding Association, has confirmed that she accepted the application of Mr. Shwec on November 17, 2005 in the course of the association's ongoing membership drive. "Normally, we wait until we have 25 or more memberships before we deliver them to Party headquarters downtown. We don't drive down each individual application and I, as the Membership Secretary, have the authority under the Constitution, to accept membership applications," Oleksiuk stated. "The Call for a Candidate Nomination Meeting was made before I could deliver the application of Mr. Shwec, and others, to LPC(O) offices. That has now been done and as far as the Constitution of the Party is concerned, Mr. Shwec is a member in good standing," said Oleksiuk.

Ms. Oleksiuk confirmed that she has not received a membership application from Michael Ignatieff. "I don't know what riding association Mr. Ignatieff belongs to. The Constitution of the Liberal Party of Canada requires that members be "ordinarily resident in Canada." I understand that Mr. Ignatieff has spent the last 30 years living and working outside of Canada," said Oleksiuk. "If I had been asked, as Membership Secretary, to accept a membership application from Mr. Ignatieff, I would have questioned his eligibility for membership, particularly if it was made at a point in time when he was still working outside of Canada."

Ron Chyczij's application was purportedly rejected because he had not resigned his position on the executive of the riding association. "Despite repeated calls to LPC(O) offices, none of which have been returned, I have yet to be personally notified of the reason that my application appears to have been rejected. One of the difficulties of this entire process has been the severely short time lines established by the Party. As you know, the time between the Call of the Meeting and the deadline for submission of nomination applications was less than 24 hours, and there is a tremendous amount of work involved in completing an application, including police and credit checks. Nevertheless, both applications were correctly completed and submitted in keeping with the constitution of the Liberal Party, " said Mr. Chyczij. “I am prepared to submit my resignation as President of the riding association, if the constitution requires me to do so,” stated Ron Chyczij.

"I understand that Mr. Crawley, President of the LPC(O) stated to the press that he was satisfied that the Party followed the procedures and policies related to the nomination of candidates in an electoral emergency. I do not believe that was the case," said Ron Chyczij. "The Rules require that in order to declare electoral urgency, the National Campaign Chair must provide written notice to the President or any member of the Executive of the riding association which is being affected. That was not done," stated Chyczij. "Furthermore, the Rules require that they must communicate the nature of any abridged time limits or alterations to the procedures to the affected riding association. That was not done," Ron Chyczij clarified. "There has never been a declaration of electoral urgency in Etobicoke-Lakeshore or any notification. The only communication I received from the Party was late Friday evening advising that they wished to call a Nomination Meeting on 5 days notice. I believe that Mr. Ignatieff received notice of the abridged time limits and procedures, but he is not a member of this riding assocation," Ron Chyczij stated.

Nomination Meeting:

Wednesday November 30, 2005

6:00 pm

1 Valhalla Inn Road (on the left hand side)

(one block south of Burnhamthorpe turn west off The East Mall or 2 block north of Bloor)