Dumb Remark of the Day

[August1991]

With 12 days to go before election day:

The mood is good -- very good. We've got time and we've got advantages. We'll make ample use of of them both.

Scott Reid, Martin's press guy, 11 January 2006

Reuters

[Kiraly]

Today was a day blessed with dumb remarks....

...August, I thought you would have chosen a "Paulie" for today.

For the record, I think this one deserves mention:

The ad was intended to criticize the Conservatives' policy because it would spread soldiers too far apart across the country.

We want to have a critical mass. That would allow large numbers of soldiers to respond to natural disasters at home or to security crises abroad.

Martin's response to the "Soldiers in our streets with guns" ad. The one that wasn't intended to air, but is still airing in Quebec.

[August1991]

Yeah, Krusty, it is a good one. (I also like the "top-flight" repeated three times.)

"It's not me," Mr. Martin said. "[The chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick] Hillier's the one who said: 'I want to have a Canada Command. I want to be able to really have top-flight soldiers in top-flight positions with top-flight equipment.'

"You can't do that if it's spread out all across the country."

G & M

[August1991]

"Taxes are temporary things," he said. "They're not made to be the same forever."

Michael Wilson, 12 January 2006

CBC

[August1991]

Speaking about voters in her riding:

"I'm hoping the disaffected Liberals who are weary of independence will vote Conservative," she said.

May Chiu, Bloc candidate in Lasalle-Émard, 13 January 2006

G & M

[she is asking federalist voters to split the vote so she can get elected.]

[August1991]

This is not a remark but rather a photo:

PM Announces Renewed Commitment to Canada's Cities and Communities

Liberal Party of Canada, 15 January 2006

from this web site (likely to change soon).

[both sda and Coyne have this too.]

[Canuck E Stan]

CTV link

Meanwhile, Martin is denying he or his party is in trouble. But he became visibly frustrated with reporters at his news conference in Montreal when asked about Liberal woes, rather than this announcement on cities.

"To be honest, I have some difficulty understanding the context of your question. I have just made a very positive announcement," he said.

In Denial? ....still.

[August1991]

"Lend us your vote while the party you have supported in the past cleans itself up," Layton said on Monday at a news conference in Toronto.

"Vote for us just this once in this election."

Jack Layton, 15 January 2006

CBC

Uh, "lend"? Can I ask for it back? Will Layton pay me interest while he gets to use it?

[August1991]

"There's got to be a coalition of progressive voters," Martin said in an interview with CBC TV yesterday.

Paul Martin, 16 January 2006

Toronto Star

Is Martin advocating that the Liberals and the NDP unite into a single party?

[Canuck E Stan]

From Don Martin's column Jan.17,2006

Not a Dumb remark but an east coast funny.

Ask the locals to assess the campaign ofthe once-mighty Liberal government,and they deliver the eulogy with traditional Altantic directness.

"The arse" a transplanted Newfoundlander and former Liberal voter told me with a wide grin on his face,"has gone out of 'er."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[geoffrey]

"There's got to be a coalition of progressive voters," Martin said in an interview with CBC TV yesterday.

Paul Martin, 16 January 2006

Toronto Star

Is Martin advocating that the Liberals and the NDP unite into a single party?

Unite the left!

[Kiraly]

Buzz Hargrove

Quebec voters should choose the Bloc Quebecois over the Conservatives.

Link

[August1991]

A doozy, Krusty. Here's another report:

"If you devolve all the powers to the provinces, what do you have left?" Hargrove told reporters after appearing alongside Martin during a speech.

"(Harper's) view of the country is a separatist view that doesn't have a strong federal government. A strong federal government is what makes Canada the country it is."

Then, when asked how people in Quebec should vote:

"I would urge them to stop Stephen Harper in any way they can," he said, adding that Canada will be a "meaner place for most Canadians" with Harper as leader.

Buzz Hargrove, 18 January 2006

CTV

Any way?

[wellandboy]

I think the CAW needs to take a long hard look at their leadership.

[stignasty]

"taking sides will hurt you and your organization sooner or later." - Inky Mark to a Metis group that has endorsed the Liberals in the election.

No, Inky, you're not supposed to bully minorities until after you get elected!

[Leafless]

Dumb remark of the day-- By Mr. Martin in Strathroy Ontario again insisting we are a nation of minorities.

How utterly insulting.

I guess to the Liberals we are a no name country with no history and that is why Liberals like to pretend we are a communist country in a democratic society, a society that can only be led by the Liberals.

What crapolla!

[BubberMiley]

Everybody is a minority one way or another. Fundamentalist christians are a minority. Pot-smokers are a minority. Welfare recipients are a minority. Millionaires are a minority.

[Harare]

And Dippers are a minority, thank God.

[Canuck E Stan]

Asked about the main difference between himself and Harper, the six-foot-two McGuinty said: "I'm taller."

However, the Canadian Press reports Harper actually has the height advantage, standing at six-foot-three.

Dalton always did seem a little "short."

[Canuck E Stan]

Toronto Star January 18,2006.

Toronto Star endorses Liberals in Editorial

Editorial: Liberal program best for Canada

The Liberals remain better placed in Quebec to speak for Canada

Are there any Liberals left in Quebec?

CTV

In Quebec, the Liberals appear to be heading towards collapse as the federalist vote consolidates with the Tories (change, in percentage points, from the Jan. 12, 14-15 poll in brackets):

* Bloc Quebecois: 47 per cent (+2)

* Conservatives: 31 per cent (+4)

* Liberals: 12 per cent (-5)

* NDP: 7 per cent (-1)

* Greens: 3 per cent (unchanged)

The collapse is occurring both in Montreal, a traditional Liberal stronghold, and outside the province's largest city.

In Montreal, the Liberals sit at just 17 per cent -- a six-point drop from the poll released Monday. The Conservatives are up to 23 per cent, but the Bloc has 52 per cent support.

Outside Montreal, the Liberals are down to seven per cent (they captured 25 per cent of the vote in the 2004 vote). The Conservatives are up to 38 per cent, about four times their vote share in 2004. That puts them within five points of the Bloc.

[August1991]

The top court has been remarkable for the evenhandedness with which Conservative and Liberal prime ministers alike have appointed excellent judges. There is certainly room for a public process to review nominated judges, as Mr. Harper himself has pledged, but that speaks to the benefits of an open process, and not to any record of blatantly partisan appointments. On the contrary, the court might have most to fear from a prime minister who, to right an imagined wrong, would stack it with partisan choices.

Globe & Mail Editorial, 19 January 2006

Why do the benefits of an open process exist? And why the immediate assumption that Harper would do as the editorial implicitly admits the Liberals have done? And why the need for the adverb 'blatantly'?

[August1991]

"Peter MacKay doesn’t really count," the prime minister said in a phone interview from Ontario on Thursday.

"All of Stephen Harper’s advisers come from Calgary. They come from where he is. Peter MacKay is not going to be the person who’s going to be deciding."

Paul Martin, 19 January 2006, in a phone interview with the Halifax Chronicle Herald

----

I cannot believe that a sitting Prime Minster of Canada would ever say such a thing, much less one who aspired to be re-elected.

Originating Source

[stignasty]

"I think you better stick to your knitting and win your own riding." - Peter McKay

[August1991]

"I think you better stick to your knitting and win your own riding." - Peter McKay

I have heard that expression in Newfoundland. It is appropriate and means the following, I believe:

if a person or company sticks to their knitting, they continue to do what they have always done instead of trying to do something they know very little about

He believes the key to a company's success is to stick to its knitting rather than trying to diversify.

Some dictionary

Here is the context of the remark.

----

I notice that while the CBC has picked up on Mackay's remark (and his clarification), I have yet to see any reference anywhere to Paul Martin's remark about Calgarians.

The heart of Canadian federal politics is respect for the different parts of the country. I still cannot believe a Canadian Prime Minister would say such a thing. A remark of that sort referring to Montreal instead of Calgary would be cause for resignation.

[tml12]

"I think you better stick to your knitting and win your own riding." - Peter McKay

I have heard that expression in Newfoundland. It is appropriate and means the following, I believe:

if a person or company sticks to their knitting, they continue to do what they have always done instead of trying to do something they know very little about

He believes the key to a company's success is to stick to its knitting rather than trying to diversify.

Some dictionary

Here is the context of the remark.

----

I notice that while the CBC has picked up on Mackay's remark (and his clarification), I have yet to see any reference anywhere to Paul Martin's remark about Calgarians.

The heart of Canadian federal politics is respect for the different parts of the country. I still cannot believe a Canadian Prime Minister would say such a thing. A remark of that sort referring to Montreal instead of Calgary would be cause for resignation.

You're right August.

The Liberals aren't counting on too many Calgary votes though anyway.