JD wants it too much.

If Jim Dinning loses the leadership vote on Saturday will he run in the next election and sit as an MLA? I would love to see anyone (in particular the MSM) ask him that question.

I have made comments in this blog in the past about why I do not want Jim Dinning to be the next leader of the Alberta PC Party, but I have never stated what really bothers me about him. So here goes: He wants it too much, and he has run his campaign thinking that it would be a coronation (not to be confused with the Quebecois nation).

I really do question this guys motives, which appear to me to more for himself than for the good of Alberta. The Paul Martin comparison again raises its ugly head when you look how Martin was driven to become PM at any cost, but once that goal was attained he had no idea what to do with the position and we had to live with the results. I fear that Dinning is cut from the same cloth and will not do a good job as the Premier of Alberta; which is standing up for Alberta and doing what is right for the province. If this guy would have actually campaigned with ideas instead of trying to maintain his 'chosen one' status and not rock the boat, I might not now be so worried. He didn't and has not shown any signs of leadership ability and therefore is not worthy of my vote.

I want someone who will stand up for Alberta, and yes that includes standing up to a Harper government. I want to see real ideas, real leadership and most of all a real commitment to this province, her people, and conservative principles. For myself that man is Ted Morton and on Saturday after working a 12 hour night shift I will stay awake and go cast my ballot for Ted and for Alberta.

Oh and it also doesn't hurt that Ted drives the lefties (from all over the country) nuts. Their dislike of him in itself is a good reason for Alberta conservatives to cast their ballot for Ted.

ht:SDA

Closer than we thought?

The Politic has a nice piece up on the relationship between Paul Martin and Jim Dinning that is an interesting read.

The comparisons between the two men have been made in many places, but the relationship between the two has not been fully made public and would be very interesting to many Albertans.

Speaking of comparisons; it looks like Jim Dinning is going to try using the same type of scare tactics that his buddy Paul tried in the federal election against Stephen Harper. Desperate moves by a man who already has reached the height of his popularity and knows he is in trouble.
I expect more of this type of thing over the last few days of the campaign, and I also expect that it will backfire on JD as well.

Kennedy is a Liberal

Gerard Kennedy looks more and more like a Liberal leader as he announced that he will oppose the motion from PM Harper to recognize Quebecers as a nation within a united Canada.

Wow, what a show of leadership. He waits days to see how support for the motion pans out and how the other leadership candidates feel, looks at his 2% support in Quebec and his failing campaign, and then decides to be only candidate against the motion in an effort to gain votes.

What a joke, he wouldn't know leadership if it bit him on the ass, but in all fairness he has shown that he has learned a few long standing Liberal principles; say anything to get elected and have no real plan of your own. Sounds like he is indeed LPC leadership material.

Some things even disgust your common criminal

A burglar breaks into a house, a short time later he is calling the police giving them information as to where they can find a video camera and a note.

Read the rest here.

The burglary remains unsolved.

Final first ballot results

Here are the final results for the first ballot of the Alberta PC leadership race.

Final results of Saturday's Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership vote, with all 83 ridings reporting:

Jim Dinning 29,470
Ted Morton 25,614
Ed Stelmach 14,957
Lyle Oberg 11,638
Dave Hancock 7,595
Mark Norris 6,789
Victor Doerksen 873
Gary McPherson 744

Edit: Link to results by riding graphic from thepolitic.

The back room games have begun as fifth place finisher former cabinet minister Dave Hancock has thrown his support behind Stelmach.

It should be a fun week for everyone but Jim =)

It's voting time

In about 5 minutes I will be heading out the door and casting my vote for the next leader of the Alberta PC party who in turn will also become the next Premier of this great province.

The weather is crappy as the temperature currently sits around the minus 23 mark and looks to be heading lower, the roads are still a mess with the winds and drifting snow from the last few days having taken their toll, and I can't find my good gloves for my walk to the polling station at a nearby school. My situation is not so bad, but I am beginning to wonder how the weather may disrupt the turnout and how this could effect the outcome of today's vote.

Local organization and the ground game are going to be big factors today, but perhaps it will be the commitment level of voters that will make the difference. I guess time will tell, but those candidates with large rural support and those whose support might be best categorized as soft, may be in for some disappointment when the results are announced.

Now where did I put those gloves?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

At least if you are a conservative that is.

Did anyone catch the press scrum after the PM's announcement regarding the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, in Montreal earlier today?

Do yourself a favour and read or watch it now. Paul Wells has text of it here. CTV News video here and here.

The PM knocks another one over the fence, and in Gilles home park no less! Also as a little stocking stuffer, the PM looked very media friendly in doing so.

____________________________________________________________________

Another gift, although from an unlikely source, would be Rick Mercier's rant this week. Rick sees what everyone else in the country sees with the position the PM has taken on China and human rights; that is everyone else but the Liberals. Ht: to another late night blogger, Jarrett .

____________________________________________________________________

Earlier in the week we had the announcement about reverse onus for bail being granted those arrested for gun crimes, at which lefty Toronto Mayor David Miller and Ontario's Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty stood by PM Harper as he made the announcement. Combine that with the standing ovation the PM received in the House of Commons earlier in the week and you can see that the spirit of the season has overtaken the opposition and the PM's detractors. Well, it is either that or people recognize good policy when they see it. I lean more towards the good policy argument myself, but it is the festive season.

___________________________________________________________________

Also from earlier in the week, Canadians of present day as well as those of future generations received a bit of Christmas cheer when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty gave us his financial update. Paying down the debt is good, just take a look at your credit cards in January and try to tell me different.

____________________________________________________________________

All in all it has been a wonderful week to be a Conservative, and Prime Minister Harper has given us all a look at something Canadians haven't seen much of under their trees for a number of years. Leadership folks, its called leadership and it's a gift that keeps on giving.

Paying down the debt

In an economic update delivered to the House of Commons finance committee, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the government will continue to cut income taxes and will reduce the GST by another percentage point, to five per cent, not later than 2011, and Flaherty hopes to eliminate billions of dollars in net debt within the next 15 years, calling it "a matter of fairness for future generations."

Sound financial strategy that is the correct thing to do (there has been a lot of that lately from the new government) . It is common sense that we pay down the debt in the same way millions upon millions of Canadians try to do for themselves every month. Paying out money, that could be going elsewhere, as interest is stupid and most Canadians know this; but not all seem to see this basic financial truism.

Jack Layton is one such Canadian, and he called the plan "reckless." While I am not surprised at this answer coming from a socialist like Jack, I am surprised that he considers what millions of Canadians try to accomplish with their own finances, the same people he claims to represent, would be considered reckless. You are out of touch Jack, at least with those who have jobs and pay taxes in this country.

This is not the first time the Conservatives have made debt reduction a reality in their short time in government, but Jack was upset at that one as well. Go figure.

Leader of a country

It has been a few days since I have had any time to pay attention to the news, much less string together a few sentences and make a blog post, but today I had some spare moments and it looks like my timing couldn't have been better.

Today Canadians have again witnessed something they are not used seeing on a regular basis from Ottawa and their federal government. To quote Craig Oliver, "In what maybe his finest moment since becoming Prime Minister; Harper trumped a separatist motion, on Quebec independence, with one of his own." To put it in my words, Stephen Harper displayed leadership and has shown again that indeed he is the Prime Minister of Canada and of all Canadians.

For all the fears from the opposition during the last election campaign of how much of a monster he was going to be, the reality has been very much different. Pandering to special interests is not how this guy does business. On almost every issue the PM has taken a stand, based not on what the polls or even his so called 'base supporters' desire, but on what was the correct thing to do.

This motion trumps the Bloc's motion, gains big support in Quebec, received positive reviews by the MSM, has done something long overdue, pisses off many of the so called base, and in a very ironic bit of fallout, may just have saved Michael Ignatieff's bacon and that of the Liberal party who have been torn apart over the "Quebec nation' issue. Today's motion is just one example, income trusts another, and the foreign policy stance of this government has taken on more than a few issues has also shown that sometimes the right thing may not be the popular thing to do.

This guy just keeps continuing to impress me, and today I think he may have impressed an entire country. Not everyone agrees with him, but none can argue that is has not shown leadership as the Prime Minister of Canada, and is nowhere near the right wing pandering monster that he has been portrayed as in the past.

I want to go back home

I am beginning to wonder if I have entered another dimension where everything is backwards. Case in point the latest news with China. I watched John Manley (among others) today on tv trying to state that the PM is wrong for trying to stand up for human rights in China, and that this might hurt Canadian trade with the worlds most populace country.

What the %%$#? I thought the Liberals were the ones that stood up for "Canadian values", and that worrying over potential lost dollars from trade was something the CPC, or the 'party in the back pocket of big business', would be concerned about. Money over human rights from the Libs? Perhaps it is China's support of Kyoto and the environment that the Liberals are trying to defend with their peculiar actions, but it is strange stuff indeed. I am almost expecting an evil Mr. Spock to knock on my door any minute now.

It is nice to see that the Liberals have finally learned that how you treat and respect your trading partners can effect the economy, but it also makes me wonder where this worry was, or even is, when they constantly bash our largest trading partner with whom we share a common border with.Crazy bizzarro stuff to be sure, the next thing you know the Liberals will be inviting US politicians to speak at their leadership convention.


Bring me back to my dimension please; this place scares me and is making me lose my mind. Here the 'nazi like neo cons" not only support the Jews but they are trying to clean up the environment, and I swear that just the other day I heard that Bob Rae was running for the Liberal leadership against a guy who lived in the US for over 20 years!

Beam me up Scotty, take me back home.

----------

Some associated links


Chucker sums up why there will be no fallout with our trade with China. * A word of warning, if you own a dollar store you may disagree with his views.

Adam Daifallah questions who the party of human right really is.

Lets see the plans

All this hot air (sorry about the very over used pun) over the environment is really starting to get to me. It would appear that this is the issue that the opposition feels is the CPC weak point and they are doing everything they can to go for the jugular.

Great strategy, but pointing out problems is always easier than coming up with solutions and so far I haven't heard much from the opposition parties about what they would do about the problem. I will exempt the NDP from this as they do have the makings of a plan and they are trying to do something about it by working with the government on the clean air act. Kudos to Jack and the NDP for doing something other than just flapping their gums as the Liberals have been doing because the polls show the environments is becoming an issue with Canadians, all while ignoring the fact that they had their chance and did nothing.

Lets see what you got Libs, show us how you will save the day. The only thing you should remember is that buying carbon credits in the absence of real change isn't going to cut it.


Andrew Coyne has a nice post up on his blog on the subject and of course does a much better job than I could ever do getting to the truth.

Leadership

Our Prime Minister continues to impress and surprise me. Story here.

Stephen Harper is unlike any politician we have seen in this country for a long long time, and those that think he fits into some kind of preset mold, or those that underestimate him are making some very big mistakes.

"I think Canadians want us to promote our trade relations worldwide, and we do that, but I don't think Canadians want us to sell out important Canadian values," Harper said. "They don't want us to sell that out to the almighty dollar."

The left must be going nuts.

A roast isn't just a chunk of meat.

The Ralph and Belinda Show (which I blogged about Wednesday) continues to make waves today as it gets more blog time and the MSM tries to make a big deal out of it.

Lighten up people; this was a roast and comments such as this are not only common place but they are also more or less to be expected from the guest of honour and those that roast them.

Why any MSM organization would choose to run a comment/joke made at a roast as news makes for an interesting question. Do they not know what a roast is, or could it be for some other reason like pure shock value, for ratings, or....? I do not know the answer, but using quotes from such an event is not only bad journalism, it should make these reporters former journalism professors slap them in the head for being so stupid. News is supposed to be based on some type of truth and reality; at a roast reality and truth are left at the coat-check in exchange for a few non politically correct laughs.

I know Godwin's law did not exist when this clip from one of Dean Martin's famous celebrity roasts was filmed and I doubt that something like this would make it on tv in today's politically correct world, but I can imagine what the headline might look like in the paper the next day if it did:

Scooby Doo a Nazi!!

EDA Update: Edmonton Millwoods Beaumont

On Nov 2, current EMB MP Mike Lake received news that he had been acclaimed as the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate in Edmonton - Mill Woods - Beaumont for the next Federal Election.

For those not familiar with the situation, Mike was expecting a challenge from Tim Uppal for the nomination, but that did not materialize as Tim Uppal has decided to try his luck right next door in the EDA of Edmonton - Sherwood Park, where current MP Ken Epp has announced he will not run in the next election. More info here.

And a final update to this story: Tim eventually went on to win in Edm- Sherwood Park in a tight race, and congratulations are due. Well played Mr.Uppal, you have proven yourself to be good politician and will do well in Ottawa as the MP for Edm-Sherwood Park.

Ralph does it again

At a roast last night Premier Ralph Klein again said what was on his mind when referring to Belinda Stronach stated:

“I wasn’t surprised she crossed over — I don’t think she ever did have a Conservative bone in her body,” said Klein. “Well, except for one.”

Here is a video link to the quote, and another if the first disappears.

Love him or hate him, he will be missed.

Grapes gets booed.

In the news today, Don Cherry was booed in the House of Commons by some Quebec MPs as he was recognized by the Speaker of the House.


Come on people, show a little bit of class. This is not the American national anthem here, this is Don Cherry.

A bad week continues

First my portfolio need a trip to the ICU and now I, along with everyone else in my house, have come down with the flu.

Nothing like laying around watching CPAC all day and not having the energy to blog. Hopefully this will be over soon, but in the mean time if you have a chance go get yourself a flu shot. They are not 100% effective but if it save you from the misery I am going through it will be worth it.

Income trusts, a late opinion.

With the recent change to income trust tax law let me say this on behalf of my portfolio, ouch!!!

To say I took a beating is an understatement, but having watched the ups and downs over the years has me less worried than those who recently entered the game. 4 years is a long time for recovery and the already taxed payments will continue to come in.

It was a move that had to be made and in a rare multi-party moment of unity almost everyone agrees that it had to be done. The ugly part of the news was that it was promised during the election that the Conservatives would not tax income trusts, which referred to the Liberals teasing the market by saying they may do it but backed off doing the right thing for political reasons; and do not forget the market did tank, losing 23 Billion in income trust values. Well, to be truthful not everybody lost money, but the RCMP are still looking into this matter.

When Bell and Telus started making noise about going the income trust route with the expected tax loss to government to be more than 1 billion dollars added to the speculation that the banks would soon be next; the situation was indeed different and the government had to take action even if it meant breaking an election promise. Politically this sucks, not because it was wrong thing to do, or that the situation had indeed changed requiring the changes, but because the optics of a broken promise will not be good.

The Liberals are milking it for all they are worth in an attempt to make something stick, but when most Liberals agree that this was the right decision, it makes the strategy a bit lacking.
""We agree with the long-term destination ... what object to is the dishonesty and the process. It was not necessary to have a $25-billion meltdown to get to that destination," McCallum said. As if the months of speculation and uncertainty the Liberals showed on this file in the past was a somehow an example of how things should be done, give me a break.


Last point on all of this was something I had noticed. Every comment I heard on this story when it broke contained a phrase similar to this: 'this decision was unexpected'. Yes it was, and not even those on Scott Brison's blackberry email list were privy to the news in advance this time.