On Conspiracy and Timing

Joyce Murray on Power Play was pushing the conspiracy theory by questioning the timing of the nanny allegations by asking who benefits the most by having these allegations surface after the recent Liberal leadership coronation of the now absent Michael Ignatieff. Of course when directly questioned by Tom Clark about who she thinks is behind the "conspiracy" Murray just looked stunned and couldn't, or rather wouldn't answer the direct question looking very foolish in the process, but that brings up an interesting point on timing.

If this was some kind of evil plot by the conservatives wouldn't it have been better to have these allegations come out just before the LPC convention and not after? I mean with the press that this has been getting it would have totally devastated the Liberal convention as the media would be sticking microphones in the faces of every Liberal they could find, and they all were there, asking not about the new leader but about the nanny scandal. To suggest that this information was being held back for after the convention for political benefit is just about as stupid as claiming that the nanny scandal is some kind of conspiracy in the first place, but when it is all that you got.......

Update:
I just thought about this again and maybe there is something to it. I now believe that this information may have been held on to until after the convention for political gain, but it wasn't the conservatives who were playing games with the timing, it was the Liberals themselves. At least the Provincial Liberals of Ontario sure look like they were.



Some background on the timing:

Ontario Liberals hold a public roundtable during the week of April 20, 2009 where the nannies feel comfortable enough to come forward with their allegations.

The Liberals give the nannies a hotline number to call at that same meeting.

The hot line # becomes active a week later.

The Star interviews Ruby Dhalla (PDF) April 29, 2009. (Ruby Dhalla tells Judy Sgro about the interview/story.)

The Liberal convention takes place April 30 - May 3 2009.

The Star breaks the story May 9, 2009. (Ruby Tuesday)

Michael Ignatieff caught by reporters in the hallways of the H of C says only "We are checking the facts."

Ruby holds a press conference May 8, 2009, nothing new is learned other than the claim that this is some kind of conspiracy with no details given.

Michael Ignatieff briefly comes out of hiding on the 8th due to contractual obligations to flog his book and says the following:"As leader of the party, it's tremendously important that every member of Parliament, everybody in public life treats their employees with the utmost respect and that they comply in every detail with federal and provincial law. We've been working closely, in my office, with Ruby Dhalla. She has mounted a vigorous defence of the charges made against her. They're serious charges. We take them very seriously," Ignatieff said. "We need to get to the bottom of these allegations quickly, get closure, both for Ms. Dhalla and the young women in question." Ignatieff refuses to answer reporters questions.

May 10, 2009. The Liberal Party of Canada caucus refuses to send anyone to discuss the issue on CTV's Question Period.

May 12, 2009. Ignatiev (proper Russian spelling) the Illegitimate comes out in support of Ruby, sort of. Angry on Ignatieff's ability not to be able to take a position and stick with it. From the link: "I think Ruby made a vigorous defence of her integrity, her honour and her treatment of these – the people in her employ"

Stay tuned........

Oh oh! Somebody else taken advantage of?

Higher TV numbers for the LPC convention.

Today is Day 4 of Ignatieff week in Canada and as I am sure that you are already aware that the entire country is abuzz with talk around the water cooler at work, and the kitchen table at home, about the Liberal convention and Ignatieff.

Day 4 is just no ordinary day during Ignatieff week; it is the day that the MSM have been waiting for for months now as they roll out their big guns for their convention coverage.

Starting today Canadians will get the privilege to watch live as the Liberal Party of Canada spend taxpayer dollars on a lavish leadership convention; a convention where the leader and the party president have both already been chosen by the back room party elite so there is now no need for that pesky democratic vote thing to get in the way of the celebration. During the convention Canadians will also get the opportunity listen to Liberals speaking to half empty rooms not about real policy but about the need to contribute more money to the LPC, while the new Liberal leader who did not contribute ANY money to his own party last year awaits his coronation.

A great day indeed; it almost makes me wish that I was CBC executive so I could sit back and watch the ratings soar as nothing makes for better TV than live coverage of the waste of taxpayers dollars on a needless convention during a recession to audience growing daily with the ranks of the recent unemployed.

Brison's ten-percenter vs Ignatieff's stock portfolio.

Day 3 of Ignatieff week in Canada. Juxtapose the following. (sorry Kate)

Scott Brison has sent out a ten-percenter asking for opinions from Canadians about buying stocks and the current economic situation. (see link to Steve Janke's post and please do respond to Mr. Brison's flyer)


Micheal Ignatieff proudly declares that he has NEVER bought or owned any stock.

Ignatieff, the CFL and The Economist.

A couple of quick ones for Day 2 of Ignatieff week.

From a CBC interview ( edit Apr 2010: link now dead) with Ignatieff on his (not written for any political gain) book.

Solomon: You know that the Conservatives are going to comb through this for everything. Every moment where ignatieff may miss it to prove that he’s not a true patriot. Once you say, I’m a patriot, boy, you better walk it. There is one thing that I caught, I have to mention it to you... you say "as Canadians, we cheer for the same football teams as Americans." This is talking about how similar the two cultures are. But no, we don't! We cheer for the CFL.

Ignatieff: No, not true. Not true. That’s a piece of--

Solomon: What?

Ignatieff: That’s…Look. There are people who love the Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Montreal Allouettes, and etc., but, there are lots of Canadians-

Solomon: Who love the nfl. ( I like how he answers the question for Iggy)

Ignatieff: Who love the NFL, that’s all I'm saying. And I don't want to cast negative aspersions on the CFL.

Solomon: It’s a national institution. ( more help from the CBC)

Ignatieff: Yeah, it’s a great national institution. I've watched it all my life. But there are also Canadians who watch the NFL.

There is lots here but look at the last comment from Ignatieff where he says he watched the CFL all of his life. Umm, I am not 100% sure on this, but some how I don't think that the CFL gets much coverage in England at the best of times and I doubt that during the 20 years that he spent over there that the BBC ever broadcast ANY CFL games.

So how did he watch?

Finally this article from The Economist asks the question that many of us have been asking for some time. Does Ignatieff have any policies?

It is going to be bigger than Shark Week on the Discovery Channel

Are you ready Canada? It starts today and for the Canadian media I expect it to be bigger than Shark week is on the Discovery Channel, and as we all know how BIG that is.

That's right dear readers, you guessed it. This is the start of Ignatieff week for the MSM in Canada as the Liberals hold their so called "leadership convention" this upcoming weekend in Vancouver. No matter that there will be very few in attendance at the convention, or that little policy will be discussed, or even that the leadership and party president positions have long since been decided by the party elite without the input of the grassroots; it is going to be a celebration of all that is Iggy this week and you can be sure that the news media in this country will remind you of this fact again and again as the week progresses to the MSM lead climax next weekend.

If you thought last weeks coverage of a book that the author adamantly denies has anything to do with advancing his political fortunes was excessive; you ain't seen nothing yet.

Remember folks, that's Ignatieff week. You can catch the excitement all of this week on every channel and in every newspaper across Canada.

But hurry, the excitement will not last long as starting the following week reality again returns and the free ride will be over.

Count on it.

Great moments from the LPC leadership debates 2009.

Great moments from the Liberal Party of Canada leadership debates of 2009. (had they taken place)

Subject: The Economy.

Michael Ignatieff: My challenger Mr. Rae is the wrong man to lead this party or the country during hard economic times and his record as the Premier of Ontario proves this. While other provinces were coming out of the recession and their economies were improving the same could not be said for Ontario where because of the policies put in place by my opponent the recession lingered on longer than necessary causing the people of Ontario prolonged needless hardships and suffering.

Bob Rae: Just one question Michael. How would you know what the people of Ontario were going through since you were already in Europe by the time I was Premier and ...

Michael Ignatieff: This is unfair! This is unfair! Why should traveling and spreading the goodness of 'me' to the rest of the world be held against my campaign? It is..

Moderator interrupts: Mr. Ignatieff you will have your turn later to respond. Mr. Rae now has the floor.

Bob Rae: Thank you. As I was saying; How would you know what the average citizen of Ontario was going through at that time. You were not living in Ontario during my tenure as Premier and in fact you left Canada 12 years before I even became Premier of Ontario. You were away from this country not only for the time I was Premier but also for Bill Davis' entire last term as Premier as well as that of Frank Miller, David Peterson, Mike Harris, Ernie Eves, and a good part of Premier McGuinty's first term. Not to mention that during your absence you also missed out on seeing first hand how Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau (second term), John Turner, your buddy Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, and Jean Chretien served this country during their terms as Prime Minister. To claim that you have a better understanding of the situation in Ontario, or even in Canada, while you living in Europe, than those of us who lived here during those times is the height of arrogance Michael and Canadians are not going to fall for it.

Dominic Leblanc: That was a long time wasn't it, but please take it easy gentlemen you do not want to end up in a conservative TV ad sometime in the near future.

Do the Liberals even know?

Does the average rank and file LPC member really know which direction the party is going to go once Michael Ignatieff's coup is completed at the "so called" Leadership Convention next month in Vancouver?

Which direction will the party go? What are the policies going to be? What is the plan?

All very valid questions but can any Liberal supporter out there answer any of these questions honestly?

I don't think so.

Here is what we do know:Ignatieff has stated that he is going to be taking the party to the right and his support of the Afghanistan mission, Israel, the CPC crime bills, and the oil sands, lend credence to this directional change.

We also know that ALL of Dion's policies and ideas have to now be considered to be off the table and are not going to be the position of the LPC. Am I wrong? I don't think so. If someone would like to try to prove that I am wrong I would be happy for any Liberal supporter to come here and tell us exactly which of Dion's policies/platform ideas will still stand with Ignatieff in charge. Go ahead the floor is open but no platitudes such as "social justice ," or sustainable ___, please. Save those for the next campaign and just list real ideas.

So unless someone can provide otherwise there is not much information to go on when trying to decipher what direction future LPC policy may take and I think that the little we do know leads to more questions than it does answers about the Liberal Party of Canada under Ignatieff. Serious questions that should be addressed but questions that I doubt will be answered anytime before the members are asked to blindly support the leader their party elite chose for them.

Perhaps it is because I am a conservative and do not have to make decision on Ignatieff as my party's leader, but if you ask me this is a very strange situation for a party that is trying to form a government to be in when even their own members do not even know who their own leader is or what he will do.

And it is too bad really because the grass roots deserves so much better than this.

Brison on Ignatieff

Scott Brison on Michael Ignatieff:


OTTAWA -- Michael Ignatieff was portrayed Wednesday as a gaffe-prone amateur by at least one Liberal leadership rival after the presumed front-runner was forced to clarify his latest controversial comment.

In the most pointed broadside yet against the acclaimed academic, Scott Brison said Ignatieff's repeated miscues suggest the rookie MP has poor political judgment and insufficient experience to lead a national party.

"These gaffes are damaging to a leadership campaign but they will be terminal to a national general election campaign," Brison said in an interview.


That was from a Canadian Press story from Wed. Aug. 30 2006 where Brison was speaking about Ignatieff's comment to the Toronto Star editorial board who asked him if he would run for Parliament again if he loses the leadership, Ignatieff's clipped response was: "Depends who's leader."

Ignatieff later backtracked and said "Let's be clear. I am planning to run in the next election in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. I love being an MP and I've enjoyed it enormously and I'm looking forward to doing it again."

Brison had more:

"Brison said that in nine years in politics he hasn't made as many "retractions and clarifications" as Ignatieff has made in just nine months.

Brison compared Ignatieff to Stockwell Day, who jumped from provincial politics to become leader of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance without any experience at the federal level.

Day's tenure at the helm of the Alliance, which eventually merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative party, was short-lived and disastrous.

Brison said Ignatieff is "smarter than Stockwell," now Harper's minister of public safety. But he added Ignatieff faces an even steeper learning curve, having spent almost 30 years out of the country as an academic and journalist.

Brison took Ignatieff to task for other recent so-called gaffes, including telling the Star that Canadians "live and operate in a heartless world and you need leadership that understands that."

"When you see the world as being heartless, that helps someone justify ruthless acts," such as Qana, Brison said.

He also chided Ignatieff for saying that Canada's peacekeeping tradition "died" with the genocide in Rwanda.

Brison said that remark could only come from someone who's spent 30 years outside the country and fails to appreciate how important peacekeeping is to Canadians and to Liberals in particular, who view party icon Lester Pearson as the father of peacekeeping.

He also scoffed at Ignatieff's recent admission that he's not sure he's "up to the price you have to pay" to succeed in politics."



So in 2006 Brison thought that Ignatieff did not have sufficient experience to lead a national party.

I wonder if yesterdays story about Ignatieff's rookie mistake on policy and subsequent lie makes Scott feel any better about Ignatieff's political skills now vs 2006?

I doubt it.

Your daily pulling of the grassroots.

Iggy is truly the decider of all things in the Liberal Party of Canada. The National Executive of the LPC votes down all but 1 of the renewal committees proposals.

Calgary Grit is all over this one here.

Over at the Gauntlet there is no mincing of words on the subject: Bag of Hammers dumb.

And Prairie Fire is a little sad today.

Red says it as it is.

If this keeps up Iggy may be the only Liberal at his coronation.

Dominic LeBlanc vs Elections Canada

According to Elections Canada: Dominic Leblanc entered the Liberal leadership race (or at least filed his papers with EC) March 25, 2009. He officially withdrew March 26, 2009.


From Elections Canada:

This means that anyone intending to be leadership contestant should comply with the Canada Elections Act rules governing leadership contestants from the time they first accept a contribution for a leadership contest or incur a leadership contest expense. Anyone who fails to comply with these rules – from the time they start to collect contributions or incur leadership campaign expenses – will find themselves retroactively in breach of the law once they register as contestants. (highlighting mine)

Now isn't that interesting.

-------------

Here is something else that might prove to be important:

"Before a person can register with Elections Canada as a leadership contestant, the registered party must first accept that person as a contestant in the race. An individual who does not obtain the party's acceptance cannot register as a contestant with the Chief Electoral Officer".


So Dominic; since your dear leader has promised that everything about the LPC leadership race will be open and transparent, lets start with something really simple.

On what day did the Liberal Party of Canada accept you as a leadership contestant, and did you pay them the $90,000 fee on that same day or was it on another date?

It can be done using currently available technology

that wasn't available back in December 2008.

-----

From the all powerful Liberal Renewal Committee on one member, one vote:

"Fortunately, a cost-effective and truly democratic method is readily available. The principle of democratic representation can be extended to its ultimate limit by providing a direct vote to every member of the party using currently available technology."

Courtesy of Calgary Grit who added this:

"True...although it is somewhat amusing that many of the members of the Renewal Committee were arguing that this technology wasn't available back when Rae suggested doing something similar to this to pick the next leader..."


Zing!!!

The LPC Leadership/Policy Convention, Media Coverage and the post convention bounce.

It has been suggested that the Liberal Leadership/Policy Convention in Vancouver may turn into a love-in between the LPC and the media and I am sure that many Liberals are thinking and hoping that this indeed will be the case. With the mega media coverage that can be expected from an already friendly press it is easy to see how one could come to the conclusion that the convention will be a PR success, but this is not going to be an ordinary convention and in this case I think the that the more press that the convention receives the less likely it will be to see any type of post convention bounce in the polls.


Simply put I think that having Canadians watch the Liberals spending not only their supporters donations but also spending our money taken through income tax and given to the Liberals through mandatory subsidies on a needless leadership convention where the leader is already known and a policy convention that discusses no policy is not going to be a good thing for the Liberals.


The optics on this are going to be terrible and the more coverage the media gives to this pep rally disguised as an honest convention, the more of a bad taste it will leave in the mouths of those Canadians watching. With times being as tight as they are the sight of Liberal partying on our dime on live TV for no reason other than cheerleading is not going to win over much support from anyone, including that from usually Liberal friendly media.

Yes, I said it. Even the left leaning media are going to see that there is no upside for them in mindlessly promoting this big show of Liberal excess at a time that their own audience are going through tough economic times as well as the media themselves losing both revenue and audience in droves.


Since I am not able to tell the future with any great accuracy this is all just pure speculation on my part, but I see little in the way of upside for the Liberals in all of this, and even less so with wall to wall media coverage of what surly will be seen as a waste of time and money by the Liberal Party of Canada and their new leader Micheal Ignatieff. Oh and I don't think the near empty halls and venues are going to help much either.

Liberal Policies?

Liberal Policies. Where are they? Or better yet, what are they?

I do not know about you but I am finding it very hard to figure out just what the major policy positions are of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Taking a look at what Ignatieff has done/said so far has not offered up many clues. On Afghanistan Iggy is for the withdrawal proposal for 2011, but yet when he was talking with Obama he seemed to leave open the idea of extending the mission. On Israel he has been all over the place but seems to have come down on the side of support for Israel, at least that was this week. On the financial crisis, that he used as an excuse to take over the Liberal Party, he has refused to offer up ANY ideas or suggestions to help the situation and instead has been using delaying tactics in passing the budget while at the same time screaming to the media that it is taking too long for the money to flow. ( a real vote getter if I ever heard of one ;) But the topic of this post was not "Ignatieff's policies", but rather "Liberal Policies".


What does the Liberal Party of Canada stand for?

Anyone?

I have been watching for some word about what is going to be discussed policy wise at the upcoming leadership convention, but so far I have not seen much out there. The leadership of Stephane Dion has come and gone and with him I assume that most of his policy positions would be gone as well. (This is only a guess because my search through the media and even among Liberal supporters for hints of what Liberal policy has become has so far proven fruitless and I can't make a call either way.)

I myself would like to see a little more meat on the subject of policy and would hope that the LPC membership remembers that at the convention they not only get to, in a process that would make Kim Jong-il proud, "ratify" the leadership of the anointed one, the LPC delegates also get a chance to decide the policy direction of the party for the next few years.

This is important for any party to do and so far I am surprised by the absence of discussion on this amongst Liberals, but I suspect that the reason for the absence of discussion on the subject is not for a lack of possible directions the party may go, but because Michael Ignatieff has yet to tell the membership just what LPC policy will be, or tell them what to think.

I took a long walk tonight

I took a long walk earlier tonight, I would have taken a canoe trip but the river is frozen solid, and somewhere between the convenience store and the 4 way stop, I came to a realization. It did not come easy, nor did it come without much deep thought and reflection, but after having watched Canadian politics over the last few months it was obvious that I cannot just sit idly by and do nothing while a great political party is being dragged down by its leader.

So after first striking a committee a week ago to study the possibility; I have decided to declare my intent to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada at the convention taking place in Vancouver April 30-May 3, 2009. Many thanks to all those who have already expressed their support and to the many who have already began to work on the campaign. There is lots of work ahead, and with your help I can save the Liberal Party from an Ignatieff future.

There is so much to do and the paper work has to be in by March 1st to make it all official, but even with all of this work, I promise to use this media to keep you all informed of my progress, my platform, and the reasons why I am needed to save the Liberal Party of Canada.

If you were planning on supporting Michael, all I ask is that you give me the chance to prove to you that I can be as much of a Liberal as he is, because we all know that he is already as conservative as I am.

Unlike others who have high jacked the party and who are already planning the coronation; I value the democratic process along with your opinions, and I will work for your votes rather than just assuming the throne.


Vote for real change. Vote for the Ardvark for LPC leader!!


Thank you for your support.

AA

An exploratory committee for my bid to become leader of the LPC

In the spirit of democracy, and because no one else seems to want the job, I would like to announce the formation of an exploratory committee for my bid to become leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Nothing is certain just yet, but if there is a certain level of support out there this might just turn out to be the beginning stage of what may become my bid to provide REAL change to the LPC.

Thank you for your support.

AA


3.
NOMINATION OF LEADERSHIP CONTESTANTS
3.1
Qualifications. To be eligible for election as the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, a person must satisfy the requirements of subsection 55(1) of the National Constitution and, in addition, must at least 62 days before the day of the Leadership Vote, deliver to the National President or their designate care of the National Office:

Attention Media: Micheal Ignatieff is the "Interim Leader" .

Micheal Ignatieff is the interim leader of the Liberal Party. He is not the leader until he is ratified at the Liberal Party convention in May and there is still plenty of time for a new challenger to surface, an old one to step back into the ring, or even a revolt of the rank and file.

These are the facts. There is no guarantee that the well spoken Iggy will be anointed as the 'chosen one' at the convention; so why does the press almost always refer to him as the Liberal Leader and leave out the word "interim"?

Any ideas?

You might say that this is just what the press does, but before you do, ask yourself if they did the same thing for Bill Graham?

Hmmm, can't remember?

Well perhaps you might want to refresh your memory by doing the following: Go to CBC, CTV, or any of your other MSM outlets and do a search for Bill Graham stories from January to December 2006. Take note of the number of times he is referred to as the interim leader. Now repeat the same for Iggy over the last month. What did you find, and do you still think that the press have been treating both of these interim leaders the same?

We the undersigned....

We the undersigned having given our 100% caucus solidarity to Stephane Dion last week and having forced him to resign this week, should never be trusted again.

----

The complete set of documents with all 77 signatures is available here.

---

I am not sure if I would want a guy who does not understand simple directions to print his name as my PM.

If it is good for the Canadian Goose it is good for the....

If it is good for the Canadian goose it should be good for the LPC gander.

If the Liberals wanted to impose the coalition on the country without a vote, why would one be surprised that they would want to appoint their new leader without a vote of Liberal members.


Too funny. Each and every argument against this is an argument against the coalition, but they are so upset at their own party that they have not made the comparison and figured it out yet.


Go Bob Go.

No, Go Iggy Go.

No, Draft Manley

No wait, Stay Stephane stay.



Yehaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Go liberal brain trust go.


Maybe they should just form a new party: The Backroom Deal Party of Canada.


Some Liberal opinions and some of them are not very happy about this.

What about Bob?



Wilson's comment here deserves mention: "How does it feel? Western Canadians feel your pain."

Watch out Iggy

Be careful Michael; because if this guy tosses his hat into the ring your are going to have a fight on your hands.

John Manley on dumping Dion and getting the Liberal Party back into fighting shape. With a good dose of common sense thrown in for the entire country.

You see Ma'am this is your problem right here.

You see Ma'am; this is your problem right here.

Just got rid of it, take about a year off and you should be good to go again.