The PM in Edmonton.

The Prime Minister was in town today and dropped into NAIT to announce the $40 Million Apprenticeship Completion Grant program which will offer $2,000 to eligible apprentices who successfully complete their apprenticeship training and certification in a designated Red Seal trade. The Grant will also boost worker mobility, as the Red Seal workers’ credentials are recognized in most provinces and territories of Canada. Speaking as someone who recently spent 2 days trying to find a plumber, this is money well spent in my opinion.


Later in the day was a meet and greet at the Weston Hotel. I grabbed a quick shot of the welcoming committee as I entered the hotel.

Contrary to rumours circulating inside the Weston, there appeared to be no Liberal MPs to be found amongst the welcoming committee.

Inside ( LS was right!) while everyone was waiting for the guest of honour to arrive I decided to do some investigative blogging and managed to track down and identify the elusive Hunter from Climbing out of the Dark. OK, she wasn't that difficult to find if one is a regular reader of her blog, but none the less it was a pleasure to meet a fellow blogger and her companion for the day, Rigger. Don't worry Hunter your secret is safe with me. No one will ever know in reality that you are a 6' 2" man who walks with a limp.

The PM made a short speech which was a little different than what I have become accustomed to hearing. It might have been the supportive audience or the fact that there were no press around but I can honestly say that I have never heard him sound as casual and relaxed as he did today. After the speech was over he made a point of meeting everyone in the room, including yours truly. He looked well rested after his recent European trip and seemed to be honestly enjoying himself meeting everyone and posing for the obligatory photos. All in all it was very refreshing to see and a far cry from the way he is portrayed by the opposition and sometimes the media.

Thanks for the invite Bill.

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.

$1,773,903

$1,773,903

The amount of money that the Liberal Party of Canada received from Elections Canada for the first quarter of the year.


It is also the amount of taxpayer money that the Liberal Party of Canada was not willing to give up under any circumstances and were willing to make a deal with the separatists in order to keep.


After all, they are "entitled" to it.



FYI: The Bloc, who according to Ignatieff "... are duly elected by Québec voters. They are not traitors, they are not the enemies of Canada." received $673,781 taxpayer dollars to carry on with their plans to tear up Canada.

Yes Ma'am!

I would have thought that something like this would have already happened years ago but it seems that the military was a little behind the times.

For the first time in our navy's history a woman has taken command of a major warship with Cmdr. Josée Kurtz taking charge of the warship HMCS Halifax.

I have no doubt she will do us proud.

Why the Omission?

What is missing from the following Globe and Mail story?

CAROLINE ALPHONSO and KIRK MAKIN

Globe and Mail update

April 2, 2009 at 6:41 PM EDT

Ontario Superior Court Judge Paul Cosgrove has resigned from office, Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General announced Thursday.

“A recent report to the Minister of Justice from the Canadian Judicial Council recommended Mr. Justice Cosgrove's removal. In view of the fact that Justice Cosgrove has resigned, there is no further action to be taken,” federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said in a statement.

The resignation is effective immediately.

Last month, the CJC had recommended Judge Cosgrove be removed from office, placing the former federal cabinet minister one step away from being the first judge ever voted out of office by Parliament.

“We find that Justice Cosgrove has failed in the execution of the duties of his judicial office and that public confidence in his ability to discharge those duties in future has been irrevocably lost,” said a inquiry report from 22 members of the CJC who presided over the case.

“We find that there is no alternative measure to removal that would be sufficient to restore public confidence in the judge in this case,” they said. “Therefore, we hereby recommend to the Minister of Justice, in accordance with section 65 of the Judges Act, that Justice Cosgrove be removed from office.”

Judge Cosgrove ran into trouble after he made 150 findings of misconduct by the Crown and police at the 1997 first-degree murder trial of Julia Elliott, in Brockville, Ont.

After the Crown successfully appealed a stay of proceedings in the case, Ontario's attorney-general at the time, Michael Bryant launched a CJC complaint against Judge Cosgrove.

Ms. Elliott's was a circus-like proceeding in which the defence embarked on numerous allegations of conspiracy and evidence fabrication. It ended on Sept. 7, 1999, when Judge Cosgrove stayed proceedings as an abuse of process.

Judge Cosgrove told the CJC that, during and after the Elliott trial, he was criticized so much for his actions that he became “desensitized” to it.

He implored the CJC to allow him to work until he retires on his 75th birthday next December, and offered to avoid sitting on any case involving the Ontario government.

A former federal cabinet minister and mayor of Scarborough, Ont., Judge Cosgrove was appointed to the bench in 1984.

Figured it out yet?

ht/ Halls of Macadamia.

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.

Iggy needs an asbestos suit

Careful Iggy; if you keep getting caught in lies like this you may need that asbestos to make yourself a suit.

OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is being called a liar after he seemingly shifted his position on Canada's exporting of asbestos.
Last weekend, on a tour of Vancouver Island, Ignatieff was asked about his position on asbestos, and he said he favoured banning exports.
"I'm probably walking right off the cliff into some unexpected public policy bog of which I'm unaware, but if asbestos is bad for Parliamentarians in the Parliament of Canada, it just has to be bad for everybody else," he said. "Our export of this dangerous product overseas has got to stop."
But in a scrum with reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday, Ignatieff was asked about his statement and he didn't mention a ban.
"We have had 60 years of experience with this product. What I said in answer to a question is that we have an obligation to international agreements to the countries that we export to, to make them aware of the risks. That is all I said."
Kathleen Ruff, senior adviser on human rights for the Ottawa-based think-tank Rideau Institute, said Ignatieff's denial is untrue.
"I knew he would be under pressure to retract what he said but that's an out-and-out lie," said Ruff.

Michael Ignatieff speaks for the Liberal Party

Interim Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff speaks for the Liberal Party.

Both for the present and for the future.

Nah, no arrogance here.

Who said it?

Who said it: “As a politician you need to find policy that doesn’t kill you at the door because I can’t do anything for you unless I get into government.”

Bonus clue. He also said the following in regards to the green shift: It will be easy to sell at the door in my riding. The less you burn the more you'll earn.


ht/bluelikeyou

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!!!

Maybe George Galloway's Trucks can be put to good use...

For something like this perhaps.

Hamas threatens to kidnap more Israeli soldiers.

Don't take my word for it....

"Why does the Liberal Party repeatedly continue to dis its atrophying membership, paying lip service to its relevance and importance through examination of "change" and "renewal" while at the same time solidifying control by the (interim) (unelected) Leader, the caucus and unelected officials? It's a contemptuous attitude - contemptuous of the membership surely, but contemptuous of democratic principles more certainly."

Read the rest for a Liberals take on the Ignatieff takeover of the LPC.

NDP MP Dawn Black: Another ban for your safety.

New Westminster-Coquitlam NDP MP Dawn Black introduced a private members bill Thursday proposing additional penalties for people who commit crimes while wearing body armour. The legislation also calls for those who have been convicted of violent crimes to be prohibited from owning body armour. Source.


I think she may be on to something here; after all, the gangs have had such a respect for our existing gun laws that another law will be sure to do make our streets safer.

UN Human Rights Council removes rights from humans...

... and gives them to inanimate objects and ideas.

Full Story here: A United Nations forum on Thursday passed a resolution condemning "defamation of religion" as a human rights violation, despite wide concerns that it could be used to justify curbs on free speech in Muslim countries.

The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted the non-binding text, proposed by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic states, with a vote of 23 states in favor and 11 against, with 13 abstentions.

"Defamation of religious is a serious affront to human dignity leading to a restriction on the freedom of their adherents and incitement to religious violence," the adopted text read, adding that "Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism."

It called on states to ensure that religious places, sites, shrines and symbols are protected, to reinforce laws "to deny impunity" for those exhibiting intolerance of ethnic and religious minorities, and "to take all possible measures to promote tolerance and respect for all religions and beliefs."

Unbelievable! Real rights removed from people and given to religions instead. What the hell is going on in the UN?

How was something as insane as this even considered, never mind how it passed a vote with 23 countries in favour and 13 countries who apparently couldn't care less and abstained. When I find out how the countries voted I will post up the list.

So what was Canada's position? (at least currently, I have doubts it would remain the same under a Liberal Government)

"It is individuals who have rights, not religions," Ottawa's representative told the body. "Canada believes that to extend (the notion of) defamation beyond its proper scope would jeopardize the fundamental right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of expression on religious subjects."

A voice of common sense for now, but it did not do any good in the end.

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.

Media Tip

Another helpful tip for the MSM in Canada from your friend the Ardvark.

Rally for George Galloway on Parliament Hill March 25, 2009

Whenever covering a protest or rally type event; if the members of the press outnumber the participants it may not be worth the effort covering because the majority of your audience could care less.

And you guys wonder why you are losing both audience and revenue.

“I am not writing a blank cheque on $3-billion. No Canadian would respect me if I did,”

Micheal Ignatieff then: “I am not writing a blank cheque on $3-billion. No Canadian would respect me if I did,”


Micheal Ignatieff now. Liberals sign off on $3-billion emergency stimulation fund.

Or maybe not. From the above article: “I want to make Parliament work but I don't write blank cheques. That's not what my voters sent me to Parliament to do,” he said less than three hours before Liberals approved the fund.


The Liberals; the only thing that has changed is the name plate on the door of the OLO.

So much for respect.

This Weeks Outrage: Entertainment Industry Edition.

Not to be out done by the big "entertainment industry outrage" story this week about an obscure late night Fox News show called Redeye where the host and guest panel basically dissed the Canadian Armed Forces in a lame attempt at humour; Britney Spears seems to have stirred up some outrage of her own with the release of a new song, "If U Seek Amy".

Shocked? I know I am because I did not think that there could possibly be any outrage for the entertainment industry left after the fallout from the Redeye thing. I mean it was everywhere; first on the blogs, then the papers, and when it had eventually made it onto the television news I thought that there could not be anymore, but I was wrong. Wrong because my fellow citizens have once again proven that the well of outrage towards entertainers seems to never come up dry.

So a big thank you to my fellow citizens for the good work. It is because of you that I can sleep at night knowing of your efforts to keep the entertainers closely monitored for the nasty and evil crime of offending people.

And here I thought that this was the reason why we have HRC's.

Silly Ardvark.



Let me close out by quoting a A. Wine who in 1982 said:

"If you see Kay, tell her I need her."





Good night and remember Leave Britney Alone!!! (NSFW)

I know what you are but what am I?

NDP President Anne McGrath said [Marshall] Ganz stressed the left needs to do a better job of connecting its message with people's values.

"The right-wing has had a real ability to promote particular values such as self-reliance and competition," said McGrath. "We need to be more obvious about what (our) values are," she said. (Ottawa Citizen)

Darcey from DMB nails it with his comment: "How about no self-reliance and no competition?

With friends like these......

Khadija Abdul Qahar, formerly known as Beverly Giesbrecht before she changed her name, a Canadian held hostage after she travelled to the lawless tribal belt of northern Pakistan says the Taliban will behead her by the end of the month if a ransom isn't paid. According to a newly released video. Story: source1 source2 Update:Darcey has some of the video up here.

Her web site.

a recent letter to her supporters.

an interesting bit of commentary found on her website.

after that last link I could not read on any further.


With friends like these........

The Progressive Left Calls Upon the CMA...

An AWM Exclusive:

Members of the so called progressive left have called upon the Canadian Medical Association and it's provincial counterparts to ban Muslim doctors from practicing medicine in Canada. The general consensus of the left seems to be that a belief in a higher power and the science of medicine cannot coexist together and that Islamic doctors should be banned from practicing in this country for the safety of the Canadian public. Jeffrey Moonbat a spokesman for the left stated "We cannot have doctors that believe that things happen because of the will of Allah while ignoring the science." He added, "A real risk with this type of archaic thinking is that it is possible that an Islamic doctor may not put forth the necessary and expected effort to treat those that get sick or injured because the disease or illness might be Allah's work." "Modern medicine is science based and the will of Allah is not science."


In related news; rumour has it that CUPE Ontario is proposing a motion that Muslim professors be banned from lecturing in the pure sciences on university campuses.

More to come on this story as more information becomes available.

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

This ladies and gentlemen this is the progressive left in this country again showing their respect for the constitutional rights of others to their beliefs by discriminating against them in their choice of vocations based solely on religious beliefs.

Just the type of thing that human rights commissions in this country were set up investigate and prosecute. It is too bad that HRC's are so busy prosecuting the free speech of Canadians that they ignore very obvious and real violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Ignatieff: The Bloc wants to tear up Canada.

We all knew it and we were ripped apart in the media when we said it.


Micheal Ignatieff: "“I could be sitting here as your prime minister, but I turned it down because I didn’t think it was right for someone who believes in the national unity of my country to make a deal with people who want to split the country up,”


I wonder if the media is going to give Ignatieff a pass on this one too?


Update: Oh how Iggy's tune has changed : Links from Andrew Coyne at Macleans .

Source: "Like them, he's a federalist, and said Canadians shouldn't fear the Bloc Quebecois' role in the opposition coalition, which also includes the New Democrats."

Source: "Bloc MPs are duly elected by Québec voters. They are not traitors, they are not the enemies of Canada."


I thought that the Daily Gleaner article was so good it deserves to be reprinted in its entirety.

Read it yourself for a little understanding on just how Ignatieff really thinks and how he used this entire charade as an excuse to seize power of the Liberal Party for his OWN benefit.

SAINT JOHN - Stephen Harper will have to destroy the Liberal Party to keep his job as prime minister, and that's not going to happen, Michael Ignatieff said Friday.

In Saint John for meetings with local business and political leaders, the Liberals' prospective quarterback said that not even banishing Parliament to a seven-week recess will help Harper save his government.

"Mr. Harper's only chance for survival is to split the Liberal Party of Canada," Ignatieff said in his first significant interview since Ottawa's descent into a constitutional crisis.

"He will try to drive a wedge between us, and he will not succeed. Our party is united in its determination to face Mr. Harper down."

Ignatieff is the most popular Liberal leadership candidate in a race that includes fellow Ontarian Bob Rae and Beausejour MP Dominic LeBlanc. He arrived in Saint John on Thursday night and was shepherded around the city by former MP Paul Zed, chairman of his 2006 leadership campaign.

"As soon as I left Ottawa, I could feel the stress leaving me with every mile," said Ignatieff, whose great-grandfather, Sir George Parkin, was from Parkindale, near Moncton.

"I can't walk through the airport, go to the supermarket or stop to get a bottle of wine without people saying, 'What is going on?'

"This is a special event in Canadian history."

His ability to govern fading by the minute, Harper asked Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean on Thursday to prorogue, or temporarily suspend, Parliament. The manoeuvre allowed the embattled prime minister to escape a no-confidence vote that would have scuttled his leadership.

But Ignatieff said nothing will save Harper from that fate. He said a coalition of opposing parties will ultimately topple the Conservatives, who retained a minority government in the Oct. 14 election. The House of Commons is scheduled to re-convene during the last week in January.

"This is an extraordinary situation," said Ignatieff, who lost the last leadership vote to Stephane Dion. "The prime minister has had to go begging the Governor General to get off the hook. But he is the one who got us to where we are today.

"He deliberately provoked the opposition and created a political crisis, and a national unity crisis, and that is unworthy of a prime minister.

"People are furious at him, and they should be."

The son of a Canadian diplomat and the grandson of a Russian count, Ignatieff was a campaign volunteer for Lester B. Pearson in 1965, and three years later was a national youth organizer and party delegate for Pierre Trudeau.

Like them, he's a federalist, and said Canadians shouldn't fear the Bloc Quebecois' role in the opposition coalition, which also includes the New Democrats.

"Democracy hinges on there being confidence in the government, and there isn't any at present," Ignatieff said. "In fact, Mr. Harper has managed almost the impossible, by getting parties that disagree on fundamentals to join together.

"But there are limits to what the Liberal Party will allow. The Liberal Party believes in fiscal responsibility and a competitive business environment, but it will never trade away national unity or trade away the authority of government.

"What's outrageous is for a party like ours to seek to end a constitutional impasse caused by Mr. Harper, and to be discredited as traitors. That's terrible. He crossed the line when he did that.

"His rhetoric has to stop, and stop for good."

Animosity has grown between the Conservatives and the Opposition since Harper called a fall election, a year ahead of schedule, in hope of winning a majority. The Tories ended up gaining seats, but in the last two weeks completely lost control of the House of Commons as deadlock devolved into disaster.

Ignatieff said the crisis was triggered by what the Opposition perceived as government attacks on collective bargaining and pay equity, and by a proposition by Harper to do away with financing political parties.

"You can't make a gesture like that and expect to have the co-operation of the House," Ignatieff said. "But that's typical Harper. He tried to jam us and we refused, and it was game over at that point.

"To understand the rage, you have to understand that this is the continuation of a buildup of accumulating resentments. It was a long time coming."

The last straw, Ignatieff said, was when the prime minister failed to announce an economic recovery plan that was to the Opposition's liking.

"We were anxiously awaiting the government's economic stimulus package, and we sat there in stunned disbelief over the absence of any economic stimulus," Ignatieff said. "Like in Sherlock Holmes, when the dog didn't bark, everyone sat around and looked at one another, dumbfounded."

Ignatieff said the coalition has already worked, by forcing Harper to back down on collective bargaining, pay equity for women and on party financing.

"That's pretty good for a week in Parliament," he said.

Educated at the University of Toronto, Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard, Ignatieff's ancestors were among the early settlers in Parkindale, which is in Albert County. His great-grandfather, the founder of the Rhodes Trust, served as a headmaster at schools in Bathurst and Fredericton.

"I've got some New Brunswick in me," he said.

Ignatieff said his constituency office in Toronto received 2,000 e-mails one day this week from Canadians concerned about the current conundrum. He said it can be resolved by a government-run coalition.

"In our system, to govern, a government has to have the confidence of the House," he said. "We have to talk to each other, not past each other, and that isn't happening now. We owe that to the Canadian people.

"Canadians can have confidence in a coalition, provided they know certain things are on the table and certain things are off it at all times. And they have our iron-clad assurance they we will govern in their best interest.

"I think this is what Canadian people pay us to do. They pay us to get it right, and I think we have to find a way out of this for all Canadians. I am convinced we can do this. We are up to it.

"We are aware we are we are living historic moments. We are aware of the responsibility."

Funny how all of this has now changed once he got what HE wanted out of it; not for the good of the people of Canada but rather for himself.

If this is not proof that he only cares about what is good for Iggy and that he will say or do anything to achieve his goals, than I do not know what would be.

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.

Free Speech in England.

For some.







But not for all.

Getting Cocky with Ignatieff

Getting cocky with Ignatieff; while it sounds like it may be the title of a new CBC sitcom, it isn't. Not that the CBC would like to produce such a show, but there are real doubts that such a series with Ignatieff as the star would pass the CRTC guidlines for Canadian content =) Getting cocky with Iggy it turns out is just the day to day reality of the new Iggyfied Liberal Party of Canada as the interim and very much unratified leader continues to put his stamp on the party with the powers he seized late last year.

Yesterday his highness declared that he would not sign the nomination papers of any Liberal candidate who did not maintain a certain level of signed up members as well as a certain number of cash donors; this dictate also includes sitting MP's.

Imagine that. A guy who seized power of the party without the input of the rank and file members and fixed it so he would go unchallenged at the leadership convention has the gall to not only demand that all candidates go out and sign up even more members that he can ignore in this effort to have greater control over the nominations of candidates in 308 ridings across the country overriding the will of those same local members/boards, but also by asking those same members to pay for the privilege of it all happening.

Wow!

What makes this all even more bizarre are a couple of other interesting facts such as that it is Ignatieff himself who is the biggest reason why there are such low numbers of party members at this time since it was he and his backroom minions that fixed it so there would be no real party convention thereby eliminating the best opportunity a political organization has to sign up 1000s of new members, and the real kicker that the guy who is now demanding that Liberal candidates milk their supporters for more money is the same one that himself did not even donate a single dollar to the party in 2008!

Got that? Iggy is the unilateral decider. He is not the payer; that is what he has you for.

Get out those cheque books you Liberals, as your leader has decreed it, so it must be made to happen.





Another bizarre thing about this all is that I doubt that any TV producer would even consider such a script as it seems to unrealistic for viewer to believe. Yet this is the reality of what the Liberal Party of Canada headed Michael Ignatieff looks like today.

Who would have imagined?

I declare that I deserve to be your next PM.

If he (Ignatieff) can be absent from this country for as long as he has been and expect to come pack and be the PM, then I'm reading a medical textbook and becoming a doctor...self proclaimed and all.

From the comments of yesterdays poll on whether you think Michael Ignatieff would continue to live in Canada if (when) the Liberals lose the next election.

The entire comment: "What our Anon 2 troll has failed to acknowledge is that while Mr.
Ignatieff is a Canadian, he has demonstrated that his best years have been spent traveling the world instead of investing time in his country of citizenship*.

The international experience and education he has gained does not necessarily make up for the education he has missed here. He may know how Canada fits in to the world picture but does he know what makes Canada itself tick?

Mr. Ignatieff does not know the "clockworks" of our country because he's rarely seen the inside of the clock.

If he can be absent from this country for as long as he has been and expect to come pack and be the PM, then I'm reading a medical textbook and becoming a doctor...self proclaimed and all.

Please bend over and cough.....that will be $78."


*Edited per author.

Will Michael Ignatieff stay in Canada?

Here is a question I have been thinking about for some time now.

If the Liberals lose the next election will Michael Ignatieff stay in Canada or will he and his wife pack up and go back to England or perhaps somewhere else?



Judging by his past history I think he will be gone faster than a paper bag full of money on a table in a Quebec restaurant.

What say you?

I have added a poll to the right side of the blog with this question, but please feel free to post your comments as to why you think he will stay or would go.



Update: Final poll results. Out of 278 votes 264 voted that Iggy would leave if he lost an election. Only 14, or 5% of the total vote, voted that he would remain in Canada.

The people have spoken!

Thank you.

Kinsella sues again

and again and again.

His latest can be read here: Paradis Libel Notice

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Court Filings Business Uncategorizable-Unca Tutorial-Dating-Advi

Am I missing something here? How is that statement quoted in any way libelous?


Update: There is more than 1 person claiming that the above obscure reference is referring to them.

I Googled the quote as listed in the libel notice since the it made the following claim:

"The words complained of were accurately published by various media sources and therefore constitute a broadcast. The words complained of were picked up by various news wire services and were spread throughout the world on the world wide web."

I got exactly 1 hit! That one hit being Ezra's latest blog post which quotes the libel notice itself.

It has gone viral I tell you, viral!

Media Release from the Ardvark Campaign.

Media Release: An Important announcement from the Ardvark Leadership Campaign.

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

February 28th, 2009

1400 hrs EST

Ottawa:

With the deadline to file the necessary paperwork with Liberal Party HQ for entry into the upcoming leadership contest now passed; I must regretfully inform all of my supporters from across this great country of ours that I have dropped out of the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. While my paperwork was in order, I was not able to raise sufficient funds* to pay the party's oppressive $90,000 dollar entry fee to have my name included on the leadership ballot in Vancouver.

With my dropping out of the race and with no other Liberals with stones big enough to challenge the arrogance of the back room Ignatieff boys, if not just for the sake of democracy, fair play, transparency and party unity, it is a done deal and the coup has truly succeeded.

Micheal Ignatieff has managed to weasel his way into the leadership of the party without the due process of having a proper leadership campaign and convention. The grassroots have been purposely excluded from this decision by the party elite out of fear that Ignatieff will once again fail to make the grade among card carrying Liberals, and so the 'deciders' of the party have chosen amongst themselves what is best for us; democracy and fair play be damned.


It is a sad day today not only because my dream for the leadership has died, but because the take over of the party from the inside has been so complete and thorough that only a conservative blogger thought enough of the card carrying members of the Liberal Party to at least make an attempt to challenge what has happened.


My gratitude and thanks to everyone who helped out during the campaign to tilt at the back room dragons who have hijacked the party. It was an uphill battle from the beginning and all of your hard work and support has been very much appreciated.

Thank you all.

Ardvark






* I came up $89,990 short for the entrance fee.
Note to Elections Canada: I will be returning the $10 donation as soon as possible, thanks Grandma! So please EC, I do not want to see CBC cameras outside of my office an hour before you arrive to seize my books.

A Clean Slate

A vote for Michael Ignatieff is a vote for the continued divisions within the Liberal Party of Canada.


Do we really need a continuation of the Martin and Chretien feuds that have divided the party for the last decade? Delegates please ask yourself if that is what is best for a party that not only HAS to do well in the next election, but also has to unite us all towards the goal of returning the natural governing party to power in Canada. I know it is unpopular to admit, but these divisions have gone on for far too long and they are too big to ignore.

Ignatieff's ties run very deep within the party elite and anyone paying attention can see the obvious ties to certain factions within the party. These ties are so deep that this group of party insiders through back room deals managed to thwart the democratic process and long held party traditions by having a leadership candidate to be named as interim leader.

This is the very first time in history that this has happened, and it did not happen by accident.

We do not need more division within the party or the country and it is time to put all of these old fights behind us. The only way to do this is not by voting for the chosen inside man with close links to those past fights, but to vote for the leadership candidate who can honestly claim that he has no ties to either the Chretien or Martin factions that continue to divide our party.

Vote for the clean slate.
Vote for the Ardvark
Vancouver 2009!

Tourists

A tourist in Canada




and this Canadian making a quick stop in NYC at Times Square while on business.

Our Mayor is an idiot.

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel has asked the city's legal department to investigate whether or not it is possible for the City of Edmonton to pass a law banning knives capable of killing.

What knife is NOT capable of killing Your Worship?

Not sure? How about all of them; but don't ask me when you can over pay the lawyers in the city's legal department with my tax dollars.



I am off to Walmart this morning to get a new set of steak knives, a keychain jack knife, a Leatherman tool, a couple of butter knives, and so not to cause an international incident with the Swiss, I plan on picking up one of their army knives.


My apologies for the many typos this morning.

A little word association game for a Sunday

Liberal Party.

Advertising.

Money.

Mistake.

Kinsella.

Michael Ignatieff.

Small town cheap.

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

Ht Joanne.

Jack Layton can't meet with Obama; attempts to have him arrested.

Breaking News from Ottawa.

Disgruntled because he will not be allowed to meet with US President Barack Obama today during his short visit to Canada; Jack Layton files a complaint with the RCMP to have Obama arrested for plagiarism.


Update: RCMP laughs in Layton's face.



Coming soon. Another AWM exclusive report: We are currently working on a story highlighting the hypocrisy of the left. It is regarding how the NDP along with all other left wing and environmentalist groups are totally ignoring the massive amount of CO2 emissions that are the direct result of this 5 hours visit only because of their excitement that The One is visiting Canada. The left didn't seem to like this kind of thing before.

Airforce 1, the motorcade, and that C-17 Globmaster that delivered and will returning those vehicles do not fill their gas tanks with hope and change just because Obama is President.
FYI the fuel capacity of the C-17 = 134,556 Litres.

Michael, why all the concern about 5 minutes?

Micheal, why all the concern about 5 minutes when 27 years did not seem to bother you?

Leadership campaign update: My green campaign.

While I cannot be 100% sure on this, I believe that my campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada has been the greenest one in at least the last 50 years.

My staff and I are doing our best to lead by example and this is why I have chosen not to use any airplanes during my campaign so far; I thought about getting a bus and traveling across the country, but that has already been done and lets face it, driving around in a giant diesel powered bus is not the best way of going green despite what David Suzuki would have you believe.

While being totally green would be all but impossible in this day and age, I promise to continue to do my best to limit my carbon footprint in my battle against Iggy and the insiders.

Remember delegates; some like to talk the talk but with the Ardvark you get action!

An Urgent Message for Michael Ignatieff. Feb 16th, 2009

Michael before you head out of Stornaway today with your fake beard and top hat on, please take note that in Canada we do not celebrate Presidents' Day as you did while you were living in the USA. I would hate to see you make a fool out of yourself again this year.

Enjoy the Day.

---------

I got $50 that says that Michael would not be able to name the Canadian Provinces which observe today as a holiday.*



*That is before his advisors fill him in on our quaint Canadian traditions. FYI Michael: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba observe today as a holiday.

Things not to do

Here are a few things not to do:

Do not take driving lessons from Stephane Dion.

Do not take any stock tips or economic advice from Michael Ignatieff.

But most of all, do not believe for a minute that the last 2 leaders of the Liberal Party of Canada can relate to the average Canadian or claim to understand and represent them.

Liberal Blogger Endorses the Ardvark for Liberal Leader.

If you want to run as a delegate you had to join the Party before 5 p.m. local time yesterday. With that deadline past I decided to provide my endorsement for the next leader of the Liberal Party. There isn’t much of a choice, ha ha, but here’s is my endorsement:

I endorse Alberta Ardvark for leader.

“He sucks but he has given as much to the Party as King Iggy, and he’s against torture.” - 1 Anxious Liberal

Take some time and read his stuff for a take on just how some of the grassroots of the Liberal party feel about Ignatieff's coup and how the members have been shut out by the party elite.

Anxious was also the one who first revealed to the blogging world that Michael did not donate any money to his own party in 2008 and triggered Ignatieff's war room guy into attack mode. He went after the wrong people of course by comparing leadership candidates with ordinary private citizens, but how much can you expect from an unpaid volunteer.

Ignatieff and the Gretzky Factor.

"We didn't get it done." Michael Ignatieff at the Liberal Leadership convention December 2006.


In 1978 Wayne Gretzky began his professional hockey career by signing with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA. Less than a year later he would be signed to play for the Edmonton Oilers where over the next 10 years he would lead the team to 4 Stanley Cup championship wins breaking numerous records along the way before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988; a day sports fans in Edmonton and Canada have etched into their minds. In LA Gretzky picked up where he had left off by continuing to dominate the game and by taking his team through the 1993 playoffs where in one of the most memorable 7 game conference finals in NHL history, the Kings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs earning their way into the league finals eventually losing out to the Montreal Canadiens; the last time a Canadian team won the cup. Gretzky would go on to play in the NHL until his retirement on April 18, 1999, at which time he held forty regular-season records, fifteen playoff records, and six All-Star records. He is the only NHL player ever to total more than 200 points in a single season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 15 NHL seasons, 13 of them consecutively. Gretzky's #99 has been retired by all teams in the National Hockey League. He is one of only two athletes to have earned this honor from a major professional sport.


In 1978 Michael Ignatieff left his privileged life in Canada and moved to the United Kingdom where he lived and worked for 22 years until moving to the United States in 2000 where he would reside until 2005 when he decided that after a 27 year absence he would return to Canada with the goal of eventually becoming our prime minister. The 27 years that Michael Ignatieff was out of the country was 6 years longer than Wayne Gretzky's entire playing career and during that time I doubt that Michael Ignatieff ever watched Gretzky play the game, either in person at a game or even on "the telly".

And why is Gretzky so important? Well to be honest he isn't. Hockey is not the most important thing in the world, and missing out on watching the career of the greatest hockey player in the world is not the ultimate sin, but it does demonstrate in a small way just how much of our everyday history and lives Ignatieff did miss during his decades long absence from the country. Call it the Gretzky Factor if you like.


During his long period of absence from Canada Michael Ignatieff not only missed out on the events of those 27 years, but more importantly he missed out on the experiences and feelings that one can only gather by being present and living through these events of our day to day lives. He was not here, nor was he a part of the highs, the lows, the triumphs, the tragedies, and the seeing of both the good and the bad of Canada and Canadians which has helped shape our country and ourselves over the last 30 years.

Ignatieff was absent for 27 years of our collective Canadian history. 27 years!

While it is true that if he was interested in what was happening in Canada that Ignatieff could have learned about many of these things by reading the newspapers or watching the television from afar, but that does not even come close to or compare to having experienced it first hand by being here and living through it. I have been reading about what has been going on in Iraq for years now, but it would be terribly arrogant of me to assume that I know what is really going on there or what the citizens of the Iraq are thinking or feeling, and it would be even more arrogant for me to assume that I could go there and be their leader.


An abbreviated list of just a few of the things that happened in those 27 years and during which
Michael Ignatieff was absent from Canada:

for the shooting at École Polytechnique in Montreal, the crimes of Robert Pickton, Clifford Olsen, Paul Bernardo and his wife Karla Homolka.

during the tainted blood scandal.

when all of the disagreements and constitutional battles that have shaped our country were fought including when our constitution was repatriated, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms adopted, and during the fight over the Meech Lake Accord.

during the creation of Nunavut.

when the Free Trade agreement was passed.

during the Quebec referendums in both 1980 and 1995.

during First Gulf War.

when "Oh Canada" became our official national anthem.

for the softwood lumber dispute.

for the tenure of Brian Mulroney,Kim Campbell, John Turner, Jean Chretien, and he missed out on seeing firsthand what his former roommate Bob Rae did while he was the Premier of Ontario, as well as what happened in the politics of all of the Provinces from 1978-2005!

for Terry Fox's incredible and inspiring run.

during the Oka crisis, the Ipperwash incident, the Air India disaster.....

for 27 years of sports, music and culture that took place in this country.

when the GST was introduced and so hotly debated.

while our soldiers were active in United Nations peacekeeping missions in Western Sahara, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Haiti, East Timor and Sierra Leone and during the US-led humanitarian mission to Somalia and the infamous Airborne regiments disgrace there.

while Ambassador Ken Taylor risked his life rescuing Americans from Iran.

for the passage of the Young Offenders Act.

when the first Canadian entered space.

during the National Energy Program.

for countless natural disasters including ice storms, floods and tornadoes.

when the population of Canada increased from 23,963,967 in 1978 to 32,623,490 in 2005.

when both the "loonie" and "toonie" were introduced as currency.

and on and on and on ...

--------

"We didn't get it done." Michael Ignatieff at the Liberal Leadership convention December 2006.

I think you got this one wrong Michael. We did get it done. "We Canadians" have managed to come together and build one of the best countries on earth during those 27 years and we managed to do it all without your help.


For 27 years Michael Ignatieff missed out on the major and minor events that shaped not only our country but our lives, and now after his long absence from Canada he feels that somehow he has earned the right to be our prime minister.

Tell Michael Ignatieff to stick a sock in it and go back to his books while the rest of us continue to go on living our lives and building this country for the better as we have been doing for all those years when he was an absent Canadian.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

Or in this case should that be ladies or perhaps even Constable?

Det.-Const. Heidi Fischer is charged with driving 50 km/h or more over the posted speed limit, contrary to Section 172 of the Highway Traffic Act. Because she was charged with exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h, her driver's licence was suspended for seven days and her police vehicle was impounded for a week.

Story here and here.

The west wants in and Iggy can't deliver.

Aside from a few seats in B.C, most of the ridings west of the Ontario/Manitoba border could pretty much be considered a lost cause for the Liberal Party.

Why?

To be honest I do not claim to have all of the answers, but one thing is very clear. The Liberal Party has lost touch with half of the country and if the brains of the Liberal Party think that by anointing Micheal Ignatieff into the position of leader is going to help their position in the west, they are in for another sorry surprise come election time. Westerners are not fond of ANYONE treating them as idiots by telling them what to do/think or who should lead them. Arrogance does not go over big out west and anyone who claims that arrogance and Ignatieff are not synonymous with each other has not been paying attention to what has been going on.


The west wants in, and by voting for the Ardvark for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada I can promise you that I will do my best to get the west in. Not by being arrogant and telling them what is what, but by being inclusive and actually listening to other opinions that occur outside of the GTA.

If chosen as leader at the convention in Vancouver at the end of April I promise to run as an MP in the toughest place in Canada for a Liberal to be elected, Alberta. I am not afraid of a fight and unlike others I do not need to be parachuted into safe Ontario riding against the wishes of the local party members and will not have to sneak out of side doors to avoid party members.

If you want to include the west you should select the delegate supporting Ardvark for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Q&A with the Ardvark

Since entering the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada I have deluged with questions of all types. Today I will try to answer a few of the more popular questions.


Why are you doing this?

It was not an easy decision on my part, but after having watched as a few party insiders decided amongst themselves who the next leader would be, all without the say of the card carrying members who really are the backbone of the party, I knew that I had to do something for those that were left out of the process. Fairness of process and the principles of democracy should not be trampled by anyone, particularly a few party elite who think that they know better than those members they claim to represent, in the rush to get "their" guy into the leaders chair.


Why you? I mean, after all you are/were a conservative.

A good question and one I get asked all the time. Having conservative leanings does not disqualify someone from the leaders job. If it did we would not currently have Michael Ignatieff as our interim leader, but unlike Michael I am at least honest about it.


But your were a conservative blogger, why do you think the Liberals would accept you as their leader?

I do not think that my political past will really matter that much or be that detrimental to my leadership bid. After all Bob Rae who was a former NDP premier found a home in the party and he was able to finish 3rd at the last convention and we cannot forget about Brison, Stronach, or even Garth Turner who were all accepted with open arms in the party. I mean if someone like Keith Martin who was in the Reform Party, a party that many liberals still think was more evil than Satan, can be accepted into the fold than I think I have an honest shot.


What are you offering in the way of policy or changes needed in the LPC?

This is still be worked on but having entered this process it is plain to see that in some aspects the party is broken. We cannot have a few backroom has been glory boys deciding who should be chosen as leader. It is not good for anyone and makes us look like we are running some kind of local waterbuffalo lodge rather than a national political party. A one member one vote strategy is very much needed to protect the interests of everyone in the party and give the power back to those that really matter, the card carrying members.

What about other policy?

As I said this is being worked on diligently, but off of the top of my head I can say today that Michael and I share many of the same ideas.

Michael supports the budget. I support the budget.
Michael is in favour of our mission in Afghanistan. I also support the Afghan mission.
Michael wants to support the 'most vulnerable' in our society. I also wish to support the most vulnerable in our society.
Michael supported Israel in the recent conflict. While I would rather see peace in the region, I support Israel's right to defend itself.
Michael has written positively on the use of torture in certain situations. I, um err. Actually I am against torture which I guess makes me even more liberal than Michael is and is another reason as to why I would make a better choice than Michael for leader of the party.


That's it for today. Keep those cards and letters coming.

Piles of paperwork

Who would have thought that running for the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada would require so much paper work.

I guess they want to make sure that they do not let in any undesirable candidates.



I wonder if they would accept "I didn't know she was a police officer" as an acceptable answer to question number 52?

I think they left something out.

From the Liberal Party web site. They seem to have forgotten all about the democratic process.

Leading up to the Convention

This April, Liberals from across Canada will gather in Vancouver to ratify a new leader (highlighting mine) and vote on new policy initiatives for the Liberal Party. If you would like to participate in this historic event and have a say in critical policy matters we encourage you to run as a delegate and join your friends and colleagues in Vancouver.

Delegates are elected by riding associations and clubs. The information below is a brief guide to your road to Vancouver.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us or click here for more information about what it means to be a delegate and fill out a delegate form.

Now until February 6, 2009

Registration Drive

Let’s seize this opportunity to grow the Liberal Party!

Registered Liberals are eligible to:

• run as delegates to represent their riding association or club at the Convention;
  
• vote for other delegates;
• delegates attend the Convention in Vancouver;
  
• delegates vote for the new leader of the Party on behalf of their riding association or club
  

You can register as a member of the Party by clicking here.

February 6, 2009 at 5 p.m. local time

Membership Registration Deadline

If you want to run as a delegate you must join the Party before 5 p.m. local time on February 6th in order to qualify. You can register as a member of the Party by clicking here.

The family and friends you register help send you to the Convention by voting for you during “Super Weekend”.

For more information on what it means to be a delegate please click here.

February 20, 2009 at 5 p.m. local time

Delegate Registration Deadline

In order to stand as a delegate you must return the Delegate Application Form (Notice of Intention to Stand) by 5 p.m. local time on February 20, 2009.

You can download the form by clicking here.

You can return your form via email at delegate@liberal.ca, or by fax to your provincial or territorial association (PTA). For a full list of PTA contact information, including fax numbers, please click here.

March 6 – March 10, 2009

Super Weekend

The election of delegates in each riding happens on one day of "Super Weekend".

Each riding association, women’s club, youth club, and seniors’ club may send a delegation.

April 30 – May 3, 2009

Convention in Vancouver

The elected delegate’s first ballot decision is predetermined by the votes cast by their riding association or club.

In addition to elected delegates, there are a number of “ex-officio” candidates who may vote however they wish.

Ex-officio delegates are MPs, Senators, riding presidents, and other Liberal Party executives and former candidates.

----------

And what about February 27th? You know, the date that the papers have to be filed for those that intend on running for the leadership?

My war room guy.....

Here is another reason to cast your vote for the delegate supporting the Ardvark.

My war room guy will not make cheap racist jokes that are insulting not just to thousands of Canadians but to billions of Chinese around the world.

Jean Chretien would not have put up with this kind of crap and neither would I.

So why does Michael?


Vote for real change in the Liberal Party. Vote for the Ardvark for leader of the LPC.

Is it any surprise that......

Is it any surprise that when the leader shows no respect for democracy that the young ones will also be lacking respect for the process?


Is this what the Liberal Party has become?


Respect the process. Respect the voice of the grassroots.

The Real Coup.

There were 2 coup attempts in Canada last month, but only one of them succeeded.

We are all familiar with the failed attempt by the opposition parties at forming a coalition government in effect tossing out the current government and taking their place. We all know how that ended, but how many people are familiar with the details of other coup attempt that took place in Canadian politics last month, the successful one?


On December 10, 2008 Michael Ignatieff usurped the throne of the Liberal Party when the party brass, who were mostly supporters of Ignatieff, decided by themselves that the say of grassroots members of the party was not important and that they should be left out of the process of choosing the leader of their own party.

What started back in 2004 finally came into being by stifling the voices of the 68,000 card carrying party members in the name of a crisis that never really existed. There was a late attempt at democracy by then candidate Bob Rae to let the party members have their say but when that was shot down by party officials the coup was complete and Michael Ignatieff was named interim leader.

An interim leader without a challenger!

There is little point now going into the details of how this all was forced upon the party by Ignatieff supporters in the backrooms as the damage has been done, but some time has now passed since Ignatieff's leadership was forced upon the party and the reasons claimed for this undemocratic action are now gone.

It can be argued that once Stephane Dion was forced to resign in such an undignified way, if you want to believe that he wasn't forced to resign I have a bridge to sell you cheap, that a leader had to be chosen quickly if there was to be a quick election or if the GG decided to accept the notion of a coalition government. This I say is arguable because by the time Dion stepped down the GG had ALREADY decided to prorogue Parliament and there would be 50 full days before a budget was to be presented by the Harper Government. This of course makes the "crisis" that allowed the Ignatieff coup a fraud but now even more so as the Ignatieff lead Liberals have decided to support the budget killing the threat of a coalition and eliminating the threat of an election for some time to come.

But what now?


Ignatieff claimed that if he became the leader that he would "hope to immediately engage the grassroots."

Well Michael, the grass roots are indeed waiting. They are waiting for their chance to have their voices, which were removed from them by your team, returned. They are waiting for real democracy in the Liberal Party and they are waiting for a challenger to emerge to stand up and say to you that what you did was wrong and it was not the Liberal way.

The voice of the party is the members and not the backroom boys who imported you here to Canada after all of those years abroad to rule over us.