Maybe now the CBC will cover the Libby Davies story.

Bob Rae has put the CBC in a bad position with his press release today, calling for deputy NDP Libby Davies to step down, because now they will have to cover her disturbing comments which up until this point the CBC have totally ignored. (Note: The National Post appears to be the only MSM outlet to cover Libby's remarks.)





I guess when you have most of your reporters covering KoryVision and typos on web pages, little things like a deputy party leader saying that Israel is not a legitimate state get missed.


More from Libby: 911, Bush did it.





The PM has also called for Davies to be fired but I don't expect that to carry as much weight with the CBC as a Liberal Party press release, which seems to be where the CBC gets most of its stories from.



Related: BC Blue has a couple of interesting tidbits and related links.

Stephen Taylor on the tolerant NDP.


Update: Libby spoke the words in that first video June 5th and this has been covered on the blogs for days now. The CBC did not have any mention of this story up in any form until this afternoon after the PM made his comments in the House.

Grab a beer and some popcorn, and sit back and watch..

Grab yourself a beer and some popcorn, and sit back and watch as the Liberals tie themselves into knots.

...trouble is brewing once more, as Liberal support continues to slide and some of Mr. Rae’s advocates openly agitate for a debate about a coalition with the NDP.


It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.



More from the NP story: My good buddy Scott Reid had some thoughts on this:

“This is a merger by any other name… A slippery slope to sacrificing our political identity. It would amount to a total betrayal of the Liberal party’s history, identity and success,”

“Would we run 100 fewer candidates? Would we abandon Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the NDP and ask Ralph [Goodale] to step down? I think the notion is absurd. The only person who advocated it was Jean Chrétien on CBC but I have a hard time believing Jean Chrétien thinks the Liberal party shouldn’t run 308 candidates at the next election.”




The party that is more united than it has been in a generation has a funny way of showing it.


UD: Watch Scott Reid in action here @ the Iceman's place.

I'm with Rae. All the way.

From Warren Kinsella's blog May 27, 2010.

"I'm with Rae. All the way."

Referring of course to Bob Rae's recent comments on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Liberal-NDP Accord in Ontario while he was Premier and a possible future coalition between the Liberal Party of Canada and the NDP.

But is that what Warren really thinks? Is he really with Rae all the way?

From his (now deleted) blog an entry dated October 16, 2006: (highlighting mine)

"Okay, I think I’ve got it all figured out. Call it my pre-Halloween Political Analysis©. After attending the Liberal leadership thing in Toronto – and after reading the learned assessments of the punditocracy, wherein you will find as many opinions as there were journos in attendance – I have figured out that the Liberal Party of Canada is the Party of Fear. Its ultimate leadership selection will be determined by fear.

They are afraid:

• That Michael Ignatieff is too right wing, like Turner or Martin, or too academic, like Kim Campbell;
  
  
• That Gerard Kennedy is too bland, like Al Gore, or too incapable of French, like Preston Manning or John Crosbie;
  
  
• That Stephane Dion is too French, like Gerard Kennedy is too English;
  
  
• That Bob Rae is too much like an NDP Premier who lengthened and deepened a recession, laid off thousands of nurses, oversaw countless businesses shutting down, caused massive economic and social dislocation, seemed indifferent to one of the most scandal-plagued administrations in Ontario history, and only tore up his NDP membership card when it had taken his ambition as far as it could reasonably go. You know, that Bob Rae is, um, still Bob Rae.

The problem is that Stephen Harper doesn’t really scare Canadians anymore, or possibly never did. That’s the Grits’ problem.

Rob Anders, however, remains scary. Also, Liza Minelli. She scares me quite a bit. "



Doesn't sound like he is to me.




Update: Sort of related: Liberals can't remove Iffy even if they wanted to.

Michael Ignatieff should beware the ides of March.

With numbers like these, people like this, are going to again become impatient.

And now a message from the grass roots of the LPC.

More mischief?






Don't blame me, I tried to stop him.

Mischief from within the Liberal Party.

Mischief is afoot in the Liberal Party of Canada. Is Michael Ignatieff the only one who hasn't figured it out yet? From CTV's Power Play with Tom Clarke.

The adult conversation that isn't to be, the entire Outremont fiasco, general confusion, Liberal Senators holding up legislation that Ignatieff wants passed, loyalty oaths and caucus secrecy that brings back memories of Garth Turner; it all ads up to internal mischief or as Tom Clarke called it "a more apprehended insurrection that we know to be true".


Big questions remain though; will Ignatieff be able to figure it all out it is too late and will he be able to handle it?


I don't have the answers but I do know that somewhere tonight Stephane Dion will sleep the sleep of angels.

h/t Biff

Bob Rae lies about the coalition

Bob Rae was on the Dave Rutherford show earlier today and this is some of what he had to say.

Updated with better audio* and added document.

I see Bob Rae like his boss Michael Ignatieff likes to lie on the subject of the coalition. Too bad for him that we are paying attention.

Steve Janke has a run down of it here.



And here are 3 signatures. You decide whether or not this signed agreement would constitute a deal. A deal that formed a coalition whose goal it was to take the power of government.






* My apologies for the earlier volume problem as the video ran fine on my machine. So dear readers if you notice any major screw-ups like that on the blog please drop me a line in the comments.

Thanks Al

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.

Kingsford to the rescue.

I was out doing my Christmas shopping this afternoon, a few days early this year but that is another story, and as usual I had a few names on my list that were giving me some problems as to what to buy them. I had managed to find something for all of my friends and family members but could not find the right gift for some of the others on my list; the members of the proposed coalition.

So after wandering around aimlessly from store to store looking for that something special to jump out at me, I finally found the perfect gift to send to all of the members and supporters of the coalition*.


What could be a more perfect gift than coal for the coalition?

Merry Christmas everyone.

* all except for Bob Rae. I bought him some astroturf.

Fun with advanced coalition math.

Class, simmer down. Today we are going to discuss coalition math.

The basic premise of coalition math = The Conservatives were elected with 38% of the vote therefore 62% of Canadians voted against them and the Prime Minister.

Forgetting the obvious that you do not vote against anyone but rather you vote for someone, lets look at the math in more detail.


CPC 38%

Lib 26%

NDP 18%

Bloc 10%


So 26 + 18 + 10 = 62

62? No it doesn't. It equals 54. What the hell?

Now why haven't I ever heard that number used by the coalition? Why is it always 64% ?



Time for recess while I check on my facts. Take 15 everyone.



This just in. The coalition expands to include the following political parties:

AAEV Party of Canada, CAP, Christian Heritage Party, Communist, FPNP, Green Party, Libertarian, Marxist-Leninist, neorhino, NL First Party, PC Party, PPP, Radical Marijuana, WBP, the Work Less Party, and all Independents.

That is going to be one ugly caucus meeting, but I am sure that all of those that cast votes for the above parties are 100% totally in favour of their votes for something being counted as if they were votes cast against something else.

Democracy and math, coalition style.

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

So now that we understand the insane logic behind the use of the 62% number by the coalition, lets apply the same logic to their own performance in the past election.

Liberal 74% against.

NDP 82% against.

Bloc 90% against.

So class if we use the same principles and logic that the coalition uses we can clearly see that

246% of Canadians voted against the coalition.

Sorry but that is all the time we have for today. Remember that next week you will have a guest instructor in my place.

A Mr. Broadbent will be coming in to instruct you on how to infiltrate and take over a political party without their knowledge. I am advised by Mr. Broadbent that you should read Chapter 1 "Get someone on the inside" before coming to class next week.

Class dismissed.

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."

I know you are all busy but...

Hurry; only 20 days left to destroy your party's brand before Christmas.

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.

Bob Rae files his papers and is officially in the race for PM.

Link:

THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - "Bob Rae has officially entered the race to replace Liberal Leader Stephane Dion."

Let the speculation begin.

To myself it is looking like we are now witnessing a merger of the 'so called' left of Canadian politics.

One question though. If Jack Layton figures this highjack of the Canadian Government will last for 2 years or more, and the LPC leadership convention is in March. Does Layton and the NDP now have some influence on who the LPC choose as leader (and possibly PM) ?

Could Dion successfully whip a Liberal vote?

Think about this for a minute. Does out going Liberal leader Stephane Dion have the clout to whip a confidence vote and ask Liberal MPs, including those running or supporting others who are going to run for his job and put the party in a new direction, to vote a certain way?

It makes no sense to assume that Dion has close to enough support left to pull the strings to get it done.

Why would anyone listen to him?


I think out of the 77 Liberals there could be 9 that could easily be persuaded* not to show up for such a vote.


* I never said who would be doing the persuading did I.

coughiggyraecoughcough.

Volpe Speaks. Say it aint so Joe, say it aint so.

Re elected Liberal MP Joe Volpe has asked Stephane Dion to "signal his intentions" on whether he will step down as the leader of the LPC. Volpe being the diplomat he is did not outright call on Dion to quit but when questioned, Volpe had this to say "Dion has earned the right to stay on probably as an interim leader."

You really can't be much clearer than that, at least for a Liberal politician that is. source


Of interest: Joe Volpe was a candidate for the Liberal leadership in 2006 along with eventual winner Stephane Dion. Volpe dropped out after the first ballot results and threw his support behind Bob Rae.

Bob Rae huh, very interesting indeed.

Bob Rae confirms that Dion's carbon tax is not an environment policy.

Bob Rae doing his best Ken Boshcoff impersonation: "Mr. Rae said the plan makes the tax system more progressive and could reduce poverty by 30 per cent and child poverty by 50 per cent with a child tax credit."

There you have it again folks; the green shift is not an environment plan but rather just a tax grab to pay for another in a long line of failed Liberal social programs.

I wonder what Garth Turner will have to say now since it was only a few days ago that Liberal MP Ken Boshcoff faced a firestorm of criticism when he let the cat out of the bag with his now famous statement, The ‘shift’ will transfer wealth from rich to poor, from the oil patch to the rest of the country, and from the coffers of big business to the pockets of low-income Canadians." This admission was vehemently denied by Garth Turner who had the audacity to try to translate what Mr. Boshcoff really meant to say and claim to us all "the goal of the Dion plan, which is to tackle climate change, not to redistribute wealth".


What a mess these guys are. One Liberal MP tells the truth about the carbon tax, whether he intended to or not is another question, another Liberal MP jumps in to spin and translate what the first guy meant, and now a third Liberal MP confirms as correct what the first MP said and in the process discredits the second MP and exposes his Liberal spin.

With friends like these....

Rae Days in Edmonton Canceled

Rae days in Edmonton canceled; local area LPC candidate Indira Saroya doesn't bother to tell anyone.

Background: Bob Rae was supposed to be in Edmonton today to take part in three events to benefit local area Liberals. The "Bearpit with Bob", and the evening "BBQ with Bob" were both postponed due to personal reasons and are tentatively being rescheduled for sometime in September according to information posted on the LPC Alberta wing web site. The third event, a meet and greet with Bob Rae and Indira Saroya, the LPC nominated candidate for Edmonton Millwoods Beaumont , was also canceled but it appears that Saroya did little, if anything, to inform the public about the change.

The story: Well I was at it again today, I guess that I did not get my fill this week of Liberal smoke and mirrors, and decided I would go and hear what Bob Rae had to say since he was going to be almost literally in my own backyard. I may truly be a gluten for punishment.

The event was scheduled to take place 1:30 - 3:00pm at a local community centre very close to my home and I arrived just before the scheduled 1:30 start time only to find a few people milling aimlessly around the parking lot with no Bob Rae in sight. The hall was locked, the lights were off, and there was no notice posted anywhere on the status of the event. As a few more people started showing up, word got around that the evening BBQ may have been canceled, but nobody had read or heard anything about the status of the event that we were all there to attend.
(note: as of this writing Saroya's web site has yet to be updated informing people of the change.) It was just after 2:00pm when a young lady arrived and asked if she was in the correct location for the Rae/Saroya event; when she found out that indeed this was at the correct location, out came the cellphone and she called the candidate herself at home to get an explanation.

Yes, that is correct. Saroya was at home doing who knows what rather than bothering to come to the hall to post up a notice, check if anyone had shown up, or even update her website telling the public about the changes. It is almost as if she is taking a page from Dion's arrogant point men for the tax formally known as green shift as her cue for how to do things. For the record Saroya did manage to show up just as I was leaving; which was well past the scheduled start time and it appears that it was only because that young lady had called her at home as she looked rushed and was not dressed as if she was planning on meeting with the public.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is your candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in Edmonton Millwoods Beaumont.

She is not going to get my vote, that is a given, but if the comment made by an older gentleman just before he drove off is any indication, she may not be getting his as well. His comment: "The least they could have done was stick a damn piece of paper on the door."

Some thoughts for the first day of Summer

I saw one of these earlier tonight while out for my evening stroll. Is this the future of transportation in Canada post Green Shift?


Kind of cool looking and as a bonus it's Canadian made! Even those not so motorcycle inclined might just give this a look. Nice work Bombardier, but perhaps you might want to consider applying the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle to your website. I couldn't get the site to load properly and annoying potential customers is never a great idea if you are trying to sell me something. No link for you!

-----------

Lots of spin from the Libs on the Green shift but the facts are what they are and it is a dud. I will post more on why I think this at a later date but the carbon tax and Dion are toast.

Fearless prediction: By the end of July, Dion will be fighting off his own party over the blow back his MP's are going to receive from the public over the Green Shift. With the open revolt Dion will be unelectable and effectively done as the leader.

I still think that they will give him his one election, but the party brass are going to be calling the shots and Dion will be just a lame figurehead.

By the way, great job Bob! Writing a policy that was sure to fail with the voters but yet was so appealing to the ego of the leader that he would run with it was pure genius. You will be getting another shot at the title when the dust settles.


.

Sir Dion the Courageous

Or at least that is how he is going to be presented, and later spun, today as he presents his 'brave and courageous' plan to shift into gear and save the earth.


Watch for it soon in the MSM near you.


You cannot claim he is not a leader anymore people, because only a real leader would be brave enough to destroy our country's economy, increase inflation, and divide the country all for his own party's political gain.


That takes guts. Well guts, and a bunch of back room Liberals encouraging you to walk the plank so they can get their own guy in the OLO.



Follow up June22: Aside from the Lib bloggers doing their best to try to spin the carbon tax and Dion in a positive light (with those that do not agree tossed out of the club) there has not been as much fake praise for Dion in the MSM as I expected; Gary Nichols has an example here.

Want some spin, read this. Wow.