Why The Bloc Shouldn’t Want an Election…
The following Bloc MPs (41% of the caucus), in order by how many votes they won by last election, will all be eligible for their gold-plated MP pension on June 28, 2010, after providing her majesty with 6 years of loyal service.
This assumes, of course, that they get re-elected this Fall.
- Maria Mourani (423 – 39.48%)
- Christian Ouellet (1,204 – 35.20%)
- Thierry St-Cyr (1,303 – 34.91%)
- Yvon Lévesque (2,573 – 39.65%)
- Robert Bouchard (3,057 – 41.31%)
- Raynald Blais (4,796 – 40.1%)
- Nicole Demers (4,895 – 37.79%)
- Robert Carrier (5,092 – 38.83%)
- André Bellavance (8,833 – 46.01%)
- France Bonsant (9,386 – 41.85%)
- Paule Brunelle (10,407 – 45.26%)
- Johanne Deschamps (10,813 – 47.08%)
- Robert Vincent (10,840 – 42.82%)
- Meili Faille (11,548 – 41.34%)
- Serge Ménard (11,824 – 45.52%)
- Marc Lemay (11,874 – 47.91%)
- Carole Lavallée (12,012 – 44.98%)
- Guy André (14,910 – 45.82%)
- Claude DeBellefeuille (16,046 – 50.06%)
- Yves Lessard (21,124 – 50.08%)
THREE REASONS THE BLOC SHOULDN’T SUPPORT IGNATIEFF
- Let’s be honest, nobody told these people that they had to win FOUR elections to serve their SIX years. I don’t think anybody saw that coming! This looming pension will make anyone think twice.
- What message does it send to their supporters in la belle province? That they would rather have the Liberals under Ignatieff in charge? Who’s in second place in Quebec right now? The Liberals. Do you really want to prop up your main competitor?
- The Bloc holds 48 out of 75 seats in Quebec (64%). Last election, they won 49. The most they ever won was 54 (in 2004 and 1993). It begs the question: How many seats could they gain?
On Cronies…
We all know that Stephen Harper only appoints hard-nosed, staunch Conservative cronies and bagmen like, uh, Gary Doer.
Wha?
Gary Doer, the former NDP Premier of Manitoba, as Canada’s most important and most influential diplomat?
Oh, the headaches the Liberals and their media elite buddies must have today!
Could it be … maybe, just maybe … that Harper appointed those nine Senators because he could trust them to make the reforms necessary to make the institution of the Senate worth saving, and not because of some control-freak, frothy-mouthed, wild-eyed moment of partisan thrashing and thrusting?
Well, certainly not if you believe the Liberals and their media pals.
Who’s running the party now?
Reflections on the Senate Appointments
Harper has appointed Doug Finley and Don Plett to the Senate. Having met both men on a few occasions, I congratulate the Prime Minister on excellent choices. Both are very intelligent, hard-working, love their country, and, as the media has kindly pointed out, they are firmly on Harper’s side.
This whole exercise (appointing Senators in order to reform the Senate) wouldn’t be necessary if politics worked logically – let’s face it, it’s a pathetic eyesore of an institution in a great democracy like Canada.
However, the Liberals have a vested interest in it, and the NDP and Bloc just want to see it ditched, not reformed.
The Question Now
Who will be the new Party President?
More importantly, who will run the next campaign, and take the reins where Finley has left off?
The media obviously doesn’t care about this, but I am quite interested.
Jacques Demers
Is anyone else disgusted by the drivel appearing on some of the news sites putting down Jacques Demers for his illiteracy?
If these people had any idea of the back story of this amazing man, they might be inclined to reflect on how pathetic their own life story is, despite their literacy, in comparison (or, maybe they’ll just go back to watching American Idol).
Maxime Bernier Explains Protectionism
This is a few weeks old, but Maxime Bernier has done a great job, yet again, explaining a basic Conservative principle (free trade vs. protectionism) in a simple and convincing way that everybody should understand.
Andrew Coyne on Conservative Party
This video was shot at the Manning Centre Conference some time ago, but was just posted to YouTube on Monday. As usual, one of Canada’s most prominent journalists, Andrew Coyne, tells it as he sees it.
It speaks for itself.
Maxime Bernier
The ever brilliant Chantal Hébert has reminded us all that the most popular Quebec Conservative remains Maxime Bernier.
So the guy made a bad relationship decision (OK, really bad). I’m over it, hopefully the RCMP will be over it soon, too. Sigh.
But here are the facts – as Quebec Conservative Minister’s go, he was the biggest star to date – not just in terms of good looks and celebrity, but in terms of hard work and competency.
(Oh, and there’s a nasty rumour that he’s actually a “conservative” Conservative.)
Now he has his own blog – so what, who doesn’t? Well, most Members of Parliament don’t. Too risky.
As soon as this RCMP business is over, Maxime Bernier needs to be restored to Cabinet, and restored as Quebec Lieutenant for the party.
Here’s a fun sidebar – I just discovered a Twitter account attempting to recruit Maxime to lead the ADQ. This would be a terrible loss for the Conservative Party of Canada. Would they rename the ADQ to Action démocratique du Québec-Équipe Maxime Bernier instead of Équipe Mario Dumont?
My shortest blog post ever.
Time for Carole James to go!
The most boring election in history!
Politicians always tell you that this is “the most important election”, then follow it up with something serious sounding like “in a generation” or “since the cold war” or “since James Polk declared 54’40 or fight!”
Please.
I’d like to declare this election in British Columbia “the most boring”, and follow it up with “in the history of the universe”.
This is unfortunate, and it didn’t have to be this way.
There are issues, like, oh, say, the economy. But nobody is proposing anything interesting or colourful enough to care about. The big issues are turning out to be BC Hydro and BC Rail. Wow, dams and railroads – this is cutting edge 19th century stuff people!
If the total lack of inspiration results in low voter turnout, then I hope the BC Liberals and the rest of us enjoy the next 4 years under Premier Carole James.
Because, as any politico will tell you, the NDP is very good at getting out their vote – even when things are exceedingly dull.
I suspect things won’t be that dull once Carole James and her union buddies start running things.
Maybe I’ll have to move to somewhere a little more business-friendly – I hear Venezuela is nice.
Ignatieff’s (De)Motivational Poster
This arrived in my e-mail box this morning. I guess it’s making the rounds. It nicely sums things up, I suppose.
Vote for Jane Sterk
Although I am a fan of the BC Green Party policy on independent power producers, I am not a “Green”, nor will I be endorsing “The Green Party” this election.
In fact, after a great deal of consideration, I have decided not to endorse any party. Instead, I will be endorsing individual candidates from different parties.
My first endorsement: Although I have never met her, I feel very strongly that the good people of Esquimalt-Royal Roads should vote for Jane Sterk.
Why?
Because she is competent, intelligent, and leader of a terribly under-represented, though incredibly serious (and increasingly reasonable, mainstream), provincial party.
Think about it.
In 2005, the Green Party received 9% of the vote – 9 out of every 100 voters voted this way. They voted this way despite the fact that they almost certainly knew that their chosen candidate would lose. In 2001, it was 12%.
Who knows how many votes the Green Party “would have” received if they had a chance of winning – I’m sure many people who wanted to vote Green voted BC Liberal or NDP because they didn’t want their votes to be “wasted”.
STV could certainly change the game in future elections, but that may or may not pass.
Chances are many people are voting like me this election – voting AGAINST somebody, not FOR anybody. If everyone in Esquimalt-Royal Roads took the initiative to vote “AGAINST” the other parties, and “FOR” a provincial party leader, the Green Party will win one seat, and will get their voice (whether you agree with them or not) to the table.
This is good for democracy, and good for the Province.
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