Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered his budget this week and delivered what he had been promising for some time.
Nothing!
Nothing for those struggling against poverty, for those trying to help the environment, nothing for middle class families and nothing to alleviate medical wait times. They delivered next to nothing for manufacturing, seniors, new Canadians and Aboriginals. Stephan Dion was right. It was a mile long and an inch thick.
So why the heck is he supporting it?
The Liberals have announced they would table amendments to the budget but they are carefully trying to carefully navigate through a minefield where a misstep has the possibility of blowing Parliament up. If the Liberal amendments pass, the government will likely fall and we will be into a Spring election. The trick for the Liberals is to make amendments that are repellent to NDP and Bloc that they won’t side with the Grits while not so odious that they come back to take a chunk out of Stephan Dion’s butt.
If the amendments fail and the original budget is voted on, the next question is, what does Stephan Dion do? In my opinion there is nothing to do but do exactly the same thing that Jim Flaherty did this week while his financial plan.
Nothing!
Observers, at the time, said the Liberals habit of abstaining on crucial votes in the fall would hurt them, and yet in some polls they are still ahead. The same people said Dion’s leadership was a killer have miscalculated the general public’s disinterest in superficial, and occasionally fabricated, matters and are more interested in the usual things. Healthcare, the environment, and the economy. If leadership was the number one concern of the electorate then Tommy Douglas would have enjoyed a long stay at 24 Sussex Drive.
The Liberals look like they are going to wait for the perfect time, for them, to pull the trigger on an election and should be touting themselves as being firmly in the driver’s seat. Instead, they continue to let others define them and eventually if you throw enough mud, some of it is bound to stick.
The silver lining of this whole week for Stephan Dion is that Stephen Harper has run out of ideas, run out of money and soon will run out of time. Tough times are ahead and a shrinking economy, escalating job losses in manufacturing and economists predicting a litre gas going for $1.40 this summer will not sit well with voters. The time for the Conservatives blaming their predecessors has long since past and with a record to run on and a bleak economic outlet, in the end Stephen Harper may be the one covered in it.
As I saw it this week, the PM and Leader of the Opposition tried to stare each other down.
And they both blinked.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
FLESH WOUNDS
Black Knight: I'm invincible!
King Arthur: ...You're a loony.
~Monty Python and the Holy Grail
It must be all the Oscar buzz that has me on a bit of a movie kick recently. Last week I compared Stephen Harper to the Cleavon Little character, Sheriff Bart, in Blazing Saddles and now I am comparing Ontario Conservative leader John Tory to the Black Knight of Monty Python and the Holy Grail fame.
Tory suffered another potentially fatal political wound on Saturday when delegates to the Ontario Progressive Conservative convention gave tepid approval of his leadership, with only 2/3rd’s of eligible voters choosing not to have a leadership review. This was the latest in a series of near mortal blows that Tory has suffered, yet he says he will fight on.
Why?
The PC leader has a losing record when it comes to elections in Ontario. He lost the Toronto’s mayoralty race to David Miller in 2003. As leader of the Ontario’ Conservatives he lead a disastrous campaign that saw the PC’s go from potentially forming the next government to being soundly thrashed by Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals. In that election, Tory even lost his own riding.
Tory could counter that he has three victories under his belt.
He won the Progressive Conservative leadership in 2004 and the next year entered Queen’s Park after a by-election win. He also called the vote over the weekend a “large majority of support.”
Let’s take a closer look at those “wins”.
The leadership contest pitted a moderate Tory against neo-cons like Frank Klees and Jim Flaherty. During the leadership campaign Klees talked of a privatizing healthcare and Flaherty wanted to lock-up the homeless. That made Tory more the safe, if not the right (no pun intended), choice.
For his by-election win, it was in a riding previously held by Tory’s leadership predecessor Ernie Eves, who won the riding when the incumbent stepped aside to give Uncle Ernie an easier path back to the legislature. It is considered one of the safest Conservative ridings in Ontario. In fact, the man who stepped aside for Eves, David Tilson, is now that riding’s MP.
As for the “win” on the weekend, Tory, after hemming and hawing for a couple of hours, finally announced he would stay on. The less than overwhelmingly endorsement of his leadership by the grassroots was not exactly reinforced when less than a quarter of the Conservative Caucus immediately urged Tory to stay. With less than 80% approval most leaders would call for the review themselves.
In my humble opinion, the fact that Tory is staying on says one of two things. The party believes he is the best choice to lead them, or that the party believes there is no one else who could. In other words, the leadership pool of the former “Big Blue Machine” is so shallow that they have no choice but to stay with the Charlie Brown of Ontario politics.
Like the Black Knight, Tory seems oblivious to the fact that he is being hacked to bits and instead of using the 3 ½ years before the next election wisely, the PC’s seem content to followed a whittled down leader.
Perhaps because they have no alternative.
King Arthur: ...You're a loony.
~Monty Python and the Holy Grail
It must be all the Oscar buzz that has me on a bit of a movie kick recently. Last week I compared Stephen Harper to the Cleavon Little character, Sheriff Bart, in Blazing Saddles and now I am comparing Ontario Conservative leader John Tory to the Black Knight of Monty Python and the Holy Grail fame.
Tory suffered another potentially fatal political wound on Saturday when delegates to the Ontario Progressive Conservative convention gave tepid approval of his leadership, with only 2/3rd’s of eligible voters choosing not to have a leadership review. This was the latest in a series of near mortal blows that Tory has suffered, yet he says he will fight on.
Why?
The PC leader has a losing record when it comes to elections in Ontario. He lost the Toronto’s mayoralty race to David Miller in 2003. As leader of the Ontario’ Conservatives he lead a disastrous campaign that saw the PC’s go from potentially forming the next government to being soundly thrashed by Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals. In that election, Tory even lost his own riding.
Tory could counter that he has three victories under his belt.
He won the Progressive Conservative leadership in 2004 and the next year entered Queen’s Park after a by-election win. He also called the vote over the weekend a “large majority of support.”
Let’s take a closer look at those “wins”.
The leadership contest pitted a moderate Tory against neo-cons like Frank Klees and Jim Flaherty. During the leadership campaign Klees talked of a privatizing healthcare and Flaherty wanted to lock-up the homeless. That made Tory more the safe, if not the right (no pun intended), choice.
For his by-election win, it was in a riding previously held by Tory’s leadership predecessor Ernie Eves, who won the riding when the incumbent stepped aside to give Uncle Ernie an easier path back to the legislature. It is considered one of the safest Conservative ridings in Ontario. In fact, the man who stepped aside for Eves, David Tilson, is now that riding’s MP.
As for the “win” on the weekend, Tory, after hemming and hawing for a couple of hours, finally announced he would stay on. The less than overwhelmingly endorsement of his leadership by the grassroots was not exactly reinforced when less than a quarter of the Conservative Caucus immediately urged Tory to stay. With less than 80% approval most leaders would call for the review themselves.
In my humble opinion, the fact that Tory is staying on says one of two things. The party believes he is the best choice to lead them, or that the party believes there is no one else who could. In other words, the leadership pool of the former “Big Blue Machine” is so shallow that they have no choice but to stay with the Charlie Brown of Ontario politics.
Like the Black Knight, Tory seems oblivious to the fact that he is being hacked to bits and instead of using the 3 ½ years before the next election wisely, the PC’s seem content to followed a whittled down leader.
Perhaps because they have no alternative.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
BLAZING CONSERVATIVES
“Listen to him, men, he's just crazy enough to do it!”
~Dr. Sam Johnson, Blazing Saddles
I was watching a news report recently about the election readiness of the Conservative Party of Canada. The party is insisting that they don’t want an election, and every poll shows that the majority of Canadians agree with them. That hasn’t stopped them from gearing up for the inevitable dropping of the writ.
Why not! Every political party is ready for a vote and with a minority government most have kept themselves in fighting (if not fiscal) trim waiting for the PM to call on the Governor-General and asked that she dissolve Parliament.The thing about the report is the Conservatives keep insisting, they don’t want an election, but they continually try to goad the opposition into forcing one and have set up a series of trip wires (for the Liberals especially) trying to force a demise of the own mandate.
Stephen Harper reminds me of Sheriff Bart in “Blazing Saddles” when he put a gun to his own head and fools gullible townspeople into thinking he has taken himself hostage. On one hand threatening to blow his government away and on the other pleading for its life.
Some are confused as to why the Conservatives are so itching to get to the electorate. The NDP and Bloc are constantly looking to force elections, but recent polls show the Conservatives are not only in danger of not getting the majority they openly covet, but perhaps being forced to move back to the opposition benches.
The reason the Conservatives might drop the hammer on themselves is because their internal polling might show something that the independent pollsters aren’t, or that Stephen Harper figures that in a lengthy campaign that Stephane Dion will wilt and fold like the New England Patriots on Super Bowl Sunday. The most likely scenario is that Stephen Harper wants to avoid an election in a downturned economy that many economists are forecasting.
The Conservatives ran a successful one man campaign in 2006 and may figure if it worked once, why not go back to it. They have already announced that leadership will be the main plank in their platform and are going to run a character assassination campaign against Stephane Dion.
The difference between 2006 and 2008 is that the Liberal have distance themselves from Ad Scam and the what are the chances of the Mounties dropping an unfounded income trust bombshell on the Grits. Plus, now Stephen Harper has a record to defend and after two years of occupying 24 Sussex the Conservative mantra of blaming everything on “a dozen years of Liberal rule” has started to wear thin. Still, with no traction in the polls and a decline in his personal approval rating Stephen Harper still seems hellbound to hit the election trail.
As Harriett Van Johnson pleaded “Isn't anybody going to help that poor man?”
~Dr. Sam Johnson, Blazing Saddles
I was watching a news report recently about the election readiness of the Conservative Party of Canada. The party is insisting that they don’t want an election, and every poll shows that the majority of Canadians agree with them. That hasn’t stopped them from gearing up for the inevitable dropping of the writ.
Why not! Every political party is ready for a vote and with a minority government most have kept themselves in fighting (if not fiscal) trim waiting for the PM to call on the Governor-General and asked that she dissolve Parliament.The thing about the report is the Conservatives keep insisting, they don’t want an election, but they continually try to goad the opposition into forcing one and have set up a series of trip wires (for the Liberals especially) trying to force a demise of the own mandate.
Stephen Harper reminds me of Sheriff Bart in “Blazing Saddles” when he put a gun to his own head and fools gullible townspeople into thinking he has taken himself hostage. On one hand threatening to blow his government away and on the other pleading for its life.
Some are confused as to why the Conservatives are so itching to get to the electorate. The NDP and Bloc are constantly looking to force elections, but recent polls show the Conservatives are not only in danger of not getting the majority they openly covet, but perhaps being forced to move back to the opposition benches.
The reason the Conservatives might drop the hammer on themselves is because their internal polling might show something that the independent pollsters aren’t, or that Stephen Harper figures that in a lengthy campaign that Stephane Dion will wilt and fold like the New England Patriots on Super Bowl Sunday. The most likely scenario is that Stephen Harper wants to avoid an election in a downturned economy that many economists are forecasting.
The Conservatives ran a successful one man campaign in 2006 and may figure if it worked once, why not go back to it. They have already announced that leadership will be the main plank in their platform and are going to run a character assassination campaign against Stephane Dion.
The difference between 2006 and 2008 is that the Liberal have distance themselves from Ad Scam and the what are the chances of the Mounties dropping an unfounded income trust bombshell on the Grits. Plus, now Stephen Harper has a record to defend and after two years of occupying 24 Sussex the Conservative mantra of blaming everything on “a dozen years of Liberal rule” has started to wear thin. Still, with no traction in the polls and a decline in his personal approval rating Stephen Harper still seems hellbound to hit the election trail.
As Harriett Van Johnson pleaded “Isn't anybody going to help that poor man?”
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