Liberal Leadership 2006

[vishliberal]

As we all know the leadership convention has been announced for November 29th-December 1st. The policy convention will also follow there too, and it is to take place in Montreal.
For the confirmed runners we have:
John Godfrey: A fluently bilingual candidate, an MP for 12 years so far, and is said to have many contacts across the country. He also has a good academic background.

Martha Hall Findlay: Rich Rich lawyer, ran as a liberal MP in the 2004 election but hasnt really been on the political canvas since. Her goal is to "help build the Liberal Party back to one that Canadians want to vote for, in a positive way, not just because we’re less ‘bad’ than the alternatives."

OTHER CANDIDATES

Maurizio Bevilacqua: An MP since 1988, was a cabinet minister in Chretien's government, he supported Martins first bid for leadership against Chretien.

Bob Rae: Most Ontarians should know about this one, since he was a previous Premier of Ontario, then in the NDP PARTY OF ONTARIO.

Belinda Stronach: Is she bilingual? Anyways, we all know her story. Ironically, she ran in 2004 for Conservative leadership and came second, and is now running in 2006 (most possibly) for Liberal Leadership, I expect the same results.

Michael Ignatieff: This one is by far, one of the best candidates. He is actual multi-lingual, educated in Russian, English and French. He grew up in Canada, educated at Upper Canada College. Much later, he eventually graduated from Harvard University with a PhD and since then has become very popular and knowledgable. He has interesting opinions and viewpoint, being as scholarly as he is, you can always expect something good from him. He is a peoples person. If hes running I am supporting him.

So who would you support to lead the Liberal Party, and most likely become the P.M. in the future?

 

[Finder]

none of those guys. Bob Rae maybe... ummmmm, Copps if she were to run.

 

[Kreskin]

Is Ken Dryden out of the running? He would be the best candidate of the bunch, if he speaks french.

 

[vishliberal]

Re: RE: Liberal Leadership 2006

Is Ken Dryden out of the running? He would be the best candidate of the bunch, if he speaks french.

Yes, sorry about that.....Dryden is also running, but hasnt confirmed yet. Most likely will though. Why do you feel that hes the best of the set?

 

[Finder]

I can't stand Ken Dryden (my MP) He's good for nothing, I'd rather have any of the bove or a piece of fried chicken be the liberal leader then Ken Dryden.

 

[Kreskin]

Dryden is abit of a Canadian icon. He has the honest-guy aura and everything he says has the melodramatic tone. Remember "The Game"? He spoke about hockey like he was an American reading the Gettysburg address. He's a lawyer, he has his name all over the Stanley Cup. The over 45 or 50 crowd will probably latch on to him. I'm not saying he's the most qualified, or better than Colonel Sanders (actual anything is better than the extra crispy- Finder ), but if people are looking for a politician with a good-guy image he could be the guy.

 

[Johnny Utah]

So if Belinda doesn't win the Leadership which party will she jump to next when she doesn't get her way, The NDP? :roll:

 

[Finder]

Re: RE: Liberal Leadership 2006

Dryden is abit of a Canadian icon. He has the honest-guy aura and everything he says has the melodramatic tone. Remember "The Game"? He spoke about hockey like he was an American reading the Gettysburg address. He's a lawyer, he has his name all over the Stanley Cup. The over 45 or 50 crowd will probably latch on to him. I'm not saying he's the most qualified, or better than Colonel Sanders (actual anything is better than the extra crispy- Finder ), but if people are looking for a politician with a good-guy image he could be the guy.

*cringes* I wrote a simple email to him asking if he would support the advancement democratic reform in the house such as MMP or PR systems of government in Canada. He didn't he send a reply back. Very simple question, would have voted for him if he had said yes too.

I'd prefer a tastely fried chicken to be my MP, and perhaps a good diet coke as PM to wash it down.

 

[Kreskin]

I have emailed a number of MP's and MLA's in the past on different issues and never got one response. I don't think they even open government email. He probably doesn't know he has one.

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: Liberal Leadership 2006

I'd prefer a tastely fried chicken to be my MP, and perhaps a good diet coke as PM to wash it down.

So do I!

 

[vishliberal]

Ignatieff's not bad actually. Hes also bilingual, smart and is politically savvy. Some of you seem to be interested in Dryden, as he may most definately be a great canadian figure, but on the political level....not so sure. lol, Maybe he can be the Liberal mascot....

 

[Finder]

Re: RE: Liberal Leadership 2006

I'd prefer a tastely fried chicken to be my MP, and perhaps a good diet coke as PM to wash it down.

So do I!

Wow we agree on something, that happens every 100 or so arguments I think. lmao

 

[Finder]

Re: RE: Liberal Leadership 2006

Ignatieff's not bad actually. Hes also bilingual, smart and is politically savvy. Some of you seem to be interested in Dryden, as he may most definately be a great canadian figure, but on the political level....not so sure. lol, Maybe he can be the Liberal mascot....

Can't can't tell all of you enough that Dryden is not a good choice. He would be my last pick. I don't mind Belinda, but the whole floor crossing pissed me off not to trust the woman. Don't forget she ran for the conservative leadership. I guess if she loses the Liberal one maybe the NDP might get here and if she loses the NDP leadership maybe she will go Green.

Edit

Sum up...
Belinda = Political opportunisti!!

 

[Kreskin]

Re: RE: Liberal Leadership 2006

Ignatieff's not bad actually. Hes also bilingual, smart and is politically savvy. Some of you seem to be interested in Dryden, as he may most definately be a great canadian figure, but on the political level....not so sure. lol, Maybe he can be the Liberal mascot....

If George Bush can become President (two terms), anything is possible.

 

[Jersay]

Ignatieff's he is not that good.

I would suggest that we have the Canadian Tire Guy as Liberal leader. He can give home repair tips to Mps and he is so annoying and wimpy people will feel sorry for him.

Or they will vote for the NDP since it has about the same support as the Libs.

 

[Lotuslander]

*cringes* I wrote a simple email to him asking if he would support the advancement democratic reform in the house such as MMP or PR systems of government in Canada. He didn't he send a reply back. Very simple question, would have voted for him if he had said yes too.

If you want a reply from a politician you have to write to them and it has to be in writing and on paper! Once it hits the office then people have to do something about it cause it is right in front of them! I am totally serious about this. The problem is that politicians get so many e-mails a day that one gets lost in the pile, also if it looks like you have taken the time to actually write then politicians are more willing to write you back.

I once e-mailed Aileen Carole and didn't get a reply for 3 or four months!

As for Liberal leader Godfrey has my vote. Godfrey is abundantly qualified and seems to be a decent bloke. He was a histroy prof at Dalhousie and I think that bodes well for any individual. Personally, while I like Dryden and think he could be a great leader I just have the feeling that they hype would be bigger than the man and he, like Martin, would succumb to the knives once realities don't match expectations.

As for Belinda, I don't think anyone is going to take her seriously,
she can't speak French worth a damn and now everyone knows it.

Brison is pretty much dead in the water after that e-mail

Goodale could make a respectable showing but, how is his French? I think Goodale like Godfrey woudl have a hard time gwtting Francophone Quebecois voting for them but, I think Godfrey would be more successful in the end.

I can't say enough bad things about Guiseppe Volpe here are a few, egotistical, vain, unqualified; except for some support within the Ontario Italian community this guy is non-starter. Especially, if people start looking at his expense accounts while he was a minister 8O Honestly, I don't think he has the intellectual capacity to deal with Quebec or a crisis situation.

Bevilaqua; well if you are going to vote for an Italian he's your man. Smart, intelligent, strong ties to the banking sector, qualified. Has a short fuse apparently which is why he was PISSED when Martin didn't appoint him to cabinet, though he was a jr. finance minister in the good old days with Jean, apparently Martin offered him a parliamentary secretaryship which he turned down somewhat violently.

As for Ignatieff, much has been made of the man, Yes he is smart I'm pretty sure his French is good and no doubt he harbours some interesting views on Canada's problems. A couple major hinderances though; 1. Hasn't lived in the country for 30 years. Sure he visited often but whehn you don't live in a place you lose touch with it. 2. His stance on the Iraq war, he was Pro. I do not think this is going to be popular with rank and file Liberals. 3. He hasn't been tested, he's never been a politicain much less a minister, he has never run a big organisation, so we don't know if he has any mangerial abilities at all; more importantly, when I've seen him on the telly I would hardly call him charismatic! Perhaps I haven't seen his best stuff but, he does not fill me with inspirational thoughts. 4. Then there is his book about the Ukraininas which already have and will agian bite him in the ass if he runs.

Ashley MacIssac: If a fiddler can become Premier of Nova Scotia maybe it's time a fiddler became Leader of Her Majusty's Loyal Opposition.

 

[Finder]

Lotuslander
I wrote a letter to the following. Jack Layton, S Harper, Paul Martin and my MP Ken Dryden... They ALL replied to my email on the issue I raised with them in a short letter so that it would be read. I Just to let you know I sent the letter to Paul Martin after I failed to get one back from Ken Dryden. ALL of them wrote me back. Yeah some of them danced around the issue, but each othem took the time to reply. Ken Dryden my MP didn't and the question I brought up I wanted my MP which I elect to answer and not the leaders really.

I would even have considered voting for him or at least telling people in my riding that he was my second pick if he was totally against what I was hoping for in an answer.

Also if an MP doesn't reply in by emails they shouldn't offer it as the main way of contacting them with questions.

I could care less that he was a hockey player, I worked at CTV and I've seen enough of them to know that most of them I would not wish to see in parliment. But I was willing to give Mr Dryden the benifit of the doubt and he proved to me that he was not my canadate nor my desired MP, to the point that I would back the conservative before voting for him.

 

[Lotuslander]

Finder wrote:

Also if an MP doesn't reply in by emails they shouldn't offer it as the main way of contacting them with questions.

Well, I agree with everything you said in your last post particularly the line above. You're quite right to base your vote on how you perceive your MP to be. Obviously if all of those people but, not you own MP wrote you back then Mr. Dryden has some serious constituency problems.

 

[Finder]

Finder wrote:

Also if an MP doesn't reply in by emails they shouldn't offer it as the main way of contacting them with questions.

Well, I agree with everything you said in your last post particularly the line above. You're quite right to base your vote on how you perceive your MP to be. Obviously if all of those people but, not you own MP wrote you back then Mr. Dryden has some serious constituency problems.

Thank you.
and thats why I don't want him as our MP. I dislike Belinda so much and disagree with what she has done, but I'd still want her before Dryden. Both of them are on the bottom of my list any how.

 

[Lotuslander]

Stephane Dion I think could also be a good Liberal leader. While he is somewhat understated I think he has some progressive ideas and is not part of the Chretien-Trudeau- Martin-Turner fued. I think he commands a good deal of respect and is looked upon as someone who really thinks through a problem before pronouncing on it. Having said this there is no doubt that he is a very staunch federalist. I think his calm demeanour could also be a benefit as Harper is not exactly blessed with Charisma so Dion could be a good counter-weight. Two policy wonks going head to head! Of course this might lead to boring debates but, I think woudl result in good government.

One of the reasons I would be somewhat hesitant to be in favour of Dion is that I think the Liberals really need to get a leader who is not from Quebec. Since Mackenzie King only Pearson and Turner were not Quebeckers and they lead the party for a whopping 12 years! At least since Trudeau the party has been obsessed with that province (as was Mulroney) this has lead to a great disconnect with other parts of Canada. Another Quebec leader, the fourth out of the last five leaders would look like the continuation of the status quo.

Having said all this I must admit that I most likely will not vote for the Grits anyhow; either the tories or the Dippers have my vote.