It would be nice if we had a democracy. As it is the rich buy the government they think they deserve. The only way we will have anything close to a democracy is if we do away with the party system.
Consevative Party leadership contest
- Thread starter Walter
- Start date
I got a eerie deja vu with Scheer's acceptance speech that i was listening to Pee Wee Herman in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. A kind of well scrubbed naive earnestness. There are no hard edges to Scheer; he's like hot wax filling a mold, and will fit into any cavity.
Now Trump is nothing but hard edges, and comes fixed and finished in form. Canada needs a Trump. We'll see how Scheer does. My impression remains is we have another NeoCon.. which is a Free Market Liberal in a Nationalist Conservative disguise.
Now Trump is nothing but hard edges, and comes fixed and finished in form. Canada needs a Trump. We'll see how Scheer does. My impression remains is we have another NeoCon.. which is a Free Market Liberal in a Nationalist Conservative disguise.
Canada needs a Trump? Well, we could have had one with Kevin O'Leary. But I somehow I doubt that Canada needs an incompetent self-worshipping, senile idiot as an alternative to the Liberals.
We'll definitely see more people like her in the future. The Conservative party has worked hard to suppress the theocratic fascist tendencies of some of its base, specifically by emphasizing the unelectability of such people. People who want to vote for an unChristian hatemonger back away because they know they can't win. But once they get a foot in the door, a whole lot of them start barging in, and the aura of unelectability breaks down. Kellie Leitch didn't do well, but she did well enough and got a lot of attention. Andrew Scheer is more of social conservative than some thought could be possible in a successful Conservative leader. Soon enough Conservative leadership races will be filled with Huckabees and Santorums and Cruzs, and the idea of a hatefilled maniac running the party and winning a general election will seem possible. Conservative voters who have long suppressed their fascistic tendencies will finally be able to indulge in the idea of a government that hates people not like them as much as they do.
My own take on her is that despite what she has done to date in politics, she still has much to learn. She really could have used a proper manage. All candidates have them. She was lacking.
I expect to see her back again, but with someone close to her that will actually help, advise and cajole. The first step toward recovery is realizing that you have a problem. I think she's hit that point now.
I expect to see her back again, but with someone close to her that will actually help, advise and cajole. The first step toward recovery is realizing that you have a problem. I think she's hit that point now.
Maybe, maybe not, but one thing for sure.............a Hell of a lot more than Selfie boy!
The Globe and Mail interviewed her about her run at the leadership in early May. Does she still think this way? What she didn't say was that she absolutely needed a manager.
Kellie Leitch says she has no regrets about Conservative leadership campaign
Laura Stone - Globe and Mail
Kellie Leitch has no regrets. Not even that video.
For the past nine months, the 46-year-old Ontario MP and pediatric orthopedic surgeon with an MBA has run an anti-elite, anti-establishment Conservative leadership campaign that centres on a proposal to screen immigrants, refugees and visitors for “anti-Canadian values” with face-to-face interviews. Ms. Leitch has defined the values as equal opportunity, hard work, helping others, generosity, freedom and tolerance.
She has been excoriated from all quarters, including her own party, for her pitch. She has been labelled a demagogue and the “karaoke version” of U.S. President Donald Trump. Her former campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis, stepped down after using a term espoused by supporters of far-right ideology on Twitter. She has had to publicly reject support from white nationalists. But still, a core group of supporters likes what she’s selling.
Because of her polarizing policies, party insiders don’t give Ms. Leitch much chance of winning the leadership on May 27, but with an unpredictable ranked ballot system, it is certainly possible. With Kevin O’Leary’s abrupt departure from the race, Maxime Bernier is now considered the front-runner.
The rest here.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...ervative-leadership-campaign/article34912437/
Kellie Leitch says she has no regrets about Conservative leadership campaign
Laura Stone - Globe and Mail
Kellie Leitch has no regrets. Not even that video.
For the past nine months, the 46-year-old Ontario MP and pediatric orthopedic surgeon with an MBA has run an anti-elite, anti-establishment Conservative leadership campaign that centres on a proposal to screen immigrants, refugees and visitors for “anti-Canadian values” with face-to-face interviews. Ms. Leitch has defined the values as equal opportunity, hard work, helping others, generosity, freedom and tolerance.
She has been excoriated from all quarters, including her own party, for her pitch. She has been labelled a demagogue and the “karaoke version” of U.S. President Donald Trump. Her former campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis, stepped down after using a term espoused by supporters of far-right ideology on Twitter. She has had to publicly reject support from white nationalists. But still, a core group of supporters likes what she’s selling.
Because of her polarizing policies, party insiders don’t give Ms. Leitch much chance of winning the leadership on May 27, but with an unpredictable ranked ballot system, it is certainly possible. With Kevin O’Leary’s abrupt departure from the race, Maxime Bernier is now considered the front-runner.
The rest here.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...ervative-leadership-campaign/article34912437/
We have the ability (still) to fire the bums.
It doesn't seem like much but it's very precious to be able to fire the bums.
Yes I noticed that when the conservatives held a majority position , they changed us into a religious theocracy and even changed the abortion laws .
Conservatives may come to regret ignoring Michael Chong
When Michael Chong appeared on a stage in Edmonton months back with all of the current candidates running to lead the Conservative Party of Canada (Kevin O’Leary was a no-show), he pitched his plan for a carbon tax — and was booed, loudly and long, by the audience.
He took the trouble to explain his plan in some detail — how income taxes would be reduced proportionate to the impact of the tax on carbon emissions, how it’s the socially and morally responsible thing to do. Didn’t matter. The scorn heaped upon him by party members was mirrored on stage, as the remaining candidates lined up to resoundingly reject the notion of using a market-based tool to fight climate change.
He tried gamely to convince the unfriendly audience that they should choose him as their next leader because he — as the son of immigrants and a representative of the electorally critical ‘905’ area code — had the best chance of the bunch of beating Justin Trudeau in 2019.
His signature private member’s bill, The Reform Act, was a bold attempt to restore an appropriate balance between the executive and legislative branches of government by taking power away from party leaders and returning it to the caucuses. It could have been the first step on a long road to repairing responsible government in Canada. The fact that it had to be amended at the request of the Harper PMO before it could pass only underscores why reform is so badly needed.
Michael Chong places principle over ambition. His resignation from Stephen Harper’s cabinet in 2006 to protest a government motion to recognize the ‘Quebecois as a nation within a United Canada’ reflected a principle that was once part of the bedrock practice of Westminster democracy in this country, but is now quaintly obscure. He couldn’t support his government — couldn’t agree with a policy he saw as being based on the ethnic nationalism he’s opposed throughout his career — and so, he resigned.
I don’t remember the last time anyone had quit a Canadian cabinet on a point of principle prior to 2006. I know it hasn’t happened since.
In Ottawa, cabinet ministers will tie themselves in knots to defend government policies they once opposed (and might still oppose, privately). To give up the power of being in cabinet (not to mention the perks) is an extraordinary act in an era of blind sycophancy.
We’ve just spent weeks listening to Conservative leadership candidates criticize some of the policies of the government they once served, loyally and quietly. Silence and acquiesce can be the key to career advancement in Ottawa. Chong decided there were principles he treasured more than he did his office and government car. That ought to give you an idea of just how remarkable a figure he is in contemporary politics.
Chong is a Red Tory, certainly a moderate on most social issues and, as a result, a long shot for the CPC leadership. His bold claim that he has the best chance of beating the Liberals in 2019 may very well be true — and that, ironically, is exactly why he remains a long shot. His moderate positions and support for a revenue-neutral carbon tax play far better in the mainstream of Canadian politics — where elections are won and lost — than they do among those who identify as ‘conservative’.
Given how unpredictable the leadership contest was at the time — and how unpredictable the next election remains — his bold pitch was as valid as any other. In February, the populist and ultra-nationalist campaign of Kellie Leitch had not yet burned itself out. It was still conceivable that a deeply polarizing candidate might emerge as the winner, only to be soundly rejected by the broader electorate.
But Michael Chong?
Chong has both political and academic smarts. He understands that elections are won and lost in the suburbs of Canada’s major metropolitan centers. He understands that new Canadians form a large share of those demographics. He knows that some of the policies of intolerance the Conservatives bizarrely pushed in 2015 (banning the niqab at citizenship ceremonies, a ‘barbaric practices’ snitch line) were unforced errors that did the party irreparable harm in the suburbs.
Nobody’s in a better position to make that case than Chong. The son of Chinese and Dutch immigrants, his family’s narrative is the Canadian Dream in motion — of immigrants arriving with little, building new lives from scratch. It’s a compelling story.
But Chong is also steeped in Canadian history. He speaks eloquently about the 19th century political reformers Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, how in 1848 they fought for and achieved ‘responsible government’ in the United Provinces of Canada.
Chong’s big ideas very different from Bernier’s libertarian proposals, but they represent the kind of intellectual heavy lifting the Conservatives need to do on the road to restoring their fortunes.
For starters, Conservatives have to come to terms with the need for a credible plan to fight climate change. That means they have to at least consider a market-based tool, such as a carbon tax. And Canadians seriously need to address the power imbalance between party leaders and unelected staffers in the PMO — and the elected members of Parliament.
I still think it’s unlikely that the government will change in 2019. The Conservative Party of Canada has six years to redefine itself. I sincerely hope it uses that time constructively and emerges standing for something other than the ‘same old, same old’ — and whatever happens to be the opposite of what the Liberals are doing. They can’t do that by ignoring people like Michael Chong.
Conservatives may come to regret ignoring Michael Chong
When Michael Chong appeared on a stage in Edmonton months back with all of the current candidates running to lead the Conservative Party of Canada (Kevin O’Leary was a no-show), he pitched his plan for a carbon tax — and was booed, loudly and long, by the audience.
He took the trouble to explain his plan in some detail — how income taxes would be reduced proportionate to the impact of the tax on carbon emissions, how it’s the socially and morally responsible thing to do. Didn’t matter. The scorn heaped upon him by party members was mirrored on stage, as the remaining candidates lined up to resoundingly reject the notion of using a market-based tool to fight climate change.
He tried gamely to convince the unfriendly audience that they should choose him as their next leader because he — as the son of immigrants and a representative of the electorally critical ‘905’ area code — had the best chance of the bunch of beating Justin Trudeau in 2019.
His signature private member’s bill, The Reform Act, was a bold attempt to restore an appropriate balance between the executive and legislative branches of government by taking power away from party leaders and returning it to the caucuses. It could have been the first step on a long road to repairing responsible government in Canada. The fact that it had to be amended at the request of the Harper PMO before it could pass only underscores why reform is so badly needed.
Michael Chong places principle over ambition. His resignation from Stephen Harper’s cabinet in 2006 to protest a government motion to recognize the ‘Quebecois as a nation within a United Canada’ reflected a principle that was once part of the bedrock practice of Westminster democracy in this country, but is now quaintly obscure. He couldn’t support his government — couldn’t agree with a policy he saw as being based on the ethnic nationalism he’s opposed throughout his career — and so, he resigned.
I don’t remember the last time anyone had quit a Canadian cabinet on a point of principle prior to 2006. I know it hasn’t happened since.
In Ottawa, cabinet ministers will tie themselves in knots to defend government policies they once opposed (and might still oppose, privately). To give up the power of being in cabinet (not to mention the perks) is an extraordinary act in an era of blind sycophancy.
We’ve just spent weeks listening to Conservative leadership candidates criticize some of the policies of the government they once served, loyally and quietly. Silence and acquiesce can be the key to career advancement in Ottawa. Chong decided there were principles he treasured more than he did his office and government car. That ought to give you an idea of just how remarkable a figure he is in contemporary politics.
Chong is a Red Tory, certainly a moderate on most social issues and, as a result, a long shot for the CPC leadership. His bold claim that he has the best chance of beating the Liberals in 2019 may very well be true — and that, ironically, is exactly why he remains a long shot. His moderate positions and support for a revenue-neutral carbon tax play far better in the mainstream of Canadian politics — where elections are won and lost — than they do among those who identify as ‘conservative’.
Given how unpredictable the leadership contest was at the time — and how unpredictable the next election remains — his bold pitch was as valid as any other. In February, the populist and ultra-nationalist campaign of Kellie Leitch had not yet burned itself out. It was still conceivable that a deeply polarizing candidate might emerge as the winner, only to be soundly rejected by the broader electorate.
But Michael Chong?
Chong has both political and academic smarts. He understands that elections are won and lost in the suburbs of Canada’s major metropolitan centers. He understands that new Canadians form a large share of those demographics. He knows that some of the policies of intolerance the Conservatives bizarrely pushed in 2015 (banning the niqab at citizenship ceremonies, a ‘barbaric practices’ snitch line) were unforced errors that did the party irreparable harm in the suburbs.
Nobody’s in a better position to make that case than Chong. The son of Chinese and Dutch immigrants, his family’s narrative is the Canadian Dream in motion — of immigrants arriving with little, building new lives from scratch. It’s a compelling story.
But Chong is also steeped in Canadian history. He speaks eloquently about the 19th century political reformers Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, how in 1848 they fought for and achieved ‘responsible government’ in the United Provinces of Canada.
Chong’s big ideas very different from Bernier’s libertarian proposals, but they represent the kind of intellectual heavy lifting the Conservatives need to do on the road to restoring their fortunes.
For starters, Conservatives have to come to terms with the need for a credible plan to fight climate change. That means they have to at least consider a market-based tool, such as a carbon tax. And Canadians seriously need to address the power imbalance between party leaders and unelected staffers in the PMO — and the elected members of Parliament.
I still think it’s unlikely that the government will change in 2019. The Conservative Party of Canada has six years to redefine itself. I sincerely hope it uses that time constructively and emerges standing for something other than the ‘same old, same old’ — and whatever happens to be the opposite of what the Liberals are doing. They can’t do that by ignoring people like Michael Chong.
Conservatives may come to regret ignoring Michael Chong
They're gonna nail Scheer to the wall with regards to his previous stance towards the LGBQT community.
Yep, that's very important but what they fail to do nine times out of ten is replace them with someone better!