Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW

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Michael Ignatieff's pronoun problem

by Paul Wells on Saturday, May 16, 2009 10:14am - 255 Comments

Rex Murphy is sure the Conservative ads about Michael Ignatieff will fail because “Canadians don’t like mean.” Chantal Hébert hopes they will fail because If Harper had wanted to do the Bloc’s bidding at Conservative expense, he would not have proceeded otherwise.”

I am less certain, and here’s why. Here’s my column from the Maclean’s print edition of Sept. 6, 2006. Here’s part of the argument:

There’s been grumbling in Liberal ranks about what some call Ignatieff’s “pronoun problem” ever since he moved to Toronto in 2005. His pronoun problem is his tendency to use the first person plural — we, our — when discussing a country that isn’t Canada. He makes sure not to do it anymore, but he used to.

I’m trying to decide how much this bothers me. I can tell you it bothers a lot of Liberals. At their recent Vancouver caucus meeting, those who aren’t supporting Ignatieff often mentioned the more than 30 years during which his principal residence was in England or the United States.(He left Canada in 1969 and returned for less than two years in 1978.)”He’s not a Liberal,” a few said. “He’s not Canadian,” one or two said. But when I got to Toronto and reported this to Maclean’s colleagues, one or two rolled their eyes theatrically. “God,” one said. “How parochial.”

Really?

Can you imagine somebody getting elected president of the United States whose 30-year stint outside the United States had ended less than three years earlier? Can you imagine a president of France who’d lived for 30 years in San Francisco or Seoul?

Let me be clear (he said, sounding oddly like Michael Ignatieff). I’m not saying foreign travel disqualifies you from politics. Indeed, you shouldn’t be able to get far in politics unless you can show some stamps in your passport. Jacques Chirac studied at Harvard, Bill Clinton at Oxford. But there’s a difference between weekend jaunts to Monaco or Seattle and the perfectly rootless existence of an incurable cosmopolitan. Sometimes the pronouns can help you spot the difference. I studied in Paris for nine months, for instance. But when I said “Let’s get a beer,” I didn’t mean, “Let me get a beer along with all the people of my adopted nation, France.”

There’s more, but you get the point. I was hearing from some Liberals, and writing on my own dime, pretty much the same argument in 2006 that the Conservatives are using against Ignatieff in 2009. And it was tremendously effective among Liberals in 2006. It may be markedly less effective today, after Ignatieff has spent more time residing in Canada, representing a Toronto riding in the House of Commons, and writing a book called I Swear to God I’m Canadian True Patriot Love.

In fact, I know people who are ready to go to the wall to defend Ignatieff today, when he is the only serviceable weapon at hand against Stephen Harper, against an argument they were using themselves against Ignatieff in 2006, when they preferred other Liberal leadership candidates. Those people may well have changed their minds. Or they may be preferring hope to consistency.

Tags: Michael Ignatieff, this oughta be fun

More by Paul Wells

hiedijais

Jack Mitchell wrote (and I am sure it was with a load of good humour) :) :)

“Don’t f*cking well tell me I don’t know what a real Canadian is, you goddamn piece of slime”.

That is hilarious absolutely hilarious and filled with so much manly emotionals….

Bwaaaaah Haaa Haaa…. :) :) :) :) :)

Talking to a woman like that you should be ashamed of yourself no real Canadian man I know would talk to me that way and the way I see it, it is ok for you to question my loyalties to Canada but I can’t question yours not much of a man are you…. ;)

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

I was questioning whether it’s Canadian to question the Canadianness of a fellow Canadian, Michael Ignatieff, as you were doing. I don’t think it is. You then told me I had no idea what a real Canadian is. How the hell would you know? You remind me of the Bush Republicans, and “slime” is the right word. Right or left, woman or man, nativism is disgusting and evidence of a sick mind. Smiley-face me all you like but you’re an despicable, anonymous coward.
catherine

I guess this topic brings out the worst in people, as you are proof of.

A real Canadian is any Canadian.

catherine

My comment was direct to hiedijais and his talk of “real Canadians”.

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

Believe it or not, it’s a she.

Critical Reasoning

Really? Have you encountered her elsewhere? In my experience, more than 90% of trolls are men.
http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

Ah, good point.

hiedijais

Don’t need anymore smilies your posting are showing what kind of mans man you really are…

Bet I can beat you in an arm wrestle… oh oh I feel a wink coming on… ;)

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

If you’re going to troll, for God’s sake make it witty.

Critical Reasoning

Agreed. I can tolerate witty trolls, but hiedijais is about as witty as a cinder block.

hiedijais

I’m a troll now that is a good one and catherine should I be calling you a man as well because I have a different view on iggy and wheree the Liberal party is going than you?

and RM is upset with me because I feel that the CPC ads will work against the new elustrous leader and his undemecratic assention to power most likely resulting in another dismal/embarrassing display when the next federal election comes resulting in the federal liberals remaining out of government again…

give your heads a shake you shoulkd be embarrassed by your comments…

RM you called me anonamous at that you are correct but should I know or care who you so why shgould you care who I am…

Oh by the way my name is Heidi and my 2 year old son whom I am extremely proud of and want a demacratic Canada that he can be proud of is Jai thus Hiedijais and I am a kindergarten teacher…

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

“RM you called me anonamous at that you are correct but should I know or care who you so why shgould you care who I am…”

Boys and girls, today’s lesson will be spelling. You see, grown ups have to spell words one way and not another, or they look like idiots and they get fired from their jobs as kindergarten teachers.
catherine

A good reminder to all of us to make sure we know what our kids are being taught in school! Bad grammar and spelling may be the least of their problems if they pick up strange ideas from their teacher about what a real Canadian is.

Wascally Wabbit

Despite the spin that Mr. Harper tried to put on our parliamentary system when he faced the coalition – we do not elect a Prime minister (and he is not president YET).
We elect MPs who – for the ones belonging to the party with the most seats – determine which of their group will be prime minister.
Should the Liberals achieve that – and nothing is certain yet – If the Liberal caucus want to – in secret ballot – they can elect one of their elected MPs – in this case Ignatieff – as Prime minister.
Canadians will already have had their choice – in electing the MPs they did (including Ignatieff). What the MPs in caucus do then is moot – because the voters have a pretty good idea what will happen behind those closed doors in the case of the Liberal party.
IF the voters do that – they have accepted Iggy – warts and all – and presumably weighed him in the balance to be of more merit than Harper.
I’m a Liberal – and still am not comfortable with the manner in which Iggy’s supporters moved to cut off the leadership race short.
I’m less concerned with whether Iggy has the right pedigree than whether he is his own man – or whether someone is pulling his strings behind the scenes!
I do know for damned sure that Iggy has a far more impressive team of Cabinet potentials than Harper ever had – and that the fact that none of them have bolted the barn thus far indicates to me that they from Bob Rae down – have some confidence that Michael Ignatieff will let them run their own shops if they do form the government – which in itself with be a vast improvement on what we have now.
I am also impressed that folks like both Bob Rae and Glen Pearson have been able to speak their minds in their writings – without – at least it appears thus from the outside – the sort of censorship that the current PMO imposes on the flowerpots!

steve

Problem is, the NDP, and the Liberals don’t have more MPs than the Conservatives, so it would naturally be the Conservatives who form government.

Impressive cabinet members? What a couple Paul Martin relics still tainted by scandal, a former terrible ON Premier who jumped from one party to the other, and a bunch of rookies who dont know the first thing about fisheries and oceans? Ya great choices.

And you’re right about the Liberal Party. Everything seems to be behind closed doors, and made in private with no room for debate about who can run and who can’t.

The Liberals received on of their lowest vote totals, and you think that gives them and the Commies in the NDP a mandate to govern? You’re right our system elects MPs not Governments. The Conservative got more votes, and more MPs than the other opposition parties, winning MPs in every province, and 1/3 territories. They persuaded more people to come to their side, meaning the plurality of voters wanted a Tory government. The Liberals wanted a liberal govt. and the NDPers wanted an NDP govt. not a coalition, and you cannot say you wont form a coalition during the election campaign just to make sure you dont lose votes and than cite parliamentary procedure later to seize power.

Harper has made Canada a world voice, unlike the grits who liked to follow everyone else without speaking up, Harper has cut taxes that help EVERYONE, unlike the grits who only cut transfer payments and health care funding.

Craig O.

How many times does our parliamentary system need to be explained before people understand something that gets taught in 10th grade?!

Look, coalitions happen all the time in Democratic countries, including ours. Just because they haven’t happened recently doesn’t change that fact. People who voted Liberal, NDP, Conservative or whatever voted for a specific candidate in their riding. Those candidates are then expected to go out and govern as they see fit, in representation of the riding that elected them. If they feel that they can best do this in a coalition with other parties, that is perfectly valid. If the constituents of these MPs feel otherwise, they can write that MP, protest, or do the democratic thing and kick their butt out in the next election.

Harper and the Conservatives, having won the most seats, were given the first opportunity to form the government, pursuant to tradition. He accepted, but like any other leader, only has the right to do so when he has the confidence of the House of Commons. If he loses that confidence, his government must be taken down and either replaced via election or by a leader who does have the confidence of the house. That is the way our system works and no amount of whining, insulting or posturing will change that.

matt

There’s a distinction between legal and democratic. The reason the coalition proposal of 2008 was entirely legal and, in my view, entirely anti-democratic, was because the election was so very recent. Harper withdrew the proposed cuts in funding to political parties. And the premise of coalition, the inadequacy of the economic update, was transparently a pretext. We know this because the Liberals leaked that to the media. As such, nothing substantial had changed between when people cast their votes and when the coalition proposed to change the governance of the country. Moreover, votes were recently cast on the basis that a) there explicitly wouldn’t be a coalition (per Dion during the campaign when asked directly) and b) implicitly the parties would not be governing with the Bloc (can you *imagine* an election campaign ad where Dion sat down at a board room table with Duceppe to let Duceppe decide which policies to veto?).

http://coyne kc

Pretty well everything you argue here is either specious or incorrect. The only legimate point you make is the distinction between entirely legal and “democratic” representaton by a coalition of parties and the expressed will of the peope at the polls. You make no menton of Harper’s demogoguery in exploiting this disjoint beween legimate and legal representation, and you continue to simply accept wholeclothe that it was some nefarious plot on the part of he opposition parties.
With hindsight it is now pretty clear that the public was outraged at the overturning of their will and the likelihood of gettting a man for PM who they had so clearly rejected, but that was not an excuse for good king Stephen to charge in laying waste to our conventions and riding roughshod over parliamentary democracy.
hiedijais

To me it doesn’t matter if it was legal or not the overwhelming response from the Canadian voter was they did not like the idea of the coalition with the Bloc and with Iggy signing (even though his name was last) he did sign it, so no matter what he says now it is going to come back and haunt him…

When will Iggy and his controllers stop playing into the CPC’s hands?

hollinm

In effect you are arguing that minority governments are no longer a viable alternative for Canadians. Despite the governing party virtually having a majority government it requires the other three parties to form a coalition government in order to defeat the government in the House of Commons. What that means is political/governing instability because if the three opposition parties don’t like what the government is doing at any point in time they simply vote non confidence in the government and Canadians are back to the polls. A coaltion government, while legal, will not be allowed by the GG when it requires the support of the Separatist party. As we saw the majority of Canadians would not accept this reality. It is a recipe for instability and certainly would force an election in Canada every year or so.
The intent of a coalition government is to have the official opposition and one other party have enough seats to defeat the government. However, requiring all opposition parties to enter into a coalition is a recipe for turning us into a banana republic.

Geoff Small

Did you forget Newfoundland was a province? I thought Harper’s party was properly shut out of there last election.
James

There seems to be a conservative strategy to paint the Liberals as a sinister behind-closed-doors organization. Personally I’m more afraid of a party that’s completely controlled by one man and that completely sells out all of it’s ideals in the search for a majority government.

Harper has not made Canada a world voice, unless you consider gaining us a reputation as a country that will not fight for it’s citizens abroad when they’re in foreign prisons.

When the Liberals were in power, we consistently ranked in the top five of all the UN ‘best places to live’ lists (Countries with best health care systems, countries with best quality of life etc.) We had the perfect balance as a country that you could come to invest in, and as a country that stood for social justice all over the world.

Craig O.

Ok, Ignatieff. Honestly, I don’t care where he comes from. I care if he can govern effectively, all other concerns are secondary. If a guy comes in from Antarctica today and shows me an economically viable plan that increases funding for medical care and schools while reducing taxes, and then give me a reasonable degree of confidence that he’ll put the plan into action, I’ll vote for him tomorrow!

Does this mean I’d ever vote for Ignatieff? I don’t know. He hasn’t shown much of a plan at all for governing the country if he were elected. The few views he’s expressed have largely been changed or outright denied (and some of them weren’t very encouraging). Despite the incredible difference in background, Ignatieff strikes me as being very similar to Harper. He’s a polarizing figure who’s made some controversial comments in his past. He crushed a weak leader to gain unquestioned power over his party. He doesn’t have much of a platform. He speaks with strength, but isn’t overly charismatic. And finally, he seems to put politics ahead of people. He’s a politician’s politician, and for that, I will remain very skeptical about him for quite some time, despite my left-leanings (but not so far left as to ever vote NDP).
hiedijais

You two are really good humour…

Because I didn’t check my typing the only thing you can do is attempt to put down my typing by questioning my spelling kind of childishly pathetic actually.

Sorry your feeble attempt to try and discredit me is not going to work.

The way I see it is you are at such a loss at what to do with/about your new elustrous lieberal leader when someone points out here faults that you can’t argue/discuss intelligently against me or anyone else so you have to try internet bullying.

Now children here is todays lesson… seeing as you were obviously never taught in elementary school that bulling is wrong but not only is it wrong it is something that if I was your kindergarten teacher you would know better than to do because I would have put a stop to it in a way that you would remember…

Now you two children play nice or I will have to make you sit at your desks with your heads down until it is time to go home, I will also send a note home to your mommy and daddy explaining your childish behaviours… :)

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

Lesson #1: don’t tell people they’re not real Canadians if you’re a wimp.

hiedijais

and it is a proven fact that internet bullies are the biggest wimps that back down when stood up to and this is actually part of the anti bullying curriculum that I teach to my classes… ;)

You should rent the VeggieTales movie “Minnesota Cuke” this is a movie I show my kindergarten class, it is a lesson in dealing with bullies because you definately need a few lessons.

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

I can’t believe someone with as serious a passive-aggressive disorder as yourself is allowed anywhere near children, much less paid to teach them.

hiedijais

Facts are facts and bullies are bullies and I see that you ignore the facts by spewing emotionally, I also see that you are refusing to admit that you are an internet bully which is extremely common…

Read this and see if the shoe fits, I’m thinking low self-esteem & seething with resentment especially when a woman stands up to you… :)

What is a Bully

Bullies are present in all walks of life and much of what is on here will be transferable outside the workplace.

The definitions of a bully are:

1) To treat in an overbearing or intimidating manner.
2) To make (one’s way) aggressively.
3) To force one’s way aggressively or by intimidation.
4) To provide persistent, unwelcome behaviour.

Projection behaviour and denial are hallmarks of the serial bully. It is believed by some that bullying is present behind all forms of harassment, discrimination, prejudice, abuse, persecution, conflict and violence.

What bullies fear most is exposure and being called publicly to account for their behaviour so they can go to great lengths to keep their target (victim) quiet from misdirection when it is reported to using threats of disciplinary action, dismissal, gagging clauses and fear.

Despite the facade that such people put up, bullies have another side to them. What complicates matters is that the bully may not be aware or acknowledge to themselves they very often suffer from one or more of the following:

# Low self-confidence
# Low self-esteem
# Feel insecure
# Seething with resentment
# Bitterness
# Hatred
# Anger
# Envy
# Jealousy
# Inadequacy
# And may have a wide range of prejudices as a vehicle for dumping anger onto others.

A bully may not always be aware that they are bullying.
http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

You told me, “JM you ovbiously haven’t a clue who/what a real Canadian is.” You’re the benighted bully, Heidi. You think you can waltz around passing sentence on who’s a real Canadian and who’s not. I bit back and now I’m a “bully.”

I can see why people like you want to be kindergarten teachers, actually. You get to boss people around all day, tell them when to sit down and when to stand up, and if a kid rejects your bullying you get to insult him to your heart’s content, all the while telling yourself you’re helping him out. Sick. It’s a shame all the good teachers have to tolerate people like you in their ranks.
Critical Reasoning

Sick. It’s a shame all the good teachers have to tolerate people like you in their ranks.

Jack, Heidi, this is getting a bit out of hand. I humbly and respectfully suggest that both of you step back, take a deep breath, and relax. Regardless of who started it, or who said what, life is simply too short for angry flame wars.
hiedijais

Your still attacking you should let go before you have a heart attack…
http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

“Regardless of who started it, or who said what, life is simply too short for angry flame wars.”

Quite right, CR. But the day I let someone tell me I’m not a real Canadian, and decide to be sensible and walk away, will never dawn.
hiedijais

Sorry CR posted the last comment before I saw yours, as you can see by my other comments I will give rational non-emotional responses unless someone tries to go after me like our friend has been doing…

RM thank you I haven’t had this much fun at anothers expense in a long time.

No hard feeling ok… ;)
http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

Of course there are hard feelings. Attacking a patriot’s national identity is unforgivable.
hiedijais

There there now I am sorry that I upset you and questioned you’re loyalties…

Hope that makes it better…

and of course I have no hard feelings towards you this is just the internet… ;)
Critical Reasoning

Heidi, I’ll just clarify one point: Jack’s patriotism is unquestionable. He is an exemplary citizen who is very much engaged in the affairs of his country. It’s not hard to see why he would respond emotionally to your “not a real Canadian” slur. Hopefully, there is a lesson to be learned from all this.

emilyjoythomas

“Can you imagine somebody getting elected president of the United States whose 30-year stint outside the United States had ended less than three years earlier?”

Um, I don’t know, maybe. But if the States disqualified a good leader because he took off for some great opportunities outside the country, I’d probably tell them they were being a bit trivial. Hopefully, in that case, someone with some sense would say, “can you imagine Canadians discrediting someone for spending time outside the country?”

hiedijais

No one is disqualifying Iggy for being away for a few years here and there, they are going after him for spending the majority of his life away from Canada resulting in him being out of touch with Canadians the other issue is he only came back to become the Prime Minister.

That is a big difference for the Average Joe Canadian to swallow and one that I feel will play into the hands of the CPC resulting in another Liberal lose, maybe not as bad of a lose as the last election mind you the Liberals couldn’t do any worse who ever is the new leader of the party.

Here is the link to the CPC internet ad… http://www.ignatieff.me/

Ted

Heres a thought…What if no-one votes in the next election. then no one gets elected. I know most people vote because its thier democratic right etc.. but think about it. Every time someone gets elected everything stays the same and no matter which party gets in they always pass laws to help the rich and screw the poor and nothing ever changes. The gap between the rich and poor has steadly widened over the last 40 years and most people are struggling just to make ends meet. I thought about not voting and I know other people felt the same way because a lot fewer voted during the last election. This really screwed things up for them because they didn’t get the popular vote. Some of them are paid according to the popular vote. What if only say 5% voted this time would they have to change the rules? I have no love for any polititions. I have been around long enough to know they are all bought and paid for by the financial establishment. If no-one votes then it would be a strong sign of public protest and discontent with the political system. There shouldn’t even be partys. Every member should be an independent so they wouldn’t have to tow the party line any more and they could vote there own conscience. Britains govenor general should not be able to PROROGUE anything here in Canada and she should mind her own business. We don’t need a Privi Council either and why do we need a Senate? The system sucks as it stands. The Canadian political system can be one hundred times better that Britains. I know others are sick of this nonsence too. We know there’s going to be an election soon because the attack ads have started allready and the CONS, FIBERALS and NEW DREAM-ON PARTY are already hurling insults so I urge every one to stay home and NOT vote

Geoff Small

I hope you enjoy Harper’s majority, then, and the dark age that will follow.

hiedijais

You guys have to stop painting Harper as the bad guy that will eat our children, both Paul Martin & Dion tried that and failed with their attacks against Harper and the general public is now seeing that this is not happening and are starting to not believe anything that the Liberals are saying.

Which means that they are seeing this move as a desperate grab at anything to stop from drowning.

How about coming up with some policies that the public will support and no the public does not support an increase in the GST or a Carbon Tax that Iggy will not let go of.

How about this one the public also sees that the long gun registry has been a dismal failure why don’t the Liberals/Iggy save face and let it go, the firearms owners will still be registered so the police will still know if there are possibly firearms in a home or not but we don’t have to continue to pour our tax dollars into this bottomless pit…

Give us a reason to vote Liberal again or at least a reason to show up to the polls…

http://coyne kc

Evidentially Canadians agree with G. Small, not you. Harper’s had his chance at a majority, but he’s been too small minded and too addicted to petty wedge politics to seize his opportunity. I beleive SH will go down as a failure, when the historians finally get to look at his time as PM – promising, but unable to rise above his baser instincts.

hollinm

Kc ….let’s see if you say the same thing about the Liberals should they win a minority government the next time out. You know as well as I do with the Bloc taking 40-50 seats and having 4 opposition parties (including the Greens) its going to be very difficult for any federalist party to win a majority come the next election.
I don’t see the wedge politics that you talk about. Yes the Conservative party ads were effective in portraying Dion a certain way because he reinforced that image with his every utterance.

The Liberals have used wedge politics very effectively over the years and of course because they are Liberals that is quit all well with their syncophants and the media at large.

The opposition feels it is their job to oppose everything under the guise that it is Harper’s fault that Parliament is not working. The opposition do not offer counter legislation but merely oppose and accuse the government of bad faith.

The opposition is using the minority government situation to threaten the government at every turn with defeat if they don’t agree with their demands. This is not governing for the good of the country. It is simply playing partisan politics.

What baser instincts are you referring to by the way. What is it that he has done that is so terrible in your mind? Or are you simply spouting Liberal and media talking points?
hiedijais

Harper has his issues which may keep him from a majority win but the Liberals just recieved their most crushing defeat in the history of the party…

I mean if the deep dark hole of the dark ages fear mongering is working so well why is the Liberal party where it is today?

They have no policies to fix the problems, they state that they will increase the GST, they will not distance themselves from a Carbon Tax, they just tried to form a coalition with the NDP and the Bloc to cheat their way into power, the Canadain public hated them for trying to form the coalition, they just undemicratically appointed a new leader that has no real idea who Candians are etc etc etc and Joe public is now seeing thru the media lies…

So I’m really not seeing where you are getting the idea that the Candian public in thier wildest dreams believes that the CPC are going to drag us into the dark ages.
http://coyne kc

Hollnim
Well you and i are certainly looking at the world through opposite ends of the telescope. Harper lives for wedge politics, but i never said he invented them. As for his baser instincts…hmmm. Let’s see. Attempting to cut off funding to other political parties with no prior consultation or public debate, poroguing parliament and trying to undermine the authority of the GG to save his own skin. It’s reall too tedious to go on.

Wayne

Excellent points Paul as always. Indeed Iggy has little to no time in the ranks as it were. Parachuted in as golden boy and annointed presto quickly before his staff could change the locks on Dions staff’s doors. Iggy’s problem is the old story ‘ Not ready for prime time’. Looks relatively good and sounds okay to good depending, but it’s the time in the ranks that will be the determinant. Right now he is at the end of his honeymoon and there is no mad rush to sign up for Iggy mania according to the polls therefore the result is obvious a gradual decline in the numbers and a gradual movement to irrelevance. This has been seen many times and is an old story – then again things might change and if there is more economic bad news then Stevie will take the heat but that is the way things are you sit in the seat and you take the heat … but if things get better you get the credit .. the way things are going at present I doubt there will be an election at all this year and very doubdtfull for next spring so who knows?
hollinm

hiedijais
says: May 19, 2009 at 5:09 pm

You need to really take a pill lady (If that’s what you are). This is a conversation on politics not a physcological session.

Make your arguments no matter how silly they are and quit attacking other posters.l
Jack M

And the chattering classes verdictg on Harper, “not a gentleman.” He simply will not behave as a proper Conservative and lose gracefully like Stanfield and Clark.

hollinm

Absoultely right!

The pundits, media, press gallery and of course the Liberals want the Conservatives to just sit back and allow Iggy to do his thing without any push back. Well that isn’t going to happen. Harper knows how to play the Liberal game maybe better than they do.

The Liberals and some posters on this board will continue to attack the PM personally calling him all manner of things. There is no evidence he is as they portray him but that doesn’t stop their talking points from calling him those names. That’s because the Conservative policies are middle of the road so they can only try to destroy the PM personally. It really is sad to watch. There should be some truth ads run against the media in this country.

Because the media has been determined by the Canadian public to be dishonest, biased and unbalanced in their coverage they discount what they have to say and gather their own views from a variety of sources. Despite the criticisms of the media and the opposition parties the public believes the Harper government is doing a good job managing the economy through this recession. Too bad, so sad for the Liberals.

The media will not learn the lesson that Canadians want unbiased political coverage and so the public and by extension the advertisers are abandoning both the print and electronic media in troves. That is why they are in financial trouble today. If they won’t deliver the product the consumer wants the consumer will go elsewhere.

James

Most Conservatives I know aren’t happy with the middle of the road policies Harper is using. The general consensus seems to be “we’ll stick it out like this until we have a majority, and then we can start enacting the Conservative legislation we want”.

hollinm

James…I don’t think you know what you are talking about. The old hidden agenda talking point rears its ugly head again.

Well the shoe is on the other foot my friend. It is the Count who appears to have a hidden agenda i.e. higher taxes, a coalition if necessary but not necessarily a coalition, torture, maybe, maybe not, support for Iraq war, maybe, maybe not, Israel committed war crimes, maybe, maybe not, oil sands good, maybe, maybe not. The slate is blank because he has spoken on each of these issues and quickly repudiated his position. So we shall see who has the hidden agenda my friend. That Liberal talking point is so passe. You need to find something else to talk about.

hollinm

kc……

There are many people who do not agree that political parties should be funded by taxpayers. Having said that I agree with you that the matter should have been brought up with separate legislation and debated in the House. However, as you acknowledge all parties practice wedge politics and so I guess its ok for other parties to do it but that damn Conservative government must be held to a higher standard.

The Count is playing wedge politics as we speak. He is arguing for an unreasonable number of hours to qualify for employment insurance i.e. 360 hours or approx. 10 weeks to collect a years’ worth of EI. Iggy knows that Ontario unemployment is increasing and so if he can pressure the government the people of Ontario may reward him in the next election. The fact remains the Liberals introduced the current EI policy as they took the notional $50 billion surplus in that fund to cover the deficit. Hyprocrisy that is the name for the Liberal party and its supporters these days.

As for proroguing parliament…he did not prorogue parliament the GG did. The PM has no power to prorogue. So get your facts straight. Did he recommend to the GG that was the best course of action for the country as it headed into a world wide recession and that the alternative would be an unstable government because it would have given veto power to the Bloc over every piece of legislation that would have been presented under a coalition government you bet. The GG agreed. She could have said no face the House but she didn’t.

It is you and the rest of the Liberal syncophants that are tedious my friend. Get some new talking points.
Justin Wordsworth

Dumbocracy

Unfortunately, Canadians are going to have to get used to importing intellectuals to do our thinking jobs, because we have done our darndest to make sure ideas do not grow here.

The politically correct police seem to have an abundance of units on hand to hunt down anyone so sinister as to persecute any minority group, be they blacks, gays, women, immigrants, or employees of Ruby Dhalla. But there is one minority who receives no such sympathy, indeed one to whom no amount of abuse is deemed sufficient – the intellectuals.

Our economy fundamentally functions by the masses extorting money from the few who were intelligent enough to develop a product that other people actually wanted to buy. This is a culture in which the word profit seems to be defined as “sinful blood money acquired by social parasites by exploiting the needs of honest citizens”.

We are quickly becoming a helpless nation that can’t produce anything, surviving only because we are fortunate enough to have vast natural resources which we can ship to the productive parts of the world. We have an “education” system in which the today’s useless train tomorrow’s useless. Our youth graduate from our universities and, having absolutely no salable skills, are forced to go to the only employer for whom skills are irrelevant and nescience is a plus – the government.

You know what they say, those who can, do; those who can’t, teach; and those who can’t teach, run for office.

We have set up a system that is so hostile to the thinking man and woman that there are no options for our bright minds but to flee to places where their assets are not viewed as liabilities.

We like to call it the brain drain, but in Canada brains are not drained, they’re flushed.

We’ve exchanged our free thinking for those who are free OF thinking.

To borrow a sentence from Vladimir Nabokov and apply it to my home and native land, “Ideas in modern [Canada] are machine-cut blocks coming out in solid colo[u]rs”.

James

I agree with you about the ‘brain flush’. I think if we want to prosper as a nation 20 years from now we need to start investing in an information economy. It’s obvious our manufacturing sector can’t hope to compete against other nations. We should be investing in research and development (especially with things like Stem Cell research) and encouraging more ‘Research In Motion’ type companies.

Justin Wordsworth

Indeed, Michael Ignatieff’s previous support for the Iraq War and his defense of coercive interrogations as the “lesser evil” are not the only examples of American politics commingling with those of Canada.

Last week Barack Obama gave a commencement speech at Notre Dame, where he was received by protesters angry at him for his positions regarding abortion. Less reported was the group of students displeased with Stephen Harper for using their school’s mascot as his Finance Minster.
Lucho Carrasco

The Canadian Constitution grant to any Canadian -not because this person born here, nor because he lived here, as Layton or Harper to name somebody- the right to vote, to elect, or to be elected. Anything said in contrary is a non sense, a demagogical argument for desqualify to a dangerous political oponent. Layton never had lived in Danforth Ave. nevertheless he is the MP representative of the Greek-Chinese-Canadian sector of Toronto. Harper lived in Toronto but got his title in Alberta, because UofT was to hard for him … so what he, to-day is the PM of Pan-Canada. All this is a very silly NDP-NCP propaganda to stop Liberals running without obstacles to win next election.