Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

The thick of it

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:51pm - 4 Comments

Chris Selley mourns for the original idea of Michael Ignatieff.

Perhaps he has designs on radically altering the Canadian landscape once he gets his majority, and figures the old guard knows better than him how to get it done. I’m not sure he’s right about that, but if that’s his theory, he might want to start lobbing some of those alterations into the public sphere for discussion. If anything makes me suspect he’s back in Canada simply in pursuit of power, or to cement his place in the history books, it’s not the Conservative attack ads or the fact that he uses the word “I” a lot. It’s his stunningly smooth transition into the idiocy that is Canadian federal politics-as-usual.

Tags: Michael Ignatieff

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Chris Selley got it right, as he usually does.
RayK

Coming into the year 2003 the Liberal Party was firmly entrenched as Canada's natrual governing party–poised to win a historically large majority government. Since then they've had four leaders in five years and been exposed not only as throughly bankrupt but more than a little corrupt.

In the other major parties we have one leader who led an ousider effort that succesfully took over one of Canada's two largest political movements, one leader who brought his party closer to government than any previous leader of his party and a third leader who wants to form a new independent state.

Why eactly would we expect the latest leader of LIberal Party to be the one "radically altering the Canadian landscape" and bringing about "transformational" change?

I know that reporters can't pronounce themselves on party policy–and I wouldn't want them to. Lately, though, that effort to avoid bias seems to have come to so dominated political coverage that image has replaced ideas differentiating quality among politicians. Not just effective but on principle.
RayK

Oops, that was supposed to be "image has replaced ideas AS THE differentiating quality among politicians. Not just effectiveLY but on principle."
jarrid

Where are all the Liberal commenters that are usually buzzing around here? That's a pretty deafening silence.