Categories: Capital Read

Former Parliamentarians gather with future former Parliamentarians

by Mitchel Raphael on Friday, November 20, 2009 6:54pm - 14 Comments

The Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians held a dinner in the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom. Below, former Reform MP Deb Grey.

Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent (right) and NDP MP Yvon Godin.

(Left to right) Minister of Public Safety Peter Van Loan, TVO’s Steve Paikin and Liberal MP Bonnie Crombie.

Former Liberal MP Paddy Torsney.

Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner.

Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson (left) and Conservative MP Jim Abbott.

Liberal MP John McCallum.

Tory MP Ted Menzies.

Derek Vanstone, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s chief of staff.

Ryan Sparrow, aide to Diane Finley, minister of human resources and skills development.

Liberal legend Eddie Goldenberg.

Speaker Peter Milliken (left) and Don Newman.

Leah Murray (right), wife of Conservative House leader Jay Hill, with (left to right) Geoffroi Montpetit, Guy Legault and Doug Kreviazuk.

The crowd.

The food.

More by Mitchel Raphael

jarrid

Too bad Ed Broadbent sullied his name by encouraging the ill-fated, ill-advised and ultimatel,y politically illegitimate Coalition.

Jean Chretien too supported it. Remarkable. They really let Canadian federalists down big time. With the Angus Reid poll out today showing,…

Voting Intention:

Con. 38%,
Lib. 23%,
NDP17%,
BQ 11%,
Grn. 10%

Approval Rating:

Harper 34%,
Layton 24%,
Ignatieff 12%,

Momentum:

Harper -9,
Layton -10,
Ignatieff -41

… still anyone thing the coalition was a good thing?

That's a 15 point lead for the Conservatives and Iggy's momentum rating would scare young children.

Evalina

Wow seriously
Dave

What is "momentum"?

I have no idea how I would answer this question if polled on it.

jarrid

Good question. The Question from the poll was as follows:

"Over the course of the past month, would you say your opinion of each of the following people has
improved, stayed the same or worsened? (Change since Oct. 23-24)

Angus Reid explains the numbers like this: "

Ignatieff's momentum score is the worst of all three party leaders at -41 (4% of Canadians report an
improvement in their opinion of the Liberal leader over the past month, while 45% say their views have
worsened). Layton also underwent a setback, going from -4 in late October to -10 this month. Harper
managed to shed some negative perceptions, going from -13 to -9."

burlivespipe

Slow progress. Jarrid's off the Kinsella obsession and back onto the coalition. Once the middle school exam season is over he'll be back cheering on his Calgary Canucks. Just stop buying your meds off the internet, kid!

jarrid

Since you brought it up, I actually think that the LIberal Party has adopted nostalgia in the place of a political strategy. Peter Donolo, Warren Kinsella, next they'll have smiling Eddie Goldenberg in Iggy's inner circle.

Like some washed up rock band looking for the glory of yesteryear. Only, it never pans out that way. The world has moved on. The cynical politics that the LIberals generated in the past is no longer in tune with the times. People expect reasonable workable policies and a general plan to implement them. Dion's Green Shift was the best the Liberals came up with. It at least was a coherent policy, but alas, not a reasonable one.

The Liberals continue to flounder badly, going in circles and always, it seems, back to square one as Chantal Hébert pointed out the other day.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Admit it, Jarrid: you miss Kady. It's much easier to comment about polls when someone is there to blog about the polls.
jarrid

I do miss her and I bet she misses us too.

As for blogging on polls, someone should pick up the slack on that around here.
Anon Liberal

I agree. The media doesn't spend nearly enough time on polls and horserace coverage. It's a gaping hole in our national discourse.
jarrid

With the Liberals polling at 23% and 24% in Angus Reid and Ipsos respectively, I can see where you're coming from.
Anon Liberal

Enjoy your polls jarrid. And keep in mind there's only one that counts. If you need reminding of that lesson go ask Kim Campbell or Paul Martin.