Were Not Dead Yet!

Many people may say that the Liberal party is dead. This is un true the Liberal party isn't dead. We may have only gotten 19% of the vote and 34 seats, but that doesn't make us dead. The NDP got less votes then us in 2008 and look at them now. The Liberal party will come back stronger in the next election. With a Tory Majority people will see that Harper isn't going to help them, and the budget isn't going to be balanced like he said the Liberals will get those voters. Those Conservatives who thought that Harper would balance the budget, be fiscally responsible and keep the economy strong will realized that the party that is capable of doing it is the Liberals party. To the NDP voters who tought that Jack Layton could actually afford his imagenairy platfom his 70 billion dollars in spending promises and his to far to the left policy will realize that the Liberal party is the party that can afford it's policies and that they have a party that is in the center. We as Liberals mustn't waver the center. We mustn't merge with any party! Be the party the NDP or the Conservatives. We must stick to our affordable and realistic platform. We aren't dead and we will rebound like we did in 1993, 1980, 1963, 1935,1926,1921,1896,1874. We've been in election before were we have almost been dead, but we came back rolling in the next election. We are nowhere near death. Remember a majority of Canadian Prime Minister were Liberal. Let's not start amplying for the NDP or Conservatives. We must remain in the center and not allow Canada to turn into the U.S where the country must decide between two extreme's of the political spectrum. If we allow that to happen then nothing can get done as both of them would put forward two extreme policies that wouldn't work. Let's not move from the center!

Now What?

The Liberal team has worked hard, as has Michael Ignatieff. But, it seems like hard work does not always pay off, as the past is hard to forget. The problem of the Liberal Party reaches beyond just leadership. Since the sponsorship scandal, the Liberals have slowly degraded.

We must realize that it will take many years, decades before trust us restored. People will not readily return to the Liberal Party. But, changing leaders will not solve the issues that haunt the Liberal. The core problems will not disappear with the leaders. It has been demonstrated time and time again with Martin, Dion and Ignatieff, each successively losing seats. Michael Ignatieff must stay on as leader.

We fought hard, we put forward good policies and we had a great time. It was fun.

Thank you and until the next time!

Merci et à la prochaine!

Lie again

Harper in all his ads is saying that the Liberals would want a ipod tax that would total 75$. First such a tax would be very extreme considering a classic ipod cost around 200$ this tax would be very high. Higher than the sales tax combined! The thing is the Liberals don't want an ipod tax the so called Liberal tax on ipods is just made up. I know Harper likes to make up his own truth, but come on! A tax on ipods! The Conservatives might as well say that Ignatieff supports sending Canadians to the moon. The word iPod I don't even think is even mentioned in the whole Liberal party platform. The Conservatives are desperate I see since they have nothing to really attack Ignatieff on they are just going to make up stuff now.This is lie number 1,000,000 (I think maybe he is lying more), but I will keep keeping the conservatives accountable to there lies during the election and hopefully I won't have to after the election.

Ignatieff is on the Rise

As the campaign moves on, it's evident that Stephen Harper has a problem. His method of command and control has worked before; making sure he gets into no trouble. But, Michael Ignatieff does not choose to abide by these rules. The Liberals are running an open campaign where leaders and candidates take unscripted questions from the public and from the media.

Ignatieff is gaining more and more popularity and so is the Liberal Party. Going around and actually meeting and listening to Canadians allows the public to see Ignatieff like he is, not what the Conservative attack ads portray him. Of course, this does not mean that the Liberals won't have problems later on in the campaign, but if they keep this up, the Tories will have to watch their backs.

Stephen Harper looks like a man afraid to lose. And Michael Ignatieff looks like that most dangerous of opponents: a man with nothing to lose at all. 

Of all the federal leaders, it was Mr. Harper who came into this strange and sudden spring election campaign from a position of strength. Leading in the polls, with the benefit of experience and a well-oiled party machine behind him, he was supposed to steamroll right over Michael Ignatieff.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

And they're off

The vote will be held on May 2. The campaign officially started today, when Stephen Harper asked Governor-General David Johnston to dissolve Parliament. Until election day, there will be five weeks of intense campaigning, political ads and two evenings of debates, in English and French. This is the election in which we will find out whether Stephen Harper will finally get his majority. This is the election in which Michael Ignatieff will finally get to prove himself worthy of the title of Prime Minister. A lot could happen during the campaign and you can bet I'll be watching.

OTTAWA—It was a formality on a frigid day. 

Canada’s 41st general election was kicked off early Saturday morning when Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked Governor-General David Johnston to dissolve Parliament after the Conservatives were defeated Friday in the Commons on a vote of non-confidence.

Read more at the Toronto Star.

The Fate Falls on Michael Ignatieff

Lawrence Martin wrote in the Globe and Mail that the results of the upcoming election are all going to depend on Michael Ignatieff. I agree with him. Throughout the past few years, public opinion figures have not budged much from before: Tories at low-mid thirties and Liberals at high twenties.  People do not know what Michael Ignatieff is about and this will be his chance to show Canadians what he believes in and how he is going to make Canada a better country. Then again, if the Liberal leader performs badly, we will be surely in for a Conservative government and maybe even a majority.

In the coming campaign, all will be old hats on the hustings, save one. This election, skillfully brought on by Mr. Harper, will hinge hugely on the performance of first-time campaigner, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. If he stumbles badly, the Conservatives will win a majority. If he surprises, he may well be able, with the help of the NDP, to form a government after the campaign.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

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• Liberals 'will win election' on economy: Ignatieff (financialpost.com)

Attacks Just Got More Personal

It wasn't enough to attack his background. No, it wasn't even enough, attacking statements said in some past year or even taking the word "yes" out of context. The Conservatives have just brought the never-ending attacks to a whole new level; attacking Michael Ignatieff's family. They have come out contradicting this recent video, saying that Ignatieff's family was actually quite rich when they immigrated to Canada.



The Tories obviously think that they know better than Michael Ignatieff himself or they would not have posted this attack. This is just sickening. Bring on the election!

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Ignatieff don't "Tax and Spend"

Stephen Harper calls the Liberals tax and spend. Now the Liberal party isn't at all tax and spend, but Micheal Ignatieff is making the party look more like it. The Liberal plan is to put the corporate tax at 18% which is higher than it is today and Igantieff also said he would spend money on the hockey arena. With that you get the Conservatives favorite line "Tax and Spend". The Liberals are of course not "tax and spend" they are the only party that is fiscally responsible during the 1990's years the Liberals were the one's who made the tough decision. And only spend or lower taxes if they had a surplus. Now The Liberals today still keep this value, but the only problem I have is that Ignatieff would be willing to spend 400 million on an arena in Quebec city. 400 million could be better spend. Ignatieff  should stop making the Liberal party look like the "Tax and Spend". Ignatieff should stick to the old Liberal policy of being fiscally responsible and spending within the governments means.

Resignation of Ministers

On Saturday, two important cabinet ministers and an MP said that they are not going to run for a seat in the next election. Unfortunately, that does not include John Baird, the rudest of the rude. They are, in descending annoyance: Chuck Strahl (Minister for Transport), Stockwell Day (Treasury Board president) and MP John Cummins. Some say that these resignations could change voting patterns in BC, as without the two ministers from that province, British Columbia won't have much cabinet representation.

I disagree. The Conservative support in B.C. has always been steady for the past for years, deviating from time to time. However, the real time to change votes will be the campaign. It is during the campaign that Ignatieff will perform for a Canadian public that virtually doesn't even know that he exists or what he stands for (partially his fault). During an election campaign, there will be much more focus on politics and Ignatieff will have a better chance than during the off-season to gain votes and seats everywhere in Canada.

An announcement Saturday that two prominent B.C. cabinet ministers and an MP are set to quit politics significantly diminishes Stephen Harper's bench strength in the province heading into a likely spring election. 

Treasury Board president Stockwell Day (OkanaganCoquihalla), Transport Minister Chuck Strahl (ChilliwackFraser Canyon) and MP John Cummins (Delta-Richmond East), all veteran MPs with strong national profiles, said they won't be running again.

Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

Related articles

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Muzzle the Ignatieff

Maybe the Prime Minister's office has noticed that it cannot stop Ignatieff from speaking against the government. So now, they will stop the media from listening to Ignatieff and reporting on his remarks. On Friday, Harper's communications department made sure that journalists were out of the room right before Ignatieff was to speak, but after Harper spoke.

They are calling the fiasco a "misunderstanding." But, why would the media have to leave the room in the first place. This is just another example of the Conservatives' campaign to muzzle the media, keep secrets and brainwash Canadians. But, it won't work. When attempts to do this are made, we end up with a story like this.

OTTAWA — A “misunderstanding” led to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s media officials ushering reporters out of an announcement in Gatineau, Que. Friday night right before Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was about to speak, Harper’s spokesman said. 

The Liberals say Mr. Ignatieff was about to comment at a news conference at Quebec’s Museum of Civilization where Mr. Harper had just launched the Year of India in Canada 2011 with the High Commissioner of India to Canada.

Read more at the National Post.

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Let's Ask Michael Ignatieff...

The new Tory ads are just ridiculous. It's one thing to take quotes out of context like the Conservatives did previously. At least the quotes were more or less on the same subject. This time, the attack ad department decided to use Michael Ignatieff's quotes... like the Tories do. The word "yes" can be put in any situation to "prove" a point. Maybe someone was asleep at the switch, because I cannot see how these ads convince anyone of anything. In fact, it probably does the opposite: driving potential voters away. Will this move backfire? Let's ask Michael Ignatieff: "Yes, yes, yes!"

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Ignatieff Shows Leadership

When four kirpan-wearing Sikhs were not allowed in the National Assembly in Quebec City, Ignatieff showed leadership. He defended their right to wear the ceremonial dagger in public areas such as the House of Commons. This comes as the Bloc Québecois wants to ban the kirpans from being worn in Parliament. Ignatieff and Layton are right to defend the rights of ethnicities to continue practicing their culture. Especially when those four Sikhs were at the National Assembly to testify at a hearing on accommodation. The kirpan is a cultural item and Ignatieff is right to defend it.

Leadership requires the willingness to take unpopular positions. Michael Ignatieff showed that willingness this week when he went to Quebec and defended Sikhs’ right to wear the kirpan, a ceremonial dagger, in the Quebec National Assembly and other legislative buildings in Canada.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

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20/11 Tour

Michael Ignatieff is to go on another tour. The Liberal Express tour during the summer and the Open Mike tours were great successes. These two tours helped convince me that Michael Ignatieff is the leader who is going to lead the Liberal Party to victory. The 20/11 tour will visit twenty ridings currently not held by the Liberals to try and sway them. Notably, the tour is not directed at Conservative voters. Michael Ignatieff hopes to sway NDP, Bloc and Green voters not to vote for their respective party and instead, vote for the Liberals.

Some might consider voting for the NDP, the Bloc Québécois, or the Green Party in order to “send Stephen Harper a message.” But if you vote for the NDP, the Bloc, or the Greens to send Stephen Harper a message, you’ll get Stephen Harper – and he won’t get the message.

This is a good, well-calculated experiment. This might be in part driven by Kevin Lamoureux's win in Winnepeg-North, a former NDP stronghold. I don't put much stock in by-elections, but the tour cannot hurt. In the next election, the Liberals do have to win seats from the NDP and Bloc and the 20/11 tour is a good way to accomplish just that.

Limits on CSIS are Good

I agree with Ignatieff when he says that the limits put on CSIS when combatting terrorism. These agencies should not be able to invade our personal freedoms. The intelligence agency should not be able to do all it wants. If there were no limits, CSIS would probably torture people for information and listen in to our private conversations. Ignatieff is right about this one. Our freedom must be protected and that's why there are so many limits on what CSIS can do.

“I’ll just say this: I’m proud of our Charter, I’m proud of our courts. I’m proud of the fact that there are limits on what agencies and our government can do,” Ignatieff said. “That’s always been our position. We’re a country of freedom. We’re a country of democracy.”

Read more at the Toronto Star.

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Horrible Lies

There is a lot of ruckus on the Internet about an editorial saying that Michael Ignatieff called the Winnipeg-North by-election race unfair because the Tory candidate is Filipino. The Blogging Tories had a field day! Now for the truth. This is a part of the transcript.

Media question: The race in Winnipeg North, there’s been some speculation that the Tories are running Julie Javier... because might siphon off Kevin Lamoureux’s strong Filipino vote allowing the NDP to win, what do you think of that speculation?

Michael Ignatieff: Let’s not insult the voters of Winnipeg North, let’s give them a real choice – the right choice is Kevin Lamoureux. Let’s have a straight-up fight. Let’s not have any political games here. Let’s give the voters of Winnipeg North a clear choice. Kevin Lamoureux has 20 years of public experience... Kevin Lamoureux is the kind of guy who goes down to McDonald’s and holds clinics to help citizens with their problems and he’s doing it for 20 years. He’s the kind of guy Winnipeg North needs in the House of Commons and everything else is a bunch of games and we’re not here to play games, we’re here to win.

He wasn't actually accusing the Tories of "playing dirty" as the editorial suggests, but defending the voters of the riding, saying that they are too smart for political games. I don't blame the Blogging Tories here, but I do blame the newspaper. And I will also say that the all-too-common assertion by the Blogging Tories that most of the media in Canada is left-wing is untrue. In this editorial's case, there are two possibilities: either somebody was asleep at the switch or this was a ploy to demean the Liberal candidate for the riding of Winnepeg-North. I think I'll go for the latter. I also urge all those who blogged about this editorial to have the decency to put an update out there for everybody to read.

Election could mean new leaders.

I was reading the gazette this morning and I saw an very interesting opinion section made by Ian Macdonald. He motioned how all our current leaders leadership may expire by the next election. If Harper wins the election Ignatieff is gone and if Ignatieff wins Harper is gone . Now this is not surprising, but Ian then stated that unless Harper gets a majority he is out.Now I think that even if Harper wins a smaller minority he will still be leader, because if right after an election the party switches leaders than the new guy would look like he cheated to get elected. If Harper doesn't get a majority he could stay leader, but would Harper want to stay at his job, and would his party not maybe try to push him into leaving "willingly". Ignatieff is simple a government or your out. If Ignatieff losses the election but grew in seats it would depend if he makes a coalition government or if he makes the result close enough that the he can wait multiple month till the fall of the government. if there is an election now this will be Jack Layton's 4th election. He may have risen the party to 37 nearly record high, but polls showing Jack Layton will shrink the party almost all what he increased. If Jack Layton doesn't increase his poll numbers he will be gone. Ian mentioned that Gilles Duecepe will be gone as he is bored. Gilles Dueceppe is the only maybe here, because Dueceppe was once at 38 seats and he still stayed leader. Dueceppe might just want to leave, because he has been in Parliament for a long time, and he might just want to go home, but Dueceppe has stayed for long times so I wouldn't call anything on him yet. Elisabeth is also up she has to get a seat or it might be goodbye for her. If an election is called we might have as up as 5 new party leaders.

The diffrence between "Tax and Spend" and "Fiscal Responsibillity".

We keep hearing from Harper that Ignatieff is a "Tax and Spend" Liberal, and that is why we should vote for the fiscally responsible Haper. Yes Harper has proven his fiscal responsibility again and again. By spending 2 million dollars for a fake lake, spending more money for a less reliable census and spending more money on prison and not preventions. While Ignatieff has went the pork and the waste.I think we might actually have it wrong. Harper is the recless spender yet he calls himself fiscally responsible? It seems that Ignatieff is the more fiscally responsible of the two of them.

Town Hall Sum-Up

Yesterday, I attended the first of the Open Mike town hall meetings with uncensored, unscripted questions posed to Michael Ignatieff, MP Marlene Jennings, and candidate for Outremont, Martin Cauchon. Ignatieff responded very honestly to all the questions, very direct answers. He didn't seem to dodge any of the questions. My opinion of him as a leader and as a person had improved over the summer, but this was amazing! He is a great honest guy, and he is going to lead us to victory in the next election. Upcoming Open Mike town halls are in Winnepeg on October 7, and in Toronto on October 13.

This summer, Michael Ignatieff travelled over 57 000 kilometres — visiting every province and territory — on the Liberal Express.

Now the Liberal Leader, along with MPs, Senators and candidates is continuing to listen to Canadians at “Open mike” town halls across the country, leaving the microphone open so Canadians like you can share your views and ask questions on the issues you care about. Ready to take questions from audience members both live and online, Michael Ignatieff is waiting to hear from you.

Read more at Liberal.ca 

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