Note to French Newspapers: Anglos will not vote for a candidate who refuses to speak English

There is an article in this morning's Le Devoir, bemoaning the fact that anglophones and allophones made up a large part of Gerald Tremblay's victory Sunday night.

"Leur conclusion? La victoire à l'arraché de Gérald Tremblay a été possible grâce à deux facteurs: la langue des électeurs et le poids des anciennes villes qui ont intégré Montréal."

Translation: Their conclusion? Gerald Tremblay's victory, won by the skin of his teeth, was thanks to two factors: the language of the electors and the weight of the merged municipalities (that didnt demerge)

They are complaining that anglophones exercised their vote in favor of Tremblay. I will give the same history lesson I gave to my friend John Lennard, who at the time was leaning toward Harel.

Louise Harel, with her friends in the Parti Quebecois, have built their careers eroding the rights of anglophone Canadians living in Quebec. Whether it be education rights, blocking skilled immigrants from settling here for not speaking French, pursuing businesses for having signs that are of equal size in English parts of Quebec, the Parti Quebecois has taken every possibility to eliminate the anglophone presence in Quebec, especially with their infamous language police (kept by the provincial liberals). That's right. We have a police. The criminal is English...

One of the reasons I love Jean Chretien so much was based on something he once said at a Liberal convention I attended. He said that when he had the option of increasing rights or taking them away from people, it was up to the government to increase rights.

My friend John told me that he knew of Harel's PQ past and it would not influence his decision. I reminded him that if a party so callously disregarded the rights of one minority, nothing separates that from disregarding the rights of others. Would he feel the same way if Harel spent her life campaigning against the rights of gays or Blacks? Probably not. He voted against her, as any person who cares about rights should...

I will never vote for someone who campaigns to take away my rights or has done so in the past. If Louise Harel would apologize to anglophones for her efforts to diminish the anglophone presence in Quebec, I would consider voting for her.
Maybe I am asking for too much...

However, Harel refused to campaign in English at all during the campaign. Anglophones tried to set up a site called friends of Louise Harel and couldn't find any, so they bought some stock photos from the United States...(the irony is amusing)

Harel snubbed the anglophone community and Le Devoir and La Presse are SHOCKED that they didnt vote for her. They can blame the language barrier, but I challenge them to find an example of a majority of Quebec voters voting for someone who did not speak French.

La Presse and Le Devoir campaigned openly against Tremblay, pandering to their readerships and effectively becoming part of the problem. They do not bring up the fact that Harel did not campaign in these areas. They did not explain that Harel forced the merger of these communities in 2002, making her a despised figure in the suburbs. It is the fault of anglophones and allophones because they are not francophones...

I can only imagine what they would write if all the island municipalities were part of Montreal, the way Harel originally intended. A unilingual francophone is UNELECTABLE in that election. On the island of Montreal, anglophones and allophones make up over 50% of residents and well over 50% of homeowners, who vote far more often than tenants.

Montreal deserves a bilingual mayor. La Presse and Le Devoir should put that in their next diatribe...

Outremont Outburst Saps Liberal Support in Quebec: CROP poll

Imagine if a poll was done post-Outremont explosion and pre-Denis Coderre meltdown.

CROP obliges...and it doesn't look good for Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals.

The Outremont fiasco erupted halfway through this polling period but it seems the party is dropping even faster than you can say green shift...

Ignatieff and the Liberals have their worst score in Quebec ever with 26%, only 2 points more than what Stephane Dion got last year, and 10 points behind their score in June. The Bloc moves up to 33%. Stephen Harper and the Tories nab 21%.

After Outremont, the Liberal Party is left without much of a ground game in Quebec. We will know soon how many of the precious few Quebec organizers are left with Denis Coderre out of the picture.

I have never been a huge fan of Denis Coderre, but I was one of many observers who noted that he busted his ass to help the Liberal Party in Quebec. Denis criss-crossed the province, going to as many nominations as he humanly could. Denis found many of the candidates, which may be easy for potential winnable ridings, but in the Liberal no man's land that is rural Quebec, getting qualified people to run for the party is a difficult task in and of itself.

While the English media completely tore Coderre to shreds over the Outremont issue, he was gaining sympathy among the French media, who he has spent years developing a close friendship. On the day Ignatieff put forward a no-confidence motion in the House of Commons, Coderre took center stage for the last time in a while, attempting in vain to both tear the OLO a new asshole and turn himself into a martyr.

While martyrdom and Denis Coderre should never be placed in the same sentence together, the people in IggyCentral in Ottawa have a couple of major problems. Coderre was the face of the party in Quebec for the last year. He was the party's main organizing force on the ground. There is now a hole that cannot be filled by Marc Andre Blanchard or Jean Marc Fournier. While both men are brilliant, neither are MPs or running for election. Both are providing strategic advice, not putting boots on the ground. As much as I love Brigitte Legault, she can't be the only Quebec Liberal on the ground until the Spring.

The second problem the Ignatieff people have is the willingness of party officials and bloggers to completely throw their own leader under a bus, never mind the Quebec Lieutenant. As much as I appreciate the fake outrage over closed nominations...let's be honest, this wasn't about closed nominations, but about Coderre's power play. The pissing contest, while misplaced, was not a reason to throw most of the party's Quebec organizational work over the last year out the window.

Day after day, Liberal media strategy was a mere waste of breath as many within the party turned their fire on one of their own. As much as Quebec Liberals appreciate the input of party members across the country, if the Quebec Liberal caucus and membership suddenly descended on an MP from another province with the fury seen in this situation, I am sure you would all be scratching your heads as well.

The Liberals cannot have another election right now. Not until they put fresh new blood on the ground in Quebec. Not until every Liberal is committed to getting Stephen Harper out of office. Not until Liberals give Michael Ignatieff a bit of room to manoeuvre. As long as people do not feel that the Liberals are prepared to govern they will not vote for them.

There is one silver lining in the CROP poll, the NDP lost 5 points, even more than the Liberals. The good news for the Liberal Party is that even with an political H-bomb exploding in the riding, Tom Mulcair will still lose.

Jack and Gilles

Jack and Gilles went up the hill
to fetch a deal with Stephen
Jack fell down just like a clown
as all his voters listened

Up Jack got and home did trot
claiming he got Steve to dance
but in the end he could only pretend
that he really had a chance

Gilles came in and he did grin
adding the vote of the Bloc
with their support he could report
on Friday there'd be a menage-a-trois

Gilles did laugh and Jack did cry
as NDP hopes slipped away
Steve's alive, for now he's survived
but Michael Ignatieff will win the day.

Are the NDP and Conservatives Insane?

This morning we hear that NDP bigwig Judy Rebick has a few words to say about the NDP, and Jack Layton including "I have kind of given on the NDP in terms of how they can change" and "the problem is who is running the party, I don't know who is running the party?" Probably realizing how WTF that previous statement was, she went on to blame the backroom boys and girls for trying to make the NDP a mainstream party...(gasp at the thought right?)

Judy is not going to the NDP convention this weekend and has given up on the NDP because even with a weak Liberal leader and a very unpopular government, they only inched ahead. She doubts they will ever be able to get to government. Rebick is known to many NDP supporters and leaners who have seen her on TV and the radio as a host or commentator. You can expect these comments she made coming soon to a 10%er or campaign flyer near you.

A few weeks ago, an article appeared from the Canadian Press touting the leadership abilities of Jason Kenney and his possible future as a Conservative Leader. The article mentioned Kenney's abilities and had a few unnamed anonymous sources musing openly about leadership when the Prime Minister has not even shown a sign of getting off that pot.

I was surprised to see the Tories doing this. Many Tories I spoke to did not dismiss the story. In fact, they either touted their own guy like MacKay, Prentice, even one Maxime Bernier supporter! Many also took the time to bash Jason Kenney. Nobody denied a leadership squabble. Most importantly, NOBODY DEFENDED HARPER.

Many are leaving the PMO and some are beginning to wonder why. One logical answer is they are setting up future leadership campaigns. We saw it with Martin and many Liberals remember how bitter the party became with each other when that open feud ripped open the Liberal Party.

NOTHING HURTS A PARTY MORE THAN A LEADERSHIP CRISIS

Why two political parties would start launching shots at each other on the cusp of what is likely to be an October election call seems like outright madness. When only one federalist party in Quebec takes on the Bloc, this doesnt end up so well for the sovereigntists either. As the summer ends (did it ever really begin) and the Parliamentary session approaches bet on two things

1) The Liberals will try and pry open these wounds and ignite civil war in the NDP and Conservative Party.

2) If it works, they are pulling the plug on the government and it will be up to somebody else to bail out Harper.

We all knew this was coming...

Policy-As-You-Go

I will always be a policy wonk at heart. There is an idea coming out of England known as "pay-as-you-save" where homeowners would pay off a retrofit loan with the money they save on energy due to the retrofitting.

Sounds easy doesnt it?

Here is how it works:

Joe buys a house. Joe finds out that by spending $5 000 retro-fitting his home, he can save 20$ a month. That is 240$ a year. Within 21 years, Joe would be saving money. However, Joe doesnt know if he will own his house in 21 years, so retrofitting the house just is not worth the risk. The "pay-as-you-save" loan takes the savings from retro-fitting the home and applies them to the loan. If Joe sells the house, he also sells the loan. After the loan is paid off, the house's value increases as it is energy efficient. If Joe has the need to move, he sells the loan with the house.

The British Plan requires banks to provide these loans. However, I personally don't see the issue with Environment Canada putting up the money. Let's face it, these are micro-loans. While the full costs for retro-fitting a home can be up to $20 000, some measures costs a little as a few hundred dollars. This is money that is directly injected into the economy that is 100% guaranteed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because less energy is spent. It may be the most direct way to turn money into reduced emissions while helping kickstart the green economy that Canada needs to be a part of.

The department needs to put up a website that is interactive. On that website, homeowners can find out what changes can be made and how much money these changes would save them. The homeowners can then make a decision as to what changes need to be made and how much these changes cost, depending on the region. Estimates are made and submitted for approval for a "pay-as-you-save" loan. Payment is determined by the amount of money that is expected to be saved on each energy bill.

Now to rebut a few arguments:

Anthony, this will require a huge bureaucracy to manage.

If consumers are choosing from government approved options, the loan approvals are pretty much automatic, provided a simple credit check is performed. The Canadian government has been managing loans for students and businesses for years. This is not a novel concept.

Anthony, what prevents people from taking the money and using it to buy a new car?

As the estimates themselves are approved by the department loan officer, the contractors can bill the government directly for the amount they estimated and are legally bound to do the work once they bill the government. This is also less headaches for the homeowners as well.

Anthony, what about people with new homes?

Getting this work done in new homes is far less expensive. However, I do not see how the extra cost cannot be used to apply for a pay-as-you-save loan to help alleviate some of the mortgage on the original cost of the home. Think of it as an incentive to get off to a good start.

 

I am open to other suggestions and questions. I am not proposing it to any particular party like some of my other blogging friends, like Scott who sent me the article over the weekend.

This is a good idea. It will help Canadians. It will help the economy. It will help combat greenhouse gas emissions.

Who knows? If this works, maybe pay-as-you-save loans can be applied to hybrid cars to bridge the extra cost, with savings at the pump applied for the first couple of years.

Eurotrip Cancelled

Sweden's Migration and Asylum and Policy Minister Tobias Billstroem was quoted as saying that Sweden, as Chair of the EU until December, would be ready to slap retaliatory VISA requirements on Canadian citizens.

While some Canadians are wondering if Jason Kenney needs to become Minister of Migration and Asylum and Policy, or just Minister of Asylum, he inadvertently revealed what the problem was.

"We need to streamline the system to provide faster protection for real victims of persecution, while showing bogus claimants to the door much more quickly. Until we're able to come up with reforms along those lines, unfortunately, the visa policy becomes our only recourse,"

What Kenney is basically saying is he doesn't have a plan. It just seems so much easier to begin a diplomatic war with a NAFTA partner and the European Union than to come up with a solution to prevent all this.

After Harper's week of missteps at the G8 in Italy and now Kenney starting a spat with Mexico and the EU, it makes you wonder where the hell Lawrence Cannon is, and how much longer he will have to put up with this comedy of errors.

Things not to do Before Visiting the Pope

Catholicism has (unfortunately) been a big part of my life growing up. When I was younger and had to attend the mandatory catechism classes, we were told just how important it was to be receiving the first communion.

One little girl asked what I thought was a brilliant question. She asked what to do if we weren’t hungry. The priest turned to her and said “If you throw away the body of Christ, you will burn in hell forever.” I know the wrath of refusing food because my nonna is just as unforgiving.

After reading this, I simply do not understand what the Prime Minister was thinking. Are the protocol people on vacation?

So a few days before setting off to Italy to meet with the G8 and then the Pope, the Canadian Prime Minister has managed to commit one of the biggest booboos possible.

For Harper’s sake I hope this isn’t true. Catholics take this kind of stuff very seriously. If he didn’t want to take it, he just had to stay in his seat when everybody else went up.

I would like to see how many Catholic priests will tell their parishioners to vote Conservative after this kind of flub. If Harper was embarrassed in front of the Pope for funding a pride parade in Toronto, he will really be squirming when he sits down with him next week.

Here’s a tip Steve for your upcoming visit, While in Italy, when someone gives you food, you eat it!

Update: It seems the Harper PR people are denying the story in the face of video evidence contradicting them. They recognize this as a big deal. Covering it up will probably only hurt them more.

Ethics...

During the 7 “Liberal” years of my life, ethics were rather subjective. I had them when I needed them. Other than that, it was a game of “don’t get caught”.

I joined Concordia Journalism to break away from my political past. 3 campaigns/leadership races in direct succession had made me kinda crazy and very lost.

The program is one year long and I feel like I have learned a little bit about everything. As things wind down, Concordia wanted to teach us ethics before they sent us out into the unemployment lines.

I am put into situations weekly where my conscience is given a real test. Do I ruin somebody’s career to get a story? Do I present the facts in a way that help the flow of my article? Do I report a story from an anonymous source whose only interest is a rumor getting out there?

A year ago, I would have answered yes to all three questions. Call it the effect of partisan politics I guess. I spared nobody in all my Anti-Rae posts or my ridiculing of Dion and Monsieur Kennedy. If I could gain an edge back then, I did.

In a dogfight with the PQ and ADQ, I would never have thought twice about blogging anything fairly. Screw that! I used to think…

As the haze has faded over time, and the ethics I had put aside for all those years come back to me, I am beginning to understand the real hold that politics can have on some people. It is a very good thing that I took a year off politics before entering journalism school.

A friend of mine from my Liberal days MSN’ed me the other day about how he had converted to Iggymania. Naturally he thought I would be thrilled.

Just because im not involved doesn’t mean I don’t follow it. So I asked him what about Ignatieff brought him on board. I mean, 2006 was loaded with policy and ideas (like the nation and a carbon tax).

Now Ignatieff is really coasting on rhetoric and big crowds… (Hey, it worked for Obama right…)

After thoroughly confusing my friend, I got to thinking why I was no longer as enthusiastic about Ignatieff or the Liberals.

It dawned on me. Iggy 1.0 was far different than Iggy 2.0

Let’s face it. Two years ago Ignatieff knew academia and journalism but he was no politician. He started the two biggest policy debates in Canada. The nation debate cost him the leadership. The Carbon Tax cost the Liberals 40 seats.

Michael brought an approach to politics where people used logic and reason to wade through discussions and discourse. He was willing to tackle the sacred cows of Canadian politics.

He addressed Paul Martin’s cuts to transfer payments.

He addressed Quebec’s longing for recognition.

He addressed the dogmatic adherence to Medicare.

He addressed the need for REAL action on climate change and not lip service.

Now he is coy…he plays the politicians quite well…

My friends had been telling me Michael was supposed to deliver a knockout speech to the crowd in Laval a couple of weeks ago. I decided to stay away. It still is too soon for me to be returning to Liberal events.

I watched it on TV. I saw Michael Ignatieff, the politician…not Michael Ignatieff, the journalist.

Ignatieff is much smarter than I will ever be. Let’s hope politics does not ruin what he first set out to do…

Waiting on Stephen Harper to Condemn Coup d’Etat Attempt in Israel

Something really evil is happening in Israel.

Tzipi Livni won the Israeli election.

Benjamin Netanyahu, you may remember he marked my first day at Concordia with a little pizzazz, has come in second in the Israeli election.

However, he is claiming victory and is trying to reverse the election results.

Bibi is trying to form government with the 3rd party in Parliament, best known for wanting to secede Galilee from the rest of Israel so they can give it to the Arabs.

The fact Bibi wants to negotiate with these separatists is an act of treason.

When is Stephen Harper going to tell Benjamin Netanyahu that his madness has to end?

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Sandbox Politics...

The number one rule in young Liberal politics is dont get caught...

I hear Krista is actually a nice girl...unfortnately, being nice is probably what allowed her to get caught...

Last night, Krista Balsom resigned as President of the Ontario Young Liberals

Only in the Liberal party can you run unopposed and lose anyway

Update: 11AM

It is confirmed that Denise Brunsdon has resigned her YLC post leading up to her impeachment hearing which would have been held tomorrow.

He who holds the leash,,,

holds the power

h/t La Presse (Serge Chapleau)

Michael Ignatieff is already Prime Minister

I can see a few violent reactions to the above statement but hear me out. Ignatieff did exactly what he had to do yesterday.

Firstly, he dumped the coalition which he was so reluctant to enjoy. Even if the Liberals did want to take power, trusting the NDP to co-operate with the Liberals for 18 months is like trusting those Vinny Lecavalier trade rumors: you’ll only get disappointed in the end.

Michael Ignatieff did not undergo some kind of mind altering transformation yesterday. However, the NDP went from wanting him to be their Prime Minister to calling him a Harper clone within minutes. Canadians didn’t want dogma. Unfortunately for the politicians who got left at the altar by the evil known as “rational logic”, dogma was all they could muster.

At the end of the day, Harper is a right wing ideologue. So is deficit Jim. They did their best to put forward a left-wing budget. I wouldn’t call it a sterling effort but A for effort in my books.

The real test for the Harper government will be to see if the money flows and the economy improves as a result. Ignatieff is banking on the Harper government inflating the numbers. He is also banking that the news will only get worse as the sugarcoating as the truth is revealed.

So Stephen Harper is on a leash. Duceppe can never support Harper. Unless Layton has a lobotomy, he will blame the Liberals for the recession and the voters will ignore him.

And once the economy inflicts the maximum political damage on Harper, the Liberals win big…really big.

The one pulling the strings in this scenario is Michael Ignatieff, which means he has the power over Harper, which makes him the Prime Minister.

But hey, at least Harper gets to shake Obama’s hand next month. Enjoy it Steve, the clock is ticking.

Doing Homework During Intermission

We’ve all done it.

Putting out the best piece of crap for a homework assignment between intermissions of a hockey game is like a rite of passage for many Canadians.

I like hockey a lot. I got really good at putting together passable stuff in 17 minutes or less. When the intermission effort gets you an A, you’re in business.

There are certain things I couldn’t do in between intermissions, during coach’s corner, or on the bus on the way to school in the morning.

A Throne Speech qualifies…

Liberals Have Upper Hand in Game of Chicken

The Liberals have the option next week of making a major play for seats across Canada. There is one scenario which is not mentioned that would be the best for Liberals, and we are starting to see the beginnings of it.

The Liberals can propose an alternate budget as an amendment to the budget. This will challenge the BQ and the NDP to vote for it. If they fail to do so, they are solely responsible for the ensuing election.

Harper has the option of passing the Liberal budget, making the amendment a friendly one. However, this time it would cost him Jim Flaherty, who would have no more legitimacy if his budget was replaced.

This scenario places Michael Ignatieff firmly in the driver’s seat. Liberals can still oppose a bad budget. They force Layton and Duceppe to follow their lead, killing a coalition where the two caucuses would merge, or forcing an election.

Duceppe does not want to treat Quebecers to their 5th election since 2006.

Layton is the big loser here, being either relegated to irrelevance or being the goat that caused an election, if only because he wanted a cabinet job and Ignatieff had other ideas.

With Stephen W. Bush’s approval ratings tanking and all the euphoria down south for Barack Obama, an election would probably sweep the Liberals into power anyway.

A shadow budget is already in the works. It is a Liberal silver bullet. If they use it right, they cant lose.