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Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Pre-New Year's check-in
Hope everyone is having a great holiday. I am. Catching up on reading, doing a little bit of writing, but mostly just lounging around. Thanks to everyone who has been in touch about our book. It seems a good number of you either bought it or received it as a Christmas gift. The feedback has been reassuring. Look for Tasha and I to start blogging about the election at the Maclean's magazine site for the remainder of the campaign, beginning early January.
This blog no longer reports polling results, but I think it can be said with relative confidence (and judging by today's Bourque update) that things are tightening up on the heels of the Goodale scandal. I am quite surprised -- and frankly, elated -- about this development. How many times over the past few years have their been similar examples of what appeared to be illegal behaviour by the governing party that went unexamined? The story would stay in the news for a day or two and then quietly die. For once, the RCMP is taking action -- and it couldn't be happening at a better time for the Tories.
There won't be an Ups and Downs tomorrow; due to the holidays, there isn't really a campaign to evaluate. All I can say is that this campaign is turning into a virtual mirror image of last year's campaign. This time, it's the Liberals who are tripping up all the time. Very out of character for the mighty Grits. The Tories, unlike each of the past four elections, have the paragon of professionalism. If Harper can keep this up there is a strong chance he will be our next Prime Minister, albeit in a minority government situation.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:31 PM
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Ups and Downs, Week Four + Merry Christmas!
Well, the campaign is officially half over. Here are the tallies from Week Four, in a shortened Christmas-eve version:
The Conservatives -- 9/10
A fourth straight near-perfect week for the Tories, capped off by his brilliant handling of the unity file. The challenge to debate Duceppe, his calling the Liberal's bluff on the perverse notion that they are the guardians of national unity, and Harper's policy announcement in Quebec City were all highlights. The Tories could not have asked for a better first half of the campaign. Now they will shift gears, and start responding to the Liberal onslaught, as they must. A big coup was getting the Liberal ads leaked and getting word out through the blogs, thus deadening their impact.
The Liberals -- 7/10
To the Liberals credit, they did make some policy announcements. But they are still looking defensive, and are doing a lot more reacting than acting. Martin looks almost panicky. Their response to Harper's comments about the Liberals wanting the PQ in power in Quebec City were overboard (Stéphane Dion nearly lost it on Mike Duffy's show) and they had little to say in response other than indigation.
Merry Christmas dear readers!
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:53 PM
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Tintor is on fire
Of all the blogs I read -- and there are many -- I have to admit that there's really only one that I find myself actually laughing out loud as I read: Joan Tintor's. Her latest post, which absolutely skewers John Duffy's Liberal spin in the National Post, is quite simply one of the best -- if not the best -- blog post I have ever read. This is what blogs should exist for. Someone give Joan a hero cookie (or a job with the Tory campaign!)
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:07 AM
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Today's worthwhile reading
A very interesting article by Laval political science professor Guy Laforest on whether Canada can win over young Quebecers in today's Globe. Laforest, who served as a spokesman for the YES side in the 1995 referendum and is regarded in academic circles as the intellectual arch-rival of Stéphane Dion, is a strong Quebec nationalist who is not really an outright separatist.
In order to secure a significant commitment toward Canada in the hearts and minds of the children of Bill 101, while promoting reciprocal loyalty between Quebec and Canada, we will have to go beyond recognition and clearly state the legal consequences of Quebec's distinctiveness in Canada's constitutional order. This will be a challenging task but success on this front would undeniably contribute to the moral edification of the rest of humanity. Recognizing the need to do this would be a welcome start for our current leaders. If we agreed that our main problem is one of reciprocal loyalty -- or lack thereof -- we could modernize at last such federal political institutions as the first ministers conference, Senate, division of powers and court appointments.
Again and again, Quebec's intellectual class, business elite and political leaders bang the same drum: reform federalism or lose Canada. And as Stephen Harper is pointing out, the status quo is the lifeblood of the Liberals and the separatists. A Conservative government, if elected, must deal with this issue head-on.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 2:45 PM
On polls ... again
In response to Darrell Bricker's comment below, who apparently considers blogs "wank-fests," I will take his word that I misinterpreted his comment that Mike Harris had a hidden agenda. Regarding polls, one would only expect Mr Bricker to defend them, he being someone who makes his living off them at Ipsos-Reid. To be clear, I don't think political parties should ignore polls. Focus-testing policies and what sells with voters is important. What I don't think are useful are the day-by-day tracking of voting intentions, and the media's ridiculous obsession with them. Such polls are of no use to the general public and allow the media to constantly focus on the "horse race" story instead of substantive policy debate.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 2:30 PM
Monday, December 19, 2005
Quebec and culture (updated several times)
Today's big Quebec policy announcement by Stephen Harper is exactly the right message to be sending to Quebec:
The Conservative leader said Monday he would allow Quebec to play a role in international institutions such as UNESCO when its cultural responsibilities are at stake. The province already participates in la Francophonie, but Harper said he'd look at expanding that to other groups. He also pledged to recognize provincial autonomy "as well as the special cultural and institutional responsibilities of the Quebec government." And he said a Tory government would correct the so-called fiscal imbalance between the federal government and the provinces, although he offered no specifics on how he would do that. Harper is really saying the right things.
UPDATE: Check out the below comment, in response to my prediction that the Globe will be hunting for a story about a Tory candidate wanting to invoke the notwithstanding clause on same-sex marriage: "A G&M reporter, Clark Campbell, just called our campaign (we are in E. Ont.with a Conserv. incumbant [sic]) looking for a quote from the MP on same-sex marriage."
UPDATE II: Today (Tuesday) Harper is continuing to hammer the Liberals on Quebec, pointing out the perverse truth that the Liberal and Bloc feed off each other and that the Grits need a separatist government in Québec City.
UPDATE III: Oh no. Just what the Tories didn't need.
UPDATE IV: Stéphane Dion totally lost it tonight on Countdown with Mike Duffy regarding Harper's comments. Watch and see.
UPDATE V: Another shrewd move by Harper on Quebec: If Martin is too chicken to debate Gilles Duceppe one on one, he will. Nothing to lose.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 7:27 PM
Email to Tucker Carlson
-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Daifallah
Sent: December 19, 2005 7:26 PM
To: 'Tucker@msnbc.com'
Subject: Your comments
Tucker,
As a small-c conservative in Canada trying to help warm this country up to our ideas, I cringed when I saw your comments from last week about my country. Please stop it. Every time you or some other conservative American pundit says something dumb like this it makes our challenge all that more difficult. If you want Canada to become a better ally to the US, this is not the way to do it.
Adam Daifallah
Co-author, Rescuing Canada's Right
www.rescuingcanadasright.com
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 7:25 PM
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Ups and Downs, Week Three
The Conservatives -- 9/10
A third straight rock-solid week for Stephen Harper. Yet more policy announcements, the best of which was the tax credit for kids sports. Way to hit the 905ers, guys. The Tories continue to drive the agenda every day. Another week of no major gaffes, although something seems not right about this. Has the Globe not yet set up a phone bank to call Tory candidates to coax one into saying Harper should use the notwithstanding clause to stop gay marriage? (Expect that story any day now.) The latest TV spot, change, is really well done. The so-called "discovery" of a seven-year old speech Harper made criticizing Canada's direction has not done any damage that I can see. Too early on to be seriously damaging. Harper looked good at last night's dreary Leader's Debate.
Why a point was removed: Nobody's perfect. I think Harper could have been more aggressive in the response to the beer-and-popcorn disaster. But if the Tories stay the course, I predict two things. One, the polls will start and move all over the country toward them as soon as Christmas season is over. Two, things are going to get ugly as soon as the Christmas season is over. The Liberals will come out swinging in a way we haven't seen since ... the last election.
The Liberals -- 7/10
This is the third straight week the Liberals have said basically nothing. The major point off were for Scott Reid's indiscretion. Martin had a solid performance at the debate -- he did better than I thought he would. He is usually awful off-the-cuff but did well this time. The Liberals have obviously decided that the pre-Christmas period of the campaign totally meaningless, and are treating it as such.
Why points were removed: Three words: beer and popcorn. And Martin is playing up the anti-Americanism, which is -- sadly -- striking a chord. I realize attacking America plays well, but that doesn't mean politicians should do it.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 5:22 PM
Maisonneuve magazine
Friday, December 16, 2005
The English debate
Sure, it was boring. Not as boring as the French debate, though. But I thought each leader did relatively well. And it was informative. Harper was calm, poised and straightforward. He looked prime-ministerial. Martin was feisty; I liked his passion and his emotion. He talked about hope and optimism, which are important for a leader. Harper was talking about hope earlier in the campaign but seems to have trailed off a bit. Gilles Duceppe is doing a great job -- brilliant job, actually -- at making Quebec separatism look as inoffensive and rational as possible. I doubt this debate will change much, though. The second one will be where all the action is.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:26 PM
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Wednesday post-exam notes
-- Fabulous media presentation here by Proud to be Canadian, exposing the media's double-standard on foreign intervention in Canadian elections. This is the kind of media bias that is so obvious to us conservatives, but which is not easily quantifiable. We need more of this. Go watch it.
-- Listen online to Tasha giving a speech at the Frontier Centre in Winnipeg about the book.
--Is there some kind of conspiracy to elect the Liberals? Seems the Bush administration (more particularly, Ambassador Wilkins with his speech yesterday) and Carolyn Parrish (who all but endorsed Harper) are in on it.
--The new Conservative ad is really good. (The one called "change.")
--I am not an Anne Murray fan, and can't even name a single one of her songs. But I sympathize with her comments made in an article where she is promoting a documentary on her life (via Nealnews):
Murray, who turned 60 this year, was particularly offended earlier this year when critics were lambasting the lineup for the Live 8 music extravaganza. "When you read headlines like when they were doing the Live 8 show ... 'What was wrong? Was Anne Murray busy?' "
"That's coming from young people and I understand, but get out of here. I spent my life working so hard to get somewhere," said Murray, the first Canadian singer to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts.
Welcome to Canada, where if you succeed in another country (read: the U.S.) we no longer like you.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 1:08 PM
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
First curling post in a while
My old friend Jason Hickman beat me to commenting on the Canadian Olympic Curling trials. Congratulations to Team Brad Gushue! It is a proud moment for the province of Newfoundland. I watched the game Sunday, and it was great. These guys deserve it. I am so glad for Russ Howard, who has always been my favourite curler. Russ was brought on to the Gushue rink to play second for the trials, although he calls the game. The Olympics are pretty much the only thing Russ had left to accomplish in his storied career. Could not have happened to a better man. Congrats also to Shannon Kleibrink, who will be representing us on the women's side.
UPDATE: James MacDuff, a former classmate at Queen's whose father Jack won Newfoundland's only Brier in 1976, weighs in.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:46 AM
Monday, December 12, 2005
Why I won't be posting any more polling results
In fact, I don't know why I've wasted as much time on them as I have in this campaign. They're useless. Arianna Huffington, for whom I once worked (when she was conservative) was one of the first people I know of to really question polling and polling methods. Her arguments made a lot of sense to me then and they still do now.
But what put me over the edge today was a story quoting Darrell Bricker of Ipsos-Reid, commenting on how the Tories are 19% behind the Liberals in Ontario:
More worrisome, however, is Ontarians’ fear about what they are not hearing from the Conservatives, Bricker warned.
"It’s the other stuff ... the things that relate to intolerance and privatization of health care that people haven’t heard enough clarity on. That’s always the problem with Stephen Harper in Ontario ... people think that he’s representing some sort of a Mike Harris-style hidden agenda and he’s not talking about it. Even though the policies may actually sound good, it’s more like: well, what aren’t you telling me - what about a woman’s right to choose, or the separation between church and state?"
That is so wacked, tough to know even where to start. "Mike Harris-style hidden agenda"? Excuse me? You can accuse Mike Harris of a lot of things, but I don't believe having a hidden agenda would be one of them. In fact, it's tough to think of another modern politician who was so up-front so early on about what he intended to do. (Remember, the Common Sense Revolution was released in June 1994, a full year before the Ontario election.) Bricker also knows that several recent polls show a new willingness to explore private healthcare options -- even though Harper is not running on that.
The various polling companies are doing so many polls, its tough to keep track anyway. And they all seem to use different sample sizes, which means varying margins of error. So this blog is officially a poll-free zone until January 23.
(Countdown to first comment below from Peter Loewen...)
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:14 PM
That's a lot of pub fare
One person who apparently can't be trusted with a $25/week childcare tax credit: Scott Reid!
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:12 PM
Sunday, December 11, 2005
On beer and popcorn
Change the score to 1-1 on the foot-in-mouth count. Scott Reid's comments today -- that parents cannot be trusted with a childcare tax credit because they could spend it on "beer and popcorn" -- has exposed Liberals utter obsession with statism, a concept explored at great length in our book. From the introduction:
Canada’s political status quo is not liberal, conservative, right-wing or even classical liberal—it is statist. Statism, as defined by the Acton Institute, is “a program or viewpoint that looks to the state for res-olution of social and moral problems, rather than to individual effort. Specifically, a condition where the nongovernmental institutions of a so-ciety develop an overextended and unhealthy reliance upon political structures for the solution of problems.”
Statism is anathema to conservatism. It leads to citizens placing an increased value on government not only as a means of solving social problems, but as being the preferred means of attaining social status. Think for a moment about the (mostly self-appointed) Canadian elite, particularly its public intellectuals, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a non-statist among them. All the members of the CBC cocktail circuit—Adrienne Clarkson, John Ralston Saul, June Callwood, David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood, etc.—have either been employed by government or advocated intervention of the state to solve our problems.
Today Scott Reid let the Liberal's statist, "government knows best" ideology show. They don't trust parents with their own money! What he said is embrassing, and most parents will be repulsed. The Conservatives can and I think will make some hay off this.
Two other quick points:
1. Looks like the polls are staring to move...
2. No clue whether it is actually in line or not of the actual split of pro vs. con feedback received, but if this CBC compilation of emails about the Martin handgun announcement is in anyway representative of the population, oh boy. And this is the CBC we are talking about here.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:29 PM
Ups and Downs, Week Two
The week that was ... it's a draw!
The Conservatives -- 8/10
Another rock-solid week for Stephen Harper. More positive policy announcements, including more tax credits for senior pensioners, small business tax cuts, and help for apprentices and tradespeople. No major gaffes. Good campaigns ads directed at Quebec were released. Harper looks like he's having fun. Monte Solberg is doing a good job keeping the heat on Ralph Goodale over the potential leak on the income trust announcement, which could turn into a big-time scandal. Good strategy on Quebec, trying to drive a wedge between the federal and provincial Liberal parties. And Harper is right -- Martin has hung Charest out to dry numerous times.
Why points were removed: Despite two good weeks in a row for Harper, he seems to be having troubling gaining momentum. The polls aren't moving -- yet. (It doesn't help that newcasts give Martin's policy announcements the first story slot while relegating the Tories to third or fourth.) MP Brian Pallister -- of course, it had to be a Tory -- gets the first foot-in-mouth mention.
The Liberals 8/10
The handgun ban is like Harper's GST cut: bad public policy, great politics. This was the story of the week. Having David Miller and Michael Bryant present at the press conference made it look all that much better. Definite bonus points for the Clinton photo-op at the Kyoto summit, as well as for leaking the story that the Bush White House "reprimanded" Frank McKenna for Martin's comments on the U.S. record on climate change (which is actually better than Canada's.) Nice ads.
Why points were removed: Nobody's perfect. Martin continues to look awful when speaking without notes -- and equally bad in both languages.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:48 AM
Friday, December 09, 2005
What in heck is going on?
Poll after poll shows virtually no change in the national numbers, and some even show Liberal gains. The latest from Léger shows a 12-point Liberal lead:
The Leger Marketing survey done for The Canadian Press put support for the Liberals at 39 per cent, compared with 27 per cent for the Conservatives. The NDP stood at 16 per cent, the Bloc Quebecois at 12 and the Green party at five. The poll of 2006 people, conducted Friday through Wednesday, suggested the Liberals were ahead of the Tories by a whopping 19 points in the key battleground of Ontario and by 16 points in Atlantic Canada. I expect we'll get a healthy sampling of other new polls tonight and in Saturday's papers.
What is going on here?
A 20-point Liberal lead in Ontario? After all of Stephen Harper's solid policy announcements? I have to admit being a bit surprised. I think this phenomenon can be blamed on one of the following three things:
1. Voters are not following the election yet so the Conservative policy announcements are having no impact.
This is, I think, the most plausible explanation. People are focused on Christmas shopping, exams, etc ... and are not paying attention to the campaign. No one will really tune in until the new year, at which point the polls could move in the Tories' direction.
2. Voters don't like the policy announcements.
I doubt it. The policies, especially the GST cut, are solid ones. The Harper daycare plan is far better than the Liberal one; I have yet to meet a parent who says, if they had the choice, that they'd rather have their kid in government-run daycare than at home with them.
3. Voters in Central Canada have already ruled out voting Tory, and nothing is going to change their minds.
Only time will tell.
UPDATE: David Mader's point is an important one. Today's Globe headlines the regional shift in the numbers, and the Tories are in fact picking up ground some areas, including all-important Southwestern Ontario.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:43 AM
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Get the press transcripts!
Paul Wells has a good column in the latest Maclean's on what it was like travelling with Harper and his entourage the first week of the campaign. He more or less confirms my 7/10 Ups and Downs rating, while highlighting some pretty poor mistakes. Among them:
In the bus to Halifax airport, the TV reporters learned that Harper had snuck off to give an interview to ATV without telling us. And that in the interview he had apologized for the comments he once made about a "culture of defeatism" in the Atlantic provinces. If you really want to make a bus full of reporters angry, tell them their news organizations are paying the Conservative Party of Canada $2,000 a day so they can cool their heels while the candidate sneaks off to give away news for free to someone else. Show us the tape, we told the Harper staff. Give us a transcript. They protested that they couldn't. It was time for desperate measures. So I asked the Liberals. "Your assignment," I typed into my BlackBerry as we strolled onto the airport tarmac. "Get us a transcript of Harper's interview with ATV before the Harper campaign can." Twenty-three minutes later, as the Harper jet warmed up to fly to Toronto, my Berry buzzed. Two Liberals had sent transcripts of the Harper interview. Oh boy. As I've said before, with the libera bias of the media in this country (and I do not count Wells in that group), if the Tories want to win, they can't just run a campaign as good as the Liberals, they need to be better. Not a good sign.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:04 PM
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
David Cameron
David Cameron, a 39-year-old MP, was yesterday elected leader of the British Conservative Party, beating David Davis, who was running on a more conservative platform. Cameron's campaign was about modernizing the UK Tories -- about bringing in new people into the party (such as more women and minorities) and innovative policies on such topics as the environment. Some conservatives, like Paul Tuns, don't think much of the man. I haven't followed the race closely but am willing to give Cameron a chance. His first speech was pretty impressive. Let's see how he does.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:26 AM
Book update (read: shameless promo)
New ads
Two words for the new Conservative Party ads in Quebec: absolutely fabulous. (Click on the second and third ads.) The party is facing an uphill battle in Quebec, that's for sure. But these ads position the party nicely between the Bloc and the Liberals, while making the point that a protest vote for the Bloc is a waste. I also like how they emphasize the ad was made possible by "clean money."
As for English ads, I think the Tory ones are a little cheezy. I like this one best so far. That's some pretty uplifting music.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:01 AM
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Belinda Stronach: a cruel joke
The Liberals appear to have designated Belinda Stronach as their Conservative attack dog on the national unity file, what with her claim that she defected on the eve of last May's confidence vote because Stephen Harper was willing to "work with the separatists":
Harper's determination to bring down the Liberal minority government was "an ill-conceived assault" on federalism in Quebec that would have stifled progressive social spending and been socially divisive, Stronach said. "I didn't work so hard to put the two conservative parties together to have Mr. Harper break apart this country," Stronach told the Canadian Club in a speech Monday. Only the Liberals, she said, were capable of keeping Canada together. This is unfortunate spin -- it is untrue and coarsens the debate -- but it is to be expected. This line is no doubt going to be repeated ad infinitum for the duration of the campaign, although the fact that Belinda is the spinner may deaden the effect.
Fear-mongering is what the Liberals do best. The Tories have to hit back hard, and in my view ought to go as far as laying out a concrete and detailed plan for reforming Canadian federalism. The arguments for this approach are numerous; among them the fact that it would help draw in voters in Quebec, and maybe even the West. The drawbacks are that the Liberals would have something to shoot at (although that approach seems to working fine so far) and that many Canadians don't care about constitutional issues.
On a separate note, David Mader's blog has become indispensible reading, especially in the area of poll and data interpretation. Great stuff, especially considering he lives in Texas!
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:21 AM
Monday, December 05, 2005
Mind-boggling
This morning's poll in The Globe and Mail, which shows the Martin Liberals "surging" in Ontario, is, to say the least, baffling. How the Tories have dropped 5% to 30% in the province is beyond comprehension. I would have liked to see a more detailed explanation of this from the pollsters, but the article is short on rationale.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:37 AM
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Ups and Downs, Week One
Welcome to Ups and Downs, a new feature on Daifallah.com that will run for the duration of the election campaign (ie. 8 weeks) rating the the performances of the Conservative and Liberal campaigns. If you're wondering why I'm not doing the NDP and Bloc, it's because it would be too much work. Sorry. So here we go:
The Conservatives -- 7/10
Comments: Very positive start, nearly as good as the party could have hoped for. They controlled the dialogue each day, starting with Harper's excellent, upbeat speech to caucus after the confidence vote. The GST cut announcement has scored major points with the electorate -- it may not be sound economics, but its a vote-getter. Harper looks good. The campaign looks like a professionally-run operation. Announcing that Gurmant Grewal wasn't running only after the writ was dropped was strategically brilliant -- it went under everyone's radar and barely made news. If he had announced it last week, it would have been a two or three-day news story. Raising gay marriage on day one was questionable, but it may have been strategically smart. Harper now has gotten the issue out of the way. I did not deduct points for this move but if he continues to raise it every week I will.
Why points were removed: A few mistakes were made, but none were serious. He should have answered the reporter who asked the question of "Do you love Canada?" with a simple "Yes." He and MacKay got their communication mixed up on the public prosecutor announcement. In Quebec City on Wednesday morning, Harper did not know the names of his own candiates who were standing behind him at the podium, prompting a front-page headline news story about it Thursday in Le Soleil, Quebec City's newspaper. This is especially bad given that the party actually has a shot to win a seat here.
The Liberals -- 4/10
Comments: Very surprising week from the normally polished and professional Liberal camp. No innovative or interesting policy planks announced, just bluster and fear-mongering. Worst moment of the week was when Martin looked like a deer caught in headlights after Harper's GST announcement. His reaction was inexcusable. Rumours had flown around for months that the Tories were considering doing this. Martin had nothing smart to say in response to the news at his press conference. The announcement of Marc Garneau as a candidate in the Bloc-held riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges garnered surprisingly less media hype than I thought it would. Michael Ignatieff's "star" candidacy in Etobicoke-Lakeshore has so far been an unmitigated disaster. It could have been a worse week, but not much.
Why points were removed: All of the above. They ceded the headlines to Harper every day of the week. If this is a deliberate strategy, it seems like a silly one.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:47 PM
Two items on the Tories in Quebec
I was going to post these separately, but since they are both related to Tories in Quebec, I'm posting them together:
1. There is an absolutely explosive interview (in French) with Frédéric Têtu, the ex-Tory candidate in the riding of Louis-Hébert, about the state of the Quebec wing of the Conservative Party. It is not pretty. Amongst other things, Têtu piles on party organizer and current candidate, the perma-tanned Josée Verner. Among the allegations made by Têtu in his interview with André Arthur, Quebec City's most listened to radio talk show:
-Verner is hoarding Quebec Tory financial resources for her own organization so she can become the only elected Conservative MP in Quebec (she will not win, however);
-Verner has strong links to Adscammer Marc-Yvan Côté (the ex-Bourassa cabinet minister and Liberal organizer who is amongt the 10 people banned for life from the federal Liberal party), as do other high-profile Quebec Tories.
-The party wanted to dump Verner but decided against it after Belinda Stronach's defection, because, according to Têtu, the party could not risk losing another high-profile female for image reasons.
It was also noted by the host, Mr. Arthur, that Québec Tory honcho Lawrence Cannon is an ex-boyfriend of Sheila Copps, which I did not know. Verner was formerly Cannon's aide when he was a cabinet minister in Robert Bourassa's government.
Têtu said he is so disgusted by what he saw in the Tory party he has cut all ties to the party and won't even vote Conservative. The contents of this interview are extremely damaging to the Tories, especially if it starts to circulate. Quebec City and the surrounding region is the only area where the party could conceivably win anything. Which leads to point two...
2. The Tories could win a seat in Quebec. And no, it is not Josée Verner's. It is the riding of Beauce, where Liberal MP Claude Drouin is retiring. The Tories had nominated Maxime Bernier as their candidate last year, but he stepped aside when the government didn't fall in the spring. He has now come back. Three reasons he can win: 1) It is a Liberal-held riding and there is no incumbent in the race, 2) Maxime is the son of Gilles Bernier, who held the riding in the Mulroney years, and the Bernier family practically owns the riding, and 3) la Beauce is quite a unique region of Quebec. Don't be surprised if Maxime heads to Ottawa on Jan. 23.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:47 PM
Friday, December 02, 2005
Should be good for an extra Tory seat or two
Kim Campbell doesn't like Stephen Harper.
Yes, the woman who started the 1993 election with a lead in the polls only to end up with two seats says the party's positions "are too socially conservative, I think, to form a government in Canada." I haven't been keen on Harper's insistance on keeping the SSM issue in the news, but to call the party "socially conservative" is a bit much.
The irony of this is that on the other issue usually cited with SSM as the so-con bread-and-butter -- abortion -- Campbell was more "socially conservative" than the current party. Party policy now is that a Conservative government will not legislate on abortion.
But when Campbell was justice minister, she brought forward and had passed a bill that would have placed limits on abortion. Campbell's bill was a response to the Supreme Court decision in R v. Morgentaler, which essentially did away with all limits on abortion. The Campbell bill passed the House but was defeated in the Senate, and to this day no one has dared touch the subject again.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:26 PM
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