Election news 2011

[styky]

The official thread on the federal election 2011

If it's not worth it's own thread but it's on the election plant it here.

[styky]

Layton's health the elephant in room as NDP braces for election


By Tobi Cohen, Postmedia News March 23, 2011

OTTAWA — It doesn't take a medical degree to know NDP leader Jack Layton isn't exactly at his physical peak for an election campaign that most likely will kick off some time over the weekend.

Anybody who's seen him recently will attest to the fact he looks gaunt, pale and sweatier than usual under the hot lights of the television cameras.

As he's limped away from the countless podiums he's graced in recent days with the help of a single forearm crutch, his pain is unmistakable.

But what do you expect from a man who had hip surgery just weeks ago and has been battling prostate cancer for months?

Questions abound about whether the political workhorse can keep up on what will no doubt be a gruelling, five-week campaign — and whether he'll have to scale back his appearances.

While nobody knows for sure what will happen on the hustings, Layton and his colleagues insist he's ready to give it his all.

"I might not jump up the stairs two at a time, but as far as the events that we have and the way in which we communicate our message during the campaign, by meeting with folks, by having announcements and gatherings, I don't really see any changes there," he said Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/health/Layton+hea ... z1HTUt592b

[styky]

John Ivison: Coalition looking likely as Harper fights for a majority


John Ivison Mar 23, 2011 – 4:32 PM ET | Last Updated: Mar 23, 2011 4:41 PM ET

Chris Wattie / Reuters

It is majority government or bust for the Conservatives in the coming election. The more the leaders of the Liberal party, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois talk, the more it becomes apparent that they are prepared to form a coalition of losers, in the event the House of Commons returns in something approximating its current form.

Some commentators have questioned why bother having an election, when the polls suggest it will return a House of Commons that looks remarkably similar. <a href=http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/23/john-ivison-coalition-looking-likely-as-harper-fights-for-a-majority/>continued</a>

[braveheart]

Just one thought for now. Will the fact the opposition (ND's) keep talking up a possible coalition; drive people to give the Tories a majority. Instead of seeing a coalition of losers the people do not want?

[styky]

How a pssh-ing match turned into an election


By Don Macpherson, The Gazette March 23, 2011 9:01 PM



MONTREAL - This week, a debate broke out among Quebec commentators over whether the province’s media, in trying to appeal to women, have become too “ladyfied.”

Obviously, ladyfication is not a problem in politics, where we are about to spend $300 million on a probably inconclusive federal general election as the result of a pissing contest.

That became apparent on Tuesday. Throughout this Parliament, the NDP had been taunting the Liberals for propping up the Conservative minority government. Pssh!

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/pss ... z1HTmMw5CZ

[styky]

Three parties, one strategy: Capture the senior vote
JOE FRIESEN AND JOHN IBBITSON
TORONTO AND OTTAWA— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Mar. 23, 2011 10:33PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Mar. 24, 2011 7:44AM EDT
At election time senior citizens are worth more than the rest of us.

They vote.

And that’s why Canadians will go to the polls for the third time in five years over the Conservatives’ failure in Tuesday’s budget to satisfy an NDP demand to enrich benefits for the elderly.

The Guaranteed Income Supplement may not resonate with the masses, but this election won’t be about the masses. It will be a battle for segments of the population that can be effectively targeted. For all three national parties, wooing the seniors vote is a win-or-lose-the-election priority.

more http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le1954372/

[styky]

Jets, jails, tax cuts ... or Iggy

By MARK BONOKOSKI, QMI Agency

Last Updated: March 23, 2011 10:55pm

Too young to play Monty Hall, too white to play Wayne Brady, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff launched his Let’s Make A Deal gameshow Wednesday in the foyer of the House of Commons.

It’s an electoral version of the old television classic.

Except Ignatieff’s game, unveiled before the huddled scrum of the parliamentary press gallery, has only two doors from which to choose a “prize” in exchange for one’s vote — not three.

There is no orange door in Ignatieff’s game.

NDP Leader Jack Layton, at least in the eyes of Ignatieff, is not even a prize worth considering, not even as a “zonk.”

So, to take up where Tuesday’s editorial left off, Jack gets squat.

Not even a door.

There is only a Red Door and a Blue Door.

In Ignatieff’s beta version of this tried-and-true audience winner, the Blue Door will be perilous for Canadians to open, filled with Conservative evil and ill-will towards all but greedy Bay Street tycoons, knuckle-dragging crime-and-punishment advocates, and salivating war mongers pining for the F-35s to take to the air and start gunning down hostiles.

To even open that door a crack would result in revisiting the horrors of Apocalypse Now, and being pounded by the sounds of Wilhelm Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.

Behind the Red Door is nothing but peace, prosperity and the theme from Love Story.

This is Ignatieff’s promise.

As Ignatieff advised the press corps, “Folks, in the election that’s coming up, there is a Blue Door.

“You go through the Blue Door and you get jets, you get jails, you get corporate tax cuts, and you get miserable knockoffs of the real article,” he said.

“But, you go through the Red Door and you get compassion, you get fiscal responsibility, and you get a government relentlessly focused on the real priorities of Canadian families.

“There are only two choices,” he said indicating that — despite the existence of three political parties representing all of Canada and one serving only Quebecers, yet only two doors — this bit of political theatre was “no game.”

But at least he brought props — surrounded as he was by a cast of caucus members, including Bob Rae, Ralph Goodale, David McGuinty, Ujjal Dosanjh, Marlene Jennings, Scott Brison, Judy Sgro, Martha Hall Findlay — and the props did exactly what props are designed to do.

They stayed mute.

It was Prime Minister Stephen Harper who had the stage first, of course, and who also set the stage for Ignatieff to launch his game show by accusing the three opposition parties of ganging up for an unnecessary election.

“The opposition parties have a choice between two priorities — their ambition for an unnecessary election or our important measures to support Canadians and the economy,” said Harper.

“It is not too late for them to step back, to think about the fragile global recovery and to listen to the strong support of the Canadian public for these measures.

“Our economy is not a political game.”

This, of course, had Ignatieff pointing at the Blue Door.

“I think it’s absolutely hilarious that the prime minister is trying to persuade Canadians we can’t have an election because it would destabilize the economy,” he said.

“This is a democracy, for heaven’s sakes. This man showed flagrant disregard for democracy.”

To which the props smiled.

Even Bob Rae.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/colu ... 29851.html

[styky]

Blame PM for flood-time election: NDP
CBC News
Posted: Mar 23, 2011 2:30 PM CT
Last Updated: Mar 23, 2011 2:30 PM CT

Manitoba's federal NDPers are concerned about going to polls while their province battles a flood.

Pat Martin, the NDP Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, said he and the other two party MPs — Jim Maloway (Elmwood–Transcona) and Nikki Ashton (Churchill) — raised the issue Tuesday with leader Jack Layton as he weighed whether or not to support the federal government's budget.

more - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/ ... itoba.html

[styky]

Liberals make non-confidence official
Cite contempt of Parliament; PM pushes budget

By: Mia Rabson

Posted: 03/24/2011
OTTAWA -- The Liberal party officially indicated Wednesday it has no confidence left in the government, introducing a motion that will topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives by the end of the week.

Scott Brison, the Liberal finance critic, tabled the non-confidence motion based on a committee that found the government in contempt of Parliament for failing to fully answer questions about the cost of its crime bills and planned purchase of new fighter jets.

The NDP and Bloc Québécois both indicated they will support the motion when it comes to a vote Friday just after noon Winnipeg time.

All three opposition leaders said Harper and the Conservatives have crossed the line too often, thumbing their nose at democracy to maintain their grip on power.

more - http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 63334.html

[Dogpatch]

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Jack Layton's NDP: 9-11 conspiracies and internecine conflict

Although there has been some movement in polls suggesting Stephen Harper may be supplanting him for the top position in the likeability contest, Jack Layton has nonetheless been considered the most personally if not politically popular of the three national party leaders.

In a sense, Layton is Canada's Willy Loman, the frustrated salesman from Arthur Miller's most famous play. He may be liked, but not well-liked enough for Canadians to seriously consider giving Layton and the NDP any chance of being the top party in a government. There's good reason for this.

The NDP is a dysfunctional party made of varied and strange components, but in essence can be broken down to two major factions, the radicals and the pragmatists. These factions are personified by Layton's two deputy leaders, Libby Davies and Thomas Mulcair. Davies represents a Vancouver riding with one of the highest poverty and drug-addiction rates in the country. Her radical faction includes a Socialist Caucus that openly admires Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and has been involved in demonstrations where speakers have called for violent revolution in Canada. They have other anti-capitalist and anti-globalization advocates playing ideological guides for the movement in the informally NDP-affiliated think tank, The Council of Canadians, headed by activist Maude Barlow. The radicals also have members like Windsor MP Joe Comartin who recently acted as a sycophantic stage prop for British fanatic George Galloway at a rally at the York Region Islamic Society.

The New Democrat's sane, social democratic faction represented by pragmatists like Foreign Affairs Critic, Thomas Mulcair, has been trying to keep a lid on the radicals. Mulcair, MP for the Outremont riding in Quebec, knows the overwhelming majority of the public would be alienated were they to hear about the direction the NDP radicals want to take Canada.

Never was this internecine conflict more apparent than when Davies' extremist views about Israel were inadvertently exposed in a YouTube interview in June 2010. In it she expressed support for the boycott, sanctions and divestment campaign targeting Canada's mid-east ally, and she made statements suggesting she questioned Israel's validity as a country.

The exposure of Davies' views couldn't have come at a worse time for the NDP. Jack Layton had both the Conservatives and the Liberals on the ropes with embarrassing questions and attacks over their deal to conceal parts of the Afghan mission files. The information in them, which covered a period that spanned Liberal and Conservative governments, was potentially damaging to both parties. The NDP was revelling in the moral superiority given to them by the agreement of Harper and Ignatieff's parties to suppress the release of the Afghan documents.

Both the governing Tories and the Liberals immediately pounced on Davies' blunder. Harper and Bob Rae were part of a chorus calling for Layton to fire her. And rather than exploiting his opponents' vulnerability, Layton was now spending all his time doing damage control because of Davies. Appearances on TV to distance himself and the party from Davies' statements and a personal apology to the Israeli ambassador became Layton's unwanted priorities for the end of last summer's parliamentary session.

Layton and Mulcair told Davies, in no uncertain terms, to keep her mouth shut about Israel and anything that could drag the party into more unwelcome controversy.

But Davies' wasn't fired as deputy leader for a clear reason. She is the mother figure to the radical element in the NDP who, though a minority, punch well above their weight in the party when it comes to activism and organizing. Diminishing Davies' role would have been taken badly by a critical if potentially humiliating component of the party.

But as the country seems ready to go into an election campaign, there are still question of how damaging new revelations about Davies and her faction will be to Layton.

There is a convergence of 9-11 conspiracy theorists and anti-Israel fanaticism in the deranged fringes of society. Canadians may be somewhat more sceptical about Layton's judgement when they hear that one of his deputy leaders has espoused 9-11 conspiracy theories as well as taking stridently anti-Israel positions.

Generally ignored at the time, Libby Davies introduced a 9-11 conspiracy petition into parliament in 2008. One thing to consider is that it is typically unheard of for an MP to introduce a petition to parliament if they disagree with its premise. For example, Davies isn't going to introduce a petition requesting that abortion be re-criminalized or that immigration numbers be reduced.

But even then, there's a pro forma means by which an MP will introduce a petition to parliament which gives them plausible deniability. They say they're introducing it on behalf of constituents and then read the petition verbatim.

Davies doesn't just introduce the 9-11 conspiracy petition in the routine manner. It was signed by only 500 delusional oddballs scattered across this nation of 35 million and she doesn't read it verbatim. She summarizes it and presents it as if it contains facts to which Canada's Parliament must be alerted and act upon.

Davies' own words introducing the petition are:

"It draws the attention to the House of the following, that scientific and eyewitness evidence shows that the 9-11 Commission Report is a fruadulent document and that elements within the US government were complicit in the murder of thousands of people on 9-11, 2001. This event, the petition points out, brought Canada into the so-called War on Terror that has changed the domestic and foreign policies for the worse, and will have negative consequences for Canada."

Layton is trying to play a difficult balancing act between his party's factions. But by keeping Davies prominent in order not to alienate the NDP's most ferverent activists, Layton risks alienating the rest of Canada's voters and calling his judgement into disrepute.

http://eyecrazy.blogspot.com/2011/03/ja ... s-and.html

[styky]

Poll finds big Tory lead as campaign starts

By David Akin Parliamentary Bureau Chief

Last Updated: March 24, 2011
OTTAWA -­ The country's 41st general election campaign will get underway Saturday with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party holding a commanding lead over his rivals, according to a new poll released late Thursday.

Harper's government is expected to lose a confidence vote in the House of Commons around 2 p.m. EDT Friday. A government source told QMI Agency that Harper is "expected" to ask Governor General David Johnston on Saturday to dissolve Parliament for an election that's expected to be on May 2.

Harper hits the campaign trail with the wind at his back, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll.

Ipsos Reid shows the Conservatives are the choice of 43% of Canadians as the campaign opens.

Traditionally, voter support of above 40% translates into a majority The Liberals trail badly at 24% under their leader, Michael Ignatieff, 19 percentage points behind the Conservatives. In the 2008 general election campaign, leader Stephane Dion took the Liberals to their lowest popular vote since Confederation at just over 26%.

Ipsos has the NDP at 16% and the Greens at 6%.

In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois has a commanding lead with 41%, followed by the Conservatives at 25%, the Liberals at 18%, the NDP at 13% and the Greens at 3%.

In Ontario, the Conservatives have a 46%-30% lead over the Liberals and in B.C., it¹s an astounding 50%-22% lead.

The NDP has the support of 16% of Ontarians and 20% of British Columbians.

The poll was taken March 22-23, after the budget was tabled and after the Conservatives had been buffeted by allegations that former top PMO advisor Bruce Carson was facing the allegations of influence peddling and after a series of parliamentary hearings concluded the Harper government was in contempt of Parliament.

And yet, those ethics issues and several others seem to have, if anything, helped the Tories.

For the poll, Ipsos Reid surveyed 1,001 people by phone and says their national results are accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 45376.html

[Dogpatch]

Let's put the fiberal party under a microscope

I'll start

Not so long ago, Liberal David McFibber, oops, I mean David McGuinty ranted about the CPC targeting "ethnic" voters

He was spitting mad over the Conservatives' efforts to attract support from various ethnic minorities around Canada. What really got McGuinty going was that some ridings were labelled "very ethnic" in Tory strategy papers. The Liberal MP demanded to know what "very ethnic" means. He then went on a rhetorical rampage against the Conservatives.

"This is deeply offensive - deeply offensive - to our new, newer, and newest Canadians who live in this country. It's deeply offensive because a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. And what these Republicans have done here - because that's what this is; it's a Republican tactic from the United States - these Reform-Republicans have divided Canada into segments in a way that we have never seen before. The proof's in the pudding of the documents that have been released that they treat Canadians as commodities. They've commodified here electioneering to the point here where it is now offending Canadian citizenship," the outraged McGuinty told assembled media in the foyer of the House of Commons.

The trouble is, those words are a little rich coming from a Liberal MP. I mean, never mind the obvious pandering to new, newer, and newest Canadians - a distinction that seems alright to McGuinty as long as you don't refer to ethnic Canadians. Never mind that his fellow Liberal MP Navdeep Bains admits he has no problem with terms like Indo-Canadian and Greek-Canadian, while ethnic Canadian is offensive. Has McGuinty totally missed what his party has done in the past?

Here are some examples:

Last November, Brampton-Springdale MP Ruby Dhalla issued a <a href=http://rubydhalla.liberal.ca/news-releases/dhalla-advocates-for-the-vulnerable-in-her-constituency/>news release</a> that twice referred to "ethnic communities" being hurt by the census changes the federal government had made. Need we really ask pedantic questions now about what Ms Dhalla meant by that? Do we really think she meant that "ethnic communities" were any less Canadian than other communities?

In October, 2008 Liberal pollster <a href=http://www.triec.ca/news/story/52>Michael Marzolini</a> is quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying, "Every market segmentation you can find is important, be it ethnic background, income level, education, gender, home ownership." He was talking about the Grits conducting polls in minority groups' languages in various ridings. Does McGuinty really believe the Conservative strategy is unique?

At a <a href=http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/008784.html>Liberal candidate training session</a> in May, 2008 the Liberal Party of Canada included an agenda item that read "Targeting by Ethnicity" under the subject Voter Contact. What does McGuinty think about that?

In January, 2007 the Ontario Liberals bought ads <a href=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=5459dfd1-d2f6-43b5-9cd5-5c43e939f060&k=60599>targeted at ethnic minorities</a>. The ads went on Omni and Fairchild Television. Omni is Toronto's multicultural television outlet. Fairchild broadcasts in Chinese. Does David McGuinty think his brother and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is treating Canadians as a commodity?

In August, 2003 former <a href=http://www.immigrationreform.ca/doc/2010/Ethno-politics.pdf>Liberal Party of Canada President Stephen LeDrew</a> responded to criticism that his party was deliberately trying to attract people of Chinese and Sikh origin by wiriting that the Liberals are "the party of immigrants." Does that worry David McGuinty? Is that divisive?

So, McGuinty can level whatever accusations he wants. However, he doesn't have the luxury of being selective in his outrage. Either he hates what his own party does as much as what the Conservatives do, or he accepts that electioneering is marketing - and marketing requires that you know your customer.

From <a href=http://www.newstalk1010.com/blogs/danielproussalidis/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10212091>NEWSTALK1010</a>

[styky]

Let's put the fiberal party under a microscope

I'll start

Not so long ago, Liberal David McFibber, oops, I mean David McGuinty ranted about the CPC targeting "ethnic" voters

He was spitting mad over the Conservatives' efforts to attract support from various ethnic minorities around Canada. What really got McGuinty going was that some ridings were labelled "very ethnic" in Tory strategy papers. The Liberal MP demanded to know what "very ethnic" means. He then went on a rhetorical rampage against the Conservatives.

"This is deeply offensive - deeply offensive - to our new, newer, and newest Canadians who live in this country. It's deeply offensive because a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. And what these Republicans have done here - because that's what this is; it's a Republican tactic from the United States - these Reform-Republicans have divided Canada into segments in a way that we have never seen before. The proof's in the pudding of the documents that have been released that they treat Canadians as commodities. They've commodified here electioneering to the point here where it is now offending Canadian citizenship," the outraged McGuinty told assembled media in the foyer of the House of Commons.

The trouble is, those words are a little rich coming from a Liberal MP. I mean, never mind the obvious pandering to new, newer, and newest Canadians - a distinction that seems alright to McGuinty as long as you don't refer to ethnic Canadians. Never mind that his fellow Liberal MP Navdeep Bains admits he has no problem with terms like Indo-Canadian and Greek-Canadian, while ethnic Canadian is offensive. Has McGuinty totally missed what his party has done in the past?

Here are some examples:

Last November, Brampton-Springdale MP Ruby Dhalla issued a <a href=http://rubydhalla.liberal.ca/news-releases/dhalla-advocates-for-the-vulnerable-in-her-constituency/>news release</a> that twice referred to "ethnic communities" being hurt by the census changes the federal government had made. Need we really ask pedantic questions now about what Ms Dhalla meant by that? Do we really think she meant that "ethnic communities" were any less Canadian than other communities?

In October, 2008 Liberal pollster <a href=http://www.triec.ca/news/story/52>Michael Marzolini</a> is quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying, "Every market segmentation you can find is important, be it ethnic background, income level, education, gender, home ownership." He was talking about the Grits conducting polls in minority groups' languages in various ridings. Does McGuinty really believe the Conservative strategy is unique?

At a <a href=http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/008784.html>Liberal candidate training session</a> in May, 2008 the Liberal Party of Canada included an agenda item that read "Targeting by Ethnicity" under the subject Voter Contact. What does McGuinty think about that?

In January, 2007 the Ontario Liberals bought ads <a href=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=5459dfd1-d2f6-43b5-9cd5-5c43e939f060&k=60599>targeted at ethnic minorities</a>. The ads went on Omni and Fairchild Television. Omni is Toronto's multicultural television outlet. Fairchild broadcasts in Chinese. Does David McGuinty think his brother and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is treating Canadians as a commodity?

In August, 2003 former <a href=http://www.immigrationreform.ca/doc/2010/Ethno-politics.pdf>Liberal Party of Canada President Stephen LeDrew</a> responded to criticism that his party was deliberately trying to attract people of Chinese and Sikh origin by wiriting that the Liberals are "the party of immigrants." Does that worry David McGuinty? Is that divisive?

So, McGuinty can level whatever accusations he wants. However, he doesn't have the luxury of being selective in his outrage. Either he hates what his own party does as much as what the Conservatives do, or he accepts that electioneering is marketing - and marketing requires that you know your customer.

From <a href=http://www.newstalk1010.com/blogs/danielproussalidis/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10212091>NEWSTALK1010</a>

Is that the same Ruby Dhalla that missed <a href=http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1600777#1600777>150 sittings of the house</a> in the last 2 years.

[Dogpatch]

Let's put the fiberal party under a microscope

I'll start

Not so long ago, Liberal David McFibber, oops, I mean David McGuinty ranted about the CPC targeting "ethnic" voters

He was spitting mad over the Conservatives' efforts to attract support from various ethnic minorities around Canada. What really got McGuinty going was that some ridings were labelled "very ethnic" in Tory strategy papers. The Liberal MP demanded to know what "very ethnic" means. He then went on a rhetorical rampage against the Conservatives.

"This is deeply offensive - deeply offensive - to our new, newer, and newest Canadians who live in this country. It's deeply offensive because a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. And what these Republicans have done here - because that's what this is; it's a Republican tactic from the United States - these Reform-Republicans have divided Canada into segments in a way that we have never seen before. The proof's in the pudding of the documents that have been released that they treat Canadians as commodities. They've commodified here electioneering to the point here where it is now offending Canadian citizenship," the outraged McGuinty told assembled media in the foyer of the House of Commons.

The trouble is, those words are a little rich coming from a Liberal MP. I mean, never mind the obvious pandering to new, newer, and newest Canadians - a distinction that seems alright to McGuinty as long as you don't refer to ethnic Canadians. Never mind that his fellow Liberal MP Navdeep Bains admits he has no problem with terms like Indo-Canadian and Greek-Canadian, while ethnic Canadian is offensive. Has McGuinty totally missed what his party has done in the past?

Here are some examples:

Last November, Brampton-Springdale MP Ruby Dhalla issued a <a href=http://rubydhalla.liberal.ca/news-releases/dhalla-advocates-for-the-vulnerable-in-her-constituency/>news release</a> that twice referred to "ethnic communities" being hurt by the census changes the federal government had made. Need we really ask pedantic questions now about what Ms Dhalla meant by that? Do we really think she meant that "ethnic communities" were any less Canadian than other communities?

In October, 2008 Liberal pollster <a href=http://www.triec.ca/news/story/52>Michael Marzolini</a> is quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying, "Every market segmentation you can find is important, be it ethnic background, income level, education, gender, home ownership." He was talking about the Grits conducting polls in minority groups' languages in various ridings. Does McGuinty really believe the Conservative strategy is unique?

At a <a href=http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/008784.html>Liberal candidate training session</a> in May, 2008 the Liberal Party of Canada included an agenda item that read "Targeting by Ethnicity" under the subject Voter Contact. What does McGuinty think about that?

In January, 2007 the Ontario Liberals bought ads <a href=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=5459dfd1-d2f6-43b5-9cd5-5c43e939f060&k=60599>targeted at ethnic minorities</a>. The ads went on Omni and Fairchild Television. Omni is Toronto's multicultural television outlet. Fairchild broadcasts in Chinese. Does David McGuinty think his brother and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is treating Canadians as a commodity?

In August, 2003 former <a href=http://www.immigrationreform.ca/doc/2010/Ethno-politics.pdf>Liberal Party of Canada President Stephen LeDrew</a> responded to criticism that his party was deliberately trying to attract people of Chinese and Sikh origin by wiriting that the Liberals are "the party of immigrants." Does that worry David McGuinty? Is that divisive?

So, McGuinty can level whatever accusations he wants. However, he doesn't have the luxury of being selective in his outrage. Either he hates what his own party does as much as what the Conservatives do, or he accepts that electioneering is marketing - and marketing requires that you know your customer.

From <a href=http://www.newstalk1010.com/blogs/danielproussalidis/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10212091>NEWSTALK1010</a>

Is that the same Ruby Dhalla that missed <a href=http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1600777#1600777>150 sittings of the house</a> in the last 2 years.

The one and only

You know, how can a liberal walk around without a sack over his head is beyond me

[styky]

Let's put the fiberal party under a microscope

I'll start

Not so long ago, Liberal David McFibber, oops, I mean David McGuinty ranted about the CPC targeting "ethnic" voters

He was spitting mad over the Conservatives' efforts to attract support from various ethnic minorities around Canada. What really got McGuinty going was that some ridings were labelled "very ethnic" in Tory strategy papers. The Liberal MP demanded to know what "very ethnic" means. He then went on a rhetorical rampage against the Conservatives.

"This is deeply offensive - deeply offensive - to our new, newer, and newest Canadians who live in this country. It's deeply offensive because a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. And what these Republicans have done here - because that's what this is; it's a Republican tactic from the United States - these Reform-Republicans have divided Canada into segments in a way that we have never seen before. The proof's in the pudding of the documents that have been released that they treat Canadians as commodities. They've commodified here electioneering to the point here where it is now offending Canadian citizenship," the outraged McGuinty told assembled media in the foyer of the House of Commons.

The trouble is, those words are a little rich coming from a Liberal MP. I mean, never mind the obvious pandering to new, newer, and newest Canadians - a distinction that seems alright to McGuinty as long as you don't refer to ethnic Canadians. Never mind that his fellow Liberal MP Navdeep Bains admits he has no problem with terms like Indo-Canadian and Greek-Canadian, while ethnic Canadian is offensive. Has McGuinty totally missed what his party has done in the past?

Here are some examples:

Last November, Brampton-Springdale MP Ruby Dhalla issued a <a href=http://rubydhalla.liberal.ca/news-releases/dhalla-advocates-for-the-vulnerable-in-her-constituency/>news release</a> that twice referred to "ethnic communities" being hurt by the census changes the federal government had made. Need we really ask pedantic questions now about what Ms Dhalla meant by that? Do we really think she meant that "ethnic communities" were any less Canadian than other communities?

In October, 2008 Liberal pollster <a href=http://www.triec.ca/news/story/52>Michael Marzolini</a> is quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying, "Every market segmentation you can find is important, be it ethnic background, income level, education, gender, home ownership." He was talking about the Grits conducting polls in minority groups' languages in various ridings. Does McGuinty really believe the Conservative strategy is unique?

At a <a href=http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/008784.html>Liberal candidate training session</a> in May, 2008 the Liberal Party of Canada included an agenda item that read "Targeting by Ethnicity" under the subject Voter Contact. What does McGuinty think about that?

In January, 2007 the Ontario Liberals bought ads <a href=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=5459dfd1-d2f6-43b5-9cd5-5c43e939f060&k=60599>targeted at ethnic minorities</a>. The ads went on Omni and Fairchild Television. Omni is Toronto's multicultural television outlet. Fairchild broadcasts in Chinese. Does David McGuinty think his brother and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is treating Canadians as a commodity?

In August, 2003 former <a href=http://www.immigrationreform.ca/doc/2010/Ethno-politics.pdf>Liberal Party of Canada President Stephen LeDrew</a> responded to criticism that his party was deliberately trying to attract people of Chinese and Sikh origin by wiriting that the Liberals are "the party of immigrants." Does that worry David McGuinty? Is that divisive?

So, McGuinty can level whatever accusations he wants. However, he doesn't have the luxury of being selective in his outrage. Either he hates what his own party does as much as what the Conservatives do, or he accepts that electioneering is marketing - and marketing requires that you know your customer.

From <a href=http://www.newstalk1010.com/blogs/danielproussalidis/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10212091>NEWSTALK1010</a>

Is that the same Ruby Dhalla that missed <a href=http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1600777#1600777>150 sittings of the house</a> in the last 2 years.

The one and only

You know, how can a liberal walk around without a sack over his head is beyond me

And my kids tell me my memory ain't what it used to be. Heh! The Liberals should be so lucky.