Ignatieff, the gift that keeps on giving! First he pulls 40% of his caucus from showing up to work on budget vote day, then he himself skips out for a week while his MPs attempt to defeat the Government, and now he is hosting a Thinker's Conference without his caucus! It does make sense though, because if they were invited it would not be appropriate to call it a thinker's conference. Those backbenches are not very deep with what I would call "talent". They are trying to sell tickets at $700 each, so I am not expecting a packed house. I expect to see Donolo outside desperately trying to scalp front row seats at $20 a pop.
I am concerned that if the Liberals ever elect a responsible and pragmatic leader that my blogging career could be in jeopardy, but that is at least an election away and I don't see any strength in their leadership pipeline. I have at least another year of Iggy jokes before I have to start ringing Hell's Bells about Bob Rae. In the meantime, today's poll question will be asking why was the Liberal caucus not invited to Ignatieff's Thinkers Conference? I will leave the nomination process open this afternoon and launch the poll this evening. Below are my early suggestions, and your feedback is strongly encouraged.
1. There are no thinkers in the Liberal caucus
2. Most current MPs likely to be voted out of Parliament by 2017
3. Party desperate for the $700 a head
4. Coup paranoia
5. If they attended, you could not call it a thinkers conference
#5 is my favourite by a long shot!
ReplyDeleteI am thinking that the Liberals are currently going wild (rogue?) with (bad) ideas, and Ignatieff is doing his own version of keeping the radicals in his caucus from having a voice. That sounds like a familiar refrain that they used to use on another party... huh. The shoe is evidently on the other foot now.
Ignatieff has stated that the purpose of this Conference is to harvest "big ideas" for use in the Liberal party platform. It makes sense why he wouldn't want his Liberal Party writing policy their own policy platform. Best to fly in some real thinkers, because I look at that caucus and I just don't see it.
ReplyDeleteIggy knows that he doesn't have many cards to play with, he's no fool (unlike his caucus). Somehow I suspect that the Blogging Tories are going to have a lot of fun with this one!
I thought that Iggy believed in Democracy. Seems that he does not want to hear any ideas from his Liberal ridings. One would think that he would want to capture "ideas" from his Liberal membership. Iggy is scary - for he thinks that he is the one that knows best.
ReplyDeleteGood luck finding big ideas in the Liberal caucus!
ReplyDelete1. He couldn't get the Air Canada bulk discount
ReplyDelete2. The caucus is so directionless it would be disastrous to let them loose in Montreal traffic
3. He's not masochistic enough to want their company for the whole week
4. He's just messing with them until he's done
What other bold ideas can there be after demanding unfettered abortions for the third world?
ReplyDeleteThey were not invited because they want the $700
from others.They need it that badly.The other reason was to prevent them from venting about the partyto the media while they were in Montreal.
The other problem is to keep Bob Rae from shining. This would be humiliating for their coronated leader.I would be shocked if Rae were not in Montreal but he would make his presence known to every two-bit journalist within 100 miles of the hotel.
Iggy is trying mimic a cross between a grad seminar and DAVOS, to which I strongly doubt he has ever been invited. He thinks he is such a cool intellectual, but it was PM Harper who gave the INVITED keynote DAVOS address, as he was deemed to have important things to say. This, more than anything, would have REALLY made Iggy CRAZY and wildly jealous. This was a big deal and wildly under-acknowledged/reported by the media, naturally.
ReplyDeleteHow COULD Iggy have a thinkers conference without his own caucus???? If I were a Liberal MP, I would be absolutely livid!
"Hey Bob(Rae) and the rest of the kids: dad has to go out to a very important meeting, so I want to you to babysit the neighbour's kids and feed the dog. You can reach me on my cell".
What is wrong with Ontarians? Can't the 38% see through this elitist behaviour, or are they simply not aware that they already have a good government because the media and opposition gang up to daily trash anything? Not only were the grassroots not invited to the coronation, but this conference is exclusive, unless you have the reg fee plus travel and hotel and meal expenses. No wonder the Liberals have no policies; they forgot to have any policy conferences for years.
It is an easy explanation.
ReplyDeletea) They have already maxed out their donations.
b) The DVD release will include subtitles.
c) It's March see Brutus aka Bob
d) Leadership Debt optics
Iggy was afraid he'd be up-staged.
ReplyDeleteI think the optics on this are very bad. They should have at least had a delegation of MP's attend -- it is like they are not allowed to join the grown-ups. This simply perpetuates a disconnect between big ideas and real politics. Iggy is turning this into an academic conference -- that's what he does -- but like others have suggested, I think MP's should be very peeved about being left out (or maybe "out lefted")
ReplyDelete