What To Do With Denis Lebel?

The Conservative Minister of Transport Denis Lebel once held membership in the Bloc Quebecois, so today's poll question; what should be done with him? Should he be disqualified from sitting in cabinet? Would you go so far as remove him from caucus? Or is it okay with you so long as he's not chosen to lead the party? He disclosed this information about his past prior to joining the Tories, so this was known to party officials. David McGuinty was in full throttle attack mode on Monday, questioning the Prime Minister's patriotism. Ironically, the Liberal Party is itself divided on whether or not the NDP leader's former Bloc membership is acceptable or destructive. Granted the Liberals once teamed up with the Bloc in an attempt to overthrow the government in 2008, so it is a little rich for the Liberals to attack the Tories for having a cabinet minister who once had a Bloc membership card as being unpatriotic.

I have no objections to Mr Lebel sitting as Transport Minister, though I never would have appointed him in the first place. He became a junior minister a year after being elected in a byelection in 2007, and was promoted to a bigger portfolio in 2011 after the Quebec Tory caucus was cut in half (the PM had only had 5 MPs to choose from with 4 of them being appointed). Had the Tories won more seats in the province, it is unlikely that Lebel would have been selected to his current post, but the PMO insisted on having as many Quebec cabinet ministers as possible and so here we are. It will be interesting to see which Liberals attack Lebel and defend Turmel.

Liberals Overtake The NDP

According to the latest Nanos poll, the Liberals have now overtaken the NDP for 2nd place in popular support as Dipper support in Quebec is collapsing following the bad news about Jack Layton's health. The Liberals now find themselves at 27% support where they had fallen below 15% in the weeks following the election (nearly doubling their support over the last 2 months). True, Ignatieff took the party to a bold new rock bottom, meaning that Bob Rae had nowhere to go but up with recent gains being helped by NDP misfortune. The Nycole Turmel appointment has been a disaster, but reneging on her leadership because of a history with separatist parties will not play out well in Quebec where many new NDP voters have likely previously at one point voted Bloc.

We all wish Jack Layton the best, but we do have to acknowledge that he's irreplaceable as leader. The good news for the Dippers is that we are at least 3 years away from the next election, so all this polling data is just moot anyway. In minority governments polling matters a whole lot more because it can fuel election speculation.  For the next 3 years, it doesn't matter what happens in the news or in the polls, there won't be any federal elections.

Economic Crisis; What Would Bob Rae Do?

As the western world teeters on the brink of another major recession, Liberal leader Bob Rae has started dispatching economic advice to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Keep spending and take it easy on the cuts. Thanks Bob. While it is true that Rae has previous experience dealing with financial turmoil (his entire term as Premier of Ontario was one big economic crisis), he sure as Hell ain't my go to guy for solving fiscal problems. The Tories have signalled that there will be spending cuts, and already you can see the Liberals and NDP lining up to attack every single one of them. It will give the opposition a rallying point to join forces against the government. They'll fight to defend global warming jobs at Environment Canada.

At this point it is still questionable whether or not we should have done the first stimulus, but Ignatieff demanded it as a condition of supporting the 2009 budget. Plus the Americans were doing a stimulus, so it seemed like the popular thing to do at the time. Canada's economic recovery in the last recession was among the fastest and most efficient in the western world, but that likely has more to do than with the strength and stability of our economic system rather than tax money pumped into the economy. We did not have a recession because our economy is broken, it happened to us because we are so closely tied to America and Europe who are broken.

When all is said and done, I'm going to willfully disregard economic advice from Bob Rae, and you should too.

USA Debt Ceiling Raised, Yet Global Markets Collapsing?

Hold on a minute, I thought all the experts were telling us that if the USA did not raise their debt ceiling, they would lose their AAA credit rating? And yet, the debt ceiling went up, and the credit rating still went down? What kind of madness is this? Now global stock markets are plunging, despite Obama reaching a deal to drive the United States deeper in debt? How is this even possible? Maybe just maybe, the answer to a debt crisis is not going deeper in debt? Obama should be on the phone with Stephen Harper asking him for advice, because his administration as been leading the American economy into the abyss. Obama is in over his head, and he needs help.
Canada is in comparatively great shape, but if the United States collapses we will feel the pain because we sell so much to our southern neighbours. I'm just responding to all those who said the debt ceiling had to be raised to maintain America's credit score, but you did and the rating fell anyway. Good work. Taking out new credit cards to solve the problem of maxing out your previous credit cards doesn't solve any damned problem.

So Who Leaked Turmel's Bloc Past To The Media?

This is a question that we might never know the answer to, but I'd be very curious to know who informed the media of NDP leader Nycole Turmel's Bloc membership history. This was not something that the Dippers put in their original press release, but it was something known to their leadership. Had this information been easily available, the media would have reported on it when she was appointed interim leader. People knew prior to the NDP's Wednesday announcement that she had previously endorsed a Bloc candidate, but not that she was a due paying member. There have been rumours that the information came courtesy of Tom Mulcair, though at this point such an assertion is just speculation. It just as likely came from the top NDP brass after people on talk radio (CBC Sunday Cross Country Check-up) were openly calling her a separatist.

The leak had to come from either the Bloc or from within the NDP, because those were the only two parties that seemed to know this information. We know that a number of NDP MPs expressed surprise when they found out, so it is unlikely that the party leadership disclosed this information when her candidacy for leader was put to a caucus vote. Guaranteed the Bloc was well aware that she was a member and sending them money, so it is plausible that they leaked it to the media. Either way, this looks really bad to Canadians outside of Quebec and the Dippers would be smart to replace her before Parliament resumes. Then again, they don't want to admit that there could possibly be anything wrong with running people who were once Bloc members now that they are dependent on former Bloc voters for the majority of their caucus.

When I asked my friend who is a registered NDP member what he thought about the NDP gains in the 2011 election; his response, "easy come, easy go"...

BC Liberal Premier Skips Pride Parade, Little Media Response

When Mayor Rob Ford went on vacation instead of attending Toronto's gay pride parade, the national media erupted in outrage that Mr. Ford was "legitimizing hate" by not attending. Fast forward to last weekend when the Liberal Premier of British Columbia Christy Clark skipped Vancouver's pride parade for a vacation, and where is the outrage in the media? Where are the headlines at the Globe and Mail? Listening to talk radio here in Vancouver yesterday, there was some speculation that she skipped the parade intentionally to try and appeal to Conservatives. I'm not sure I believe that. It's just ironic how the media treats these two comparable stories with completely opposite levels of attention. If it was deliberate, I'm not sure it was intelligent because Christy's strength is supposed to be her left flank. She won the leadership nomination with overwhelming support from NDP held ridings.

The Soloman Show dedicated no time to the BC Premier skipping Vancouver's pride parade, unlike the furor that followed the decision of Rob Ford.

Does It Matter That NDP Leader Was A Due Paying Bloc Member?

Today's poll question (borrowed from the CBC Politics Show); "does it matter to you that the interim leader of the opposition once held party membership in the Bloc Quebecois?" Normally I'm not a fan of cutting and pasting CBC poll questions, but in this instance I'd like to see how the Blogging Tory audience responds to the exact same question. The CBC audience went 50% no and 49% yes. The Soloman Show has an audience that is normally about 80% or more left wing, so clearly you have Liberals going both ways on this matter.

Does it matter to you? Who are the Liberals saying yes, and who are the Liberals saying no?

July 2011 Polling

Here are the results of your poll questions for the month of July. While much was happening in the world, it was a slow month for Canadian politics; that is until recently when our political landscape started heating up with various revelations coming from the official opposition. We found out that Linda Duncan has the worst hairdo in politics, while 25% of you think Bob Rae will be the next permanent leader of the NDP if Jack Layton is unable to return. A slim majority (97%) of you think that the names and pictures of suspected war criminals should be published to the Canadian public. 3% of you think gas taxes should be increased to fund public transit expansion.

Here are the rest of your poll questions:

IS IT ACCEPTABLE FOR OUR NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTER TO TRAVEL TO THE UNITED STATES TO PROMOTE CANADIAN ENERGY?

Yes (99%)
No (1%)
Undecided (0%)

SHOULD WIRELESS INTERNET BE ILLEGAL?

No (95%)
Yes (4%)
Undecided (1%)

IF JACK LAYTON IS UNABLE TO RETURN AS LEADER OF THE NDP, WHO DO YOU EXPECT THE NEXT PERMANENT LEADER TO BE?

Tom Mulcair (29%)
Bob Rae (25%)
None of the above (18%)
Libby Davies (9%)
Peggy Nash (4%)
Pat Martin (4%)
Charlie Angus (2%)
Nycole Turmel (2%)
Linda Duncan (1%)

SHOULD THE NAMES OF SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINALS HIDING IN CANADA BE MADE PUBLIC?

Yes (97%)
No (2%)
Undecided (1%)

IF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES HAS DECLINED EVERY YEAR SINCE THE TORIES CAME TO POWER, SHOULD THEY CHANGE COURSE ON THEIR “TOUGH ON CRIME” AGENDA?

No (94%)
Yes (6%)
Undecided (0%)

SHOULD CANADA EVEN HAVE A CENSUS, BE IT LONG OR SHORT?

Yes (73%)
No (24%)
Undecided (3%)

WHICH MEDIA/POLITICAL PERSON HAS THE WORST HAIRDO?

Linda Duncan (20%)
Elizabeth May (13%)
Susan Delacourt (12%)
Donald Trump (11%)
Julie Van Dussen (8%)
Rosemary Barton (7%)
Kady O'Malley (7%)
Frances Russell (5%)
Jane Taber (4%)
They all have great hair (4%)
Rebekah Brooks (2%)
None of the above (1%)

HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED THE SHOW CASH CAB ON THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL?

No (69%)
Yes (31%)

HOW WOULD YOU RATE JOHN BAIRD'S EARLY PERFORMANCE AS MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS?

Excellent (51%)
Acceptable (35%)
Replaceable (7%)
Undecided (5%)

WOULD INDIA BE JUSTIFIED INVADING PAKISTAN TO TAKE OUT TERRORIST GROUPS?

Yes (62%)
I'd say yes if Pakistan did not have nukes (23%)
No (10%)
Undecided (4%)

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE FREQUENT LIBERAL CROSS COUNTRY TOURS?

Beg boosters for more money (50%)
To be seen making an effort (29%)
They don't make any sense (14%)
Connect with regular Canadians (2%)
Quell rebellion (2%)
Undecided (0%)

SHOULD GAS TAXES BE INCREASED TO FUND PUBLIC TRANSIT EXPANSION?

No (95%)
Yes (3%)
Undecided (2%)

SHOULD THE PRIDE PARADE RECEIVE GOVERNMENT FUNDING?

No (96%)
Yes (3%)
Undecided (1%)

WOULD YOU LIKE PRINCE WILLIAM TO BE CANADA'S HEAD OF STATE?

Yes (67%)
No (31%)
Undecided (2%)

Absorbing The Bloc: NDP Strategy?

When the NDP gobbled up 92% of the Bloc Quebecois' seats in the 2011 election, it might not have been a coincidence, but rather coordinated strategy. I'd be curious to know just how many of the new Quebec NDP MPs are former members of Quebec separatist parties and organizations like their new interim leader. Turmel disclosed her past associations to NDP leadership prior to running in the last election, so the Party knew this information prior to her candidacy and eventual selection as Party leader. What better way to attract Bloc voters than to run Bloc members? The Bloc still had 890,000 votes in 2011, votes I'm sure the NDP are trying to woo.

It is starting to look like Turmel is fast becoming the best thing to happen to the Liberal Party in the last decade. Her interview on Tuesday with Rosemary Barton trying to explain why she joined the Bloc Quebecois and Quebec Solidaire was vague and hardly made any sense. She joined the Bloc because her friend asked her to, and she liked their policy on "scabs". The sovereignty matter was not important, well except that as a member she was also giving the Bloc money allowing them to fuel their fight for independence. Who cares about that, they had good policy on making it illegal to hire replacement workers in the event of a strike. National unity, or no more scabs? Yes, she willingly donated financial resources to an organization dedicated to splitting up the country, but her friend asked her to and everybody hates scabs, right? That was the Rosemary Barton Show on Tuesday.

With each passing day, this leadership selection is just getting worse for the Dippers. However there might be more at play than meets the eye, mostly whether or not the Bloc will even continue to exist without party subsidies. The Bloc was entirely funded by federal tax money, and without that cash, it makes sense to fold the Bloc and put all their resources into the Parti Quebecois mothership. If the Bloc folds, then nearly a million Quebec voters are suddenly up for grabs.

Is Nycole Turmel A Good Choice For Interim NDP Leader?

Today's poll question; is Nycole Turmel a good choice for interim leader of the NDP? That was the subject of yesterday's Cross Country Check-up, which produced a wide variety of phone calls. Some NDP supporters are doing their best to put a positive spin on the selection, while others are very concerned. In past elections before becoming an NDP candidate, she has endorsed candidates from the Bloc Quebecois and the Québec Solidaire Party, prompting one Liberal Blogger to write a post "Nycole Turmel - Dancing With Separatists". She reminds me of a female Stephane Dion without the experience of having previously sat in Parliament. Where Dion came from academia, Turmel's roots are in big labour, and she rates the needs of public unions above national unity. Who cares if you want to split up the country, what can you do for my union membership?

We all wish Jack Layton the best in his recovery, but if he is unable to return the NDP has some very serious problems. Their large gains in the 2011 election can be almost entirely credited with Jack's personal popularity. He delivered a knock-out punch to Ignatieff in the english debates and followed that up by obliterating Gilles Duceppe in the french debates; helping us win our beloved Tory majority. What happens in the fall is anyone's guess at this point.

UPDATE: Tuesday we found out that not only did she previously endorse Bloc candidates, but that she was a registered member of the Bloc Quebecois! She only quit the Bloc earlier this year to run for the NDP, and all of this was known to Jack Layton and the Party. This news is going to create problems for the NDP outside of Quebec.