952...When He Is Right He Is Right

Michael Ignatieff has said no truer words than those reported by the Canadian Press in a story just moved:

"'How do I explain to these people that I keep letting this government go on?' Ignatieff told reporters. 'And that's why, in my heart of hearts, after much reflection, we've decided as a party that we can't continue to give the government confidence in the House of Commons.'"

Jack Layton, the ball is in your court brother, your court.

"'We will do our job, even if they will not,' Ignatieff told the nearly empty Conservative benches in the Commons after detailing his list of government failings for more than 10 minutes."

WFDS

948...The View From Montreal

La Presse, the popular Montreal broadsheet, weighs in on what is happening in La Belle and, more specifically, up the street from La Presse in Outremont.

Andre Pratt postulates that the next Prime Minister of Canada may have hit a road bump in the last few days, one that will only serve to boost the Bloc Quebecois. He makes the point that in the last five years or so the two parties that can and will govern this country for the foreseeable future, the Liberals and Conservatives, have not done a great job at attracting the vote of Quebecers.

Mr. Pratt's take on this current situation is that history shows that federal party leaders, even when they come from Quebec, need a strong Quebec lieutenant. A boss. An Ernest Lapointe or a Marc Lalonde type.

My take on the situation is similar; like it or not, Quebec is Quebec and it is important to realize that. I just think that it is a bit early to do like media have been doing for the last few days, attacking Michael Ignatieff.

The only party that truly understands the dynamics of Canada from Sea to Shining Sea is the Liberal Party and the only leader that gets that is ours.

This is merely a speedbump.

WFDS

935...Now On To More Important Things

The party that should be running the show will be introducing a motion today to topple the Tory government today.

The Canadian Press reports that the Liberals will table a non-confidence motion in the Commons today and bring a vote on that Thursday. According to the story I am sourcing this is probably going to fail but at least, unlike, well, not to point fingers but, Jack Layton, hello, at least Mikey I talks the talk and walks the walk.

Gilles Ducppe, the Bloc Quebecois leader, says that he will support the Liberal motion.

This week we find out if the NDPers really are true to their convictions or going to hang with their friends in the Conservative Party. Like they did earlier this month.

The NDP's only Quebec MP Thomas Mulcair said today "...the important thing is to try to keep Parliament working so that we can do things that are in the public interest.'' He failed to mention that if the election is held this fall the NDP will get beaten like a rented mule.

WFDS

922...WFDS: Wrong Again

Post 918 I asked Whither Elizabeth May?

She whither be on the front page of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald.

Mea culpa.

Steven Maher writes that the Green leader "...is predicting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will find a way to engineer an election this fall, even as he attacks Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff for trying to send Canadians to the polls."

The Tory reply from Dimitri Soudas was "Liz May who?"

And please allow me to point out that Ms. May is running in Saanich-Gulf Islands and is on the front page of a newspaper serving one of her old ridings, Central Nova, as far away from her new riding as one can be and still be in Canada.

WFDS

917...Huntsville Here We Come

Huntsville, Ontario, the town that was a huge stepping stone in the career of Shania Twain, is going to be on the world stage next June as South Korea and Canada hold the G-20 summit.

Canadian Press has the story that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and South Korean President Myung-bak Lee made the announcement today during the G20 meetings in Steelertown.

Say what you will about Stephen Harper but I think setting this event up for the new Prime Minister, Mikey I, shows a lot of class.

There is also a G-8 summit mixed in at the meetings in late June of 2010.

I don't know why we are co hosting it with the South Koreans but we are and I haven't quite wrapped my head around the difference between G-20 and G-8 but I do know one thing: Huntsville will have more tear gas rounds per capita in late June 2010 and more protesters per capita in late June 2010 and more police per capita in late June 2010 than any other place on the planet.

I am sure that the new Prime Minister, Michael Ignatieff, will hit it out of the park in Huntsville next year.

WFDS

903...How I Understand Canada

From Michael Ignatieff's True Patriot Love.

We Canadians have trouble believing in ourselves because we live next door to a country that has mythic dimensions. It is also an invented country, but its act of self-invention has proven to be the most stupendously successful in history.

Canadians can only envy the scriptural sublime of America's Founding Fathers and the self-confidence that the American faith seems to engender in every citizen. In our neighbours' infuriating sense of self-importance, Canadians glimpse how love of country penetrates the souls of its citizens, how profoundly it shapes the character of a people. We wonder why such faith does not inhabit our own souls.

Next to the American experiment, Canada's very identity can appear to be nothing more than what Sigmund Freud once called the narcissism of minor difference. After all, we look like them. We buy the same cars. We dress and talk the same way. We holiday in the same places. We root for the same baseball and football teams.

Our differences appear minor and our emphasis upon their importance can seem self-absorbed and trivial. We care more than we should about the distinctive vowel sounds that mark out a Canadian speaking in an American crowd. We care more than we like to admit about beating the Americans at hockey. We know these are small things, but we invest them with defining significance.

We are right to do so. While some of our differences count as minor, others are major indeed. They rebelled against the British. We stayed loyal. They founded a republic. We sought responsible government within the empire. We speak French. They don't.

We owe the Americans much -- it's hard to imagine how we could have remained either free or independent had they not too been a free and independent people.

But our freedom is different, both in general and in detail: no right to bear arms north of the 49th, and no capital punishment either. They had the Wild West. We had the Mounties. Rights that are still being fought for south of the border -- public health care, for example -- have been ours for a generation. A woman's right to choose is secure here; there it remains contested ground. These differences are major, and the struggle to maintain them, while pursuing ever deeper integration with their richer economy, is the enduring challenge, not just of our identity but of our statecraft.

Establishing a uniting national myth beside a nation as powerful and as supremely gifted at myth-making as the United States is never going to be easy. The country that gave us Hollywood and Disneyland casts a glare that makes it hard to see the Canadian shape in the snow.

Besides, we cannot create a single myth, like the United States, because we have three competing ones, English Canadian, French Canadian and aboriginal. Three peoples share a state without sharing the same sense of the country at all. It is small wonder, then, that we have never been sure we can continue to imagine a common future.

Nearly 20% of our citizens are also foreign-born, from every country under the sun. Only Australia counts as many foreign-born nationals among her citizens. These Canadians frequently hold passports from other countries and import the attachments, passions and, occasionally, the ethnic and religious rivalries of their nations of birth.

The loyalties of new Canadians are complex, transitional, sometimes divided. When granting them citizenship, their new country does not ask them to choose Canada and renounce all others. Even so, new Canadians have turned out to be among the most devoted citizens in the country.

Why? Because we remain a land of hope and opportunity, and new Canadians see in our unfinished destiny an image of their own unfinished destinies. Despite these challenges, or because of them, most of us are quietly but intensely patriotic. Our nationalism exemplifies the paradox that feeling for a country increases with the difficulty of imagining it as a country at all.

Imagining what we share is not easy. Imagining this land is never just to imagine it as it appears to you alone. It is to imagine it as an Inuit person might see it, a vast white place where the only sign of Canada is the Mountie detachment in the snow-girt command post at the edge of the settlement.

To imagine it as a citizen is to imagine it as a resident of Yellow Quill reservation in Saskatchewan would have had to imagine it, this Canada where two half-naked children died in a snow-covered field in the sub-Arctic darkness because their father tried to take the sick little girls to his parents and never made it, and all you can hope is that death was as mercilessly quick as the cold can make it. What does a resident of Yellow Quill imagine, what do we Canadians imagine our country to be, the morning we learn that children have perished in this way? It is surely more than just a tragic story of one family. It is a story about us.

To imagine Canada, you have to walk a mile in the moccasins of others. In other countries, where language, ethnicity and myths of origin are shared, less empathy is required and more simple identification, one citizen to the other, may be possible. Not with us. To imagine Canada as a citizen requires that you enter into the mind of someone who does not believe what you believe or share what matters to you.

You have to imagine the country as a Quebecois might see it, a Quebecois who never felt attachment to the flag, to Parliament, to the memories of sacrifice that move you, sometimes, to tears. This is a fellow citizen who voted oui in referendums in 1980 and 1995 to break up the country, or, as it was presented at the time, to negotiate a new relationship between a sovereign Quebec and the rest of Canada. These referendums were the defining crisis of our recent history. We came within an inch of dissolution. We are still absorbing the lessons of a near-death experience.

One of these lessons is that to survive as a country, we have to imagine what we have trouble understanding. We have no choice. A contract of mutual indifference between French and English will only defer the evil day. We must learn to live together now.

The Quebecois who lost the two referendums remain fellow citizens of Canada. They may not want to be here at all, and may still dream of independence one day. Yet we must all work together, if only until the next moment of rupture. Those Quebecois will have to understand the intensity of an attachment to Canada they do not feel themselves. We all have to understand, if not respect, the dream they live for. To be a citizen of Canada is to imagine the feelings of those who do not believe what we believe.

In Canada, empathy has to encompass 33 million people, with competing and conflicting myths of origin, spread across four time zones, in five distinct economic regions, speaking, at least at home, almost every language spoken in the world and, in public, two official languages. In spite of everything, we have managed to keep this project in being for one hundred and forty years. This is no mean feat and, in a world ravaged by difference, it is our example to the world.

WFDS

899...The Next Prime Minister Speaks The Truth

The Canadian Press reports that in a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade earlier Monday the next Prime Minister of Canada said that upon taking office he would open the books and conduct a full audit of public finances.

Michael Ignatieff said that the Conservatives have made a mess of Canada's economy and that his party will be the one to clean it up.

After four years of Stephen Harper's Conservative reign of error Mr. Ignatieff suggests that we ask the question "Are we better off than we were four years ago?''

WFDS

893...Speaking Of Heat

The Canadian Press' Murray Brewster passes along the news that the next Prime Minister is making Jack Layton squirm. The heat was turned up on the Dippers yesterday when Mikey I declared that they'll soon have to make a choice whether they are true believers in Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the minority Conservative government.

Principles or pensions is the question at the New Democratic Party's federal caucus meets these days.

The NDP spin is that "Instead of playing games, Mr. Ignatieff should look at his record," these words emerging from the mouth of spokesman Karl Belanger Sunday. "He propped up Stephen Harper for 79 confidence votes in a row and got nothing in return. The NDP is making Parliament work, trying to get a billion dollars to help the unemployed."

WFDS

886...Mikey I Goes On The Offensive

I believe it was homecoming week or something in Kitchener-Waterloo this weekend, I do know that The Score had a football game between Laurier and Waterloo on the tube. For those of you wondering who won said game, let me tell you that Joe Paopao is coaching at Waterloo so you know that Laurier won.

Tying in with homecoming was a visit by the next Prime Minister of Canada Michael Ignatieff who, as Chuck Howitt reports in this mornings Waterloo Region Record, made a visit to Wilf's, a pub on campus at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University. While having a pop or two Mr. Ignatieff, and I am quoting here, "...attacked the Liberals on a broad range of issues, including the rising deficit, high unemployment, its response to the H1N1 flu epidemic and its failure to fix the problem over medical isotopes."

Note to Chuck Howitt: I don't believe that Mikey I attacked the Liberals; you may want to reread things before you send them to your somnolent proof reading staff at The Record.

I am going to assume Mr. Ignatieff attacked the Conservative Party and rightfully so.

Two victories for Laurier on Saturday. One a win over the crosstown Waterloo Warriors and secondly a visit from the next PM.

Good times, good times.

WFDS

875...Send The Vaccine First;Then If It Doesn'tWork

Send the body bags.

While our Prime Minister was talking hockey in the States his Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, was sending body bags to several First Nations communities in Manitoba that may be ravaged by the upcoming swine flu epidemic.

The next Prime Minister, Mikey I, is quoted by Megan Fitzpatrick of Canwest News Services as stating that sending body bags is bad optics and that "...it sends a message that simply says, we expect aboriginal Canadians to die..." Four reserves said they received body bags in shipments from Health Canada on Tuesday. The shipments also included hand sanitizer and face masks. Apparently the only thing missing in the kit was, wait for it, vaccine.

This is the crew that Charles W. Moore thinks we should give a majority to.

OMG.

WFDS

873...More Tory Propaganda

This time from a more credible source, Peter Worthington, in the Toronto Sun.

Mr. Worthington postulates that the next Prime Minister of Canada, Michael Ignatieff, may be getting bored with partisan politics and may just be gerrymandering an election so he can get defeated and go back to scribbling books and sipping champagne on the international smart guy circuit.

The emminent Toronto Sun writer goes on to say that he is speculating and that now that both the Bloc Quebecois and NDP seem to have backed off what was sure-fire election agitation a couple of weeks ago, maybe Mr. Ignatieff is now captive of election-mania rather than its instigator. He also makes the important point that since the Tories seem likely to benefit most if there's an election, maybe Stephen Harper will provoke one.

After a few hundred words disparaging partisan politics, Mr. Worthington does point out that Mikey I is an intriguing fellow and that it would be surprising if one as bright at the next PM wasn't distracted a bit by the goings on on the Hill.

WFDS

870...At Least Michael Ignatieff Has Stones

Love him or hate him, fact is at least one knows where the next Prime Minister of Canada stands.

New story out of Ottawa bureau of the Canadian Press states that, following the Bloc Quebecois, Jack Layton and the NDP will support the Tories in Stephen Harper's bid to cling to power and the perks that it gives him.

"The NDP says it will support the Conservatives on a crucial budget motion Friday - and keep propping up the government long enough to pass EI legislation to help unemployed workers. The news appears to rule out a fall election - as long as EI legislation is still in play."

So now we have the right wing right way Tories in bed with the party that wants to break up the country and the dreaded socialists. At least you are consistently inconsistent Mr. Harper.

My Lord we do need Mikey I and we need him now but I am willing to wait til next summer when all the pensions of the soon to be losing candidates in the NDP and Bloc are vested.

Then Canada will truly soar.

WFDS

862...The BQ Blinks First

It was either Jack Layton or Gilles Duceppe that was going to save the Tories from another election. Gilles Duceppe, who has 16 MPs who need to hang in til middle of 2010 to get their pension, was the man who blinked first.

The BQ says it will support the Ways and Means motion because there is nothing bad in it. Just in case the NDP will also support the motion Friday because of the EI stuff they want pushed through.

This means that future Calgary realtor of the year [or should that be Realtor of the Year] Stephen Harper and the minority Conservative government will survive at least until the first week of October when the next Prime Minister of Canada, Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals plan to introduce a non-confidence motion.

WFDS

848...Why Can't We Be Friends?

For the good of the country.

I thought about this last night when I was watching the NFL on NBC. During the game there was an advert for the Monday night games on ESPN, an ABC property. ABC and NBC have been long time competitors but, for the good of the NFL, they cross promote during their games.

Wouldn't it be nice if Michael and Stephen and Jack could be friends? For the good of the country.

WFDS

841...No One Reads Comments Sooooooo

I am printing this one.

Even though the person that wrote it was not proud or secure enough to sign it he/she/ts/q/etc [see I am politically correct!] he/she/etc makes some valid points:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "824...Stephen Harper Makes A Video":

Why would Stephen Harper get warm fuzzies over the Opposition? Layton proudly declares he has voted against the Cons 79 times (didn't have to even read the budget to declare the NDP would vote NO!) That's real cooperation, Jack.
As for Ignatieff, he has met with the P.M. 3 times since his coronation in Jan. (twice at the request of the P.M.) His attitude of "he (Harper) knows where to find me" reeks of arrogance. When Harper was in Opposition, he was in constant communication with the P.M. advocating for Canadian people, a high-salaried job that Ignatieff has no clue about as official leader of the opposition. So... 9 months into the year we have heard blustering remarks from Ignatieff about his desire to take down the government no less than 3 times. We are starting to look like a banana republic internationally. The NDP and Liberals equate Harper's "meaness" with not caving in to their expensive demands, other than the budget which was opposition driven. I think the shoe is on the other foot..the Opposition is not cooperating with Harper. If you doubt this check "How'd They Vote" a website which clearly shows the voting records of all M.P.'s. It's an eye-opener!
As for the justice system --WHAT JUSTICE SYSTEM??? Thankfully Harper has initiated a federal agency to support VICTIMS of crime, since they have largely been forgotten by the NDP/Liberals and Bloc.
And NO, the Bloc should have no positions in the outcomes of what happens to the rest of Canada, since their mandate is to separate from it. They represent Quebec--leave it at that. Canadians don't want a nanny state --although lately the groanings indicate we might have to grow up a little. As Kennedy said (paraphrased) "ask what you can do for your country, not what it can do for you."

By the way, about 20 sics in there.

LOL.

WFDS

836...Perhaps The Tories Should Take ESL

ESL.

That is English As A Second Language.

They are courses typically offered to new Canadians but in this case I think Stephen Harper and his gang should take them just so they can understand what Michael Ignatieff means when he says thing.

The opening paragraph of Campbell Clark's piece in the Globe and Mail today states that the next PM has ruled out forming a coalition government if he doesn't get a majority; the Conservative's have reacted by airing new adverts saying that if elected he will form a reckless coalition.

This is where ESL courses for all Conservative's would come in handy.

WFDS

832...IxNay To The OalitionCay

That is what Michael Ignatieff says and good on him.

It is reported by all credible news outlets in our land that their will be no sleeping with the enemy for the next Prime Minister of Canada; he is going to lead a government made up entirely of Grits after the next trip to the ballot box.

Unless the Bloc Quebecois or the NDP prop up the Tories this fall that trip is going to be sooner rather than later.

WFDS

830...Michael Ignatieff On CTV News Thingy

This morning, don't know if it is a loop or was live but he was brilliant and to the point.

WFDS

828...John Robson Ottawa Citizen Disses Mikey I

In this morning's fishwrap, John Robson ends his pithy piece with a shot at the next Prime Minister of Canada.

Scribbling about the You Tube ad campaign run by the Liberals, Mr. Robson writes:

For the record, I agree with
 his attack on the Harper government's
 budgetary policies. The slogan "Nous méritons mieux"
 might be a stretch but as for the English version
 "We can do better," it shouldn't even be hard.

The last sentence of the piece is the big shot:

The problem is, he has no idea how and doesn't even realize it matters.

WFDS

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824...Stephen Harper Makes A Video

And Andy Blatchford at the Canadian Press reports that the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada did not impress his fellow leaders.

The next Prime Minister, Michael Ignatieff said that the leaked video taped comments show the real PM, a man who doesn't like the other political parties in the Great White North nor does he like the social institutions and justice system that we have developed in this country.

Gilles Duceppe, the captain of team Bloc Quebecois, says that the behind closed doors Mr. Harper sounds like a leader on the fringes of the Republican Party in the States. The BQ is particularly vexed by the fact that Mr. Harper takes pride in blocking leftists from being appointed to the judiciary and other public institutions.

The NDP called the remarks "...low politics that undermine Canada's justice system."

Interestingly nothing from Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party who, as has been observed, tends to not be particularly current.

She's probably waiting for the movie.

WFDS