Liberals are the ones with the record of brutalizing protestorsPictured left is a scene from 1996, when then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien assaulted anti-poverty activist Bill Clennett.Chretien recently reprised his famed "Shawinigan handshake" with both Michael Ignatieff and Justin Trudeau.Yet this couldn't have come at a less opportune time for the Liberal Party, as some of its douchier members and supporters still try in vain to paint now-Prime Minister Stephen Harper with responsibility for the treatment of protesters at the G20 summit -- and, more comically, for the Black Bloc riots themselves.But in reprising his famed assault on Clennett, Chretien has sent a stark reminder to Canadians:If any governing party in Canada has a history of brutalizing protestors, it's actually the...
In part three of The Champions, Pierre Trudeau's temporary retirement from, and sudden return to, politics quickly gives way to discussion regarding the question that would be asked during the 1980 referendum.In the end, the question that emerged was not one explicitly about separation, but rather one that asked for a mandate to negotiate sovereignty accompanied by political and economic "association" with the rest of Canada. What emerged was not a notion of sovereignty, but rather the nebulous term of "sovereignty association".Moreoever, the 1980 referendum promised a second one to ratify whatever agreement Rene Levesque's government could reach with the rest of Canada.The necessity of such a referendum at all was questioned by many, and with good reason. Quebec's government already had...
Heather Mallick decries proroguement of ParliamentFor many Canadians, if any one particular word could be used to describe Heather Mallick, it's almost certainly "tiresome".Mallick demolished her own credibility with a vindictive hit-piece on Sarah Palin during the 2008 Presidential election. Under most circumstances, appealing to such ignominity would have to be treated as an ad hominem attack.Unless, of course, it serves to appropriately characterize an individual as an ideological attack dog.Similarly, the phrase "instant emergency" should strike most people as a tautology, unless it serves to describe a situation in which a particular course of action is only deemed to be threatening or troubling now.This is, frankly, the only realistic manner in which to treat the complaints of...
More Chretien insiders join Ignatieff's staffWhen Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff recently overruled a decision made by then-Quebec lieutenant Denis Coderre in favour of Martin Cauchon, it was speculated that Jean Chretien was pulling strings behind the scenes.Those looking for signs that Chretien is becoming more involved with the Liberal party need look no further than news that Peter Donolo, Chretien's former director of communications, is about to take control of Ignatieff's staff.Moreover, Donolo will be charged with setting the Opposition Leader's Office straight, and he's expected to be authorized to make any staffing changes necessary.This is far from a complete takeover of the party infrastructure by Chretien. But if Michael Ignatieff can't turn Liberal fortunes around, and...
Jean Chretien's backroom leadership games hobbling partyFollowers of Canadian politics as seasoned as Charles Lynch and Allan Fotheringham have long offered an interesting thesis explaining the tenure of the Liberal party as "Canada's natural governing party".This thesis basically holds that longstanding tensions over the leadership of the Conservative party cost the party its key organizational impetus, allowing a united Liberal party to fill the void.The machinations of Dalton Camp against John Diefenbaker, Brian Mulroney against Joe Clark, and practically everyone in the party against Richard Bennet is thus argued to continually undermine the party on a national basis -- and especially in terms of its organizational capabilities in Quebec.This disunity resulted in decades-long periods...
Coderre quits -- as Quebec lieutenantThe Liberal party's quest to reclaim Outremont has apparently cost it a Quebec lieutenant.Denis Coderre has resigned from the post after Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff second guessed his advice regarding Martin Cauchon's bid to reclaim Pierre Trudeau's former riding from the NDP's Thomas Mulcair."It is a tough decision, a very emotional one that I have to make today," Coderre announced. "But I took four days on my own ...and I thought that I don't have any more the moral authority to remain as the Quebec lieutenant."Coderre vaguely suggested that, in rejecting his advice regarding Cauchon, that Ignatieff was largely deferring to ignorance."Fundamental questions are raised by these events: Who should the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada listen to...
Preston Manning calls for post-recession roadmapIn an op/ed column appearing in the Globe and Mail, Preston Manning writes about the current federal deficit, and compares it to the 14-year quest to put an end to Canada's last deficit.He argues that a lack of planning undermined efforts to control that deficit, and argues that a plan is needed to tackle the current federal deficit.The best reason for doing this, he insists, is not necessarily the deficit itself, but some of the unconsidered consequences of accumulating debt:"To combat the current recession, governments around the world have instituted economic recovery measures breathtaking in their magnitude and scope. These include dramatically expanding the money supply (printing money), taking significant ownership positions in key...
Lawrence Cannon calls for "public accounting"In a statement on the eve of today's 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon joined the chorus of voices calling for a public accounting of the massacre."The 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square tragedy provides an opportunity for China to remember those who lost their lives at that time while calling for political and economic reforms in China," Cannon said. "Twenty years later, we hope that they will be able to examine these events in an open and transparent fashion -- including the public accounting of those killed, detained or missing."Cannon shouldn't hold his breath -- nor should anyone else in the world.The Communist Party regime in China will certainly not hold any kind of...
Dumont's ride into the sunset may not be permanentAs the Action Democratique du Quebec looks anxiously toward its future -- a future without the only leader it has ever known -- some continue to speculate on former leader Mario Dumont's future.Last year Lawrence Martin suspected Dumont would be named to the Senate as one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 17 new Senators. That didn't pan out.Westmount Examiner columnist is being a little more cautious in his predictions. He expects that Dumont will be back, he just won't say how or when."Mario Dumont is a hero in his home town — the local lad who defied all odds to become the leader of a third political force in Quebec," Laresen writes. "He not only put Rivière-du-Loup on the map, he also served as an inspiration to many young rural...
Warren Kinsella has one mission in life: To support a former prime minister who won three majority governments only because there was no opposition, thus allowing him to win by default. Under that prime minister, Canadians were treated to a barrage of scandals – from the Human Resources boondoggle and property deals in Québec to Adscam. Paul Martin was clearly the better man. And he could have become a very capable and popular prime minister if his predecessor had not dumped the Adscam scandal into his lap before making off in a cloud of dust. A fact that is...
by Werner Patels Friendships have been lost, marriages broken up and senseless wars started, because those involved did not simmer down and, instead, acted out of anger or hurt feelings. The spin doctor of former prime minister Jean Chrétien, Warren Kinsella, is about to make the same mistake. Miffed by a comment that was supposedly made by some conservatives, that Chrétien was the "father of a criminal enterprise", Kinsella has announced that he is ready to fight for the federal Liberals yet again, promising that he would do to the Harper Conservatives what he did to the provincial Tories...
Jacques Parizeau hurt by Nicolas Sarkozy's pro-unity commentsIf anything over the past few years has lulled the Quebec separatist movement into a false sense of security, it certainly hasn't been French president Nicolas Sarkozy.Some comments Sarkozy made while in Canada on Friday have enraged Quebec separatists once again, when he questioned the role of Quebec separatism given the current state of the world.“It's something constant in my political life. If someone tries to tell me that the world today needs an additional division, then they don't have the same read of the world as me,” Sarkozy said. “I don't know why a fraternal love of Quebec would have to be nourished through defiance toward Canada.”Jacques Parizeau, for his own part, was outraged at the comments.“What this...
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien was called in for reinforcement today to rally the Liberal troops: Like a political superstar, Jean Chrétien rocked a high school gymnasium full of 1,500 Liberals in Brampton, Ont., on Friday night, coming back after a five-year political hiatus to launch a blistering attack on Stephen Harper. "I don't make any personal attacks. It's not my trait," the former Liberal Prime Minister told the crowd packed into the gym along with local Liberal candidates. "But I can talk about judgment about the health of our country today." He then proceeded to challenge the Conservative...
by Werner Patels Former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin is coming out with a score-settling book, Hell or High Water. In it he takes swipes at his predecessor, Jean Chrétien, and generally tries to get even with a Liberal Party that is not quite working anymore. The book is not out yet, but some newspapers have started publishing unauthorized excerpts. Just a week away from October 14, the day of the federal election, Liberals are worried that Mr. Martin's tell-all book could harm them. The party has therefore issued a call to all candidates and party faithful not to...
Liberals have no one to blame but themselves, says StarEver since their defeat in the 2005/06 federal election, the Liberals have spent a good deal of their time blaming the NDP for their defeat at the hands of now-Prime Minister Stephen Harper."The Stephen Harper government is the House that Jack built," Bob Rae recently remarked, following the recent Liberal tradition of blaming Jack Layton for the Liberals' defeat.It was Layton, they reason, that helped the Conservatives defeat Paul Martin's Liberal government.But as the Star asserts, it really is the Liberals themselves who are to blame for their current predicament. Adscam and the ill-fated and ill-conceived Green Shift policy may be the least of their blunders:"Paul Martin must assume a good deal of responsibility.When he was...
Four former prime ministers have signed a declaration calling for climate change action. Two days into the campaign for the Oct. 14 federal election, four former prime ministers have joined a coalition of Canadians demanding urgent action on climate change. The group of about 60 business people, academics and environmentalists calling themselves Canadians for Climate Leadership is set to release a document Tuesday entitled Time To Get Serious on Climate Change. The report calls for a $30-a-tonne price tag on emissions, and says a "staggering" investment in green technologies is required. The group is headed by Joe Clark, Kim...
Warren Kinsella has vowed to provide wall-to-wall coverage of the Canadian election. On Day 1, Kinsella notes: LOSER: The Liberal campaign - and on day one of the campaign, too. These people have had many, many months to prepare - and their plane, the most important piece of campaign hardware, isn't even ready? That's worse than amateur hour; it's ridiculous. Reporters will be tittering about it behind their notepads for the forseeable future, too. As of Saturday night, this one was the top story on CTV. What a mess. I think Kinsella is taking great pleasure in seeing the...
But we'll wait for someone with credibility to speak upWhen considering relations between Canada and China, one has to wonder just how far Canadians would really agree with a man who couldn't even bring himself to say the words "human rights" to the Premier of China.After all, Canada is a country that respects human rights. China? Not so much.So when such a man -- a former Prime Minister of this country -- cannot bring himself to talk to Chinese leaders about their myriad human rights abuses, one has to wonder precisely how in touch with Canadian values he really is.When that man is Jean Chretien, the very man who insisted on using the rather ambiguous phrase "good governance and the rule of law" in lieu of "human rights", it just so happens to say a lot about how deeply he shares the...
Liberals always like to say that Stephen Harper is a puppet whose strings are pulled by George Bush at the White House in Washington. As it turns out, former PM Jean Chrétien fits that description more so than Harper. One should not forget either that it was the Liberals who invited a major U.S. politico, Howard Dean, as keynote speaker to their last convention in December 2006. Conservatives, by contrast, can handle their business without "special guest-stars from the United States". Given Chrétien's recent outburst and attack on Harper for not attending the Beijing Olympics, it is clear that...
Following up on yesterday's post about Jean Chrétien's memoirs, I'd like to draw readers' attention to Steve Janke's post on the subject.
Janke wonders, for example, why Chrétien heaps all the blame on Paul Martin, but more or less spares Dion's feelings:I don't have the answer. I have a theory though. I wonder if Jean Chretien's dislike of Paul Martin is so intense that he is willing to attribute all problems directly to him. This goes beyond the responsibility all leaders have for what goes wrong on their watch. But in Jean Chretien's mind, the ministers around Paul Martin dwindle into insignificance in order to make certain that Paul Martin bears all the responsibility, including the responsibility that goes with being the prime actor in the misdeed.No doubt, the hatred Chrétien...
"According to my memoirs, no comment." The CommentatorFormer Prime Minister Jean Chretien is out promoting his book and boy does he come out swinging. He especially comes down hard on former PM interloper and wannabe Paul Martin. I really don't feel like rehashing anything he has to say because frankly, to me, the Liberals were and are a bunch of scabs.However, the one thing that intrigues me about Chretien's publicity stunt is how former leaders have come from the dead to hog the public spotlight in recent times - think that lovable peanut Jimmy Carter and the lovable hornyman Bill Clinton.Here's a movie idea: Night of the Presidential and Prime Ministerial Living Dead meet the Paparazzi.The question is this: How do people feel about former leaders coming out from retirement to offer...
With all that's going on in the Liberal Party, and just days from the much-anticipated Throne Speech, which will decide the fate of the Liberal Party, former prime minister Jean Chrétien's memoirs are out, and it looks as if the book will be remembered as the coup de grâce for the Liberal Party.
In particular, the book manages to tear big holes into two of Stéphane Dion's key issues.
On Canada's military mission in Afghanistan:Jean Chrétien blames Paul Martin's indecisiveness for the fact Canadian soldiers were eventually re-assigned to the “killing fields” in Kandahar province.
[...] Mr. Chrétien first committed Canadian troops to help rebuild the Afghanistan capital of Kabul.
But he blames Mr. Martin for what has happened since, writing “my successor took too long to...
This past week has been extremely busy, which is why I never had a chance to write about Jean Chrétien's recent bypass surgery. I am glad to hear that he's recovering well.
While he was in office, I didn't much care for him, particularly when I first heard about the Human Resources boondoggle and then, later, when the Adscam scandal hit the media.
But since then, in hindsight, I have to admit that he wasn't all that bad as a prime minister. What I do admire about him, on a personal level, is his determination, tenacity and that typical "I'll never give up" -- both Chrétien and I are Capricorns, which is why I can relate to him and his characteristics extremely well.
Before anyone starts labelling me as a psychic or something, I don't believe the horoscope stories you see in...
I should really set up a separate category for "conspiracy theories", but this blog is already becoming quite unwieldy as it is.
Tonight I want to talk about Eddie Goldenberg and his recent revelations about the Kyoto agreement.
Some may find it odd that Chrétien's top adviser should have come out in such a damaging way for Dion. To me, it makes perfect sense -- based on a little theory I have.
Chrétien and I are quite alike in the way we think and strategize (we're both strong-willed and stubborn Capricorns). We don't believe in getting even, but in getting revenge instead. OK, maybe not exactly a quality character trait, but that's what we do.
When Chrétien felt the daggers in his back, betrayed by a party he had dedicated his life to, he swore revenge -- and one of the first...
Happy Birthday to Jean Chrétien!
Best wishes from a fellow Capricorn (and......
When I saw this cartoon in today's Globe & Mail, I nearly fell off my chair laughing:...
The same day that Jean Chrétien is back in active politics and in the news again, another old "thing" rears its head: the HRDC boondoggle (hat tip to commenter Wilson).Police have made six more arrests in a long-running investigation into the HRDC "boondoggle," and the Conservatives are drawing links between the accused and the Liberals.
The arrests by police in Peel Region, near Toronto, are the latest echo from a scandal that became known as the "billion-dollar boondoggle" when it broke in 2000. Human Resources Development Canada, a now-defunct federal agency, made grants and contributions to projects designed to provide skills training through local organizations.
In January 2000, an internal audit showed sloppy paperwork and poor accounting in a number of project files. Auditors...
Chrétien back in the loop
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien, who has been out of active politics for three years, is back in the game, giving advice to the transition team of new Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.
Mr. Chrétien speaks regularly to Marcel Massé, one of his former cabinet ministers, who is co-chairing Mr. Dion's team.I wonder if this is such a good idea. Involving Chrétien and a former long-serving cabinet member of Chrétien's could prove fatal for Dion in Québec (not to mention the West).
Quebecers are still mad at Chrétien over Adscam and over dirtying their good name in the process. Plus, it gives Conservatives an opportunity to link Dion to Chrétien.
I don't know, but I don't think this is a good move. Time will tell, I......
From his War Room, Warren Kinsella reports that rumour has it that Jean Chrétien will address the delegates at the convention on Saturday just before the final results of the vote are released.
Chrétien is to talk about the abysmal performance of the current Conservative Party and the future of the Liberal Party.
Now I am really sad I didn't have time to attend the convention: hearing Chrétien's input first-hand would have been, well,......
Stephen Harper's tax policies in this past budget were not exactly what economists had expected. This may seem odd, given that Harper is an economist himself (makes you wonder what sort of grades he got in university). His reduction in the GST and simultaneous rise in the lowest income tax bracket go against everything that economists say, unanimously, should have been done to make Canada more competitive and productive:The report notes that high marginal rates -- the taxes paid on income earned from an extra hour's work -- discourage effort. Unfortunately, marginal tax rates are especially high at income levels where Ottawa and the provinces claw back income-tested programs. That lethal combination of income taxes, payroll taxes and clawbacks in Ontario can add up to rates of 60 per...