Yeah, party members wanting open nominations. How petty of them.
The tumultuous history of the federal Conservative riding association in Calgary West continued this week with the Tory party's national council apparently assuming control of the association board.
Most members of the Conservative riding board support Donna Kennedy-Glans, who wishes to challenge controversial incumbent MP Rob Anders in a nomination race. Riding association members were to be asked by the board this spring whether they wanted to attempt to hold another nomination race.
"When you have some people that are focused on what are fairly minuscule, petty issues to the distraction of that overall effort -- they're doing it to cause disruption to the party as a whole, for the council, for the member of Parliament," Anders said Friday evening.
Britain's "first past the post" voting system could be scrapped if Labour wins the general election, under plans which have been outlined by Gordon Brown.
The prime minister wants a referendum on changing to an "alternative vote" system, where candidates are ranked in order of voters' preference.
Mr Brown also backed proposals by Labour MP Tony Wright to beef up the power of MPs to hold the government to account, with elected select committee chairmen and control of what is debated at Westminster handed to a backbench committee.
He said the government also backed e-petitions, which would allow members of the public to suggest topics for MPs to debate and said voters would get the right to recall MPs guilty of financial impropriety, where the House of Commons had refused to act.
I'm not a huge electoral reform guy, but a transferable vote seems reasonable. It's how we nominate candidates and pick party leaders. It's not overly complicated, and it adds a certain amount of legitimacy to the system, by ensuring MPs have majority support in their constituency.
We've seen Canadian voters reject an overhaul of the political system in referenda, but I think this more modest form of tinkering could have some appeal. After all, what's more Canadian than "modest tinkering"?
But, beyond the actual proposal, I think it's important to look at this in the context of what's actually going on in the UK. Brown's reform package is a direct response to a series of scandals that have caused the British people to lose faith in their politicians. Think of it as Brown's version of Harper's 2006 Accountability Act, which fed an appetite for reform here, following Adscam.
And if you look at the Canadian political scene these days, the picture is fairly bleak. I get the sense that most voters are just fed up with politics - the bickering, the pettiness, the scandal...that may in part explain the reaction to Harper's prorogation vacation.
So I think the appetite is once again there for someone to step in and really change the way we do politics. And hey, as luck would have it, the Liberals have a leader who isn't a career politician - so why not play that up, and put something constructive forward next election? Reform parliament, change our system...try to restore a little faith in democracy.
Maybe voters have become so cynical that they won't believe the promises anymore, but it's worth a shot.
We learn in today's Globe, that Stephen Harper has set a trap for Michael Ignatieff! No, no, he hasn't booby trapped a copy of Machiavelli's writings with electric shocks or anything - this is one of those master strategic genius traps, the kind that show Harper is playing chess while everyone is playing checkers:
Harper sets a trap for the opposition
After weeks of being pilloried for shuttering the Commons, Stephen Harper is trying to win back disaffected Canadians by adding extra House sittings in March and April to recoup some lost time.
The proposal sets a trap for opposition parties, which must consent to the move or undermine their complaints about Mr. Harper's Dec. 30 decision to prorogue Parliament until March 3.
By suggesting that the House sit an additional 12 days in March and April, Mr. Harper has badly outmanoeuvred Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff. With both gentlemen having been out of the country when the media-stimulated prorogation storm hit Canada, this is an offer that neither can refuse.
Well, yeah - of course this is an offer neither can refuse. That's kind of why this sucks as a trap. Harper has dangled the cheese, but it's not tied to anything. So the opposition will eat the cheese and go on its merry way.
Because, let's face it - this is obviously damage control. Even Norman Spector must realize this - God knows as Mulroney's chief of staff, he did his fair share of damage control.
Maybe it would have been clever if Harper had said they'd give up their summer break to make up for the lost time as soon as he announced the prorogation - but this is obviously nothing more than the grandmaster himself scrambling to dodge a checkmate.
And after listening to Tory MPs spend the past month talking about how Parliament causes market instability, how the real work happens outside of Parliament, why it's important to spend time consulting with Canadians...well, there are certainly some inconsistencies in Harper's rationale.
Don't get me wrong, I think Harper's a fairly smart tactician. But can we get rid of this notion that every move the man makes is a master stroke of genius? After the last month, I would have thought that was self evident.
Justice Minister Lawrence Harper could not be reached for comment
Here, in its entirety, is an article from yahoo news:
OTTAWA (AFP) – Several dozen Haitian children adopted by Canadian families could arrive in Canada this weekend, Immigration Minister Lawrence Kenney said Friday after receiving Haiti's approval in 154 cases.
"Yesterday, Canadian officials presented a list to the government of Haiti with the names of 154 children who are currently in the adoption process," Kenney said.
"I am very pleased to announce today that the government of Haiti has given its full approval to that list," clearing the way for them to come to Canada, the minister said.
Eighty-six of the adoptions were at an "advanced stage in the process," with at least some level of approval from Haitian authorities, he said, adding that arrangements were being made "to bring these 86 children to Canada in the coming days."
The first flight could arrive in Canada at the weekend, Kenney said.
In the days since the quake, families around the world in the process of adopting Haitian children have pressured their governments to speed up the process.
Several including Belgium, Spain and the United States have moved to fast-track adoption procedures for children in Haiti, with the wretchedly poor Caribbean nation suffering critical shortages of water and food in the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude quake.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Lawrence Cannon said he and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke by telephone Friday about ways to improve coordination of international relief efforts in Haiti.
Their discussion set some groundwork for donor country talks in Montreal scheduled for Monday.
Toronto Votes 2010: Adam Giambrone's Star Wars Kid Candidacy
We're still a long way away from e-day, but Toronto's mayoral race is starting to take shape. According to the city's website, there are 24 declared candidates - alas, Ange Maniccia has withdrawn, failling to generate a significant amount of Maniccia-Mania in the first day of his/her candidacy. Relax Ange, we all have moments like that.
From among that list of 24, there are a handful of legitimate candidates - one of Giorgio Mammoliti, Joe Pantalone, or the yet-to-declare Denzil Minnan-Wong could break through as a contender.
But early on, the media focus has been on George Smitherman, Adam Giambrone, and Rocco Rossi. For those unfamiliar with Toronto-politics, here's where you've probably heard of these men before:
-Giambrone's name gets mentioned on Facebook whenever someone is bitching about the TTC -Smitherman is part of the "Former McGuinty Cabinet Ministers" Facebook group (closing in on the anti-prorogation one as the largest FB group in Canada) -Rocco Rossi has most likely wished you happy birthday on Facebook.
So what should we make of our three challengers thus far?
Well, with John Tory gone, Smitherman is clearly the front runner. He's branding himself as the pit bull of the race (Q: What's the difference between George Smitherman and a pit bull? A: McGuinty has yet to ban George Smitherman):
In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Smitherman opened the door to road tolls, rejected banishing bike lanes from arterial roads and promised to apply bulldog toughness to the city’s finances – unlike the current administration, he said, which is struggling to impose a 5-per-cent budget cut on recalcitrant departments and agencies.
“If my bureaucracy basically shot me the finger,” Mr. Smitherman said, “well, I’ll let my reputation speak for itself … a shrug of the shoulders and the middle finger salute isn’t going to cut it.”
Former LPC National Director Rocco Rossi (who, in passing, deserves a round of applause for the increased Liberal fundraising numbers in 2009), is positioning himself on Smitherman's right flank. It's not too surprising, really. Rossi was John Tory's campaign manager in 2003, so he stands to inherit much of the Tory organization...it only makes sense to try and inherit as much of Tory's vote as possible.
Which brings us to young Adam Giambrone, chair of the TTC. Giambrone should be taken seriously in this race - John Laschinger is his campaign manager, and Giambrone will appeal to many of the same people who elected David Miller. Now, when I say that Giambrone should be taken seriously, that's intended more as advice to his own campaign, than as a warning to the opposition. Case in point:
I'm as big a fan of self-deprecating humour as anyone out there, but there comes a point when you cringe. After watching this video, I just can't imagine this guy running the City of Toronto. Don't get me wrong, I love that he has a sense of humour, and he seems like an OK guy - the video would make me consider voting for him as SU President. Well, maybe not, but definitely as VP Events for the chess club.
But Mayor of Toronto? That's a fairly serious job, and nothing Giambrone has done thus far, during this campaign or during his political career, gives me any sort of sense that he's ready for that.
The 2009 fundraising numbers are out. The good news for the Liberals is that they've closed the fundraising gap. The bad news? It's still an 8 million dollar gap, which grows to about 11 million when you consider the per-vote subsidies.
Via Pundits' Guide, here's a look at the year-over-year numbers, since Harper cut the donation cap:
Pundits Guide also has the dollar breakdown - it's not perfect since this still includes "double dip" donations, but it clearly shows the Tory advantage remains on the small donation front. The Liberals actually out-raised the Conservatives slightly on donations over $200, but the Tories hold a commanding $12 million to $3 million lead when it comes to the small cheques.
So, despite some incredible progress in 2009, there's still a lot of work to be done.
(And, you know, if you're so inclined to help close the gap, just click through here)
Yes, the specifics are still missing, but those will come. With voters wholly unimpressed with Stephen Harper, now is the time for Michael Ignatieff to show Canadians what he stands for - and he appears to be doing just that.
This should end the whining about the "Liberal Senate" which in recent years has been responsible for everything from stopping crime legislation and setting pedophiles free on the streets, to the Maple Leafs' on-ice woes.
Now let's see how serious Harper is about Senate reform and the host of other issues he's blamed the Liberal Senate for holding up.
I neglected my monthly polling updates a bit during the end of 2009 - and can you blame me, given how bleak they looked? But, poll soup has returned, with the January 2010 numbers.
I could offer up some analysis but these numbers speak for themselves - it's fairly evident what effect prorogation has had on Harper's polling numbers.
Ekos(Jan 20-26, n = 2,823 auto dialed) CPC 31.1% Lib 31.6% NDP 14.6% BQ 9.1% Green 11.0%
Angus Reid(Jan 25-26, n = 1,005 online) CPC 33% Lib 29% NDP 19% BQ 10% Green 7%
Decima(Jan 21-24, n = 1,000 phone) CPC 32% Lib 31% NDP 15% BQ 10% Green 10%
Ipsos Reid(Jan 19-21, n = 1,000 phone) CPC 34% Lib 31% NDP 17% BQ 9% Green 8%
Strategic Counsel (Jan 5-8, n = 2,168 online/phone) CPC 31% Lib 30% NDP 18% BQ 9% Green 10%
