Monday, December 12, 2005

Kwebec Keystone Kops

I always assumed Liberals in Calgary had it the worst. Several campaigns may not have the money for campaign office. The election readiness chair doesn't have call waiting. The candidate in Calgary West spent 80% of the nomination meeting speculating about laying criminal charges against Jean Chretien. So, yeah...it's bad.

But it looks like it could be worse. After reading this Hill Times article about the show in Quebec, the Calgary organization doesn't look so bad. Let's consider:

1. Candidates from the seven Quebec City ridings are sharing one office.

2. One of the candidates cozied up in the office, Helene Scherrer, called Quebec a "very poor province".

3. Luc Chiasson, in Roberval, has no phone, office, or car, and won't begin campaigning until he finishes his finals.

4. The Liberal candidate in Manicouagan was, one week ago, campaigning for an election boycott. Try spinning that one at the door.

5. An old press release by Marc Garneau is circulating around where he cautions against spending money on mentally challenged children.

6. The Globe & Mail has a front page story on federalists in Quebec who plan to vote for the Bloc. Obviously they didn't get the memo about the election referendum.

7. And, of course, there's Jean Lapierre. 'nuff said.

17 Comments:

  • See what happens when the brown enveolopes dry up...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:13 p.m.  

  • If Mr. Parker in the G&M article is representative of a larger group, then I can understand why Duceppe wants the Liberals to disappear. The Grits will almost vanish if such movement occurs on a large scale in Quebec. I could only see them survive on Montreal Island, just west from Park avenue or Décarie.

    Well federalists in Quebec should brace themselves for the possibility of a Bloc Québécois at 67, 68 or 69 seats on election day.

    Of course things can change until Jan. 23rd, but for me the onus is on Martin and the Libs to convince me they can hold all their seats in the province.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:15 p.m.  

  • m morin,

    I've said it before, I'll say it again. I will be utterly shocked if the Bloc clears 60. Nothing short of a cataclysmic event will change that.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:40 p.m.  

  • Well if this is representative of the only party that can save Canada, then we better start renting the moving vans now. What a bunch of ass-clowns.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:41 p.m.  

  • Well if this is representative of the only party that can save Canada, then we better start renting the moving vans now. What a bunch of ass-clowns.

    And the latest SES poll of decided voters in Quebec puts the Conservatives a very distant third in Quebec:

    BQ: 51 %, Lib: 30%, Con: 10 %

    Mulroney founded two majorities on his Quebec vote, and despite the appearantly screwed up camapign the Libs are running in Quebec, the sponsorship scandal, and most of all, the strategic genius of Jean Lappiere, Stephen Harper et al is barely out of single digits in the province.

    What a bunch of ass clowns!

    By Blogger Jeff, at 4:05 p.m.  

  • This isn't talked about much in the media, but what is the possibiity of Paul Martin losing his seat, and if he does, what does that mean for his leadership, and his position of Prime Minister?

    If he loses his riding, yet the Liberals maintain power, is he still the 'Prime Minister'? That seems unlikely given that you have to be a MP to be a Minister. It does not seem one could retain the PM title if your not elected in office yet still the defacto leader of the party.

    Any thoughts?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:16 p.m.  

  • This isn't talked about much in the media, but what is the possibiity of Paul Martin losing his seat, and if he does, what does that mean for his leadership, and his position of Prime Minister?

    A Liberal minority, and Mr. Martin losing his seat. Maybe he would go quietly. And maybe Mr. Lappiere cold lose too. For the Liberal Party and the country, it would be the best all worlds.

    As a Liberal, I'd give up two seats to see this happen.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:47 p.m.  

  • MKB,

    It would mean Paul Martin would come to Scarborough Rouge-River, force Derek Lee to resign and then run in a by-election and win by over 50% with less than 10% turnout.

    Realistically, I don't expect any of the leaders to lose.

    By Blogger mezba, at 6:31 p.m.  

  • Mulroney also didn't have to deal with an entrenched seperatist party on the provincial level. Which means that he was able to absorb the BQ's current support into the Conservative folds. Tougher sell now considering, Conserveratives don't have the same roots in Quebec that Mulroney did and Dueceppe by any fair estimation is doing a heck of a job for the BQ.

    By Blogger Chris, at 7:06 p.m.  

  • But Duceppe's job, in the end, is to help Paul Martin get elected.

    If the Bloc had collapsed, as all federalists wanted, the CPC would sweep Quebec as the preferred method of showing contempt for adscam.

    Duceppe helps the Liberals. Each party - Liberals and PQ/BQ - feed off the national unity crisis for votes and power. They work together on that project.

    By Blogger Tarkwell Robotico, at 7:53 p.m.  

  • chuckercanuck, I think you're being disingenuous. The Liberals have held Quebec solidly until the 1960s. Then the Quiet Revolution began to break the Liberal hold on Quebec.

    Since then, the nationalist movement has just moved around from party to party. From the Creditistes, to the PCs, to finally finding a home in the Bloc.

    Don't forget that Mulroney was endorsed by Rene Levesques! The Conservatives have only done well in Quebec when they were endorsed by the provincial government--for good reason too! Quebec is its own place; there is no sentiment of pan-Canadian politics there. So, since in this case the CPC is only weakly endorsed by the ADQ, don't expect more than one shade of blue in Quebec.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:14 p.m.  

  • Disingenious? About what.

    You could say I was "wrong" about the long history of the Liberal party in Quebec. You're right - I didn't pay sufficient tribute.

    (I don't think Martin does, either. I think he thinks that tradition of Liberalism doesn't get "modern Quebec.)

    You could say I was "wrong" about what would happen in the Bloc collapsed pre-Gomery.

    I think the CPC would sweep Quebec. I may be "wrong" again, but that's what I think.

    SO, why, anonymous, call me "disingenious"? That's a tad harsher than "wrong", isn't it?

    By Blogger Tarkwell Robotico, at 8:19 p.m.  

  • chuckercanuck, I apologize. I am a complete fuckwit. I looked up 'disingenuous' in the dictionary and it is way way harsher than I intended.

    I only meant to criticize that you were oversimplifying history to spin in favour of your preferred party. That isn't *bad*, nor ignoble, by any stretch of the imagination. I meant to accuse you of wearing rose coloured glasses at worst, not stick you for being an optimist about your cause.

    I definitely deserve to be punched for trying to sound as posh as Rex Murphy.

    Sorry.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:23 p.m.  

  • chuckercanuck, you can dream about a Conservative breakthrough in Quebec, but living in Quebec City, I don't see it at all. Levesque's "beau risque" strategy gave the Tories 61 seats here in 1984, and broad approval for free trade in the province helped Mulroney win again in 1988.

    But you have to remember one thing: before the Bloc, the 'hardline separatist' vote (30-35% of the voting rolls) was split between support for third parties (PC, NDP, Créditistes) and abstention.

    Nowadays, they, and the soft nationalist have a place to park their vote before Quebec becomes a country.

    With daycare as the big election issue so far, the current federal campaign seems quite irrelevant from a Quebec perspective.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:23 a.m.  

  • Oh to long for the good old days when we could just get candidates in that province by throwing envelopes of cash and ad contracts to their family and friends. Warren et al may long for those good old days, but they ain't coming back. And that's a good thing.

    Get braced for a long rebuilding process in Quebec, couretsy of a bunch of folks who really should have quit ten years ago.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:16 p.m.  

  • WHY was the candidate in Manicouagan calling for a boycott, and why did he stop?

    A little context goes a long way. Can we have some?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:57 p.m.  

  • ClaudeB,

    Shows you what you know!

    Vous etes a l'epicentre des Conservateurs au Quebec. Ha! Ha! Ha!

    - Ton ami Montrealais.

    By Blogger Tarkwell Robotico, at 2:43 p.m.  

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