Friday, September 11, 2009

Conservatives themselves doubt Harper's judgement. How can we trust him?

More info on the top-secret Conservative ads:

MONTREAL — There's a surprising new star making a cameo appearance in Conservative ads attacking Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff: his name is Justin Trudeau.

French-language TV ads that have begun airing in Quebec show the rookie MP blasting a few volleys of friendly fire at his leader.

The ads include clips from an interview Trudeau did during the 2006 Liberal leadership race.

"Ignatieff, he's a little all over the place sometimes," Trudeau says in the spot, in a clip drawn from a 2006 TV interview.

"He says this, he says that - he contradicts himself."

Trudeau then delivers this little parting shot: "For me, he's not someone with... maybe he has the intelligence, but maybe not the wisdom required."

The ad's narrator ends the spot by asking viewers: "Liberals themselves doubt (Ignatieff's) judgment. How can we trust him?"


So, some guy who wasn't an MP and supported another guy in a leadership race Ignatieff lost - three years ago - had some tame criticism of the front-runner. Well, colour me shocked. If you're that desperate Tory war room, I hear Bob Rae used to berate Iggy when they were college roommates for not taking out the trash.

So, if those quotes are fair game, let's see what the Minister of Industry has to say about Harper:

OTTAWA (CP) - Tony Clement painted Stephen Harper as a divisive, unelectable Conservative leader Wednesday in a televised debate notable for the absence of high-profile candidate Belinda Stronach.

Clement, the former Ontario health minister and acknowledged underdog in the three-way race, was clearly on the offensive against Harper. He suggested the former Canadian Alliance leader will be unable to unify Conservatives and draw Canadians outside the party to its fold.

"Stephen . . . you've been on the record as a wall-builder. I want to be on the record as a bridge-builder."

Clement then accused the Calgary-based MP of proposing to build a firewall around Alberta, of writing off electoral prospects in Quebec and of badmouthing Atlantic Canadians.

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15 Comments:

  • Why do you hate Canada so much CG?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:31 p.m.  

  • Anonymous 12:31 offers the cryptic, bizzaro, overly simplistic orwellian & juvenile perspective … sanctimoniously claiming that Harpy & Crew are MORE Canadian than yhe rest of us … is it due to their also being more Holy than the rest of us … in their warped & distorted view ??

    Come on folks, deliberately taking Justin out of context in comments he made three years ago, the ReformaTories are clearly demonstrating they have NO Content; NO Substance; and an extremely pinched view of the Canadian Reality !!!

    By Blogger Dennis Hollingsworth, at 1:01 p.m.  

  • HAHA - did that say French ads? I smell serious backfiring for these silly Cons, as Justin's unqualified three-year-old opinions are not going to impress anyone here. The good news is they are definitely running out of ideas for political attack ads.

    By Blogger Scott in Montreal, at 1:12 p.m.  

  • good catch, btw, with that Clement quote. That's much harsher stuff. And unlike Justin's ruminations, what Clement said has since been largely borne out by Harper's record as PM.

    By Blogger Scott in Montreal, at 1:18 p.m.  

  • So how can we get Clement's comments on air? Sounds like a job for Gritgirl...

    By Blogger rockfish, at 1:21 p.m.  

  • The Trudeau name is so toxic in Quebec, that these ads might even HELP Ignatieff.

    By Anonymous Quebec Grit, at 1:34 p.m.  

  • @ Quebec Grit: to Justin's credit, he did win his riding last time out, unseating Bloqist Vivian Barbot, who was a good MP and served her constituents well. The BQ poured a lot of resources into the fight, too. You are correct that the Trudeau name is toxic in Quebec, but only if you're referring to staunch Quebec nationalists and mouth-foaming separatists. They form the BQ rump core support and they are xenophobic, loud and delusional. Sadly, they constitute close to a third of the population here.

    By Blogger Scott in Montreal, at 2:25 p.m.  

  • Dman:

    The comment was a mock response. It is how conservatives generally respond to verifiable facts that undermine their argument or show their argument to be completely hypocritical, especially if you are a Republican.

    Rather than address the issue, they make a personal attack on you or your patriotism.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:43 p.m.  

  • I am pretty sure the first poster was being ironic.

    By Blogger french wedding cat, at 2:47 p.m.  

  • Thank You for your fine tuned clarification Anon 2:43.

    Me thinks hoser's "being ironic" does not in any way, shape or form justify the most deliberately misleading lame & the "look at the shiny object over there" comment by Anon 12:31

    By Blogger Dennis Hollingsworth, at 3:40 p.m.  

  • First of all, CalGrit does not hate Canada and you should delete dumb comments like that.

    Secondly, last I checked, the Liberal members who were in teh ABI (Anyone but Iggy) team in 2006 are probably not warming up to him now. Last I checked, that was the MAJORITY of members. Iggy stole his Leaership crown.

    I expect both Cons and Dippers to also show clips of honest speaking Liberals @ the Montreal Convention to remind Liberals why they didn't like Mr. American Snobb in the first place.

    And it may actually work.

    By Anonymous Marsha, at 4:25 p.m.  

  • Now the question is...WHEN are the LIBERALS going to use Clement's or other cons words from the past or Harper's own words lol... to ATTACK Harper. To be frank the grits have been a little lacking in the attack department...the diff between the con and lib attacks would be that the liberals would be attacking the true Stephen harper. The world doesnot like the WEAK. Also, in politics you can't win by being nice or by rational policy discussions. Go after Rob Anders, Jason Kenneys, Stockwell Days and Diane Finleys of this world...you'll find plenty of material to play with. If the cons can play a year old or 3 year old clips from the coalition and the leadership race.....why can't the grits do the same with stuff from 04, 06 or 09 for that matter. There is a fundamental diff between the ideological base of the cons and the rest of Canada....lets remind the public of that.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:30 p.m.  

  • Heh! I was waiting for someone do dig something like that up. Wrll done! Now we just need video.

    By Blogger Jennifer Smith, at 6:24 p.m.  

  • I wonder which broadcaster interviewed Justin back then, and who holds the copyright on that footage?

    Isn't the Industry Minister in the middle of holding consultations on Canadian copyright law? Someone should ask Mr. Clement if he thinks Justin Trudeau should receive a few royalties for appearing in these ads.

    By Blogger lyrical, at 3:31 a.m.  

  • The comment was a mock response. It is how conservatives generally respond to verifiable facts that undermine their argument or show their argument to be completely hypocritical, especially if you are a Republican.

    Rather than address the issue, they make a personal attack on you or your patriotism.


    Right. That's how conservatives respond. Liberals never do anything like that.

    By Blogger Robert Vollman, at 12:00 p.m.  

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