Many Liberal incumbents unhappy about 56-day election campaign
Two weeks ago, Liberal incumbents and party strategists clashed over the length of the campaign. Incumbents didn’t want a long campaign. Strategists did. Most incumbent Liberals running for re-election, some in the fights of their political lives, are not happy about the Prime Minister’s decision to opt for a 56-day campaign, but they say they […]
Harper bets voters will look past talking heads to embrace a popular GST reduction
Stephen Harper obviously feels that chipping away at the most hated piece of the Mulroney legacy will do more for the Conservative Party in this election than tearing the Liberal record to shreds. The two-point cut to the GST he promised last week is the biggest item in the Conservative election platform. It was rushed […]
Prime Minister Paul Martin has failed federal leadership test at Natural Resources Canada: federal Conservatives
The PM recently appointed John McCallum, who is also the Revenue Minister, as the acting NRCan Minister ‘in order not to disappoint ambitious Liberal backbenchers.’ In other words, Liberal caucus politics takes priority over the leadership needs of NRCan. Abundant natural resources are a rich source of economic activity in Canada which generate over 12.5 […]
The Spin Doctors: “Time for a little levity people. If your party leader were a movie star, who would he be and in which film would he be starring as the 39th general election begins?”
Leslie Swartman Liberal Strategist “I think Paul Martin would best be styled after Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry.He has ruthlessly cleaned up the government finances and has tackled financial accountability with a vengeance. He stood up to the ambition-fuelled opposition parties and dared them to either bring the House down or follow the timetable he […]
Cabinet Ministers Who Won By Less Than Five Per Cent in 2004 Federal Election
1. Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla: 0.2% over BQ in Jeanne-Le Ber, Que. 2. Northern Development Minister Ethel Blondin-Andrew: 0.3% over NDP in Western Arctic, N.W.T. 3. Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew: 1.1% over BQ in Papineau, Que. 4. Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Belinda Stronach: 1.3% over Lib in Newmarket-Aurora, Ont.; elected as […]
What’s it going to be? Election predictions across the country
Election results prognosticators want chance to update predictions again two weeks before election day, in Jan. 9 issue of The Hill Times Rick Mercer, host, Rick Mercer Report: “I’m predicting a dead tie between the Liberals and the Tories with both parties having 111 seats each, BQ 60, NDP 26 with the Green Party coming […]
NDP incumbent Angus: a friend of kidnapped Canadian in Iraq
NDP candidate Charlie Angus is starting his own election campaign with an unpleasant distraction on his mind. The incumbent from the Timmins James Bay, Ont., riding personally knows one of the four aid workers recently kidnapped in Iraq. Mr. Angus was running a Christian homeless shelter when he first met James Loney,41, who is from […]
Canadian Constitution interfering with urban agenda, federal candidates tell town hall meeting in first week on campaign
The Canadian Constitution is getting in the way of urban development, Liberal and NDP candidates indicated at a town hall meeting at the Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa last week. “The reality of the 21st century is that the great questions will involve three orders of government. The Constitution was not devised with this in […]
Bloc Quebecois vows to keep eye on ‘sensitive situation with interest’ of Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act
‘Bill S-36: The Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act will authorize the government to compile and distribute data on international trade in diamonds.’ Ihad the opportunity, during various Parliamentary missions, to visit countries and meet people living in countries affected by war. Often “war”means “money”and “buying weapons,”which was unfortunately the case in some African […]
Stoffer plans to throw annual Hill bash even if he’s defeated
Political insiders usually get excited about December because of the high number of cocktail parties hosted by the four political parties and individual MPs. But this time, everyone is disappointed that all the parties are cancelled due to the current election campaign. “I’m disappointed, but that’s the reality of a minority Parliament,” said national Liberal […]
