BCgrit

Congratulations on a job well done! The most teling comment of the night was when Keith Boag from CBC compared Dion's victory to that of Chretien in 1990. Everyone knew Chretien had the credentials in '84, what they were worried about was his retail political value. He wasn't as polished, eloquent, handsome, or stoic as some would have liked. But substance won and made him successful and I think the same will occur for Dion if he continues to be as genuine as Chretien.

Some observations:
1) CBC's French translator was so bad and incoherent that they replaced her in the middle of Dion'acceptance speech with a guy with a deep voice and an accent.

2) Ken Dryden slightly resembles an intelligent Dick Cheney.

3) Dion's daughter is very attractive...almost has a French Canadian Ruby Dhalla thing going on.

4) Anyone concerned about the lack of emotion or charisma in Dion should watch that acceptance speech. There's something about him that is very genuine.

5) Gerard Kennedy is the Lisa Loeb of Canadian politics. 2 words: Lazer Surgery. But he's got some major oratory skills.

6) Ignatieff should stay in politics...I remember another cerebral academic who came to Parliament one day...and that man is now your leader. Iggy could do a lot of good.

7) Chretien stole the show. Funny, charming, faithful, committed.

8) Scott Brison looked sweaty. Was it hot in the Palais?

9) Why was Martha Hall Findlay wearing Mardi Gras beads during her speech? Lover her though. She's got a bright future.

9) Lots of bad white-people-dancing going on. Don't people realize this is nationally televised?

10) Volpe's green Dion scarf around his designer suit made him look like an Italian stereotype.

I apologize for not posting recently. I've been busy...

MEDIA RELEASE

Stephen Owen announces support for Michael Ignatieff and hosts BC Campaign launch

For immediate release:

VANCOUVER (May 12, 2006) — Member of Parliament Stephen Owen formally announced this morning his support for Michael Ignatieff’s candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. Owen will also act as his policy chair for sustainable development and co-chair for the BC campaign.

Owen is the latest in a series of MPs from across the country that have come out in support of Ignatieff.

“Michael presents a vision and a range of attributes that can inspire our country to fulfill its potential and to meet its global responsibilities over the next decade,” stated Owen. “He wants a Canada that fulfills its promise of social justice, that meets its environmental responsibilities while stimulating a green and competitive economy, that engages Canadians in deliberative self government, and that practices an independent foreign policy achieved through multilateral action.”

The Honourable Stephen Owen has served as Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra since 2000 and is currently the Critic for Democratic Reform. He previously served as Minister of Western Economic Diversification, Minister for Sport, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Receiver General for Canada.

Stephen Owen will host Ignatieff this weekend while they meet with local community members in the Lower Mainland to discuss the future of the Party and the country. They will be available to the media for two events:

Reception

When: Saturday May 13, 1:00-3:00 pm
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre
181 Roundhouse Mews (Davie & Pacific)
Vancouver, BC
What: Stephen Owen and Michael Ignatieff will meet with local Liberals at a reception.

Leadership Candidates Forum

When: Sunday May 14, 3:00-5:00 pm
Where: Floata Seafood Restaurant,
400 – 180 Keifer Street
Vancouver, BC
What: Raymond Chan has invited leadership candidates to speak and participate in a Q & A

Michael Ignatieff, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore and internationally renowned academic, author and journalist, became the first official candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada on May 2nd.

For more information on Michael’s campaign, visit www.michaelignatieff.ca

-30-

For further information:

Alicia Johnston, Media Relations for Michael Ignatieff, at (647) 999-5755 alicia.johnston@mobile.michaelignatieff.ca

Marc Chalifoux, Media Relations for Michael Ignatieff, at (613) 863-8005 marc.chalifoux@mobile.michaelignatieff.ca

Jamie MacDonald, Office of the Honourable Stephen Owen, (613) 355-1721
owens8@parl.gc.ca

Gerry Lenoski, Communications Chair, MI Campaign in BC, (604) 813-1762


Alicia Johnston
Assistant Director of Communications and Press Secretary
Directrice adjointe de communications et Attaché de presse
Michael Ignatieff Campaign

T: 647.724.8515 x 225
C: 647.999.5755
F: 647.435.6744
alicia.johnston@mobile.michaelignatieff.ca

Yesterday's budget announcements were pretty underwhelming. Basically the Conservatives stuck to Paul Martin's blueprint of debt reduction mixed with modest spending and tax cuts. Some of the features were a joke, like the 1% GST reduction (as if it will make an impact) and that $1200 taxable childcare allowance that Scott Reid will spend on beer and popcorn. If there is one weakness among the Liberal leadership candidates, including the one I am supporting, it is that they don't have strong backgrounds in terms of fiscal management.

I know, all the Kennedy Kool-Aid clan are gonna be on me about how he left the foodbank with a surplus and managed a huge budget in education in Ontario. But really, a non-profit isn't the same as managing a county, and Ontario simply allocated a ton of money to education after Mike Harris cut it severely. And he did give the teachers' union a sweetheart deal that reminded me of the god-awful Glen Clark/Ken Georgetti/Josef Stalin/Joy Macphail days here in BC, known as the 1990s. But I digress...

Ken Dryden was President of the Leafs, so he did serve in a major role for a corporation. But I'm not sure if his role was more on hockey operations or on the business side of things.

Stephane Dion, for all I know, isn't a fiscal animal (I have read his book howeer, and it should be adopted as the new family Bible in Quebec...This guy can bring Quebec into the constitution if they made him their Premier).

Bevilacqua is seen as pro-business, which is ironic since he is pretty much a career politico.

Bob Rae? A former New Democrat with credibility on fiscal issues? No thanks.

Enter Scott Brison.....could he be the guy who is able to stand out on financial issues? He would be...but there is that lingering issue that he did run for the Leadership of another party not too long ago. How can you feel that you have the values to lead one party, and then think you can simply switch paries but maintain the philosophies and values that you had before? How can you ask Conservatives to show you the confidence in allowing them to lead their party, then ask Liberals if you could be the one to lead them and their values and everything their party represents?

Ignatieff has no record of good fiscal management. And if he were in before, we'd be in Iraq, wasting an astronomical amount of money (The Americans have spent in excess of 250 million dollars).

The only solution for our party, no matter who wins the leadership race, is to do what Jean Chretien did: surround the leader with people with credible business and fiscal backgrounds. The Liberal team in the 90's included ex-Chief Executives (Paul Martin) and self-made millionaires (Dennis Mills, Herb Dhaliwal) and people with business backgrounds (Robert Thibault, Art Eggleton). No matter which candidate wins, they will have to make an effort to draw some candidates fom the Canadian business world.

Regarding my last post, when I described Jon Ross as "slender and meek" what I meant was he was physically slighter than Bruce Young...but Jon, from the limited contact i've had with him, is a pitbull and it'll be interesting, not just in the Kennedy camp, but in all the various leadership camps, to see how these strong personalities that haven't necessarily seen eye-to-eye before will clash.

Speaking of Gerard, getting Bas Balkissoon on his side will help him shore up the ethnic vote on the east end of the GTA...interestingly enough though, Derek Lee, who represents the federal portion of the same ethnic heartland in Scarborough is going with Ignatieff.

Ken Dryden's website went up on Friday when he announced...and then they took it down on the weekend...which was kind of stupid considering Ken referred to it in his speech and told people to go there.

I also didn't like the fact that he declared on a Friday...Fridays and Mondays are horrible for news releases and announcements. Ken's word was buried on page A8 of the Vancouver Sun and was featured alongside a story on Vladislav Tretiak in the National Post.

Speaking of Dryden (and Tretiak) he's not the first successful athlete to become a successful politico. The list is long:

1) Bill Bradley-NBA 2 championships with the Knicks-Fromer US Senator from New Jersey

2) Steve Largent-NFL Seattle Seahawls. NFL's 2nd alltime leading reciever. Former Oklahoma Congressman

3) Jim Bunning-MLB pitcher for the Tigers and Phillies. US Senator from Kentucky

4) Daniel Igali-Olympic Wrestler-Lost as a BC Liberal Candidate in the 2005 Election

5) George H.W. Bush-Captain of the Yale Bulldogs Baseball Team. Former President of the USA

6) J.C. Watts-CFL Ottawa and Toronto, Grey Cup MVP. Oklahoma Congressman

7) Gerald Ford-NCAA Center-University of Michigan. President of the United States

8) Frank Mahovlich-NHL player. Canadian Senator

9) David Anderson-1960 Olympic Silver Medal in rowing. Former Canadian Cabinet Minister

10) Lynn Swann-Fromer Pittsburgh Steelers reciever. Republican candidate for Pennsylvania Governor 2006

11) Howie Meeker-Toronto Maple Leaf Forward. Former Progressive Conservative M.P.

12) Imran Khan-Pakistani Cricket Star. Leader of the Pakistani Tehriq-E-Insaaf (Movement of Justice Party)

13) Jack Kemp-NFL Quarterback. Former Republican Congressman/V-P Candidate/Cabinet Secretary

14) Peter Lougheed-CFL played for the Edmonton Eskimos. Former Premier of Alberta

15) John Turner-UBC Sprinter/National Sprint team-Liberal Leader/Prime Minister (briefly)

16) Mario Cuomo-MLB played one season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Former New York Governor

17) George Weah-Soccer Player with Paris Saint Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City and Olympique Marseille. Ran for President of Liberia

18) Dawn Fraser-Australian Swimmer-Member of Parliament in the State of New South Wales

19) Arnold Schwarznegger-Bodybuilder-Governor of California

20) Otto Jelinek-World Champion Figure Skater. Progressive Conservative MP /Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport from 1984 to 1988

It should get interesting at the dysfunctional family known as the Gerard Kennedy Campaign. Jonathan Ross of TDH Strategies and Bruce Young, formerly a major player among Paul Martin's machine (who are both pretty decent guys) will be forced to work together. I could see this ending up with the former UBC Offensive Lineman Young mauling the slender, meek Ross like a Grizzly. Ross has been very critical of Young in the past. During the election campaign (November 4th, 2005 to be exact) Ross wrote that Young was someone "...whose revolving door styles of employment frequently alternate between encapsulation under Martin's wing and selling influence in the private sector..." Read it here http://www.tdhstrategies.com/nov05archives.html in context.

Anyway, Gerard will be in Vancouver tomorrow. should be fun.

After a long hiaitus, I am making a return to the blogosphere...

I will start by announcing that today is a great day for Canada, as roughly 12 hours ago, Mr. Ken Dryden announced that he would be seeking the Leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The BCgrit would like to announce his endorsement of Mr. Dryden.

Before I go any further, let me say that I am excited about all the talent coming to the surface during this campaign. I am particularly intrigued by Gerard Kennedy.

Gerrard Kennedy is a future leader, but not this time around. I think he needs time to work on national issues. His portfolio in ontario was education which is a very, very provincial-level issue. If he were a health Minister or in a portfolio which required more co-operation with Federal level officials, I could say that he would be ready. Having said that, I like this guy's enthusiasm and youth. But what freaks me out is when people in the blogosphere talk about this guy like he's so electable based on his looks and charisma. Remember, there was another provincial cabinet Minister with good looks, a youthful prescence, nice hair, had lived in different regions of the country, and ultimately got the support of many in his party...that man was Stockwell Day...

But back to Ken Dryden.

My reasons for supporting him are:

1)His committment to learning about Canada at the grassroots level. Unlike Dion or Ignatieff, Dryden didn't sit in an ivory tower to learn about public policy, and unlike Kennedy or Rae this isn't a guy who has years and years of partisan involvement. Instead, he wrote a book about education by actually sitting in a classroom for a year. He wrote about Canada's national obsession, hockey, based on his experiences playing in the NHL, with Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series and playing on a pond growing up. He wrote about an average guy, something that isn't done very often in the book The moved and the shaken: The story of one man's life . Following around an average Canadian and writing about his life.

2) The task of being Prime minister is something he can handle. He finished law school while winning a Stanley Cup. He has been a lawyer, a President of one of the most financially successful sports franchises in the world, a Youth Commissioner at the Provincial level, and a Cabinet Minister. He showed himself to be an incredibly capable politician in his short time in Cabinet. For 13 years, a daycare program, promised by the Liberals, went nowhere. Dryden came in, and signed a childcare agreement with the provinces.

3) He knows how to articulate his ideas and policies clearly and concisely. Instead of focusing on vague platitudes and ideological ambiguity, Mr. Dryden has a bare bones way of articulating his positions in an eloquent fashion. Look at this editorial he wrote in support of same-sex marriage http://www.rossde.com/editorials/MPDryden_gaymarriage.html.

That's why we're supporting Ken. The only time in my life I will ever cheer for a Hab!