11.05.2010 06:08 AM

My take on Prentice in today’s Sun

He’s amiable. He’s smart. He’s reasonably bilingual. He’s well-respected. He’s got movie-star good looks. He’s seen as a moderate in a cabinet bursting at the seams with deconstructed Reformers.

And, most notably, he is the Conservative who lots of Liberals fear the most.

He’s Jim Prentice.

19 Comments

  1. bigcitylib says:

    Nicely written. However:

    “…central Canadians just can?t bring themselves to trust the moody, angry Conservative leader.”

    1) Moody means shifting between moods, one of which may be anger. If you’re angry then you don’t shift between moods. You’re just stuck with the one.
    2) Also, can we please retire the term “deconstructed”. It never really meant anything in the 1st place

  2. Malcolm Barry says:

    Mr. Prentice, like other politicians, may be divorcing himself from various people and policies as he may be interested in Leadership at a later date. Mr. McKenna is at another bank.

    • Paul R Martin says:

      I am taking him at his word. He was ready for a change and the CIBC job offer came at the right time. They are getting a fine executive. I expect that his career will be the same as McKenna’s.

  3. OttawaCon says:

    Prentice has also been quietly effective as Environment Minister – both in stopping the bleeding, but also laying the groundwork for what was likely to become the most significant piece of environmental regulation in Canada since the Mulroney era – certainly more than anything done in the Chretien or Martin years.

    I expect progress that to stop in a flurry of lobbying visits. It will take Baird all of two weeks to restore bleeding ulcer status, I am guessing. Baird can be effective at some things, but he was woeful last time around.

  4. hitfan says:

    I’ve a soft spot for Prentice. Like him, I’m an expat from Timmins, Ontario and now call Calgary my home. Maybe he’ll be the great Red Tory hope to give the Conservatives a resurgence in the future.

    But I must always point out to you that Harper’s failure to capture a majority is always mathematically impossible with a viable Bloc Quebecois. It’s the talking point that never dies with Liberal talking heads, as if the Conservatives are defective somehow for not beating the mathematical odds against them.

    Let’s say Canadians get tired of the Conservatives next year in a snap election and the Liberals win. What are the chances of Ignatieff forming a majority? About the same that Martin and Harper had–zilch.

    If the Bloc can win 45+ seats each and every time, the two viable national parties will never be able to elect a majority.

    1993, 1997 and 2000 were aberrations where Reform (Canada’s own version of the tea party) split the Conservative vote where Liberals won seats they would never normally win, especially in Ontario.

  5. Michael S says:

    From the Grope and Wail:

    http://bit.ly/9t45x5

    Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is often touted as a Harper replacement.

    The ubiquitous Calgarian already has his supporters in caucus. “Jason Kenney will win the leadership by a mile on the first ballot,” one MP predicts. “The West loves him, the Christian/Catholic/Jewish communities love him. He has worked very hard and made thousands of friendships with new Canadians and their organizations.”

    Jason Friggin Kenny?

    • Yeah I was going to say the same thing. Leadership conventions aren’t always about who will made the best Prime Minister but often about who can best appeal to the “base” and the base of the Conservative Party is farther right than Jim Prentice.

      • Michael S says:

        That works for fringe parties and the perpetual opposition, not for responsible governments. A political group that expects to govern leads with people that are fit to govern.

        • Michael S says:

          FGZPLE: Stephane Dion vs Rae|Ignatieff|……. Dion was the exception to the Liberal mold, as one noted Liberal said on the night he won the leadership, a “boo-boo”. Prentice vs Kenny|Baird|……. Prentice is the exception to the Reformist Conservative Party mold. Given that, his natural path, his only path is as an outsider with a gong that is bigger and badder and far more mofo than the insider’s gong. You don’t leak “so-and-so insider has it on the first ballot” unless the other person in question is a hardcore contender worthy of a fear response.

          Being a Bay Street honcho gives you about as big a gong as you can get. What it tells me is that the bankers think Harper and his clan are bad for business.

  6. terence says:

    Nobody is suggesting he may have left because there is no future with a reformatort government led by Mr. angry.

    Harper continues to believe he can trounce the Libs but that ship has sailed and Jim may just have had enough of the stupidity that passes for a government these days.

    • Paul R Martin says:

      You seem to be a bit angry yourself Terrence. Are you angry that the Liberals are unable to trounce Harper or are you angry that in recent elections and the polls, the Liberals are having difficulty finding favour with the voters? Ask yourself why the core support for the Liberals has declined to 25% and the party has difficulty getting above 30% in the polls. Rather than dump on Harper, a more productive option would be to have policies that resonate with 40% of the voters.

      • Derek Pearce says:

        Indeed. So when can we expect Harper to have policies that resonate with 40% of voters?

      • terence says:

        I’m not angry……………your leader holds the title of Mr. angry as awarded by the host of this blog. I could not possibly compete with him on that front. But I would whip his butt when it comes to decency and respect.

  7. Peter Murphy says:

    I think the fuss over Prentice is a little bit overrated. He entered politics through the backdoor much like Mulroney, but choose to stick around even though he didn’t get the top job. Yes he is considered a decent gentleman, but an ambitious one and can be full of himself. I remember when he was first elected an opposition MP and he walked into the Throne Speech reception with an entourage trying to look prime ministerial. I have been told he has since mellowed. To compare him to John Turner or Jean Chretien is ludicrous because Harper would never allow him to have one of the big four cabinet posts, defence, foreign affairs, justice or finance. Chretien and Turner both had 3/4.

  8. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    As the saying goes, “Cash is King!” As an aside, I hope the dialer is careful when they give me a call. I’d like to have two million reasons for taking my next job. (Perhaps in the next lifetime…)

Leave a Reply to Namesake Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.