03.23.2011 09:54 AM

Hire David Olive for the Liberal War Room!

That is the gist of the message we have to hear in the next few weeks. How will we be better people, a better community, in five, 10 years? No more intolerable waiting lists, for affordable housing, enhanced daycare that is the European and Japanese norm, no more Bangladeshi surgeons driving cab because the cartel of the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons has been broken (And the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the architects and so on.)

It can’t be Harper-bashing 24/7 because he’s been competent enough for that not to work. Any Harper foe is playing his game that way. The Grits and NDP have to play their own game, of how they intend to lead Canadians to a better place.

The fact that he quotes me approvingly naturally may serve to, ahem, colour my judgment.  But the guy is smart! Listen to him, Grits!

26 Comments

  1. Kevin says:

    He’s at The Star, isn’t he already working in the liberal war room?

  2. James F says:

    Can it be Harper bashing 12/7?… I could live with 12/7.

  3. MontrealElite says:

    Damned straight Warren. Since Harpo & co. are happy to go back and pick at Iggy’s family history, I hope the LPC resurrects that quote from Harper.

    The LPC has to get mean and go for the jugular.

    Let the bodies fall and stop bringing knives to a gun fight.

  4. MontrealElite says:

    So Harper is saying that the current global uncertainty is not a time to go to the polls.

    I guess he forgets the 2008 election he called…at the height of the economic disaster.

    Spin Harpo, spin!

    • Michael Watkins says:

      … and in doing so (2008) breaking his own fixed election date law.

      Harper and Flaherty also lied point blank during that campaign about the state of Canada’s finances. The country was already deep in deficit yet they claimed during the lead up and all through Campaign 2008 that they’d never go there.

      Canada’s indebtedness in 2008, before the election and after, climbed at rates never before seen. Too bad no one made a compelling story out of that to dash the “competent manager” theme they were trying to paint then, and its too far in the past to draw an easy link to now.

    • MontrealElite says:

      Lehman Bros fell in September, 2008…the US election was being fought on the falling economy WHILE Canada’s own election was going on.

      “If we were going to have a recession, it would have happened by now”………I can’t wait for that quote to be brought up during the campaign.

      Have another drink Gord.

      • MontrealElite says:

        Fail again Gord.

        Flaherty proposed ZERO stimulus in the November Economic update…AFTER the G20 meetings.

        US election was being battled on the falling economy…Lehman falls and TARP enacted before the Canadian vote………only Harpo wasn`t bright enough to see what was going on.

        Well Harpo and you apparently.

      • hugger says:

        So I take it what you are saying Gord is that all those statements regarding no recession, no deficit were due to the fact that the Harper people actually couldn’t see the downturn coming. Would that be your position?

    • Philip says:

      Exactly! He can’t have it both ways. Either the economy is still fragile and needs more stimulus or we have the best economy in the G8. I’m also unclear about how an election, a normal function of our democracy, will negatively impact our economy. Do businesses shut down and people stay home during the writ period? Of course not. Our economy ticks along without skipping a beat. The choice between the economy or the normal functioning of a democracy is patently false. We had elections during two world wars and we are still here.

  5. CQ says:

    Last night I saw a Liberal ad using the same old (assumedly) clinically posh and white voiceover woman speaking for their party. I can name only two Liberal MP females, Martha and Ruby. The Conservatives had 3-time campaign veteran MP Nina Grewal speaking to the viewers on the other political ad I saw yesterday on a Toronto broadcast channel during the primetime hours.

  6. Northern PoV says:

    Catch 22 is independent of all political parties, campaigns and candidates.
    Supporting Catch22 is the best way to defeat the Harperstan Gov’t.
    http://catch22campaign.ca/

  7. MontrealElite says:

    More direct intervention by government?

    Like buying a car company and expanding the size of government?

    Yeah Gord, bring it on.

    • MontrealElite says:

      Who cares if the lpc supported it, it was CONSERVATIVE policy.

      The CPC does not support the items above`.lol

      Say whatever you need to sleep well Gord. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

  8. John L says:

    Someone should mention to David Olive that Marc Garneau, a Liberal MP, claims the Liberals intend to buy a fleet of new fighters for our Air Force by the end of the decade. That puts the Con plans to buy their “bright and shiny toys” into context; turns out they both want to spend billions on what Olive holds in disdain.

    Shouldn’t he know that already?

    Then there’s the issue of the Liberal childcare plan. Has anyone actually seen the details, costs, etc? This is something they claim is a top priority, right? We do know that their $1 billion per year won’t touch the real cost.

    The list goes on…

    I suspect sweeping generalities will need to be firmed up considerably by various war rooms to look credible.

    • smelter rat says:

      The Liberals have committed to a fair process with competitive bidding for armed forces purchases. The Child Care program, whatever the cost will be a much more important contributor to a healthy ecomomy than purchasing a jet that doesn’t even exist yet. Thanks for playing though.

      • John L says:

        We don’t know how “fair” the process with “competitive bidding” will be nor have the Liberals even formally acknowledged that they’re planning to buy anything. Why not? What we do know is that there’s no fleet of high performance fighter aircraft that’ll come in without a multi-billion dollar pricetag so the phony outrage at the cost of the Con plan is just smoke. Maybe what we need is a journalist/commentator to do some work on the issue and report back.

        As to the “child care program, whatever the cost”, blah, blah…the days are past when the citizens are going to cut blank cheques for politicians of any stripe. If the Liberals have the details of their so-called childcare plan there’s no reason whatsoever for them not to share them with Canadians. Funding a multi-billion dollar childcare plan will either require big cuts elsewhere or a big jump in government spending, each and every year, from now on. I suspect that’s what the Liberals are afraid to tell people.

  9. TDotRome says:

    I remember reading about that Harper quote years ago. I would have hammered him with that second-tier stuff if I was the LPC. A shame they didn’t.

    But, the fact is they still can……….Harper can never erase something that horrible……….but I doubt Iggy will use it.

  10. Steven says:

    Words to campaign by.

    Not to mention, Harper slagging the Liberals on not fighting alongside the US in Iraq, calling for firewalls around Alberta, and not having been outside North America until being in government.

    For the love of Country, please (Mr. Ignatieff/LPC) remind everyone!

  11. I just wish someone in the Lib War Room would get Ignatieff to please stop with the “those guys” and “that guy”.

    Annoyingly grating like Hilary`s dropping of the g`s. Too phony.

    • Namesake says:

      And I just wish that Harper would just be himself one of these days when addressing the public, instead of only robo-citing tightly controlled scripts all the time;

      you know, the profanity-laced rage-a-holic that Ibbitson describes in this 2006 profile (one of the last candid ones, before nearly the whole press corps got neutered and muzzled):

      “Then there is the question of his temper. Mr. Harper’s can be formidable. (It seems to be an occupational hazard with politicians.) The Conservative Leader may end most speeches with ‘God bless Canada,’ but when he loses his temper he can let forth a stream of profanity that would make a longshoreman blanch.”

      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/archives/who-is-stephen-harper/article809018/singlepage/#articlecontent

    • Patrick Hamilton says:

      I agree…..It grates on me too…..when he also says “gonna”….when he means “going to”……The man has had an excellent education, and should use the Queens English….I know hes trying to relate to your average Canadian voter….but it just doesnt sound right to my ear.

      Niggling aside, I think he will make a fine Prime Minister, and l look forward to him sending Mr. Harper and his ilk back under the rock from whence they came….

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