— Musings —01.11.2012 01:00 AM
In today’s Sun: Grit good news and bad
The 71-year-old parliamentarian said she left the Dippers because she was unhappy with their approaches to defence policy, public-private partnerships and the Senate.
For Bob Rae, the news couldn’t have come at a better time. And for Coderre, it solidifies his position as the federalist King of Quebec. “In Quebec, Coderre’s an organizational master,” former MP Paul Zed marveled.
“And he never gives up. He’s again shown why Conservatives fear him in Quebec.”
So, as Grits gather, the good news outweighs the bad for the once-mighty Liberal Party. For them, 2012 is already looking better than 2011.
My head is going to explode.
Wow! Another unscrupulous politician. She’ll fit right in with the Liberal caucas. Maybe cross benchers should resign their seats first and then have a by-election to let the people decide with all election expenses picked up by their new found political party.
Is that picture normally there? Or is it some new thing that the Sun chain is doing – white shirt, white background is a little weird…
I think it is a very flattering picture of Mr. Kinsella.
I’m not saying he looks terrible of something (I mean.. he looks positively angelic…), I just found the colour scheme and the size of the picture confusing…
Oh I know what you mean about the picture. WK sometimes looks a bit rumpled (like Micheal Caine) but always cool.
Which one will raise money and shut up? Has Copps been too close to power on the elected side to stay in the background? Crawley has already shown that he is capable of doing that type of job in Ontario (though without you outlining how much success he had, I don’t know if he was any good at it – Ontario has tanked recently on the federal side) – since I’d never heard of him before, he obviously knows how to stay out of the spotlight.
Personally, I like Copps because I have a ton of respect for her, but I’m afraid that she’ll breack the Kinsella Rule for Party Presidents – she won’t stay quiet. She was a politician who was used to being the centre, or near the centre, of attention. If she can avoid the media in order to not become Apps II, then great, but if she can’t, she shouldn’t be President.
Who would be the first to tell Copps to “pipe down, baby”? 🙂
Nice one. Thanks for the memory.
“If she can avoid the media . . .” That is an absolute metaphysical impossiblity for her.
“…he obviously knows how to stay out of the spotlight….” Do a Google search & see how Crawley has been campaigning for the top job in the MSM.
I thought that the title of this piece in the Sun isn’t great…something about the Grits being off to a positive start this year? The body of your column paints a very different picture.
For Bob Rae, the news couldn’t have come at a better time. And for Coderre, it solidifies his position as the federalist King of Quebec. “In Quebec, Coderre’s an organizational master.
Nice piece…..for Coderre. Not sure if Rae is really THAT happy about it; as “Federalist King Of Quebec” Coderre might feel more apt to run for the leadership. Rae is old, has a ton of baggage, and is playing coy about the interim/permanent leadership issue. Coderre might not deliver Ontario right away, but Rae never will, and at least Coderre has a good shot at improving prospects in Quebec; Rae not nearly as much. And seeing as this is one province where the Liberals want, nay, NEED to grow to start the road to an eventual recovery, then Coderre as leader seems like a very attractive prospect. Outwardly, of course Rae appears happy for the impact on Liberal fortunes. But is he really personally?
Unless Rae has Coderre’s support. In which case, game over.
Yup!
Coderre is plenty young enough too. I mean, unless the Grits want a 20-something leading them…
You wouldn’t want to downplay the importance of this.
Interesting, isn’t it? Folks’ spin on a event that is consistent with supporting their ‘party’. (Some folks thought Belinda Stronach lacked integrity when she crossed the floor; others thought she displayed it – any guesses which party each group voted for?) Interesting, too, is the way Canadians seem to read articles as though they are the event, instead of the writer’s interpretation of ‘what happened’. While the writers all have perspectives to offer, seeking to understand their values and ‘party’ as well as their background isn’t something readers seem to consider. Somewhere amongst the editorializing lies some truth – requiring energy, intelligence and time.
A “major coup?”
Seriously Warren?
Getting a Conservative MP, even a backbencher to switch would have been a coup.
They got a 71 year old rookie MP to switch from the NDP to the Liberals. She was/is a nameless, faceless backbencher in the NDP and is just trying to get her name in the paper. If this is the best the Liberals can attract, they are truly dead.
Her excuse? The Liberals policies are more in line with her beliefs. Well, she was a member of the NDP for more than 10 years. Their policies haven’t changed in those 10 years, but she suddenly doesn’t agree with them.
Oh, and nice timing for the Liberals. Try to appear like they have some kind of momentum heading into their big weekend convention.
She has until the next election, then she’s gone. The Liberals finished a very distant FOURTH in this riding last election with under 6,000 votes. Form 2004 until 2011 it was Bloc, and I suspect will go back to the Bloc in 2015. If they wanted a Liberal, they would have voted Liberal.
Having said that, I agree the NDP surge in Quebec is just a mirage and died with Layton.
And for the record, yes I am a Conservative voter, and yes I was also against David Emerson coming over to the CPC after his election as a Liberal. If an MP wants to do this, they should resign and have a by-election and run under the banner of his/her new party, or at the very least sit as an independant until the next election like John Nunziata (spelling?) did when he had his dispute with Chretien over the GST.
What place did the Liberals come in during the election in the St. Maurice riding? Just wondering.
A very distant 4th.
Sorry Mr. Tulk…….but after watching Bob Rae`s speech to the Liberal caucus today, I can tell you we are far from disintegrating…..I believe we are united as never before……
http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/blog/watch-bob-raes-speech-at-winter-caucus-at-1pm-est/#comments
Yes, much work needs to be done with the riding associatons, my own included, but we are enthused and eager to go forward…..
But by all means keep believing what you believe, it will make our job of unseating the Harper cabal in 2015 that much easier.
The good news for Copps is that Herle is Crawley’s campaign manager. Given how he ran the Liberal campaigns when Martin was PM, Copps should be a shue in!!!!!! And was there a more inept political bunch than Martin’s!!!!!! The gang that couldn’t shoot straight!!