07.17.2013 10:24 AM

HuffPo: me and the NDP on Pipsqueak

Here.

Are we right? Are we wrong? Too harsh? Not harsh enough?

Another question: did my own party do or say anything about Pipsqueak’s promotion? I sure didn’t see anything.

47 Comments

  1. Michael Behiels says:

    I am with you all the way on the Pipsqueak file.

    Have twitted up a storm on Skippy Poilievre being promoted into Harper inner sanctum. I guess he is there to replace Vic Toews who had moved on to the private sector.

    The illusive operator of the robo calls scandal is probably Skippy. And now he is put in charge of democratic reform and a possible campaign to abolish the Senate. WOW! Harper loves to go for the opposition’s juggler.

    A Conservative government will be setting out to destroy a central pillar of Canada’s federal system of governance. All federal systems require and have a second house.

    Perhaps Harper, having abolished the Senate via a referendum, will then turn next to abolishing the Monarchy and turning Canada into a pale replica of the US Republican system with him as President and Commander in Chief.

    If the Liberals don’t think Skippy is not going to be all over them very soon with his nasty attack comments and ads they are dreaming in technicolour.

    • The Doctor says:

      But you can’t abolish the Senate with a referendum — it requires a constitutional amendment. So wtf are you talking about?

    • Steven says:

      Poilevre’s appointment is consistent with Tony ( Border Security Fund for gazebos in Muskoka ) Clement’s appointment as Minister in charge of the Treasury Board.

      The Cons count on people’s short attention spans and memory.

      Seems to have worked so far.

    • Michael says:

      ” will then turn next to abolishing the Monarchy and turning Canada into a pale replica of the US Republican system with him as President and Commander in Chief.”

      Dude, where have you been for the last 7 years? Harper has put the “Royal” back into the name of the navy and air force. He has ordered all foreign missions to hang the Queen’s portrait. He is putting the pips and crowns back on military uniforms.

      He is not trying to abolish the monarchy. Thinking of the Queen gives him a woody.

  2. JH says:

    MB you have a right to your opinion and I know none of us lend any credence to Polls, but everyone of them shows the majority of Canadians overwhelmingly support getting rid of the Senate.
    Are you suggesting the Liberal Party as a matter of policy defend it?
    Just askin’?

    • tf says:

      Sorry JH – just because you say “everyone of them [polls] shows the majority …” doesn’t make it so.
      The poll results I’ve seen don’t show that.
      Can you show the evidence for “every poll shows the majority” — ?

  3. Rene says:

    The discussion following the Huffington Post article was entertaining, and one of the most entertaining contributions compared Poilievre to Grima Wormtongue of Tolkien fame, the archetypal sycophant, flatterer, liar, and manipulator whose malicious words were like those of a serpent.

    Gandalf referred to Wormtongue thus :

    “The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.
    See, Théoden, here is a snake! To slay it would be just. But it was not always as it now is. Once it was a man, and it did you service in its fashion.”

    But then again put a pair of glasses on Gollum and see what that produces.

  4. billg says:

    “A Conservative government will be setting out to destroy a central pillar of Canada’s federal system of governance.”
    Yep, and, with the 2015 election coming into view this is a vote getter and puts the Libs and Dippers in an uncomfortable spot, agree with those right wing bastards or disagree and look like they are comfortable with the status quo.
    Brilliant politics.
    Or, Skippydoodle says something really stupid, then, all bets are off.

    • Kaspar Juul says:

      The way they’re progressing I wouldn’t be surprised if PMO reform becomes an election issue.

      Skippy saying something dumb? That’s more a matter of if over when. Makes me wonder if the risk outweighs the reward

    • Derek Pearce says:

      The NDP has been for Senate abolition since long before the CPC was. I don’t think this issue will affect their poll numbers as long as they portray the PM as a johnny-come-lately to what they’ve wanted all along. This will put the Liberals in a spot where they’ll have to tread carefully though.

  5. Michael S says:

    My ex-wife dated him back in the day. True story: He spent more time preening in the mirror than she did, there was no way she was going to date someone more narcissistic than she way.

    • Michael S says:

      Oh, >that< pipsqueak. I thought you meant the provincial ombudsman, a man who can't enter a hall of mirrors without dying of orgasmic delight.

  6. Anne says:

    Libs are playing cards close to chest but JT has already defended the senate. It can all change of course; but that s where the gaming gets going. I suspect that voters will accept a properly framed deferral in the context of more pressing issues and good behaviour down the road FROM ANOTHER GOVERNMENT; especially as the current pm hasnt a hope in hell of cooperation from the provinces he has scorned. Another government, more cooperative with provinces, might have a chance if people really truly understand what they are giving up and still demand its removal.

    I d hope it could recover its prestige and integrity if we ever get our democracy back. However, as a strong senate defender until recently, I now figure, if it has lost it s way and cannot find it in the face of such, shall we say determined government although much stronger descriptors come to mind, then maybe it deserves to go. It has failed it s purpose in defending national interests and become a rubber stamp. The future is an uncertain place just now and maybe it s a good thing that people of the 21st century reassess how we are governed and understand what we could be giving up. Those of us who lived in the shadows of the 20th century Depression and world wars had ample warnings; today s people don t have that background.

    • Lorne says:

      @Anne…. but when should JT start revealing those cards he’s holding close to his chest? If you haven’t noticed, Harper stole the “generational change” concept from Justin who announced it in his leadership campaign. Is Justin now being forced to play catch-up with Harper while sitting in the HOCs surrounded by a bunch of old dog Liberal MPs fattening up their gold-plated parliamentary pensions before they retire or are purged out of the party in constituency fights?

      As for the provinces, they can raise their PSTs because Harper has given them room to do that with the GST reductions. Of course, provincial politicians don’t want to raise their taxes; only keep on asking Ottawa for more more more. Talk about avarice.

      • Kaspar Juul says:

        A reduction of 3-5 years in avg age of the cabinet is hardly a generational change more an embellishment by you

        • Lorne says:

          Perception is reality, and conniving Harper has stolen Justin’s “generational change” mantra. How and when will Justin implement his “generational change” while he is surrounded by old dog Liberal MPs? Answer that!

          • Kaspar Juul says:

            Answer your concocted theory? Hardly. Why should I engage in a how right is Lorne discussion when you dont have a clue.

      • Anne says:

        Watch and learn Lorne, like the rest of us have. While I hold no sympathy for the greedy Libs of the scandals, just being ” old” does not make any of us less valuable. In fact, while I d never play chess with the sitting pm, I think you ll find that real strategists know how to play the long game. I only weep for the suffering this more than merely greedy man has caused in the meantime. I think he ll be shocked and very unhappy to discover that his children and grandchildren are taught that he was the worst ever. After he suffers the humiliation of losing however. Most Canadians have never wanted him; the thing is to mobilize them against him. That seems to be coming.

        • Lorne says:

          Anne, please stop deluding with wishful thinking. Politics is war with words, and so far Harper has beaten Justin to the punch on “generational change” no matter how devious he is. Okay, so Justin is traveling the country to install his own loyal people and this takes time, but the Harper attack machine is churning along non-stop. Remember the two attack ads declaring the Justin is “in over his head”, and now the “generational change” scoop. These things sink into peoples unconscious mind to be awakened during an election campaign.

          Gerald Butts is responsible for Liberal strategy, and so far he’s been upstaged by the Con attack machine. That’s the reality!

          • Kaspar Juul says:

            Nothing has been scooped Lorne, except your brain on this one.

            You are sounding a lot like Observant on this.

  7. kre8tv says:

    I’ll admit it: I laughed rather bitterly when I first heard the new of Pierre’s appointment, because on a personal level, I find him to be thoroughly unlikable. Of course politics is full of odious people and that’s simply not a good enough reason to object to some gaining a seat at Cabinet (bloated as it is).

    But there are deeper, much more troubling problems behind this move by Harper.

    I can’t think of a single example of where someone has been this massively under-qualified for a Cabinet position. One only needs to look at Pierre’s thin resume to conclude that this was not an appointment based on the richness of his ideas, the strength of his accomplishments or experience at managing…well…pretty much anything. His track record can lead to only one conclusion, in my view: this is an MP bereft of personal conviction, original thought, and dare I say human empathy. His one skill is a gooselike willingness to say and do whatever he is told to do by PMO.

    That he has been put in charge of “democratic reform” doesn’t just signal that the PM and his suspendered minions will remain completely in charge of this portfolio, it also is further proof of just how much disdain the Prime Minister has for the long-term integrity of our democratic institutions. This appointment will further infect the deep wounds that have been inflicted on our Parliament and our electoral system by a gang that values power above all sensible costs. And on that point, all Parliamentarians…and all citizens…should be deeply concerned.

  8. kre8tv says:

    I’ll admit it: I laughed rather bitterly when I first heard the news of Pierre’s appointment, because on a personal level, I find him to be thoroughly unlikable. Of course politics is full of odious people and that’s simply not a good enough reason to object to one gaining a seat at Cabinet (bloated as it is).

    But there are deeper, much more troubling problems behind this move by Harper.

    I can’t think of a single example of where someone has been this massively under-qualified for a Cabinet position. One only needs to look at Pierre’s thin resume to conclude that this was not an appointment based on the richness of his ideas, the strength of his accomplishments or experience at managing…well…pretty much anything. His track record can lead to only one conclusion, in my view: this is an MP bereft of personal conviction, original thought, and dare I say human empathy. His one skill is a gooselike willingness to say and do whatever he is told to do by PMO.

    That he has been put in charge of “democratic reform” doesn’t just signal that the PM and his suspendered minions will remain completely in charge of this portfolio, it also is further proof of just how much disdain the Prime Minister has for the long-term integrity of our democratic institutions. This appointment will further infect the deep wounds that have been inflicted on our Parliament and our electoral system by a gang that values power above all sensible costs. And on that point, all Parliamentarians…and all citizens…should be deeply concerned.

  9. robin says:

    Harper will abolish the Senate, then he will abolish the House of Commons (after all, how can they know more than Him?) Then we can dispense with the costly exercise of elections since they are irrelevant; after all, Harper knows best what is good for Canadians, no conflict with Libertarians with THAT policy…LOL

    • Anne says:

      And G20 didnt have soldiers in the streets arresting and beating innocent Canadians?

      • Anne says:

        Well I remember those words in the day, Les, which horrified me, who happened to have spent my school years on an army base and was very comfortable with soldiers. Still am. In hindsight I still havent seen anything to suggest that step ( War measures Act) was needed; he pandered to a post war sense of military order and the chance to find out what the SDS and other unknowns were up to in the cold war era. But soldiers or police, beating and arresting innocent civilians in peaceful downtown Toronto is surely not the way we prefer order maintained today short of martial law. Thin edge of the wedge. Relax? I think you ll find that the amoral corporate interests now in control of our country are looking to take us to even darker places. I ve worked with people in need all my life, and things are backsliding to a terrible degree. I suggest you and others stop relaxing and pay attention. Use our democracy for common interests while we still have a bit.

  10. tf says:

    Great comments on this, I want to reply to all in agreement!
    Bodes well for our future if we recognize the ineptness of M. Poilieve’s appointment.
    Thanks Warren.

  11. Christian says:

    You’re 100% bang on. But calling Skippy Pipsqueak “pestilence”, is an insult to pestilence. It may seek an apology.

  12. Brucethepainter says:

    How does he win by 20.000 plus votes in every election? More importantly. what plans does the LPC have for mounting a serious challenge to him in the next election?

    • Sean says:

      He will be re-elected in his riding for the rest of his life, as long as he the Conservative candidate. Its one of the hundred or so ridings which will never move. It doesn’t matter how outrageous or incompetent he is. Local voters just don’t care anymore. All they know is that *they are conservative* and *he is conservative* and this is the ONLY ballot box issue in this riding from now until the end of time.

  13. !o! says:

    from the article: “HuffPost Canada was first to report on Sunday that Poilievre, who apparently responds to the nickname “Skippy,” had earned a spot in Harper’s inner circle.”

    Gad, ‘skippy’? really?

    Sure master, durr, whatever you say master, I will bark when you say bark master, it’s sure great to be master’s skippy. Master is strong and fierce, and so skippy is strong and fierce!

  14. Lorne says:

    Liberal Party of Canada Rat Pack (from Wikipedia)

    “The Rat Pack was the nickname given to a group of young, high-profile Canadian Liberal opposition Members of Parliament during the Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

    In the midst of this, a group of young, energetic, and unknown Liberals soon emerged as a vocal voice of opposition to Mulroney. They included Don Boudria of eastern Ontario, Sheila Copps of Hamilton, Brian Tobin of Newfoundland and John Nunziata of the Greater Toronto Area.”

    Shrewd Harper created a government “rat pack” of young back bench Conservative MPs to attack the pathetic floundering Opposition parties and now has rewarded them with ministries and declared it a “generational change”! Harper learned well from Chretien. Ignatieff, Trudeau, Betts; nothing.

    Ironically, Harper also co-opted the Trudeau-Betts concept of “generational change” which Justin announced during the Liberal leadership campaign as the path to rejuvenating the moribund Liberal party mired in the past.

    Doubly ironic is that Trudeau will have to first purge the LPC of all the old dog Liberal MPs and holdovers from the Chretien-Martin regimes before he can institute his “generational change”! I hope he doesn’t wait until the October 2015 election campaign to reveal his brash new team of Liberal youngsters hoping to govern Canada along with their messiah Justin. That would be too late.

    In the meantime, perhaps some early retirement announcements from the aged Liberal caucus would be a propos.

    • Kaspar Juul says:

      So I guess we know the CPC talking points you received. Nice spin, still a lot of oldies in the CPC

      • Lorne says:

        Stop looking through the wrong end of your political telescope and just face up to the reality of Liberal vulnerability. So far Harper has outsmarted everybody from Martin to Rae and now Justin, and that’s no ‘spin’ — it’s the harsh truth.

        Now he’s stolen Justin’s ‘generational change’ mantra and Justin is left to follow the leader if he can. Unfortunately, Trudeau can’t talk about generational change until the 2015 election because he’s sandbagged on one side by Harper and Mulcair and on the other side by all his old generation Liberals MPs who are well past their well before date.

        Also, Justin has decreed that there will be open nominations for all ridings which means he’s not going to protect the current caucus veterans come 2015; in effect he’s inviting them to depart well before 2015 to make way for the new young Liberal generation of politicians. Justin intends to clean sweep his Liberal party of all the old remnants and thankfully bring in new clean blood. That’s reality, not spin, so let’s talk facts instead of insults.

    • Tiger says:

      Agree re Harper.

      Trudeau doesn’t need to purge Liberal ranks, however. The electorate did that for him in 2011. Plenty of left-leaning ridings where the young Liberals can stand for election in 2015.

      • Lorne says:

        The failed old must go and be replaced by youth! I don’t want to see Goodale, McCallum, others of that ilk around in 2015. It’s got to be the New Liberal Party with more than just a paint job; because Justin is the engine but needs a solid chassis to support him.

  15. Swervin' Merv says:

    Top five on my Unlikeability Index (post Vic Toews, and excluding Harper himself):

    1. Pierre Poilievre (even Andrew Coyne, usually above name calling, called him “oily”)
    2. Kellie Leitch (being called “smart” just makes her unctuousness more irritating)
    3. Dean Del Mastro (who performs like he just learned how to lie, and enjoys it too much)
    4. Chris Alexander (another reputedly “smart” one who should stand taller than ass-kissing)
    5. Diane Finley (for her shifty-eyed smugness, now that the shades are off)

    • Luke says:

      I should say I don’t really know much about Kelli Leitch, apart from that she is a surgeon who continues working part time for zero dollars while she’s an MP. That I respect, but I sort of wrote off any genuine intelligence from her when she started going on about how extensive use of tax credits for sporting equipment definitely meant that policy was really helping improve Canadians’ lifestyle and health. (This was in a HuffPost interview.) If she is daft enough to take people using government money to buy sports gear they might have bought anyway as an actual measure of physical activity, I seriously doubt her as a critical thinker. But anyone can slip up and say something stupid, so maybe I’ll overlook it until a few more stupid utterances occur.

      • PeggyW says:

        They already have, many times, if you watch the political talkshow circuit. Ditto for Michelle Rempel, Candice Bergen, Chris Alexander…PMO parrots, like the rest of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. They may be smart, but they’re willing to put their brains in a bucket by the door when they enter the sheep runs aka hallowed halls of government.

  16. Bruce A says:

    unctuousness:

    1. Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness: “the unctuous, complacent court composer who is consumed with envy and self-loathing” (Rhoda Koenig).
    2. Having the quality or characteristics of oil or ointment; slippery.
    3. Containing or composed of oil or fat.
    4. Abundant in organic materials; soft and rich: unctuous soil.

    Synonyms: unctuous, fulsome, oily, oleaginous, smarmy
    These adjectives mean insincerely, self-servingly, or smugly agreeable or earnest: an unctuous toady; gave the dictator a fulsome introduction; oily praise; oleaginous hypocrisy; smarmy self-importance.

    Unctuousness is a word that so aptly describes so many of these New Conservatives, as does the synonyms. Well played Mr. Merv!

  17. Related
    Harper aide denies RCMP report that he knew of Wright’s $90,000 payment to Duffy
    Three-storey Mike Duffy balloon erected in Ottawa to highlight Senate’s ‘hot air’, launch referendum campaign
    Harper’s office denies stonewalling RCMP probe into Duffy after report into key ‘withheld’ email
    Anger erupts over Harper’s ‘enemy’ list as dismissed cabinet minister Peter Kent draws Watergate comparison
    NDP slams Harper for ‘lackadaisical’ attitude towards ‘payoffs’ as RCMP files reveal top Tory senator knew about $90K cheque

    See if you can guess which online version of a popular newspaper published these stories (no cheating):

    1) Toronto Star
    2) Globe and Mail
    3) National Post

  18. David_M says:

    I thought the adage was something like:

    When your opponent is debasing itself, shut up and let’em have at it…..?

  19. Anne says:

    Since two of them have paywalls, I wont even try. I just pick up what news i can these days. Since it isnt good I m better off.

  20. Chris says:

    You know that Pierre and his staff will be jerking themselves off for weeks over your writing here and the attention is has garnered them.

  21. Lorne says:

    Huffpo — Poll Suggest Justin Trudeau’s Honeymoon May Be Wearing Off

    “The Liberals appear to have taken their biggest hit in Ontario and Quebec, with drops of nine and 11 points, respectively.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/07/19/justin-trudeau-poll-liberal_n_3617291.html
    ——————————

    So it now appears there is a downward momentum in Justin’s polling even though Liberals are still slightly ahead of the Cons. Perhaps it’s the “Wynne Backlash” coming out of Ontario and a resurgence of the BQ in Quebec. The situation is “fluid” and perhaps unsustainable for the Liberals once things get serious during an election campaign when the big guns come out firing.

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