04.20.2015 01:14 PM

The Star is not happy with Mr. Trudeau

Quotage:

…and that is just stuff from a single month, April.

Not good.

25 Comments

  1. Al in Cranbrook says:

    I’m reminded of an old song about a “three dressed up as a nine”.

    …etc., etc.

  2. gyor says:

    It is good, hopefully people will see Trudeau for what he really is in time to flock to Mulcair.

    • Peter says:

      …in time to flock to Mulcair

      Flock? Hope springs eternal for you Dippers, doesn’t it? Even the Star and the pollsters indicate Harper is the beneficiary.

      JT is turning the LPC into the Toronto Maple Leafs of politics. A gaffe a week, and then when he tries to fix them, more gaffes.

      • Priyesh says:

        I sincerely doubt that Harper can get more votes than he did in 2011. That’s his ceiling.

        There’s movement between all three parties. In Alberta, people are moving from Harper to the NDP. In BC and Quebec, they’re moving between FOUR different parties.

        The Liberals are down, but if nothing else, they’ve rebounded in the Atlantic and Ontario since 2011. That’s good enough to deny Harper his majority.

        Now about that coalition….

        • Matt from Ottawa says:

          I dont doubt Harper has probably hit his ceiling, but with the added seats, who knows to be honest. As well, its obvious that the LPC will come out with more seats compared to what they currently have. However, I think because of the Nova Scotia budget, theyre going to lose some support there. Also, I think there will be alot of backlash in Ontario against them. Given the current situation with Wynne and how theyre making some very questionable decisions, I think the trend about keeping a balance will hold true (whoever is in power provincially the opposite happens federally). Though they will pick up seats in Ont, I think much of downtown Toronto will go NDP, and much of the GTA will remain Conservative. Just my 2 cents though

          • edward nuff says:

            if Harper were smart which he isn’t he’d get incredible cred if he saved drowning refugees off Lybia a situation he helped create instead of bombing sand dunes in Syria and for a fraction of the cost but that would be too … what’s the word… oh yeah … humanitarian.

        • chuckercanuck says:

          Repeating 2011 is all he needs.

          There is no movement between four parties in Quebec. Its a story of different regions. No one in Quebec City is waking up one day saying, “Harper” and then the next “Trudeau”. Trudeau does well where the last Liberal die-hards live. Harper is strong in exactly the opposite regions.

          The last time a coalition became a very real possibility, Tories were shooting up to over 50% in the polls.

          This is why Liberals don’t want to talk about it: half their vote isn’t “progressive”. More than half of the Liberal vote doesn’t support the NDP’s agenda of killing Canada with a 50% + 1 vote on a dubious question. More than half the Liberal vote doesn’t support the NDP’s agenda of ignoring ISIS. More than half their vote doesn’t want to hand over the federal government to union bosses calling the shots.

          Talk up the coalition and enough Liberal votes shift to the Tories to guarantee a Tory majority. Face it: Harper is here for another decade. History in the making.

          • Priyesh says:

            If you love dumb wars and hate unions, you voted Conservative in 2011.

          • Al in Cranbrook says:

            You are exactly right. A great many Liberals would rather drive nails through their own feet than end up putting the reins of government anywhere within striking distance of the NDP. Particularly, I suspect, in BC and Ontario, where memories of NDP provincial governments remain fresh.

            I’m also inclined to think that the vast majority of Canadians have pretty much tuned out the MSM, especially the CBC, and their incessant “progressive” wailing and gnashing of teeth, far too much of it over the most banal and inane crap even remotely conceivable.

            And then there’s betting on voters enthusiasm electing a government that wants to stuff a carbon tax up their collective butts…good luck with that one, eh! Ask our Aussie compatriots how well that worked out for their economy, and the political fallout thereof!

          • Peter says:

            If you love dumb wars and hate unions, you voted Conservative in 2011

            Don’t forget puppies. Puppy-haters all voted for Harper in 2011. It’s a surprisingly large demographic and ripe for the picking if JT can arrange to kick one in a photo-op.

      • edward nuff says:

        so like the Leafs they’ll wind up fourth in the lottery … er election.

  3. King Prick says:

    I’ve said it before on this website; Trudeau needs the blue collar vote and as someone who works in the construction industry—in the field—he just ain’t cuttin’ it. He comes off as soft. He explains himself to the voters like a school marm admonishing a child for eating paste. Where’s the man? I want, as Nixon once put it; “that asshole Trudeau” to show himself. So, why can’t he?

    There’s a long shadow cast by his father. Of that, there is no doubt. There’s a long shadow cast by Jean Chretien, too. That’s Trudeau’s cross to bear. He, cannot and will never come out from under either. Mostly, in my mind, because it’s because he’s useless. He’s not run a business, he’s not managed men, women or anything other than a charity event or his own household. He can’t even fake that he worked hard to get where he is. I mean, geezus! Look how well the Conservatives form their message. Harper was a daddy’s boy who worked in a mail room at Exxon because dear old dad got him the gig. He claims to be an economist but has never, ever worked in the trade. He’s suckled the public teat and fed on special interest dollars and that’s bloody well it. He’s never had a real job, and yet… The buffoon is our Prime Minister. Even the provincial Conservatives under Tim Hudak… The man had one job, working for Wal-mart when he was 27 and then went into politics. Did anyone who supported him even pick that up? Not likely. Mike Harris was even more useless; and again, did anyone pick up on just how useless his background was for political office? Nope.

    So, how should the Liberals shape their message? Damned if I know because frankly; they’re damned for making Justin leader. In any other vocation, I would say, hire personality and train skill. In politics; you need some chops right out of the gate. Instead, we’re stuck looking at field mouse trying to fight a barn cat. He’s lost me and he’s lost me so much that I’m actually considering voting for the Conservatives for the first time since i was 18. (I’m 47—childless and unmarried.)

    Trudeau’s patter sucks. He might be cute and engaging but we need a leader that’s going to stand up and speak for Canada, not, Tickle Me Elmo. He hasn’t shown himself to be anything more than weak and unable to get on message, (let alone, stay on message.) For God sakes, Mike Pearson didn’t mind pissing off Lyndon Johnson. Trudeau Senior pretty much told Nixon to punch smoke. What’s Trudeau’s cause? I have no idea and he certainly hasn’t asked Canadians what their cause is, has he?

    If he wants to win and have business and the general public buy into an idea, he must, and here I am saying it again, bring to the forefront how many of our Canadian dollars are being exploited by American companies who continue to sue us under NAFTA. I believe that if Canadians from coast to coast were made aware of how we’re being wiped out by American interest in Canadian courts, he would win. How much would 300 million do for Canadian infrastructure or healthcare or R & D? It would do a shitload, that’s what it’d do! He needs to grab John McCallum, an excellent economist, and perhaps hire Paul Krugman another fabulous US based economist, and with that kind of power in his hands, lambaste Harper’s record while developing a plan tom ratify NAFTA so that Canadians can have their tax dollars back and put to good use.

    Harper is running on law and order and fiscal responsibility. Somehow, even though his record is actually horrible, he has the country convinced that he’s just great at it. Trudeau, with the weight of a Paul Krugman and the additional intellect of a John McCallum could crush Harper’s assertions, develop a cohesive plan for future wealth and growth and build confidence in the Canadian government again. We need an agent for Canadians, not an agent for foreign interests.

    Canadians need to know what’s breaking the country’s bank. It isn’t the unions. It isn’t the welfare roles. It isn’t crime. It’s predatory corporate interest. Prove to me that you’re willing to stand up and fight to keep Canada Canadian and maybe, just maybe, you’ll win an election, Justin. If you can’t do that; you’re doomed to take a long walk in the snow and for all the wrong reasons.

  4. Priyesh says:

    I’ve never been the kind of Liberal who believed in the silver bullet of “the leader”. Dion would have been a great prime minister and he lost. Ignatieff was horrendous and tanked the party. I kept hearing Liberals blame it on Layton being lightning in a bottle, but if he was so electrifying, then why did it take 10 years for anyone to notice?

    And that was the nagging worry as Trudeau started surging in the polls.

    “What are we running on?”
    “He’s not Steven Harper, that’s it!”
    “Ok, but for real, he just went to the US to push the Keystone Pipeline, and he hasn’t promised any changes in taxes or the economy.”
    “Shut up and pop the champagne.”

    And that’s how we went from “who cares about policy” to “oh shit! what’s the policy?!”

  5. peter in Oakville says:

    I’m a life long adherent to liberal political philosophy, and Liberal Party voter. And a big fan, then and now, of the late Pierre Trudeau.

    Can’t stand Justin and his overwrought, breathlessly delivered banalities. He has not demonstrated any qualification to govern.

    Green in protest, or Orange for overthow this autumn.

  6. cgh says:

    Interesting who’s on Goar’s list of economic experts. No surprise who she lists, but it’s also no surprise who’s missing: Chrystia Freeland. A bit of a lightweight handpicked by Trudeau for that role, which doesn’t particularly bode well for his talent for picking people to help him.

    Particularly dangerous is this from Hepburn:

    “…many of the complaints are coming from within the party itself…”

    Not good indeed. Divided parties do not win elections.

  7. Lance says:

    Meh, you know what, even if he doesn’t take the Liberals to 24 Sussex, he has still accomplished a great things for the Liberals just by doing what many thought was impossible – bringing them back from the precipice. The alone is something to be proud of.

  8. Ted Heighington says:

    It’s a leaders job to set the tone and the party’s job to set the platform. Both parts of the allegedly new and recharged Liberal have failed on both accounts. The leader by giving off the wrong tone. The party by not giving off any platform at all. Polls aren’t always accurate. But they never lie. Shame. Harper needs a good swift kick in the arse from a formidable opponent. I was hoping that might be Trudeau. Sadly, it won’t be…

  9. Metakaizen says:

    “…….the Liberal leader has no business or financial experience….”

    Nor did he when the Star endorsed him for Leader in 2013

    Evidently they were counting on his access to a time machine to earn that experience retroactively.

    As for all the other criticisms- very foreseeable in 2013 and/or the fault of his handlers.

    Buyer’s Remorse, anyone?

  10. Gayle says:

    Well first of all, it is not the Star who is complaining, but rather two columnists, and one of those columnists seems to be saying a lot of good things too.

    There is clearly a tactical decision made not to reveal his policies until closer to the election, Rightly or wrongly, that is how they are proceeding. And the fact that the old boys from 40 years ago do not like it is just too bad for them. No doubt they pushed people out 40 years ago too. It’s politics…

  11. Kelly says:

    The platform will come out 3 weeks before election day, when people start to notice. Then they’ll go…hey that’s a better platform than I thought I’d see from Trudeau. He’ll increase the Liberal seat count enough to hold the balance in an NDP minority government. Harper’s support has simply stalled. They’re only at 31% and the economy is definitely softening. We’re performing poorly compared to most of the OECD and our infant mortality rate is worse than Cuba’s. The driving force in politics today is fairness. The Harperites are simply unfair. They are favoring the rich and a few other slivers of the electorate. Once that’s communicated in attack ads, their soft vote will collapse. And then there’s all the wars and the veterans who are going to throw crap all over Harper’s parade. I want to see one of Harper’s goons try to rough up a wounded vet at a conservative rally…I wonder how that will go over?

  12. Bill says:

    Kudos to you Warren, for critiquing a progressive party when you, yourself, are one.

    I don’t always like what you have to say about the LPC but there’s my cognitive dissonance showing.

    I see there’s always a boatload of CPC supporters on your blog who like to see this sort of thing.

    My question to them, can they point me in the direction of CPC bloggers who are equally as critical of the sitting government?

  13. P Brennan says:

    You need to give people an idea of what you stand for ..and not in September…if economy craters you can always change ideas given new reality ..even Mad Tom has ideas on paper…

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