The irrepressible Terrence Watson asked me, on Twitter, what I thought about Justin Trudeau’s piece on CNOOC-Nexen.  I told him I hadn’t read it, so I went and read it.

Me? I agree with Trudeau, and not just because Trudeau said it.  When I was in Vancouver on the Fight The Right book tour, a journalist at the Observer asked me about the deal.  She seemed to be a bit hostile towards it.  My question to her, therefore, was this: if we satisfy ourselves that all of the relevant undertaking have been met, why is it acceptable to do such a deal in the case of, say, the Americans, but not now the Chinese?

If there’s an allegation to be made about the Chinese, someone should have the courage to make it directly, I said, with evidence.  In the absence of that, we can hardly style ourselves as free traders with some nations with which we already trade, but not others.

Oh, and the Harper crew continue to be full of shit on China.  Don’t forget that, either.

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Okay, it occurs to me that I’ve been talking a lot about this Ontario Liberal leadership stuff, but not telling folks how to get involved. So here goes.

I obviously support Sandra Pupatello, for ten very good reasons. You should too. So, if you’re planning to vote for Sandra in the Ontario Liberal Leadership race, and you should, you need to register to vote by this Friday.

It’s easy-peasy, it only costs $10, and it takes less than two minutes. I swear. If you want to do more, of course, you can pass this here link along to friends and family and sign them up, again, by Friday. (Or you can put your name forward to run as a delegate for Sandra.  And you should.) First, however, make sure you have registered to vote. You can do so at this link. To register, you need to be 14 or over, and ordinarily resident in Ontario (that’s different than an election, where you have to be 18 and a citizen).

Listen: being able to cast a direct vote for will be the next Premier of Ontario is something that doesn’t happen every week. The last Ontario Liberal leadership was 16 years ago. The last time the Ontario Liberal Party directly selected a sitting Premier was 60 years ago. So get involved now – and, being as reasonable as you are, I know you will support Sandra Pupatello!

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Forgot to post it yesterday.  Looks like a Premier, doesn’t she?

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Right here.

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Robocalls, the controversy thought forgotten by many hopeful Conservatives, is back.

With the ruling party preoccupied with byelections in Durham, Victoria and Calgary, the timing could be deadly. As electors in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta reflect on their choices in the Nov. 26 vote, headlines about the scandal — carrying with them squalid allegations about how Cons conned their way to majority control — may have seriously unhelpful consequences for Stephen Harper’s party.

In Calgary, in particular, the latest developments have left unhappy Conservatives even unhappier. Calgary Centre is ground zero for modern Canadian conservativism.

There, a gormless Conservative candidate — who has dodged debates and the media, while actually calling our largest trading partner “a basket case” — is teetering on the edge of a humiliating defeat.

The news about the robocalls controversy, long dormant, is happening on multiple fronts. Elections Canada has now announced its intention to probe the practice.

The federal elections body plans to develop a discussion paper on robocalling, as well as a national survey “to gather insights into Canadians’ opinions and attitudes regarding political parties’ and candidates’ practice in communicating with electors.” (We’ll save them some money: Voters don’t like it.)

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Meilleur: “Je connais très bien Mme Pupatello. En tant que ministre provincial du Développement économique et du Commerce, elle a créé beaucoup d’emplois. Comme ministre des Services sociaux et communautaires, elle a amélioré la qualité de vie des gens dans le besoin.”

Orazietti: “[Sandra] has a strong appreciation for the interests of Northern Ontario residents [and] appreciates perspectives beyond the GTA…She probably brings the strongest jobs and economic development platform to the leadership race.”

Mauro:  “I had the privilege to serve with Sandra Pupatello in government…While I value the work and experience the other leadership candidates bring to our party, I believe Sandra’s knowledge and commitment to Northern issues are overwhelming reasons why I am supporting her efforts to be the leader of our party.”

And, a large of group of young Liberals came out to back Sandra, too!

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Story here.

The mandate of the probe is unclear, but those currently engaged in robocalling in Ontario (OLP candidates Wynne, Murray) will doubtlessly take note.

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Right here.

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One of Kathleen Wynne’s senior campaign folks, Milton Chan, has a very important statement on his Facebook page, here.

What he is describing is completely, totally unacceptable in any modern political party. Going back years, Sandra Pupatello has gone after the Ontario PCs for their latent/explicit homophobia (They’re in the “dark ages,” here.)

Everyone in the race needs to condemn this B.S. right away. We don’t need it or want it.

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Now that the Liberal Party of Canada’s leadership race is officially underway — and that the party is moving up dramatically in various public opinion polls — here’s what some of the leadership candidates need to do.

Drop out.

We live in one of the world’s great democracies, and it goes without saying that any citizen should be able to run for any post he or she desires. The Liberal Party, too, should be open to the ambitions of any Canadian who shares its views.

But just because you can run for something doesn’t mean that you should.

Just because you want to be a leader of a political party doesn’t mean that everyone else thinks so, too.

It gives me no pleasure to say this, but Deborah Coyne, David Bertschi and Martha Hall-Findlay need to seriously reconsider their bids to lead the Liberal Party of Canada. They need to call it a day.

I’ve met Coyne, and have known David and Martha for a long time.

All of them are the kind of people the Liberal Party needs.

All of them are the kind of people we need more of in Parliament.

Smart, decent, hard-working and dedicated to public service.

But they shouldn’t be running for leader of the Liberal Party.

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