“The essential message that I bring to the House and to the people of Canada about this budget is that it is not a budget for everyone. It is not a budget that brings Canadians together. It is not a … Continue reading →
Continue readingTag: conservative party of canada
A BCer in Toronto: My day two video blog from Conservative Convention 2011
Back again with my day two video blog of Friday’s fun and games at the Conservative convention in Ottawa. We got shut out of the good stuff, such as the constitutional and policy workshops where, once again, the creation of a youth wing was soundly rej…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Navigating the anti-Harper protest line (video)
After venturing off campus Friday afternoon to have a drink with an old Carleton friend, I returned to the conference centre to find the road out front closed and filled with about 200 protesters there to greet Stephen Harper who was due to speak to de…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liveblogging Harperpalooza gloat-a-thon 2011
7:01 PM: I’ve settled in on press row for the evening keynote by Stephen Harper. I’m a little late but, thankfully and true to form, Harper is even later and the event shows no sign of starting, so it’s all good. Was off campus meeting a friend from my…
Continue readingCalgaryLiberal: Something to Watch: Federal Liberals in Calgary
With the new seats coming federally in the House of Commons to the economic seat of Canada–Alberta–the province will finally get a more reasonable level of representation. No longer will each of our votes matter less than Ontario or Quebec …
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Dean Del Mastro’s lie-based campaign techniques
At a punditry panel this morning at the Conservative Convention in Ottawa, Conservative MP and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dean Del Mastro, took to the microphone to share some of his campaign techniques.Apparently his primary techni…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Gettin’ our conservative on: live blogging Preston Manning at #cpc11
10:30 AM: Had to run over to the Rideau Centre for a cold beverage because none seem to be available in the conference centre, but I’m back in the same hall. It’s now packed; with the delegates having sent a message to Canada’s youth by massively rejec…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Video: Don Plett rips into Peter MacKay on one member, one vote
As promised, here’s some video of a speech Conservative Senator and former party president Don Plett gave at a hospitality suite Thursday night sponsored by MP Scott Reid, who is leading the movement to do reform the system of riding weighting for lead…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liveblog: Panel of Conservative pundits
(refresh for updates)9:05 AM: Whole delegates are off doing fun constitutional things blogger/media types like me are banned from, I’m with a small group in a large room for a panel of pundits hosted by Monte Solberg. Other pundits on the panel of men …
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Video: James Moore and Mark Strahl on one member, one vote
As I mentioned earlier, an attempt led by MP Scott Reid to change the equal ridings one member, one vote method of leadership selection is generating buzz at the Conservative convention. I’ll have a fiery speech on the topic shortly, but here are BC MP…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Touring Conservative hospitality suites
At least until the day when policy developed at conventions has any impact even remotely on campaign platforms, for many the most important part of most political convention is the hospitality suites,which seek to woo delegates with free booze and snac…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: My day one video blog from Conservative Convention 2011
Here’s my video blog from the first day on the 2011 Conservative convention, which I’m attending as a blogger. It includes cameos by Tony Clement and Jacques Demers, close-up shots of cheese, and failing to negotiate a bargain on a Stephane Dion t-shir…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Night One: #cpc11 live blog
6:30 pm: I have my blogger/media pass, I’ve navigated my way through the brand new Ottawa convention centre, I’ve paid $33.90 for WiFi (you’re welcome, dear readers) and I’m settled into the front row of the media section (at the waaaay back of the con…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: I’ll be blogging from the Conservative convention in Ottawa
After starting the week in Las Vegas, during which time my Canucks forgot how to play hockey, I’m onboard a Via train at the moment on my way to Ottawa, where I’ll be through Sunday evening covering the Conservative convention and patronizing some of t…
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Prime Ministers of Canada & Their Wu-Tang Clan Names
1. John Alexander Macdonald – Amazing Specialist 2. Alexander Mackenzie – Insane Hunter 3. John Abbott – Respected Wizard 4. John Sparrow David Thompson – Dynamic Desperado 5. Mackenzie Bowell – Vizual Samurai 6. Charles Tupper – Annoyin’ Beggar 7. … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Equivocator: The Medium Is the Message: Brigette DePape and the NDP’s Ineffective Response To The Throne Speech
Some thoughts on Brigette DePape: I don’t like Stephen Harper or his government but I also think that what Ms. DePape did was stupid. What she did during the June 2011 Throne Speech reminded me of Congressman Joe Wilson yelling “You … Continue reading →
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Releasing Government Bad News Under Cover of a Hockey Game
Based on the bad news coming from the BC and Canadian governments under cover of game one of the Stanley Cup finals, we should be wary of the Canucks going to seven games. It used to be Friday afternoons were a great time for governments to release bad news. The week’s media cycle was drifting […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Harper, Hypocrisy, Syria, and Degrees of Freedom
Yesterday I lifted my head from some work to watch the Ottawa journalists in Twitter filling us all in on John Baird’s first press conference as the majority Conservative government’s Foreign Affairs minister. They noted he read from the speech: very odd. It was a signal of a new degree of hypocritical oddity now besetting […]
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The Church of the NDP is closed, and good riddance!
Typical NDP meeting in days of yore. Below: Jack Layton.In the last hours of the 2011 federal election campaign, as word of Jack Layton’s Orange Wave spread to a wondering Canada, a longtime New Democrat supporter of my acquaintance made the followin…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: A curious start to Harper’s first majority government
I’m taking a brief break from Liberal navel-gazing to turn my attention to other affairs of state, namely yesterday’s cabinet shuffle and senate appointments by the “The Harper Government.”First, I should note that I’ve made an executive deci…
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