Yep, Green Party MP Elizabeth May is an official delegate for Papua New Guinea. It’s another bizarre moment on the world stage brought to you by the Harper government. It means that in addition to the Canadian government officials who have delegate status, May will also be able to access
Continue readingTag: elizabeth may
Dude, Where’s Our Climate Policy?
The Durban Climate Conference hasn’t even begun yet and already Canada is getting flack for it’s poor reputation on the environment. What do you expect though from an environment minister who didn’t even know what Ozone was up until a week ago (let’s be fair, he’s only been on the job since
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: More Conservative Double Standard
Yesterday, when the Conservatives limited debate on the budget, NDP Pat Martin tweeted his frustration with a colorful expletive. He remains unapologetic, as he should. Why the media is giving this so much attention is beyond me, but the Harperites have certainly managed to take the focus off their budget
Continue readingMedia Democracy Days panel with Elizabeth May, Libby Davies and Hedy Fry
Because I don’t converse about politics or media with family and friends (they don’t even know I blog, let alone being a progressive), it was refreshing to hear articulate voices speaking about the media, politics and sexism with such calm, compelling …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Dan Gardner highlights how Stephen Harper is imposing exactly the kind of costly, top-down policies on Canada’s provinces that he once railed against:This week, at least five provincial governments, starting …
Continue readingBy George! Liz May Has Got It!
Poor BC Blue’s Dean Skoreyko, the resident McCarthyist of the Blogging SupposiTories. He’s having, yet, another bad day. He simply, well, turns, blue whenever someone figures out his beloved Harpercon end games. Today is no different, and his Harpercon killjoy du jour is Lizzie May.
From the CBC, taken from Today’s question period:
. . . → Read More: By George! Liz May Has Got It!
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Debunking "What If Lizzy May Was In The Debates?"
A few people out there have stated something so simple, so ground in common sense, that it defies logic to argue against it: that had Elizabeth May been in the national televised leaders debate during the 2011 federal election, the Green Party wouldn’t…
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Let the Green Revolution Begin!
First, they start having riding associations dropping like flies, plus an entire provincial party and almost two.Then, the leader sidesteps a constitution-mandated review of her time in office, thereby shutting down any challengers.After that, they go …
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: Jack Layton: A real gentleman and a citizen politician – 1950 to 2011
I am privileged to have once met and interviewed The Honourable Jack Layton. He was introducing three local candidates at Bar Bobards on boulevard St-Laurent during the 2006 election. At least two of those candidates, it should be noted, were fervent Québec nationalists whose acceptance speeches left little doubt they
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: Jack Layton: A real gentleman and a citizen politician – 1950 to 2011
I am privileged to have once met and interviewed The Honourable Jack Layton. He was introducing three local candidates at Bar Bobards on boulevard St-Laurent during the 2006 election.
At least two of those candidates, it should be noted, were fervent Québec nationalists whose acceptance speeches left little doubt they were steadfastly looking for a platform to push Québecois separatism.
I should note that I had previously formed a rather withering opinion of Jack’s father (the Honourable Robert Layton) when as a cub reporter during the 1988 election, I saw him in action as a Mulroney Progressive Conservative incumbent, getting booed at an all-candidates debate for suggesting Lac St-Louis water would become clean enough to drink if Mulroney was given a second mandate. As it turned out, Robert Layton was easily re-elected by West Island voters who ultimately voted for him as default support for passage of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
Utterly honest
So I was curious to ask son Jack, back in 2006, why he’d spoken so reverently of his father – who had himself succumbed to prostate cancer some four years earlier – on the two occasions I had come out to see him speak as NDP leader. Well, Jack looked me square in the eye and said he had great respect for his father, but that didn’t mean they saw eye-to-eye on very much, politically. In fact, he related, that was the one area they were always at loggerheads, notwithstanding having a loving and respectful relationship as father and son.
Can you imagine a more honest, human, and respectful answer? Not I. And I have no idea if my question – which I only posed because I had never heard him asked it before – caused him to rethink his stump speech. But I never again heard him speak of his father’s influence when introducing himself as the NDP leader, as if he had determined the astute voter might be as confused as I was, given their almost diametrically opposed politics.
It is in this spirit that I remember and revere the man whom I unfortunately must still blame (partially, at least) for putting Harper in the PM chair, by whipping his party to vote down the Martin government; something historians will doubtlessly argue was or wasn’t a seminal moment in the NDP’s existential journey as an independent political force.
A mixed legacy on policy
I also recall his insistence on going cap and trade instead of carbon tax when the latter made more sense, and finding his reasoning on that choice rather wanting. I recall with sadness his decision to have his party vote against a 2007 (?) Liberal motion to end the Afghanistan mission in July, 2009, based on the fact they really should be brought home immediately (he was quite right on that point of course), which unfortunately ended up with the misguided mission continuing on much longer. Also, Jack’s reticence at allowing Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to be included in the 2008 election debates rankled.
Meanwhile, I championed Jack Layton grandly for forcing the 2005 Martin budget to be amended to halt planned corporate tax cuts while increasing social spending in the period where the NDP held the balance of power. I even voted for one of his throw-away candidates while living in the Outremont riding after Paul Martin had parachuted a former Bloc-Québecois founder (Jean Lapierre) in to take Martin Cauchon’s place.
And yesterday morning I cried – yet not so much as on last July 25, when we all saw death tapping impatiently on Jack’s shoulder – to hear of his passing.
Despite anything else, Jack Layton was a good egg. He tried. He fought. He brandished humour and a forthrightness that was touching and palpable in both official languages. He worked with dedication to his ideals with true and rare conviction. In short, he stood for something, and he made sure that it was a something he could get fully behind. Then he would make a convincing argument that you and I and every other Canadian could get behind it too.
As long as we listened to our hearts.
What next?
Now, a huge gabble of neophyte NDP Québec MPs will have to find their way in the HoC. They also must prove their worthiness to their constituents, despite being stripped of the coattails of the one guy in whom the voters put their full-throttle faith. And that was no small leap of faith either. These voters bravely abandoned their BQ candidates who had mostly done nothing less than tirelessly represent their constituents’ interests in Ottawa with pride and passion for several years.
No, the Bloquistes can only blame their party’s connection with separatism on their historic defeat to the mostly unknown Dippers that won their constituents’ votes based almost solely on Jack Layton’s endorsement. Continued NDP support in Québec will be a very tough sell, regardless of Thomas Mulcair’s considerable respect in this province.
But that sort of speculation should be explored another day. For today, I am pleased that our Prime Minister has been honourable enough (against type) to bequeath a state funeral for Jack Layton.
Hard to believe as I type his name that he is no longer with us.
Jack, all in all, you did good by us Canadians. Posthumous gratitude in spades. Many, many thanks. RIP, if that is at all possible for you!
– 30 –
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: Jack Layton: A real gentleman and a citizen politician – 1950 to 2011
I am privileged to have once met and interviewed The Honourable Jack Layton. He was introducing three local candidates at Bar Bobards on boulevard St-Laurent during the 2006 election. At least two of those candidates, it should be noted, were fervent Québec nationalists whose acceptance speeches left little doubt they
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Elizabeth May’s Current Projects
Although I detect a subtext of sarcasm running through the article, Jane Taber’s recent piece on Elizabeth May is well-worth a read, as it illustrates a woman involved in a worthwhile battle to encourage political engagement on the part of young people…
Continue readingTrashy's World: Friday miscellany – Liz, cowboys, Arsenal and a cottage
1. Elizabeth May’s sudden crusade against Wi-Fi has disappointed me. I had thought she would latch on to an environmental issue that was beyond reproach. The tar sands. GHGs. Volatile organic compounds. Food safety. She had a lot to choose from. But no. She picks an issue which may or may not actually be an […]
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: June 16, 2011
While June 16 was a shortened day due to the NDP’s weekend convention, it wasn’t lacking for a few notes of interest.Issue of the DayWhile the Cons took the opportunity to serve notice of their intention to impose back-to-work legislation at Air Canada…
Continue readingBeing Oppositional, ‘Socialist’ Filibuster Drinking Games, Pandering to the Misinformed, Attempting To Debunk Some Myths
Finally, I post my thoughts about the NDP filibuster of Stevie Spiteful’s draconian Back to work legislation of locked out Canada Post workers and the press coverage it has received, along with many Canadians’ attitude toward it. I’m not only concerned at Canadians’ attitudes toward Bill c-6, but also all the misinformation that . . . → Read More: Being Oppositional, ‘Socialist’ Filibuster Drinking Games, Pandering to the Misinformed, Attempting To Debunk Some Myths
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: NDP Filibuster: The Street Has Spoken
Or at least my wife, long-time Liberal, saying: “You know, I’m proud of Jack.” Indeed. Lots of piss and vinegar out of the NDP in the Canada Post showdown. Meanwhile the Liberals come across as a bunch of old white guys that need to sleep, when they’re…
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Friday Link Grab Bag
A few random Friday thoughts:1. Don’t expect this weekend’s NDP convention in Vancouver to be nearly as exciting as Wednesday night. Still, the possibility for riots and/or make out sessions does exist when delegates begin debating a motion to repeal t…
Continue readingCongratulations Elizabeth May on the First Green Party Parliamentary Climb Down!
She says one thing one day, and backs down from it the next. The Green Party of Canada is growing up folks. You see it is doing all the things the other parties do!
Of course correct me if I’m wrong that this is the first one. Did Blair Wilson e…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: June 14, 2011
With the debate over Libya taking up the time for debate, yesterday didn’t see quite as much of a range of issues discussed as some previous days. However, there’s still plenty of material worth noting from the day’s events.The Big IssueObviously, the …
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Exactly
“…The government is rushing because 31 Hells Angels were let out of jail. This bill does not put them back in jail,” May said.
With the LPoC navel gazing, and the NDP joining the Torys in demagoguery, it is down to our lone Green to keep Parliament …
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