Blue Like You

Archive for the ‘Dion - Doing the best he can’ Category

In the print edition of Friday’s National Post:

(The above widget keeps changing, but it’s kind of cool. Just hold your cursor over the pic and you will see arrows that will allow you to flip through Clement’s archives.)

Christian Conservative has the Dion cartoon here.

In response to the Speaker’s statement saying, “All in favour of the government’s motion say ‘AYE’”, Dion responds with the following:

“AYE am actually opposed and outraged by this government’s abuse of…“

The Clement archive can also be found here. (H/T Uncommon Truths)

Also just got into my new issue of Macleans. Paul Wells has a fascinating article about Dion titled, “Party of One”. H/T to reader Jad for the link.

… you have to wonder if Dion is going to be putting forward a private member’s bill to extend the 4-year mandate of this government in 2009?

I can just hear it now - “Mr. Speaker, Canadians still don’t want an election…”

The National Post asks how much longer the Party of Shame will be able to continue with this pathetic strategy.

Via Dr. Roy we learn that there are more men disenchanted with Stephane Dion, than there are women who supposedly can’t warm up to Harper.

…Conservatives correctly complain the oft-documented aversion of women voters to their leader is actually less pronounced than male discomfort with Mr. Dion, a trend increasingly evident in Ipsos Reid polling numbers shared with senior public servants last week.

Ipsos-Reid president Darrell Bricker notes that the traditional softness of male support for the Liberals has drooped to an alarmingly flaccid state since Mr. Dion became party leader 16 months ago.

The Harper Conservative male-voter lead over the Dion Liberals is now at an almost insurmountable 14 points — 41% versus 27% for the Liberals…

So, in the interest of trying to protect the CPC’s best weapon, here is my suggestion to the Liberal party - Try a T-shirt.

The Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Party of Abstention may have to continue ducking votes.

Update: I wonder how the Liberals will vote on this one!

CTV - Budget bill would resolve RESP impasse: Flaherty.

And here’s a shock (not): Grits won’t bring down Tories over Climate Change - CNews.

Via Dr. Roy - Star: Dion undermined by his reticence.

Tuesday Update - Steve Janke: That green scarf takes on a distinctly yellowish hue.

Jonathan Kay opines on when Stephane Dion may actually make ‘the move‘.

You think it’s easy to bring down a government?

Stephen Taylor illustrates why Dion is better suited to academia.

Not that we want him to go!

Did anyone else see the end of MDL last night where Jean LaPierre and Joel-Denis Bellavance were talking about how Bob Rae has suddenly emerged as the controlling factor in the party, and how Dion’s orders to get ready for an election are basically being ignored?

JDB called it a “Silent Revolt”.

I can’t find that clip on the CTV site. Was I dreaming?

You think it’s easy being leader of the official opposition?

The NDP’s Thomas Mulcair is taunting the Liberals for “abandoning all claims to being the official opposition” with their refusal to vote against the Government.

And to add insult to injury, the prospects of a future Liberal spending machine have been seriously hampered by recent fiscal policy changes as I had mentioned a short while ago.

The Calgary Herald’s Nigel Hannaford lays it all out in a somewhat nightmarish scenario where the Liberals regain power and how their former ‘racket’ to “overestimate expenses, low ball revenues, and … come up with a fatter surplus than had been budgetted”, likely won’t work anymore.

I was going to highlight the best parts of this article, but it’s all so good that you’ll just have to sit back and read the whole thing.

Dion is out of his league.

Stephane Dion’s knee-jerk assertion that Canada should recognize Kosovo is a perfect example of the kind of chaos we would be subjected to if he were ever Prime Minister.

What Professor Dion has failed to learn from his Pakistan gaffe, is that statements involving international situations must be tempered with discretion and diplomacy. Making a brash off-the-cuff observation to score cheap political points may end up having unintended ramifications.

The Harper Government, on the other hand is still considering its response, which is the appropriate way to handle the situation. There is no rush - no need for rash decisions here.

However, in typical Liberal Lemming fashion, Dion does suggest that Canada should not be the first in line:

…But he added, Canada should not be the first to recognize Kosovo’s independence, noting that the European Union is divided on the issue…

This is so pathetic.

Oh, and this has nothing to do with Quebec!

I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of this file, but after reading a few different articles this morning, I was able to see that this is a very complicated situation requiring a great deal of diplomacy.

For example, James Bissett explains why Canada should not recognize Kosovo:

…The recognition of Kosovo outside of the UN framework will set a dangerous precedent. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that Canada should make foreign policy decisions that are not only independent but are noticed by other powers around the world. Here is an opportunity for Canada to illustrate both of these objectives and stand firm for the UN Charter - by saying no to the recognition of Kosovo.

In addition there was a local protest against Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia:

…Protest organizer Jelena Cokorilo tells 570 news Kosovo is the cradle of the serbian church and serbian civilization and that the move is unsustainable from an economic, social and military perspective. Cokorilo says the current Albanian political elite that declared independence for Kosovo, were killing Canadian soldiers in Bosnia during the Balkan conflict in the early nineties.

Obviously this is not a simple matter of who’s right and who’s wrong. It is an issue requiring a great deal of careful thought, with an eye to all possible consequences.

Stephane Dion has not proven himself capable of handling such delicate situations. He should resign as Leader of the Opposition.

If not, I fear for Canada if he ever becomes Prime Minister.

Will someone please just wake me up when this is over?