... came Stephane Dion to take the leadership of the Liberal Party in Canada.
Dion's platform ... (from the CBC)
"We cannot afford to miss out on the next industrial revolution: the sustainable economy," Dion said when he announced his bid April 7.
"For that reason, we must weave together economic growth, social justice, the environment and public health. That is why I want to become leader of the Liberal party and then prime minister of Canada."
From Robert Sheppard's blog at CBC:
Dion seemed to come out of nowhere. He had the least money and organization of any of the top tier candidates. Instead he had just his dogged determination to succeed.The establishment of the party pretty well split around the candidacies of Ignatieff and former Ontario premier Bob Rae, both of them outsiders of a sort to the Liberals. Many of the young turks in the current caucus went to Gerard Kennedy, the young former education minister from Ontario.
But when Kennedy fell behind Dion on the second ballot and shifted his support to the Quebecer at that point, when he didn't have to, that changed the dynamic of the race.
The Ignatieff team had been counting on picking up Dion's Quebec supporters, anticipating he would be the one to drop off early. Without them Ignatieff stalled.
On the fourth and final ballot, Dion leaped from 37 per cent of the vote on the third ballot to 2,521 votes or 55 per cent of the total final ballots cast. Waiting for the announcement, it seemed clear he would be the winner.
Some of what Dion has stated from his blog or the blog on his campaign website. (Man this guy has balls! And I say that with admiration):
Today we face a very right-wing Government, much more like the current US Republican Party than the old Tories, the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Canada has a Prime Minister who thinks that the United States is not only our ally, but also our model.
...
A Prime Minister who, last Spring, blackmailed Parliament with the threat of an election, in order to impose on Canada, blindly, two more years in Afghanistan with no clear mandate.
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Culture! There is more culture in a bowl of yogurt than in this Conservative government!
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The main problem with these new conservatives is that they have no trust in the role of government in society. They dislike it, they are clearly unhappy. Well, we liberals are compassionate, and for their own sake we will put the conservatives out of their misery - out of the government and back to opposition!
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The main issue of the century, the one on which all others depend, is the junction between the economy and the environment. In other words, no less than the reconciliation between the people and the planet. It is the responsibility of Canada, as well as its self-interest, to tackle this issue.
And here is Dion vs Ignatieff (with poor Ken Dryden in the middle) debating environmental issues:
I apologize to all you Americans listening to that - it can be hard to follow a heavy French Canadian accent. Having said that, the Dems could learn a thing or two from this guy.
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Hmm, I like Dryden's thinking. No wonder he was such a great goalie.
Indeed the Dems could learn a thing or two from both Dion and Ignatieff. Watching the convention here in Montreal was really alot of fun. I long to here such ideas thrown about at a Democratic convention in the US although I know better than to expect it to happen anytime soon!
So, do you think Dion's election was a counterbalance to Harper's move to grant Quebec Nationhood status? If so, do you think that Dion's hard-line stance on federalist isssues might end up backfiring in Quebec? I assume that would not be the case in Montreal, but perhaps everywhere else in Quebec. Just curious...
I'm not sure that Harper's little "Nation within a Nation" bit did much to change the attitudes of soft nationalists in Quebec. I suspect that he smells too right wing for most pequists. I'm sure that having Dion at the head of the party will benefit the Liberals with respect to the Quebec electorate ... although you may have more insight than I do since you are there, and all my info is second hand. Having said that, what's your take?
Also U thinks that there will be a spring election. An early exit for the conservatives?
I'm really not sure, but if it was a counterbalance to Haarper's move I think it is a clever choice. Regardless, I think they made a wise decision as he is clearly a very bright guy and an excellent speaker, just not in English (too bad for me). I must say, though, his English is not half bad...
In terms of gauging the local situation, I have two sets of freinds here who are as different as can be. The McIntyre crowd are mostly Anglophone and pure Liberals. They were all happy with the choice although I think most preferred Ignatieff. I can say though, that they all suport Dion. On the other hand, I have my wife's crowd from the Montreal General Hospital who are mostly Francophone and mostly separatists. They tend to support the Bloc, but no one is happy with them right now. I haven't had much of a chance to talk to them but I will be interested to see what they have to say about Dion. Very few of them supported Harper (most dislike him strongly) so I doubt if his recent Quebec nationhood move will make much difference. Perhaps Dion will at least have a chance to get them away from the Bloc, but I kindof doubt it (although you never know -- I keep hearing the peqists love to have a Quebecois as PM). Either way, everyone is expecting a spring election and they all want it, badly.
Its interesting, I grew up with many Republican buddies back in Texas and once we got old enough to talk politics my liberalism and their conservativism tore many relationships apart. Now I have many separationist friends and I am very against that position. We often talk/argue/fight about it but it has yet to ruin a friendship. I cannot say that they or I are any less passionate about it... just another example of how different things are here versus in the US (although likely exclusive to the South).
I assume that would not be the case in Montreal, but perhaps everywhere else in Quebec. Just curious...
Well, during the last election, Montreal elected a number of candidates from the bloc Quebecois, but on the other hand, the conservative got a number of seats (10 seats IIRC) in Beauce as well as Quebec City and its surrounding.
Also U thinks that there will be a spring election. An early exit for the conservatives?
This one I don't know, we're pretty much stuck between a rock (the liberal's financial screwup), a hard place (the conservative allegiance to bush) and an uphill battle (Quebec's separation would mean a massive re-engineering of public services and I think Im understating it).
Theodore,
Sorry, your use of the word "texas" turned on my spam filter (I just unspammed you). I think that the hardcore seperatists will just never change their mind, but the soft seperatists can be swayed.
Re: conservative/liberal vs. federalist/seperatist, it's partially true. But I must say that it was very tough going through the '95 referendum. In that year I saw many good friends get into vicious verbal fights over this issue, more vicious than anything that I've seen here. Also many francophones hold quite a bit of resentment towards anglos. My wife, being American, does not speak french ... a couple of times when we've gone up to Montreal to visit my family, she was given the cold shoulder by waiters/store employees because of it. Now I must say that Canadians and esp Quebeckers are much more likely to talk about politics in general than your typical American. Also us Canucks tend to use fewer catch-all phrases. I hate people who discard government intervention out of hand because of some dumb-ass aphorism. I guess I'm saying that we tend to buy less into some all-encompassing ideology and tend to be rather pragmatic next to our American southerners.
Ok, there's pretty good chance I put my foot into my mouth with my previous comment and that I should have commented after having looked at the video, not before; however, I may be separatist but for economics reason (and some management reasons too, Quebec is easier to manage than Canada), not language or cultural one.
Second, I am terribly sorry about what happened to your wife, there are ideologist everywhere and the political climate did not help.
About the catch phrase and my tendency to fire up a comment without thinking for at least 2 seconds, i'll keep that in mind.
Alain
Alain,
There are idiots everywhere - they just come in different forms. Despite those few incidents, my wife and I love Montreal, and I would be glad to move back - but I'll have to see where academia leads me ...