blast from the past

ignatieff in question period today kind of reminded me of a past election ad (see clips below).

im also glad to see that our party is starting to talk about the economy again. with a budget looming in the next two weeks we cannot afford to let harper take control of this issue. the economy is the only issue that liberals have an excellent track record on and we should not be afraid to remind canadains of our economic achievements while in government.

one more note for the day... hopefully tomorrow we remind canadians that there is a big difference between tax credits (so called cut) harper talks about for students, immigrants, seniors and children in sports. we need to remind canadians that a tax cut is money back in your pocket... not money that you might get if a government is fishing for votes from your demographic.

good on garth

every once in a while i frequent garth turner's blog. most of the time i find a few amusing and interesting facts that he posts. however, today it wasn't his musings that caught my attention it was his mp tv segment from monday's question period (find video below). mr. turner makes a valid point in the employment questions he is asking and the government had no real answer. although the conservatives are boasting huge employment rates - do these rates take into consideration if these new employment opportunities are steady, high paying, high tech jobs, jobs that have benefits? will these jobs be able to support the families of those who are loosing well waged and what was steady work?

the government should be deeply concerned about preventing mass lay offs... as we will see in smith falls in the near future, 300 plus lay offs will inadvertently effect a community that relies on these workers to stimulate their business.

it is shameful that the government can't give a real answer to an issue such as employment. i hope mr. turner and other liberals in the caucus continue to pressure mr. dion to take back the economic and employment issue as a liberal issue. with a nearing election we need to be more then just the party that is pushing for green change. when the conservatives out poll us on economic issues we are in trouble.

lets get our heads back in the game and talk about all of mr. dion's pillars in a way that canadians can understand. in other words lets talk about a strong and innovative economy... environmental change... and social responsibility that can grow canada to face the challenges of the 21st century.

these are the liberal values that have changed canada for the better time and time again and it will take the liberal team as a whole to put this message out there together for a better canada.

harper video now on you tube

and the race is on in toronto centre

no sooner had the rumors become true that bill graham would not run again...

this popped in my inbox at about midnight last night http://www.supportmeredith.ca/

looks like the race is on for bill's seat.

whatever it takes

after today’s events during question period I am more convinced then ever that it is time for mr. harper to go.

over the past year mr. harper has implemented a variety of policies which I have found to under mind the basic principles that we as canadians find common ground on.

he has repeatedly used divisive tactics within the house, in order to dismantle key programs that protect and promote equality, encourage innovation and increase prosperity in our country.

as an election looms and harper needs an extra boost to find majority territory in the polls… he is doing it at all costs. today he used the air india inquiry as a means of scoring political points in the house of commons. his desperation for a majority and absolute power to complete his neo-con agenda are being sought after by using the lives lost in the air india bombing and the victims families of this tragic event.

i am ashamed to be a canadian today. on most occasions I fully respect the office of the prime minister regardless of his partisan relations. however, when a prime minister decides to used an act of terrorism to divide Canadians and score political points i loose that respect.

in addition to the above political tactics, the cons and harper tried to insinuate in question period that some how the liberal party of Canada decides policy options on the bases of protecting family members of liberal MP’s. when mr. harper was questioned on this subject he simply responded that he was just reading what the vancouver sun had published. furthermore, he suggested that if the liberals had a problem with the article they should not take issue with his actions, but sue the vancouver sun.

sorry mr. harper, but when you are the prime minister of canada you should be able to do a litter better then using one news paper source as your basis for launching a partisan allegation.

once again I find it simply amusing that the canadian alliance, -> now the conservative party of canada have no shame when it comes to smearing MP’s of different political parties. if mr. harper feels so passionately about the current debate on anti terrorism legislation… he should be explaining the legislation as he sees it with canadians and not trying to discredit hard working legislators to win a house vote.

are we strong?

someone sent this to me and i thought it was pretty good... so here it is.

Are we still strong
Uploaded by proudcanadian07

baird and harper get their dance on

click here to watch

its the economy stupid

well… its been a while since I last blogged, but i couldn’t stand by and keep reading the same thing day after day.

while we liberal bloggers continue to write about the environment, the tories are making headway on a variety of issues; Crime and justice, tax reform, democratic reform and might i dare say it even the economy.

i think out of everything i listed above the economy bothers me the most. We as government had an excellent record managing the economy. harper is on the brink of destroying what was a sound balance between social and economic policy.

instead our liberal caucus feels the need to move our party to the left without considering the consequences of harper being able to claim the center. once harper positions his party as the center party… its game over.

dion should be making the economy more of an issue in the house without trying to complicate it with the environment. if its anything that voters care about its having a job, low inflation, balanced budgets and competitive tax rates. Our party should be targeting harper for raising taxes on those who make the least in canada, releasing budget projections, and using our record of balanced budgets cutting taxes to claim this issue.

lets be blunt when the NDP are able to make john maccallum look like an idiot on CTV’s Question Period there is a significant problem. when judy wasylycia-leis is able to suggest that the NDP wont run deficits and uses saskatchewan and manitoba governments as an example we should challenge her and suggest that they only do it to hold onto power.

personally I feel this is a no brainer and a political issue we can win. if dion wants to show true leadership he will take hold of the economy as his issue. canadians already know harper cant be trusted on the environment… but can harper be trusted with the economy?