The Liberal Scarf

Join the Alexandra Mendes call tonight and learn more about her plan to put members first!

2012-01-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

Mendes has got momentum!

With this great profile in iPolitics: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/01/10/alexandra-mendes-my-priorities-if-i-am-elected-president-of-the-lpc/ talking about putting members first, and her solid plan to engage and empower Young Liberals: http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/blog/5-young-liberals-les-jeunes-liberaux Alexandra Mendes would like to invite you to her conference call tonight to have your say and hear how she wants to put members first!

Grab your call in number here: http://www.facebook.com/events/229623607115780/

And register here if you want to ask a question: http://apps.calliflower.com/conf/show/278965?conf_key=74c6046f60904b28693edb3150a605267b6b7fe5

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Empowering and engaging Young Liberals - Alexandra Mendes' plan for youth

2012-01-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

Alexandra Mendes has a proven track record of Young Liberal engagement, including having her successful 2008 election campaign being managed by a Young Liberal! She knows the strength and abilities Young Liberals can show if given responsibility and empowerment. Read here about Mendes' plan for youth!

http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/blog/5-young-liberals-les-jeunes-liberaux

"Young people in politics, as in all other facets of civil society, offer us a daring, optimistic and creative energy that we must embrace if we want to truly reflect our communities.

No party, in fact, no organization can be truly vibrant and relevant without fully engaging these sources of power and renewal."

Dear Fellow Liberals,

As we approach the Biennial Convention, it is important to talk about the role of Young Liberals within the party, and the important role youth will play in renewing our party. It is sometimes said that “Youth are the leaders of tomorrow” – but I can speak from experience that youth are the leaders of today! I have a proven track record of successfully engaging and empowering Young Liberals. I know how important a role Young Liberals can play when they are given the respect and responsibility they deserve. An 18-year-old Young Liberal managed my campaign in 2008 and the efforts of Young Liberals played a crucial part in my victory in a very close race.

I have kept very good memories of my experience. I learned a lot and I won’t ever forget that you gave me my first opportunity.
Farah Chagnon, Campaign Manager, 2008 Election

At this biennial, youth will form a large percentage of the delegates, which is a great sign that young Canadians are engaged in the party and will participate wholeheartedly in the rebuilding process going forward. This is why empowering, listening to Young Liberal voices and ensuring they are heard is a cornerstone of my campaign.

Youth are worthy of distinction, not only because of the sheer size of their delegation, but because the general Liberal membership recognizes the overwhelming and urgent need to prioritize youth in order to rebuild and renew our party.

As President of the Liberal Party of Canada, my role will be to ensure that the Young Liberals of Canada Executive will have all the tools and resources required to be effective in their respective jobs – including communications tools, recruitment materials, a program for sharing best practices, fundraising support and encouragement for innovation.

I will work with the Caucus and party office to have regular town-hall meetings with youth and young liberals in different parts of the country, on post-secondary campuses and community centres, with an emphasis on un-held ridings and rural areas. I believe that our National Executive, MPs, Senators, and candidates of record should be on the front lines of engaging and listening to youth.

One of the keys to ensuring that Young Liberals have all the tools and resources they need entails thinking about the sustainability of the YLC, both financially and organisationally. Therefore, as President, part of my role would be to ensure that the LPC Executive Board does all it can to support a financially viable and efficient Young Liberals of Canada Commission. I believe that supporting the Young Liberals involves more than promises of increased budgets, rather it involves encouragement and support for self-sufficiency through YLC fundraising initiatives.
One best practice model that I have found is the Ontario Young Liberals FLY program that allows them to bring in additional sources of funding through a monthly donation system, independent of the LPC or OLP. This is certainly something that I as President, would like the National Executive to consider for YLC.

I will ensure that the YLC President, as a full-fledged member of the LPC National Executive, has an equal voice and opportunity to defend and support his ideas. This means that the President’s voice is heard, and that no other members of the executive seek to silence or ignore it.

The position of YLC National Director ought to be preserved to make sure the YLC has a voice and ally at the party’s organisational level.

I believe we need to form stronger relationships among our PTAs and the riding level associations, including those Young Liberals at the riding level. We could build on the model of the Council of Presidents and establish a Council of Young Liberal Leaders – with Young Liberal Riding Presidents or youth riding association representatives – to give them a direct voice and line to National Executive.

Youth need to feel engaged in all parts of our party, tapping into the energy, experience, and excitement they bring to the Liberal cause.

This means building on and celebrating the successes of YLC projects. As one example, the party ought to recognize the successful fundraising campaign for the 2011 YLC Climate Change Convention delegates. As President I would work with rest of National Executive and party to create a mechanism in which the party routinely taps into the energy and ideas of the Young Liberals across Canada such as event ideas, collaborations with other organisations, and support for Young Liberals to attend conferences. However, engaging youth, not only requires listening and support, but also seeking opportunities where the party can assist financially and organisationally with fundraising, while highlighting and encouraging these initiatives moving forward.

My entire platform is based on changing the culture of the Liberal Party to make it a member-driven and member-responsive party. We must harness the talent in this party to drive this party forward. When a Liberal—any Liberal—comes forward offering us innovative ideas and talent, we must harness this and help them to help develop our party. We need to harness the talent of young Liberals by allowing them to contribute to the areas that they are passionate about and in areas where they have talent.

It is my firm belief that young Liberals are best served by not being relegated to “Young Liberals Only” areas, but bringing them into all areas of this party. If a Young Liberal is talented in policy, messaging, etc. he or she should sit side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder with other Liberals at the table and contribute and have his or her contribution respected. At that table there will also be Liberals with many years of experience, wisdom and successes and this allows knowledge to be shared, and a whole new generation to be prepared to lead this party into the future.

I am feeling very optimist for the future of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Alexandra

* * * *

«Les jeunes dans la vie politique, comme dans toutes les autres facettes de la société civile, nous offrent une audace, une énergie optimiste et créative que nous devons adopter si nous voulons véritablement refléter nos communautés.

Aucun parti, aucune organisation ne peut être vraiment dynamique et pertinent, sans engager pleinement ces sources de pouvoir et de renouvellement. »

Chers collègues libéraux,

Alors que Congrès biennal approche à grand pas, il est important de parler du rôle des jeunes libéraux au sein du parti et du rôle crucial que les jeunes joueront dans le renouveau. On dit parfois que «les jeunes sont les leaders de demain » - mais je peux parler par expérience que les jeunes sont les leaders d'aujourd'hui! Dans mon expérience politique et communautaire, j’ai déjà démontré ma capacité à engager et à responsabiliser les jeunes libéraux. Je comprends très bien l'importance du rôle que les jeunes libéraux saisissent lorsqu’ils sont traités avec le respect et la responsabilité qu'ils méritent. Ma campagne en 2008 était gérée par une jeune libérale de 18 ans, et les efforts plusieurs autres jeunes libéraux ont contribué significativement à ma victoire dans une course très serrée.

« « Je garde de très bons souvenirs de mon expérience. J’ai appris beaucoup et n’oublierait pas que tu m’as donné ma première chance. ».
Farah Chagnon, directrice de campagne, 2008

Lors de cette biennale, les jeunes composent un pourcentage important des délégués, ce qui est un signe très encourageant que les jeunes Canadiens sont engagés dans le parti et participeront sans réserve au processus de reconstruction qui nous attend. C'est pourquoi la responsabilisation, l'écoute de jeunes voix libérales et l’assurance qu'ils sont entendus est une pierre angulaire de ma campagne.

Les jeunes méritent notre considération, non seulement en raison de la taille de leur délégation, mais parce que l'ensemble des Libéraux reconnaît la nécessité impérieuse et urgente de donner la priorité aux jeunes afin de reconstruire et renouveler notre Parti.

En tant que présidente du Parti libéral du Canada, mon rôle sera d'assurer que l’exécutif des Jeunes libéraux du Canada aura tous les outils et les ressources nécessaires pour être efficaces dans leurs postes respectifs - y compris les outils de communication, le matériel de recrutement, le partage de meilleures pratiques, le soutien au financement et l'encouragement à l'innovation.

Je veillerai à ce que le président des JLC, en tant que membre à part entière de l'exécutif national du PLC ait une voix égale et la possibilité de défendre et de soutenir ses idées autant que les autres membres. Cela signifie que la voix du président est entendue, et qu'aucun des autres membres de l’exécutif ne cherche à le taire ou à l'ignorer.

Les jeunes doivent se sentir engagés dans tous les domaines de gestion de notre parti, puisant dans l'énergie, l'expérience, et l'excitation qu'ils apportent à la cause libérale.

Ma plateforme est entièrement basée sur le changement de la culture du Parti libéral ; d'en faire une organisation dirigée et réflective de ses membres. Nous devons exploiter tous les talents de nos membres pour conduire ce parti vers le futur. Quand un libéral, quel que soit son groupe d’âge, se présente en nous offrant des idées novatrices et osées, nous lui devons la considération de ses idées et toute l’aide appropriée pour les concrétiser.

Nous avons besoin d’utiliser le talent des jeunes libéraux en leur permettant de contribuer aux domaines pour lesquels ils se passionnent et qui les interpellent. Je ne coirs vraiment pas que les jeunes libéraux doivent être relégués à la simple catégorie de «Jeunes libéraux», mais que dans toutes les sphères de notre Parti on puisse retrouver leur contribution et leur talent.

Si un jeune libéral est talentueux en matière de politique ou de marketing, par exemple, il ou elle devra participer à part entière à la discussion et ses contributions devront y être reconnues et validées. A cette table il y aura aussi des libéraux ayant de nombreuses années d'expérience, de la sagesse et d’histoires de succès ; cela permettra des connaissances qui se partagent et une toute nouvelle génération préparée à diriger ce parti dans l'avenir.

Je suis très optimiste pour le futur du Parti libéral du Canada !

Alexandra

Alexandra Mendes on renewal!

2012-01-05T19:12:00.000-08:00

Some great stuff coming out of Alexandra's campaign in the run up to the Convention. Here is her new piece on party renewal, and building a democratic framework

http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/blog/4-renewal-le-renouveau

Fellow Liberals,

As 2012 dawns with the promise of renewal the start of a new year offers us, I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on what our beloved Party has to do to turn this promise into genuine change for the better.

Financial Management: We need to marry fiscal stewardship with democratic engagement.

Without per vote subsidies, members and supporters alone will drive the financial bus of the Liberal Party and we need to modernize the way we do business.

I have a track record that speaks to my passion for fiscal stewardship matched only by my passion for democratic engagement.

I have a plan that will help this party adjust to our new financial reality by providing a framework that will help us thrive financially by engaging members.

My track record:

I took over as executive director of an NGO when it went into receivership. I helped steer it back to being a vibrant, membership driven organisation that has enjoyed financial success ever since, by implementing a framework that allowed it to thrive in its work at the municipal, provincial, national and international levels.

In the Liberal Party I also have a proven track record as someone who can marry prudent financial management with membership engagement. As president of a federal Liberal riding association and an MP from that same riding, we engaged enough voters to win 3 times and we did it without accumulating even one cent of debt. In fact, we left money after each campaign to help kick start the next one.

It is all about the framework we develop:

If I am elected president, one thing I would like to do is provide a framework for sustainability and growth. I will be accountable to our members and ensure that the National Executive will operate with transparency in decision-making and actions undertaken in the name of the Party.

We must have mandated quarterly reviews of the books. Every cent the Liberal Party spends has to be justifiable: it should either be spent on successful member outreach or on generating successful fundraising. We must run a leaner financial ship.

We must also run a ship that is powered by the membership and that demands a new framework for membership engagement.

We must have a mandated set of rules governing response times so members know that we are listening because we actually are.

Also, in a membership driven organization we must spend money to make money so we must have a financial wing of this party that provides reliable and sustainable funding to membership outreach. This means that we must develop - and better fund - clear and emotionally engaging messaging, we must fund initiatives such as micro-targeting and we must use our members’ creativity to find new ways of turning support into long-term funding.

In short, we need a sustainable framework that prevents waste of funds and of our members’ engagement, while it promotes growth and connectivity with voters. With that framework we will have a vibrant, financially healthy membership driven Liberal Party of Canada.

Alexandra Mendes on the record

2012-01-04T18:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a collection of the questions and answers given to Alexandra Mendes last night on her Facebook chat. I've edited a couple for length and clarity slightly, and in a couple cases either combined or omitted a part of a question which asked the same general points repeatedly. I've also, in the interest of privacy, omitted names. It should give you a good idea about where Alexandra stands on some important issues in Liberal rebuilding, and her emphasis on listening to where the membership wants her as President to go, rather than imposing a top-down vision onto the grassroots.

Q: You talk about an approach to change the culture of the party. I would like to ask you to address that please. It is important. Thanks :)

A: Thank you for the question. A culture change has a great deal to do with how we'll message ourselves in the future. As Liberals we've been way to reactive, not pro-active enough in showing Canadians what our Party stands for! That will require a willingness to invest in proper messaging techniques.

Q: As Party President, would you allow Bob Rae to run for permanent Leader?

A: The Party President, whoever that may be on Jan. 15th, doesn't have the authority or the mandate to make such a decision. It will be up to the members to make the final decisions on Leadership rules. At least, that is how I will propose to go about it.

(Follow up to previous question)

Q: How can the membership make the decision on leadership rules? It will be up to the National Executive. Are you proposing an extraordinary convention?

A: that is exactly what I would propose. We now know it can be done and it can be done well at a very reasonable cost. If we truly want the "one-member-one-vote" concept to have any significance, we must let members decide on major issues such as leadership races' rules.

Q: My question is given that the Cons and NDP campaign arduously in between elections. How would you go about changing our image from the invisible party who meet in boardrooms to visible engagement?... As President of the Liberal Party, how would you help our members & general public to get more engaged with the party or grassroots?

(these are 2 questions which Alexandra answered together)

A: One of the most democratic ways of making members feel engaged and involved is making them part of the decision making process. Obviously I'm not referring to the day-to-day decisions that have to me made to run the Party, but anything that affects members, the Party's image and values and our capacity to deliver on Canadians expectations, I would definitely consult the membership widely and regularly.

Q: What can the party do to help heal the wounds of contested nominations At present, it seems to be a "heal thyself" approach to the problem.

A: I agree that contested nominations can be very divisive and deep wounds are oftern very difficult to overcome. My only answer to this difficulty is in ensuring that the rules of the nomination process be so stringent that any malicious and/or personal attack between candidates should immediately disqualify them.

Q: What are the 3 top Liberal key values? What characteristics define us as Liberals?

A: For me, the the most significant Liberal values are: acceptance, boldness and pragmatism!

Q: How important do you feel bilingualism is to the future success of the Liberal Party of Canada and do you believe the President should be bilingual?

A: Being bilingual seems to me to be an essential requirement for any Party Officer. Not only is our Party the party of bilingualism, our country is richer, more dynamic and more creative precisely because of our capacity to make it work! It's hardly perfect but it's certainly much more of a reality than when Pierre E. Trudeau introduced it.

Q: Merci pour cette occasion de discuter de ta plateforme. Ce qui rend le travail de président complexe, ça doit être la grande diversité des associations de circonscriptions au niveau de leur degré d'organisation, de motivation, de financement. Vraiment, dire que toutes les associations sont égales, comme on entend toujours, est loin de la vérité. Il y a des associations super bien organisées, d'autres qui sont complètement absentes, et ce n'est pas la faute de la permanence. Est-ce qu'on ne devrait pas aussi responsabiliser les associations aussi ? Et de quelle manière est-ce que cela pourrait être fait, d'après toi ? J'ai souvent entendu des gens se plaindre du peu de collaboration et du peu d'écoute des instances centrales, mais souvent rien n'était fait dans les comptés.

A: Merci de ta question et meilleurs voeux pour 2012! Je vais te répondre de manière plus précise par courriel, FB n'est pas idéal pour tous les éléments de responsabilitation que tu touches.

Q: Do you plan on running for MP in the next election?

A: Yes I do. If the members of Brossard - La Prairie so decide, I would very much like to be the riding's next MP again!

Q: Could you please comment on the benefits of running a positive campaign when running against fellow Liberals for a nomination or for any other position and what would you do as President to make sure that that attitude is translated to the riding level?

A: Thank you for your question, it shows you've been following my refusal to attack any of my fellow candidates! I don't believe in belittling, humiliating and offending others as a means to make myself look better. As my Mom taught me so well, my freedom (of expression, of thought, of movement) stops where my neighbour's begins! I hope that putting an end to these infernal divisions AMONG Liberals will be part of the culture change we are ready to undergo as a Party!

Q: Do you have any plans to help support and empower the National and Provincial Commissions?

A: I believe that our commissions, both at the national and provincial level would need to have their mandates revisited and updated. The nature and means of the political landscape are vastly different than when said commissions were formed. I believe we should undergo an honest analysis of what the objectives of the commissions are, how the can best be attained and how the Party can - and should - support them.

Q: How do you see the role of party president? Party spokesperson or internally focused. If elected president, how much would you be in the media?

A: I've been very clear, from the beginning of this campaign that I don't believe the Party should have more than one official "face/voice": the Leader, with support from Caucus.

I have no intention of using the media to do the internal job of rebuilding and growth that we need to do. If I continue to be invited by P&P to the Pannel, I will do so as a former MP. Not as Party President, nor as Party spokesperson.

On the other hand, if an issue requests messaging to be done by the Party Officers, I will do it in full collaboration with the Leader's office.

Q: Thank you for the example you have set for others in running a positive campaign. I hope other campaigns follow suit! With the party in its current financial state, and the elimination of the per-vote subsidy, would you please describe the skills and experience you have in making a little money go a long way?

A: I believe that the way we've been managing the current campaign can be shown as an example: fundraising has been limited to avowed supporters, respecting Elections Canada limits, even if we are under no obligation to do so; I have been very reluctant on spending a lot o money on "swag" both for frugality's sake and for the environment's sake.

My travelling has been limited to the essential, while respecting the need to reach to Liberals throughout Canada.

As a Party, we now know how best to use the technology available to reach out to as many supporters as possible, with a minimum disbursement of funds.

Using technology, we can also improve 100-fold the way Liberalist is used to identify fundraising opportunities and we will have to invest in micro-targeting if we want to really connect with our voters.

Q: As you may know, numerous riding associations, especially in Quebec, are in pretty bad shape right now, what is the first thing you would do as party President in order to get people involved again so to get that red machine going strong once more ?

A: Here are some of my ideas for riding renewal:

There are no magic rules for reviving Liberal EDA’s:

- Supporter identification;

- Field-worker help in re-activating a proper association (ensuring membership drives, holding town-halls, general meetings, election of local executive, etc.)

- Ensure PTA / field worker support and guidance for at least two years;

- Encourage Caucus members’ help in garnering interest for Liberal events;

- Any other worthy idea the NE and/or members submit.

(A Liberal member asked a very similar question, so I have included her answer here as well)

in terms of what I would consider my "value-added" as a candidate from Quebec:

I'm a "voice" from Quebec, but I am not Quebec's voice... as Liberals, in Quebec as in all other provinces and territories, we have vaired perspectives on how we define the Party and the country.

I believe I know my province well, but being a first generation Canaddian also gives me a certain outlook that is hardly province-centric. What I do believe in fiercely is the absolute value of our federative system, how it's the best way to work with what unites us, while respecting what is different in each region. Obviously, there is always room for improvement, but our country, the way our forefathers conceived it, it still, for me, the most democratic way of conciliating interests and aspirations of people of diverse backgrounds.

Join Alexandra Mendes on Facebook tonight!

2012-01-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/events/308882749144744/

Come join over 100 of your fellow Liberals in a Facebook chat with Alexandra Mendes, candidate for Liberal Party President!

All you have to do is like Alexandra's Facebook page, then start asking questions at around 8 pm on her wall!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Mend%C3%A8s/44955761430

What does it take to be president? Alexandra Mendes knows

2011-12-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

To me, an important part of the job of President of the Party is to know what the job is and isn't. It's an organizational role, one that requires communications and the ability to build bridges to get the job done. What it is not is a spokesperson position. The President must never become a bigger story than the party and the caucus. Alexandra Mendes understands the role and responsibilities of being LPC President, and brings a proven track record of experience and results. Here's what Alexandra has to say about the job of President:

"The race for president of the Liberal Party is generating a great deal of excitement and as a Liberal I am delighted to see the renewed interest and commitment to this party by its members. However, we must not get forget that when the dust settles on the race and a winner is declared, the real work will start. Debates among candidates will be forgotten and the nitty-gritty of the job will get done in many different places; often not on a stage and often out of the public eye. Simply put, the president is not the leader of the party. The president’s job is to help the members, the Caucus and the leader do their work.

One of the first tasks to be tackled is to sit down with the financial books of the Liberal Party. Managing the finances of our Party will be a crucial job for the president and the National Executive in the months to come.

What am I bringing to this aspect of the position? I became executive director of membership driven organization when it went into receivership and helped bring it to financial stability. From this I learned to balance books and be financially responsible with limited funds. This is often a diplomatic act of ensuring that the necessary funds are available for activities that sustain and grow an organization while cutting down on waste and unnecessary spending. Also, since the future of party financing demands that we finance our party from donations alone, we need to manage the money we now have and to engage Canadians to donate and support our party. This will require that we think outside the box to strengthen our finances. The membership has identified creative ways to increase funds and heighten the Liberal profile and as president I would work hard to facilitate these initiatives.

I believe that under the new financial reality, members must drive the financial bus; without the per-vote subsidies we need to change the way our Party does business. To provide a lasting financially responsible framework, I believe that we must have a mandatory quarterly review that assesses both input and output of funds and mandates that we justify our spending either on the basis of successful member outreach or successful fundraising. If an expenditure item does neither, then it should be eliminated in the interest of frugal fiscal management.

The other fundamental aspect of the job is to meet with Liberals, to hear their concerns and suggestions. For the president of the Liberal Party, these meetings require another set of talents: listening and knowing when and how to act. After my many experiences as a MP, a riding association president and an executive director of an NGO I have learned that there is a fundamental difference between listening to people and simply allowing people to talk. For me, listening is an active, purposeful activity where I try to understand and piece together what people are thinking and feeling; what they are asking for; how they offer to help; and even what they are critiquing us on.

For me, listening must always be followed by any appropriate action. There is no point listening passively and then moving on; it leaves people frustrated and also allows many helpful suggestions and golden opportunities to slip away. For example, a young man representing OpenMedia.ca approached me during the May 2011 campaign. He wanted to know why Liberal MP’s hadn’t signed on the online petition against user-based internet fees. I was surprised that we hadn’t, I made two phone calls to the appropriate critics and in less than 48 hours, Liberal MP’s had become the darlings of OpenMedia.ca. The young man who had come to me originally was so impressed at the results that he became a member of the Party, joined my campaign team and became our “go-to” person in all IT related matters.

The president must also be responsive to riding associations. As an active member of the Brossard – La Prairie riding association for over 10 years, as a riding association president that supported the election of the Hon. Jacques Saada twice and as an MP who won in the same riding, I have intimate knowledge of the challenges faced by riding associations. I believe that the president must work with riding associations one by one and with the Council of Presidents in a constructive way. A president’s job is not to dictate what should be done but rather to help associations to do their job because they know their communities best. A “one plan fits all” approach will not succeed; we must take into account the unique nature of each riding.

Again, the act of listening cannot be left to chance. We must do something that is required from every president and if elected I would institute a set of rules governing response times. Any written submission from a riding association must be responded to within 30 days and if the decision is required and still pending at 90 days, then there must be a further communication every 30 days until a decision is made.

Another crucial job for the president is to facilitate Liberal messaging. The president is not the spokesperson for the party; that is clearly and indubitably the leader’s job. The president and the National Executive do have however a crucial role to play as facilitators for messaging. As a MP that got swept up by the Orange Wave, I also know that we need to focus on the air war as well as the ground war. In my riding we set up the winning conditions for the 2011 election as we had numerous times before. However, the combination of the attack war against Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals, and the NDP’s successful messaging campaign in Quebec, all of our diligent work was thoroughly overridden.

If I am elected president, I will commit to helping with the air war. First and foremost, this will require that funding be available to define our leader before our opponents define him/her. Second, we will have to change the way we do the business of messaging. We need to communicate more effectively to reach the hearts as well as the minds of Canadians. We need to communicate effectively and in a timely manner with members about the positions the party has taken on issues.

We need to fundraise by showing why our Party deserves the support of Canadians by earning each dollar. We can do this by having clear, simple, straightforward conversations about what Liberals want to support and why. These messages need to not only go out to members; we need to use our free opportunities in the media to effectively, rationally and emotionally connect with Canadians.

This is my understanding of what it means to be president of the Liberal Party of Canada. How do you see it? I really would love to read your thoughts…"

Experience to get the job done - Alexandra Mendes' proven track record

2011-12-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

In this time of Liberal rebuilding, the Party President must work for,
and be accountable to the membership. It is not enough to simply chair
meetings or to be a talking head on TV, a President must have the
passion and experience for organizational management required to take
on the heavy tasks of rebuilding our party.

Alexandra Mendes has that passion and experience.

Within the party, Alexandra has demonstrated her management experience
in the myriad of roles she has played - working her way up through the
party, going all the way from a local riding volunteer, to a riding
association President, to an MP assistant to proudly serving the
people of Brossard-La Prarie. Alexandra also has valuable experience
at management outside of politics, having served as Executive Director
of Maison Internationale de la Rive-Sud, an immigrant settlement
agency on the south shore of Montreal. When Alexandra took over the
agency, it was in trouble, having gone into financial receivership,
and not able to play its part in helping New Canadians thrive in our
great country. But with skill, dedication, and passion, Alexandra
helped right the ship and brought the agency back into financial
stability. Alexandra has a proven track record, not rhetoric, of
bringing hard work and dedication to organizational management, and
the Liberal Party of Canada needs someone both with a firm commitment
to improving management operations, and passion for the Liberal Party
and Liberal values.

Alexandra Mendes is the best candidate for the job of Liberal Party of
Canada President. Elect a President with passion, dedication, and a
proven track record to help our party renew.

Fantastic cross Canada support for Alexandra Mendes!

2011-12-13T11:58:00.001-08:00

Check out what great Liberals from across Canada are saying about Alexandra Mendes!

http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/blog/2-endorsements-appuis

Support for Alexandra Mendes is growing in every province. Liberals are choosing Alexandra because of her proven ability to take a member-driven organization and turn it around to make it financially successful. Liberals are choosing Alexandra because her experience as a riding association president and as a Member of Parliament give her valuable insights into how the party works and what is needed to support a riding and win a riding. Liberals are choosing Alexandra because she is more interested in listening to the membership than talking at them. Liberals are choosing Alexandra because she will change the culture of the party by ensuring that the ownership of the party is in the hands of the members and that we put an end to infighting by standing united as a party. These are excerpts of what just a few of them have to say about Alexandra, click on their names to read the full endorsement:

Les appuis envers Alexandra Mendès arrivent de toutes les provinces. Les libéraux choisissent Alexandra en raison de sa capacité éprouvée à prendre une organisation dirigée par ses membres et de la rendre financièrement stable. Les libéraux choisissent Alexandra parce que son expérience en tant que présidente d'une association de circonscription et en tant que députée lui ont permis d'acquérir des connaissances essentielles sur les opérations du Parti et ce que cela prend pour soutenir et gagner une circonscription. Les libéraux choisissent Alexandra parce qu'elle accorde beaucoup plus d'importance à écouter les membres qu'à leur imposer ses opinions. Les libéraux choisissent Alexandra parce qu'ils sentent qu'elle saura changer la culture du Parti en s'assurant que les membres demeurent les principaux « actionnaires » de notre formation et qu'elle fera tout son possible pour mettre fin aux querelles intestines qui nous déchirent depuis des années. Voici des extraits de ce que quelques-uns d'entre eux ont à dire sur Alexandra, cliquez sur leur nom pour lire leur témoignage complet:

I am extremely pleased to support Alexandra Mendes as President of the Liberal Party. Alexandra has a clear grasp of the issues facing our Party and brings experience as a committed volunteer, a political activist, an engaged political professional and as a parliamentarian to this job. She will ensure every voice is heard as we rebuild the Liberal presence across the country. Alexandra understands the role of President in ensuring that good governance, effective and efficient administrative structures and solid financial support are developed well before the next election. She is running for the right position at the right time and has my full support.
— Rob Oliphant, Ontario

This is why we should burst with optimism and pride at the thought of Alexandra Mendes as President of the Liberal Party of Canada: ...

... Mendes insists on inclusion in our Party and in our country. She is a communicator and a consensus builder. Her commitment to a progressive and prosperous society, to justice and human rights, to women's issues, citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism are an invaluable asset to a Party needing to grow....
— Jade Boldt, Alberta

... I like you, want the very best for our Party. We need a President who is a facilitator, someone who listens and then acts, someone with proven competency in restoring organizations in precarious health (financial and organizational), someone with high ethical standards and proven integrity and finally someone who 'gets' Canada's diversity on linguistic, ethnic, racial and religious origins. Well, the only candidate in my mind who meets all those criteria is Alexandra Mendes. ...
— Marlene Jennings, Québec

... Tout comme vous, je veux le meilleur pour notre parti. Nous avons besoin d'un facilitateur, d'une personne à l'écoute qui sait aussi passer aux actes, quelqu'un qui a fait preuve de ses compétences, telles la réussite de la restructuration d'organismes en difficulté (financières et structurelles), une personne qui a fait preuve de ses valeurs sur le plan de l'éthique ainsi que de son intégrité. Et non moins essentiel, nous avons besoin d'une personne qui comprend la diversité, qui comprend le Canada dans toutes ses dimensions, tant au niveau linguistique qu'au niveau ethnique, racial et religieux. Or, à mon avis le (la) seul(e) candidat(e) qui atteint tous ces critères est Alexandra Mendes. ...
— Marlene Jennings, Québec

Meeting an unusual politician - intelligent, well informed, candid, courageous, friendly, charming... you have renewed our dreams and hopes for better Liberal times ahead. Thank you!!!
— Ivanka Ruseska, Alberta

... Alexandra is committed to working with riding associations and rebuilding them, re-focusing the priorities of PTA's on local, riding level engagement. Re-empowering our riding associations is critical to rebuild the party, particularly in Quebec and The West. As a supporter of organizations like Equal Voice, I am pleased that the cause of gender equality within the party organization, and in candidate recruitment is an important issue for Alexandra, and one she will work towards as President.

Alexandra has a critical understanding of what the role of President is and isn't. We need an organizer, a manager, a facilitator, not someone who will be writing talking points and doing interviews, taking attention away from our leader and caucus.

With her approach to engagement and reform, Alexandra is the best choice for President ...
— William Norman, Ontario

Alexandra believes, as I do, that the liberal party members ultimately are responsible for the decision-making process and their ideas and recommendations should be respected and valued, as well as implemented by their duly elected officers. Decisions have to come from the bottom-up not top-down and this has to be the modus operati of everything we do as a political party in order to grow and again earn the right to be a contender for the governance of our great country. She believes in a democratic, transparent and accountable executive which answers at every occasion to the party members who are the heart and soul of the our party, and by serving their interests she assures their continued support of and continued involvement in our party. ...

For these reasons and many more, I am confident that Alexandra is the President who, along with all of us, will rebuild a strong, dynamic and interactive party that will earn the right to once again govern our great country. ...
— Eleni Bakopanos, Quebec

...Alexandra believes strongly in the importance of listening and she puts that belief into practice in her communications with members. And, because Alexandra has a knack for putting people at ease when she talks with them, conversations with her are genial, open and productive.

Alexandra's communications skills are also an asset in building teams and facilitating teamwork. Her commitment to teamwork will be a tremendous asset in rebuilding the Party across Canada. ...
— Joel Klebanoff, Ontario

Oui j'appuie Alexandra parce que je connais son humanité, je connais son authenticité et sa passion envers ce en quoi elle croit, j'ai expérimenté son intégrité, j'ai connu sa fidélité et sa loyauté à travers 2 décennies d'amitié vraie, je l'ai côtoyé à l'appui et à la défense des plus faibles, je l'ai vue à l'œuvre dans des situations faciles et surtout dans celles plus difficiles, je l'ai vue diriger avec une main de fer dans un gant de velours. ...
— Ninette Abi-Khalil, Québec

You can see more endorsements for Alexandra Mendes from great Liberals like Sen. Grant Mitchell, Sen. Joan Fraser, and MP John McCallum on the endorsements page:
http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/endorsements

http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/about

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Mend%C3%A8s/44955761430

http://twitter.com/#!/AlexandraBrLP

http://twitter.com/#!/TeamEquipeAlexa

Last day to sign an intent to stand as a delegate form for Biennial!

2011-12-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

http://convention.liberal.ca/elections/notice-of-intent-form/

Want to help rebuild the party? Today is the last day to sign an intent to stand as a delegate form! Just click the above link, and fill out the simple form! Together we can make history!

And if you're undecided about who to support for exec board positions like President, take a look at some info on my choice for best candidate, Alexandra Mendes!

http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/about

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Mend%C3%A8s/44955761430

http://twitter.com/#!/AlexandraBrLP

http://twitter.com/#!/TeamEquipeAlexa

Please sign the form and check out some info on a great candidate!

Alexandra Mendes talks about winning together

2011-12-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

http://www.alexamendes.ca/fr/blogue/1-the-will-to-change-united-vouloir-changer-dans-lunite

A great post from Alexandra Mendes about the need for a united party and how to move forward together. In our rebuilding process, one of the most important things we need to do is stand together as Liberals. Alexandra talks about running a positive campaign based on her experience in bring people together both inside and outside politics, and her vision for how the role of President should act as a positive force for unity in the party. It's a great piece, and I encourage you to check it out.

Why I am supporting Alexandra Mendès for Liberal Party president

2011-12-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

The Liberal Party faces a difficult, but not impossible task in rebuilding and reconnecting with Canadians. Electing a new President and exec board is and important step in this process. We as a party have a few options in deciding how we want to move forward. We could try putting out big names from our past who have a controversial history. We could try to win people over with flashy platitudes and talking points.

Or, we could support someone for President of the party who has experience in different levels of the party and Canadian life. Someone who is deeply in touch and experienced in reaching out to our multicultural population. Someone who has a wealth of experience in both the private sector and public life. Someone who has a clear and firm understanding of what the role of President means, values teamwork, has management experience, and has worked in the grassroots.

As a candidate, Alexandra Mendes has all of this and more.

Listening in on a number of debates and townhalls, I have always been impressed by the caliber and quality of the answers Alexandra has provided to the difficult challenges of how to best rebuild our party. Alexandra is committed to working with riding associations and rebuilding them, re-focusing the priorities of PTA's on local, riding level engagement. Re-empowering our riding associations is critical to rebuild the party, particularly in Quebec and The West. As a supporter of organizations like Equal Voice, I am pleased that the cause of gender equality within the party organization, and in candidate recruitment is an important issue for Alexandra, and one she will work towards as President.

Alexandra has a critical understanding of what the role of President is and isn't. We need an organizer, a manager, a facilitator, not someone who will be writing talking points and doing interviews, taking attention away from our leader and caucus.

With her approach to engagement and reform, Alexandra is the best choice for President, and I would encourage my fellow Liberals to read more about her campaign and get engaged:

http://www.alexamendes.ca/en/home

http://twitter.com/#!/AlexandraBrLP

http://twitter.com/#!/teamequipealexa

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Mend%C3%A8s/44955761430

Dalton McGuinty says "It gets better", and backs it up

2011-11-30T18:38:00.000-08:00

McGuinty puts words into action here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/30/toronto-mcguinty-bullying.html?cmp=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=DTN+Canada

Just another reason why I am proud to have Dalton McGuinty as my Premier and my Ontario Liberal leader.

Support sending Young Liberals to the COP-17 UN Climate Change Conference!

2011-11-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

https://www.liberal.ca/ylc-durban/?typecode=300011936

I was lucky enough to be a part of the COP-15 YLC delegation, and I'm really pleased the party is doing a lot more to help promote fundraising for youth delegates. Please donate and help support the Young Liberals of Canada.

Young Liberals serve!

2011-10-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

All this food was raised by Ottawa-area Young Liberals as part of the Trick or Eat campaign for the Ottawa Food Bank. Young Liberals from Carleton, U of O, Ottawa Centre, Ottawa-Vanier and beyond came out to help us, and a particular thanks goes out to Yasir Naqvi, MPP for Ottawa Centre for joining us.

New McGuinty cabinet is a strong, experienced team for Ontario

2011-10-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen it, here is the new Ontario cabinet:

Duncan - Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance
Bentley - Minister of Energy
Broten - Minister of Education
Matthews - Minister of Health
Meilleur - Community Safety/Corrections/Francophone Affairs
Gerretsen - Attorney General
Milloy - Community/Social Services/Government House Leader
Bradley - Environment
Takhar - Government Services
Best - Consumer Services
Gravelle - Natural Resources
Chan - Tourism
Duguid - Economic Development
Bartolucci - Northern Development & Mines
McMeekin - Agriculture
Wynne - Municipal Affairs/Aboriginal Affairs
Hoskins - Children & Youth
Murray - Training, Colleges & Universities
Sousa - Citizenship & Immigration
Jeffrey - Labour & Seniors
Chiarelli - Transportation/Infrastructure
Hoskins - Children & Youth Services

A leaner, experienced cabinet to help Ontario move forward together and confront challenges like health care negotiations, growing the economy, and investing in communities. On a personal note, I'm particularly happy to see my hometown MPP Charles Sousa back in as Citizenship and Immigration Minister, as well as Bob Chiarelli take on a big role at Transportation and Infrastructure.

My story of why I am voting Liberal

2011-10-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

This is my personal story of broadly, why I am a Liberal, and more specifically to highlight the change and progress we've made in Ontario under Dalton McGuinty.

I remember during the 90's my parents getting the Harris taxpayer rebate. We were, and are a lower-middle class family, and things weren't always the easiest for us. But I remember very strongly what my parents said about getting the rebate, and what they were going to do with it. "We're going to donate this to the church for charity, because as rough as things can be for us sometimes, some other family out there that is relying on services for help just had that help cut to pay for this."

Fast-forward to 2006. My mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, but thanks to the investments in things like breast cancer screening under the McGuinty government, they catch it early. If we lived in a place without a strong public health system, the financial burden to our family would have been enormous, particularly with myself starting university the same year. But thanks to the McGuinty Liberal government supporting a strong public health system and investing in education, I was able to go to post-secondary while my mom got better. Now, conservatives would call this "socialism", they would call it "social engineering". Me? I think it is a mother being able to watch her son succeed in life. That's Liberal family values to me. That's moving forward. Together.

Please go out and vote today, to keep Ontario on the right track.

What people are saying about the Ontario Liberal plan

2011-10-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of quotes about the Ontario Liberal plan to move forward together:

"He is trying to build a healthier, greener, more prosperous and better educated province...McGuinty's experience in government will be needed in the coming years."
-Ottawa Citizen, October 4, 2011

"Mr. McGuinty sees himself as the education premier, with some justification. He has made good, incremental changes to education, improving standards, with results that will enhance competitiveness and productivity for Ontario."
-Globe and Mail, October 3, 2011

"McGuinty and the Liberals are the best choice for the next four years. Their record is a strong one and they are the only party with policies that try to come to grips with the global issues we face."
-Toronto Star, September 30, 2011

"As a country, as a province, as a community, we have a long way to go to realize our economic potential, but we're on the right track. As we've already said, a Liberal government is best for our region. Add to that a majority."
-Windsor Star, October 5, 2011

"Under the Liberals, more hospitals have been built...more doctors and nurses have been hired, emergency wait times are shorter and more surgeries...are being performed. Ontario has become a leading jurisdiction worldwide for the early detection and treatment of cancer, school marks are improving, there has been more investment in electrical power generation...The Liberals have delivered...and they're best positioned to deliver in the future."
-Sudbury Star, October 5, 2010

"...Dalton McGuinty's Liberals offer the best bet for Ontario's future... Moreover, we believe they are the most capable of preparing us for the economic hurricane blowing our way...we believe the Liberals bring the brightest hope."
-Waterloo Record, September 30, 2011

"We believe that the Liberals are in the best position to help us retain the values that make Ontario one of the best places on earth to live."
-Barrie Advance, September 30, 2011

"All in all, the Liberals have done a credible job managing the province through a tumultuous period...the Liberals are the best option to govern Ontario for the next four years."
-Hamilton Spectator, October 5, 2011

Ontarians face a choice tomorrow, and only the Ontario Liberal Party will bring a strong team, an experienced leader, and a serious plan to grow the economy, create jobs, and protect our schools and public healthcare.

6 reasons to vote Liberal

2011-10-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

Stole this shamelessly from a friend, but I really like it. Forward. Together. >

Hudak PC candidate: "Let's not lose our identity. I'm tired of taking a back seat where the once majority is seemingly now a minority."

2011-10-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

Edit: I forgot to mention in the first post that this is Chatham-Kent-Essex PC candidate Rick Nicholls

In a letter in the editor of the Chatham Daily News on Febuary 27, 2008, this is what now Hudak PC candidate for Chatham-Kent-Essex had to say about multiculturalism and a diverse Ontario:

"To people of other ethnicities and who don't believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour...Let's not lose our identity. I'm tired of taking a back seat where the once majority is seemingly now a minority."

"I would like to remind my non-Christian-believing friends that...you need to respect and remember that this is Canadian land and that you and/or your ancestors decided to live and conduct your form of worship here. You have your freedom of worship. Just don't try to mix it all in with our founding principles and say it is because of diversity"

"I don't agree with Mr. Hassan El Khodr, president of the Chatham-Kent Muslim Association, who said, "Since we all believe in God, we can keep it along those lines . . . I think the majority would accept as a fact that we are all believers. The way we believe . . . that's your own business."

Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddists, Hindus, etc., may all believe in God, but it is not the same god. And the God that this country of Canada was first founded on is the same God that the Lord's Prayer refers to."

"Don't try to impose your religious beliefs by watering down not only my personal religious beliefs, but the religious beliefs that Canada was founded on."

With the Hudak campaign first trying the xenophobia angle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLZqzhviDJI&feature=related) and now giving homophobia a shot (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontario-election/on-the-hustings/pc-candidate-makes-great-escape-after-homophobic-flyer-lands-him-in-hot-water/article2189980/), it is clear that the PC's are grasping at straws to divide Ontarians to try and hide that they have no real plan on the economy

"The best choice for Ontario's challenges"

2011-10-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/dalton-mcguintys-liberals-the-best-choice-for-ontarios-challenges/article2188213/

That's what The Globe & Mail says Dalton McGuinty's Ontario Liberal team is in this election. With the global economy still unsteady, and big challenges looming ahead like the federal-provincial healthcare negotiations, Ontario families deserve leadership they can trust.

As for Hudak?
"[Hudak's]campaign was surprisingly lacklustre...and [Hudak] will move too aggressively and is too dogmatic about smaller government when some public investment is needed...[Dalton McGuinty] took on the pharmacists, in the process saving the province millions on the cost of drugs. Mr. Hudak was on the wrong side of that argument. Mr. McGuinty joined with the federal Conservatives to introduce the HST, a measure that has enhanced the competitiveness of Ontario businesses. Mr. Hudak was on the wrong side of that argument too."

And Horwath?
"The New Democrats, under leader Andrea Horwath, are dangerously flawed, and if given an opportunity to influence policy, either in government or in a minority parliament, would wreak havoc on Ontario’s economy"

Voting Ontario Liberal on Oct 6th is the only way to have a strong, stable government that will create and protect jobs in an uncertain global economy while strengthening services families rely on.

The Truth about Tim: Hudak outright lies he called hard-working Ontario citizens "foreign"

2011-09-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Tim's record speaks for itself:

Andrea Horwath gets $200,000 of your tax dollars for nothing?

2011-09-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.ottawasun.com/2011/09/27/ndp-gets-cash-for-accessibility-work-not-done

According to this report, the corporate fundraising arm of the ONDP has received $200,000 of your tax dollars for upgrades for making party HQ more accessible for Ontarians with disabilities, yet the party has seemingly sat on the money. This story, and Horwath's fuzzy math surrounding her billion dollar math mistake on education draw serious doubt on her party's commitment to progressive causes like advancing post-sec education and making Ontario more accessible.

Either Andrea Horwath and the ONDP can't do math, or they are misleading Ontario students

2011-09-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.scribd.com/doc/66393202/Open-Letter

Greg Sorbara writes an open letter to the CFS over Andrea Horwath's fuzzy math in the ONDP platform in regards to post-secondary education funding

Leadership on Healthcare

2011-09-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

From a PC government that closed dozens of hospitals (with Tim Hudak personally playing a role as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health) and didn't even bother tracking wait times, to a Liberal government that has gotten results like the shortest wait times in Canada, opening 18 hospitals, hiring over 11,500 nurses and delivering almost 3,000 new doctors meaning 1.3 million people have a family doctor, Ontario's public healthcare system is on the right track.

Ontario Liberals will moving Ontario's healthcare system forward by creating home health care, to help every Ontarian, particularly seniors, have better access to healthcare services. Liberals are supporting families who work together to get through tough times with the new Family Caregiver Leave, allowing paid leave to hard-working Ontario families who need to support ill family members. We'll fight the battle against cancer with the creation of the Personalized Cancer Risk Profile system, help more Ontario families win the battle against cancer.

Liberals are also dedicated to improving child and mental health, so all Ontarians feel like belong.

A serious issue like healthcare needs a serious plan, and leadership to see thing through. Dalton McGuinty has that plan and that leadership.

"Thanks for the jobs"

2011-09-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

That's what one man who worked for the solar company next to the Ontario Liberal tent told me today at the International Plowing Fest. From providing the way forward to tomorrow's economy with the Green Energy Act to protecting and growing Ontario's agricultural economy, Ontario Liberals are standing up for farmers and the economy.

Over the last eight years, Ontario Liberals have made rural Ontario and its farmers a priority because Ontario's farmers put healthy, locally grown food on Ontario tables.

Agri-food provides 700,000 jobs and also contributes $33 billion to the provincial economy every year. To support farmers, Ontario Liberals created a risk-management program for grain and oilseed farmers four years ago. Now, we're making it permanent and expanding it to other sectors. Liberals worked with Ontario farmers to create a program that meets their needs, providing predictability, bankability and stability.

Both the PCs and NDP voted against risk management.
The Hudak PCs have flip-flopped on risk management, refusing to stand up to the federal Harper Conservatives who oppose it. And the Horwath NDP barely mentions agriculture or farms in their platform. Only the Ontario Liberals have a plan to keep building a strong and prosperous rural Ontario - one that will continue to support farm families for generations to come.

Ontario Liberals protecting the environment and moving Ontario forward

2011-09-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ontario Liberals are taking the next steps to safeguard our environment for Ontario families. Liberals are protecting precious water resources for future generations with a Great Lakes Protection Act that will be the next chapter in clean water for Ontario.

The Liberal $52 million program will ensure that Ontario keeps its edge as a world leader in clean-water protection.

Ontario Liberals are clean up pollution hot spots identified by Great Lakes scientists and bringing these bays and harbours back from environmental decline so people can enjoy them again.

Ontario Liberals are working to prevent runoff such as phosphorous from getting into the Great Lakes by building the links between communities, farmers, industry and others so that everyone understands what they can do.

Ontario Liberals are reconnect Ontarians with the Great Lakes in their communities by promoting recreational opportunities, improving beaches and supporting community programs.

Dalton McGuinty is leading the way with environmentally progressive governments in North America, stronger drinking-water standards, endangered-species legislation and pollution laws — and we'll continue moving forward.

Under the last PC government, Ontario was one of the worst places in North America for environmental safety. The Hudak PCs would take us backwards — their $14 billion hole would mean deep cuts to environmental protection.

The Horwath NDP has turned its back on the environment — their priority would be to subsidize gas-guzzlers and they have consistently failed to support our progressive environmental initiatives like the Endangered Species Act, the Far North Act and the cosmetic pesticides ban.

Only Ontario Liberals will provide the strong, steady environmental protection that will ensure our children and grandchildren fully enjoy the beauty of our province.

Here's a video of Premier McGuinty talking to David Suzuki about the Ontario Liberal commitment to the environment:

Dalton McGuinty leadership on education praised in The Economist

2011-09-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.economist.com/node/21529014

Great article in The Economist about education reform and progress around the world, and Ontario is right at the top:

“Ontario really is impressive,” enthuses Sir Michael Barber, former head of global education practice at McKinsey (now at Pearson). The Canadian province has a high proportion of immigrants, many without English as a first language, yet it now has one of the world’s best-performing schools systems, after bringing in what one of its architects calls “reform without rancour”.

When Dalton McGuinty was elected Ontario’s premier in 2003, he embraced “whole-system reform”. Instead of directing reforms from the centre, the government encouraged schools to set their own targets and sent experienced teams to help them get there. Schools with large numbers of immigrant children could apply for special help, and could choose whether to extend the school day to do this, or work longer with the slower pupils.

With continued investment in education for families, from full day kindergarten to tuition cuts, Ontario's education system is on the right track.

Leadership on the economy

2011-09-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

Premier Dalton McGuinty has said the tax rate on new investment by small businesses will be reduced by 55%. Ontario's economic strength depends on the strength of our businesses, large and small. That's why Ontario Liberals are working with small businesses to free up some of their resources so they can invest back into themselves and grow even stronger.

When the changes are fully implemented, the tax rate on new investment for small businesses will be reduced by 55% — good news for employers such as farms, retailers and smaller manufacturers. When small businesses succeed, we all succeed. They bring a lot to Ontario communities — good jobs, and great products.

The Ontario Liberal platform, "Forward. Together." includes the next steps to help small businesses. Ontario Liberals will:

-Triple the number of successful start-ups in the next five years by providing incentives for risk capital

-Enhance and increase support for young entrepreneurs, and for small and medium businesses to access new trade markets

-Create a new Southwestern Ontario Economic Development Fund and make the Eastern Ontario Development Fund and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund permanent.

Ontario Liberals have already cut the business tax rate from 5.5 per cent to 4.5 — which will fall to 4.0 per cent under the Ontario Liberal Plan.

The Hudak PCs $14 billion hole would also mean deep cuts to education, depriving us of the highly skilled workers who attract new business to Ontario. The Horwath NDP would introduce a crushing $9 billion in job-killing taxes. Both would take Ontario off track at the worst time.

Ontario Liberals are working to make Ontario the place to be when it comes to building your business. Only Ontario Liberals have a plan to keep Ontario moving forward, together.

Premier meets with first responders on 10th anniversary of 9/11

2011-09-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.ontarioliberal.ca/NewsBlog/NewsDetails.aspx?id=Celebrating+Ontario%26acute%3bs+First+Responders

“Whether it’s responding to a call or volunteering in our communities, they make a real difference in our lives. Our police, our paramedics, our firefighters have all been there for us. Ontario will continue to be there for them.”

Leadership for Ontario

2011-09-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

"You want the politics of anger, resentment and division? That makes you feel good? Then Mr. Hudak is your guy. If you want to do things so that we can grow stronger together, build something better together - then that's what we're putting on the table."

A more local look at successors to Jack Layton

2011-08-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

Plenty of speculation so far about potential successors to Jack Layton as federal NDP leader, but I haven't seen much about potential NDP candidates to follow Jack in Toronto-Danforth, so I'll take a look at some potential NDP candidates for a by-election that will be coming in the next 180 days.

-Mike Layton
Jack's son, following in his father's footsteps by sitting on city council. Would he follow Jack's steps further and make the jump to MP? It would be interesting, but I doubt it. Layton has been in office for under a year, and has built his powerbase up in Oliva Chow's Trinity-Spadina riding, not the East York area Toronto-Danforth.

-Paula Fletcher
City council member for the southern half of Toronto-Danforth and formerly a public school board trustee, Fletcher is solidly a member of the left wing of council, although she barely snuck into re-election in Ward 30 in 2010 over Liz West. Fletcher has name recognition (although not always positive) and plenty of government experience, but the other "formerly" in her resume might be problematic - Fletcher was the leader of the Communist Party of Manitoba back in the day. Considering the communications and image issues the party is dealing with with Nycole Turmel's associations with Quebec sovereignty, the optics of an ex-Communist campaigning to be an MP for an ex-soverigntist wouldn't be the greatest for the party (assuming the by-election is held during Turmel's interm leadership, as the NDP fed council has yet to hammer out the exact time table.)

-Mary Fragedakis
The NDP alligned councilor for the north end of Toronto-Danforth, only recently elected in 2010. I think she's pretty unlikely to run, but I'll include her on this list just for the sake of it.

-Peter Tabuns
Former city councilor & executive director of Greenpeace, Tabuns is currently the MPP for Toronto-Danforth and was a close friend of Jack Layton. Tabuns was the early frontrunner for the ONDP leadership when Howard Hampton stepped down, losing to Andrea Horwath, who has since taken the party significantly away from environmental issues, leaving the former executive director of Greenpeace in a somewhat awkward spot, being forced to advocate for Horwath policies like subsidizing gas guzzling SUV's and voting against the Clean Water Act. (see http://www.blogger.com/www.dirtyNDP.ca for more details) Tabuns running would probably depend on the NDP results in the provincial election, but with a mix of civic experience and environmental background, Tabuns would be a good get for the NDP if they could convince him to run federally.

-Marilyn Churley
Former MPP for Toronto-Danforth and a twice failed federal NDP candidate in Beaches-Easy York, Churley would bring experience serving in a provincial NDP government, as well as the attractiveness of recruiting a high-profile female candidate to fill Layton seat (Layton was good at promoting women in politics, something I will always give him a lot of credit and respect for). Churley was also a notable supporter of Layton's NDP leadership bid, which might give her some added credibility. She's currently serving as a justice of the peace, so she would need to give up that respected position for a shot at running.

-Brian Topp
I'm not the first person to point out that Topp would need a riding if he wanted to be NDP leader. Topp was born and raised in Quebec and has worked in Saskatchewan, but has been based out of Toronto for a few years, so he could use that to fight off allegations of being a parachute candidate. With the timeline for both the NDP leadership and the by-election still up in the air, one interesting possibility would be Topp both running for leader and running in the by-election to have a seat. I remember back during the 2006 Liberal leadership contest a brief flurry of speculation came up about either Gerard Kennedy, Bob Rae, or Martha Hall Findlay contesting the London North Centre by-election, as they were the Ontario based candidates without a seat at the time. Nothing ended up coming from that, and aside from that I'm not sure if a seat less candidate for major party leadership has ever run in a by-election. Be an interesting test of party unity if he did decide to run for both at the same time.

If anyone else has any theories about potential candidates, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments.

Hudak's municipal downloading scheme would stick Ontario families with a $500 million bill

2011-08-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

The OYL had a very successful "Remember the 90's" campaign launch party last night, and Tim Hudak at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting this week showed that he was ready to take Ontario families back to the 90's by cancelling the Dalton McGuinty plan to upload services back to the provincial level after Harris-Hudak downloading during the 90's.

Hudak won't honour the deal Dalton McGuinty signed with Ontario municipalities, and would stick families with a $500 million dollar bill to be payed for with property tax hikes. This would hit Ontario families in urban, suburban, and rural areas.

This is what they are saying in Barrie: "Ontario's mayors and other municipal leaders are right to be concerned...Local leaders need to listen very carefully to what Hudak is saying, because it could come back to bite them at budget time in the coming years"
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3271960

This is what they are saying in Toronto: "Hudak's bad deal for cities"
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1044425--hudak-s-bad-deal-for-cities#.TlZF8glNz_V.twitter

This is what the mayor of Sault Ste. Marie said: "The [Conservative] downloaded services have never been revenue neutral."
http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3272701

This is what outgoing AMO president (and Conservative supporter) Peter Hume said: The first and most obvious is uploading of $1.5 billion in annual social service and court security costs by 2018. This is fundamental. Municipalities need to know that the 2008 agreement to upload these costs will be honoured, year after year, as scheduled.
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2011/08/24/humes-farewell-speech-as-amo-president/

This is what Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion (who knows a thing or two about running municipal government) said: Mayor Hazel McCallion was hoping [Hudak] would promise to keep taking social service costs off the municipal property tax.
When Hudak failed to make that commitment — saying he can't make such promises in the midst of economic uncertainty — she was disappointed...A disappointed McCallion said Hudak's position was all too obvious. "He was very clear. He is going to stop it, " she said.
http://www.mississauga.com/news/article/1069751--tory-leader-disappoints-mayors

This is what Ottawa mayor Jim Watson said: "If Mr. Hudak wins the election and reneges on that promise it will not only set back relations to the days when we had to deal with downloading but it will also mean a serious financial challenge for all 440 municipalities in Ontario"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/08/24/ottawa-hudak-watson.html

Liberals built this!

2011-08-24T09:45:00.001-07:00

www.liberalsbuiltthis.ca

Had a great time this weekend taking part in the province wide Ontario Young Liberal blitz showing the great investments that the Ontario Liberal Party has made in families and communities across the province. Be it new schools, investing in our local health care systems, enhancing our libraries and communities centres, or improving transportation systems to get families and our economy moving, Liberals are on the right track in ensuring a strong Ontario.

ONDP candidate mocks child abuse allegations in Catholic Church and posts dirty jokes on Twitter - Classy guy

2011-08-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/17/facebook-101-loose-lips-hurts-election-campaign

Is this why Andrea Horwath is going to such extreme efforts to hide her "team"? Less than 3 weeks before the start of the writ, and the ONDP website still has zero mention of any ONDP candidate or MPP not named Andrea Horwath.

Ontario Liberal announcements put Ontario families first

2011-08-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of days, the Ontario Liberals have come up with some solid policy announcements that show how Liberals are committed to delivering results, not reckless rhetoric for Ontario families.

At Summer Fling last weekend, I was proud to stand behind Dalton McGuinty as he showed his commitment to families and youth by adopting a policy that started out as a Young Liberal idea - extending the grace period for paying back OSAP loans should a student choose to enter into the not-for-profit sector. This will help young Ontarians and their families be more financially secure as they transition into full-time work.

http://www.northernlife.ca/news/localNews/2011/08/13-liberals-grads-loans-sudbury.aspx

Liberals are also supporting families with the new Family Caregiver Leave

http://www.news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2011/08/helping-caregivers-spend-more-time-with-sick-family-members.html

This would help protect Ontario families jobs when they have chosen to help take care of a loved one at home.

Families are at the heart of the Ontario Way, be they caring for one another, helping to create jobs, or providing strong social stability, and the Ontario Liberals are offering real ways to support them in all the things that they do.

Proud to be a clean, green Ontarian

2011-08-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

http://blog.ontarioliberal.ca/2011/08/proud-to-be-a-clean-green-ontarian/

Great blog posted by the great Hillary Buchan-Terrell on her experiences as an Ontario Young Liberal in Copenhagen and how Ontario Liberal plans and ideas are creating green jobs and keeping Ontario on the right track.

Dirty NDP

2011-08-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

On the same day that we learn of massive cuts to Environment Canada coming from the federal Conservatives, it's important to remember that the ONDP is going off track on the environment in the same way.

Check out http://www.dirtyndp.ca/ for more info, and keep Ontario's green job growth and environmental progress on the right track.

What does Jack Layton's former chief of staff think about ONDP environment policy?

2011-08-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

He think it is ''anti-environmental nonsense", "a serious disappointment", and "entirely the wrong direction"

Meanwhile, what do Rick Smith & Environmental Defence (of which he serves as executive director) say about Ontario's Green Energy Act?

They think it's "a great move", a "good initiative", "global best practice standard", that has made Ontario a "leader" in job creation.

Say No to Andrea Horwath's dirty schemes

2011-08-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Ontario Liberals are the only party that will stand up for creating new green jobs and a cleaner environment.

Phony Tony!

2011-08-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

http://phonytony4mpp.wordpress.com/

Follow all the adventures of Phony Tony Genco here!

I’m offering an endorsement of what Mr. McGuinty has done, absolutely. This is a great plan. Any party would be foolish to talk about abandoning it"

2011-07-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

That's what David Suzuki had to say about the Ontario Liberal plan to keep Ontario's economy on track by creating green jobs and helping our environment.

http://www.thestar.com/mobile/news/canada/politics/article/1028008--suzuki-warns-tory-scheme-to-cancel-green-energy-plans-is-absolute-insanity

“I don’t get it, because it’s a job creator — I would have thought that the Conservatives would be banging away at the need to create jobs,” the host of CBC’s The Nature of Things said during a stroll with McGuinty in Stanley Park on Wednesday.

“Ontario right now is a leader in North America. Why would anybody come in and throw that out the window? It doesn't make any sense.”

The big thing to me is the Green Energy Act,” said Suzuki.

“It has created jobs. For me it says we’ve got a future that’s bright with job creation and we can drop our dependence on fossil fuels.”

Ontario NDP vs. the environment

2011-07-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hard hitting piece from the David Suzuki foundation on the NDP playing political games with the environment:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/climate-blog/2011/07/the-ontario-ndp-platform-politics-trump-good-energy-policyagain/?fb_ref=top&fb_source=home_oneline

"the NDP allowed politics to rule over good policy...the NDP platform mentions a home retrofit program that targets energy efficiency. The cost of that program? Who knows?...What about new investment in building transit infrastructure that builds on Ontario's existing transit plan? Not in there."

With Ontario's economy turning the corning and creating jobs while helping the environment, it is disappointing that the NDP would scheme with Tim Hudak to kill Ontario jobs.

Follow the Eastern Region Policy Parliament online!

2011-07-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'm liveblogging right now from the Eastern Region Policy Parliament, we've got dozens of great Young Liberals, great special guests and great policies.

If you can't make it, you can still follow along online:

Like the Eastern Region Young Liberals on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/easternregionyoungliberals

And follow us on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/EasternOYL
The hashtag is #ERPP

Hope to see lots of online activity!

By the numbers: Ontario is on track

2011-07-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

Tim Hudak and his own caucus vs. your wallet

2011-06-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

When Hudak MPP Garfield Dunlop isn't too busy being contracdicted by his own party over handing tax payers the bill for eco fees (see: http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2011/06/tim-hudak-vs-your-wallet-and-his-own.html), he's handing taxpayers the bill for his set of wheels:

Tim Hudak vs. your wallet (and his own caucus)

2011-06-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/27/tories-eye-eco-tax-on-electronics

Tim Hudak showed his recklessness with his flip-flops on the HST (Going from being in favour of it, to wanting to scrap it, to saying he would reduce it, to now keeping it), health care premiums (scrap them, keep them, scrap them, keep them but say how bad they are - can another promise to take billions out of health care be far behind?) and now Eco Fees.

Despite the PC government introducing waste management fees in 2002, Tim Hudak attacked the Liberals for committing to a safer toxic waste disposal process and a cleaner environment. Now he's saying the PC Party would hit your wallet for waste disposal, as his caucus flip-flops on what to do with the issue.

Garfield was not specific about how a new Tory program would pay to keep such products out of landfills if neither the consumer nor the producer were paying through so-called eco fees — but was adamant they would not be charged.

“On things like electronics we would be removing the eco fees,” Dunlop said.

“There would be no eco fees on any of the electronics portion.”

After Dunlop spoke, party officials clarified the cost of recycling such products would fall to taxpayers — and that PC MPP Ted Arnott was wrong last week when he said the party would maintain the producer-pay principle.

Introduce them, say you'll scrap them, then say you'll work with stakeholder, and finally say you'll hit the taxpayer wallet - on every big issue, Tim Hudak's reckless rookie scheming and flip-floping has exposed his weak leadership.

Tim Hudak vs. your wallet

2011-06-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Tim Hudak is feeling hungry. Can you spare him some of your hard earned tax dollars so he can grab a beer and some chicken nuggets?

Tim Hudak vs. Full Day Kindergarten

2011-06-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

Today, Ontario is announcing the last stage of the rollout of full day kindergarten. In a highly competitive, globalized, knowledge-based economy it is absolutely essential that Ontario invest in the younger generation to ensure that we build a powerful workforce that can compete and win against the best anywhere on this planet, and investments in families like FDK go a long way to securing Ontario jobs and strengthening our economy.

And up until last weekend, reckless rookie Tim Hudak wanted to scrap this program. But, in his slick, angry, and dark scheming unveiled over the weekend, Tim Hudak - just as he has on human rights, the HST, and creating Ontario jobs – has flip flopped.

What once was a “frill”, he now says he’ll keep. After saying he would “freeze” the program and create two-tier schools, he now says it would be “a mistake to disrupt its implementation”.

Despite his flip-flop, with a $10 billion dollar hole in the middle of his platform, important investments in Ontario families and the future of our economy like FDK would be at risk from Hudak’s reckless rookie schemes. The last PC government promised “funding for education will be guaranteed”, and Ontario families saw schools being closed, students locked out, and less investment in children.
Ontario must continue to keep moving forward with a solid plan for investment, not reckless rookie scheming and flip-flops.

Tim Hudak vs. video games (and jobs)

2011-05-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.thestar.com/article/661781

In honour of Anime North, which is sharing a convention centre with the PC's this weekend, I thought I'd highlight an example of Ontario investment in creating jobs in the high tech sector, such as Ubisoft investing in an Ontario and creating almost 1000 jobs.

McGuinty called digital media "a new kind of manufacturing" that is worthy of support to build a more diversified, knowledge-based economy.

"This is an anchor investment ... it will catapult us a great distance forward," the Premier said.

He noted the investment will help keep graduates of local community college computer animation and similar programs from leaving the area, which is already the third-largest digital media hub in North America.

"Rather than the brain drain ... the opening of Ubisoft Toronto is all about a brain gain," said Yannis Mallet, chief executive of the company's Montreal and Toronto operations.

Tim Hudak is against video games, and Ontario jobs in growing sectors of the economy.

Tim Hudak vs. the safety of Ontario families

2011-05-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/997721--walkom-chain-gangs-and-the-tories-search-for-scapegoats

While Liberals focus on creating jobs and growing the economy (The headline of the Windsor Star today read "Green energy wave powers job upswing) Tim Hudak's reckless rookie scheming hit a new low by declaring that he was in favour of 6,000 convicted criminals "raking leaves" and "picking up gum wrappers" 40 hours a week, every week, in the parks and playgrounds where our children and grandchildren play.

Ontario families deserve to know they have safe communities, and Hudak's radical rookie recklessness would put safety and security of our families at risk.

Tim Hudak vs. Canadian teams

2011-05-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Not quite as serious as my previous postings.

Tim Hudak vs. health care

2011-05-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

Tim Hudak on health care, yesterday:

"I know how important our health services truly are…healthcare will be our top funding priority"

That's interesting, but let's take a look at what Mike Harris had to say about health care spending in 1995 before he got elected:

"We will not cut health care spending. It’s far too important." (1995 PC platform, pg 7)

That PC promise to not cut important health care spending ended up with unchecked wait times, 28 hospitals shut down, and 6000 nurses fired, and Hudak personally lead the way as Parliamentary Assisstant to the Minister of Health. Tim Hudak's reckless rookie scheming can't hide his real record of slashing public health services that Ontario families deserve.

Tim Hudak vs. his own record

2011-05-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

Tim Hudak once said he'd fight the HST "tooth and nail" after being accused of flip-floping on the long record of PC support for a harmonized tax system, and now he has done a double-flip flop, by saying he wouldn't fight the HST at all, but would instead take $6 billion out of health care and education.

Even the Toronto Sun is taking on Hudoo economics, with Christina Blizzard saying today that Hudak's scheming numbers are "too wobbly to take to the bank."

At a time when Ontario's economy is turning the corner, Ontario families deserve stability and a plan to grow the economy and create jobs. Hudak's scheming and flip-floping on important issues like green jobs and tax reform would create instability and hurt investment, while at the same time turning the clock back on important improvements in health care and education.

Ontario families deserve better.

Tim Hudak vs. Randall Denley

2011-05-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

Tim Hudak has pushed aside an active nomination to appoint Randall Denley as PC candidate in Ottawa West-Nepean.

Tim Hudak is also hoping to push aside Denley's criticism of Hudak and his reckless rookie scheming, but as you can see below, Hudak is less successful:

http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/greaterottawa/archive/2011/05/17/all-the-mean-things-randall-denley-has-written-about-tim-hudak.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

In particular, it will be interesting to see how Hudak and Denley will be speaking from the same gospel on the economy and job creation:

"Hudak refuses to acknowledge it, but harmonizing sales taxes is good for business."
Dec 7, 2009

First Frank Klees demonstrates his lack of faith in Hudak's reckless scheming by investing his own money in FIT project, now Hudak's newest recruit is offside on the HST and job creation. Will Denley stand up for plans like the HST that are growing the Ontario economy and creating jobs for families, or will he allow Tim Hudak to recklessly play politics?

Tim Hudak vs. Ontario jobs, Eastern Ontario edition

2011-05-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Hudak+urged+support+green+energy/4787642/story.html

From Windsor to Ottawa, Ontario families & Ontario businesses are standing up to defend jobs created for families by private investment helped by the Ontario Liberal plan for jobs and growth against Tim Hudak's reckless rookie scheming:

A group of Ottawa businesses specializing in renewable energy technology is calling on Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak to reconsider his opposition to the McGuinty government’s green energy law.

Twenty area firms signed onto the letter dated Monday saying that the green energy economy is invigorating the manufacturing industry and creating well-paying jobs for skilled workers. They say Hudak’s pledge to scrap the Liberals’ green energy law would be “rash, imprudent, and cost thousands of jobs.”...

In the letter, released to the Citizen, the co-signers say the FIT program has proved to be both good job-creation policy and helps the province generate the electricity it will need in future. “The Green Energy and Green Economy Act generates economic activity, reduces pollution, and ensures that Ontarians will have power for the future,” the letter says. “It enables us to avoid the risk of blackouts.”

“Mr. Hudak, business seeks a stable economic climate for investment. Your Party’s decision has introduced uncertainty into Ontario’s economic future.”

Ontario families deserve economic security and jobs, and Ontario businesses deserve a stable economic climate in which they can grow the economy and create jobs and opportunity. Tim Hudak's is recklessly scheming to take jobs away from Ontario families and hurt the economy.

Tim Hudak vs. jobs for Ontario families

2011-05-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hudak has declared war green energy jobs for Ontario families, but Ontario is fighting back:

http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/blogs/Green+energy+threat+makes+region/4783142/story.html

"[The PC Party] has declared war on this region with the insane announcement that it intends to snuff out thousands of local jobs, kill a new green energy industry for this hard-hit region and send us back to the environmental stone age...

The best thing the Windsor area has going for it, the emerging job-rich, exportoriented sector that is helping this region claw its way back from the economic abyss, would be decimated by Hudak...

Hudak's policy would incinerate 3,000 jobs already here or in the development pipeline and put us back to square one in terms of industrial diversification.

A week ago this former border guard from Fort Erie and Mike Harris cabinet minister was largely unknown in Essex County. He was Tim Whodat?

Now he's Timmy the Job Slayer, a reckless gunslinger who would kill the mega deal with Samsung, a global giant most countries would kill to have as an investor, even though he admits he doesn't have a clue how many hundreds of millions of dollars (or billions) it would cost to break the longterm contract."

Liberals are building economic security and stability for Ontario families, while Hudak and his reckless rookie scheming would cost Ontario families thousands of jobs and hurt the environment.

Tim Hudak vs. Frank Klees on green energy

2011-05-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

With the Hudak attack on Ontario's economy and jobs continuing today, one of Hudak's most senior MPP's demonstrated how little faith he really has in Hudak's wreckless rookie scheming.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/990868--tory-mpp-stands-to-cash-in-on-green-energy-deal-his-party-wants-to-axe?bn=1

Frank Klees, who finished in a close 2nd to Hudak in the PC leadership race sits on the board of an energy company that stands to make a tidy profit thanks to Ontario government investment in green energy.

A veteran MPP in [the PC] caucus stands to cash in on a green energy plan that his boss, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, wants to scrap or pare back.

Klees sits on the board of Tribute Resources and holds stock options in the company based on information supplied in the MPP’s 2010 public disclosure statements.

“Klees is thumbing his nose at his rookie leader in support of the McGuinty Liberal plan for Ontario to replace dirty coal with clean energy and make the province a world leader in clean energy jobs and innovation,” the Liberal release states.

Frank Klees seems to understand that Ontario government policy has created an environment in which private companies can prosper, profit, and help create jobs and grow the economy. Tim Hudak should look to his example before he continues his attack on growing Ontario's industrial economy and creating new jobs for Ontario families.

Hudak attack on Green Energy Act would cost Ontario jobs

2011-05-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

But don't take my word for it. Windsor mayor Eddie Francis knows a thing or two about the challenges and opportunities faced by Ontario's industrial sector over the last few years, and what does he say about the Hudak attack?

"It would be hard to believe that anybody would come in and suggest that we're going to turn back the clock on job creation and economic diversification. We all know in this region that the Green Energy Act gave birth to the renewable energy sector in this province, and has created thousands and thousands of jobs."

I've got family roots in Windsor, and my family has been personally affected by the changing global economy. Liberals are investing in creating jobs for families in places like Windsor and across the province, and create a healthier environment for families and children.

Riding hashtags - now with edits!

2011-03-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

So I made up hashtags for every riding. With Twitter being abuzz, I think this it would be good to get some standardization when talking about individual ridings. Here's my effort:

Newfoundland
Avalon - #ava
Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor - #bonggfw
Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte - #humstbbv
Labrador - #lab
Random—Burin—St. George's #ranburstg
St. John's East #stje
St. John's South—Mount Pearl #stjsmp

Nova Scotia
Cape Breton—Canso - #capebc
Central Nova - #cenn
Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley - #ccmv
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour - #dch
Halifax - #hal
Halifax West -#halw
Kings—Hants - #kingh
Sackville—Eastern Shore -#sackves
South Shore—St. Margaret's - #ssstm
Sydney—Victoria - #sydv
West Nova - #westn

New Brunswick
Acadie—Bathurst - #acbath
Beauséjour -#bejour
Fredericton - #fred
Fundy Royal - #fundyr
Madawaska—Restigouche - #madarest
Miramichi - #mira
Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe - #monrivdie
New Brunswick Southwest -#nbsw
Saint John - #saintj
Tobique—Mactaquac - #tobmac

PEI
Cardigan - #card
Charlottetown - #charl
Egmont - #egm
Malpeque - #mal

Quebec
Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou -#abbkne
Abitibi—Témiscamingue - #abtemi
Ahuntsic -#ahunt
Alfred-Pellan - #alpel
Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel -#arpami
Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour -#basrnb
Beauce - #beauce
Beauharnois—Salaberry - #beasal
Beauport—Limoilou - #bealim
Berthier—Maskinongé - #bermas
Bourassa - #bour
Brome—Missisquoi - #bromis
Brossard—La Prairie -#brolapr
Chambly—Borduas - #chambor
Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles - #charhstc
Châteauguay—Saint-Constant - #chatstc
Chicoutimi—Le Fjord - #chilefj
Compton—Stanstead - #comstan
Drummond - #drumm
Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine - #gidlm
Gatineau - #gatin
Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia - #hgmmm
Hochelaga - #hoch
Honoré-Mercier - #honmer
Hull—Aylmer - #hulayl
Jeanne-Le Ber - #jeleber
Joliette - #joli
Jonquière—Alma - #jonal
La Pointe-de-l'Île - #lapdi
Lac-Saint-Louis - #lacstl
LaSalle—Émard -#lasem
Laurentides—Labelle - #laurla
Laurier—Sainte-Marie - #laursm
Laval -#lav
Laval—Les Îles - #lavli
Lévis—Bellechasse -#levbel
Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher - #longpb
Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière - #lotcdlc
Louis-Hébert - #louheb
Louis-Saint-Laurent - #loustl
Manicouagan -#mancou
Marc-Aurèle-Fortin - #marcaf
Mégantic—L'Érable - #megler
Montcalm - #montc
Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup - #mlikr
Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord - #monchcn
Mount Royal - #mountr
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine - #ndgl
Outremont - #out
Papineau - #pap
Pierrefonds—Dollard - #pierd
Pontiac - #pont
Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier – #portjc
Québec - #que
Repentigny - #repent
Richmond—Arthabaska - #richarth
Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques - #rimtemlb
Rivière-des-Mille-Îles - #rivdmi
Rivière-du-Nord - #rivdn
Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean - #roblstj
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie - #roselpp
Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert - #stbsth
Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot - #sthb
Saint-Jean - #stjean
Saint-Lambert - #stlam
Saint-Laurent—Cartierville - #stlaucar
Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel - #stlstm
Saint-Maurice—Champlain - #stmcham
Shefford - #sheff
Sherbrooke - #sherb
Terrebonne—Blainville - #terbla
Trois-Rivières - #troriv
Vaudreuil-Soulanges - #vaudsoul
Verchères—Les Patriotes - #verlp
Westmount—Ville-Marie- #westvm

Ontario
Ajax—Pickering - #ajpick
Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing - #almankap
Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale - #ADFW
Barrie - #barr
Beaches—East York - #beaey
Bramalea—Gore—Malton - #bramgm
Brampton—Springdale - #bramsp
Brampton West - #bramw
Brant -#brant
Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound - #bgos
Burlington - #burl
Cambridge #camb
Carleton—Mississippi Mills - #cmm
Chatham-Kent—Essex -#chatke
Davenport - #dav
Don Valley East - #dve
Don Valley West - #dvw
Dufferin—Caledon - #dufcal
Durham - #dur
Eglinton—Lawrence - #eglaw
Elgin—Middlesex—London - #elmidl
Essex - #esx
Etobicoke Centre - #etoc
Etobicoke—Lakeshore - #etol
Etobicoke North - #eton
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell - #gpr
Guelph - #gue
Haldimand—Norfolk - #halnor
Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock - #hklb
Halton - #hal
Hamilton Centre - #hamc
Hamilton East—Stoney Creek - hamesc
Hamilton Mountain - #hamm
Huron—Bruce - #hurbru
Kenora - #ken
Kingston and the Islands - #kingi
Kitchener Centre - #kitchc
Kitchener—Conestoga - #kitchcon
Kitchener—Waterloo - #kitchw
Lambton—Kent—Middlesex - #lamkenmid
Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington - #lfla
Leeds—Grenville - #leedg
London—Fanshawe - #lonf
London North Centre - #lonnc
London West - #lonw
Markham—Unionville -#marku
Mississauga—Brampton South - #msbrams
Mississauga East—Cooksville -#msecook
Mississauga—Erindale -#mserin
Mississauga South -#mssou
Mississauga—Streetsville - #msstre
Nepean—Carleton -#nepcar
Newmarket—Aurora -#newaur
Niagara Falls -#niafal
Niagara West—Glanbrook - #niawglan
Nickel Belt -#nickbel
Nipissing—Timiskaming - #niptim
Northumberland—Quinte West - #nqw
Oak Ridges—Markham - #oakrimark
Oakville - #oakv
Oshawa -#osh
Ottawa Centre -#ottc
Ottawa—Orléans - #otto
Ottawa South - #otts
Ottawa—Vanier - #ottv
Ottawa West—Nepean - #ottwn
Oxford - #oxf
Parkdale—High Park - #parkhp
Parry Sound—Muskoka - #parsomusk
Perth—Wellington - #perwel
Peterborough - #petbro
Pickering—Scarborough East - #picscare
Prince Edward—Hastings - #prinehast
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke - #rennippem
Richmond Hill - #richhill
St. Catharines - #stcath
St. Paul's - #stpaul
Sarnia—Lambton - #sarlam
Sault Ste. Marie - #saulstm
Scarborough—Agincourt - #scarag
Scarborough Centre - #scarc
Scarborough—Guildwood - #scarguil
Scarborough—Rouge River -#scarrour
Scarborough Southwest - #scarsw
Simcoe—Grey - #simgrey
Simcoe North - #simn
Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry - #sdsg
Sudbury - #sudb
Thornhill -#thorn
Thunder Bay—Rainy River - #thunbrr
Thunder Bay—Superior North - #thunbsn
Timmins—James Bay - #timjb
Toronto Centre - #torc
Toronto—Danforth - #tord
Trinity—Spadina - #trinspa
Vaughan -#vaug
Welland - #well
Wellington—Halton Hills - #wellhh
Whitby—Oshawa - #whosh
Willowdale - #willow
Windsor—Tecumseh - #wintec
Windsor West - #winw
York Centre -#yorkc
York—Simcoe -#yorksim
York South—Weston #yorksw
York West #yorkw

Manitoba
Brandon—Souris - #branso
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia - #charstjas
Churchill - #chur
Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette - #dausrm
Elmwood—Transcona - #elmtra
Kildonan—St. Paul -#kilstp
Portage—Lisgar - #portlis
Provencher - #prov
Saint Boniface -#stbon
Selkirk—Interlake - #selin
Winnipeg Centre -#wpegc
Winnipeg North - #wpegn
Winnipeg South - #wpegs
Winnipeg South Centre - #wpegsc

Saskatchewan
Battlefords—Lloydminster -#batlloyd
Blackstrap - #blkstr
Cypress Hills—Grasslands - #cyhilg
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River - #dmcr
Palliser - #pall
Prince Albert -#princea
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre - #regllc
Regina—Qu'Appelle - #regqu
Saskatoon—Humboldt - #saskh
Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar -#saskrb
Saskatoon—Wanuskewin - #saskw
Souris—Moose Mountain - #soumm
Wascana - #wasc
Yorkton—Melville - #yorkmel

Alberta
Calgary Centre - #calc
Calgary Centre-North - #calcn
Calgary East -#cale
Calgary Northeast - #calne
Calgary—Nose Hill - #calnh
Calgary Southeast - #calse
Calgary Southwest - #calsw
Calgary West - #calw
Crowfoot -#cro
Edmonton Centre -#edmc
Edmonton East - #edme
Edmonton—Leduc - #edml
Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont - #edmmwb
Edmonton—St. Albert - #edmsta
Edmonton—Sherwood Park - #edmsp
Edmonton—Spruce Grove - #edmsg
Edmonton—Strathcona - #edmstra
Fort McMurray—Athabasca - #ftmcath
Lethbridge - #leth
Macleod - #macl
Medicine Hat -#medih
Peace River -#peariv
Red Deer -#redd
Vegreville—Wainwright - #vegwain
Westlock—St. Paul - #weststp
Wetaskiwin - #weta
Wild Rose -#wldr
Yellowhead - #ylwh

BC
Abbotsford - #abb
British Columbia Southern Interior -#bcsi
Burnaby—Douglas -#burdoug
Burnaby—New Westminster - #burnw
Cariboo—Prince George -#carpg
Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon -#chilfc
Delta—Richmond East - #delre
Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca -#esqjdf
Fleetwood—Port Kells - #flepk
Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo - #kamthocar
Kelowna—Lake Country - #kellc
Kootenay—Columbia - #koocol
Langley - #lang
Nanaimo—Alberni - #nanalb
Nanaimo—Cowichan - #nancow
Newton—North Delta - #newnd
New Westminster—Coquitlam - #nwcoq
North Vancouver -nvan
Okanagan—Coquihalla - #okaco
Okanagan—Shuswap - #okashu
Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission - #pmmpm
Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam - #pmwpc
Prince George—Peace River - #pgpr
Richmond - #rich
Saanich—Gulf Islands - #sgi
Skeena—Bulkley Valley - #skebv
South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale - #sswrc
Surrey North - #surn
Vancouver Centre -#vanc
Vancouver East - #vane
Vancouver Island North -#vanisln
Vancouver Kingsway -#vank
Vancouver Quadra -#vanq
Vancouver South - #vans
Victoria - #vic
West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country - #wvscskc

North
Yukon - #yuk
Western Arctic - #warc
Nunivut - #nun

Provincial nomination progress, NDP and Greens

2011-03-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

Neither the ONDP or GPO have nominated a particularly large slate so far, so I combined them here.

The NDP haven't nominated a whole lot of candidates so far as I can tell, and they so far seemed to have focused on the GTA. I could only find one notice of someone running for an ONDP nomination up North, which I found surprising considering that the party wants to win more seats up there. 3 of the seats so far nominated could be described as target ridings - Ottawa Centre, London-Fanshawe, and York South-Weston.

The Greens obviously don't have any incumbent MPP's, and the focus has seemed to be on Eastern Ontario and the GTA. Of the seats where the Greens could be considered players last time around, only Ottawa Centre has nominated, with the top two targets for the party, Guelph and Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, still without candidates, although party leader

Mike Schreiner is running in Simcoe-Grey, which could provide a possible boost to the Greens in BGOS, particularly with no incumbent MPP running.

I'll periodically update these maps and have links to other provincial nomination news.

Equal Voice National Leadership Summit

2011-03-10T06:44:00.000-08:00

The Equal Voice National Leadership Summit is going on in Ottawa today, and I'll be providing live updates via Twitter if you want to follow along at www.twitter.com/WilliamNorman

You can also watch the live webcast at http://equalvoice.ca/

Provincial nomination progress, PC edition

2011-03-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

Click the link for full sized version: http://i53.tinypic.com/2r4h2tk.png

The most colour-complex map, for start. The PC's have nominated almost all of their caucus, with only Steve Clark of Leeds-Grenville, Jerry Ouellette of Oshawa, and leader Tim Hudak yet to be officially nominated. I think we can probably assume Hudak will probably wait until just before the writ drops and use his nomination as a campaign kick-off event.

The PC's either have a candidate nominated, or have declared candidates, in most unheld ridings in southern Ontario, although they still have gaps in the GTA (particularly the GTA West, which I find somewhat surprising considering the seats in Mississauga, Brampton, and Etobikoe tend to be swing ridings), urban Ottawa, Guelph, Hamilton, Windsor, and Northern Ontario.

Of the top 10 closest ridings the PC's fell short in in 2007, the PC's have candidates nominated in 7 of them (Nippisisng, Barrie, Kitchener-Constoga, Eglinton-Lawrence, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, London-Fanshawe, and Oak Ridges-Markham) and have declared candidates for the nominated in the other 3 (ADFW, SD & SG, and Don Valley West). While the PC's have somewhat neglected urban Ontario, the GTA West suburbs, and Northern Ontario, they seem to be focused nomination wise on Southwestern Ontario and the east end of the GTA.

The PC's have nominated candidates in one of the seats with a retiring MPP, Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, and have declared candidates for nominations in the other 2, Burlington and Cambridge. The PC's also have a unique sitution of an incumbent MPP facing a legitimate challenge for the nomination, with Norm Sterling, the longest serving PC MPP facing a challenge from his right with the Randy Hillier backed Jack Maclaren (who has been buying a ton of Facebook ad's) attempting to take him down.

I'll take a look at the NDP next time.

A look at provincial candidate nomination progress - Liberals

2011-03-05T10:03:00.001-08:00

So on a whim, I decided to whip up some tracking maps of each party's nomination progress, as far as I could tell. You'll probably want to click on the maps for full size, and to tell the colour shades apart. I've decided to include Sarah Thompson's rumoured campaign (since it seems pretty confirmed) in Trinity Spadina.

Edit: Click the link for full size map - http://i56.tinypic.com/2dhtf5z.png

The OLP has nominated mostly incumbants to start with, focusing on mid-town Toronto, the outer suburbs, Southwestern Ontario, and Northern Ontario. The Liberals are being tactical in unheld ridings with either a nominated candidate, or an active nomination going on. Liberals have candidates in Halton and Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington, which were the 2 ridings the Liberals came closest to snatching from the PC's in 2007, Thornhill was only lost by 3.6% , Cambridge and Burlington were only lost by 7.6% and 3.5% respectively and have retiring PC incumbents, and while Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound is a bit of a longer shot, it too has a retiring PC MPP.

Liberals have active nomination processes in at least 2 ridings with retiring incumbants that I can identify, with 3 candidates going for the prize in Stormont-Dundas-South Glengary, and at least Nancy Fonseca has declared in Mississauga East-Cooksville.

I'll post the progress of the other parties over the next few days.

PC positions on health care are cartoonish

2011-02-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/11214013/

Little cartoon I made showing Tim Hudak's misadventures and flip-flops on public health care. Remember, "everything is on the table"!

John Tory on the HST: "good economic and tax policy if we want to create jobs in the province of Ontario"

2011-02-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/936390--tory-praises-mcguinty-s-courage-on-the-hst?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

And this quote from McGuinty brings it home:

“I’m absolutely convinced that the PCs in fact are supportive of the HST. They were always there and they always have been,” said McGuinty, shrugging off Hudak’s public opposition to the tax.

“In fact, we would not have been able to move forward with the HST in Ontario without the support of many Ontario PCs, whether you’re taking John Baird or Tony Clement … or Jim Flaherty,” he said, referring to former Tory MPPs who are now top members of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative cabinet.

Leadership on the economy and job creation helps Ontario families more than buck a beer.

Tory in-fighting in Mississauga South, part I don't even know anymore

2011-02-07T16:52:00.001-08:00

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-bicker-in-key-toronto-area-ridings/article1897744/page1/

Conservatives in my home riding of Mississauga South must really miss the days when they could just throw a Kennedy on the ballot and have the rest of the election be a formality.

In the past few years, not a single election cycle has passed in Mississauga South without some fairly serious drama and infighting popping up, and both the federal and provincial sides. 2004-2006 candidate Phil Green was denied the chance to run a third time in the fall of 2006 (despite party insider Bob Dechert getting the go for a three-peat next door) which ruffled a few feathers. Green had this to say:

http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/01/look-at-phil-greens-website.html

I was told by a Party official that the party would not allow me to be a candidate for nomination. No reasons were provided...I believe that in this matter the Conservative Party has shown a cavalier attitude towards our political freedoms and its pledge of fair, transparent and democratic nominations

And of course, following this, came the appointment of floor-crosser Tim Peterson as automatic PC candidate for the 2007 election, which backfired spectacularly and alienated the grassroots as 3 candidates had been actively going for the nod against Peterson. Former PC MPP Margaret Marland called the process "despicable" and Peterson was not allowed the speak at his own nomination meeting. Unsurprisingly, many Mississauga South PC activists were amongst the spearhead of the dump John Tory movement after the election.

And then came the actual federal nomination for the 08 election. After dragging the race out for months in hopes of a star candidate, the party finally allowed the nomination, which had some nastyiness of its own.

http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/05/tim-peterson-angle-gets-played-against.html

Party establishment backed parachute candidate Ted Opitz was using cybersquatting and registering variants of other candidates names on url's to re-direct to his own website, which got him some flack, and his parachute status caused other candidates to label him the Tim Peterson of the race.

This also came out when Phil Green endorsed Hugh Arrison:
http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/05/rise-of-hugh-arrison.html

"Green says Arrison has enjoyed a "tremendous" financial and business career and understands the concerns of the riding, because he lives in it."Just as important for me, Hugh knows that there can be a big difference between what is legal and what is the right thing to do," says Green, an obvious reference to candidate Major Ted Optiz's recent ploy to buy up web site domains that his opponents could potentially use and redirect people from those sites to his own

We also saw an anti-Opitz website, poking fun at this registration of domain names of other candidates: http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/06/conservative-website-fun.html

Arrison ultimately won the nomination and lost to Paul Szabo. Arrison wanted to run again, and here is where the fun starts from today's article:

In nearby Mississauga South, currently held by Liberal Paul Szabo, long-time Conservative Hugh Arrison and his supporters allege he was kept out of running for the nomination to make way for Ms. Ambler last summer...Supporters of Ms. Ambler, meanwhile, say Mr. Arrison is an embittered failed candidate who had trouble co-operating with party officials...Several party sources say there had been bad feelings between Ms. Ambler and some Conservative members in Bramalea-Gore-Malton before she moved to Mississauga South...That same summer of 2009, Mr. Arrison in Mississauga South was starting to get bad vibes about the nomination in his riding.

Mr. Arrison had lost the 2008 federal election to Liberal incumbent Paul Szabo, but wanted to run for the nomination again. Mr. Arrison says he was called to a meeting in the summer of 2009 by Ms. Macgregor, the Greater Toronto Area Tory organizer.

Mr. Arrison says Ms. Macgregor asked him not to run for the nomination. Ms. Macgregor, now an aide to Tory Senator Con Di Nino, said she would have to check her notes about whether she met with Mr. Arrison, but did not return messages...Mr. Delorey said he could not comment on the details of a nomination. But a party source says Mr. Arrison was regarded inside the last campaign as unco-operative and a poor candidate.

Mr. Arrison refutes that view, saying he had lots of support within the party and even got a call from Flaherty in the days after the 2008 election congratulating him on his showing and encouraging him to run again. He came within 2,100 votes of defeating Mr. Szabo...Mr. Arrison refused to step aside after the meeting with Ms. Macgregor, and soon afterward began hearing that Ms. Ambler wanted to run in the riding...Ms. Ambler was acclaimed as the party's candidate in Mississauga South in June 2010. Mr. Arrison maintains a website, still in Conservative colours, that describes his disappointment with the party.

“There's certainly an awful lot of people that feel really disenfranchised, who feel very, very upset,” Mr. Arrison said in an interview.

“I guess I've had three or four hundred emails, lots of people who are even going to change their votes. It's definitely an issue because people really don't like it when you're told what you're going to do and your vote is completely ignored. That's the big issue. Do the people really count? Do members even matter, and apparently they don't.”"

And bringing it back to Phil Green, here is what he had to say when Ambler got appointed/acclaimed in a letter in the Mississauga News:

The Conservative Party has parachuted Stella Ambler into Mississauga South by calling a nomination for June 28, without opponents. Ambler, who works for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, moved to Mississauga South last August from Bramalea-Gore-Malton, where she ran unsuccessfully in 2008...

Interfering in nominations corrodes our democracy. “A prime minister demeans local democracy when he parachutes a candidate into a riding over the objections of local members,” said Prime Minister Harper in 2005 — something he clearly no longer believes, or cares about...

The Conservative Party used to say that candidates should be nominated in a fair, transparent and democratic manner. I remain loyal to that principle. I refuse to vote for a candidate, even from my own party, that was not. Such a vote is a vote for the subversion of our democratic rights. If that offends my party today, too bad.

The PC's look like they are having a contested nomination for the provincial nod, and it will be interesting to see if they follow what is now a proud Mississauga South Conservative tradition.

Is weakness in the regions the real cause for NDP flip-flopping on the budget?

2011-02-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

At this point, the NDP has had more than a few positions on supporting the Tory budget. While Liberals have been clear that hard working Canadian families deserve a hard working government that invests in the social services they need to put ground under their feet, not a government that hands out big corporate tax breaks, the NDP has yet to come out with a clear agenda for the coming budget. They have a few minor tweeks they would like to make, sure. Will an added drop of spending here and there for some boutique policies really buy NDP support for a Conservative government whose national housing strategy is prisons, and who thinks big corporations should get tax breaks instead of middle class Canadians getting the social services they deserve?

If you do a region by region breakdown, you can see some pretty visible cracks and holes in the NDP, which shares a campaign machine and support base with its provincial parties to a higher degree compared to the other parties.

In the Maritimes, the Nova Scotia NDP hasn't fallen behind in popularity, putting NDP seats at risk there, and the Liberals have seen some strong poll numbers across the Atlantic recently, and the Nova Scotia Liberals have some good momentum, winning by-elections and gaining a high-profile defection from the PC's, Karen Casey. The NB NDP is going through another leadership race, and the PEI and Newfoundland party organizations are mortibund, aside from Jack Harris.

In Quebec, the NDP lost a high profile candidate, Jean-Claude Rocheleau to the Bloc, and Thomas Mulcair faces a very tough challenge from Martin Cauchon for Outremont.

In Ontario, the NDP vote collapsed in the Vaughan by-election, winning less than 2% of the vote, and in the 2 most recent provincial by-elections, the NDP vote declined from 2007 as well. This puts them at risk of losing a number of close NDP-Liberal seats, such as Ottawa Centre with Scott Bradley running hard, Trinity-Spadina, and a good handfull of seats in Northern Ontario.

In the Praries, of course, the NDP lost the fortress seat of Winnipeg North to the Liberals, sending shockwaves across urban politics and demonstrating the Liberals could compete and win in Western Canada, and the Saskatchewan NDP is trailing in the polls.

BC might show the most vulnerability for the NDP. The party has MP's stepping down federally, and the provincial leadership race has gone from farce to tragedy very quickly, with allegations of the party blocking candidates, of leadership candidates using shady sign-up methods, disputes over the role of the labour unions within the race, and other shenanigans.

The NDP can put on a brave face as they flip-flop over the Harper budget, but a look at the on the ground situation shows they very well could put political calculations above standing against the Harper agenda.

Sold down the river without a paddle

2011-02-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

Above: Rocco in more Liberal times

Gotta love this quote from the Star on Rossi running for the PC's:

Here's what both your old, and new friends are saying about you Rocco:

Both Tory and Liberal insiders denounced Rossi as “an opportunist” — Tories out of concern he is a carpet-bagger and Liberals because they feel betrayed.

“How can we call ourselves Conservatives and have a guy who raised millions for the Liberals to defeat Conservatives running for us?” fumed one Tory.

A Liberal noted the governing party has collected reams of research on Rossi’s public utterances blasting the Tories over the years and will not be shy about reminding him of his comments.

It will be interesting to see if the rumours of a draft Karen Stinz movement in Eglinton-Lawrence pick up steam with disgruntled PC's looking for another outlet.

Hudak slammed over his non-plan for Ontario Energy

2011-01-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

From The Star:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/926787--hudak-show-us-yours

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak...claiming that provincial investments in green energy will actually cost jobs... this conclusion is based on a flawed Spanish academic study and a subsequent paper from an Italian think-tank. The 2009 study has been widely and thoroughly discredited.

“The primary conclusion made by the authors — policy support of renewable energy results in net job losses — is not supported by their work,” states a white paper produced by an arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The critique goes on to note that the study “lacks transparency and supporting statistics and . . . fails to account for important issues.” That could easily be a reference to Hudak’s own energy statements.

He says, “we must create a strong, reliable and affordable energy plan that puts consumers first.” But Hudak has yet to indicate what he means by any of that. He condemns rising hydro bills but has not explained how he would pay to bring new power on-line (or even where it would come from) and upgrade transmission lines.

Instead of recycling discredited studies to launch yet more attacks on McGuinty’s government, Hudak would better serve Ontarians by telling us all how he proposes to keep the lights on.

We saw the Hudak agenda on energy - appoint cronies to important boards, and mismanage the system so badly with major brownouts and blackout, losing 1,800 megawatts of energy, as much as if Niagara Falls ran dry. Hudak's energyless energy plans would cost Ontario families jobs and move our economy and our environment backward.

Nancy Branscombe, new PC candidate in London North Centre, has some interesting ideas about political integrity

2011-01-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Nancy Branscombe was nominated as Tim Hudak's candidate in London North Centre last night, and while Tim Hudak says that she will "fight for the priorities of families", given Nancy's personal record of political games, she has her own priorities.

Here's an article on how Nancy Branscombe does politics:

Calgary Herald Thu Jul 9 1998

She identified herself as Betty from London. But her real name was Nancy, from Peterborough.

A senior Reform Party official has landed in hot water for fibbing about her identity during a telephone call-in program on CBC Newsworld.

Nancy Branscombe, manager of Reform's United Alternative campaign, admits she gave a false name in order to criticize former Tory cabinet minister John Crosbie on the airwaves.
"I thought it was a harmless bit of fun, but obviously, in hindsight, it wasn't," Branscombe said Wednesday.

"I did say I was 'Betty from London.' I wouldn't do it again. I'm sorry it happened, but I don't know what else I can say."

The Betty blooper happened June 27 during CBC Newsworld's On The Line, an hour-long current affairs program which had Crosbie on as a guest.

Branscombe, who lives in Peterborough, Ont., felt she had to publicly challenge Crosbie for his on-air criticism of Reform.

She explained that she didn't feel the news network would let her on the air to talk to Crosbie if producers knew her real name.

Her ruse was exposed when an anonymous caller phoned the local media to tip them off about the real identity of "Betty."

The lie has drawn a rebuke, but no formal discipline from Reform Leader Preston Manning.

"Nancy's actions were clearly unacceptable," said Manning's press secretary Jim Armour.

"She understands that, and we're confident that it will not happen again. No further action will be taken on this matter."

Branscombe's job is among the most senior staff positions within the Reform Party.

She and Calgary Southeast MP Jason Kenney head the party's attempt to create a new political coalition, primarily with Conservatives, to fight the federal Liberals.

Branscombe ran unsuccessfully as a Reform candidate in Peterborough in last year's federal election.

She is a member of the provincial Tory party in Ontario.

An executive with the federal Conservatives in Peterborough said the incident shows Reform is desperate.

"She got caught in an out-and-out lie," Mary Rogers told the Peterborough Examiner.

Ruth-Ellen Soles, a spokeswoman for CBC in Toronto, told the paper Newsworld tries to screen out calls suspected to be "political plants" and said the network "takes these things very seriously."

It's common practice for political strategists to instruct supporters to flood radio or television talk shows with calls in an attempt to demonstrate support for, or against, particular issues.

But Branscombe said she has never lied about her identity in the past.

"No, believe me," she said

I think it's telling that Tim Hudak would want a backroom, Reform Party era backroom politico (and remember some of the values that Branscombe represented when she ran in 1997 - an end to multiculturalism, ending bilingualism, denial of climate change, and Reform MP's during this period made statements that gays and "ethnics" should be able to be fired at will by employers, although given Tim Hudak's promise to end human rights protections, maybe that explains a few things) with a questionable personal view about what is acceptable in politics to represent him and his party in a riding as important as London North Centre.

No Plan

2011-01-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Kevin Page once again shows the truth: That the Harper Conservatives talk on the economy are all transparent politics.

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2011/01/20/budget-office-report.html

Page's office expected to find out how 10 departments that had reported expected employment reductions were going to maintain service levels with fewer staff.

His office found that only one department — Human Resources and Skills Development Canada — actually had a plan to do so, while RCMP and Correctional Service Canada did not respond to Page's requests.

The report found that planned staff cuts would be offset by an expected increase of more than 4,000 jobs at Correctional Services Canada, leading to an overall reduction of just 1,000 full-time positions in the medium term for all 10 departments. Based on those numbers, the report finds "limited evidence" that the government's current plans will meet the Treasury Board’s public service attrition target.

After 5 years of deficit and division, Harper and the Conservatives have no real plan for helping Canadian families and getting our fiscal spending under control. Canadians deserve better.

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...ONDP joins PC's in party civil wars

2011-01-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

We've heard plenty about the ongoing failure of Tim Hudak's leadership to keep a lid on party and factional leadership in his PC caucus (see: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Eastern+Ontario+feud+troubles+Tories/4028265/story.html, and http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110105/ontario-tories-hudak-infighting-110105/20110105/?hub=TorontoNewHome, and http://www.yourottawaregion.com/news/local/article/927109--sterling-fights-back-with-membership-drive and http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Tory+tiff+prompts+landowners+group+warn+Hudak+count+allegiance/4084357/story.html?cid=megadrop_story)

But a story that has somewhat flown under the radar is the problems Andrea Horwath has had with maintaining unity in the ONDP under her leadership. The left wing of the party is now in open revolt, and Michael Laxer, a 3 time NDP candidate and son of James Laxer, seems to be following in his fathers footsteps and has been working to set up a "Democratic Socialist alternative" to the ONDP of Horwath. His Ginger Project had previously been working within the offical confines of the ONDP, but now it looks like he is threatening to take the group into a real party, and take on the NDP from the left.

http://www.thegingerproject.org/2011/01/open-letter-for-new-democratic.html

The group will have its first convention this summer, the same time an ONDP convention was expected (and I believe, should have happened under the party rules) but cancelled, in large part due to rumours that Horwath would face weak leadership numbers after some uninspiring election returns for the NDP in Ontario under Horwath (ONDP candidates in the by-elections in Ottawa West-Nepean and Leeds-Grenville actually lost percentages of the vote compared to 2007, and barely moved in St. Paul's, with the strong result in Toronto Centre being much more a function of Cathy Crowe being a star candidate than any Horwathmania. Additionally, the federal NDP candidate in the Vaughan by-election pretty much ran an anti-HST campaign with messaging taken directly from the ONDP, and ended up with 1.7% of the vote) and an organized campaign against her from the party left led by a combination of the Ginger Project and anti-Catholic school activists who were alligned with Michael Prue's leadership campaign.

Laxer and the Ginger Project have taken issue with what they see as Horwath's move to the centre, with her using slogans like "Not your grandfather's NDP" - a common leftist rebuttal to this have been "Unfortunate, because my grandfather's NDP was the party of Tommy Douglas."

Be it Landowners or Ginger Projects, both Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath are facing some pretty well organized undercurrents within their parties that they haven't had the leadership to confront.

New nomination news

2011-01-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

Make sure to check out the Winter Tour kickoff in Ottawa West-Nepean with Michael Ignatieff and Anita Vandenbeld on Jan 12 if you're in the Ottawa-Gatineau area!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=173291749375363
____________________________________________

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Garrison+nomination+Esquimalt+Juan+Fuca/4053196/story.html

2004 and 2006 candidate and Esquimalt city councilour Randall Garrisson annouced today he would take another crack at Esquimalt-Juan De Fuca, with incumbant Liberal MP Keith Martin, who narrowly bested Garrisson in both elections not running again. Interestingly, provincial BC president Moe Sihota, who has come under fire at times for getting paid directly by BC unions, and the controversy now brewing over his handling of the potential BC NDP leadership candidacy of marijuana activist Dana Larsen was apparently also considering a run, but decided against it.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Going+longest+shot/4044042/story.html

Some discussion of the possible upcoming Calgary Centre-North by-election, and if the Liberals can build on an upset victory in Winnipeg North with another suprisingly strong showing in Western Canada. Apparently the party has at least one interested candidate:

Fridhandler (the Alberta federal co-chair) has been courting a promising candidate for the riding -- a professor at the University of Calgary who is a political neophyte but, apparently, interested.

At one point I had heard rumours that outgoing Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier was a possibility for the Liberal candidacy, so we'll see how that pans out.

The author of the piece also speculates that the Tories awarding the nomination to Michelle Rempel a loyal but lower profile party activist might also backfire.

She may turn out to be a terrific campaigner, but when parties reward faithful members with safe seats it suggests complacency.

The two candidates Naheed Nenshi defeated to win the mayorality, Ric McIver and Barb Higgins had at one point both expressed interest in the Tory nomination, but nothing ultimately came of that.

How Ontario Universities vote: Eastern Ontario edition

2011-01-02T01:54:00.000-08:00

As an experiment, I thought I would take a look at how university campuses vote, and how they compare to the general election results of the ridings they are in. I've combined the on-campus results from the 2007 provincial, and 2008 federal elections, and compared them. This time around, Carleton, U of O, and Queens.

Combining results from 2007 provincial and 2008 federal election

Sources: http://earth.smurfmatic.net/canada2008/polls/ for federal and http://kodonnell.ca/canpoli/ for provincial, in addition to Punditsguide.ca and Elections Canada and Elections Ontario

Note: The numbers will not always be perfect, for example, some polls (such as in Ottawa-Vanier) blend residences in with non student housing on campuses such as U of O, so total accuracy cannot be used, but general trends can still be noticed. Additionally, some schools appear not to have had polling stations on campus for the 07 election (or at least that I could find), so only the data from 2008 will be used for those.

Carleton University-Ottawa Centre

Totals

NDP-571
LIB-413
CON-242
GRN-169

Total Votes: 1395

NDP-41
LIB-30
CON-17
GRN-12

Compared with actual riding results (averaged between the two elections)

NDP-36 (+5)
LIB-31 (-1)
CON-22 (-5)
GRN-11 (+1)

University of Ottawa-Ottawa-Vanier
Note: According to both O’Donnell’s website, and Elections Ontario, no polling station was at U of O in 2007, so this will only feature the federal results. Also note that it appears that U of O res polls are blended in with some of the housing areas nearby, so not every voter in this list would actually be an on-campus student.

Polls: 401

LIB-501
NDP-371
CON-225
GRN-142

Total votes: 1239

LIB-40
NDP-30
CON-18
GRN-11

Actual results from 2008:

LIB-46(-6)
CON-27 (-9)
NDP-17(+13)
GRN-9 (+2)

Queen’s University-Kingston and the Islands
Notes: Can only find federal data, might be mixed in with non-student housing

Totals:

LIB-311
CON-221
GRN-165
NDP-125

822

LIB-38
CON-27
GRN-20
NDP-15

Actual 2008 results

LIB-39 (-1)
CON-33 (-6)
NDP-18 (-3)
GRN-11 (+9)

Hudak failing to attract female candidates

2010-12-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

Taken from the "Team" section of the PC website, behold the diversity of Tim Hudak's PC Party

While the Ontario Liberals have done a pretty enviable job of attracting female candidates to run for office (something that I'm pretty personally passionate about), for example, having more women in cabinet than the opposition parties have MPP's, combined. The Ontario Liberals have also done a solid job of promoting policies that help women and families across the province, such as full day kindergarten.

However, while Tim Hudak and the PC's continue to attack such policies, he has also failed at attracting female candidates for his party for the next election. In a caucus that already has a lack of women (only 6 of his 25 MPP's are women) a look at the numbers of who has declared to run for PC nominations/have been nominated shows a distinct lack of women.

As far as I can tell from doing research from sources like the PC nomination thread on the Blogging Tories forum, here are the numbers by my count, so these might not be the exact numbers, but the trends are still visible:

Number of unheld ridings in which nomination meetings have already happened, or candidates have declared for the nomination: 27

Number of candidates who ran/are running for aforementioned nomination meetings: 51

Number of women who have run, or have declared to run, for a PC nomination: 13

Only 25% of the candidates who have taken a chance at running to be a candidate for the PC's have been women.

Number of unheld ridings in which no women have ran or declared for a nomination: 19

70% of unheld riding nominations have featured absolutely no women in the race.

Number of unheld ridings in which PC's have nominated a candidate so far: 17

Number of those ridings in which a woman has been nominated as the candidate: 3

Only 18% of unheld ridings have nominated a female candidate. It's worth noting that this 18% figure is significantly lower than the 24% of female representation Hudak's caucus currently has.

Number of contested nomination meetings which have featured a female candidate (so discounting appointments): 4

Number of women actually winning contested nomination meetings: 1

In only 25% of ridings in which PC voters had a chance to vote for a female candidate did they actually elect one.

Lots of nomination news for all!

2010-12-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/can-spurned-afghan-detainee-watchdog-topple-tory-mp/article1827850/

Solid candidate recruitment for the Liberals in Eastern Ontario, with Peter Tinsley,
former chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission, who will seek the Liberal nomination (and will almost certainly be the candidate) in Prince Edward-Hastings. Tinsley failed to be reappointed as chair after his investigations into the Afghan detainee file.

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/282425--braden-seeks-liberal-nomination

And a contested nomination is in the works in ADFW, with longtime municipal councilor and environmental activist Dave Braden seeking the Liberal nomination, alongside former Ancaster councillor Bryan Kerman, and Maple Leaf Foods vice-president for environmental affairs Anne Tennier of Waterdown.

http://www.nsnews.com/news/2011+bumper+year+sausages/3930128/story.html

Interesting race shaping up in North Vancouver for the Liberals, with municipal councilor Roger Bassam now facing Kevin O'Brien, a veteran MLA and former speaker of the assembly in Nunavut. No word on former Green candidate Jim Stepehenson, who seemed to have declared a run, possibly dropped out, and maybe jumped back in.

Read more: http://www.nsnews.com/news/2011+bumper+year+sausages/3930128/story.html#ixzz17YtOYADD

http://www.simcoe.com/news/article/911725--guergis-insists-she-still-has-support

This article on the Conservative nomination for Simcoe-Grey mentions a name I haven't seen mentioned before, Paul Throop, a longtime Tory activist and staffer to Peter MacKay, who will face off against Collingwood mayor Chris Carrier and the star candidate who seems heavily favoured by the party establishment,orthopedic surgeon Kellie Leitch.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/kootenayadvertiser/news/111282494.html

The Kootenay-Columbia Tory nomination has gained a new contestant, Dale Shudra, a local businessman.

http://www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2010-11-30/article-2006683/County-councillor-David-Parker-seeking-federal-NDP-nomination/1

Rounding thing up, county councillor David Parker is looking for the NDP nomination for Central Nova. David is the brother of a local NDP MLA.

Tim Hudak faces PC civil war

2010-12-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/denounces+rift+Tory+caucus/3921010/story.html

The Landowners are getting loud. The Randy Hillier and Landowner backed Jack MacLaren failed in his attempt to take over the Carleton-Mississipi Mills (where MacLaren is going to be running for the nomination against party stalwart Norm Sterling, with MacLaren apparently dramatically outselling Sterling in membership) but the war of words continues.

Ed Kennedy, a higher-up in the Landowners movement and an exec on Hillier's riding association says:

This all goes to demonstrate that there are red tories in the party pulling strings, in my estimation. The left knows and fears that the landowner movement is and will effect changes for the better that embody rural rights and Conservative values but due to the success of Randy Hillier, they failed to stop his entry. They fear two honest men in the party and the more in line to come.

This was not unexpected, the same thing happened to Shawn [ED NOTE: This is in reference to the controversial disqualification of Shawn Carmichael, a Landowner backed candidate in the Leeds-Grenville PC nomination, which I covered extensively: http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2010/02/trouble-brewing-for-tories-in-leeds.html] and is more of the same old, same old. The party had been giving Jack a hard time all along since it was known he was going to run.

The loser of course is the party, choosing bootlickers of questionable character over honest men.

And Norm Sterling has struck back, accusing Randy Hillier of supporting MacLaren out of his office, and going as far to suggest that Hillier, who was a strong supporter of Hudak for PC leadership and shares his goal of attacking human rights in Ontario, should leave the PC Party:

"I believe that (Randy Hillier) should either fish or cut bait," Sterling said Thursday. "He should either be a member of the team or he should step outside the team and run as an Ontario Landowner under his own party label...
He said Hillier's office was helping Mac-Laren sell party memberships, and thus votes in the riding-association election, in the run-up to Wednesday's meeting. "He's very much involved," Sterling said.

Sterling called Hillier and MacLaren "political opportunists."

"They want to use the good name of the Progressive Conservative party to push their very narrow and right-wing agenda into the provincial arena," he said. "They don't believe in conservation authorities, they don't believe in milk marketing boards, they go so far as to say let's abandon our planning laws in the province of Ontario."

Sterling says an "uncomfortable" rift has now opened up within caucus, given Hillier's continued desire to unseat him and others."

Hudak issued a weak statement calling for party unity, which was promptly rebuffed by Sterling:

"I really believe the party has to deal with this issue," Sterling said in an interview Thursday. "You can't be wasting your energies on annual (riding association) meetings. I understand in a nomination meeting, if someone wants to run against you that's fine and dandy. It's part of our process. But to take over our organization when you haven't really been part of it and turn it into the Ontario Landowners Party under the name of PC? That shouldn't take place."

What will Hudak do, support the radical right tendency that he himself has openly played to and had the support of for leader, or his party's longest serving MPP?

NDP loss in Winnipeg North shows Liberals can steal urban seats from NDP

2010-12-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

The Liberal victory in Winnipeg North I believes symbolizes a shift in urban politics in this country. Hardworking Liberal teams can knock off the NDP in urban ridings, even ones where they have been in power for most of the last decades. The Harper Conservatives have ignored the economic and social needs of urban Canadians, and the NDP, divided on important issues like the gun registry, can't be counted on to protect the interests of urban Canadians.

The path to a Liberal victory in the next election will go through working hard and knocking off urban NDP MP's in a number of ridings, and the Liberals are well positioned to make gains. Here are just a few of urban ridings held by the NDP that I think the Liberal victory in Winnipeg North exposes a weakness for Team Orange

-Outremont
With Mulcair more interested in talk show apperances, and the Liberals running a star candidate, this will be the top Liberal target in Quebec. Margin of NDP victory: 6%

-Vancouver Kingsway
With an experienced candidate in Wendy Yuan, Liberals in BC will look to take back this seat from the NDP after the floor-crossing David Emerson didn't run again. Margin of NDP victory: 6%

-Trinity-Spadina
Another riding with a great female Liberal candidate with local roots, Christine Innes, Oliva Chow can only get by on name recognition for so long. Margin of NDP victory: 6%

-Ottawa Centre
Of course, I must mention Ottawa Centre and Scott Bradley. Paul Dewar talks a good game in the House, but doesn't have much in the way to show for 4 years of being an MP for the actual people of Ottawa Centre. The Bradley Team has been working hard knocking on doors and listening to the real concerns of residents of the riding - exactly what helped get Kevin Lamoureux elected in Winnipeg North. NDP margin of victory: 14%

To note the scale of the switch in Winnipeg North, the Liberal campaign managed to raise the Liberal vote from under 10% to 46%, with the NDP vote declining over 20%. Liberals need to keep working hard and offering a positive vision for urban Canadians.

Fun times for the NDP in Ontario...

2010-11-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

As a follow-up to my post on the youth wing of the ONDP being taken over by radical Marxists, an update on the drama.

Here is a message that got sent out to for a revote to elect the ONDP exec:

Subject: Call for Meeting to Elect ONDY Executive

Call for Meeting to Elect ONDY Executive

Provincial office has received a number of complaints from NDP members regarding the validity of the recent Executive elections at ONDY.

Upon investigation, the Administrative Committee of the party has established that:

A significant number of the attendees who voted, were not eligible to do so as they were not members in good standing, as stipulated in the ONDY and ONDP Constitutions
The conference was notified that the voting process for the Executive election must adhere to the ONDY Constitution to be valid
Ineligible ballots were cast, which affected the election results, and ineligible candidates were elected

Therefore, the Administrative Committee of the ONDP does not recognize the Executive election results for ONDY held on November 7, 2010.

The Administrative Committee is calling a special meeting on Sunday November 28, 2010 at 12:30 pm following Provincial Council at 89 Chestnut Street, Toronto with the specific purpose of holding an election for the ONDY Executive. ONDP members holding valid membership for 30 days or more, and who are under the age of 26 are eligible to run for election and to vote. Eligibility of valid membership in the ONDP will be verified and proof of age is required.

Administrative Committee

Ontario's New Democrats

And take a look at this website: http://wrightpercy.wordpress.com/2010/11/25/questions-the-ondp-dont-want-asked/

Apparently this is a list of questions that went out to delegates to at last weekends' ONDP convention by a group of insiders.

Finances

1. Why has the president continually evaded questions that relate to the finances of Cornerstone Corp.?

2. Despite the fact that boards of directors are required to provide shareholders with annual financial reports, the president has outright refused to properlty report to the party membership on Cornerstone Corp. Why?

3. Despite the fact that funds were raised to make provincial office accessible, the building remains inaccessible. How much money was raised for this purpose? Where is this money now?

4. Ethnic Liaison Committee co-chair Yvette Blackburn was the only member of provincial executive asking questions about Cornerstone. What are the detailed reasons Yvette Blackburn was pushed off provincial executive?

5. How many checks written by the party for the Cathy Crowe campaign have bounced and remain unpaid?

6. If so much money was raised during the Cathy Crowe campaign, why did so many checks bounce?

7. Why does Merv Richards no longer work at provincial office?

8. Are party members or provincial executive members liable for any default Cornerstone Corp. loans?

9. Why did the party donate over one million dollars, in estate bequeaths, to the United Way when we are in such financial turmoil?

10. Does the party have enough money to run a full campaign in all ridings in 2011?

Workers’ rights

As Organized Labour’s official political voice, it is revolting, embarrassing, and an insult to the founding principles of the party that we should preach against exploitation of workers while exploiting our own workers.

11. Until abuses were reported by staff, the Canadian Office & Professional Employees Union (COPE) was not aware of at least 12 employees at provincial office on contract for a period of years, in blatant violation of the collective agreement. How much in back-pay and benefits does the party now owe these employees?

12. Will the party contact provincial office employees who had left before COPE’s investigation, to back pay them what they are rightfully owed in wages and benefits? If not, why?

13. Why were labour practice violations, complaints, COPE’s investigation, and COPE’s resulting order against provincial office all kept from the party membership and executive?

14. Is it fair to party workers to be represented by COPE against the party’s management, when COPE is affiliated with the party? Is COPE more concered with the rights of party workers or the party when the two are in conflict?

15. How does the current Leader reconcile the exploitation of contract workers at provincial office and Queen’s Park, with her speeches across the province in which she speaks against the use of contract workers?

16. How many labour complaints are currently filed by provincial office or Queen’s Park staff against the party or members of the party?

17. Several complaints were lodged against the Horwath Leadership campaign by workers. What were the nature of these complaints and how were they resolved?

Hiring practices

18. What is Salome Cinqueira role at provincial office? Why was her title changed from special advisor to the Leader so suddenly? Did her duties also change at this time? If not, why?

19. Was Salome Cinqueira originally paid from public money through Queen’s Park? Was this money returned to the province? Why?

20. What was the hiring process for Salome Cinqueira? Was there a competition or was she appointed? Who made the decision to hire her?

21. As an employee of Queen’s Park, paid through public money, Deb Parent used her position to run the Leader’s Challenge fundraising project. Has the party repaid her salary back to the province?

22. Are riding associations who participated in the Leader’s Challenge potentially liable due to Deb Parent’s use of her Queen’s Park position to raise funds for the party?

23. What are the details of the process by which Darlene Lawson was hired as provincial secretary? Under what authority did the Leader’s office overturn the admin council’s nomination for secretary to be replaced by Darlene Lawson?

24. Was Penny Marno recently re-hired by the ONDP? If so, in what capacity and what was the nature of the hiring competition?

Resources and capacity

25. How did the party decide which municipal candidates it would assist and which it would not?

26. Did the party only assist municpal candidates Toronto?

27. Will the party provide a list of all municpal candidates that received NDP support in the recent municpal electsion?

28. Did the party consider how it might offend members it did not lend support to during the municipal elections in the lead-up to the 2011 provincial election?

29. What happened to the Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Committee that was doing so much work?

30. How, and for what purpose, did the Ontario New Democratic Youth (ONDY) Committee de-charter the Toronto Young New Democrats (TYND) that was doing so much work?

31. Will the Party assist any candidates, including incumbent MPPS, with resources for the 2011 election?

32. Will the party assist some incumbents and not others? If so, which incumbents will it assist and how will these decisions be made?

33. How many Leader’s Challenges have there been, how many made money and how many have lost money?

34. Is it within the best interest of the party, considering its dismal state of affairs, to attack one of its youth wings (TYND) in the lead-up to a provincial election? Is this the best use of our time and resources before an election?

35. Who made the decision to target TYND?

36. How many members have left the party in the last year compared to how many have joined as first-time members?

Transparency and meaningful participation

37. How many members has the party lost since the 2009 Convention?

38. In 2004 the party had about 35,000 members, but by the 2009 Leadership Convention, we were below 20,000. What is the leadership’s explanation for this massive decrease?

39. How many Preauthorized Checking (PAC) memberships has the party lost since the 2009 Convention?

40. Has the party ever purged its membership list of members-in-good-standing, for internal votes – such as an AGM or candidate selection meeting – to assure a specific outcome?

41. Were unions supportive of Peter Tabuns in the 2009 leadership race prevented from affiliating with the party? If so, who was responsible for preventing affiliation? Was this does according to the constitution?

42. How does the party justify applying the constitution to the recent ONDY elections but not to the vote that postponed the 2011 convention?

43. Does the party believe that applying different rules when it suits the leaders is democratic and transparent?

44. Is it transparent and accountable to allow members with paid positions within the party to also hold offices on executive council or on riding associations?

45. Who is responsible for continually jeopardizing the good name, standing and legality of the party with acts like those described above? Are we as members liable for these acts?

Combine this with the horrible showing of the NDP candidate in Vaughan in the by-election, who won 1.7% of the vote by borrowing talking points on the HST from Andrea Horwath, and putting it at the forefront of his campaign, and it looks like the NDP in Ontario is having some rough times lately.

Comments on Ottawa Sun article show what we're up against in Ottawa West-Nepean

2010-11-30T10:28:00.000-08:00

A look at the thoughts of the Tory base on Anita winning the nomination. I know seeing attitudes like this makes me want to campaign twice as hard to elect a progressive government:

"..feminism stands as an excellent example of a 1960's movement that blossomed from the seeds that Communist women germinated thirty years earlier"

"LMAO...the best you can come up with is yet ANOTHER Man Hating feminist? Like Global Warming, Radical Man Hating Feminism is dead. All western Nations are just now starting to reverse the damages to their populations because of that goofy "Feminst Experiment". Surely the Liberal Party is not SO OUT OF TOUCH that they cannot find a candidate with a bit more to bring to the fore instead of just RANTINGS of another ANGRY WOMAN???"

"Good lord not another rabid special interest taking a run at the windmill"

"... is not a woman's right expert another name for Lesbian"

You stay classy, Tory base

Eastern Ontario Liberals leading the way in nominating women

2010-11-30T01:40:00.000-08:00

With the successful nomination of Anita Vandenbeld in Ottawa West-Nepean, she has joined a great Eastern Ontario Liberal team, and one that has great female representation.

The other ridings Liberals are running female candidates in:

Carleton-Mississippi Mills: Karen McCrimmon

http://karenmccrimmon.liberal.ca/

Glengarry-Prescott-Russell: Julie Bourgeois

http://www.juliebourgeois.ca

Leeds-Grenville: Marjory Loveys

http://www.marjoryloveys.ca/

Renfrew-Nippissing-Pembroke: Christine Tabbert

http://christinetabbert.liberal.ca/

Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry: Bernadette Clement

http://bernadetteclement.liberal.ca/

The Eastern Ontario female Liberal candidates are wonderful women and all are fantastic Liberal candidates, and have a fantastic range of experiences. We have women who have fought for women’s rights internationally, who have played leadership roles in our armed forces with distinction, who have upheld law and order and the principles of justice, who have ran small businesses, who have navigated the choppy waters of the legal business and shattered glass ceilings, and who have proudly represented their communities on local council.

We have women who have succeeded as businesswomen, in the legal community, in the armed forces, in international development, and in politics. And we cannot forget provincially such bright lights of Eastern Ontario as Leona Dombrowsky and Madeleine Meilleur, who both grace the McGuinty cabinet. Let’s get these and more great female Liberals elected!

Non-Ottawa West-Nepean nomination news

2010-11-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.dailytownsman.com/article/20101122/CRANBROOK0101/311229983/-1/cranbrook/bennett-steps-off-plane-as-an-independent

Now former BC Liberal MLA and cabinet minister Bill Bennett, who now sits as an independent after being expelled from the Liberal caucus, has left the door open for a run for the federal Conservatives.

Bennett also said the possibility of seeking the Federal Conservative nomination for the riding of Kootenay-Columbia wasn't out of the question.

"It was certainly something I thought about six months ago, and declined, and said that I wasn't interested. This whole thing has caused me to put it back on the list of options. But it's not at the top of the list at the present time. I think I need some time to think things through, and figure out what's best for me, my wife and my family, and frankly, what's best for the people of Kootenay East."

http://www.canadaeast.com/news/article/1320274

Further east, nominated Liberal candidate for Fredericton, Pam Campbell, is stepping down from her position as candidate. Campbell was nominated a little over a year ago.

One week to go!

2010-11-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.youthforanita.blogspot.com/

Only one week remains before the vote for the federal Liberal nomination for Ottawa West-Nepean, and the energy around Anita's campaign is great. Anita had another of her successful Starbucks meet and greets yesterday, talking with lots of great Liberals and lots of interested non-Liberals who have been drawn to the positive energy of her campaign, and later today I'll be going to a campaign meeting to prep for the nomination day. We've got a great youth team, and I'm grateful so many people have volunteered time and energy for the nomination campaign to try and help to elect a real champion for youth engagement.

Stay tuned to the Youth for Anita Vandenbeld blog throughout the week for all your nomination info!

Support Anita on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anita-Vandenbeld-for-Ottawa-West-Nepean/117490804958455
Let's try and break 300 likes before nomination day!

Anita on Twitter: http://twitter.com/anitavandenbeld

And Anita's campaign website: http://www.electanita.ca/

Great youth support for Anita Vandenbeld!

2010-11-19T09:21:00.000-08:00

http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/p/endorsements.html

We've got more endorsements up from youth across Ottawa who are rallying behind Anita's campaign. Anita is a champion for youth engagement, and has been heads and shoulders above the other candidates in having youth play a leadership role in her campaign. Join our team and help get Anita nominated on the 28th!

FB event for the nomination: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=153624181348800

And make sure to support Anita on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anita-Vandenbeld-for-Ottawa-West-Nepean/117490804958455

And Twitter: http://twitter.com/anitavandenbeld

Carleton Equal Voice Chapter launch party a great success!

2010-11-18T11:43:00.001-08:00

Anita Vandenbeld's youth campaign chair has her take on the event: http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/2010/11/carleton-equal-voice-chapter-launch-and.html

As an executive on the Carleton Equal Voice Chapter, I was thrilled with how well attended the launch event was. As guest speakers we had Hon. Michael Chong, Hon, Carolyn Bennett, and Niki Ashton MP, who all had interesting things to say about how we need to change Canadian politics and get more women involved. I'm honoured to be involved both with Equal Voice's Carleton chapter, and with Anita Vandenbeld's campaign to help elect a strong women to Parliament.

A great youth endorsement for Anita Vandenebeld

2010-11-16T08:33:00.000-08:00

http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/2010/11/great-youth-endorsement-for-anita.html

With the campaign getting into crunch time, it's great to see a campaign that not only reaches out and engages youth, but has them play a real leadership role. Anita's campaign and her efforts to involve youth in the political process have Young Liberals all across Ottawa talking! Join us on Nov 28th and elect a champion for youth, Anita Vandenbeld!

Bob Chiarelli's strong response Randell Denley's attacks on Ottawa's schools

2010-11-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

The Ottawa Citizen's Randell Denly has been a pathological critic of the Ontario Liberals for years, but in his piece two days ago he dipped into John Tory style "University of Zero" territory by attacking Ottawa's universities and colleges. Ottawa West-Nepean MPP and cabinet minister Bob Chiarelli had this response to attacks on our schools and students:

Randall Denley uses the MacLean’s magazine 11th place ranking of the University of Ottawa to conclude that this is a fundamental failing of McGuinty’s government to provide the basic needs of Ontario’s hospitals, public schools, and universities.

Well, McGuinty is the Premier of ALL Ontario, not just Sandy Hill where the University of Ottawa resides. Denley clearly chose to ignore that Ontario universities hold four of the top ten places in the MacLean’s ranking.

What idiocy could lead to Denley’s conclusion and what “fair comment” could consciously ignore this information on the very page staring back at Denley?

His self-interested deductive reasoning knows no bounds when it comes to spinning a reason to criticize a McGuinty, any McGuinty, or a Liberal, any Liberal.

Denley does collateral damage to a great Ottawa academic institution by his obsession to damage McGuinty’s reputation at any cost.

The MacLean’s ranking is mainly a statistical analysis of various types of grants, research dollars, ratios, and awards. For a bean counter like Denley that would be a happy mother lode to subjectively interpret.

And he also uses it to be, as usual, more about polemics than principle, more about partisanship than perspective.

During the last several years I was a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. I was extremely impressed with the faculty and student excellence and commitment at the graduate and undergraduate level. University of Ottawa graduates excel at the highest levels of virtually every field.

Consider the facts, though. Through McGuinty’s Reaching Higher commitment to post secondary education there are an additional 17,000 spaces in Ottawa’s post-secondary institutions.

At the University of Ottawa, McGuinty government investments include $15 million to expand the Alta Vista campus medical school; $50 million for the new Vanier Building; $23 million to support research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. The building of the $170 million Royal Ottawa Hospital has benefited the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Mental Health Research. Significant investments at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute have been a major contributor to its becoming one of the foremost heart institutes in the world.

The McGuinty government has invested more in quality health care and education in seven years than the previous two governments invested in thirteen years.

The Citizen should replace the high profile, drive-by smears by Denley with a columnist who can not only criticize but also occasionally champion Ottawa’s great institutions.

Ontario New Democratic Youth taken over by radical Marxists

2010-11-13T16:30:00.001-08:00

No longer is it hyperbole to attack the Ontario NDP as unacceptably left-wing, after the Ontario NDP Youth wing was taken over last weekend by the so called "Slate for a Democratic and Activist ONDY" , an openly Marxist group linked with Fightback magazine, and the recently de-ratified and far-left Toronto Young New Democrats.

The far-left take on it here: http://www.marxist.ca/content/view/613/47/

And here: http://www.rabble.ca/babble/central-canada/ondy-slugfest

And lest you think the ONDP caucus is recoiling in fear at the Ontario NDP Youth turning to the Marxist left, here are two letters in support of the TYND from Cheri DiNovo and Michael Prue:

Dear ONDY Executive,

As the MPP for Beaches-East York, I add my voice in support of the Toronto Youth New Democrats

The decision to de-charter TYND came as a great surprise. This club has done phenomenal work in the past year, what comes to mind is the great work and support they provided in the Cathy Crowe Campaign. They have succeeded in building vibrant working communities, throughout the city, implemented a successful summer camp, strive to help the needy, and lend a voice to the silent... I am in support of the TYND being re-chartered, to allow them to continue their great work.

Yours truly,
Michael Prue, MPP
Beaches-East York

To Whom It May Concern

I am loathe to comment on ONDY activities as they are in every sense a separate organization but a letter has been brought to my attention that merits comment because it misrepresents the history of my party, the NDP, in shall I say, a Stalinist or McCarthyist manner (yes there are similarities).

We were founded as the CCF and the NDP on principles which have included socialism and one of our founders who was both a social gospel adherent and a Socialist, JS Woodsworth defined himself as such. So have Tommy Douglas, Jack Layton and Stephen Lewis among dozens of other in our history, using 'Democratic Socialism' as their descriptor.

The definition of what socialism is, whether socialism is our position, what kind of socialism etc.has also been part of our DNA as a party and ONDY has often been the appropriate place for such debates. That is simply democracy at work.

We are a big tent party with room for many different opinions and robust dialogue. This is also democracy at work.

To expel members or de-charter chapters of ONDY because we disagree with some opinions using as cover a skewed history of our party is not democratic. It is called 'red-baiting'. Put it to a vote under the rules of democracy we have always held dear.

We need unity yes, but never at the cost of democracy.

Wishing you all a wonderful and rich with debate, convention.

Rev. Dr. Cheri DiNovo
MPP Parkdale High Park

And from the most recent issue of Fightback, vocal words of support in favour of Andrea Horwath:

There is, however, an alternate trend developing within the NDP and in the labour movement that needs to be strengthened. The recently elected leader of the Ontario NDP Andrea Horwath, in her speech that won over the most trade union support and ensured her victory in the contest for new party leader, clearly stated, “We New Democrats won’t check our socialism at the door when it comes to building a better future.” Many unions, such as the CEP and Steelworkers, are also making statements criticizing the capitalist system. Given the economic crisis and the failure of capitalism, this is quite obviously the direction the party should be moving in.

http://www.marxist.ca/content/view/609/47/

Apparently now the ONDP administrative committee is looking into the election, saying that illegal voting occured. Let's see how this plays out for the newly elected comrades of the ONDY.

Thoughtful and inspiring words from Anita Vandenbeld on her thoughts on Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T13:28:00.001-08:00

http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/2010/11/sixty-five-years-ago-in-deventer.html

An incredible post from Anita Vandenbeld discussing her personal feelings and connections to Remembrance Day, including her thoughts as a Dutch-Canadian on the 65 anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands, her family connections to Canada's armed forces, and the value which Anita places on the role of Canada's military and peacekeeping tradition as someone who helped promote democracy in war-torn states. An amazing read.

Ottawa West-Nepean nomination called! Support Anita Vandenbeld on November 28th!

2010-11-10T09:28:00.001-08:00

Regular readers of my blog know that I talk a lot about nomination news, and I have some big news today, the Ottawa West-Nepean Liberal nomination has been called!

I've been very involved with a great candidate for the nomination, Anita Vandenbeld. Anita is a long-time Liberal, and has worked for the United Nations and other international organizations to promote democracy and women's rights across the world, and is running to help defend and restore the value of democratic participation and women in government from a Conservative government that has abused our democratic institutions.

You can get more info on Anita's campaign by following the Youth for Anita blog (which I contribute to): http://youthforanita.blogspot.com/

Becoming a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anita-Vandenbeld-for-Ottawa-West-Nepean/117490804958455

Following her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/anitavandenbeld

And of course, visiting her website: http://www.electanita.ca/

Let's elect a champion for Ottawa West-Nepean!

Nomination news from PEI and Quebec

2010-10-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/10/22/pei-charlottetown-liberal-casey-584.html

The federal Liberal nomination in Charlottetown has a declared contender, with lawyer Sean Casey jumping in. Casey has deep roots in the party and in Charlottetown, serving as past president of the Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island and the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1208969.html

Staying out east, former PC MLA and cabinet minister David Morse says he will run for the Conservative nomination in Kings-Hants. Morse had been the MLA for Kings South, but was defeated in the NDP wave which swept Nova Scotia in 2009. Interestingly, Morse confirmed what many have accused the Tories of, favouring government held ridings as part of government spending:

"It is increasingly obvious that Kings-Hants has paid a price as we have been left out of discretionary federal projects," Morse said in the release."

Interesting to see how those comments go over.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/201010/27/01-4336693-le-bloc-confirmera-le-recrutement-dun-ancien-du-npd.php

And a bit of a grab for the BQ in Montreal, with former NDP candidate in Hochelaga Jean-Claude Rocheleau running for the BQ in the east-end riding of La Pointe-de-l'Île, being vacated by Francine Lalonde. The riding is a BQ stronghold, with Lalonde generally winning by 40-50% of the vote over her nearest competition.

Hudak loved lobbyists in government

2010-10-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

In light of opposition attacks on the Ontario government over lobbying, it is worth taking a look at Tim Hudak's record.

During the Harris-Hudak years over 150 lobbyists were hired on behalf of organizations that received Ontario Government funds. These include Hospitals, Universities, School Boards and other organizations - all were allowed to use taxpayer dollars to hire Conservative insiders.
When Tim Hudak was Minister of Northern Development & Mines, several organizations that his Ministry funded hired lobbyists to approach him and his staff including the Northern Tourism Marketing Corporation and Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters. College Boreal (funding from TCU) and Thunder Bay Regional Hospital (MOHLTC) also disclosed efforts to lobby then-Minister Hudak.

When Tim Hudak was Minister of Culture, Tourism & Recreation his Ministry funded the Royal Botanical Gardens which in turn, hired a lobbyist to approach him.

When Tim Hudak was Minister of Consumer & Business Services, the TSSA [Technical Standards & Safety Authority] hired Conservative insider Bill King of Hill & Knowlton to lobby on their behalf. As Minister, Hudak made appointments to the Board and the TSSA reported to him as Minister. Important to note that the TSSA ended their relationship with King in 2004 and have not hired a lobbyist since. King ended up becoming Chief of Staff to federal Minister Tony Clement.

Tim Hudak will complain today about the use public funds to hire lobbyists, but the fact is, when he was in Cabinet he did nothing but encourage this practice.

From the Hudak's HST flip-flop, to calling for the scrapping of the Stewardship Ontario program he helped establish in government, Hudak hypocrisy surfaces once again as he "forgets" his own record in government.

Campaigns I've worked on

2010-10-20T01:22:00.000-07:00

This list only includes federal/provincial/municipal campaigns, if I included student elections and OYL stuff that would add quite a few more.

2004 Paul Szabo federal Liberal re-election campaign, Mississauga South
2006 Paul Szabo federal Liberal re-election campaign, Mississauga South
2006 Stephane Dion federal Liberal leadership campaign
2007 Scott Bradley federal Liberal nomination, Ottawa Centre
2007 Charles Sousa provincial Liberal election campaign, Mississauga South
2007 Dave Caplan provincial Liberal re-election campaign, Don Valley East
2007 Yasir Naqvi provincial Liberal election campaign, Ottawa Centre
2008 Bob Rae federal Liberal by-election campaign, Toronto Centre
2008 Mark Garneau federal Liberal by-election campaign, Westmount-Ville Marie
2008 Frank Valeriote federal Liberal by-election campaign, Guelph
2008 Rob Oliphant federal Liberal by-election campaign, Guelph
2008 Penny Collenette federal Liberal election campaign, Ottawa Centre
2008 David McGuinty federal Liberal re-election campaign, Ottawa South
2008 David Pratt federal Liberal election campaign, Ottawa West-Nepean
2008 Mauril Belanger federal Liberal re-election campaign, Ottawa-Vanier
2008 Marc Godbout federal Liberal election campaign, Ottawa-Orleans
2008 Dan Boudria federal Liberal election campaign, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
2009 Julie Bourgeois federal Liberal nomination, Glengarry-Presscott-Russell
2009 Scott Bradley federal Liberal nomination, Ottawa Centre
2009 Greg Fergus federal Liberal nomination, Pontiac
2009 Eric Hoskins provincial Liberal by-election campaign, St. Paul’s
2010 Glen Murray provincial Liberal by-election campaign, Toronto Centre
2010 Bob Chiarelli provincial Liberal by-election campaign, Ottawa West-Nepean
2010 Jim Watson municipal election campaign, mayor of Ottawa
2010 George Smitherman municipal election campaign, mayor of Toronto
2010 Chris Tindal municipal election campaign, Ward 27 Toronto
2010 Anita Vandenbeld, federal Liberal nomination campaign, Ottawa West-Nepean

Possible candidates for Liberals surface

2010-10-15T07:39:00.001-07:00

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2010-10-14/article-1846765/Shawn-Murphy-to-enter-less-intense-phase-of-life-/1

With Charlottetown MP Shawn Murphy not running in the next election, this article discusses a few potential candidates to replace him as Liberal candidate,
including provincial Liberal cabinet ministers Richard Brown and Doug Currie, UPEI president Wade MacLauchlan and Charlottetown businessman Sean Casey, the husband of MLA Kathleen Casey, who also serves speaker of the P.E.I. legislature.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/will-rocco-rossis-campaign-have-a-sequel/article1757322/

And according to one of those wonderful nameless Liberal sources, Rocco Rossi is a possible if unlikely candidate for the Liberals for the Vaughn by-election to go head to head with new Tory candidate Julian Fantino.

Prince George area nomination news

2010-10-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Tory nomination in this soon to be vacant riding has a new contender, Tumbler Ridge Councillor Jerrilyn Schembri.

http://www.energeticcity.ca/fortstjohn/news/10/11/10/five-candidates-now-running-conservative-nomination

While several other candidates in the race have backgrounds in municipal politics, Schembri does bring a couple interesting dynamics to the race. First, in addition to being the only female candidate in the race, Schembri could potentially be the first centre-right female candidate to right in the riding ever. A look back at the candidates for the Conservative Party/Canadian Alliance/Reform Party/PC Party/Social Credit Party candidates for the riding (and counting the old riding of Cariboo) a grand total of zero of those candidates have been female, as far as I can tell. Secondly, compared to the old school Tory roots of the other competitors, she has only been a party member for a few months. Given that the riding is one of the safest for conservative parties in the country, (since 1945, it has had non conservative (Socred, PC, Reform, Alliance, Conservative) MP's only between 45-49 and 68-72) it might be safe to assume a fairly large and active party base, so unless she can sell a ton of new memberships she might have trouble cracking into the old boys club.

Keeping in the same area, this is a couple weeks old, but still has something:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/kamloopsthisweek/news/104108503.html

The Christian Heritage Party will have candidate in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, with 2006 Cariboo-Prince George CHP candidate Chris Kempling setting a target of 1,000 votes, but the article also says that former riding association presidnt Murray Todd has put his name forward for the Liberals.

BC nomination candidates for Liberals and Conservatives

2010-10-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

Lot of news coming out of BC lately, it seems. Here we go.

http://www.nsnews.com/news/Bassam+face+nomination+fight/3650685/story.html

Former District of North Vancouver councillor Roger Bassam who was rumoured to be interested in the Liberal nomination for the federal riding of the same name, has officially entered the race. The article also mentions former Green Party candidate Jim Stephenson as "an official federal Liberal nomination candidate", although I had heard that he had previously dropped out, unless he has decided to re-enter the race. Bassam was a former assisstant to previous Liberal MP Don Bell, and the article frames a potential race between Bassam and Stepehnson as perhaps being a battle between Liberal voters who want to continue in Bell's footsteps and elect a candidate with close ties to him, and more left-wing Liberals who want a candidate that can perhaps steal votes from the NDP and Green Party.

http://www.energeticcity.ca/fortstjohn/news/10/07/10/cameron-stoltz-seeking-conservative-nomination

The already crowded race for the federal Conservative nomination in Jay Hill's seat has another contender, Cameron Stoltz, a city councillor from Prince George. An interesting side note of the race is that the 3 other candidates all have education backgrounds; longtime Tory organizer Don Irwin, a local municipal councilor and principal of a local Christian high school, Bob Zimmer, longtime Conservative activist and high school teacher, and Dan Davies, another city councilor and teacher. Zimmers's campaign if he were to win would be interesting for the federal party, as local anti-HST forces seem to have lined up behind his campaign. Zimmer is also active with the local upstart BC Conservative Party (http://www.northeastnews.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=631:movement-underway-to-revive-bc-conservative-party-&catid=10:news&Itemid=12) which has campaigned hard against the HST. With Hill stepping down from the House in a few weeks, it looks to be a fast and furious nomination campaign.

Mark Bruneau new Liberal candidate in Jeanne-Le Ber

2010-10-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

Mark Bruneau, who had previously run for the Liberal nomination in the riding in 2008, won a contested nomination for the nod this Sunday. Bruneau is a businessman and entrepreneur and will look to win back the riding for the Grits, which has seen some very close contests between the Bloc and Liberals over recent elections, being decided by 2.7% in 2008, making it one of the top targets for the Liberals in Quebec.

BC and Ontario nomination news

2010-10-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Conservatives are continuing a push for former OPP commish Julian Fantino to run for the Tories in Vaughn.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/pm-pressing-julian-fantino-to-run-source-says/article1741349/

Harper himself has apparently been in touch with Fantino to try and land him as a star candidate, with Fantino "leaning" towards taking a run. Only Kevin Bordian of the NDP (who are pretty much a non-factor in the seat) has been nominated, although
Tony Genco, who ran for the Liberals provincially in 1999 and has recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Downsview Park is looking at a run for the Liberals, and I've heard some rumours around a possible Liberal run by Steven Del Duca, a Director of the Vaughan Health Care Foundation and former EA to Greg Sorbara who is currently running for city council.

In BC, former Liberal MLA and cabinet minister Blair Lekstrom, who left the Liberal caucus saying his constituents were opposed to the HST (although noticably made no comment over his own personal position towards it) now says he will run again in his riding of Peace River South. Lekstrom had been rumoured to be interested in the federal Conservative nomination in Prince George-Peace River with current Tory MP Jay Hill stepping down next election.

http://www.globaltvbc.com/Liberal+Leckstrom+will+again/3621311/story.html

Ontario Women's Liberal Commission, featuring me

2010-10-01T19:29:00.001-07:00

http://owlc.lpco.ca/pdf/docs/owlc-news-october.pdf

Second part of the newsletter features an interview with yours truly about women in politics and my new role as an executive on the Carleton Equal Voice Chapter.

Great new OYL recruitment lit

2010-09-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

It's the start of the school year, and the Ontario Young Liberals have some great new lit for clubs around the province. I'm a big fan of this one in particular. For more info check out the OYL's education information site:

http://www.oyl.org/2010/09/23/comparing-our-record-on-post-secondary-education/