Ignatieff on the rise, Conservatives on the way out

[viper37]

I heard on the news that Micheal Ignatieff has promised to name only bilingual judges to the Supreme Court, as it should be in an officially bilingual country where the only province with a majority of french speakers have been recognized as a nation inside Canada.

Conservatives will lose most of their candidates in the next election, unless they start acting and stop reacting.  Where has gone the initiative demonstrated by this government in its first mandate?

I hear that even Albertans now prefer the Libs to the Cons.  Sad day for our country.  Sad day for my nation.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Supreme court doesn't have all bilingual judges already? I feel shame for our nation. :sad: I doubt though that the cons will lose candidates. Their candidates may lose bigger than they think in an election if Iggy can wait for the right time (which is not this fucking summer!  what polls are you talking of?  The last I saw Iggy had a slight edge on Harper. Which means squat in an election.

[DGuller]

Is he:  Canadian Scipio?

[Scipio]

No relation.

[Neil]

Methinks our friend viper might be slightly skewed by the fact that he lives in Quebec.  It might seem hopeless in Quebec, but that's just because the population of Quebec is steadfastly opposed to the Conservative Party on general principle.

At any rate, it's summer time.  It doesn't matter what happens right now.

[Sheilbh]

I love Ignatieff so this makes me very happy.

[saskganesh]

I hear that even Albertans now prefer the Libs to the Cons.  Sad day for our country.  Sad day for my nation.

Last poll I saw, only Quebec preferred Count Ignatieff to Sweater Steven.

But nationally, the parties are much closer. neither party would be able to form a majority.

and nobody really wants another election.

follow the link:
http://www.ctv.ca/mar/photo.html?pname=http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20090608/600_strategic_poll_0906084.jpg&win_width=795.0&description=Strategic%20Counsel%20Poll%20June%207&slug=tsc_poll_090608

[saskganesh]

I love Ignatieff so this makes me very happy.

he supports torture, but he doesn't call it that. the Cons can't hammer him on that one, because they feel the same way.

anyhow, you can have him.

[Malthus]

I love Ignatieff so this makes me very happy.

This is the problem with Ignatieff in a nutshell: the further away he is geographically, the more people like him.

His actual constituents somewhat resent him, as he was in essence parachuted into his riding, displacing a popular incumbent. As far as I know, he's done nothing whatsoever in his actual riding (my riding, BTW). He's above such petty concerns.

[saskganesh]

Methinks our friend viper might be slightly skewed by the fact that he lives in Quebec.  It might seem hopeless in Quebec, but that's just because the population of Quebec is steadfastly opposed to the Conservative Party on general principle.

At any rate, it's summer time.  It doesn't matter what happens right now.

the story in Quebec in the Conservative meltdown. but that's an old story now.

the new electoral frontier is Ontario, where tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs, homes, monster trucks, and HDTV's because of the economy. it's volatile.

[Sheilbh]

he supports torture, but he doesn't call it that. the Cons can't hammer him on that one, because they feel the same way.

Damn

[Grey Fox]

It's all Borden's fault anyway. [At the federal level atleast]

[viper37]

Supreme court doesn't have all bilingual judges already? I feel shame for our nation. :sad:

No we don't, and Harper recently appointed a unilingual anglophone for the position, wich was a mistake.

I doubt though that the cons will lose candidates. Their candidates may lose bigger than they think in an election if Iggy can wait for the right time (which is not this fucking summer!  what polls are you talking of?  The last I saw Iggy had a slight edge on Harper. Which means squat in an election.

The latest polls indicate a constant increase for Ignatieff since he arrived.  And with that kind of promises, he can deflect part of the attacks from the Conservatives, namely that he is "foreigner with no understanding of the country" and he can ease the fears of Quebec from a centralizing government à la Trudeau with just a few more moves like that.

The Conservatives, when bowing down to the opposition and amplifying our deficit tenfold have alienated part of their base all accros the country and meanwhile, they don't really try to do anything to regain popular favour.

[viper37]

Methinks our friend viper might be slightly skewed by the fact that he lives in Quebec.  It might seem hopeless in Quebec, but that's just because the population of Quebec is steadfastly opposed to the Conservative Party on general principle.
, it's summer time.  It doesn't matter what happens right now.

That's partly true.  I mean, the part about Quebec being steadfastly opposed to the Conservative Party on general principle is 100% true for many places.  However, the Conservatives did make some gain in the wider Quebec city area and could have expanded their base by rallying the nationalists, the way Mulroney did (brown enveloppes are not mandatory though ).

However, without Quebec and with 4-5 political parties it's impossible for this party to ever hope a majority.  Ontario sided with Harper this time, but I suspect they'll return to the Libs by the next election, despite all the money they've been throwing at the province.

[crazy canuck]

I suspect that if Iggy suggests that all judges should be bilinqual anywhere outside of Quebec if will suffer a political price for such silly pandering.   Why shouldn't we be choosing the best legal minds instead of the best linguists?  FYI I would not object to a unilingual French speaker being appointed if they were demonstrated to be the best choice.

So far Iggy is shaping up to be what I feared he would be.  All style and no substance.  I had some hope that he would come out of his coronation in Vancouver with solid policies.  But I am coming to view him as merely an political opportunist who doesn't actually have a plan other then to become PM.

As a result Canadian politics will continue to be devoid of real policy discussion and will continue to be a battle of personality waged between those who call Harper "sweater wearing Steve" and those who call Iggy the "foreigner who doesnt care about you".