She exists, she speaks, she's a real person. Wow. :P
Her French is much better than what we were let to think. In fact, her father is french-speaking, it's just that she moved to Kingston at a young age and forgot most of it. She's quickly re-learn the essential, enough to answer most questions adressed to her in a typical franco-ontarian Frenglish.
We now know why she was an absentee MP, it's simply because she was undergoing a profound transformation.
So, last week, Ruth Ellen Brosseau looked like this:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fokasimtoday.com%2Fpictures%2F0%2FRuth%2520Ellen%2520Brosseau%282%29.jpg&hash=0841de5707b7b911ba1d52af4348115beb5fa1dd)
This week:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fcandidate-image.jpg%3Fw%3D200%26amp%3Bh%3D220&hash=6f46c4ff4fe098cae2cc45689b304b8309c83796)
Amazing what a few thousand dollars more in your bank account and the support of a national political party can do to you.
I wish she was a Conservative MP. She's to damn pretty to be in the NDP :P
What?
:yeah:
Quote from: Bluebook on May 12, 2011, 01:34:40 PM
What?
You need the backstory - this lady was put up for election by the NDP party in Quebec riding, but purely intended as a place-holder - she was a part-time bartender who was buddies with someone in the party, did not bother campaigning (she spend part of the election on a holiday in Vegas), allegedly never set foot in the riding, and supposedly did not even speak French.
However, in spite of all that, because of a massive pro-NDP wave of voting in Quebec, she won.
Now the NDP is faced with the task of transforming her into a politician.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/text-message-tweaked-rookie-new-democrat-to-her-surprise-victory/article2019796/ (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/text-message-tweaked-rookie-new-democrat-to-her-surprise-victory/article2019796/)
QuoteText message tweaked rookie New Democrat to her surprise victory
... Thursday, we meet Laurin Liu. She's one of the twenty-somethings studying at McGill who will now sit in the House of Commons. Born in 1990, Ms. Liu has a little more experience in politics than Ms. Brosseau. She was a member of NDP McGill and has run for student positions.
Typically, at least for someone her age, she found out about her election victory – in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, northwest of Montreal – by text message. How appropriate that she will now be working for Jack Layton, the social-media savvy leader who referred to Stephen Harper's tough-on-crime agenda as "hashtag fail" during the leaders' debates.
In an interview with The Mark, Ms. Liu recalls that moment: "My friend ... texted me and sent me a text message saying, 'you won' and then there were, like, kind of exclamation marks following that and all in caps. So that was actually how I found out."
Ms. Liu makes some valid points in defending the sudden influx of youth into the House, arguing young people bring a lot of "energy into politics."
Mr. Layton, she notes, has observed that while many Canadians complain there are so few young people in Parliament, "when they get elected to Parliament we complain about it."
"So that doesn't make sense," she argues, noting she and her colleagues are putting their noses to the grindstone to do a good job for their constituents.
I kinda feel sorry for these neophytes. The press is just waiting for them to say stupid stuff, to make fun of them. Being NDP is bad enough for saying stupid stuff, but NDP and in one's early 20s and a political newbie? That's gotta suck. :lol:
It will depend on what the Bloc does. The journalists of the province are massively pro-Bloc, and it shows. If the Bloc shows signs of remaining a political force with a possible come-back, these newbies will face Hell. If the Bloc kills itself, they may switch their allegiance to the NDP, what with being the most popular "ABC" party out there.
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 01:51:16 PM
I kinda feel sorry for these neophytes. The press is just waiting for them to say stupid stuff, to make fun of them. Being NDP is bad enough for saying stupid stuff, but NDP and in one's early 20s and a political newbie? That's gotta suck. :lol:
I think they are going to cut her a lot of slack. She is really an innocent victim of circumstance. Its the voters' fault she is in this position, not hers. Anyone who attacks her directly could suffer a lot of blow back.
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 01:51:16 PM
I kinda feel sorry for these neophytes. The press is just waiting for them to say stupid stuff, to make fun of them. Being NDP is bad enough for saying stupid stuff, but NDP and in one's early 20s and a political newbie? That's gotta suck. :lol:
I could think of things that suck worse.
Quote from: crazy canuck on May 12, 2011, 02:00:03 PM
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 01:51:16 PM
I kinda feel sorry for these neophytes. The press is just waiting for them to say stupid stuff, to make fun of them. Being NDP is bad enough for saying stupid stuff, but NDP and in one's early 20s and a political newbie? That's gotta suck. :lol:
I think they are going to cut her a lot of slack. She is really an innocent victim of circumstance. Its the voters' fault she is in this position, not hers. Anyone who attacks her directly could suffer a lot of blow back.
Besides, we don't know yet that she's gonna suck (no sex pun intended). Apparently she's learned French and was giving interviews in French already. Let's give her, and the rest of the neophytes some space. No doubut a bunch of them we'll never hear from again, but I imagine a few of them will be around politically for awhile.
Also, and this is very important and makes a whole lot of difference: She is fucking hawt.
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:05:19 PM
Besides, we don't know yet that she's gonna suck (no sex pun intended).
From bar maid to polished politician? I'm taking the odds against on that one. Although we have elected some seriously bad MPs in the past. Heddy Fry even got elected again so, on reflection, in relative terms, you might be right.
Quote from: crazy canuck on May 12, 2011, 02:11:19 PM
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:05:19 PM
Besides, we don't know yet that she's gonna suck (no sex pun intended).
From bar maid to polished politician? I'm taking the odds against on that one.
That works either with or without the sex pun. ;)
To be fair, bar maid-ing was putting her through school and probably wasn't intended to be a full time career. There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
The fact that she seemingly has learned conversational French in a week bodes well on her intelligence, I'd say.
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
I'm with you on that. Lawyers are over-represented in politics. Although that is less so in Canada than here, I think.
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
To be fair, bar maid-ing was putting her through school and probably wasn't intended to be a full time career. There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
The fact that she seemingly has learned conversational French in a week bodes well on her intelligence, I'd say.
I wonder what the odds are that she:
1. Won't say anything much at all;
2. Will say stuff, and make a fool of herself; or
3. Will say stuff demonstrating a brilliant political insight?
;)
She looks better in the first photo.
Quote from: Maximus on May 12, 2011, 03:06:39 PM
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
I'm with you on that. Lawyers are over-represented in politics. Although that is less so in Canada than here, I think.
:(
Rich lawyers need representation, too. :D
But not over-representation.
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 03:07:49 PM
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
To be fair, bar maid-ing was putting her through school and probably wasn't intended to be a full time career. There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
The fact that she seemingly has learned conversational French in a week bodes well on her intelligence, I'd say.
I wonder what the odds are that she:
1. Won't say anything much at all;
2. Will say stuff, and make a fool of herself; or
3. Will say stuff demonstrating a brilliant political insight?
;)
I go with number one. She's a backbencher of the opposition party in a majority gov't. No need to say much at all except "no" which almost sounds the same in French.
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
The fact that she seemingly has learned conversational French in a week bodes well on her intelligence, I'd say.
Her father is Franco-Ontarian and they were living in Ottawa up to ther teen years, from wich point she moved to Kingston with her family. Anywhere outside of Ottawa is kinda real tough for francos.
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 03:08:51 PM
Quote from: Maximus on May 12, 2011, 03:06:39 PM
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
I'm with you on that. Lawyers are over-represented in politics. Although that is less so in Canada than here, I think.
:(
Rich lawyers need representation, too. :D
Didn't you once say that lawyers werent' "rich"...they were "middle class" ;)?
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 03:07:49 PM
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
To be fair, bar maid-ing was putting her through school and probably wasn't intended to be a full time career. There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
The fact that she seemingly has learned conversational French in a week bodes well on her intelligence, I'd say.
I wonder what the odds are that she:
1. Won't say anything much at all;
2. Will say stuff, and make a fool of herself; or
3. Will say stuff demonstrating a brilliant political insight?
;)
#4 We don't care, she's cute. ;)
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 03:10:53 PM
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 03:08:51 PM
Quote from: Maximus on May 12, 2011, 03:06:39 PM
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
There's no where that says being a rich lawyer is a requirement of being a politician. Thank God.
I'm with you on that. Lawyers are over-represented in politics. Although that is less so in Canada than here, I think.
:(
Rich lawyers need representation, too. :D
Didn't you once say that lawyers werent' "rich"...they were "middle class" ;)?
Depends on the lawyer. Most aren't "rich" by any stretch.
In general, being a lawyer can be a stepping-stone to riches ... but the truly rich ones aren't working for billable hours. ;)
Quote from: viper37 on May 12, 2011, 03:11:50 PM
#4 We don't care, she's cute. ;)
So, it's not what comes out of her mouth but what you guys dream of putting in there that is significant?
:D
I can not publicly comment on this. :zipped:
I vote, cut her some slack.
Young people need more representation in politics and this is what they got.
Quote from: viper37 on May 12, 2011, 01:31:53 PM
She exists, she speaks, she's a real person. Wow. :P
Her French is much better than what we were let to think. In fact, her father is french-speaking, it's just that she moved to Kingston at a young age and forgot most of it. She's quickly re-learn the essential, enough to answer most questions adressed to her in a typical franco-ontarian Frenglish.
We now know why she was an absentee MP, it's simply because she was undergoing a profound transformation.
So, last week, Ruth Ellen Brosseau looked like this:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fokasimtoday.com%2Fpictures%2F0%2FRuth%2520Ellen%2520Brosseau%282%29.jpg&hash=0841de5707b7b911ba1d52af4348115beb5fa1dd)
This week:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fcandidate-image.jpg%3Fw%3D200%26amp%3Bh%3D220&hash=6f46c4ff4fe098cae2cc45689b304b8309c83796)
Amazing what a few thousand dollars more in your bank account and the support of a national political party can do to you.
You mean look exactly the same, except letting her hair revert toward its natural color, and wearing a jacket? Political handlers are miracle workers.
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 03:14:33 PM
Quote from: viper37 on May 12, 2011, 03:11:50 PM
#4 We don't care, she's cute. ;)
So, it's not what comes out of her mouth but what you guys dream of putting in there that is significant?
:D
Erm..........what Viper said.
Quote from: Ideologue on May 12, 2011, 04:18:54 PM
Quote from: viper37 on May 12, 2011, 01:31:53 PM
She exists, she speaks, she's a real person. Wow. :P
Her French is much better than what we were let to think. In fact, her father is french-speaking, it's just that she moved to Kingston at a young age and forgot most of it. She's quickly re-learn the essential, enough to answer most questions adressed to her in a typical franco-ontarian Frenglish.
We now know why she was an absentee MP, it's simply because she was undergoing a profound transformation.
So, last week, Ruth Ellen Brosseau looked like this:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fokasimtoday.com%2Fpictures%2F0%2FRuth%2520Ellen%2520Brosseau%282%29.jpg&hash=0841de5707b7b911ba1d52af4348115beb5fa1dd)
This week:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fcandidate-image.jpg%3Fw%3D200%26amp%3Bh%3D220&hash=6f46c4ff4fe098cae2cc45689b304b8309c83796)
Amazing what a few thousand dollars more in your bank account and the support of a national political party can do to you.
You mean look exactly the same, except letting her hair revert toward its natural color, and wearing a jacket? Political handlers are miracle workers.
More than that...one seems professionally shot by a PR agency; the other looks like a myspace grab.
My guess on the new MPs:
Some will say and do horrendously stupid things, but it'll only be noticed by their consituents. A few things will be picked up nationally, though. Some will say and do pretty smart things. In most cases, no one will notice.
A bunch of them will be wiped out next election, as the Quebecois recover from their NDP bender. Nonetheless, while some of the new MPs are chaff and will fall off, a significant number of them will stay in politics (for the NDP or switching, later) turning early experience into a long term asset for their careers and possibly their parties.
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 03:10:53 PM
Didn't you once say that lawyers werent' "rich"...they were "middle class" ;)?
[Marx]Class is not defined by wealth but in relation to the means of production. Lawyers don't control the means of production, they are merely employed administrators, hence they are middle class.[/Marx]
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 04:39:22 PM
Quote from: Ideologue on May 12, 2011, 04:18:54 PM
Quote from: viper37 on May 12, 2011, 01:31:53 PM
She exists, she speaks, she's a real person. Wow. :P
Her French is much better than what we were let to think. In fact, her father is french-speaking, it's just that she moved to Kingston at a young age and forgot most of it. She's quickly re-learn the essential, enough to answer most questions adressed to her in a typical franco-ontarian Frenglish.
We now know why she was an absentee MP, it's simply because she was undergoing a profound transformation.
So, last week, Ruth Ellen Brosseau looked like this:
This week:
Amazing what a few thousand dollars more in your bank account and the support of a national political party can do to you.
You mean look exactly the same, except letting her hair revert toward its natural color, and wearing a jacket? Political handlers are miracle workers.
More than that...one seems professionally shot by a PR agency; the other looks like a myspace grab.
I can buy that. Although the professionally-shot one is actually a worse photograph, with what may be that awful orange-and-teal color correction and what definitely is ugly lighting.
The only thing that says Myspace about the first is the facial expression and dead-on angle. Personally, I think it's actually a rather decent photograph.
Quote from: Jacob on May 12, 2011, 05:18:55 PM
My guess on the new MPs:
Some will say and do horrendously stupid things, but it'll only be noticed by their consituents. A few things will be picked up nationally, though. Some will say and do pretty smart things. In most cases, no one will notice.
A bunch of them will be wiped out next election, as the Quebecois recover from their NDP bender. Nonetheless, while some of the new MPs are chaff and will fall off, a significant number of them will stay in politics (for the NDP or switching, later) turning early experience into a long term asset for their careers and possibly their parties.
But Yakie, that sounds so rational. never happen. :p
Quote from: Ideologue on May 12, 2011, 05:57:31 PM
I can buy that. Although the professionally-shot one is actually a worse photograph, with what may be that awful orange-and-teal color correction and what definitely is ugly lighting.
The only thing that says Myspace about the first is the facial expression and dead-on angle. Personally, I think it's actually a rather decent photograph.
I think the second photo is designed to make her look more mature than she really is. The first one sells her youth and beauty. That's why we think the first one is better. Her party wants to send a different message.
The second photo, if you look closely you can see the nose hairs. very professional.
Quote from: Malthus on May 12, 2011, 01:51:16 PM
I kinda feel sorry for these neophytes. The press is just waiting for them to say stupid stuff, to make fun of them. Being NDP is bad enough for saying stupid stuff, but NDP and in one's early 20s and a political newbie? That's gotta suck. :lol:
A couple of months back one of the MPs for the newly entered into the
Riksdag party SD managed to make a bit of an error while talking about the costs of the Energy policy and infrastructure upgrades for the EU over the next couple of decades. She said that 400 000 Euro equals 40 000 billion SEK. Of course, this is not really true yet, the number was 4 trillion Euro which more or less equals 40 trillion SEK.
However, what the media and people in general MOSTLY latched onto was "LOL 40 000 billion SEK! That number is so big it doesn't exist! LOL she's stupid!"
Sadly, they're
still going on about how stupid she is for thinking such a big number could be real.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_P_L02XxLyWQ%2FRrmTe3DSMtI%2FAAAAAAAAAZ8%2FYBEKP6tAEHo%2Fs400%2Fnpd.gif&hash=ec7327e258fe20131655547b7d40e501e3a823a5)
??
I'm happy that for once we're giving the MP salary & possible pention to people that actually can use the money instead of already rich lawyers & business man.
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
To be fair, bar maid-ing was putting her through school and probably wasn't intended to be a full time career.
Do Canucks generally use the term "bar maid-ing" instead of "bar tending" when the bartender is female? Just curious, no insults intended.
Quote from: grumbler on May 13, 2011, 06:27:00 AM
Quote from: Josephus on May 12, 2011, 02:44:08 PM
To be fair, bar maid-ing was putting her through school and probably wasn't intended to be a full time career.
Do Canucks generally use the term "bar maid-ing" instead of "bar tending" when the bartender is female? Just curious, no insults intended.
No. I used it merely to exaggerate the point. Someone called her a "bar maid", really we just say waitress or bar tender.
Quote from: BuddhaRhubarb on May 13, 2011, 01:27:31 AM
Quote from: Jacob on May 12, 2011, 05:18:55 PM
My guess on the new MPs:
Some will say and do horrendously stupid things, but it'll only be noticed by their consituents. A few things will be picked up nationally, though. Some will say and do pretty smart things. In most cases, no one will notice.
A bunch of them will be wiped out next election, as the Quebecois recover from their NDP bender. Nonetheless, while some of the new MPs are chaff and will fall off, a significant number of them will stay in politics (for the NDP or switching, later) turning early experience into a long term asset for their careers and possibly their parties.
But Yakie, that sounds so rational. never happen. :p
Yeah.
This is the NDP we're talking about.
;)