When Mike Duffy was appointed to the Senate, it became quickly clear that he was a special guy.  On two counts.

First, a lifetime of broadcasting excellence shaping Canadian news was being recognized.

Second, the effort to spoil his appointment goes above and beyond the sort of thing we've seen in the past.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 01:26 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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On March 17, 2007, Green Party leader Elizabeth May announced her intention to run in the riding of Central Nova in Nova Scotia.  Of course, there was no election then, and Liberal leader Stephane Dion would lead the Liberals in abstention after abstention in order to avoid an election, until Stephen Harper finally got fed up and forced an election this past fall.

But while we waited for Stephane Dion to find some backbone, the question of Elizabeth May going up against Defence Minister Peter MacKay gave political observers something to chew on throughout 2007. 

I just went through some old data, and it's interesting how Elizabeth May turned Central Nova into a proxy fight between groups of people who couldn't find Central Nova on a map.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 04:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Michael Ignatieff, the new leader of the Liberal Party, has a problem facing him.  He can't move too quickly.  He can't move too slowly. 

Posted by: Steve Janke at 01:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bob Rae is upset.  The Liberal Party is ready to install Michael Ignatieff as the permanent leader, reserving the May 2 convention as a "ratification" vote.

So who can Bob Rae complain to?

Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:13 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Bob Rae is pushing hard for an online/phone voting scheme to select the next Liberal Party leader before the end of January.  Such a scheme would not cost the Liberal Party all that much.  On the other hand, it is not likely that the Liberals could successfully pull it off.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 04:11 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Liberal leadership contender Dominic LeBlanc is dropping out of the race. 

No, that's not right.  What is happening is that the race has been cancelled.  It seems reasonable, therefore, for Dominic LeBlanc to ask for his $90,000 deposit back.  Certainly the people who backed that deposit might be feeling that they've been had.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 03:24 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Is Stephane Dion on his way out as Liberal Party leader?  Of course, and he's been on his way out for some time, but thanks to his hapless performance during the separatist coalition debacle, he's shortened his lifespan as leader from 6 months to a handful of days.

For me, the real question is whether Stephane Dion has fallen so low that the Liberal Party will allow him to give a goodbye speech.

Somehow, I doubt it.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 02:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of the fallouts from this separatist coalition debacle is that the Liberal Party leadership campaign is in danger of becoming target-locked on a short term issue instead the long term direction for the party.

I mean, I think that's a great thing because it's a terrible thing for the Liberals, but then they don't listen to my advice, so I can write this without worry that I might convince Liberals to avoid this pitfall.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Join me at the Rally for Canada in Kitchener today.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 08:58 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Bob Rae, former NDP premier of Ontario, and now a Liberal running to replace Stephane Dion, has struggled to reconcile those two elements of his political life.

Most recently, it appeared that Rae was rejecting his NDP past, in a roundabout way, in order to establish his Liberal bona fides.

But with the advent of the Liberal-NDP-Bloc Quebecois separatist coalition, Bob Rae has emerged as the new booster of the NDP within the Liberal Party.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 01:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Reports are coming in that the Governor General has approved the Prime Minister's request that parliament be suspended until the end of January.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 12:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Stephane Dion, the puppet that is the face of the separatist coalition, had his big chance last night to explain to Canadians why the separatists ought to be allowed to take over the country.

You'd think that would be hard enough.  So why make the job impossible by showing up a half-hour late with a crappy recording?

Needless to say, Stephane Dion's boss was not at all impressed.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:57 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I just breezed through the pamphlet that is supposed to justify handing power to people who were not elected to govern.

One omission jumps out at me.  I'm surprised no one has spotted it.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 04:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Stephane Dion, imbued with the manic energy of someone who has one last chance to avoid becoming a historical trivia question ("Name the two leaders of the Liberal Party never to become prime minister" , has to deal with the lies being spoken by his Separatist Coalition.

One of the most serious ones is the lie of the "Four Wise Men".

Posted by: Steve Janke at 12:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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So there's this idea floating around of having all the Conservative MPs resign in case this coup takes place.

I admit to scratching my head about this one.  Then slowly it started to make sense.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 03:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Stephen Harper has to prorogue the House.  Not for his own survival, but as a final test of this coalition's viability by exposing the true reason for this coup.

He owes it to Canadians who are facing having an unelected government take power.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:09 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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