New Feature - The Poll

We will began to offer a random set of polls. We know they don't prove much, but they are entertaining. Vote early and vote often.

Uh-Oh for Joe

Joe Volpe seems to be in a spot of bother over some curious campaign donations. He's received nearly $110,000 from five current and former executives - as well as their young children - of the generic drug company Apotex. The Apotex donations represent about 70% of the funds raised by the Volpe campaign. Say it ain't so Joe.

New Democrat MP Pat Martin yesterday filed a complaint asking Elections Commissioner Raymond Landry to investigate whether "individuals may be trying to circumvent campaign fundraising limits."

"I suppose it is possible that all six children of two drug company executives would choose to donate their life savings to the Liberal leadership campaign of the member for Eglinton-Lawrence. "It is possible, but it is not likely," Mr. Martin said in the Commons.

Burn.

Perhaps Joe should simply call John Rae. We understand he's personally bankrolling at least one campaign.

The professors (Ignatieff and Dion) talk up the the environment on the campaign trail as Stephen Harper continues with his Mr. Burns impersonation.

And it looks like Dion has realized he will need to do more than hug trees to win the Liberal leadership. He's admitted his reputation as a dour, constitutionally obsessed academic who seeks out fun in order to destroy it is harming his campaign. Alas.

Kennedy and Ignatieff Duel in Ontario

Michael Ignatieff and Gerard Kennedy are racking up key supporters, particularly in Ontario. Kennedy's campaign claims to have the support of 12 MPs and 24 of the 70 Liberal MPPs at Queen's Park. He picked up the support of BC MP Raymond Chan yesterday.

Ignatieff counts almost a quarter of Liberal MPs as his supporters. The newest arrivals to the Ignatieff bandwagon are Ruby Dhalla and Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter, a former solicitor-general.

Liberal arriviste Bob Rae holds his meetings with caucus supporters in the phone booth in the Opposition Lobby of the House of Commons. He has the endorsement of only two Grits, former justice minister Irwin Cotler and former Moncton mayor Brian Murphy.

Rae says "I love the media" and says Harper is running a "Bush Republican" political program.

Maurizio Bevilacqua gets a back rub and a cold beer from CTV. We're not sure why.

And we know she's not a candidate but who can pass this up? Belinda and Bill, together again.

Kennedy Reaches Out to Immigrants

Liberal leadership hopeful Gerard Kennedy reached out to immigrants in a speech to the Economic Club in Toronto.

He said Canada needs to prepare for an upcoming labour shortage - estimated by the Conference Board of Canada to be at one million unfilled jobs by 2020.

"We can't move forward without successful integration of new immigrants," he told a luncheon audience of about 200 people at the Economic Club of Toronto.

"Everyone in this room has benefited from a previous welcoming Canada."

Earlier in the day Kennedy was in London, where local MP Joe Fontana, one one-time leader wannabe himself, itemized Kennedy's attractions.

London-North-Centre Liberal MP Joe Fontana, Kennedy's Ontario campaign chairperson, said Kennedy is "the strong first choice" of Liberals across Southwestern Ontario and is very competitive in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec.

"He is the total package," said Fontana...

No word on what Fontana had to say about Stephane Dion, who was also in London, espousing a more robust commitment to the environment.

Brison Goes West

Scott Brison, now an official candidate for the Liberal leadership campaign, is on a western swing where he's trying to co-opt Stephane Dion's position as the race's environmental candidate. Brison is showing he's got some national appeal:

"He's young, he's got the time, he's got the energy, and he comes from a rural riding. He understands our issues and he can reach out to our young people," said Don Ross, a prominent aboriginal Liberal and one of Brison's key supporters in Saskatchewan.

Gerard Kennedy will unveil his economic platform today at the Empire Club in Toronto.

You know what this race needs? Another candidate no one has heard of. Super.

The Permanent Campaign

One feature of Stephen Harper's fetish for all things American is the arrival of the "permanent campaign". There was a time, not that long ago, when governments made decisions on the basis of policy, only sliding into a more crowd-pleasing role in the run-up to an election. But now, every decision is made through the prism of politics. Everything is designed to poach those voters Harper needs to form his majority.

Witness the vote on the mission to Afghanistan. Rather than hold a meaningful debate on what Canada is trying to achieve, Harper used it as a cudgel to beat Liberal leadership candidates into a corner. Machiavelli would be proud. Our troops, less so.

Would-be Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has been the most outspoken supporter of the Afghan mission. He offered such a contingency-laden continued endorsement of the deal that right-wing waterboy David Frum slithered forth with this:

He has taken a stand on principle, while committing himself to nothing. He has appealed to the patriotic right, while creating new options to swerve to the isolationist left. He can plausibly claim to have backed the mission 100% if it goes well--while ensuring that he can equally accurately have given notice of his intention to bail out if things go badly.

He has promised to flip, if flipping seems called for, and to flop, if a flop looks more appropriate. Afghanistan if necessary--but not necessarily Afghanistan. It is the authentic Mackenzie King touch. Liberals: You have found your rightful leader.

Meanwhile, Gerard Kennedy floats a trial balloon about running in the west.

Why Hedy Fry? Why not?

The Great Globe Goof

Excusez-moi?

The Globe and Mail is compounding the damage done by its heroically incompetent, front-page assessment of the french language skills of the liberal leadership candidates. First they grudgingly admitted that Maurizio Bevilacqua and Gerard Kennedy are technically bilingual. Now even Scott Brison appears to be bilingual, at least to the folks at the National Post who are surely chuckling over their competitor's misfortune.

It's always entertaining to see the media try to explain away their own sloppy mistakes even as they expect perfection from those in public office.

Bob Rae and Scott Brison will unveil their economic policies today. Rae says higher taxes and Birkenstocks for everyone!

Volpe Finds An Issue

Joe Volpe is taking a strong position on Canada's role in Afghanistan. The Toronto MP and Liberal leadership contender is calling for Canadian troops to be withdrawn from Kandahar province and says Canada should take a more traditional peacekeeping role.

"That's what we're equipped to do, that's what we're capable of doing and that's where our expertise lies,'' Volpe said. "We can't switch from peacekeeper to peacemaker on the fly just because a Republican government in the United States asks us to. We can't be an extension of American foreign policy."

This position sets Volpe apart from other leadership contenders, particularly Lefty-Hawk Michael Ignatieff who strongly supports the mission in Afghanistan.

"We have got to be a party that stands for human rights everywhere, that does the tough lifting when it has to be done,'' Ignatieff told Ontario Liberals during an all-candidates' forum earlier this month.

"You ask us to do something hard and difficult and we can do it. We're doing it in Afghanistan. It's in the greatest tradition of our country and that's the kind of country we want.''

Other candidates are taking non-positions, supporting the establishment of a functioning democratic state in Afghanistan but not wanting to support it with Canadian lives and resources. It's the old "let's debate the issue" versus true leadership. And it's disappointing.

Does the next leader of the Liberal Party need to be bilingual?

Grits and NDP the Same - Bob Rae

One month old Liberal Bob Rae continues to defend his entrance in the Liberal race in the face of growing skepticism from Party members.

"My values haven't changed at all. The social values of the NDP are widely shared by Liberals," Rae said, proving he fundamentally doesn't understand the difference between the Grits and the NDP. Liberals are pragmatists who recognize the importance of the free market. And Liberals, at least under the Chretien government, are proven financial managers, unlike, oh, say the Bob Rae NDP government in Ontario.

There is no doubt that Rae is an intelligent, articulate person. But surely it will irritate Liberals to hear him say that there is no real difference from the party he left to the party he wants to lead, except for the possibility of becoming Prime Minister.

Perhaps that explains why Rae's only source of campaign funding so far comes from his wealthy brother John?

There's been a recount in the Globe and Mail's bilingualism test. Bit of an "oops" for the Globe, no? And the Kennedy campaign is pissed.

Are you now, or have you ever been, a Liberal?

A Tory "smear" campaign has roused the anger of Scott Brison. The lone East Coast candidate for the Liberal leadership is once again offering himself up as a punching bag for accusations of Liberal corruption. At least he's finally getting his name in the media.

The Liberal leadership campaign needs some juicing up according to Don Martin at the National Post.

Canadidates are on the road. Maurizio Bevilacqua was in Nova Scotia. Ken Dryden is heading west. And socialist hero Bob Rae travelled all the way from downtown Toronto to Mississauga.

Ignatieff Rounds Up Caucus Support

Surprising no one, Dennis Coderre publicly endorsed Michael Ignatieff and will serve as his national campaign co-chair. This makes the 17th MP to endorse Ignatieff. Gerard Kennedy has the support of 11 MPs while Joe Volpe boasts seven.

Bob Rae has one MP supporting him. (And yes, it is a Liberal MP, though perhaps not a prescient one.)

The Ignatieff campaign is gathering steam. Still, high profile endorsements and fawning media profiles of Professor McDreamy don't win battles at the riding level. Iggy's people will need to show some hustle to pick up the delegates they need to win.

Hell no, he will go. The Star says Kennedy will resign today as an MPP. Um, 24 hour flip flop?

Another Sun typist attacks Bob Rae.

Afghanistan a Wedge Issue in Race?

The vivacious Chantal Hebert says the Canadian mission in Afghanistan will be divisive issue for Liberal leadership candidates, despite the fact the mission was initiated by a Liberal government. She points out that pro-Iraq war candidate Michael Ignatieff, who's trying to be a lefty-hawk, has been publicly supportive of the mission in the House of Commons.

With Ignatieff, a Liberal front-runner, identified with the deployment, it will almost certainly become a wedge issue between some of the candidates for the party leadership. As Iraq and missile defence before it, the Afghan mission has the potential to ignite a heated debate within the Liberal family.

Liberals are scary says a writer for the Winnipeg Sun. Personally, we think the Sun is scary.

Hell no, he won't go, not now at least but maybe later - decisive leadership from Gerard Kennedy.

The Most Important Man in the Campaign

Stephen Harper's success in reshaping the political landscape across Canada makes him easily the most important man in the Liberal leadership campaign.

Despite his open warfare with the media and what the Hamilton Spectator termed his boorish behavior in his dealings with Dalton McGuinty, Harper has succeeded in making a Tory majority a strong possibility. He's done this through transparent, politically motivated policy decisions that have raised his profile as a champion of the middle class and the best friend a Pequiste could ever have. But bad policy is often good politics and there's no question his strategy is working.

James Travers in the Star says the new political realities mean the Liberals should go for a "caretaker" leader while the next generation of Liberals readies itself for the job. A full term in opposition makes the elder statesmen (i.e. older candidates) of the campaign - people like Ignatieff or Rae - less attractive by this logic.

Gerard Kennedy is getting grief for not resigning his Queen's Park seat, even though he plans to actually live part of the time in Quebec.

Ignatieff Bandwagon Grows

John McCallum has thrown his support behind Michael Ignatieff, suggesting the Iggy bandwagon hopping is fully underway.

"He has the same vision as my vision. I think he's in the best place to win the election," McCallum said.

Apparently McCallum's vision is that the Liberals win the next election.

Earlier last week, Dennis Coderre said he won't be supporting either Bob Rae or his fellow Quebecer Stephane Dion, but was coy about his support for Ignatieff. Watch for the strategically timed public endorsement.

Republican strategists say the Harper Tories should "swift boat" the Liberals by digging up dirt on the former government. No fair! Dingwall was entitled to those entitlements, right Warren?

We understand that former Martin Board member Karl Littler wants to follow in the footsteps of Scott Reid and offer his blindingly obvious thoughts to an anxious Canada. He's publishing a book on how to make friends and influence people. Karl would know.

Fry Is In

Hedy Fry made it official yesterday, becoming the first Western, and third female, candidate in the Liberal leadership race. Continuing to be dogged by her errant cross-burning allegations, Fry attempted to change the subject with rhetorical flourishes that left some reporters puzzled:

She invoked the nation's great Liberal leaders: Laurier, Pearson and Trudeau. She credited the latter with a "much-misunderstood multiculturalism policy" that she then described, somewhat confusingly, as "our secret weapon. Our weapon of mass inclusion."

Sure. Whatevs.

Apparently that is too much for the National Post. But then what did you expect?

Scott Brison probably shouldn't expect an endorsement from the Christian values website Lifesite.net They characterize Brison as a "homosexual activist" and a "consistent supporter of same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia" adding that "Mr. Brison has a political track record that some suggest may hamper his leadership ambitions."

Well then.

Scott Reid has all the answers

Incredibly, former Martin communications stategist Scott Reid has a piece in the Star telling Liberals what they need to do to win. Yes, you read that correctly.

As a member of the Martin Board, Reid was one of the architects of the "we need to lose badly before we win" strategy in the last campaign. And we all know how that brilliant gambit played out.
Reid's suggestions include such revolutionary concepts as "the economy is important" and "we need to do better in Quebec". Gee, we never would have thought of that on our own. Thanks Scott!

Reid would be better off returning to his current occupation of watching Law & Order reruns in his pajammas all day.

Meanwhile, Liberal candidate Bob Rae, approaching his one month anniversary of being a member of the party he wants to lead, says the NDP has "many strengths and qualities".

Mark Holland, MP for Ajax-Pickering, is the Ontario campaign director for federal Liberal leadership hopeful Gerard Kennedy.

Coderre Won't Run

Denis Coderre will announce today that he won't seek the Liberal leadership. The 42-year-old MP for the riding of Bourassa was immigration minister under Jean Chrétien.

Some are anticipating Coderre will endorse either Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff during his newser.

So, far Stephane Dion is the only candidate from Quebec. Quebec Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette may yet launch her campaign with a promise for "seal free seas".

Liberal arriviste Bob Rae was in BC, trying to convince labour leaders to join his campaign. Federal Rae Days for all...

The West Wants In

Outspoken and occassionaly controversial BC MP Hedy Fry will launch her Liberal leadership campaign on Thursday.

"I think any national party should be able to envisage that there should be someone who could lead it from any part of Canada and not simply from Central Canada," Fry said in an interview Monday.

She told the Globe and Mail:

"I do think that the race should open up to other people and I think that's why I'm running. I'm a woman and I'm from the West and I think that's a good starting point for anything."

Ms. Fry, a physician and onetime president of the British Columbia Medical Association, was born in Trinidad.

She was hailed as a giant killer during the 1993 election, when she knocked off then-prime-minister Kim Campbell.

She has held onto the Vancouver Centre riding ever since, fending off a serious challenge in last winter's election from veteran New Democrat Svend Robinson.

With Fry's entrance, we have one candidate from the West and one from the East (in Brison). And approximately 37 candidates from the GTA.

Can we get along?

Liberals are vowing to play nice during this leadership campaign.

Of course, everyone knows it won't last. By their very nature, leadership campaigns are nasty civil wars. The bad blood is already there, even among so-called friends like Rae and Ignatieff. Witness the blast given to Liberal arriviste Rae by Ignatieff supporter, and former Rae adversary, David Peterson.

In a leadership quest where ambition and ego intersect, things can get nasty fairly quickly. Just ask John Turner, or Jean Chretien.

Speaking of former leaders, Paul Martin finally resurfaced, along with all the people planning to replace him, at a Quebec Liberal gathering on the weekend. Martin admitted that losing the election "wasn' the easiest". Thanks for that.

Two more possible candidates are floating their names. Obscure, pro-seal hunt senator Celine Hervieux-Payette feels a groundswell of support for her candidacy. And former minister John McCallum is still testing the waters.