Now that the Prime Minister has called the by-election for September 22nd in Don Valley West, we get a post claiming that Harper is being an "opportunist" by doing so. I guess it's not a surprise to find that Liberals want to have it both ways.
Harper’s calling of this by-election for Sept. 22 in Don Valley West (DVW) is no different. Of course it’s a fairly safe riding for the Liberals, but I think it’s clear why Harper has called it now: to siphon Liberal resources away from Guelph, St. Lambert and Westmount Ville-Marie. The Conservatives are 100% focused on Guelph and I’m sure Harper has no plans to make much of a push for DVW, but I’m just guessing that in Harper’s eyes taking away any Liberal volunteers that would have otherwise been in the other 3 ridings between now and Sept. 8th works to his benefitIt's really simple. If John Godfrey hadn't delayed his resignation for a month, collecting a pay cheque from both the private sector and the taxpayers at the same time, the Don Valley West by-election would be happening at the same time as the other three. The Liberals claimed at the time that they were ready to go and Godfrey's delay had nothing to do with resources, money or the party's readiness. Are we now to believe that this wasn't true?
Posts
24 comments:
I know that this will be hard for you to understand but Liberals are capable of thinking for themselves and will differ on issues. Cherniak thinks one way on an issue Takacs has a different opinion.
We don't wait for the PMO to tell us what to say or how to think unlike you and your candidate.
Certainly didn't take long for the first disgruntled Liberal to make an appearance.
I'm guessing that Liberal supporters will devote most of their resources to Guelph. Don-Valley West is a shoe-in for the Liberals. Besides, they can campaign for a couple of weeks in DVW after the Guelph by-election.
"Liberals are capable of thinking for themselves and will differ on issues" - where does it say that in the lemming manual?
Call me crazy but no riding is a "shoe-in" for the Liberals in Ontario. I'd give the fed. NDP a second look before I looked at the Liberals again. The NDP deserve opposition status...Dion's team...not so much!
We have no idea why Godfrey resigned when he did, I'm sure if anyone asked he'd have a good explanation for you or maybe he's already provided it. What we do know though is Stephen Harper waited until the very last minute to call by-elections in Toronto Centre and Willowdale, and yet he calls Don Valley West at almost the first opportunity right after he says he may dissolve Parliament soon after it returns. And you think there's nothing opportunistic about his drastically different actions with DVW compared to TC and Willowdale?
I believe Harper is trying to siphon away resources, but Liberals certainly aren't afraid and we will have good nights Sept. 8th and 22nd regardless of what Harper tries to pull. Doesn't mean Harper can't be called on the probable motives for his actions.
Well Danny, sweetie - opportunism works BOTH ways - the Libs tried to make it work out best for them and pull one over by Godfrey making his resignation official after the time limit for the by-elections. They thought they had pulled one over on the PM but I guess he proved that he has the final chess move.
That is one of the perks of being PM, you get to actually make the decisions - as much as the Liberals think otherwise.
last i checked, opportunity is everything in politics...and timing, too.
sometimes you are on the side that benefits, sometimes not.
I'm guessing you had no prob when chretien used opportunity and timing to help him, by calling an early election :)
PMSH called the by in DVW because he thinks Dion and the Libs will cave, again, and he will be governing until October 2009.
PMSH will not go to the GG.
PMSH will bring in confidence votes that will make the opps bring down the government, or not.
PMSH will push many opp days early in this session, so the opps can bring down the government, or not.
Well Danielle, the Liberal's called the '97, 2000, and 2004 elections at opportune times for themselves, despite the fact they had a majority and never needed to call an election for more than a years time. Please explain?
The 2004 election was the biggest waste of taxpayers money to date. Liberal's called the election hoping to secure another majority before the facts of Adscam came out. Unfortunatly for the Liberal's, they ended up with a minority and now sit in opposition.
But hey, since you have brought up the PM being opportunistic in calling by-elections, explain away the fact the Liberal's saw fit to only have 11 elected MP's vote on 43 seperate confidence motions despite having 95 elected MP's. That is far more opportunistic, not forcing an election because:
1. They can't afford it.
2. They have a week leader.
3. Current Liberal MP's are afraid of losing their spot in the gravy train.
This may come as a shock, but the opinion of a blogger about the motivations of Harper and the Cons is not gospel, and certainly not to be taken as the position of the entire Liberal Party of Canada. "Liberals fear" indeed. "A" Liberal, maybe.
All this talk of resources and cash are just a bunch of blather. The LPC is perfectly able to run 4 by-elections: during a general they run 308!
I mean, come on.
If you people need better things to do with your time that wild speculation about matters that you have no actual knowledge of, perhaps you should go and help Carmichael (or Oliphant) in DVW.
Well, first of all anon, Lib's will only run 307 candidates. Guess you missed the Dion/May deal.
Secondly, it's a fact the Liberal Party is in trouble financially. Don't believe bloggers? It's been reported in the MSM of their woes in raising donations. They recently had to borrow $2 million at 9+% to have funds to pay the bills.
And hey, Cherniak said Harper called the by-election to take advantage of Liberal spending woes. You do know who he is and his relationship with Dion, no?
The truth is, the national party really has nothing to do with the financing of the by-election. The bills are paid by the riding association with funds that they raise themselves. In the last cycle of by-elections, the LPC spent a total of about $25K for all of them. For DVW, I expect that the national party will spend... zero. The riding association has enough money to run the whole thing, or will raise what they need themselves.
Besides, to try to trot out the idea that the LPC -- even if it was paying for the whole thing, which it is not -- could not come up with the $80K Elections Canada spending limit is just silly. So stop being silly. Come one... less silly, please.
"And hey, Cherniak said Harper called the by-election to take advantage of Liberal spending woes. You do know who he is and his relationship with Dion, no?"
Are you saying that Jason is privy to the inner workings of the OLO? You are really saying that?
Do you know something that you care to share about the relationship between Dion and Jason? Or are you just drawing wild conclusions and making up inferences. I gotta know.
"Are you saying that Jason is privy to the inner workings of the OLO? You are really saying that?"
Uh, yeah, I am. Did you miss this part on Cherniak's blog?
"Jason is President of Central Region for the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario), which includes 18 ridings and a population larger than Nova Scotia and Newfoundland combined. He is also riding president in Richmond Hill. Jason was Stéphane Dion's Blog Campaign Co-Chair during his successful 2006 Liberal leadership campaign"
"Uh, yeah, I am. Did you miss this part on Cherniak's blog?"
Uh, yeah, tell me you are not.
You really have to get out in the real world and see how things work out there. There are 308 Riding Presidents, many many VP's and Presidents of this region and that, etc. And Jason created the position of Blogging Chair for himself. Titles are free, don't you know.
Anyway, stop being silly. If you are really saying that Jason controls or is somehow at the center of the operations of the OLO I have to ask you again to stop being so silly. Please. Seriously. Cut it out.
"Besides, to try to trot out the idea that the LPC -- even if it was paying for the whole thing, which it is not -- could not come up with the $80K Elections Canada spending limit is just silly. So stop being silly. Come one... less silly, please."
Well, this is from the National Post. Most of the major media in Canada have run similar stories. Guess they must be silly too, eh?
"The Liberals say the date of retirement was of Mr. Godfrey's own choosing and has nothing to do with electoral strategy. But a quick look at the recently-filed party financial statements for 2007 suggest that if it's not, it should be.
While the Conservatives are peppering the airwaves with commercials lambasting "Dion's tax trick", the Grits have produced a feel-good, glossy commercial for their "Green Shift" carbon tax plan that they can't afford to run on television.
The party's financial statements show an organization that is still solvent but one in which expenses outpaced revenues by $1.6-million last year. The largest source of revenue was the government allowance awarded for each vote received at the last election, which came in at $8.5-million. Contributions from grass-roots Liberals accounted for $4.7-million, compared to around $18-million for the Conservatives. This is the bitter legacy of Jean Chrétien's campaign finance reforms, which wiped out corporate donations, the source of 50% of Liberal fundraising. Stephen Harper's Conservatives have added to Grit woes by reducing Mr. Chrétien's $5,000 individual contribution ceiling to $1,000.
The financial statements also show a $2-million loan with an extremely punishing 9% interest rate, collateralized against the assets not only of the party but of a number of riding associations. This is highly unusual and indicates a degree of financial stress long suspected but never admitted by the party.
This is not just an arcane party issue - there are serious implications for the timing of a general election and the long-term competitiveness of the party.
The Liberals will be able to fund an election campaign as they have in the past by borrowing against the 60% rebate they receive from Elections Canada for expenses incurred during the writ period. This means they can borrow around $12-million of the $20-million they will need to fund a campaign, based on the rebate that all parties get for election expenses. But they will still need to raise about $8-million and the only collateral likely acceptable to lending institutions is the government allowance of $1.75 for every vote they receive. This means that if their vote goes down at the next election, they could conceivably be forced to spend the bulk of what they get from the taxpayers to finance their debt, leaving little money for anything else. This fear of a financial death-spiral is what motivated a number of wise old heads around Mr. Dion to urge caution when he was considering bringing down the government earlier this year - their concern is the survival of the institution, rather than the current incumbent.
"They can't afford to run and not do better," said one expert in campaign financing.
This is the background against which Stephen Harper recently raised his defamation claim against the Liberal Party to $3.5-million. Other storm-clouds looming over the Grits include a potential lawsuit by Toronto-based environmental consulting company, Green Shift, which is considering suing the party for damages after it launched its green strategy of the same name.
Well, you seem to have some comprehension skills. You asked if I thought Cherniak had knowledge of the inner-workings of the party. Here it is again. Perhaps the big words are giving you trouble.
"Jason is President of Central Region for the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario), which includes 18 ridings and a population larger than Nova Scotia and Newfoundland combined "
"Well, this is from the National Post. Most of the major media in Canada have run similar stories. Guess they must be silly too, eh?"
Not at all. See, THEY are talking about a full-blown national campaign with planes and TV ads and all that good stuff like that there.
YOU are talking about a by-election in a single riding where there will be no planes, no TV ads, etc.
Apples and oranges... look it up. Seriously. They are different.
So like I said, the spending limit in DWV is about $80K. Quoting the Post who are discussing a national campaign and comparing it to a local by-election is just... wait for it... silly. So please, please just cut it out. It's embarrassing even to watch.
"You asked if I thought Cherniak had knowledge of the inner-workings of the party."
Actually, I said the OLO. Different animal, old boy. Sorta like the PMO and the CPC. Except the people are nicer. And their supporters are less... silly.
oh fun wow, so how much money are wasting on these pointless by-elections? Let's face it the only reason to have a by-election is that it allows your power donors to donate the limit twice in a year to the party without running afoul of campaign donation laws. (like that would stop any party from grabbing as much money with both hands... a little in and out financing anyone???)
So we waste millions in taxpayer money so Stevie can do some more fund raising. Fiscal conservative my ass.
Gee Red, I thought you knew the rules regarding calling by-elections. Harper HAD to call the by-elections of September 8th by July 27th.
He did not need to call a by-election in Godfrey's riding for sometime. But given that Godfrey announced last November he was resigning, and then waited until after the date Harper had to call the other three by-elections, I'd cut Harper a little slack on the date.
And if you are so concerned about taxpayer dollars being wasted, lay the blame at the resigning MP's, who ran in the 2006 election with the expectation of winning and sitting for their term as MP.
Just wondering, are you outraged Paul Martin called the 2004 election even though he never needed to for roughly 18 months?
Paul Martin is an idiot regardless but I thought his government was brought down by the NDP, not that it matters.
Nope. Martin called a national election 18 months before it was neccesary to try and get a majority before the facts of adscam got out. The NDP, Bloc, and Conservatives forced the 2006 election in a non-confidence vote over Adscam.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/05/24/canada.elections/index.html
Crappy link. Here is the pertinent info.
Monday, May 24, 2004 Posted: 4:23 AM EDT (0823 GMT)
VIDEO
Canadian PM Martin calls for elections a year earlier than expected.
(CNN) -- New Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has called a federal parliamentary election for June 28, leading his scandal-battered Liberal Party into a campaign where the conservative opposition is united for the first time in more than a decade.
Post a Comment