I still remember when my sister was working for the Federal govt. when a directive came down that they were no longer allowed to say “The Canadian Government” in any communications, and were ordered to say “The Harper Government”. The staff then apparently used to faux spit on the ground after this was uttered this in meetings.
Ha ha! Shades of Madame Fanny La Fan in 'Allo 'Allo! (Click on “Skip Ad”)
Norm Macdonald: From this day forward, we will be known as The Fantastic Four.
Others; Great. That’s a good name. Fantastic Four. I like it.
Norm Macdonald: And I will be known as Mister Fantastic.
Others: Uhhhh…
I mean if Erin O’Toole was too liberal for the Conservatives I’m not why they think Jean Charest would be a winning selection. Former Quebec premier Jean Charest courted by Conservative MP as possible leadership candidate | CBC News
I’d love it if Charest ran for the leadership. Either he wins, which is a clear sign that the party membership wants to move back towards reality, or he loses, which is a clear sign the party membership wants nothing at all to do with reality.
I"m afraid the party membership at this point wants to see tip lines where you can turn in your neighbours for wearing a funny hat or eating strange food, and a strong policy of allowing torture of gay people.
Yeah, I’m definitely giving the second option a far higher probability. But it will be nice to have a clear-cut demonstration to point out to anyone still trying to sit on that particular fence.
Keeping the old PC party alive and leading Quebec required far more left leaning work than would ever be acceptable within the Conservative party now. Which is fine - a stronger, more assertive conservative view would be very valuable. Done right it could great for the country. Done the way the base seems to want it to go will be bad. We could use a new party in power.
I was thinking for some reason of the charity boxing match between Justin Trudeau and Patrick Brazeau, way back in 2012. This was before he became the leader of the Liberal Party.
For those of you who have never hear) d of this, Brazeau is an appointed Conservative Party senator, put into office by Stephen Harper. The charity boxing match was widely anticipated by Conservatives, who saw this as a great chance for “their man” Brazeau (black belt, muscled, manly) against the wimpy, girly “Justine”. There was a lot of trash talking before the match.
Bottom line - Trudeau put on a clinic, pummeling the larger man with better strategy, better boxing and much better stamina for three rounds. At the end, Brazeau was just barely standing, taking punches with a bloody nose and the fight was stopped - TKO. It was like Brazeau’s strategy was to let Trudeau punch him in the face until his arms got tired. The third round was like watching someone practice on a heavy bag in a gym.
I don’t think the Conservatives ever got over this. They have hated Trudeau with a passion before then, and since then it has gotten stronger. (And they hate his name, hate his father to boot, so that does not help)
This, I think, helps explain to some degree the Conservatives God-awful election strategy since then. They just figure if they can only explain to Canadians why they hate Trudeau with the passion of a thousand exploding suns, then everyone will agree with them.
YouTube video if anyone is interested in watching the pummeling
There was no election in 2012, but there was one in 2011, and the NDP leader in 2011 wasn’t Tom Mulcair, it was Jack Layton.
Nice hair, though.
Yes, a great example of how Trudeau’s political opponents have underestimated him for quite some time.
Brazeau probably said something like that before he was treated to a boxing beat down (the two of them did raise $200K for cancer research, so that’s good).
Harper probably said something like that before Trudeau kicked his butt in the 2015 election.
The thing that really annoys me is that their message never changes, no matter how often they lose with it.
In his first election, the argument that Trudeau had very little experience, and only won the leadership based on being his father’s son actually had merit. I voted NDP that year because of that, because I didn’t want to vote Liberal or Conservative.
But after seeing him in office, he hasn’t been the total disaster so many in the CPC and PPC insist that he is. He actually did pretty well navigating the dumpster fire of the Trump presidency, and has done fairly well with the pandemic. He’s not perfect, but he’s not a disaster either.
But so many in the CPC and PPC still just trot out the “drama teacher, daddy’s boy, nice hair!” nonsense, rather than address his actual accomplishments as PM.
It’s an older video, but for the next time Pierre complains about the “drama teacher”:
I actually think Trudeau is a pretty bad Prime Minister, and do not for the life of me understand why the PC and NDP parties didn’t want to run on that point.
I think it’s easier to insult his hair than to make coherent policy and explain why it would be better for the country.
I think he’s been mediocre at best, but if I don’t hate him with the passion of a thousand exploding suns, I am told by my Alberta friends that I worship him like a God.
I think Trudeau has done well with Covid and the US. He has done worse (by varying degrees) on some other things. I think the CPC was divided before leadership concerns and this truckers debacle, which will not help them. The question is whether enough people will support the Libs, assuming Trudeau runs again. He should be more forceful now, and this would help him. Personally, I like Singh more than the federal NDP as a whole.
I think he’s done reasonably well, considering what he’s faced. Canada has fared quite well, he managed the Trump years with some savvy. I’m disappointed he failed on his ‘fresh water for every First Nation’ promise. Watching the shit show of politics in the US, perhaps makes us more forgiving of his vanities then we should be.
But as long as the conservatives keep serving up nazi flags, public pooping, Trumpish freedom lovers, I don’t think they’ll remain united enough, as a party, to pose any serious threat for possibly years to come.
I’d predict another ‘Trudeau Era’, (just to freak out cons here!) but I very much doubt JT is up for it. I think he’ll cede the leadership in the not too distant future. Too much stress, hard on the family, etc.
I think the fundamental problem is that Canadian conservatives have seen how far the GOP has gone using this strategy against Obama and the Democrats in general, and they’ve embraced it as their main strategy as well. No need for policy debates or proposals, no need to explain why any particular action by the Hated Opposition is bad, simply declare it bad, ex cathedra, clearly the most obviously bad thing ever.
So far this hasn’t worked so well in Canada, but they seem determined to keep trying.
And that’s the thing - there are legitimate debates to be had about how good or bad JT has been as PM. But no one in the CPC seems interested in having such sensible discussions. And until they change that, I have no interest in voting for them. I’d rather have a PM I can trust to be mediocre than roll the dice on whatever psycho nonsense the CPC might come up with.
He’s actually been a pretty decent prime minister, under the circumstances. Of course, I’m not biased and enraged by his last name…unlike so many conservatives…