What can be said that hasn’t already been proclaimed all over global media as to what a twit we have for Prime Minister?
Trudeau’s trip to India surely has to have been one of the most gaffe-laden, mocked, and derided foreign visits in Canadian history.
In spite of Justin and family’s extensive wardrobe, this truly has been a week in which the whole world witnessed the fact that the emperor has no clothes. There he was on the global stage in all of his tone-deaf, egotistical, self-serving and incompetent glory.
Of course complicit media sources are attempting to comply with the desperate “rogue elements” theory, but they’re not having much success convincing the public.
Canadians and people all over the world have now awakened to what we were telling them right from the beginning: Trudeau is Just Not Ready.
And I doubt he will ever be.
Update:
This column that Candice Malcolm wrote for the Economic Times is well worth checking out: Why Justin Trudeau’s India tour turned out to be a diplomatic disaster.
Charles Adler’s interview with Terry Glavin is very informative as well.
This story is just getting more and more bizarre! From David Akin, Global News:
“And then “worse” turned to “farce” when the PMO trotted out one of the most senior members of the civil service, someone who is one of the handful of bureaucrats privy to literally all the secrets of our national security agencies, to engage in frantic damage control.
After insisting that any journalist who wanted to listen to what this individual had to say could not name this person, the government tasked the bureaucrat with peddling what must be one of the most bizarre conspiracy theories ever advanced by a Canadian government…”
And this piece by Terry Glavin is an absolute must-read! How Trudeau’s top national security advisor lost the plot in India – Macleans:
“But now it’s out in the open, and now everybody knows that the character who set in motion the central drama in a calamity that the Times of India calls “a disaster that has little parallel in India’s recent diplomatic history” was Daniel Jean.”
Oh-oh. Bad news for Junior Trudeau:
Justin Trudeau would lose if an election were held tomorrow, India trip a symptom of shift in mood: Ipsos poll – Global News
Reminder – What a real leader looks like:
Blue Like You2 
The Liberals want us to believe Atwal was an accidental invite to dinner, sorry, not a sell, they just thought it would not be noticed, assume everyone is too stupid to notice. If, as reported, he donates to the Liberal Party he was being rewarded. Too bad the convicted assassin didn’t get his free meal. Was the dinner being cooked up by the celebrity chef of Indian decent he flew over for the occasion?
At this point I’m wonder who we should be investigating….are we being infiltrated at the highest level? What could go wrong with our security? IMO this is very serious stuff and beyond just a little glitch that can be blamed on some underlings….they don’t OK the guest list.
Who are the real fools in this country? Should we look in our collective mirrors?
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The whole thing is extremely disconcerting!
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Yes, we are dealing with a real twit, he negatives are piling up. I can’t imagine anything will improve, we have to hold on tight and pray we stay safe.
I think he’s winging it, going rogue, advisers be damned. What adviser to a prime minister would dream up the unreal nonsense we have witnessed on this tour from hell? He insulted the people of India and Canada.
Something weird is going on within the inner workings of the Trudeau Cabal. Of the ministers in charge of the various portfolios it would be hard to find a lot of competence.
You don’t pick people for government posts on gender or ethnics, you go with the best individual for the job.
I can’t name one portfolio that’s being well served in that government.
Trudeau has already insulted the veterans. Aboriginal Affairs are the same as ever, nothing will change in spite of grandiose promises. More inquiries, more money tossed into black holes.
Hangers on like Caroline Bennett and Ralph Goodale…give us a break!
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LMAO over a comment over at SDA…”the dolt needs to be tranquilized and brought home immediately before we find ourselves at war with India”.
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Liz J asked “Who are the real fools in this country? Should we look in our collective mirrors?”
I’m sorry to say that it’s the electorate. Some are easily bamboozled into voting for pretty boys/empty suits making pretty empty promises, while others are so rigid in their thinking that they withhold their vote, preferring to sit out the election because the Conservative candidate is supposedly not conservative enough.
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Yep, that’s the right answer Gabby.
If anyone had any doubts about where Trudeau’s talent lies it can be put to rest with this trip to India. It’s a national disgrace because he represents us in his role as Prime Minister. He didn’t get that memo, he’s on his own trajectory, drama, right down to the minute details, not a thread missing. reality was left at the stage door.
It’s truly a gong show, sadly we cannot take him off stage.
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“… we cannot take him off stage.”
Hopefully at the next election … if the electorate wakes up.
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Adler on Twitter: “Just get your Right Honourable arse out of there. This thing is over” I couldn’t agree more. The media needs to stop covering them on their family vacation at our expense. No real business of benefit to this country is happening, let them break bread and break wind with with his good friend the Aga Khan who apparently is also visiting the country. He probably won’t stand out, he won’t be renting costumes from Bollywood.
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Prime Minister Doobie can’t claim he wasn’t playing home politics when four out of six Sikh Cabinet Ministers accompanied him. The Indian authorities are not amused.
It’s hard to stop thinking about this outrageous, crazy and in some ways inane behaviour by a prime minister of this country abroad.
This needs to be dealt with in the HOC, he was play acting, costumes…he was even dressed as an India groom….not sure where the bride was. We have been made fools of on the world stage. This has to never happen again. we need to make that clear.
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When is the Embarrassment returning to Canada? I will venture a guess it will not be announced and in the dark of night!
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From the guess who’s coming to dinner meme….Atwal said he and Trudeau are friends, he himself decided not to go to dinner in order not to embarrass his friend Trudeau. Trudeau spokesperson said they are not friends. They even have a scapegoat who came forward, a Liberal MP made the boo-boo with the invitation. How in he!! did that come about and why?
Conflicting stories leads inquiring minds to question, who ya gonna believe?
I don’t know if Trudeau has any Irish in his DNA but Murphy’s law was active during his dress-up act to India. It will go down in the history books as the biggest farce by any prime minster. A trip about nothing but play acting, making a fool of himself seems to come easily for him.
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From a 2017/12/20 HuffPost story:
“I’ve always considered the Aga Khan a close family friend which is why I didn’t clear this family trip in the first place”
From a 2018/02/25 Toronto Star story …
“Trudeau’s spokesperson, Cameron Ahmad, said the prime minister and Atwal are not friends.”
I guess the PM & his spokesperson never watched this episode of Sesame Street:
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Obviously!
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Apparently Trudeau and his entourage have arrived back and according to a news report he is taking a personal day. That’s understandable, acting the fool takes a lot of energy.
A good line from Rob Snow on his talk show, CFRA this morning on Trudeau’s personal day off..””he may be unpacking the tickle trunk”!
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Best column — informative — I’ve read so far on Trudeau’s Indian misadventure (via National Newswatch):
http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2134781/trump-jr-outshines-trudeau-thats-how-bad-india-canada-ties
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Trudeau’s senior adviser GB linked a CBC article about the trip, so I assume CBC managed to find an employee willing to suck it up for team liberal. I didn’t click on the link since I don’t want to feed the CBC monster any more than I already am through coerced taxation.
If Scheer can pull it off, reform / defunding CBC needs to be a top priority. Not sure if it’s true, but I read somewhere recently that a full 50% of Canadian journalists are CBC employees.
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It should ring a bell when Sikhs are so in the loop with politics here in Canada, and not so covertly being wooed by Trudeau.
It appears Trudeau needs to take a few more days off and get himself up to speed on who is who, go over his “friends” list and see who he might want to “unfriend” fro the sake of this country’s reputation at home and abroad..
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Candice Bergen is launching the opening salvo in QP.
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Reminds me that they’re rebooting Murphy Brown. It was not bad, but really, have they no new ideas?
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Oh yeah. I get the connection. Hah!
And speaking of Brown, it seems that he’s redrawing from the leadership race.
(Boy that was one sweet segue.)
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Thus validating the opinions of everyone who thought he should stay out and fight his personal battles, regardless of how well he was doing in the internal polls.
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Hard to know what’s going on with Mr. Brown. He hasn’t officially resigned yet. And even if he did he’d probably change his mind and jump back in.
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it is reported “Individuals have stood outside family homes in Barrie and shouted obscenities” no one should have to put up with that. http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/patrick-brown-intends-to-drop-out-of-ontario-pc-leadership-race-campaign-source-says
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I agree. That’s totally unacceptable! Hopefully the police have been alerted.
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We do not expect that kind of behaviour in a civil society, it’s bordering on vigilante tactics.
If that’s an element that we have in the party or are supporting it, we have a bigger problem. I think of infiltration….desperate times for Ontario Liberals.
Brown should not have entered the race, just get on with clearing his name. I guess we are never to old to get into situations, make bad decisions that set us up to learn lessons the hard way.
We need a leader who can sniff out the rats lurking about. I think I know who that might be.
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I truly hope Patrick Brown is able to win that case against CTV and is able to clear his name. I’m glad he is going to devote most of his time to doing that now.
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Another kick in the teeth from Trudeau. http://brianlilley.com/this-is-the-kind-of-judge-justin-trudeau-wants-on-the-court/
He’s appointed Khadr’s lawyer to a federal judge position. If you read Brian Lilley’s article you’ll find out this now judge has actively sought out terrorists to defend. Everyone has a right to a defense, and if the occasion arises so be it. Actively advocating on behalf of terrorists is another story. Appointing him as a judge demonstrates Trudeau and the liberals are actively pandering to terrorists.
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I honestly never thought Trudeau would be able to do this much harm to our country in such a short time. And it’s not over yet!
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Well that’s as bad as it gets. This should not go unchallenged but it will.
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Given his friendship with the Kalistan / Sikh terrorists, Khadr, and this, it seems he will never meet a terrorist he doesn’t like. Welcome to Canada.
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I’m beginning to believe this government is not merely incompetent, it is dangerous. There are actually individuals in both cabinet (Justice, Immigration, Democratic Reform) and caucus (M-103) who are hell bent on fulfilling their own activist ambitions. Woe Canada!
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Yes, it seems everyone in this government is identity politics based. They could not be more divisive if they set that as their goal.
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We are in grave danger, terrorists, would be terrorists and their networks know they have a friend in Canada’s Prime Minister. They come here knowing we have a Charter that covers them as soon as they set foot here. It’s the Trudeau bible.
I’d like to know just how cozy he is with the Khadr family…why did he meet with Boyle who was once married to one of them.
Someone in Opposition had better wake up and start asking questions and demanding answers and refuse to be fobbed off by the likes of Ralph Goodale with non answers.
It’s past time for Goodale to do the right thing, stop the brown nosing and standing up defending the indefensible.
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With apologies to those of you of a different gender than I, the fact that today’s budget is supposedly focused on gender equity is also beyond silly, and not likely to help with growing the economy, upcoming trade issues or anything else for that matter.
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It’s an insult to women. We can’t be surprised, Trudeau is the first Prime Minister to ever declare himself a feminist…possibly the first male to do so.
We are not in good hands.
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It makes you wonder how women have not only survived but thrived all these years without paid and extended maternity leave, massive childcare support, non-gendered budgets and government agendas, yada, yada. But we did. We are nothing short of miracles (sarc).
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It’s social agenda extreme. It’s making women look like they cannot cope without all these services. Socialist governments want our children in the system before they are out of diapers and ensure their parents are too busy to pay attention to the dogma being instilled.
We are paying dearly, the signs are all around us. Government setting school curriculum to meet their socialist agenda is where we lose control.
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When Hannah Thibedeau and Andrew Nichol aren’t buying your “India is responsible for the Jaspal Atwal incident” and the CBC as a whole is obviously not buying the cooked-up conspiracy theory, you’re in big trouble.
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Should those of us who are in the “middle class”, or think we are, or wonder if we are according to Justin and company, be excited about the budget coming down today?
It can’t be that difficult when budgets balance themselves after all is meted out, they can be very generous on all fronts.
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Seems like Trudeau is doubling down on the ridiculous claim that someone in the Indian government is responsible for Trudeau inviting his terrorist friend to dinner. Modi sent some underling to greet Trudeau before this snafu, and now I see Modi has personally greeting the King of Jordan today. I wonder how much harm he has done to our relationship with India.
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Not impressed with the budget today. Lots of virtue signalling, no efforts to control spending, nothing to improve our tax competiveness and productivity. Seems this government believes government not the market creates growth even though all evidence suggest the contrary. With the Liberals moving into NDP territory we should stay away from wedge issues while try to win over Blue Liberal voters who are probably unhappy with the party’s leftward turn. Wish I could blog more on this but will have to keep my comments brief as I can only type with one hand for the next five weeks due to my shoulder surgery, but hope to get back to blogging on the issues more sometime in early April.
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Get well soon, Miles. I can empathize with your one-handed attempts at typing. Fortunately my reason has absolutely nothing to do with injury, just lack of dexterity.
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Sorry to hear about the shoulder problems, Miles. Recovering from surgery would be very painful I’m sure.
Take the time to rest and then get back in the game when you are well.
And poor Lorrie Goldstein is recovering from a stroke. Health is the most important thing.
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Agreed. The damage to my shoulder was actually much worse than initially thought, but thankfully recovery going very well. As a side note I used a private clinic and paid for both the MRI and surgery which at least in BC, not sure about Ontario though is legal even if the left hates it and the biggest user of them is the worker’s compensation board. Also costs are tax deductible which I will definitely utilize so I have to pay less for Trudeau’s SJW agenda. I do think though like Saskatchewan does for MRIs they should make it a rule of for every paid one, one is offered free that way everyone benefits and it saves taxpayer’s money.
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Glad your recovery is going well Miles!
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Deficits going up, next year being an election year will be worse. Our advantages used to be a combination of our resources, and low corporate taxes compared to the US. Now the liberals are actively suppressing our resource industries, and Trump has eliminated the tax advantage. The liberal deficits and lack of any plan for growth (particularly in resources) have negated any possible action on corporate taxes. I’m afraid we are completely screwed in the near term.
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Fully agree here. It seems like Trudeau doesn’t understand how the market works and somehow government can manipulate it to suit their agenda. John Manley was very critical of the budget so I think there is an opportunity to pick up some blue liberal voters who the party has abandoned to become NDP lite.
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It will take a few days to make up a story but someone will be blamed or take the blame for Trudeau’s big fiasco in India.
I don’t think his clothing exposition can be put on anyone but himself, we all know he likes to dress for the part he’s playing.
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There are still more questions than answers re: the Atwal affair and Trudeau’s bizarre responses in the HofC. “A Conservative MP who once chased Jaspal Atwal down a British Columbia highway after the Sikh extremist tried to kill an Indian cabinet minister says the convicted would-be assassin had no business being in the presence of the Prime Minister during Justin Trudeau’s trip to India last week.
Jim Eglinski, a former RCMP officer who responded to the 1986 attack, said he is baffled as to how Mr. Trudeau and his Liberal delegation failed to flag Mr. Atwal, who was invited to two receptions with the Prime Minister in India last week.” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-mp-said-he-chased-down-jaspal-atwal-after-assassination-attempt/article38147476/
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Trudeau and company cannot talk/stammer/sputter their way out of this one, they’ve been busted, hoisted on their own petard.
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The debate, anyone watch it?
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Yes I did Liz! Before I say anything what are your thoughts and reaction?
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Allen got her licks in, she had nothing to lose. She made it clear how she feels about Brown, a bit of overkill there.
Among the real contenders , Ford was impressive. Mulroney is a newbie and for her experience she did well. Elliot was what we might expect from her time in politics, smooth.
When questioned about Brown they should have said he is no longer running, not a factor and we have more important things to discuss.
Who in blazes chooses the moderators?
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I thought moderator, Althia Raj, appeared rather smug and condescending at times eg. when she told Doug Ford he hadn’t used up his time allotment and she’d have to help him fill in the remaining two minutes or so. Tanya Granic Allen was very animated but perhaps a little too forceful. She certainly knows her stuff. I don’t envision her as leader just yet but I’d like to see her as an MPP with room to grow. Caroline Mulroney appeared timid and resorted to talking points without much substance to back them up. The fact she would refuse to open up the sex ed debate knocked her out of consideration for me. The choice seems to be a toss-up between Ford and Elliot and I’d be comfortable with either one.
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Anne, yes Tanya would make an excellent MPP. She has a lot of talent and enthusiasm.
Apparently someone asked Mulroney about her own kids and she had to admit they go to a private school so she really looks disingenuous with her attitude on sex-ed!!
Personally I am narrowing it down to Christine Elliott and Doug Ford too (sorry Miles, lol).
Just received my voting verification package today. Woo-hoo!! This is going to be quite an exciting time.
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I think on any socially conservative issue just too risky. Much like Harper did best to ignore them as I feel they are just distractions to Wynne’s economic incompetence. Perhaps a promise to update the curriculum every five years makes more sense and less controversial.
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Thanks for your input, Liz. Yes Ford did quite well!
I really enjoyed that debate! It was riveting. I actually thought Althia Raj did a fairly good job all things considered. All candidates put in a decent performance although I thought Caroline Mulroney looked the least comfortable in my humble opinion. I was thinking ahead to who could take Wynne on and think on their feet. In that regard, I feel Ford showed well; also Elliott. Granic-Allen is good that way too but she comes off a bit too combative, I think.
I agree that the Patrick Brown issue needs to be left in the dust now. Let’s move on.
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If both the Indian government and Randeep Sarai are responsible for the Jaspal Atwal fiasco shouldn’t the next logical question be, “Does the Trudeau government believe that MP Sarai acted in collusion with the government of another country? And if so, what are they prepared to do about this?”
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That’s a great point Anne, and I hope they do that. The only problem is that Junior would probably just say his regular stupid talking points about having full confidence in the public service, blah blah blah. But even the liberal media is starting to lose patience with his non-answers.
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On another point I find the comment reply structure in this format to be a bit frustrating. I may experiment with some alternatives at some point. Meanwhile adding the person’s name to a comment that you are replying to might help allay some of the confusion. Just a small technical point. Other than that things seem to be going well. We certainly haven’t had any crashes so far which is excellent. 🙂
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It’s really a tough call from among three of the candidates. We have to consider who is best for the job at hand both internally and getting rid of Wynne and company.
Elliot has experience but I’m wondering why she returned to the rat race. I like Ford for being “real”, nothing phony there, he’s speaking the language of regular folks trying to survive in this province.
Mulroney is going to be picked on for being an elite…they were already after her re sending her kids to private schools. We do not need that conversation/detraction at this time. I’d be OK with Elliot, she should have won the first time. Ford might be the one we need for the job at hand.
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Yes Ford does seem more “real” than Elliott or Mulroney but I just worry how vulnerable he is from an attack ad point of view during the general election in June.
For sure nobody is perfect here. Each one has his or her strengths and weaknesses. Should be interesting to see how it all ends up!
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Liberals are like cornered rats so attack ads is all they have left and will use against whomever wins. My thinking is the following will happen:
Christine Elliott: probably argue her plan doesn’t add up and means big spending cuts. Toughest to attack and as Warren Kinsella mentions the fact the Liberals trusted her enough to appoint her as patient ombudsman makes them ring hollow.
Caroline Mulroney: Probably will be similar to the attacks in BC in the 1996 election the NDP used against BC Liberal leader Gordon Campbell. Otherwise portray her as a rich bay street type who doesn’t understand ordinary Ontarioans. This could be effective if done by the NDP but won’t likely work if done by the liberals as many already see them as leaning that way to begin with. That being said her biggest risk is she sends her children to private school. While nothing wrong with this, she should promise they will go to public school next year to take this off the table.
Doug Ford: Probably similar to the attacks the liberals did federally in 2004 and 2006 against Harper so Ford needs to do what Harper did in 2006 not 2004. Otherwise with lots of ammo against him needs to inoculate himself right away. His support of Trump and close ties with Charles McVety are all things the liberals can use to paint him as too extreme so needs to close those gaps in the first month which can be done although whether he will or not is tough to say. I don’t think he understands how damaging these could be, but he has really good advisors and suspect they probably are working on plans of how to deal with these if they come up.
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As for my concerns with Ford, yes I am more of a red tory, but I also believe choosing him is a lot riskier than the other two viable ones. In leadership races others tend to go easy on their opponents as they want their second choices, but in a general election our opponents will hit whomever we choose hard with attack ads. I always envision myself first as working in my opponents war room and what type of stuff would I put in attack ads and then envision myself as a swing voter and how would I react to them. Lots of material to attack Ford with, fair amount for Mulroney, but for Elliott the fact the Liberals felt she was qualified enough to be appointed will make the attacks less believable. Here are the reasons I think choosing Ford is a big gamble. Yes he could win, just saying he is more risky than the other two.
1. Ford can do well amongst NDP-PC swing voters but would be toxic amongst liberal-PC swing voters and the latter is much larger and more important to winning in June than the former.
2. Once liberal attack ads come out I expect the PCs to lose around 5% so we need someone with a strong cushion which Elliott has, Ford doesn’t while polls seem to be all over the place on Mulroney.
3. More Ontarioans lean left than right so vote splits are key and I think you would get more strategic voting with Ford than the others.
4. Ford does better with millennials who generally don’t vote whereas amongst the over 55 Elliott and Mulroney win big but Ford’s margin is much smaller and that group usually votes.
5. The key demographic we need to pick up is those with incomes over 60K, post secondary education, and work in the private sector. Wynne’s move to the left is a huge turnoff to this group, but Ford’s style of populism is too and I fear he would push many of them back to the liberals.
6. Ford may do well amongst the under 40K now, but once the fact he comes from a wealthy family is pointed out that will change. You can only win that group if you are a self hating millionaire like Trudeau. Elliott’s work on people with disabilities make her the best choice to win here although to be fair Tories generally win amongst the middle class, lower income usually lean left as they pay little in taxes so more spending on programs as opposed to tax cuts wins here.
7. Our goal is to win a majority, but considering how difficult it is to win in urban areas that is always a challenge but still very possible whereas winning at least a minority is highly likely. If Elliott or Mulroney win a minority, the libs and NDP won’t gang up to keep them out but with Ford they likely would unless the NDP forms opposition which may or may not happen.
8. We need to win at least two terms if not three and I fear Ford is far more likely to be a one term wonder than the other two.
Now not saying others shouldn’t vote for Ford, I just see him as a lot more risky and as we absolutely must defeat the liberals I prefer a safe than risky choice.
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Maybe I am wrong and Ford’s blunt talk will work well, but my gut feeling is he will cost us another winneable one but again I could be wrong. We all have to use our best judgment as no one can know for sure how voters will react as we have seen more than enough bizarre results in the past few years.
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I’ve mentioned before, I’m worried that if Ford becomes the candidate various media outlets will replay a ‘best of’ some of Rob Ford’s antics which may put off some middle of the road voters. I can also see the liberal media reminding voters about the Airbus affair if Caroline Mulroney wins. They aren’t bringing it up now, but that may be deliberate. Let her win, then start the propaganda. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I don’t trust them.
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Well it’s going to be quite the ride, no matter what. I’ve never seen so much national attention focused on Ontario politics!
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The media need something to bury Trudeau’s family trip to India.
I’m wondering if Caroline Mulroney is the reason there’s so much interest?
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I think you may be right. Career path 1) get elected 2) become premier 3) run for CPC leader 4) become PM. If JT can do it, why can’t CM? The writing is on the wall with the possibility of 1) and 2) now combined.
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Poor old Ralph Goodale, he’s stayed too long at the fair. His attempts to evade answering questions on the Atwal fiasco are pathetic. His head bobbing is enough to make you dizzy just watching him. He’s also picked up on the stammering we see from his boss Justin, the words can’t come when hiding the truth.
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I don’t know why Ralph keeps hanging on. He obviously has to do Butts’ bidding. How humiliating. Why not just retire and hang onto the little shred of credibilit you still have, Ralph?
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The trip to India might just be Trudeau’s Waterloo. Even chick peas are taking a hit with increased tariffs. Maybe the millionaire Indian chef who went to India on our dime to cook for Indians can come up with some new recipes for chick pea dishes.
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On another topic, I actually now have my voting instructions. But before I get very far into it, does anyone know if there any strategic advantage to voting for more than one candidate? I am under the impression that you can rank them all if you wish but I’m not that far in yet to see. Thanks.
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FWIW two polls out today and bad news for Trudeau. First it is Forum with it being 46% Tories to 34% Liberals. Since they’ve had the Tories leading when others showed them well behinf I am skeptical, but Ipsos has 38% Tories and 33% Liberals and their numbers have usually been in line with other polls never mind this is the first time in nearly 3 years they have shown the Tories ahead and highest support for them since 2011 so maybe something is happening. Both polls showed more disapproved than approved of it.
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My feeling is that people are finally realizing what a disaster this Trudeau Government has been. Actually the whole world is waking up to that fact.
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I have just come across a series of 6 very short videos (2-4 min. each in length) via a commenter at WK’s blog detailing problems a group of PC’s have had with the party, particularly since Brown became leader. They were published on Youtube starting July 3, 2017 and ending abruptly Aug. 31, 2017. The playlist is worth viewing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KXKq_Ts8vQ&list=PLso45GN-D1-j17rXIRFNnMArUJYv7Z3lm&index=1
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How do we get the truth on the Atwal invite? He didn’t get through all the hoops on his own so who is really to blame. What did Trudeau know and when did he know it? Who slipped up? Who is lying? Why was he photographed with Sophie Trudeau if they didn’t know him?
We need answers, we need the truth from the Prime Minister, if he doesn’t know he better do some housecleaning. Anyone lying about this needs to resign, flipping us the bird on this fiasco cannot be tolerated.
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It’s a very important issue; possibly the most important since it involves trust and confidence in the government.
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This is a bigger issue for all parties, according to an article by Terry Milewski, than I would have ever guessed. They’ve all had a hand in vote-bank politics it seems. Somebody has to take a stand and, as far as I can see at this point, the CPC are best placed to do that. They are the official opposition and appear to have the least to lose. Note how the url is torqued by the CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/atwal-sikh-trudeau-conservatives-1.4559830
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IMO it is far beyond necessary to dress in the clothing or headgear to show respect for any religion, or sect, Native Band, or whatever, if you are not a member. Political leaders doing this are just plain over the top and they look like pandering fools. I think it’s doing the opposite of what they are trying to portray, it’s just plain offensive.
Speaking of trust in government, for me it’s the lowest in memory. We are not in good hands, I’ve said this from the day Trudeau and his cabal took power.
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I agree Liz. What’s happening in Canada now is very scary. I think the only hope is for people in Liberal ridings to complain to their MP and express their concerns. If enough Canadians did that then perhaps the Liberal caucus would realize what a horrible mistake Trudeau is.
I hope Trudeau’s numbers keep tanking.
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After Trudeau’s India disaster and his dealings with our closest ally and neighbour on this continent maybe we should wonder how many losses we will be having to cut.
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JT the doll:
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2018/02/28/justin-trudeau-doll-comes-packaged-with-various-costumes/#.Wpvj82YZP_U
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Ha-ha! That’s hilarious. Justin is the laughing stock of the world!
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Randeep Sarai has a rather questionable background. He was suspended from practising law for a one year period in 2005 for what were termed “colossal” failings and did not seek to have his licence reinstated until 2010. I would have thought that candidates for political office would undergo thorough vetting for such wrongdoings. Apparently not. The second link re: Mr. Sarai comes from @bcbluecon.
https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/lsbc/apps/hearings/viewreport.cfm?hearing_id=527&t=Sarai-Decision-on-Application-for-Reinstatement
https://www.straight.com/article/mayor-sought-sarai
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Rex Murphy is a National treasure…..great column in NP, I think Friday or Saturday on the India disaster a la Trudeau and family.
Pierre Poilievre is one sharp, cool Conservative MP, he is a real gem in the Conservative fold. I hope he runs for PM one day, Pierre really gets to the Liberals, they know they can’t mess with him, no $h!t Sherlock, he knows of what he speaks and does his homework.
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Thanks for the Rex Murphy tip Liz! I will have to check that out.
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Happy to know the tariff on chick peas has nothing to do with Mr Dressup’s India disaster, so sayeth the actor himself. We can just chalk it up as one of those coincidences in life. We can file a lot of what comes from the Liberal cabal under “believe it or not”.
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The press has touted Trudeau’s relationship with Trump as a very positive one and has lauded Trudeau endlessly for his talents in the management of this relationship. Now that Trump is introducing steep tariffs on steel and aluminum will the relationship still be viewed through the same lens? Not a chance – it’s all Trump’s fault they claim. Boy Wonder’s charms were supposed to insulate us from this type of thing, weren’t they? Who knew that good looks and animal magnetism wouldn’t go very far in international politics?
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Who knew indeed? How about anyone beyond the swooning chicks and adoring media who were swooped up in the drama or anyone with a thought process beyond a turnip.
He is the least qualified of anyone ever to hold the top job in this country and we have lots of proof, more and more every time he speaks.
He even has old Ralphie Goodale stumbling and bumbling in his attempts to answer questions when they cannot tell the truth. It was quite the spectacle to watch Ralphie of
Wascana fame running from the media’s questioning.
We are not in good hands.
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Didn’t anyone in Trudeau’s inner circle read “The Art of the Deal”? Or have they been lulled into a false sense of security thinking the man is all bluster? Trump knows what he wants for his country and its citizens and is not afraid to step on toes (no matter whose) to achieve his goals. Our guy doesn’t even reach amateur status on the international stage.
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Check out this page from the website of someone called Kim Smiley.
http://www.kimsmiley.com/press-media/
Ms Smiley, who refers to herself as a “fashion activist” and whose mantra is “Beauty for the public good” was responsible for most of the jewellery worn by our PM and his family on the recent trip to India. She is also in the business of selling her creations, and clearly is happy to use the First Family to assist her in that.
Check out the page marked Press and click on any picture to get a description. I particularly liked the photo of JT in a suit :
“At attention! On Feb. 23, Justin inspected a guard of honour during a ceremonial reception at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi. Prime Minister Trudeau wears an original Kim Smiley Pocket Square from her Real Men Wear Lace™ Collection. Kim’s forthcoming Men’s line is handmade in midtown Toronto by newcomers who earn a Living Wage.” How too, too precious.
NB Ms Smiley describes a Living Wage :
“For Smiley, that means hiring a team of six Syrian refugees as seamstresses and paying them a living wage of $18 per hour to craft the intricate lace-based designs — some of which take more than 100 hours to complete. She says the wage makes the difference between helping someone pay for food and electricity, and allowing their children to participate in music or art lessons.” Really ?? She thinks that the top priority for Syrian refugees and their kids is music or art lessons??
As far as I am concerned, I think a PM should be above letting photos of himself and his family be used in the promotion of a commercial business. I get that PM’s wives are supposed to promote Canadian fashion, but this goes way beyond that. I seem to remember there was a fuss back when Trudeau first became PM and Birks used pictures of Sophie wearing their (extremely expensive) earrings. At the time, the Trudeaus were told not to do it again, but that seems to have gone by the wayside big time. It also raises questions of whether or not the jewellery was loaned to SGT, and what sort of quid pro quo Ms.Smiley received for this display of her work in India, the subsequent publicity and of course the photospread on her website..
Perhaps the Ethics Commissioner should take an interest in this.
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still nothing in the mail to register for the Ontario leadership vote. It doesn’t take that long to mail stuff out to people.. Thousands are still waiting for their voting package. Are they just making it easy for Christine Elliott to win?
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Wow Ruth. You’re still waiting for the registration packet? Maybe try calling the helpline. This is the number from an email sent to me: 1-800-903-6453. Or here: leadership.ontariopc.ca.
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thanks
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No problem! This has to be a fair process. Everyone that wants to vote should be able to.
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If there is a problem I would assume it would affect all candidates unless there’s some mischief going on and that better not be happening.
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I think they’re having general problems due to the chaotic way this leadership race has had to have been arranged so close to a general election. BTW check your spam folder for any lost emails too.
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This is another thing the Liberals will pick up on…they can’t even set up a voting system that works.
They better extend it if it’s not resolved stat or there will be more controversy within.
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You can’t blame the slow mail for this long a delay….still nothing in today’s mail to register, I know a lot of people that only signed up to vote so they will be asking for their money back. This is not a Post Office problem now, it’s all on the PC executive.
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How do we know they are not playing games? Are we being sabotaged?
The Wynne Liberals are desperate, spending money like crazy and we will end up another term of the worst government we’ve had in our history if the PC’s can’t get their act together.
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Did you try calling or emailing the leadership team Ruth?
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like the tweet says, all were mailed the same day. Still nothing in the mail today, Mar 7th so I’m guessing a lot of us won’t get to vote now. Mail is not that slow, so something is going on.
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Very frustrating for sure. Especially when you’ve paid for the membership and were looking forward to voting.
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Well according to this tweet all registration packets were delivered to Canada Post the same day. Someone needs to follow up with Canada Post!
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If this is true they better get on Canada Post and get it sorted, find out what is going on. You’d think someone would have figured that out by now, go to the most obvious possible source of the problem.
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No kidding!
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Caroline Mulroney is aware of the problem.
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If we can’t rely on our mail service to do their job we need answers as a first step. Hate to mention it, certainly not making accusations ,but we are dealing with a unionized workforce.
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Andrew Lawton: In an interview on Global News Radio 640 Toronto, former PC Party convention co-chair Kevin Gaudet said the following, when asked about PC members who aren’t able to vote.
“The simple, short, unfortunate answer is, ‘too bad.’ I’m not aware of a back-up process for— You know, voting closes Friday. So, if you can’t get through that process, then I guess some people are going to be disenfranchised. And that’s obviously not ideal or optimal, but I just can’t figure out— I’m not aware of a back-up process that could work.”
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Infiltration of the party has been widely discussed for months. Perhaps it’s not the Post Office to blame. Whoever becomes leader has a monumental task ahead. This online voting process needs to be the starting point. I’m trying so hard not to succumb to conspiracy theories but with the mess that is the PC party and the players involved it’s becoming increasingly difficult. One bright spot is the poll put out by Newstalk 1010 which shows that 81% of Ontarians want the Liberals gone. “Of the respondents who want the Liberals out of office, 54% would like to see the PCs take over. 30% are in favour of an NDP government while 16% want one led by a different party.” http://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/news/newstalk-1010-poll-81-of-ontarians-want-liberal-government-gone-1.3665859 (via WK’s blog)
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Liberals now plan to run an $8 billion deficit so no doubt it will be a tough mess to clean up. Considering the strong growth we have now running a deficit is the height of fiscal irresponsibility. Hopefully in 92 days we can end this.
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I can’t wait to see how the Liberals intend to buy our votes with our own money. And our children’s and grandchildren’s money.
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Which will turn into a $12 billion deficit when the real numbers come in.
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OK I just received a notice from the Ontario PC Leadership Committee. Going to paste the whole thing here (bolding is mine):
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From Brian Lilley March 3 article update: “Despite statements made to me, and in public, by Patrick Brown’s spokesperson that he is backing Christine Elliott, Elliott’s campaign contacted me after this article was published to say there is no official endorsement.” The article references what some are calling the possibility of Elliot’s future support of a carbon tax. Will she, won’t she? Does Patrick Brown’s support of Elliot raise that question? http://brianlilley.com/elliott-slips-explaining-carbon-tax-stance/
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I wouldn’t be surprised if Elliott wins, for many PC’s she’s considered a safe choice. Not for me however. We need a big change.
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Apparently Andrew Scheer is visiting London UK and met with their PM May. Looking at the picture I couldn’t help but think what a contrast he is to the one who likes to play Mr Dressup to represent us on the world stage.
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Yes Andrew Scheer is a grown-up.
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I think the plan is to make Scheer look like the Prime Minister in Waiting. Good idea, Especially after this!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5480029/Is-Canadian-PM-Justin-Trudeau-PC-politician.html
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Daily Mail is ‘the most read english language news website in the world’
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Also – Warren K of all people has a post up – He called the trip ‘National Lampoon’s India Vacation’
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Ho-ho! I’ll have to check that out. Thanks Greg.
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With Trudeau, it’s all about him, he grabs attention by doing things that make headlines, he’s of the opinion he has star power. It flopped in India, the whole trip was a disaster, we did not get value for the money.
We don’t need a Prime Minister with a flair for dramatics, we need a business person with at least a clue what his job is.
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There’s one big thing about the voting process for PC leader, it’s not considerate of seniors who do not all have computers or are computer savvy enough .
Whether or not they get an extension it will still be a problem but it may allow more to get help with the process to get their vote in.
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Yes that’s a good point Liz.
Latest on Twitter is that the judge should have a decision by 5 pm today about the extension.
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Didn’t the PC’s recently have their system hacked? How does that inspire confidence in the process? Hartley Lefton’s “Sorry about your luck” attitude hardly mollifies the thousands who are unable to vote for whatever reason.
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Anyone else as po’d as I am see big sack of BS Al Gore coming up here telling us we should vote for Wynne Liberals? That’s interfering with our politics, he doesn’t live here, he doesn’t pay taxes here, he’s just full of the old crap.
He never hauls his fat butt anywhere for free, Wynne must have put out a few thousand to have him come here to shill for her.
Grrrrr.
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Yes I’d like to know exactly who paid for Gore to campaign for Wynne.
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I’d like to know the amount paid, I can imagine it’s well beyond reasonable.
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So the latest is that the judge rejected the request to extend the vote for another week. The new leader will be announced tomorrow.
Many people will be disappointed because they didn’t get a chance to vote. I hope the party can come together and concentrate on defeating Wynne.
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So.. Anyone watching the drama going on regarding PCPO leadership results?
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Hartley Lefton will have something to say in 30 minutes, but he won’t be telling us who won. This is interminable.
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Drama to the end!
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And no end in sight.
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Also, it’s giving the LIberals plenty of attack material from start to finish.
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It’s a nightmare.
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From @randyhillier: “Why is it that the one person who is allowed in and out of a sealed room is leaking info to the press regarding the #PCPOldr results-Nothing official other than rumors. Happens to be the same PB coms person.” Does PB = Patrick Brown? Looks like the rot may be located at the top where Vic Fedeli would be powerless to root it out.
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Fantastic, fantastic, my guy won!! Way to go, Doug Ford!! How about, “let’s make Ontario yours to discover!!” again. 🙂 I believe people are tired of the usual politicians.
From the best prime minister to the worse prime minister.
From Stephen Harper to Justin Trudeau.
Finally, there is hope the people have awaken. So goes Ontario, so goes the country!! Well, hopefully!! 🙂
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You are right Ed, there has been an awakening. With the McGuinty cum Wynne Liberals Ontario is now a recovery process, ours to recover and we did elect the right person for the job. It wasn’t a pretty process. We need a plain talking, strong voice, people are tired of the same old political jargon.
It was Murphy’s law plus, maybe a few gremlins thrown in, very amateur, let’s look forward and start the rebuild. The media will start to immediately compare Ford to Trump, good, let them fill their boots.
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Doug Ford would be my choice as the most likely to set a conservative agenda. My only concern has been if his brothers baggage might keep him from winning the election. Having said that, he should carry more of the GTA than some of the other choices. Not downtown, but Etobicoke and Scarborough for sure.
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I’m sure we will see incessant polling from now until the election.
There may be a rise in the NDP vote in some areas of Toronto, we are in for an interesting time for sure. We need to ensure Wynne gets to spend more time with her hero Al Gore.
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Like the leader or not, it is up to us ordinary people to vote PC in our ridings to get the Liberals out of power. Remember you are voting for your own member of Parliament in your riding. The media will do enough bashing of the leader.
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I hope we’re all ready for another outbreak of the lefty disease now known as Derangement Syndrome. It started with HDS, escalated on both sides of the border with TDS and surely will expand with the advent of FDS. Be prepared.
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I’m sure the word “controversial” will be well used from the voting process and, to use an overused phrase by politicians and others,”going forward”.
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