Category: Politics/Conservatives

Missouri Republican Williams wants Ignatieff "guarding our northern flank"

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Yancy Williams (left), is a thirty-something Republican from Jefferson City, Missouri who worked on Rudy Giuliani's presidential run in 2008, collects a paycheque for a Republican senator from Missouri, and has recently volunteered to be his state's chairman for Republicans For Ignatieff. As in Michael Ignatieff. Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

” I want that guy guarding American’s northern flank,” Williams told me in a telephone interview last week. “I think he’s spent enough time in the U.S. that he’s got a firm understanding of Americans, American policy and I’m comfortable with that.”

Williams is perfectly aware that the guy who is prime minister right now, Stephen Harper, leads a party called the Conservative Party of Canada.

“I have no particular criticism of your current prime minister. I just don’t feel that he has the tie to the United States that Ignatieff has. Ignatieff lived here. From what I’ve seen — I don’t know that he considers it his home but he certainly considered himself one of us while he was here. He spoke very fondly of us, defended our actions when we were defending ourselves,” Williams said.

Of course, that last quote from Williams dovetails nicely with one of the attack lines of Canada's Conservatives: That Iggy is “Just Visiting” and that he really wishes he lived somewhere other than Canada.

That meme or talking point repeated by Williams is one reason why many in Ottawa — reporters, Conservatives, Liberals, and others — thought that RepublicansForIgnatieff.com was, in fact, just a spoof site set up by one Iggy's Canadian political opponents. It may yet be. Williams has no idea who “The Colonel” is behind the site but, when he first ran across the site in early August, it felt legit to him and so, after reading up a bit on Ignatieff's positions, he signed on with the goal of helping a Canadian liberal, Michael Ignatieff, become the next Prime Minister of Canada. So if it is a spoof then the joke's on me and, it appears, on Williams.

“I have to admit, I was not fully educated on your [electoral] race,” Williams said. “But I signed up. And I got an e-mail back. They asked a little bit about me. I said, I work in politics. I’m a Republican. What do you need? And they said, “We’re not 100 per cent sure, right now but go try to talk to others and see what sort of support you can find and that’s what I did.”

For Williams, Iggy is the right man to lead Canada because of his views on North American security and on energy security:

“I mean this with no offence to any Canadian because I understand we are wonderful partners,” Williams said. “[But] when we were attacked on Sept. 11, it changed us in an unbelieveable way. We now look at the world differently and every person has to meet the standard: Are you going to be able to protect us? And I think [Ignatieff] does.

“Secondly, I come from a family who’s in the gas and oil business and the tar sands are a huge issue with me. There is a pipeline that is going to run from Hardisty, Alberta to Wood River, Illinois, and that will run straight through the state of Missouri. It will come within a few miles of my home. It’s not yet complete but it will be soon. That is jobs for folks in Missouri. It has Missouri businesses involved. The tar sands are the second largest oil reserve in the world and they happen to be on our continent. When you combine them and ANWAR, we have the ability to seek true energy independence from the Middle East.

“When Sarah Palin came out and said, drill, baby, drill, it hit a nerve with folks here. It really caught on. If we can get the Canadian version which is “Drill, Iggy, Drill”, or whatever you want to say, we need to utilize that source not only for our energy needs but for our national security needs. I think [Ignatieff] is well-suited to run the Canadian government.

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Finley, Plett & Stewart-Olsen to be named senators

Just up on our site now ..

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is preparing to reward some of his longest-serving and most loyal political operatives with Senate appointments that could come as early as this week, Canwest News Service has learned.

Doug Finley, who has been the political master strategist for the Conservative party in its first four general elections, will lead a pack of eight Senate appointees that includes Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, who was Harper's second-longest serving aide before her retirement this summer, and Don Plett, who will have to resign as president of the Conservative Party of Canada if he accepts the $132,000-a-year job as senator. [Read the rest]

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On Khadr: Harper government fights to keep accused in Gitmo

In the wake of the news yesterday that the federal government will ask the Supreme Court to overturn a Federal Court of Appeal decision ordering it to see Omar Khadr's repatriation. Khadr, a Canadian citizen, has been held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than one-third of his life, and is the last citizen of a Western democracy to be held there. Here's a statement from the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannnon:

Supreme Court Appeal:

The Government of Canada has consistently stated that Omar Khadr faces serious charges. After careful consideration of the legal merits of the ruling from the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal, the Government has decided to seek leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. As the matter is currently under litigation, we will provide no further comment at this time. The Government of Canada has filed a motion for stay pending appeal.

Canada's Position:

Our position regarding Mr. Khadr remains unchanged. In fact, it is the same policy held by two previous governments. Omar Khadr has been accused of serious crimes (including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, material support for terrorism and spying, all in violation of the laws of war).

President Obama has not communicated any decision to the Government of Canada with respect to the case of Mr. Khadr. As you know the Obama administration has recently taken decisions to proceed with the closure of Guantanamo, halt the judiciary process and also to evaluate each of the cases. It is in our interest to wait for the outcome of these decisions just put forward by President Obama. The Government of Canada has taken its responsibilities with regards to Mr. Khadr, and we will also take our responsibilities when the US Government shares its decision on this case.

We continue to closely monitor the situation, including the work of the American committee formed to study the fate of Guantanamo detainees, including Mr. Khadr. Departmental officials have carried out several welfare visits with Mr. Khadr and will continue to do so. We will not speculate on hypothetical scenarios.

Harper to Canada's seals: I will eat you

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We all know (don't we?) about Governor General Michaelle Jean's consumption of raw seal heart.

Well, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in the Arctic this week for the first time since the GG's gustatory bravado and while he's not carving up a seal and eating raw meat, he is, by both his words and his actions, demonstrating his support for Canada's sealers.

His actions first:

Harper arrived in Iqaluit, Nunavut on Monday night with a planeload of the cabinet ministers that sit on cabinet's Priorities and Planning Committee. P&P held a meeting in Iqaluit Tuesday. At lunch, at Harper's request, cabinet was served a menu of boiled and raw seal livers and ribs.

On Wednesday, as he bantered with reporters (left) aboard the HMCS Toronto while sailing on Frobisher Bay, Harper noted that even Transport Minister John Baird, a vegetarian, tried some seal meat at lunch.

“I'm tired of John's vegetaranism,” Harper joked.

But lunch on Tuesday did not, apparently, quench Harper's appetite for seal. For dinner Wednesday, Harper requested seal steaks and encouraged his staff to try a bit. We have been told that journalists travelling with the prime minister this week — I'm one of them — will see seal in some form or another on the menu Thursday. (I had a muskox burger on Tuesday … gulp!)

Eating seal is the prime minister's way of showing solidarity with east coast seal hunters who are suffering economically after the European Union banned Canadian seal products because they are apparently upset about the way the annual hunt is conducted.

Here is what the prime minister had to say about that during a press conference in Iqaluit on Tuesday:

The government support for our sealing industry is well known. This industry … has tight standards, the tightest in the world. The standards of this industry, quite frankly, are better than many other industries that deal with animal products. There is no reason the seal industry should be singled out for discriminatory treatment by Europeans or any other nation, and I've been very outspoken on that. I've been outspoken on that in this country. I've been outspoken on that when I've been in Europe and elsewhere. The government of Canada is already taking and will take every measure necessary to assert our rights, because it is important, obviously.

We have to remember, as I said in Europe, this is an industry that is not just vital to Canada, but that is undertaken in communities like this one and communities in Atlantic Canada that are very poor, where it is for the people who do it the only game in town, and it is simply unfair to single it out for treatment. I would in fact recommend – I rarely recommend anything in the media – I would recommend the recent editorial in The Economist, a European publication, on this very issue, which I think laid out the case crystal clear of why the sealing industry should be treated the same as any other industry involved in the husbandry of animals and why measures being taken against it are discriminatory and unacceptable.

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The latest Conservative attack that taxpayers get to pay for

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A correspondent brings to my attention the latest “ten percenter” issued by Conservative MPs.

You may recall that in June, the Tories sent out ten per-centers attacking Liberal Michael Ignatieff, saying that he'd raise the GST and that he liked a carbon tax.

A new version is now being sent out to thousands of Canadian households — at public expense — which takes on the same format but adds a new twist, a kind of soft-sell on the “Just Visiting” idea.

The copy that came to me was sent out by Edmonton MP Laurie Hawn. You can download a two-page PDF here. I've reproduced the bottom half of one of the pages on the left.

The copy in the ad attacks Ignatieff for his time spent outside Canada but, perhaps sensitive to backlash from first-generation Canadians that someone ought not be criticized for spending part of their life outside Canada, the Tories try to soft-pedal the criticism by suggesting there's nothing wrong or illegal with working outside Canada – unless you want to be prime minister. Here's the Conservative wording:

There's nothing extraordinary about Michael Ignatieff working in the United States or the United Kingdom. Many Canadians, at one point or another in their career, leave to pursue other opportunities. The problem is that Mr. Ignatieff was gone for more than three decades before he decided he wanted to come home and try to be Prime Minister. While he was gone, he called two other countries home. By his own admission, he basically paid no real attention to Canada in his absence. That was his choice. There's no Canadian law that said he had to take an interest. But then, he turned up in 2005 with the intention of becoming Prime Minister. Why should Canadians believe he suddenly cares about what happens to Canadians after ignoring them for so long?

A quick refresher on the rules for these things: Under House of Commons rules, every MP can send out a newsletter four times a year to every household in the MP's riding. The cost to produce and distribute these is borne by every taxpayer and comes out of the notoriously opaque House of Commons budget. The partisan sniping in these so-called “Householders” is usually pretty low-key.

But there's another type of mailing MPs get to make — again, at taxpayers' expense. This one is called a “ten percenter” and the partisan sniping in them is generally at a fever pitch. MPs can send out an unlimited number of these things every year, the cost of which has never been published by the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy but is believed to be about $7 million a year. The only restriction on these mailings is that each separate newsletter can only be sent to maximum of the equivalent of 10 per cent of the households in the MP's riding but cannot be sent to households in the MPs riding. So Tories tend to send these to non-Tory ridings, particularly in areas they think they can win in the next election. Liberals do the same thing, sending highly partisan ten percenters into ridings held by opponents.

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If there's any doubt Ablonczy's in the dog house …

Then this press release would be it.

Here's the government of Canada giving $270,000 to the Calgary Folk Festival, funding that came out of the Marquee Tourism Events Program and the Calgary MP who happens to be Minister of State for Tourism, Diane Ablonczy, is nowhere to be found. Instead, it's Ontario MP and Industry Minister (and heavy metal fan, I might add) who is handing out the cash.

Meanwhile, on the same day a few hours earlier, Conservative MP Randy Kamp gets to have his name on the press release and earn a little local political credit when he hands out $16,000 for a local heritage initiative in Mission, B.C. That's the way it usually works: If the money is going to benefit voters in a region or a riding, then the MP from that region or riding puts their name on it.

But after giving money to Toronto's gay community, Ablonczy is in the dog house and on the sideline for her own tourism program, freeing up Clement to make sure gay communities do not get money but that chamber music festivals do, in fact, get marketing money three days before their event gets underway.

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Some clarifications on my views of Harper overseas

Embassy Magazine reporter Michelle Collins interviewed me earlier this week about my impressions of Prime Minister Stephen Harper when I have travelled overseas with him.

She interviewed others for this article as well — though none of the others quoted in the piece have, so far as I know, ever travelled overseas with a prime minister. The result of her work is in an article titled “G8 Attack Reflects Poorly on Canada: Experts”

I show up in the following bit:

Canwest News reporter David Akin said that when he follows the prime minister to such summits, the Canadian leader is so poorly known that photographers are constantly asking who Mr. Harper is.

Mr. Akin recalled that at the prime minister's first G8 Summit in St. Petersburg in 2006, Mr. Harper avoided the press for three entire days, even as every other G8 leader loudly trumpeted their messages to the international press gathered on site.

“He was so uncomfortable he was invisible, he physically looked smaller in that '06 summit…he seemed really out of his element,” Mr. Akin said. “When you're travelling with him, there's never enough information about his activities, about who he's speaking to. The read-outs that we get from the PMO communications when he meets with other leaders are frustratingly bland and vague.”

While these quotations attributed to me are correct, they represent an incomplete response give to the questions Collins put to me. Indeed, since the headline is “G8 Attack Reflects Poorly on Canada: Experts” you might get the impression that I am one of the “experts” who holds that view. For the record, I am neither an expert nor do I hold that view. In fact, when asked specifically by Collins if that's what I believed, I replied that the attack did not reflect in any way on Canada simply because most other delegations don't pay much attention to Canada. Canadians think it makes a difference to our world standing but I have seen no evidence when I'm at these summits that it makes a difference one way or the other.
Some other clarifications and amplifications:

  • I told Collins that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is rarely recognized by the foreign press but I also said that that goes for any Canadian prime minister. It was the same for former prime ministers Paul Martin and Jean Chretien not just for Harper.
  • Prime Minister Stephen Harper did indeed look out of his element the 2006 G8 summit. It was the first major international meeting for both Harper and his advisors. As I told Collins, many of those same advisors who now travel with the prime minister travelled have been travelling with him since 2008. And I told Collins that while he did seem “smaller” in 2006, that is no longer the case. While many have appropriate questions as to the objectives he wants to accomplish while overseas and the means he uses to accomplish those objectives, there is no denying that he is much more sure-footed overseas and has, in some cases, been able to bring other leaders around to his view. (The most notable example of that for me was the 2007 Commonwealth Summit in Uganda when Harper and Canada were seen as blocking movement on the climate change file and yet, the final communique reflected Canada's rather different view of this file.). The key point, though is: While he seemed “out of his element” in 2006, I no longer have that impression and told Collins as much.
  • I and many of my press gallery colleagues continue to complain about the amount and quality of information given to us while we're travelling with the prime minister. It is improving but remains a constant complaint.

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Immigration Minister takes to Twitter on Visa issue

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Jason Kenney, Canada's immigration and citizenship minister, did the rounds of most newsrooms in Ottawa – including ours — explaining the government's position on a story my colleague Peter O'Neill broke yesterday that, beginning early this morning, all visitors to Canada from the Czech Republic and Mexico need a visa to get into Canada. The visa requirement, by itself, doesn't prevent people from coming to Canada but, because it involves more paperwork that must be completed in advance of a visit, it does discourage spur-of-the-moment trips and can be a barrier that will reduce visitors from a given country.

In response, the Czech Republic recalled its ambassador to Canada and several refugee assistance groups decried the message.

Here's what Kenney had to say on Twitter (@MinJK) about the issue (The time element is relative to about 9 pm EDT):

  • Two important announcements about protecting the integrity of Canada's immigration system: http://is.gd/1xvyM http://is.gd/1xvGf4:15 PM Jul 13th
  • Its important to understand that visas are normal, not exceptional. There is a visa requirement on all foreign nationals in the law (IRPA)..23 minutes ago
  • @starkob Several weeks notice was given to the 2 relevant governments, but public notice would likely lead to a flood of last minute claims 11 minutes ago
  • @mattjuniper Actually standard practice is to give no notice: the 48 hour grace time was extraordinary. Longer notice = flood of ref claims.27 minutes ago from web in reply to mattjuniper
  • ..and on most (140+) countries. Exemptions are granted for some countries if they meet objective criteria, such as low rate of asylum claims20 minutes ago from web
  • # Re: more staff, tripling the size of the IRB would be insufficient to deal with the current refugee backlog: 30% increase in claims in 2008.9 minutes ago from web
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The Colonel Behind Republicans for Ignatieff

I, too, got pretty much the same response as Kady to my query, submitted via an online form, when I asked who was behind Republicans for Ignatieff. On Sunday we both get on e-mail from “The Colonel” behind the site. I've put the version I got below. (I don't think there's much difference between, the responder has a bit more at the top here, saying his group is small but growing, but the other stuff is pretty similar to Kady's)

Now, when I first saw Republicans for Ignatieff, I strongly suspected that the Conservative Party of Canada was unofficially behind it and/or responsible for it. I based that hunch on the fact some Conservative operatives have been known to do some stuff like this before; when do they stuff like this it tends to be a little more sophisticated; and, most of all, the point of the site fits right into the narrative currently being pushed about Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, warning Canadians that he is “Just Visiting”.

The group has a “press release” scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. and this week, it says at the site, “Republicans for Ignatieff will be making the case – using Michael's own words – for targeted assassinations and coercive interrogations.” Now that can't be for real, can it?

I used to think it wasn't for real but I'm less inclinded to think so after reading the e-mail reply from The Colonel behind the site. Tell me what you think and, more importantly, if you were a politics reporter, what do you do with this? Thoughts on tracking down the real people behind this?

From: semperficolonel@aol.com
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:00:01 -0500
To: dakin@canwest.com
Subject: Republicans For Ignatieff

Thanks for your e-mail and interest in the site.

I should tell you right off the top that I am not a media savvy individual nor do I crave media attention for myself. This is not about me it's about Michael Ignatieff. Our group is small (but growing) and members live in both the United States and Canada.

The site is what it is: a modest attempt to show why Republicans want Michael Ignatieff to become Prime Minister of Canada.

We've received several thousand unique visitors – more than we imagined.

Speaking for myself, I can tell you:

– I live in the United States.

– Everyone, except my Mother, calls me The Colonel.

– I am deeply invested in foreign affairs.

– I believe energy security is the single biggest foreign affairs challenge facing America.

– I first discovered Michael Ignatieff when I picked up a copy of Blood and Belonging in 1994.

– Although I don't agree with everything Michael Ignatieff stands for, particularly on social policy, I strongly support him on energy security and the war on terror, the two issues that matter most to me.

I suspect this is the case for most other Republican supporters of Michael Ignatieff.

– I also admire Ignatieff for his willingness to admit hard truths that many Canadians are unwilling to accept, particularly the strategic importance of the tar sands, the need for coercive interrogation as a tool in the war on terror, and the irrelevance of Canadian foreign policy under the Chretien and Martin administrations. In challenging the conventional wisdom of his own party, he reminds me a great deal of Tony Blair who took on the trade unions and the peace movement and re-invented the British Labour Party, culminating of course in his courageous support of President Bush in Iraq.

At this point, we have not, as a group, decided on an official spokesperson.

Over time, we hope to inform, educate and recruit more people to join us in backing Michael Ignatieff.

Thanks again for your interest.

The Colonel

semperficolonel@aol.com

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Ablonczy had no money, little power to do anything to boost tourism, briefing notes show

I'll post more excerpts later from the MInisterial Briefing Notes given to Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, Diane Ablonczy,but here's the story that resulted:

The Canadian tourism industry is in dire straits, but federal Tourism Minister Diane Ablonczy has little money or legislative authority to do much about it, according to briefing notes obtained by Canwest News Service.

Ablonczy's ability to influence federal policy on tourism was further diminished late last month after she was stripped of funding responsibility for a key program after angering social Conservatives in caucus when she approved a grant to Toronto's gay Pride Week.

But even before that, the bureaucrats in her own department had warned her of the difficult task she faced as the lead cabinet minister responsible for tourism, an industry that generates about $74 billion a year and employs 660,000 Canadians.

“Your ability to help maintain and boost growth and competitiveness is constrained by current market forces, lack of funds for new or enhanced program spending and the broad dispersion of policies and programs of support across the federal government,” an anonymous bureaucrat writes in the ministerial briefing books given to Ablonczy, a Calgary MP, after she was sworn in as minister of state for small business and tourism last November.

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