Tonight on my program, Battleground on Sun News Network, I talk to the last Liberal finance minister the country has known, Ralph Goodale about some of the issues I raise in my weekend newspaper column.
Tag: liberals
Liberals set for big finish to 2013 in fundraising
Can they beat the Conservatives?
Shortly after 1 p.m. ET this afternoon, the Liberal Party of Canada’s senior director for fundraising Christina Topp sent out an e-mail to party members saying that, in the month of December alone, the party had raised $2,174,634 from 32,107 donors. Those are very good numbers. Indeed, that one month alone would beat the haul the party has had in many three-month periods over the last several years. (Federal political parties have been required to disclose financial data on a quarterly basis since 2007).
But while Liberals should, quite rightly, celebrate a helluva month from its fundraising division, that party still has much work to do to match the Conservatives when it comes to fundraising prowess. Continue reading Liberals set for big finish to 2013 in fundraising
The B.C. NDP hold their version of "Ladies Night". Cue the outrage.
The poster above, which I first saw when former Parliament Hill Liberal staffer Ben Parsons brought it to my attention on Twitter, is from the BC NDP.
It advertises a political fundraiser to be held this March. In fact, the B.C. NDP have been holding this annual event since 2003. Here’s the poster from the 2013 version. Over at the event’s 2013 Facebook page, it quite clearly says that this event was held to celebrate “International Women’s Day.” Continue reading The B.C. NDP hold their version of "Ladies Night". Cue the outrage.
VIDEO: Ross counts on community connection to win Liberal nod in Toronto-Centre
Todd Ross, a former navy man and a long-time assistant to former Ontario Liberal MPP George Smitherman, has heard the rumours that federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau favours the candidacy of journalist Chrystia Freeland in Toronto Centre but he is not deterred. He believes his long and constant connection to the riding — which includes some of the city’s poorest and richest neighbourhoods — St. James Town to Rosedale — will stand him in good stead with Liberals in the riding.
The date for the nomination has yet to be set but, according to three Liberal sources with knowledge about the riding, there were, as of last week, about 1,175 members of the Toronto Centre Liberal riding association, a number that has grown only by about 300 since the nomination race began. (Diana Burke is the third nominee running). Continue reading VIDEO: Ross counts on community connection to win Liberal nod in Toronto-Centre
Comparing New Democrat and Liberal leadership numbers
The New Democratic Party of Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada have substantially different party constitutions, relationships with provincial parties, and finances. And, yet, it seems irresistible to make some comparisons between the NDP leadership race of 2011-2012 and the Liberal leadership race of 2012-2013. So let’s do that.
Here is a table which shows the total number of eligible voters in each province. Eligible voters are not actual voters . We will not have a final count of actual voters in the Liberal race until Sunday April 14. We do know that, as of today at around 1 pm, the total number of actual voters in teh Liberal race eclipsed the total number of voters in any one of the four ballots in the NDP race last year. Continue reading Comparing New Democrat and Liberal leadership numbers
Quebec may not care but it hits above its weight for the Liberal leadership
Last year, when New Democrats elected Thomas Mulcair their leader, every single paid-up member of the party was allowed to vote and every single vote counted. It was a one-member, one-vote system.
There was, at various points in the race, concern from the Montreal-based Mulcair camp that, since Quebec had never had — and still does not have — a provincial wing of the party and since members of provincial NDP parties in BC, Manitoba, Ontario and elsewhere are automatically voting members of the federal party, that the one-member, one-vote system would be a handicap to candidates, like Mulcair, from Quebec.
The one-member, one-vote system in the NDP leadership race turned out, after all, not to be a handicap for Mulcair because he won.
Still, though the province of Quebec has about 23 per cent of the Canadian population, just 9.6 per cent of the eligible voters in that NDP contest were from Quebec. By contrast, more than 30 per cent of the voters were from B.C., even though B.C. has only 13 per cent of the population. Those who were nervous about one-member, one-vote were worried that regional imbalances would either given an advantage to one candidate or another.
The Liberal Party of Canada is in the midst of its own leadership race and voting is underway this week. Again, Quebec is under-represented so far as voters go if one compares Quebec votersto the overall population. Just 11.6 per cent of the Liberal leadership voters are from Quebec.
This time next week, the leaders of the two leading opposition parties could be from Quebec and yet, judged on their participation in each party’s leadership contest, Quebecer’s seem not to care that much. That’s the starting point for my discussion with Le Journal de Montréal blogger Lisa Ravary, above.
Continue reading Quebec may not care but it hits above its weight for the Liberal leadership
On Bob Rae's last day, much admiration and respect — even from John Baird
The House of Commons on Thursday takes a two-week Easter break. And when it resumes on April 15, there will be new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. On Wednesday, the fellow who has been the interim Liberal Leader had his last day in Question Period in that position. That fellow, of course, is Bob Rae, the member for Toronto Centre and a politician who, I think it is safe to say, has the respect of just about everyone — journalists, partisans, NGOs, you name it — on Parliament Hill. He certainly had mine.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in Question Period, praised Rae’s “tenacity, patriotism and intellect” as he answered a question from the interim leader.
After Question Period, there were some tributes in the House to Rae. I quite liked this one, Continue reading On Bob Rae's last day, much admiration and respect — even from John Baird
BC Liberals issue press release telling Clark to step down
Any Parliamentary Press Gallery journalist who has been around for a few years can tell you that federal Liberals can be a vicious bunch although they usually prefer sticking the knives into their opponents under the cloak of anonymity — the “senior Liberal source” you’ve no doubt read a lot about.
It’s refreshing then to see that, in B.C. politics, those who would stick the knives into members of their own party are not only not anonymous, they actually issue press releases with photos! Continue reading BC Liberals issue press release telling Clark to step down
The Person With The Plan To Make It Happen is Joyce
This is a very good song. From a pretty good rapper. Who happens to think he’s gonna be the son of a prime minister one day.
Trudeau: "Ottawa is less and less relevant to Canadians"
Today, in St. Hyacinthe, QC, our reporters asked Liberal leadership candidate more questions about the $277,000 he says he has earned in speaking fees since becoming an MP in 2008. You can watch one of his answers in the video above but I’ve also reproduced here below. If I parse it back correctly, Trudeau is saying his speaking tour has been necessary because Canadians are tuning out what happens in Parliament — and that, of course, is the fault of the current Conservative government — which means that if MPs, like Trudeau, want to talk to Canadians about their ideas and policies they advocated, well, the House of Commons is no longer the place to do that: Continue reading Trudeau: "Ottawa is less and less relevant to Canadians"