Once in awhile I will shy away from talking about our government and more specifically the Conservatives and Stephen Harper. And as Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing." You can get pretty bored reading about the same people and the same issues everyday so that is why I'm switching it up a bit to another very interesting topic. What is this topic I speak of you might ask? The Liberal leadership race.
The contest to decide the leader of the party that has been governing our country for the past 12 years will be much more interesting than the last one. There is no goliath front runner such as Paul Martin this time and there might actually be some competition in this one. Paul Martin was touted as the next great leader of our country, but who knew at the time that it would turn into a brief 2 year stint as PM that would be plagued by scandal and minority government. I firmly believe that if the sponsorship scandal did not turn into what it did or not happen at all that Paul Martin would still be our prime minister and he would be enjoying a comfortable Liberal majority government. However, as we all know, that is not the case. The election is over, the Liberals are out, the Conservatives are in, Stephen Harper is our new PM, and as for Paul Martin, he announced that he will be stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party.
That leaves us where we are today. The Conservatives are in government and trying to remember what that feels like and the Liberals are reeling back into their caves with their tail between their legs and have begun the tedious process of picking a new leader to take them into the next election. The Liberal Party has estimated that it will between November of this year and March of 2007 until we know who that person is. Now clearly we must have some idea of who this person might be and there must be at least one front runner or two that will catch our attention. People like Frank McKenna, former ambassador to the United States; John Manley, former deputy prime minister and finance minister under Chretien; Brian Tobin, former MP, cabinet minister, and premier of Newfoundland; and Allan Rock, former cabinet minister with many importnat posts and current ambassador to the United Nations. The only problem with this seemingly outstanding group of candidates is that they have all taken their names out of the race to replace Martin. The reasons vary but they all have one similar trait, none of them want to lead a Liberal Party is opposition and into the next election.
So now we are left with a handful of still viable candidates but none of the front runners we thought we would be seeing. Only one person, Martha Findlay, has officially put there name forward as a nomination for Liberal leader although there are many others who are undecided or at least have yet to make it official. Star candidate Michael Ignatieff, former Conservatives Belinda Stronach and Scott Brison, former NDP premier of Ontario Bob Rae, and former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan are all excellent nominees but of course, nothing is official... yet.
The task ahead for whoever it is that is chosen as the leader of the Liberal Party will be a tough one. They will be put into Official Opposition status in a minority government situation and will head the party into the next election hoping for Harper and the Conservatives to make some mistakes along the way. I'm also sure that there will be other unknown obstacles in their path as well that we will only have to wait to see.
Whoever it is that is chosen as leader I will be formally opposed to in the true Conservative spirit that I have. However, this does not prevent me from chosing who I would like to see in opposition. If I had to chose someone who has already officially put their name forward then I only have one choise, Ms. Findlay, however we all know there will be more to follow. And if I had to chose among all prospective nominees, even the ones that have dropped out, I would chose Frank McKenna, but this is not an option any longer. So that leaves me with Findlay and all the others who have yet to come forward officially but are potential candidates. And from this list I don't think I have any choice other than Michael Ignatieff. Why, you may ask? Well, it is for the pure and simple fact that I don't see any other real options out there. Most of the other options such as Stronach, Brison, and Rae are all formerly members of other parties. Stronach ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party and lost to Harper, Brison was a Conservative, and Rae was the NDP premier of Ontario.
Of course, I may be wrong about all of this or I may be right on the money but either way it will be an interesting race nonetheless. As more people throw their names into the ring the more interesting it will become. Just wait and see, that's all we can do.
- DCM
The contest to decide the leader of the party that has been governing our country for the past 12 years will be much more interesting than the last one. There is no goliath front runner such as Paul Martin this time and there might actually be some competition in this one. Paul Martin was touted as the next great leader of our country, but who knew at the time that it would turn into a brief 2 year stint as PM that would be plagued by scandal and minority government. I firmly believe that if the sponsorship scandal did not turn into what it did or not happen at all that Paul Martin would still be our prime minister and he would be enjoying a comfortable Liberal majority government. However, as we all know, that is not the case. The election is over, the Liberals are out, the Conservatives are in, Stephen Harper is our new PM, and as for Paul Martin, he announced that he will be stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party.
That leaves us where we are today. The Conservatives are in government and trying to remember what that feels like and the Liberals are reeling back into their caves with their tail between their legs and have begun the tedious process of picking a new leader to take them into the next election. The Liberal Party has estimated that it will between November of this year and March of 2007 until we know who that person is. Now clearly we must have some idea of who this person might be and there must be at least one front runner or two that will catch our attention. People like Frank McKenna, former ambassador to the United States; John Manley, former deputy prime minister and finance minister under Chretien; Brian Tobin, former MP, cabinet minister, and premier of Newfoundland; and Allan Rock, former cabinet minister with many importnat posts and current ambassador to the United Nations. The only problem with this seemingly outstanding group of candidates is that they have all taken their names out of the race to replace Martin. The reasons vary but they all have one similar trait, none of them want to lead a Liberal Party is opposition and into the next election.
So now we are left with a handful of still viable candidates but none of the front runners we thought we would be seeing. Only one person, Martha Findlay, has officially put there name forward as a nomination for Liberal leader although there are many others who are undecided or at least have yet to make it official. Star candidate Michael Ignatieff, former Conservatives Belinda Stronach and Scott Brison, former NDP premier of Ontario Bob Rae, and former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan are all excellent nominees but of course, nothing is official... yet.
The task ahead for whoever it is that is chosen as the leader of the Liberal Party will be a tough one. They will be put into Official Opposition status in a minority government situation and will head the party into the next election hoping for Harper and the Conservatives to make some mistakes along the way. I'm also sure that there will be other unknown obstacles in their path as well that we will only have to wait to see.
Whoever it is that is chosen as leader I will be formally opposed to in the true Conservative spirit that I have. However, this does not prevent me from chosing who I would like to see in opposition. If I had to chose someone who has already officially put their name forward then I only have one choise, Ms. Findlay, however we all know there will be more to follow. And if I had to chose among all prospective nominees, even the ones that have dropped out, I would chose Frank McKenna, but this is not an option any longer. So that leaves me with Findlay and all the others who have yet to come forward officially but are potential candidates. And from this list I don't think I have any choice other than Michael Ignatieff. Why, you may ask? Well, it is for the pure and simple fact that I don't see any other real options out there. Most of the other options such as Stronach, Brison, and Rae are all formerly members of other parties. Stronach ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party and lost to Harper, Brison was a Conservative, and Rae was the NDP premier of Ontario.
Of course, I may be wrong about all of this or I may be right on the money but either way it will be an interesting race nonetheless. As more people throw their names into the ring the more interesting it will become. Just wait and see, that's all we can do.
- DCM
Comments
im considering putting my name forward.
ahaha.
i would be syked to be the leader of the liberal party.
but then i would leave them and run to the NDP. the only good party :-)
I think you should hold off a little bit before you put your name forward. You may not even have to go through the Liberals because I don't think Jack Layton has too much time left as leader of the NDP. Then it will be time to make your move. lol
- DCM
I believe she should be seriously considered by Liberals, because she brings several distinct plusses to the table, including these:
• Findlay has made her own way in life, like most Canadians have to. If she is elected leader of the Liberal Party, she will understand more than most of her wealthy opponents what the average Canadian faces.
• She has proven – in both business, as a mother, and in politics – her ability in all those fields.
• She is untainted by scandal, and would present a fresh face to the voters.
• She is an Ontarian, source of a big whack of total seats in the House.
• Her bilingualism meets the “minimum needs” tests for any candidate for leadership of a major political party in Canada.
• She has served her time in politics, is well respected in her riding, has demonstrated the ability to pull voters from across the spectrum of voters, and is not a parachuted-in candidate into her riding or into the leadership campaign.
• She will be a uniter – of the party, of the country.
It will be interesting to see if she is able to come out of the starting blocks with a detailed, personalized platform of her own, so that Liberals can weigh her positions on major issues and assess whether she could be a credible Prime Minister.
Given the absence of a clear frontrunner (with the most likely ones – Tobin etc. – having dropped out), the likelihood is that the votes will be close, with more than one round being needed to select a leader. Ms Findlay will enter the selection process with her own block of support, but she deserves serious attention from those who might be called upon to cast their votes for someone other than their first choice.