News Junkie Canada

October 24, 2003

Norman Spector on the PC-CA Merger

Don't miss the link at the bottom to another blogger's take on this. I like input. We need people to feel free to voice their ideas. NJC

An appetite for change? by Norman Spector, former chief of staff to Brian Mulroney, Oct. 24, 03, The Globe and Mail

Canadians may well relish a Conservative Party of Canada, but much depends on who is served up as leader, says NORMAN SPECTOR,

It's difficult to imagine the new Conservative Party of Canada winning the next election, but that should be the objective, starting with its choice of leader.

Though neither Stephen Harper nor Peter MacKay can be ruled out, neither can match Paul Martin's stature, experience and competence. In truth, it would take a miracle -- someone like, well . . . like Paul Martin. Or, like Brian Mulroney, another "trans-cultural" embraced by francophone Quebeckers as a native son.

I don't know whom my former boss is eyeing for leader, but his fingerprints are on the Harper-MacKay deal, notwithstanding spin about Belinda Stronach as the godmother. She's kept Mike Harris on the shelf as a Magna director in anticipation, and this week, he seemed interested. Unilingual, not the sharpest fellow at his other perch, the Fraser Institute, and carrying baggage accumulated as premier of Ontario, Mr. Harris is still better positioned than any other potential candidate to cement the new party's unity and break the Liberal hegemony in Ontario.

For another view on Mr. Harris and the media's methods in supporting their Liberal masters so as to stop Mr. Harris before he enters a race which he, too, has the potential to win, see my article Example of the Anti-Merger, Anti-Mulroney Media in Action, on how the media kills potential candidates -- they're guilty--and damned--by association. NJC

To have even the slightest chance of victory, the Conservatives must face an uncomfortable truth: the majority of Canadians are infused with slightly left-leaning centrist values and it will take time to convert them. In the meantime, the new party must appeal to voters united principally by their anti-Liberalism. Forging compromise will not be easy, and could again end in self-destruction.

My Commentary:

D**n it! Those of us who did NOT have the above-mentioned leftist/centrist values had nowhere to go until Preston Manning harnessed like-minded conservatives and formed the Reform Party; then he put his job on the line to form the Canadian Alliance; and now, conservatives of all stripes are coming to see that a merger and much discussion and compromise will ensue -- but the best among us understand that conservative should mean conservative -- not leftist NDP and leftist Liberal. There are a great number of Canadians who have had no political home until Preston Manning and now Stephen Harper provided one. There is need for a real conservative party in Canada not another pseudo-NDP/Liberal party.

Don't forget what the Liberal machine has done across Canada to Departments of Education and the Civil Service. They were ruthless! Spout our views or you don't work at all. Canadians have learned that lesson and it must be unlearned. We must learn that it is healthy in a democracy to dissent, argue, co-operate and compromise. That is democracy. Let all conservatives make input. Perhaps then, we will have a true conservative party in Canada. Also, we must allow questioning, dissenting opinion and debate in the schools -- not hush it up and force the young to spout the Liberal mantras in order to survive academically and later in the work world. © NJC

On abortion, social conservatives, including Catholics, have over time become more pragmatic about the content of legislation; most also understand it would be easier to change public opinion under a sympathetic government. The Alliance's referendum proposal cost it many votes in the last election, and the Conservative Party of Canada should instead promise not to legislate on hot-button issues during its first term. . . .

In offering change, the Conservatives should focus on one principal theme: Cleaning up the mess in Ottawa. This may cost a few seats, but even denizens of Fat City are appalled by waste and corruption. Though Mr. Martin positions himself as an agent of change, he is part of the system, having served as finance minister, and as a Quebec MP, during the years of scandals and egregious excesses.

Promising effective and efficient management in exclusive federal jurisdictions that the Liberals have botched -- foreign policy and defence; Air Canada; aboriginal affairs; and international epidemics, such as SARS -- would appeal to many voters. Always eager to intrude into provincial areas, and surfing on a low dollar, the Liberals have also failed in their responsibility to arrest our economic underperformance relative to competitors. Policies to promote prosperity would have greater appeal than Canadian self-flagellation. . . .

The new party's founding principles do not include constitutional reform -- either of the Senate, or to recognize the "distinct society." Quebeckers already sense the new party is writing them off -- the strategy advocated by Tory Gordon Churchill a half-century ago. Blaming Quebec for federal Liberal policies such as bilingualism -- widespread in Western Canada -- will not win many votes either. However, Quebeckers could be attracted by a commitment to redress the fiscal imbalance favouring Ottawa -- a cause championed by former Tory leader and current Premier Jean Charest. Based on feedback from my Le Devoir readers, there's little enthusiasm for Paul Martin's promise to spend in another area of provincial responsibility -- municipal affairs.

[. . . .]

While the odds are long, a Conservative victory is not impossible. Recruiting strong candidates and screening out kooks would project competence and a miracle leadership candidate who can appeal to Quebeckers may yet emerge. Even if not, the Conservative Party might find on the campaign trail an appetite for change that is stronger than anyone has anticipated.

Don't miss this post -- another take on the Norman Spector article and Brian Mulroney -- and it is a different tack from mine. Mulroney? -- an intriguing idea worth thinking about. This man has been pilloried by the leftist Liberal media and his potential deserves consideration.

Brian Mulroney was the man who broke this party and he's the only man who can fix it!

I know that as surely as I write these words.

It appears that Brian is setting out to do just that and I am behind him every step of the way. I say that for a reason. Mulroney knows damned well what he did wrong and how things got so out of hand. He's had ten years in the wilderness to figure it out and this guy is NOT stupid (unlike Chretien). Much has changed in the years since Mulroney left office but he has maintained all his contacts and is today more respected on the international stage than any other Canadian I can think of. He is also a coalition builder as we all know.

# posted by News Junkie Canada at 6:36 PM

Example of the Anti-Merger, Anti-Mulroney Media in Action

You might also want to note that this comes from our leftist, Liberal/NDP supporting CBC. Interspersed, are my comments which I hope may prove useful in reading anything from our government supported, government organ.

Mulroney the godfather by Larry Zolf, CBC News Viewpoint, Oct. 20, 03

It is truly amazing to note David Orchard's strenuous criticisms of Peter MacKay for reneging on the PC leadership convention deal. The optics of that convention should have given Orchard pause. The arrival in the hall of Brian Mulroney, keynote speaker, the standing ovations and constant cheers for the last Tory messiah, were proof positive that the general mood of the delegates was all in favour of Mulroney's message which was: "Free Trade is great" and "Unite the right, please."

My Commentary:

Free trade must have been one of Mulroney's great ideas; JC, OUR CORRUPT PM PROMISED TO GET RID OF FREE TRADE, THEN KEPT IT, THUS BREAKING HIS PROMISE. Of course, everyone is so used to his breaking his promises and being involved in shady, partisan political appointments, dirty tricks on his political enemies and corruption, that no-one expects him to be honourable. Do we? Do you? . . . . I thought so. NJC

What Orchard got wrong was that MacKay had always been in bed with Mulroney. MacKay's dad, Elmer, was a fierce Mulroney loyalist and supporter. Elmer understood that Orchard or no Orchard common sense called for what Mulroney the godfather was dishing out to the faithful at the leadership podium.

Orchard also did not understand that to Mulroney he was an outsider, a left-wing crank with no real credentials in the Conservative party. Orchard didn't understand Mulroney's ambition and ego drive to erase the 1993 Tory debacle one way or another.

The 1993 election saw Mulroney's Western base destroyed by the election of 52 Manningites or Reformers. Mulroney's 63 Quebec seats were decimated by Lucien Bouchard's defection and the creation of the Bloc Québécois. The Bloc won 54 seats in 1993; the Tories lost 167.

All that was galling to a politician like Mulroney. It hurt him to hear both from the media and the politicians that he had got out from under just in the nick of time. Mulroney, they said, was responsible for the 1993 Tory two-seat disaster, a disaster that inevitably spelt an end to the old PC party. Mulroney, they said, was the most hated political leader in Canadian history; 1993 proved that after Mulroney came the deluge.

For someone as thin-skinned as Mulroney, these charges or innuendoes really hurt. Certainly his Irish soul was not affected a wit by the charge that he was too smarmy, too in bed with the hated Americans to deserve the affection and respect of his fellow Canadians.

My Commentary:

Is Mr. Mulroney thin-skinned? He took more media pounding than our present really corrupt PM has had to withstand -- and he kept on going. I admire that. Is that thin-skinned? I never saw him whine and I watched him in an interview discussing his tenure after he left office. He simply pointed out the ironies of the situation -- that there has been more corruption emanating from JCs office and government than ever emanated from the previous government. NJC

Nor did Mulroney really worry or care about his hated GST. Mulroney preferred an open tax to a hidden one and was satisfied that he was doing the right thing. Nor did he care too much that he was loathed by academics and pointy-headed thinkers from all parties and persuasions.

Mulroney's ferocious anger and deep dislikes always focus on the personal. [Note that proof of this is missing. There is greater public evidence of JCs petty revenges on Paul Martin. NJC] Chrétien's treatment of Mulroney on Airbus was precisely the kind of thing that drove Mulroney up a wall. To Mulroney it was part of a Chrétien campaign to vilify and destroy Mulroney 's reputation. The libel suit and the apology won the day but it certainly did not take Mulroney out of the category of the most hated prime minister in Canadian history.

My Commentary:

I beg to differ! Many Canadians have re-assessed Brian Mulroney over the years since he left office and we have come to a somewhat different conclusion. Stevie Cameron wrote a book that impugned him and his government but nothing stuck to Brian Mulroney. Rememeber?

***Brian Mulroney won his libel suit and an apology and $25 M.***

Another aspect about Mr. Mulroney that I have noted and I consider it an important measure of the man. He has kept friends for 40 or more years -- friends from his college days, as well as friends in politics and all over the world. A truly corrupt person cannot keep friends for 40 years, I do not believe. How many political friends do you think JC will carry into retirement? . . . . Now, what do you think? NJC

[In here is criticism of Mulroney's relationship with the media. The key to the article and the reason for rehashing Mulroney's past comes next.]

But all these were minor compared to the complaint that Mulroney was a coward who abandoned the Tory ship to Manning and the Bloc, and was responsible for the worst electoral disaster in Canadian history. The charge that Mulroney was the real destroyer of the Tory party bothered him enormously. Mulroney felt that the West and Bouchard had betrayed him and his legacy. It was Manning and Bouchard who did the Tory party in, not Brian Mulroney.

Mulroney wasn't satisfied with his new role as the pal of the Bush family and three American presidents. Nor was he satisfied to just sit on boards and have big corporate clients both in Canada and the United States. Mulroney's fat cat look, his comfort in his newfound wealth and prestige, was not enough to assuage the hurt pride of the great blarney merchant.

My Commentary:

Note how the writer drags to the fore anything that could make Mr. Mulroney look too rich, too successful, too able to hob nob with the powerful. This is intentional; in true Canadian fashion, the writer makes the ordinary bloke jealous of Mulroney's life--and Canadians love to hammer down any nail that pops up as the biggest or best nail in the board. What the writer has accomplished is that readers translate this distrust of our former PM who was not nearly as corrupt as our present PM into distrust of all with which Mulroney is involved. Once you realize this, you can read these columns and think about what the writer is trying to accomplish politically. The writer wants the merger to fail. NJC

It was this hurt pride that made Brian Mulroney come to the rescue of the Tory party, led by his child disciple, Peter MacKay. Mulroney's fingerprints are all over the MacKay-Harper deal.

[. . . .]

But even better than that, it was Mulroney as godfather of the new Tory party who brought Bill Davis into the picture. Former Ontario premier Davis's credentials as a Dalton Camp Red Tory are impressive. If Davis was prepared to act on behalf of Mulroney the godfather, how could MacKay, Mulroney's disciple, do anything but agree?

The Bill Davis signing on was a real boost up for Mulroney. . . . It was the Red Tories and their friends in the media who spread the base canard that it was Mulroney, not Kim Campbell, who had killed the Tory party.

[. . . .]

Mulroney and Davis both held out for a leadership race of the new party to be based on each riding being equal no matter the size of the membership. That is 200 Quebec members in one riding got the same vote for leader as 10,000 Calgary members in another riding.

My Commentary:

This is my great worry about the merger. The vote will be lopsided. I still believe in one person, one vote. However, I understand that there are other good reasons to have representatives represent the views of their ridings which avoids two consequences of one person, one vote.

1. People who have been working for and involved in the party for a long time are (hopefully) the ones who are chosen as convention delegates; usually, they know something about the political process and their party's ins and outs -- and perhaps are better equipped to vote for a leader.

2. The leader becomes beholden to and subject to input from and criticism from the ridings. They can curb the excesses of the person they select -- it is hoped. They can advise.

3. One person, one vote can lead to the highjacking of the political process to people who just join to get in on the vote for a leader.

The last one is a valid complaint from the Red Tory PCs who are afraid of being inundated and the vote for/against a merger being overwhelmed by new members. Realistically, if the PCs ever hope to come to power, they must consider a merger. They should even reconsider their extremely leftist policies which simply ape the Liberals and the NDP.

But I digress. Note the negative spin put on why Mulroney got involved in promoting a merger. NJC

Is Mulroney going to stand idly by and watch his creation, the new Tory party, founder on the rock of Quebec? Not bloody likely. Mulroney will work hard in Quebec to do the godfatherly thing. Mulroney realizes that his resurrection as a politician is at stake.

Besides, Mulroney needs some new chapters for the memoir he's writing for McClelland & Stewart. Brian Mulroney as godfather of the new Tory party should make for a great ending.

My Commentary:

Note that ending designed to dismiss a former PM as self-serving -- and thereby blacken any endeavour he is involved in. What a cynical ending--and fully intended, I believe!

The whole article demonstrates and is a classic example of the ploys the media use to kill a good idea and a decent man. First you rehash every questionable decision ever made in government by the man -- even though Jean Chretien was elected on a lie, to end the Free Trade deal. JC and crew broke their promises and JC kept the Free Trade deal promoted and implemented by Brian Mulroney's government.

The article is full of negatives about Mr. Mulroney. Then the writer goes on to tie him to Peter McKay and to promoting the merger. Having already blackened Mr. Mulroney in this article, then, the author has set him up a shady character so anything he is involved in must be shady -- and that shady deal is the merger. Ergo, the merger is a shady/ dirty deal. My response? This is a dirty article but it was intended to be.

Readers, watch the left-wing media for this type of reporting -- all the lead-up to the big smear campaign, the next federal election. The writer digs up the dirt (He creates the appearance of something underhanded or not quite right.) or he spews negativity on the normal business of governing by a party the writer does not support (in this case, Brian Mulroney and the PCs). Then the writer ties that person to whatever he wants to blacken or kill. In this case, it is the CA-PC merger and potential leadership candidates (See yesterday, Oct. 23, 03 On Disqualifying Canadians Because They are Not Bilingual and articles on Mike Harris, for example, -- but it works the same way for any policy/ candidate/ leader--in short anything the media representatives want to smear. This is particularly true of CBC political reportage. Watch out for it!

© News Junkie Canada

# posted by News Junkie Canada at 3:58 PM

Some Good Posts on Debbye's Site

The Bobble-Head Campaign and an excerpt follows of Debbye's comments on the US attitude attributable to our JC, PM for too long--beyond reason, actually. You've hit the JC nail on the head! NJC

Second, your friends to the South, also known as damned bastards, morons and failed statesmen, have begun to realize that aiding Western countries that are in trouble does not promote friendship or solidarity but rather breeds contempt, resentment and envy from those who were in need, and although the US military is known for defending those who cannot defend themselves, I have some questions about putting American lives in danger in defense of those who are too damned stingy, greedy and self-absorbed to spend money on their own freaking national defense yet strut about on the international stage slamming the US because it isn't a social democracy.

Phew, sorry about that; sometimes I get overwhelmed by the Chretien Legacy.

More sites via Debbye are worth visiting.

1. In My World: When God Attacks, a humorous site

2. Memories , Oct.19, 03

# posted by News Junkie Canada at 2:33 PM

A Canadian Story of Bilingualism as it is Implemented

You won't be neutral about this post. Agree or violently disagree, it oozes truth and it rings as authentic. This man has been through the implementation of bilingualism in the military in Canada. The military has made a big mistake in pursuing its language policy; it lost a soldier who loved the military -- but read it and decide for yourself. NJC

Canada Has A Caste System - Thanks To The Liberals

Bet ya didn't know that Canada has a caste system just like India!

Surprise!

It has!

# posted by News Junkie Canada at 2:20 PM

Sinclair Stephens Stirring the Pot

Read the following; then link to this. It concerns a letter from Sinclair Stephens to Peter MacKay through the media. Most people go straight to the recipient but not Sinc; he wants all of Canada to read what he has to say. Take retirement seriously, Sinc!

An open letter to Peter MacKay

Sinclair Stevens -- where have I heard that name before?
Wasn't he the guy in Mulroney's cabinet who had to resign because of conflict of interest charges?

Why yes -- I think he WAS!

Today Canada's version of Pravda published an open letter from him to Peter MacKay.

This guy has been on a roll for the last couple of days. Check out the above posts. NJC

# posted by News Junkie Canada at 1:57 PM

Cogently Reasoned by The Canukistanian

A Very Smelly Business - The Schiavo Affair is a lengthy, cogently reasoned explanation of why you should think about Terri Schiavo's situation and a court's moves toward euthanasia. It is very scary and if it happened in Florida, it can happen anywhere. Florida is full of elderly retirees and you would not expect a decision like allowing a person to die by starvation and by court order in that state. Yet, it happened.

I have said for years, "When I become a vegetable, please pull the plug; don't leave me warehoused in a home for discarded human beings". But I have, as everyone else has, a caveat; I want to make the decision for myself. Obviously, that is not possible.

Many of us have no-one who is going to look after us in that state -- as Terri Schiavo has, that is, her family. As--or if--I live long enough to become extremely disabled, stroke-ridden, or otherwise incompetent to make decisions for myself, I have had to accustom myself to that prospective reality. In my case, I have made the decision that I shall live with whatever the state decides to do with me at a certain point in my life -- and try not to think about it -- mainly because I probably could not make the decision to commit suicide. In other words, I have accepted the inevitable because I have to. Terri does not have to accept that because she has a family that has and will intercede for her. Bless them.

Besides, there is money for her care -- money being wasted by her husband Michael's lawyer--at his behest--in endless efforts to see that Terri dies leaving at least some money intact. Then Michael can get on with his life with a new woman, I assume. In Terri's case, there is no reason to make a doubtful decision. If most of us could be assured of having the money and family that Terri has, we would not want to die. No-one does. We just do not want to be uncared for and warehoused with people who are paid at a very low wage and who have no real familial interest in us.

Link to the following. This is a post that gives far more details and legal implications concerning Terri's situation than I--and possibly you--are cognizant of; read it and be concerned.

© News Junkie Canada

# posted by News Junkie Canada at 1:50 PM

Update: George Galloway

Expelled by Labour by Andrew Sparrow, Political Correspondent, The Telegraph, UK, Oct. 24, 03

George Galloway accused Labour of making a "very serious mistake" yesterday after a party disciplinary panel decided to expel him for apparently urging Arab armies to attack British troops.

It sounds as though he's getting a little--but not all--that he deserves. NJC

# posted by News Junkie Canada at 1:39 PM