You know the Liberals have got problems when Denis Coderre is their top news story three days running
I know it was the long Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, but when you look at the news, Stephane Dion has been utterly out of sight. The leader of the Liberal Party has not been heard of or seen since last...what...September 29? That was the Friday appearance in Halifax when Dion state unequivocably that Liberal Party National Director Jamie Carroll was not guilty of a firing offense for what he allegedly told Quebec Liberals when advised to hire more Quebecers.
Since then, Jamie Carroll has been under a political deathwatch, Stephane Dion has not been seen (as far as I know), and Denis Coderre's laughable trip to Afghanistan is just about the only news coming out of the Liberal Party.
When Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced at a press conference that he was going to treat any bill that directly supported a Throne Speech promise as a confidence motion, the Liberals denounced the move.
Not Stephane Dion, though. Stephane Dion has has not been spotted for over a week now:
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion remained silent yesterday in response to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's parliamentary dare that has raised the prospect of a fall election.
Harper met with reporters Wednesday and issued an ultimatum that appears to corner opposition parties into either supporting substantive government bills or voting down the government to force an election.
Stephane Dion was supposed to be in the Arctic, but that was too visible as well:
Dion called off a planned Arctic trip to deal with staffing issues and shuffle his shadow cabinet. That shuffle has been put off until next week, an official from Dion's office said.
The NDP is pouncing on Dion's absence from the public spotlight and staking claim as the true opposition party to Harper's Conservatives.
"This is an opportunity for the NDP to play the role as an effective opposition while the Liberals are in chaos," said party strategist Brad Lavigne. "If this keeps up, they're going to have to place Stephane Dion's picture on the back of a milk carton."
Well, that was published on October 6. Now it's October 9.
Still no Stephane Dion.
Jamie Carroll still has his job.
Still no Stephane Dion.
No shuffle of the Shadow Cabinet, though maybe that'll come tomorrow.
Still no Stephane Dion.
Stephen Harper deliver his Throne Speech ultimatum on October 4.
Still no Stephane Dion.
The Liberal response was delivered by Ralph Goodale on October 5, who supported Bob Rae in the Liberal Party leadership race, and then again by Michael Ignatieff on October 7.And still no Stephane Dion.
Normally this would not matter so much, but with the Liberal Party in disarray, you have to wonder if there is some significance to this. At the very least, disheartened Liberal footsoldiers are going to get increasingly nervous if Stephane Dion does not make an appearance and some substantive comment on current political issues and soon.
It would have been better if Stephane Dion had appeared first thing this morning. Since then a new polling result has been reported, and it shows the Liberal Party standing in the polls moving in the wrong direction (for Liberals, that is):
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates a seven-percentage-point spread between Prime Minister Stephen Harper's governing Tories and Stephane Dion's opposition Grits.
The poll of just more than 1,000 Canadians last Thursday through Sunday put Conservative support at 35 per cent nationally.
The Liberals slipped to 28 per cent among decided and leaning voters as three weeks of very public recriminations and infighting apparently took their toll.
Pollster Bruce Anderson says the survey is especially problematic for the Liberals in Quebec, where support fell to just 14 per cent. The Bloc had 35 per cent support in Quebec and the Conservatives polled 26 per cent.
So now when Stephane Dion does pop up, some reporter is going to ask him about the polling numbers, and Dion will have to give the standard response of not following the polls, which to me always sounds like an admission of incompetence, whatever the stripe of politician who says it.
Maybe the plan is to keep Stephane Dion locked away until the poll numbers turn around. Or maybe Stephane Dion is undergoing some sort of major upgrade and it's taking longer than expected.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and with Garth Turner not doing much this week, his look-a-like Denis Coderre is dominating the news for the Liberal Party:
Casting himself as the Lone Ranger, and with a thin new beard serving as a partial mask, Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre ventured deep into hostile territory yesterday for a preelection photo op.
No, Mr. Coderre did not travel to Taliban country. He spent the day as the not-particularly-welcome guest of Canadian troops who were almost universally angry at the Liberals' insistence that Canada must end its combat mission here when the current mandate expires in February, 2009.
Mr. Coderre instead had to hoof it around the airfield, but his main points of interest seemed to be Tim Hortons and the media tent. Among the few perks that Jean Chretien's former immigration minister was given was a computerized card in order to eat at one of the chow halls.
But what Mr. Coderre lacked most of all was a credible explanation of why he had bothered to come on at all on a "fact-finding mission" if, as he said again and again, his mind was already made up that Canada should not continue fighting alongside the Dutch, British, Americans, Australians and Romanians in southern Afghanistan.
Given the poor reception Coderre is getting in Afghanistan, and the absurd statement he made in which he declared that nothing he would see in Afghanistan could change his mind about a February 2009 pullout, the Liberals really need to get someone else in front of the camera. For the people running the Liberal Party, it might have made sense to tell Stephane Dion that he would not be allowed to appear in front of the cameras for a week or so as punishment for his poor performance, but they really ought to have had prepared a better backup plan than letting Denis Coderre be the voice of the Liberal Party for even a few hours, much less a whole long weekend.
But then Denis Coderre paid his own way to Afghanistan, so maybe Coderre caught the party flatfooted. They might have been expecting a quiet weekend with little or no political news to distract them from retooling Stephane Dion.
I guess we'll see this week if the wait was worth it. Or maybe it'll be next week...
Update: Wouldn't you know it? I just post when news comes that the shuffle of Dion's shadow cabinet has been announced, with Stephane Dion making the annoucement. More to come...
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And wouldn't you know it - CTV has it as their "Top Story". Surprise, surprise.
Posted by: DWT at October 9, 2007 04:43 PM
Oui, oui. Citoyen Dion has had a resurrection amidst the insurrection/civil war in his Liberal Party.
This appears to be a Press Release.
Among the usual socialist claptrap is the following death announcement, obituary for Kyoto.
Read it as: An admission that Kyoto is dead; bammed by Citoyen Dion. The word "Kyoto" is absent.
...-
"Seek effective solutions to protect our environment, such as setting absolute reduction targets for the emission of green-house gases;" ...-
http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19865&Itemid=41
Posted by: maz2 at October 9, 2007 05:02 PM
LMFFAO!!!!!
Bryon Wilfert will be speaking for Bob Rae in the House of Commons! Dion has no practical clue in his body. What an insane move, he just doesn't get it now, does he? The gift that keeps on giving. :)
Posted by: at October 9, 2007 06:03 PM
I suppose that now that an unelected member of the Liberals, Bob Rae, is getting a critic portfolio, we will never hear another word about Michel Fortier from the LPC. Or is that only because now that the Liberals are doing it, its ok?
Liberals - hypocrisy all of the time.
Posted by: Lycan Stark at October 9, 2007 06:20 PM
CPC bobbleheads a little lax in giving you negatives to report lately? Not paying you enough?
Coderre has already found out something interesting over there and it won't go over good with Canadians.
Posted by: Sam at October 9, 2007 06:38 PM
Hey! This is not fair!
Posted by: Stephane Dion at October 9, 2007 06:42 PM
There we have it, right from Dion's pursed lips, we have to seek ways to protect our environment. It's no longer Kyoto or bust, he's morphing into the Harper Conservative ideas on environmental policy. TYPICAL!
The Liberals stealing the ideas and plans of another party, soon to claim as their own. Good bloody luck with that one Stephi!
His appearance at a press conflab today was to stifle rumors of the Liberal divide. They're one happy family of course.
He's heading West to again meet and greet. Then he will go chat up the Forces in Afghanistan in November, armed with info he gets from his petit General Coderre who was there at the Timmy outlet and will have a report for him.
So, all is well in Liberal land.
Posted by: Libby at October 9, 2007 06:49 PM
Coderre has already found out something interesting over there and it won't go over good with Canadians.
Ok Sam, if YOU know, why don't any of the national news outlets know? Pray tell, let us in on the secret! Or is is this another "hidden agenda" secret that everyone knows exists, yet no Liberal can say exactly what that is; even the ones that crossed the floor to the Liberals?
Man, I love watching Liberals squeal and scamble.
Posted by: Lycan Stark at October 9, 2007 06:49 PM
Other than finding out that Boston Cream donuts don't fare so well in the heat, what's the scoop Sam?
pray tell..
Posted by: Mjolnir at October 9, 2007 06:57 PM
'Coderre has already found out something interesting over there and it won't go over good with Canadians.'
hmmmmm, let's see. Deny never left the barracks, he talked to troops at Tim Hortons.
oh no. Is Timmy's exporting poppyseed donuts!!
Posted by: wilson at October 9, 2007 07:40 PM
Rear Admiral Coderre found out there is fighting going on. Soldiars in the streets with guns. We can't make these things up!
Posted by: Ken M at October 9, 2007 07:48 PM
Here's the last comment allowed on a CTV site about Coderre:
CF Mbr in Afghanistan
To all those who like to speak on my behalf, don't. I can express my opinion just fine and don't you dare attempt to pretend to know what I will say. How dare some of you say that MY fellow CF members that have fallen would think a certain way? One thing the military will not stand for is the tarnishing of their memory with your opinions. My fellow CF mbrs and I make sure that you have the right to express yourselves. I also have my right to express myself and don't need someone misinformed and with their own agenda to do it for me. As for Coderre, he spent all of his time on the base, between the press tents and the mess hall. Trust me, I know.
Priceless!
Posted by: Hunter at October 9, 2007 08:59 PM
It is shameful when a politician seems to figure that their opinion is right, and they don't have any facts to back up their foolishness.
Little man not big Deenee is a classic example.
Dion is likely busy pouting.
Wouldn't you? If you were he?
Posted by: Black Knight at October 9, 2007 09:41 PM
What coddere is going to be informing all is that the Canadiens are giving their prisoners over to the Afghan authorities,than they are being shot. I believe I heard this same story from denny months ago. Watch his questions in the house which will resume shortly.. SAD, SAD,SAD..
Posted by: ex-RCAF at October 10, 2007 12:11 AM
What a joke, Cuddles Coderre tent hopping in Afghanistan!
Who paid for his unauthorized personal trip? Mr. Dion claims he will get a good report from Cuddles before he himself goes to Afghanistan in November or December. Good report on what donuts and coffee?
Posted by: Libby at October 10, 2007 08:33 AM
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Posted by: aswkin at July 17, 2008 07:25 AM
 
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