Angry in the Great White North

The first thing that strikes me is just how many Liberal MPs make no mention of Stephane Dion's carbon tax at all.

The first list is of those MPs whose websites have not been updated since the June 19, 2008 announcement of a carbon tax as the key Liberal Party platform plank.  I've included the date of the last update that I could find (usually the most recent news release or speech).  For some MPs, their web presence is clearly not important, with the last update being from before the last election!  For many others though, the last update comes up to within days of the announcement, and then nothing since then.

(Note on methodology: Some sites publish the RSS media release feed from the Liberal Party website.  I'm not counting mentions of the carbon tax here.  Only explicit mentions of the carbon tax in material written by the MP, or material that was manually link by the MP, earned the MP a spot on the "good Liberal" list.  Credit is also given if nothing more than a link to the carbon tax website is provided.  I double-checked my visual scan of media releases and link pages with a site search for the word "shift".  In several cases, the search revealed a mention of the carbon tax buried deep in the pages of the site.)

The second list is much shorter, but also much more interesting.  It is those MPs who have had updates made to their websites since the announcement of the carbon tax plan, but have not made any updates that promote the plan or take visitors to the plan's website.

The third list is the list that should be longer -- Liberal MPs who promote the carbon tax plan.  I'm allowing MPs who provide just a link to the carbon tax website on the list.  For each entry on the list, I've included links to where I've spotted some mention of the carbon tax.

The fourth list is of those MPs who don't seem to have websites at all.  Now understand that I was reaching these sites from the main Liberal Party website (each sitting MP has a page on the site under the "Our Team" menu item, and on that page is a link to the MP's website if it exists).  If a link didn't appear, I double-checked anyway to find the website in case it did exist anyway, just doing a standard Google search.  In several cases I did (most notably Stephane Dion's website and Joyce Murray's website).

Finally, I've added some notable MP websites.  Don't miss these.  Each one is very special.

What can we conclude from this survey?  Well, if I was the communications guru in charge of promoting the carbon tax, I would certainly be lashing every MP to update their sites and to add, at minimum, a prominent link to the carbon tax website.  Moreover, every frontbench Liberal MP should have an original article posted about the carbon tax, linked to the home page.  Some people are conspicuous by their absence.

Yeah, I'm looking at you, Bob Rae!

Bottom line: Of the 95 sitting Liberal MPs:

• 13% don't have a website or have a broken website
• 40% make some mention (large or small) of the carbon tax on their websites
• 47% are not promoting the carbon tax on their websites in any obvious way

Anyway, here's the survery.  Enjoy.

MPs whose websites have not been updated since before Stephane Dion announced his carbon tax on June 19, 2008:

1. Scott Simms of Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor [last update February 28, 2008]
2. Lawrence MacAulay of Cardigan [last update October 2007]
3. Joe McGuire of Egmont last update October 23, 2007]
4. Rodger Cuzner of Cape Breton-Canso [last update March 6, 2008]
5. Robert Thibault of West Nova [last update June 2, 2008]
6. Dominic LeBlanc of Beausejour [last update February 27, 2008]
7. Andrew Scott of Fredericton [last update February 22, 2008]
8. Charles Hubbard of Miramichi [last update May 23, 2008]
9. Denis Coderre of Bourassa [last update April 6, 2008]
10. Irwin Cotler of Mount Royal [last update May 27, 2008]
11. Raymonde Folco of Laval-Les-Iles [last update May 14, 2008]
12. Marlene Jennings of Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Lacine [last update June 6, 2008]
13. Paul Martin of LaSalle-Emard [last update March 27, 2008]
14. Bernard Patry of Pierrefonds-Dollard [last update March 1, 2004]
15. Francis Scarpaleggia of Lac-Saint-Louis [last update June 1, 2008]
16. Colleen Beaumier of Brampton West [last update June 3, 2008]
17. Mauril Belanger of Ottawa-Vanier [last update May 15, 2008]
18. John Cannis of Scarborough Centre [last update in 2006]
19. Roy Cullen of Etokicoke North [last update June 17, 2008]
20. Ruby Dhalla of Brampton-Springdale [last update April 2, 2008]
21. Ken Dryden of York Centre [last update April 8, 2008]
22. Albina Guarnieri of Mississauga East-Cooksville [last update April 8, 2008]
23. Martha Hall Findlay of Willowdale [last update June 18, 2008]
24. Gurbax Singh Malhi of Bramalea-Gore-Malton [last update June 15, 2008]
25. John Maloney of Welland [riding association website last update in 2007?]
26. Diane Marleau of Sudbury [last update June 5, 2008]
27. John McKay of Scarborough-Guildwood [last update in 2005 before the election]
28. Peter Milliken of Kingston and the Islands [last update February 2008]
29. Yasmin Ratansi of Don Valley East [last update April 22, 2007]
30. Anthony Rota of Nipissing-Timiskaming [last update April 12, 2007]
31. Judy Sgro of York West [last update February 13, 2008]
32. Brent St Denis of Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing [last update June 13, 2008]
33. Paul Steckle of Huron-Bruce [last update June 13, 2006]
34. Thomas Wappel of Scarborough Southwest [last update November 5, 2007]
35. Raymond Chan of Richmond [last update June 17, 2008]
36. Keith Martin of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca [last update May 13, 2008]
37. Larry Bagnell of Yukon [date of last update unclear]

MPs with no mention of Stephane Dion's carbon tax on their websites despite having been update since the announcement on June 19, 2008:

1. Gerry Byrne of Humber-St Barbe-Baie Verte [last update June 24, 2008]
2. Mike Savage of Dartmouth-Cole Harbour [last update August 26, 2008]
3. Massimo Pacetti of Saint-Leonard-Saint-Michel [last update August 1, 2008]
4. Bob Rae of Toronto Centre [last update August 27, 2008]
5. Belinda Stronach of Newmarket-Aurora [last update July 3, 2008]
6. Paul Szabo of Mississauga South [last update August 27, 2008]
7. Alan Tonks of York South-Weston [last update August 12, 2008]
8. Roger Valley of Kenora [last update June 26, 2008]

Liberal MPs who promote the carbon tax (or at least mention it) on their websites:

1. Shawn Murphy of Charlottetown (blog posting)
2. Geoff Regan of Halifax West (political speak)
3. Scott Brison of Kings-Hants (news report, news report)
4. Paul Zed of Saint John (announcement, media release)
5. Jean-Claude D'Amours of Madawaska-Restigouche (news release)
6. Brian Murphy of Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe (news reports, newsletter)
7. Stephane Dion of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville (link to speeches, but no link to Liberal carbon tax website)
8. Omar Alghabra of Mississauga-Erindale (newsletter)
9. Navdeep Bains of Mississauga-Brampton South [news release]
10. Susan Barnes of London West (links to Stephane Dion's speeches)
11. Carolyn Bennett of St Paul's (issues page)
12. Ken Boshcoff of Thunder Bay--Rainy River (article)
13. Bonnie Brown of Oakville (news)
14. Mark Holland of Ajax-Pickering (home page, news release)
15. Michael Ignatieff of Etobicoke-Lakeshore (blog entry, blog entry)
16. Susan Kadis of Thornhill (home page)
17. Derek Lee of Scarborough-Rouge River (report)
18. Wayne Easter of Malpeque (media report)
19. John McCallum of Markham-Unionville (commentary)
20. David McGuinty of Ottawa-South (article)
21. Dan McTeague of Pickering-Scarborough East (final question on a gas price FAQ)
22. Maria Minna of Beaches-East York (blog entry)
23. Glen Pearson of London North Centre (report)
24. Mario Silva of Davenport (green record)
25. Lloyd St Amand of Brant (link to carbon tax site from home page)
26. Andrew Telegdi of Kitchener-Waterloo (link on the home page)
27. Lui Temelkovski of Oak Ridges-Markham (article)
28. Garth Turner of Halton (ad nauseum)
29. Joe Volpe of Eglinton-Lawrence (oblique reference to "Green Shift" in a newsletter)
30. Bryon Wilfert of Richmond Hill (link from the current events page, some pictures from an information session)
31. Tina Keeper of Churchill (link from the news page and from the multimedia page)
32. Anita Neville of Winnipeg South Centre (townhall announcement)
33. Raymond Simard of Saint Boniface (article on home page)
34. Ralph Goodale of Wascana (speech)
35. Sukh Dhaliwal of Newton-North Delta (newsletter)
36. Hedy Fry of Vancouver Centre (news article)
37. Joyce Murray of Vancouver Quadra (announcement and link on home page)

Liberal MPs who don't maintain websites, or whose websites are under construction:

1. Todd Russell of Labrador
2. Bill Matthews of Random-Burin-St George's
3. Marcel Proulx of Hull-Aylmer
4. Pablo Rodriguez of Honore-Mercier
5. Maurizio Bevilacqua of Vaughan
6. Raymond Bonin of Nickel Belt
7. Mark Eyking of Sydney-Victoria
8. Borys Wrzesnewskyj of Etobicoke Centre
9. Nancy Karetak-Lindell of Nunavut

Winner of the Sheer Paucity of Information Award:

This Liberal MP's website is not under construction, but has no constituency-specific information (not even the name of the riding appears).  The visitor is welcomed by a large picture of the MP, her name, and a link to the Liberal Party website...and that's it:

1. Karen Redman of Kitchener Centre

Update: It turns out that Karen Redman actually maintains a separate site at http://karenredman.ccjclearline.com/index.php.  In that case, Karen Redman goes on the first list of MPs who don't bother keeping their sites up to date.  I can't find any actual dates on her site (she doesn't date her "Issue" articles) but the content seems old.  Last update seems to be March 2008, referencing the 30-50 Poverty plan Stephane Dion announced in November 2007.  But remember the real problem is that if you are starting from the Liberal Party website, you are told that the website for Karen Redman is www.karenredman.com, and that is the one that gives you exactly one option...to go right back to the Liberal Party website.

Winner of the Loopiest Liberal Website Award:

This Liberal MP's website presents a note from the MP, his picture, and an "Enter Here" link.  When you click on the "Enter Here" link, this Liberal MP's website presents a note from the MP, his picture, and an "Enter Here" link.  When you click on the "Enter Here" link...you know where this is going.

1. Don Bell of North Vancouver

The Liberal site you don't want to visit:

This Liberal MP's website looks good for just a moment.  Then it disappears, and asks you to approve an ActiveX download.  As I considered my options, my virus scanner came alive and started listing risk actions:

Downloader: Cleaned by delection: rondll32[1].exe
Downloader: Cleaned by delection: flash[1].exe

This Liberal MP might have the most coherent and convincing argument for a carbon tax, but I'm not sticking around to find out.

Warning: Don't go here!

1. Ujjal Dosanjh of Vancouver South

Winner for the Stealthiest Mention of the Carbon Tax:

1. Jim Karygiannis of Scarborough-Agincourt

On Jim's site, there is only one reference to Stephane Dion's carbon tax.  It is buried in the picture gallery page, which has over 120 links, in the link text to a slide show:

Rotary Club of Agincourt -- Green Shift Presentation July 24, 2008

If you watch the slideshow, there is nothing in the picture to suggest that the topic of the discussion is the carbon tax, the environment in general, or anything else.  No backdrops, no slideshow, not even a green-coloured tablecloth.

Just a bunch of bored-looking people.

And we certainly can't be sure what Jim Karygiannis actually said to the Rotary Club about whether a carbon tax would be a good idea.