Angry in the Great White North

The Devil and Joan Beatty

The story, told over and over again, of the guile of the Devil entrapping the greedy and the foolish is one we are all familiar with.  That literary device is one of those minor gifts of our Christian heritage (where the embodiment of evil is a lesser being than God, and so must depend on his sly words instead of brute force to win souls to his side).

When I see what has happened to Joan Beatty's name online, I immediately think of this metaphor. 

Is David Smith rewriting history concerning Joan Beatty in order to protect Stephane Dion?

The Liberal nomination for the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River is wide open.  David Orchard and Joan Beatty are both fighting to the chance to represent the Liberal Party.

It'll be interesting to see how that nomination race proceeds.

But I find it also interesting to see how studiously the Liberal Party is avoiding making too much of the fact that Stephane Dion's meddling played a key role in how the by-election played out on March 17.  Now, instead of Stephane Dion making a gutsy leadership decision (as was explained before the by-election loss), we hear that Stephane Dion was compelled to appoint the nominee because of a "tight timeline".

I guess anything that absolves Stephane Dion of responsibility.

Joan Beatty forgets name of that third party while struggling to justify her appointment

Joan Beatty was interviewed about her controversial appointment by Stephane Dion to be the Liberal Party candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in Saskatchewan.

Her answer to the critical question about why the nomination process needed to be suspended speaks volumes.

Pawns in the fight between Ralph Goodale and Tony Merchant

The Liberal Party infighting in Saskatchewan over the appointment of Joan Beatty as the candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River.  Local Liberals are up in arms, angry over the way Stephane Dion removed their chance to choose their own candidate, setting up their own riding association executive, and generally becoming a thorn in the side of Stephane Dion.

But it seems to go much deeper than this.  It appears that the major players are really pawns in a long-running Saskatchewan rivalry between Ralph Goodale and Tony Merchant.

Just how duplicitous is Joan Beatty?

With her appointment by Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion as the candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in Saskatchewan, the focus has been on the simmering anger among Liberals in the riding.

How could Joan Beatty have leaped to the federal Liberal just weeks after having fought and won a seat for the provincial NDP in Saskatchewan?

Though she has done nothing illegal, it certainly seems unfortunate for the provincial NDP that after all that money spent, Joan Beatty has changed her mind.

But did she change her mind?  Or was she already laying the groundwork for a switch even as she was carrying the NDP banner and spending NDP money?

Ralph Goodale and his flaming pants

In one week, Liberal MP Ralph Goodale is called a liar, not once, not twice, but three times.

And not by members of other political parties.  Liberals seem to have no problem in declaring that Ralph Goodale's grasp of the truth is shaky at best.

David Orchard to Ralph Goodale: LIAR!

I expected the controversy in the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River to get ugly, but I didn't expect it to get so ugly so fast.

Stephane Dion's leadership causes Saskatchewan Liberals to split into two

Saskatchewan Liberals are very upset that Stephane Dion, bowing to pressure from Ralph Goodale, appointed NDP MLA Joan Beatty, elected a mere two months ago, to be the Liberal candidate for the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, cancelling the nomination race, including the effort by populist David Orchard.

Their anger is such that some have decided to simply ignore Stephane Dion and elect their own candidate.

David Orchard, Joan Beatty, and Liberal Party elitism

When Stephane Dion appointed Joan Beatty to be the Liberal Party candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, he rolled over the nomination effort of David Orchard.

A lot of people are upset at the elitist attitude exhibited by Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party in ignoring the effort by the riding association to democratically select a candidate.

The amusing thing is that the Liberal Party is not trying to hide the elitism.

Will the Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River by-election turn into an ugly farce?

Few by-elections are as charged with raw emotion as the one shaping up in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.  Add to that suggestions of, let us say, creative campaigning, and we could be in for some fun.

Stephane Dion appoints Joan Beatty and inches closer to a February election

Stephane Dion has committed himself to forcing an election in February.  That is one way to look at the decision to appoint Joan Beatty as the candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River. 

David Orchard and the Metis vote

In my piece on the need of the NDP to perform well in the upcoming by-elections, I made some general comments about the by-election in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River.  Several people commented on David Orchard, who is running for the Liberal nomination, but who might not be given the chance to win.  There are reports that Liberal Party Stephane Dion is about to install a nominee, Saskatchewan MLA Joan Beatty, who currently belongs to the NDP. 

Some people seemed dismissive of David Orchard, but a letter posted on a Liberal blog suggests that David Orchard could have the last laugh if his campaign is terminated by the Liberal Party leadership.

Stephane Dion needs to treat women candidates with more respect

Stephane Dion wants to appoint a woman candidate in the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, which is fine, except for one thing.  Joan Beatty hasn't agreed to switch to the Liberals from the NDP.

It might seem like a small thing, but it suggests confusion and poor communication.  What's worse is this is not the first time the Liberals announced appointing someone as a nominee only to find out that the person had no intention to run, and worse, had never even been consulted.

In both of these cases, the potential candidates were women.  Stephane Dion thinks he is doing them a favour by handing them ridings without having to go through the trouble of a nomination battle.  He'd be doing them a bigger favour if he actually asked them first.

It comes off as rather patronizing, otherwise.