I’m beginning to get some real sympathy for Jack Layton’s Dion-bashing.  I still don’t like the mocking tone, but the substance is true.  And here‘s Mr. Dion, once again letting the budget slide without much of a peep.  The funny thing is, I wouldn’t want Dion to do anything different.  I just want a better explanation.

Truth is, if we had an election today, the Conservatives would win a fresh mandate, possibly even with more seats, and we would have wasted a lot of money just to end up with the status quo or worse.  I’m assuming that’s Mr. Dion’s calculation, and he sees nothing to fight that would suddenly propel him to victory.

But if that is Mr. Dion’s calculation, I wish he would say so.  I wish he’d say “I don’t particularly agree with this budget, but I don’t see the point of dragging Canadians through an election only to end up right where we already are.”  Instead, he just seems kind of limp.

Update:  Elizabeth May disagrees with me.  She thinks the budget was a lot worse than mediocre, that it is leading to the militarization of Canada, and that Canadians deserve to be consulted on issues such as this.  She is a wise lady, and in many ways much smarter than I am.  But it’s hard for me to consider taking the risk of bringing in a Conservative majority.

There has been a tremendous buzz around the supposed love-affair between Greens and Liberals.  The only hint of truth there is that Elizabeth May, and many others in the Green Party (including myself, by the way) recognize that all opposition parties are politically closer to the Greens than the current government.

The story seems to centre around Elizabeth’s announcement that she will run in Central Nova (currently held by Foreign Minister Peter Mackay) in the next election, which is viewed as some sort of overture to the Liberals.  What it really is is a gesture of courage and conviction from someone who doesn’t want to take the easiest path, but rather the path that feels most right.  Yes, she might have won more easily in a riding with a Liberal or NDP incumbent, but that would not deprive the current toxic government of a seat, and would force her to spend her time attacking the policies of parties more in line with her own.  She chose the harder route not to benefit any particular opposition party, but to focus her campaign on attacking the worst offender.     Read more »

Deborah Coyne has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Toronto-Danforth for the next federal election.  Her nomination speech, in which she expressed her support for the Portlands Energy Centre, has me quite worried that a Dion-led Liberal government won’t be any better than a Martin-led Liberal government at addressing climate change.     Read more »