Stephen PR is good.. Iggy bad

Sunday, October 4, 2009 10:02 AM

A political master stroke
Bruce Anderson

By all accounts, Stephen Harper puts a lot of effort into his job as Prime Minister. And over time, it’s pretty easy to see areas where his diligence is paying off. For all of the hard work of policy and management, though, last night may have been one of the best nights the Prime Minister has had since entering politics - and it had nothing to do with taxes, crime, terrorism, the machinery of government or accountability.

While some people are always looking for a reason to hate politicians, most people would rather find a reason to like them, at least a little bit. Last night, the Prime Minister gave those who are still on the fence about him a bit of a glimpse into his soul, and a pretty good one at that.

At a crowded NAC gala co-hosted by his wife Laureen, the kind of event Harper has rarely if ever been spotted at before, the Prime Minister played piano and sang the Beatles With A Little Help From My Friends, accompanied by Yo Yo Ma. This was a remarkably good decision by the PM, and a strikingly good performance. The lyrics were, in this context, ironic and fun, and he looked to be enjoying himself greatly. A spontaneous standing ovation ensued.

Politically, this was a master stroke. The video clip of the PM, singing in tune, having a laugh and enjoying a great piece of music is now launched on the Internet, and the viral impact will likely be extensive. Not a moment of it looked false, even though it could hardly have been more carefully planned.

With this revealing moment, the PM also threw down the gauntlet in the general direction of Michael Ignatieff. For months, the Conservatives have been painting the Liberal Leader as diffident, elitist, not really one of us. Liberals could be excused for wondering if Harper would really be able to win a contest around personal likeability.

Today, they have something more to be worried about than they had yesterday, and they already had plenty.

The work is on going.

As liberal in Saskatchewan at times I feel very lonely but I am hopeful that we can rise up. The ideas of the provinical liberals are needed because we need a balance between the left and right, no matter how much of a shift to the middle these guys claim to be doing.

Both the leaders of the SK party and NDP are talking about the past, the 80's . We need to see their plan for the future and neither Wall nor Lingenfelter seem to have any plan.

As liberals we are working to find out what the people want, so it is going to be a long road. As a party we have got a lot of new people involved in the process. That is good. The change of direction and getting new ideas will take a long time. It is like growing a plant, you need to water it and nurture to make it grow into something you are proud of. So look at this story and ask youself this question. It is time to have our voices heard . I want to be part of something new. It is a great time to become a liberal in saskatchewan . So this why I am liberal: I like the idea of helping to rebuild the party and for my voice be heard and the leadership of a new leader who is not afraid to try new things, even if these things turn out to be the wrong direction. We can learn from these mistake. The old boys are gone and new people with new ideas and ways of doing things. The process will take time. This by-election is one small play in the big football game and there is a lot of game to be played yet. As one of my heros said Winston Churchill.
" The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."



Liberals at low ebb in byelection wake
Party candidate managed just 2.6% of Riversdale vote
By James Wood, The StarPhoenixSeptember 23, 2009 8:24 AMBe the first to post a comment
No one was quite prepared to bury the Saskatchewan Liberal party Tuesday after a dismal byelection showing, but pundits and politicians from other parties said the Liberals are at an historic low ebb.

And the Liberals' decline as a strong third party is expected to be a long-term factor in a provincial political scene dominated by the Saskatchewan Party and the NDP.

Liberal Eileen Gelowitz, a high-profile nominee as a former Saskatchewan Party candidate, received 107 votes -- or 2.6 per cent of the vote -- in Monday's Saskatoon Riversdale byelection. In the other byelection, in Regina Douglas Park, the Liberal party fielded no candidate, just as it did in the Cumberland byelection last year.

Those results followed two general elections in a row where the party failed to win a seat and which saw its popular vote share drop from 14 to nine per cent.

But Liberal Leader Ryan Bater, who won the job by acclamation in 2008, said the byelection results, while disappointing, aren't a signal to give up.

Instead, they show the need to develop party organization and policy.

"I knew what I was getting into. I knew we were at a low spot when I became leader. We're still there. I'm 31 years old and I committed to the long-term rebuilding because that's what it's going to take. You don't just turn a party around in six months," he said in a telephone interview.

"We have to do the work to be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when we're on the up-cycle."

Bater also dismissed any concern about being displaced as a third party by the Greens. The Liberals edged out the Greens in Riversdale while the Green candidate captured seven per cent in Douglas Park in one of the party's best showings ever.

Voter turnout was relatively strong by the standard of byelections -- with 56 per cent of eligible voters casting ballots in Saskatoon and 62 per cent in Regina. In contrast, the Cumberland byelection had 37 per cent turnout, the 2007 Martensville byelection saw 45 per cent and the 2006 Weyburn-Big Muddy vote saw 69 per cent. The 2001 byelection that elected then-premier Lorne Calvert in Riversdale also had 56 per cent turnout.

The NDP retained both seats on Monday at vote levels similar to the results in the 2007 general election, but the Sask. Party vote shot upwards. Bater believes that is more a reflection of Liberals not coming out to vote than defecting, but the Sask. Party has been quick to claim it won over former Liberal supporters.

"There's certainly a lot of merit in this notion that the Liberal vote that existed . . . came to us," said Premier Brad Wall on Tuesday.

"The Liberal vote is falling and in those areas we saw a surge in support for our party."

Wall said it's very dangerous for any political party to write an obituary for a rival but he's hopeful the vote results were the culmination of a trend started by the 1997 founding of the Sask. Party by Progressive Conservative and Liberal MLAs.

He said voters are not sure what the Liberals stand for, noting Bater's message of "free enterprise" and "personal liberty" is a significant change from the party's 2007 efforts under then-leader David Karwacki to supplant the NDP as the centre-left alternative to the Sask. Party.

NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter said after Bater's decision to focus on Riversdale, the byelection result "doesn't bode well" for the Liberals and may bring about a new strategy from the party.

"The Liberals are a big brand name, they've been around a long time and I don't expect they'll go away. So I would expect some soul-searching from the Liberal party over the next weeks and months. Maybe you'll see something different coming forward from them," he said.

David Smith, the University of Saskatchewan professor emeritus who has studied the Liberals extensively, said there has never been much room for third parties in Saskatchewan.

The current climate is particularly inhospitable for the Liberals as the NDP and Sask. Party have converged toward the political centre.

"Parties do revive, or resurrect," he said.

"I would never say never about the Liberal party in Saskatchewan. That being said, at the current time, as far as being a competitive force in provincial elections . . . it's really caught between these two very strong political parties."

OK ,these number do not make sense to me. The liberals are down We going to try to force a election? I know that the present government is evil But if you are going to win,. Why go to an election?


Election speculation fuels Tories: Nanos Poll (Completed September 2nd)


Nik on the Numbers

The latest Nanos poll shows, with election speculation on the rise, a noticeable increase in support for the Harper Conservatives while Liberal support has remained relatively stable.

The Conservatives have picked up support in Quebec and Atlantic Canada while the New Democrats have lost support in those regions.

Also of note, the level of undecided is above average in this wave of Nanos tracking. This is likely a natural result of the country entering a pre-election phase as an increasing number of Canadians park with the undecided before they render judgment on the parties and the party leaders.

To chat about this poll join the national political online chat at Nik on the Numbers. The detailed tables and methodology are posted on our website. You can also register to receive automatic polling updates.


Methodology
Nanos conducted a random telephone survey of 1,003 Canadians, 18 years of age and older, between August 28th and September 2nd. A survey of 1,003 Canadians is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20, for 756 committed voters, it is accurate to within 3.6 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Margins may be larger for smaller samples.



Ballot Question: For those parties you would consider voting for federally, could you please rank your top two current local preferences? (Committed voters only - First Preference)

The numbers in parenthesis denote the change from the last Nanos Omnibus Survey completed between July 30th and August 2nd, 2009.

National (n=756)
Conservative 37.5% (+6.2)
Liberal 33.4% (-0.4)
NDP 14.8% (-3.9)
BQ 9.7% (+0.5)
Green 4.6% (-2.4)
Undecided 24.6% (+8.9)


Feel free to forward this e-mail. Any use of the poll should identify the source as the latest "Nanos Poll."

Jungle jack you need more than a name change.

Well sometimes a good idea stops quick. Here is one of these so called good Ideas Stopped. maybe some of the spin doctors should have been more awake. what do you think?



NDP Leader Jack Layton questions the government on CPP management during question period in Ottawa, Thursday, May 28, 2009.

NDP name change could prove embarrassing in Quebec
Updated Fri. Aug. 14 2009 6:07 PM ET

The Canadian Press

HALIFAX -- Jack Layton has remained coy on the topic, but talk of a possible name change for the federal NDP generated growing buzz -- and in some cases outright bewilderment -- as the party opened its convention Friday in Halifax.

Layton has played down the significance of a movement afoot to drop the word "New" from the NDP, but if approved, the new moniker could be embarrassing for the party, particularly in Quebec.

Now abbreviated as the NPD in the province, the party faces the prospect of becoming known as the PD -- initials that sound like "pede," a derogatory term for a homosexual derived from the French word "pederaste."

Several delegates expressed concerns that the proposed name change could prove an awkward sell in a seat-rich province.

"I think it's a downside," said 26-year-old Ethan Cox of Montreal.

"If I'm going to be going out and trying to solicit votes, it's got to not have negative connotations in French."

Lisa Jackson said the party needs to consider the implications of dropping the word "New" from its 48-year-old name.

"If it's a derogatory term, then you'd have to widen debates within the party," the 28-year-old Toronto woman said.

"Definitely if there's a negative connotation to the French spelling of it, it's important to consider that."

Branding expert Glenda Rissman said the party needs to consider how a different name would translate -- and its potential to offend.

"Pede is not a great word," said Rissman, one of the founders of Q30 Design Inc., a Toronto-based design and branding firm.

"It's just going to create some negative press ... in this case, the acronym is essentially the name, so there's lots of things to consider."

The party also needs to determine whether the new name works well as an acronym and whether it can buy a website that matches its new identity, said Rissman.

"It's a pretty serious thing to do and there are serious implications," she said.

"In this case, there's more equity in the acronym than the fully spelled out name. People know the NDP."

Jim Bickerton, a political science professor in Antigonish, N.S., said Democratic success south of the border might be the driving force behind the idea to change the party's name.

"(With) the favourable impression of the Democratic Party in the United States now under (Barack) Obama's leadership, maybe things are coming together at this juncture for the Democratic Party as an alternative to the New Democratic Party," Bickerton said.

"They feel ... the name is no longer apt and somewhat misleading and also might be holding the party back, in the sense that if the party is perennially the new party, then they never get to be perceived as one of the established alternatives."

Toronto delegate Julian Benson said he opposed the idea because he felt it took the party away from the issues they should be grappling with, such as union rights and the economy.

"It's a distraction," said Benson, 23.

"The party is about ideas and policy rather than image and marketing."

The NDP's roots can be traced back to Calgary in 1932, when the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was founded. At the time, the party was a collection of socialist and labour supporters eager to bring about economic reforms after the Great Depression.

But the party became known as the New Democratic Party in 1961 after supporters agreed to drop the cumbersome moniker.

More recently, the federal Tories dropped the word, "Progressive," from their name and emerged as the Conservatives in December 2003. The name change came about after the Progressive Conservatives and Canadian Alliance, the successor to the Reform Party, agreed to merge.

In 2000, supporters of the Canadian Conservative Reform Alliance Party found themselves the butt of jokes when it was pointed out to them that their acronym would be CCRAP. The party later became known simply as the Canadian Alliance.

NDP delegates are expected to vote on the name change proposal Sunday.

Bone Heads

Please stop enough all ready with these guys.

Duck shoot video brings 3 arrests in Sask.
Last Updated: Saturday, August 8, 2009 | 9:05 PM CT
CBC News
A video posted on YouTube shows men firing a rifle at ducks swimming in a pond. Some of the shooting took place from a car window. (YouTube)Three Saskatchewan men have been arrested over a video recently posted on YouTube that shows men using rifles to shoot ducks on a pond illegally, sometimes from a car window.

Saskatchewan's Environment Ministry said the three will appear in court in Saskatoon on Monday on charges laid under federal and provincial wildlife protection laws. The men, who were released until their court appearance, are from a community in the Saskatoon area.

The ministry said the video was shot in rural Saskatchewan. The internet posting led to widespread public outrage over the shootings, which the ministry said resulted in a significant number of calls to the Turn in Poachers hotline.

The ministry said it was information from those calls that led to the arrests, which were carried out by provincial conservation officers, federal wildlife enforcement officers and RCMP.

According to Darrell Crabbe, executive director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, the video indicates the men on it broke several hunting and firearms laws, including a prohibition on shooting out of a vehicle.

Gary Harrison, manager of the ministry's special investigations unit, said officers were able to pin down the location where the video was shot.

"It's close to the community that the arrests were made in," he said.

Harrison said more investigation is needed of the area where the video was shot.

Number not known
"Anybody who has watched the video knows that some birds have been killed and we really don't know how many that was," he said.

The video prompted the Toronto-based Humane Society of Canada to post a reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of those shown in the internet posting.

Society executive director Michael O'Sullivan said the organization also got calls from people who wanted to help and they were directed to tip lines in both western provinces. O'Sullivan said he is pleased to hear of the arrests.

"I would like to commend all the members of the public who provided information. Canadians take cruelty to animals very seriously and they want to help out as best as they can," he said.

This bater guy gets media!

Bater raises questionJuly 21, 2009 I'm glad to see in new Liberal leader Ryan Bater's letter, Tolerance just first
step (SP, July 15), that there's nothing liberal about the Saskatchewan Party. ... Tolerance just first stepJuly 15, 2009 ... What we do know, however, is that there is absolutely nothing liberal about
the Saskatchewan Party. Ryan Bater. Leader, Sask. Liberals. Sask. Party's loss is Liberal's gainJuly 03, 2009 ... Liberal Leader Ryan Bater said Gelowitz's defection shows the party, which has no
seats in the legislature, is on the right track as he emphasizes themes of ... Grits pick Riversdale candidateJuly 02, 2009 ... Liberal Leader Ryan Bater was also on hand to sign the party's declaration
regarding aboriginal issues. If elected, the Liberals ... Liberals name Riversdale byelection candidateJuly 01, 2009 ... Liberal leader Ryan Bater was also on hand to sign the party’s declaration
regarding aboriginal issues. If elected, the Liberals ... Liberal leader Bater hits the road in rented RVJune 27, 2009 ... the legislature. Ryan Bater is getting all Kerouac-like this month, or
as Kerouac-like as you can be in a motorhome. The rookie ... Cabinet ministers nervous as shuffle loomsMay 23, 2009 ... Rookie Saskatchewan Liberal Leader Ryan Bater is using some intellectual big guns
as he tries to reposition -- or maybe re-reposition -- his party as the ...

Small steps are being taken

We are in this all together and now it is time to grow this party.

Here is an example of how. Happy Brithday Canada

Saskatchewan Liberal Leader Ryan Bater Makes Commitment to First Nations & Métis People
June 30, 2009
Former Saskatchewan Party Candidate to Run for Liberals in Riversdale By-Election

Saskatoon – Today Saskatchewan Liberal Leader Ryan Bater welcomed the selection of Eileen Gelowitz as the candidate for the Saskatchewan Liberals in the upcoming Saskatoon-Riversdale by-election. Mrs. Gelowitz, a long-time resident of Riversdale and activist for her community, was the Saskatchewan Party’s candidate in Saskatoon-Fairview during the 2007 provincial election.

“In recent months I have become increasingly disillusioned with the Saskatchewan Party and the lack of leadership by Premier Brad Wall and his government in tackling the core issues facing First Nations and Métis people – creating sustainable communities and individuals which ensures that everyone participates in supporting Saskatchewan.” said Gelowitz. “I have been truly impressed by the leadership and new direction for the Saskatchewan Liberals that Ryan Bater has put in place and this has convinced me to return home to the Liberals as I continue to work to improve my community”.

Ryan Bater also expressed his support for a new approach in partnering with First Nations and Métis people. “From my years of experience working with the First Nations and Métis community when I was the manager of the Battlefords Regional Economic Development Authority, I have seen far too often that our Aboriginal people are viewed as a ‘solution’ to labour and economic problems in the province instead of as individuals who should be empowered to pursue their own dreams,” said Bater. “It is time for the paternalistic approach of provincial governments of all political stripes to end”.

At the nomination meeting, Bater signed a commitment to the First Nations and Métis people of Saskatchewan that included the following three points:

1) Using the Treaties as a blueprint for future partnerships with First Nations and Métis people of Saskatchewan

2) Implementing a representative workforce strategy at all levels of government

3) Creating a Secretariat within the Premier’s Office to directly address First Nations and Métis issues from a whole-of-government perspective