Seriously, why isn’t our government screaming foul? Something is seriously wrong.
Crossposted -Spink About It
Blogging has been admittedly light to say the least over the past few months. I've been taking some time reflecting the future of this blog and what direction to take it in.
With that being said, I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2009.
Crossposted - Spink About It
I'm really not crazy about Harper putting the locks on Parliament but the other choice looked even worse.
I tend to agree that Harper doesn't have a majority and shouldn't govern like he does (although the Liberals essentially let him do that prior to this past election). However neither do the Liberals/NDP have a mandate to govern either. Clearly they were at the very least comtemplating this scenario if not conspiring together prior to if not immediately after the last election.
If they think a coalition is the answer then that's fine but be honest about it and let the voters decide.
What they should be doing is working with the Conservatives (the reverse is true as well) and negotiating. Don't like the economic update? Then suggest changes you can live with. It's give and take all around. However saying almost immediately after the update that it's time to overthrow the government weeks after the election?
If they're so confident that voters want a coalition government then be honest about it and take it to the voters. Let us decide, not an "on his way out" leader of a party that even they don't want anymore.
“Liberals tend to lose their minds when they are out of power for more than one election cycle…” Andrew Potter, MacLean’s, December 1, 2008
Crossposted -Spink About It
I’m hearing a lot of lamenting today about not enough female representation in the Liberal Cabinet. Fair enough, but there aren’t that many female MLA’s to choose from nor do I think that someone should be given a golden ticket to Cabinet based on nothing but the fact that they’re a woman, man, black, white, Catholic, Protestant, and the list goes on. That’s ridiculous. Just because you happen to be a certian gender, ethinicity, etc. doesn’t make you a good Minister.
Carmel Robichaud is a prime example. She made 101 people who are screwing up Canada for good reason and frankly she still owes an apology to New Brunswickers for her lax attitude towards penalties for drunk drivers.
Granted, that’s not the reason she got the boot from Cabinet today but we’re all better for her being sent to the backbenches. She wasn’t a good Minister and Shawn Graham knows it or he would have kept her.
It’s rare I’ll root for the NDP but next election hopefully NDP Leader Roger Duguay trounces Robichaud.
Crossposted -Spink About It
According to my blogging colleague, Gypsy Blog, the Carleton Free Press in Woodstock is no more (he works there so he should know),
It’s too bad. We seriously need more voices in media not less. That doesn’t mean government has to step in and force it as some have suggested but competition is a positive thing. A good product is a good product. If someone can provide it that good product, people will buy it. Admittedly though it is tougher when you’re going up against an established product run by folks with deep pockets.
Still, running a second weekly in a small market like Woodstock was bound to be difficult from the get go. Unfortunate in two respects. One for the workers of the Free Press and two, others may be less likely to venture against the Irving owned newspapers in other markets. That’s too bad, because Moncton for one could seriously use some competition.
Crossposted- Spink About It
I’ve heard and read a number of Liberals, NDP and Green Party members lamenting about the results of the election and pointing out the fact that more people didn’t vote for the Conservatives than did.
All true.
What the journalists interviewing these party members are leaving out though is the obvious follow up question, “Uh, Mr./Mrs. Liberal/NDP/Green, more people didn’t vote for you than did too, in fact even more so.”
No such question though.
Odd.
Crossposted - Spink About It
Tobique-Mactaquac - Mike Allen (Conservative)
Fredericton - Keith Ashfield (Conservative)
Fundy Royal - Rob Moore (Conservative)
New Brunswick Southwest - Greg Thompson (Conservative)
Miramichi - Tilly O'Neill-Gordon (Conservative)
Saint John - Rodney Weston (Conservative)
Madawaska-Restigouche - Jean-Claude D'Amours (Liberal)
Beausejour - Dominic Leblanc (Liberal)
Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe - Brian Murphy (Liberal)
Acadie-Bathurst - Yvon Godin (NDP)
Spinks election predictor - 7-3
Surprises?
Miramichi comes as a surprise but as mentioned here and by other pundits, the proposed Liberal carbon tax was a killer that even the popular Charles Hubbard couldn't sell. Impressive night for the Conservatives in New Brunswick.
Crossposted -Spink About It
Predicted winner – Conservative
In 2004, Liberal MP Paul Zed was effective in getting the message out to voters that they should have a Member of Parliament who was in government. He picked up the seat by about 3500 votes. In ’06 he went back in but his lead shrunk to about 1500 votes.
In this election, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that the Conservatives will be back in power, it’s just a matter of whether they have a majority or a minority. With former PC MLA Rodney Weston carrying the Conservative banner, people may decide they want to have an MP on the government side.
Paul Zed has been regarded as a decent MP for the area but the Liberals carbon tax proposal hasn’t exactly been embraced with open arms in this area where energy and the Irvings are dominant players. The Green Shift promises to chew in to any lead Zed once enjoyed.
X-Factor – Saint Johners have no problem not voting for government. In 1993, when the Progressive Conservatives were decimated, Saint John was one of two ridings in the country that voted in a PC (although it was Elsie Wayne who probably could have run for the Rhino Party and won the seat) and kept it Tory for two more elections when Liberal majorities reigned.
Crossposted - Spink About It
