Sports and tax dollars do mix, Layton says

NDP Leader Jack Layton is all revved up.

Layton said it's time Ottawa fuelled the Montreal Grand Prix with taxpaper dollars.

"Yes, of course, Its a very important event, not only for race fans but also for Montreal's economy," he told Montreal's TVA.

But that's not all. He said those same tax dollars should be used to bail out sports teams.

"Obviously we would join with the city and the province to help because the benefits are very important for the local economy."

- Richard Brennan

Practice makes perfect

There is nothing spontaneous about it. The NDP rallies (actually they are all the same) are contrived. Before Leader Jack Layton arrives, supporters practice cheering and waving signs, are told where to stand and when to be excited on cue. The big thing with with the Layton rallies is to have many supporters lined up behind him so the crowds looks much larger than they are. Seldom does Layton break out of the safety of the NDP family.

- Richard Brennan

Please Do Not Ignore

At a Vancouver rally, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was interrupted about one minute after he began speaking by a loud, intermittent beeping sound that resembled a high-tech fire alarm.

"That is something we really should try and stop, whatever that noise is," he quipped.

The annoying sound wouldn't go away.

Moments later, just as Harper said “especially in times like these, in times…,” an official-sounding voice came over the hotel intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a stage one alarm and is currently being investigated." The crowd laughed. “There we have the explanation,” said Harper.

Harper ploughed on with his speech. “Especially in times like these, when we have alarms going off around the world, of global economic uncertainty, we need a national government with prudent leadership, with thought-through policies that understands working families and puts them first.”

The crowd of 600 lapped it up.

Harper then moved to invoke his children to push his economic message that lately amounts to don't-anybody-panic-we've-got-it-under-control.

"When my son, Ben, was a toddler he came home from day care one day. And he said "Daddy, do you know what my teacher says you should do when something bad happens?"

"I said 'what'?"

"He said, 'Stop, breathe, think."

"Friends, that's pretty good advice for this election."

The high-pitched alarm kept ringing, but it did not deter Harper or his supporters.

In a very warm ballroom, they cheered the applause lines, and booed mention of the Liberals.

About 15 minutes into the speech, the alarm stopped its piercing intrusion.

Harper carried on with the stump speech.

All was well.

Apparently.

Update: As Harper spoke inside, outside the Star's Petti Fong reports that police blocked the entrance.

About 12 demonstrators were protesting the Conservatives' opposition to the Insite safe injection site in the downtown East side.  They blew air horns and made such a racket that they could be heard during the pauses in Harper's speech.

A firefighter said later someone inside the hotel had pulled a a fire alarm...it was indeed a false alarm.

-Tonda MacCharles

Well-off guy speaks for the little guy

Even though NDP Leader Jack Layton has a household income in the top one per cent of Canadians, he says he can still speak for the little guy.

Between Layton and his wife Olivia Chow, who is also an MP, they earn a total of $353,000 annually (including benefits like housing in Ottawa) and Layton has a class A pension plan that could give him – depending on how long he stays around - a yearly amount three times the average Canadian income.

“I’ve spent my whole career working with people to get a fair shake and our party stands for the working people of this country and the middle class to make sure they get a fair shake and our policies reflect that,” said Layton, who also has a car and driver at his disposal when in Ottawa.

-Richard Brennan

NDP walking tall in Quebec

The New Democrats are running television ads like they're a dominant party in Quebec.

They're spending $1 million in Quebec alone on ads, and while the other parties spots have typically shown a person talking to a camera, the NDP’s are full of animation and accompanied by an unmistakable message.

The party has run an ad warning of another Stephen Harper government. Over dark, rolling images, with the faces of Harper and George W. Bush looming in the shadows, the announcer says: “A vote for the Conservatives is a vote for narrow mindedness, cuts to culture, against Kyoto…”  The viewer sees the words “pro war” over images of faceless soldiers, and “slave of the oilmen” over wrists raised in shackles.

Now they’ve turned their attention to the Bloc. An ad on TV screens today shows a maze, like in a suspenseful video game. “A vote for the Bloc Québécois…” the female announcer says, “blocks the environment, blocks the middle class, blocks the economy.” Viewers see a bicycle with square wheels, a helpless young man with his head between his knees. “But more than anything, blocks the future of Quebec,” she continues, as the camera pulls up from the maze to see the outline of Quebec.  Of course, leader Jack Layton comes on screen and declares, “To unblock things,” etc. etc.

The NDP isn’t expected to win a seat other than the one Thomas Mulclair captured for the party in a by-election last year in Outremont. But it’s true the party has never garnered so much interest in the province than in this election, so much so that the Bloc started running ads against the NDP for the first time ever. The Bloc has been worried that the NDP will siphon off progressive votes. As the Tories falter in the polls, however, the NDP might end up siphoning off those who were considering the Conservatives but now are changing their minds, which could be good for the Bloc.

The ads, produced by award-winning Montreal firm Amen Creation, begin with the image of a ballot, and a voter about to check off one of the other parties.

One might assume – though the party won’t confirm this – that the Liberals are next on the hit list.

 

Saskatoon? We have a problem

Under a slate grey sky with blowing rain cutting into their faces, half frozen Saskatoon and area New Democrat supporters waited and waited for NDP Leader Jack Layton to get off his campaign plane today.

"This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen," said a disgruntled supporter who sought shelter in a nearby bus.

The plan was for the rally to be held in a hangar at the Saskatoon airport but the company refused to move the planes out. Layton ended up speaking from a wooden soapbox just outside the gates to the airport.

- Richard Brennan

The seat that still awaits Layton

It has been 31 days of NDP Leader Jack Layton talking about the importance of the kitchen table as opposed to the board room table. And yet, Layton has not visited one home and sat at a kitchen table.

-Richard Brennan

Layton counts on over-educated cabbie

NDP Leader Jack Layton says a taxi is a good place to have a heart attack because the driver could well be a new Canadian and out-of-work doctor.

Layton was making the point at a rally in Courtenay, B.C. that too many talented immigrants can't get jobs in their profession.

"If I ever have a heart attack I want to have it in a taxi," Layton said, adding he will lift restrictions holding professionals back.

-Richard Brennan

Are we there yet?

"I hope I can count on your support Monday," NDP Leader Jack Layton kept repeating to commuters at Vancouver's Burrard Street skytrain station this morning. The fact is the election is next Tuesday. Another sign that Layton is either tired, or really eager to get this thing over with. Anyway, Layton got a good reception at this west coast city as he handed out pamphlets for Michael Byers, the NDP's candidate for Vancouver Centre.

- Richard Brennan

Trudeau enters the fray

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is getting some marquee name power during his campaign stops today. Justin Trudeau, son of former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was to introduce Dion at an event in Vancouver and then stick with the tour for an evening rally in North Bay. Trudeau is running as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Papineau.

- Bruce Campion-Smith