Senate appointments: Count the ways

If the reports are true, Stephen Harper has decided to totally fly in the face of his promises to reform the Senate and appoint another wave of hacks and flacks to the Senate. Why? Ten possible reasons, circulating around the punditry and beyond today. I'll happily post any more suggestions.

1. Like the old joke about the dog and rude habits: Because he can.

2. Because Liberals did.

3. Because the Senate needs a former emergency-room nurse.

4. He's scared he might lose the next election.

5. Because the Senate needs yet another guy who's "passionately" interested in   golf, hockey and church. 

6. Because they might do a good job. (Ed. note:  too preposterous; find another reason.)

7. He has forgotten all the things he said about Senate reform.

8. Because it will annoy Preston Manning and all the Reformers who got  on his nerves in the 1990s. 

9. Because that Mike Duffy thing is working out really well.

10. Because  Stephen Harper is  afraid of the Finleys.

We're everywhere

Proof positive that Susans, as you might have suspected, are taking over the world.

April 2010 election?

Forget all that punditry and strategic thinking -- Blair Robertson, kilted psychic, has figured out Canada's next date with political destiny and it's April, 2010.

Aaron Wherry of Macleans always finds the best stuff, h/t to him for this YouTube video. 

 

Robertson also predicts that two Liberals are going to cross the floor to the Conservatives and, mincing no words, that an election this fall would "destroy the Liberal Party."

Sudbury itinerary

 A couple of people have asked me today about the itinerary for the Liberals'  caucus retreat in  Sudbury next week. (Yes, I'm going.)

Here, as an informal service to the curious,  is what I'm expecting will  be the shape of events at the Sudbury retreat.

Monday, Aug. 31:

Daylong: MPs arrive in Sudbury; will be asked as they enter the hotel if they want a fall election.

Tuesday, Sept. 1

Regional caucuses/ MPs entering and exiting are asked if they want a fall election.

Evening event/rally: Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is asked before and after speech if he wants a fall election.

Wednesday, Sept. 2:
National caucus meeting: Ignatieff and MPs talk about whether there should be a fall election. Reporters stake out entry and exit, ask about fall election.

Final news conference: Ignatieff  answers reporters' questions about the possibility of a fall election.

Thursday, Sept. 3

MPs go back to homes/ridings, Ignatieff heads to China ...  and reporters return to offices to write weekend pieces on whether there will be a fall election.

Hypothetical election

So Jack Layton says that the NDP won't support the Conservatives unless there's some change in thinking on Harper's part ... and he didn't see any sign of a change today when he met the PM. 

Layton also fell back on an old political escape trick that has always irked me when it's hauled out to avoid clarity. He said he doesn't answer hypothetical questions. This is of course untrue. All politicians answer hypothetical questions, especially when they start from the premise: "If you are elected, what will you do about...."?

I googled for a definition of hypothetical question  and got this: "Imaginary situation based on certain proven or assumed facts, and formulated to arrive at a generalized answer applicable in most such situations" 

As we are about to enter another round of election speculation, my fervent wish is for politicians to stop saying they don't deal in the hypothetical (they do) and for them to just say instead: "I don't feel like answering that."

Undemocratic?

Okay, who's going to be the first to talk about the "undemocratic" NDP-Conservative coalition after Layton meets Harper today?

Update: On Twitter, Liberal folks are having some fun with the prospect of a Harper-Layton deal.  Big City Lib is talking about   "purple coalition" -- the result of mixing Tory blue with NDP orange. And   the Liberals' national director, Rocco Rossi, is suggesting that what really unites  the two parties is the  desire to shed part of their names -- democrats that aren't new and conservatives that aren't progressive.

Layton meets Harper

This is probably the most interesting thing that's going to happen in Ottawa today. 

LAYTON MEETS WITH PM IN ADVANCE OF FALL SESSION

 

OTTAWA – New Democrat Leader Jack Layton will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Langevin Block to discuss the fall session of Parliament. Layton plans to speak to reporters immediately following the meeting.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25                                                                               OTTAWA

 

2:50 PM          Photo-Op, Layton enters Langevin Block

80 Wellington St.

Ottawa, ON

 

 

4:00 PM           Press Conference with Jack Layton

                                    National Press Theatre

150 Wellington St.              

                        Ottawa, ON

 

- 30 -

Smoke from the backrooms

I have a story in today's paper -- an interview with Michael Ignatieff's new chief of staff, Ian Davey. I'll put some more tidbits from this interview on the blog in coming days.

In the meantime, if you want to read more of what's been happening (or not happening) behind the scenes in the OLO this summer, have a look at this lengthy and interesting piece in this week's Hill Times. It deals with the reports we started hearing last March -- that former Privy Council Clerk Alex Himelfarb was all set to be the new chief of staff to the Liberal leader.

From my understanding, that did indeed *almost* happen, and the Hill Times is correct in reporting that there was a pushback from staff.  According to one story circulating out there, the arrival of Himelfarb would have precipitated a huge staff departure from the OLO -- some voluntary, some involuntary. With a possible election looming as soon as this fall, that might have been just a bit too much upheaval.

 At CanPolitico.com, incidentally, there's a new post this morning that takes issue with the conventional wisdom I cite in today's story -- that  loyalists and long-time aides are a hindrance in power.  CanPolitico cites all the leaders, ranging from Chretien to Trudeau to Harper, who've kept their long-time supporters close to them.

Ignatieff's Shanghai stop

 A hint of what the Liberal leader will be doing in early September, via the Canada-China Business Council's newsletter.

September 9 - Shanghai

Canadian Trade and Markets of the Future
A CCBC Shanghai luncheon with Michael Ignatieff, M.P.
Michael Ignatieff is the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, the Leader of the Official Opposition, and a Member of Parliament.

The Canada China Business Council invites Canadians in Shanghai to hear Mr. Ignatieff's vision for Canada's role in international trade.
 

Demography is destiny

Gender -- and age -- matter.
The forthcoming NYT magazine is devoted to women's rights, f  and in this article, called The Power of the Purse, we learn that female philanthropy  is changing as more women get more money in their hands to do good works.

"...unlike the women who preceded them — old-school patrons who gave to the museum and the symphony and their dead husbands’ alma maters — these givers are more likely to use their wealth deliberately and systematically to aid women in need."

Belinda Stronach, who has just such a foundation, would probably agree.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons says that the Canadian political landscape is not in the stalemate we've been reporting all summer, at least if you look at attitudes among the over-55 set. Here are the results of the new online poll that CARP is circulating today.

Based on CARP’s internal projections, on a national basis, CARP members support the Conservatives [36%] over the Liberals [30%], BUT in the key battleground province of Ontario, CARP members support the Liberals [42%] over the Conservatives [38%]. [Survey and analysis attached]

CARP’s poll sample is a bellwether group. Virtually all the respondents were age 55plus. Seventy percent [70%] of this demographic votes regularly. In Ontario, there are over a dozen ridings in which those aged 65-plus represent about 26% of the population, about twice the national average [13%]. And contrary to recently publicized polls which showed the two main parties neck and neck in Ontario, the preferences among older voters are quite different.

“So, the message is: Older voters can make the difference between a majority and minority in the upcoming election so it would be wise to pay attention to the issues that resonate with them. In fact, it could determine the election,” said Susan Eng, Vice President, Advocacy of CARP.