A while back, I collared Bob Rae at a banquet in remembrance of the late Liberal MLA Sheldon Chumir and pushed a stack of my columns into the hands of the former Ontario premier.
You may recall Rae was an utter disaster as left-wing premier, while Sheldon, who died far, far too young, was a right-wing entrepreneurial Liberal who made himself into a millionaire.
Sadly, the foundation now purporting to represent Chumir’s values is so way to the left, Sheldon must be raging in heaven at the blasphemies being echoed in his name.
Anyway, while shoving the columns in Rae’s hands, I explained I was likely the most right-wing columnist he would ever read, if he cared to cast his eyes over the pennings.
Later, during the banquet, and while Rae was seated at the head table, he actually did ponder the columns and kept glancing in my direction, utterly amazed someone would not only have the audacity to think such thoughts, but have the temerity to blatantly espouse such ideas in print.
Yes, these socialists, and back then Rae was still a New Democrat, believe in free speech and open dialogue only so long as someone talks their talk and walks their walk. Any difference of opinion offends them. These people hardly adhere to the true principles of democratic debate.
Now Bobby tells us he is not only a Liberal, but is running in the Liberal leadership race in the hopes of following two other disastrous political leaders, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin.
Gee, the party’s trying for a hat trick, three losers in a row.
Let’s hope Rae wins the race, because memories are long in Ontario, and with Rae at the helm of the federal party, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives will easily double the 40 seats they won in that province on Jan. 23.
Yet, we may get another federal election even before this bone-headed individual gets a chance to take over the party’s reins at the convention in Dec-ember, for he’s urging Liberal MPs to bring down the Harper government in September over the softwood lumber deal.
That’s the deal Harper solved within a handful of weeks of becoming prime minister—an issue Rae’s new party had failed to solve in an entire decade—when President George W. Bush pulled together opposing sides in the U.S. and agreed to give Canada back $4 billion of some $5 billion in duties on Canadian softwood lumber exports.
Interim Liberal leader Bill Graham and New Democrat leader Jack Layton—two of the most pompous jackasses you will ever see in politics in your lifetime—immediately whined the Canadian industry was being ripped off because it was getting only 80 cents on the dollar.
Seems they preferred no dollars—no win—at all to an 80% win. Most of us would figure an 80% settlement in our favour is not a bad settlement.
Since there are tax ramifications to the deal, Harper has to bring it before the Commons on a vote, and since it is a tax matter, it will be considered a vote of confidence, and if the Conservatives lose the vote, we’ll be off to the polls.
Rae is urging this very action—supposedly backed by the Liberals, New Democrats and possibly Gilles Duceppe’s Bloc Quebecois—even though his party in reality will be leaderless at the time.
Did this individual—gristle from ear to ear—not learn anything from the catastrophes he caused as premier of Ontario?
Apparently not.
Not only will the Liberals not have a “real” leader if the plank is pulled from under Harper, but they do not have the money to run an aggressive election campaign. Neither do Layton’s New Democrats.
Duceppe may well have feet of clay when the vote actually occurs, since polls show the Conservatives are substantially undercutting Bloc support in Quebec. Harper’s team astonished pundits in January when they won 10 of Quebec’s 75 seats, and few doubt they can double that number, or even triple it, come the next election.
Ever wonder why—even to the delight of Albertans—Harper opens most of his speeches in French?
Our boy is canny, for sure.
Polls across the entire nation are showing Harper steadily gaining in popularity and esteem, which makes the Rae/Graham/Layton—forget Duceppe for now—ploy seem even more insane.
Friends, we may have a solid Conservative majority government long before we imagined.
Suits me just fine, how about you?
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