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Showing posts with label Jack Layton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack Layton. Show all posts
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
The world is poorer for your passing.
Canada has lost someone who contributed greatly to the fostering of our democracy, someone who showed that a capitalist society should also be compatible with a society that took collective care of those whose needs outstripped their ability to provide for themselves.
We have lost a great man.
Our political space was bettered when this man played his role; his civility, his ability to present his case in a clear and thoughtful way; his ability to inspire others to work for the betterment of all, will be missed for many, many years.
Monday, 25 July 2011
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| Thomas Mulcair |
Layton is stepping down as leader of the NDP to fight a new cancer attack, and a temporary leader will be selected by the party, and might only serve until mid-September if Layton returns fit enough to take up the reins again.
The Cat recommends that the NDP appoint Thomas Mulcair as the temporary leader, given Mulcair's positive performance in the House, and the role he has played in the NDP obliteration of the Bloc MPs in Quebec.
And my best wishes to Jack in his fight.
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Americans were plunged into the financial meltdown a few years ago, brought on by the excess and readily available credit that the US has been living on for several decades. And many Americans have now had their wings clipped, and have been stripped of their borrowing capacity by the banks.
But at the same time, the US government has been borrowing consistently, while reducing its revenues through tax cuts for the wealthy and tax loopholes for businesses.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Right now Jack Layton and the NDP are rightfully riding high, with their newly elected MPs learning the ropes. Layton says repeatedly that the NDP will keep the Conservative majority government honest, by raising issues which it believes the government should pay attention to.
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| The end of the honeymoon ... |
Layton argues what the government has to listen to the NDP issues, because 60% of the voters did not vote for Harper's Tories. By saying this, Layton has assumed the NDP has the right to speak for the 60%.
The NDP is living in a fantasy land. Their view of their role in the next four or so years as being the standard bearer for the 60% of non-Tory voters will soon be brushed aside by the reality of politics. That reality takes two forms.
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Monday, 6 June 2011
In today's Toronto Sun, Lorrie Goldstein, the Senior Associate Editor, has an interesting article in which he writes about the Layton balancing act, caused by his schitzophrenic NDP party caucus makeup:
LIKE IT? CLICK HERE TO READ MORELayton is now riding atop a two-headed tiger as official opposition leader.It’s half made up of Quebec MPs elected by pro-sovereignist voters in that
On May 25 Bob Rae became interim Leader of the Liberal Party, after a few weeks of speculation that the job would be his. On May 2 the surprising election was held, reducing the Liberals to a mere 18.9% of the votes cast, which sank a few weeks later to below 16%.
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| Bobby Bounce? |
Between May 24 and 29 Nanos had a poll, which shows, in the Cat's belief, the first sign of the Bobby Bounce for the Liberals: up from 18.9% nationally to 21.5%, with
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Sunday, 5 June 2011
One of the options facing a future Prime Minister Jack Layton is to consider a request to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the constitutionality of the Clarity Act.
The Clarity Act was passed in 2000, and in 1998 the SCC decision dealing with the right of Quebec to declare independence was handed down. You can find more details on both in my earlier post.
The Clarity Act sets out a process for dealing with a referendum question posed by a legislative body in Quebec.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Would an NDP Government become an outlaw government? The chances are high
0 comments Posted by 2011 at 11:16Jack Layton campaigned as a future prime minister, and won a resounding victory over the waffling Liberals and do-nothing Bloc, sweeping into Official Opposition party status.
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| Jack Layton - the Outlaw PM? |
Now he is still running for prime minister, courting Quebec with as much relish as Brown Envelope Brian did, and trying hard to be prime ministerial in his media scrums and other meetings.
The latest polls show the NDP cementing their support in Quebec, firming it up elsewhere, moving up while the Tories stay where they are, and the Liberal Party sinks yet lower.
What does this mean?
It means that Canadians have to seriously entertain the idea that it is possible – perhaps more than possible, given the historic ceiling on Harper support – that Layton's NDP might become the government of Canada, either a minority or a majority government.
The applicable laws:
And this brings us to a succinct summary of the NDP policy regarding a referendum for independence in
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Friday, 27 May 2011
During a press conference, the issue of the referendum for independence of Quebec came up, and Jack Layton did a bit of dodging and weaving around the issue.
Finally, he addressed Quebecers directly:
Layton walked a fine line in his speech to the troops, noting that Canadians "from coast to coast" voted for the NDP.But he did not overlook Quebec, either."In this Parliament, we are going to work tirelessly to respond to their expectations," he said. "My message to Quebecers is clear. You can count on me to defend your interests."
Which Quebecers were you talking about, Jack?
Take an example to test your commitment that "Quebecers" can count on
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As the man who crafted the Clarity Act which now governs the manner in which the government of Canada has to deal with the framing of a question for a referendum on the independence of Quebec put it, the law of the land cannot be wished away:
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| Unclear Jack |
LIKE IT? CLICK HERE TO READ MORE“I think they tried to be ambiguous to please their nationalist wing without repudiating the Clarity Act,” Liberal MP Stéphane Dion, who shepherded the Clarity Act through the legislative process when he was intergovernmental affairs minister under then prime minister Jean Chrétien, told the Star in a recent interview.“They will try to please everyone as usual, but it’s the law of the land and no declaration — as ambiguous as it may be — of a politician may remove from Quebecers the right to stay in Canada
We all know the saying that the tail wags the dog. But sometimes it takes a bit of number crunching to determine just how big a tail might be, and then allow us to deduce just how much the dog will be wagged by a large tail.
Grenier has written a must-read demographic analysis of the New Kid on the Block – the post-May 2 'new' NDP. The numbers Grenier has crunched go a long way to explain what we can expect to happen in Ottawa over the next 4 years:
LIKE IT? CLICK HERE TO READ MOREThe profile of the New Democratic Party has fundamentally changed. The NDP never had any significant representation from Quebec before, but it is now a Quebec-based party. In effect, roughly four
Before the momentous May 2 election catapulted the NDP party into the role of Official Opposition when they knocked out the Bloc and won 59 of Quebec's 75 seats, Jack Layton was quizzed on the party's policies with regard to Quebec independence, and the role of Quebec in Canada.
Graeme Hamilton had this report on April 26:
The NDP’s official Quebec policy, known as the Sherbrooke Declaration, begins by identifying overtures to Quebec as the key to winning an election...
Jack Layton
The document recognizes Quebec’s “national character” but says recognizing that character “does not necessarily lead to sovereignty.” Instead an NDP government would accommodate Quebec’s difference through “asymmetrical federalism,” under which Quebec could opt out of any national programs in areas of provincial jurisdiction and receive full compensation from the federal government.
Note the portion I have bolded.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
What a short honeymoon!
Having romped home with 59 of Quebec's 75 seats in the House, Jack Layton has fumbled his first attempt to reconcile the soft nationalist / sovereignist / independence leanings of many of his Quebec MPs in the NDP caucus.
For twenty four hours Layton danced with the angels on the point of the separatist needle, but then he had to come down and clarify the muddle, because the NDP could hear the faint rumblings of an uproar in that province:
LIKE IT? CLICK HERE TO READ MOREBut even as he attempted to clarify, Layton continued to insist that his position is consistent with the Supreme Court ruling."The Supreme Court decision says you need a clear majority. And our Sherbrooke Declaration put a number to what a clear majority means: 50 per cent plus one. That's been our policy for a long time, and it remains so."
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
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| Separatism Redux |
The centre of gravity of the NDP has shifted to the two largest provinces – Ontario and Quebec. In a sense, having ousted the Bloc Quebecois from power in Ottawa, the NDP under Jack Layton and Thomas Mulcair has also done a bit of a time-shift, back to the turbulent 70's and 80's, when the burning question in Canada was whether it would stay united, or end up with some form of federal system between an independent Quebec and the ROC.
The Cat has thoughtfully provided a redesigned NDP logo which more correctly represents the 'new' New Democratic Party's centres of gravity, for consideration by Jack and his large Caucus.
The NDP has straddled the Quebec independence issue for years, and succeeded in getting away with it because it really did not play a meaningful role in that province.
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Friday, 6 May 2011
This is perhaps one of the best explanations of the orange tidal wave that swept the Bloc out of power in Quebec on May 2. Barbara Kay explains it this way:
LIKE IT? CLICK HERE TO READ MOREJack’s big moment was the debate, when Quebecers suddenly realized he was talking real colloquial French that he was not translating in his head. He was the only one who was truly comfortable in his skin speaking French – just as comfortable as Duceppe ... Layton was truly at ease and I think Quebecers who were sick of the Bloc and ready for a big change,
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
The wall of shock, awe and dismay at just how little power any opposition party and party leader has under a majority government in our Westminster style Parliament.
Right now, Jack Layton and the NDP are triumphant, as they should be. They have swept the faltering Liberal Party from its position as Official Opposition, and Jack is busy measuring Stornaway for new orange-tinted curtains.
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Monday, 2 May 2011
Stunning news about voters' intentions in the latest Angus Reid poll!
Thanks to CalgaryGrit for the link to the April 30 Angus Reid poll.
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Sunday, 1 May 2011
It's the stickiness factor. Jack could shake the Tory tree tomorrow and have up to one in four Tories fall out of the clutches of Harper's new Tories, into his lap.
And that could put him over the top for a minority government.
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Saturday, 30 April 2011
Where is Quebec leading Canada to on May 2? And why will most Canadians want to undertake that journey with them?
First the coalition, then the Royal Wedding – is the Brit example influencing Canadian voters?
The excitement of the high drama in the UK after their recent election, with negotiations between the three parties ending in a five-year coalition deal between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, spilled over into Canada for a brief time, with bloggers and commentators wading in with comparisons to our
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Thursday, 28 April 2011
Harper's Smitten Two-Trick Pony:
When this election started, Harper desperately tried to frame the ballot question as a stable majority Conservative government lead by him versus an unstable, illegitimate
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