Letters from the Editor in Chief

I am not a card carrying member of any political party but one of those 'swing' voters that parties have never been able to identify but would very much like to. I followed this convention throughout the weekend.
I listened to all the speeches.
I was impressed by Stephane Dion's the most.
Why? Because he meant what he said.
He believes in Canada.
He is proud of Canada.
He was straight forward,dignified,respectful to all.
He will work hard for Canadians.
He is a unifier.
Contrary to some comments he speaks english quite well.
Yes he is a bit awkward at times in a shy way that will grow into a charisma that canadians will be drawn too, I predict. But most of all they will be drawn to his sincerety and love for our nation.
I've decided..I'll be voting Liberal next time.

My dream of having a future Prime Minister that is upstanding, considerate, a gentleman, focused on the end goals and not the next "sound bite", passionate and yet not conceited or dismissive seems to be coming closer. Why not have a leader like this? What a role model he would make for my kids! One doesn't need to be loud, conceited or a double-speak individual to be a leader of a country. Why not have someone who thinks into the future? Now we need more Canadians to prove the pundits incorrect that voters are just a mass of dumb individuals who can be manipulated by glossy commercials and smart quips. Now we as voters can use our heads and think hard about the issues and not as to who looks better on camera. The media also has to play a neutral role and bring out the issues and not the clips showing one of the contenders stuffing his/her face with a cake at a political gathering and making him/her look ridiculous. This includes BOTH French and English media. The media needs to be impartial, otherwise it becomes manipulative.
Are they read to serve this role?

Good luck Mr. Dion!!!

It's no surprise that the media can hardly hide their glee over a (or any) new Liberal party leader, in this case, Mr. Dion.
However, those of us who are tired of yet another left-wing Quebec male wanting to run the country into the ground will not be voting for a return to the lost years that are associated with Liberal rule.

I am very pleased that Stephane Dion won the leadership race because he seems like the kind of leader we need in Canada right now (if not yesterday). I would like to explain why I will not vote for him, though.

All my life I voted for the Liberal Party. When the sponsorship scandal happened, I understood that people like Stephane Dion were not involved but the betrayal was so deep that I made a solemn vow to never vote Liberal again. I now vote NDP.

The scandal itself was not what made me turn against the Liberal Party. The reason this was such a massive betrayal for me was because it allowed our wonderful country to be handed over to the Harper Republicans at PRECISELY the time when endless war is being spread by American warmongers.

If there was ever a time when Canada needed to be a beacon of peace and healing it is now. Instead these corrupt Liberals could only think of getting money. My social circle feels as I do that this is a betrayal that must not be forgotten.

I will be voting Green even though I doubt that they will get a seat in my riding. I admire Mr. Dion and I wish him luck. I also want to thank Gerard Kennedy for his selfless support of Mr. Dion. He would also make a good Prime Minister.

Good luck to the Liberals. I believe Stephane Dion will save us from the Conservative war machine but he will have to do it without my help.

Well folks, it appears that the new Liberal leader is poised to lead the country again. As a French left winger, there is no way that anyone can compete with that. It is unfortunate that we will be unable to see what else the Conservatives had lined up for the country. It was (for the first time in a while) shaping up to be a country I can be proud of. I suspect that Canadians will not realize the severity of another Liberal gvt until it is too late.

Finally the Liberal party has purged itself of the old and embraced the new. It is the youth that offer us hope and they have not failed us. The environment has now become mainstream and all the old rhetoric will finally disappear. Any leader or party like Harper's reform crowd will ignore the environment at their peril. Hot air acts and Republican mimicry will not cut it any longer. Bravo to the youth and don't let the door hit you on the way out "my good friend Steve."

In Stephane Dion we seem to have a man who has not made substantial efforts to polish his image and portray himself in a manner that appeals to backroom notions of what the public wants or will react to. The substance of the man, his charming - almost boyish -incredulity at his achievement, his integrity and his commitment will give many Canadians pause before they say there is little to choose from among our current slate of national leaders.

I really don't see the Liberal convention as a "Watershed" but rather more of the same old,same old. The arrogance of the Liberals and their Eastern centric mentality will not wear well in the West. There was not one Western candidate in the race and Dion's obsession with Kyoto sends a cautionary note to Alberta that the Feds will soon invent some Kyoto carbon tax to screw us again. It may be that Ontario and Quebec will elect Dion in the next election. That will be a true Watershed because Albertans will see more and more that Canada doesn't work for us. The sooner we get out of this country the better.

I would not draw too many parallels with 1968. Then the Liberals were in power; now they are not.

The Conservatives have shown just how mean they are. Raising the lowest tax bracket? Not too much of a deal -- unless I am in it.

In any case, I have no hesitations in voting for Dion. Unlike Rae and Ignatieff.

In the end, I like his face.

Don't worry Alberta. We in Ontario are not as foolish as it may seem. You will have Torontonians voting Liberal, no matter who is running. But we in the 905 and outside of Toronto have no desire for left wing useless Liberalism. Let's see, the Liberals have just elected a left wing francophone from Quebec, I think we've been there before. The reality is that Liberalism doesn't mean anything. It's inflated promises with little action. The Conservative government is doing what they said they would, and Prime Minister Harper is restoring the image of Canada to the rest of the world.

Bring on a Tory majority!!!

I must admit I am very surprized at the choice made by the delegates at this weekend's Liberal Convention. That said, it will be interesting to watch Mr. Dion as to how he deals with upcoming issues. While watching Mr. Dion, I got the impression that he is a very humble individual who does not mince words. I am glad to see that he is a Federalist and it will be interesting to see how he deals with the Harper acknowledgement of Quebec being a nation within a nation. I wish Mr. Dion well as he has his work cut out for him trying to rebuild a battered Liberal Party

with the climate change in the House and beyond, the heat is on, here we go.

time to sit back and watch temperatures rise in the House of Commons and who can actually get things done. We will probably have to get through the next election to see some progress in a Government that is not Conservative.

The way I see it, at least the Liberals are sticking together and focusing on the Environment and not doing what the Conservatives have done. The Tories have only practiced mean-spirited measures to cut and run from everything including the Environment and Kyoto. So when Ms. Ambrose says its too late to do anything. Why? Maybe becasue the Conservatives abandoned it , and tried to fool the people with a hot air act called the clean air act. this Conservative circus is... yawn, boring...useless and a waste of time, energy and taxpayers money .And for whose purpose? hmm, an agenda of war mongering and supporting acts of war and terror(Harper/Bush).

Oh the polluted politics of the Harper right wing.

Cut...
Next!

In response to Robert who states, refering to Alberta, "the sooner we get out of the country the better"...I would like to remind him that the Maritimes fed Albertans during the great depression. I would also like to remind him that Ottawa and thus the Canadian taxpayer helped build the oil industry in the province. To this day the oil patch recieves very favourable tax status. He also states, ..."Feds will soon invent some Kyoto carbon tax to screw us again". How has anyone screwed Alberta? I assume he is referring to the National Energy Policy. Well if so, we are the only industrial country that does not have one. Carbon Tax credits are also traded in Europe and United States, but not in Canada. Again instead of leading we are behind the rest of the world. What we witnessed in Montreal is a youth fueled green wave that has already claimed the Toronto based Liberal power brokers. It will now sweep out the rest of the dinosaurs Conservative or not, who fail to take their heads out of the sand. After all, is not our youth our future?
Go Stephane, go Gerard, best of luck

Congratulations to Stephane Dion !!

I believe ... "no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should".

I feel sorry for Mr. Dion. He seems like a straight-arrow guy who genuinely cares about his country.

But the Liberals blew badly it when they didn't enact a rule that no Chretien-era cabinet ministers -- especially those from Quebec -- could run for leader lest they bring the lingering stink of Sponsorship with them.

The thorough blacklisting of anyone who could have, or should have, known about AdScam should have been Job One for a party wanting to distance itself from the past and start afresh.

But somehow that didn't happen, and Mr. Dion will pay the price by getting soundly thrashed in the upcoming election, and, when all this finally hits home to the Party, losing his job.

I don't think Liberals had any other choice but choosing Dion, as he was not really backed
up old Guards. Bob Rae was backed by Chretien and Michael Ignatieff was backed by Martin. By selecting Dion, the grass roots Liberals were able to establish a middle ground to end the old foe and unify the party. If Liberals can stay unified from now now, they will have a pretty good chance to beat the Conservatives in the next election.

We have one party that seems as though they want to remake us into something more politically similar to a republic than a parliamentary democracy or constitutional monarchy. And to re-impose a rigid, top down, exclusionary mid-fifties morality. And to exclude the possibility of the federal government having a place in the day to day lives of citizens. In fact the only thing they appear to want federal powers to be is to make war and levy taxes.

We have one that wants to, well they're not at all clear what they want to do only what they don't think they will do though they're unclear on how they'll go about it. Or not go about it. Or maybe not go about it. Or call some meetings about it.

We have one that's real clear about all of it except it would mean that there wouldn't be a country left.

We have one that's governed the place for almost all of it's history and is responsible for almost everything we all take for granted
as being what makes the country a great place to live and be from.

Yes, we're debating fiercely and feverishly aren't we?

"Congratulations to Stephane Dion"

this is in response to all tory supporters' prejudice accusations re sponsorship scandal. the liberal govenment isn't corrupt, alright? had it not for harper's not so sure of himself whether the sponsorship money was donated or from taxpayer's money thought. they wouldn't be in power today.

for your information, harper came to know the truth that the money was donated by a liberal supporter the reason why the tories are tight lip about it which contradicts his policy on federal transparency act. ask harper about it, he knew.

this may sound crazy to tories, bloc and ndp supporters, Jesus never favoured a jinx conservative government and will never favour an ndp and bloc party either.

Jesus will judge Canada if the tories won't give the government back to the GRITS. mark my word. to all of you who wrongly accused the liberals, watch out because judgement will start on you first. and when you all feel it, refer to this comment posted today, December 4,2006. take this as a warning.

I think Dion is a breath of fresh air, and a cold cold North wind to Harper, Layton, the BQ and points South.
Bring it on, Dion!

I am new to reading and commenting in forums, but I am astounded by the dismissiveness and anger I read, not to mention the holier-than-thou attitude of some citizens. For some reason, many voters seem to be expecting some sort of perfect people to come forth and lead them. They don't have to lead perfect lives themselves, make any sacrifices, or be perfect souls, they just expect to be lead by perfection. They don't want to do the homework of citizenship between elections, they just want to read a headline or two, remember a sound-bite or two, and run off to the poll on election day, there to render their verdict, or would it be punishment.

The idea that the press (being human) might have done a bit of lazy reporting does not occur to them, despite the fact that they themselves have done some lazy reading or thinking, or none at all. They seize upon a brand (political party, place of birth, first language spoken), whether for or against, and there ends the need for any more action between the ears.

We are human, we are messy, we are destructive, selfish, egotistical, and we expect instant gratification - our leaders may from time to time, being human, display these same traits. If we expect otherwise, we will get just what we deserve, which is superficial manipulation and great disappointment.

Therefore, give the man a bit of time to get into the job, gather his team, think about what they want to do and try to communicate it. It is the least that they deserve after putting themselves out there for the superficial judgment of most of the population. If all those out there are troubled by the fact that they can't choose leaders from BC, Alberta, Newfoundland, etc., then let them put themselves forward or encourage others to do so. Nobody is stopping them.

I have always voted for the candidate in my electgorial district who I fell would best represent my interests in Parliament - definitely not along party lines - so I don't know whom I will vote for in the next federal election. Nevertheless, I am pleased that Stéphane Dion is the new Liberal leader; in fact, with the exception of the Ignatieff parachute, any of the candidates would have been the right choice . . . anyone to get a better balance in the Parliament and oust the Harper dictatorship.

As a volunteer policy wonk for a women's political organization...finally my time has come to discus issues, I do hope this election campaign, which beganlast Saturday, makes a difference in the way politics is carried out...

To Oksana Szulhan:

Thank you. There are far more people like that (vote for the locals) than you might think from reading this, mostly because the 'my party right or wrong' types tend to be the louder yellers, as amply demonstrated by several others here.

Kudos for this piece.

The responses show that this is a good opportunity to gauge the diversity of opinion and perhaps get a sense of the motives that were in play. The big question is: will Mr. Dion convince enough Canadians that the Liberal party can be trusted now, or is this really the old guard still doing its thing ala the "Big Red Machine"? I suppose we will find out very soon.

I experienced the rush that Trudeau gave to young people when he was first elected PM. Dion, though pale in comparison on the charismatic plane, has a quality of genuine sincerity that is evident in his body language, in partuicular his clear and honest eyes. His reputation is unbesmirtched which is rare in Ottawa, and he has no apparent vendettas aimed his way. It is no mystery to me that all those young delegates, would detect and reject the phoney plastic persona and puppetry of the shallow Ignatieff "big -interest" sell job, and the tired deceipt of Bob Rae (Raedays in Ontario) trying after 30 plus years as a left wing ndp'er, to look like some kind of credible liberal leader. Harper now has a problem. His position on the war is out of sync with the Canadian hearts. His shunning of the Aids conference was reflective of his cold persona, and if he doesn't get the long gun registry scrapped in the next couple of months, he'll lose more support in the west. Indeed, if Dion were to propose dropping long gun registration in favour of tough laws on gun crimes and tougher handgun rules, he'd leave Harper behind like a sportscar passing a donkey. The youth of the Liberal party have given it great post-sponsorship credibility. This new machne has a lot of momentum.It will be hard to stop.

Canada lost a chance to be an International leader and choose Iggy (Ignatieff). Faced, he is related to the UK royalty through the Czars, (Hence an alliance with the royals)he is a Russian (speaks same language as Putin), and he is pro-America in an intelligent way. Iggy is a historian and therefore knows about wars and politics and that knowledge will have proved useful for the World.

We have been unlucky! Indeed. Not to have recognized a God send star (Canadian Star) with an international and history of the World knowledge. Not too mentioned all his other god given talents. Including his choice of wife - full of hungarian joviality. Our women and girls will have learnt a lot from her.

Well,

Mr. Dion strikes me as unimpressive, a left wing philosopher type who is better suited gracing the halls of academia than the House of Commons.

It is barely a year since we were dealing with the outrageous corruption and theft of taxpayors dollars at the hands of the Liberal political machine.

The Liberals have justifiably earned themselves a stay in the penalty box and the longer they occupy that position the better Canada will be for it.

The Liberal party of Canada does NOT represent my values, my asperations nor my ideas of what a great Canada can and should be.

The great Canadian social experiment has failed at the hands of the Liberals. I say give them a game misconduct!

With all due respect Mr. Burman, selecting a "theme" for the last election "sucked the oxygen out of any intelligent discussion about policies and options."

"In 2006, it was: A Matter of Trust."

Actually there was so much more to talk about. For example, economic sustainablity and foreign policy. Maybe next time the CBC could simply report the news and not narrow the discussion with its own agenda.

I am surprised at the number of writers who fail to completely identify themselves or their location on these boards. The question of whether they are able or willing to stand for their convictions is evident. Is there a reason to hide?

Stephane Dion is the new Liberal leader, no question of that. The real question is how he will work within the position. Will he draw on the depth of experience in the party and combine it with the vision of the younger Liberals? If he does this he will formulate a solid vision for the public to debate prior to and during the next election campaign.

If he uses the expertise and experience of those he defeated, he will be wise.

If he listens to the party members at the grass roots level all across the country he will get a consensus.

If he listens to and takes into account the opinions of his opposition he will formulate a platform for all Canadians, not just the left, the right or the centrists.

I believe M.Dion is no fool, and he is both aware of the challenges facing him to unite his party but also to unite Canadians.

If he can do this BEFORE an election call, we will all benefit. If he lets ambition get in the way, Canadians and Canada as a nation will suffer both domestically and internationally.

We desparately need success in both sectors.

It will be interesting to see which brings out more voters, substance or hoopla.

"gambling that integrity over pragmatism . . . can win."

within the decision making processes of the Liberal Party of Canada is the risk those who would support Dion to defeat the continentalist, confederalist Harper must take.

For progressive-conservatives a risk some of us are weighing, but not yet prepared to take.

Joe Hueglin
Member 29th Parliament
joe.hueglin@bellnet.ca

I am glad to hear the CBC thinking thru what it should and should not be paying attention to - yes to the issues, and no to all the poll-watching. What I would like to see now is a high-minded concentration on a position for the key issue of our times - environmental degredation and what we are leaving our children 20, 30, 50 years down the line. Polls are yesterday's news - it is the future that counts, and the CBC could help. One start would be to move the environment more front and central on your web site. Stand up for the future!

Mr. Dion's election as Liberal leader and Stephen Harpers heading of the Conservative party will no doubt produce an election with all the entertainment and drama of watching paint dry. In this paradigm of 30 second sound bytes where pictures of leaders dressed as corner cowboys and donning hair nets seem to catch the imagination of the public more the anything of having to do with policy. Elections have always been more about theater then policy, from Trudeau mania to Stanfield’s dropped football. So it will be interesting in this next election to see how the media and the parties themselves package the leaders and which strike an accord with the public.

There were two elections coinciding that Saturday night, federally and provincially.The leader of the Liberal party who is therefore Leader of the Opposition. The leader of Alberta's Progressive Conservative party and thus Alberta Premier. Both elections had surprising results for the pundits, who were thoroughly shocked. I write this with glee for the pundits hadn't read the pulse of the Canadian people.The four cornerstones on which Canadians built their country."Compassion. Integrity. Knowledge. Work Ethics." The leaders chosen had these qualities and it spoke of of a quiet revolution within our society.
People are tired of being told those in power know better. Tired of betrayals,scams,and thefts.Television brought all of the worst of these into our homes. People want stability within their world and know they leave the world a better place for the children. Both these new leaders have proved they were worthy of peoples trust and, hopefully, will maintain that trust as they are not under the corporate powers but free agents, at this time.

To Joe Hueglin:

There are now only 'conservatives' not 'progressive-conservatives', progressive went out with Joe Clark after Mulroney tanked the party and Reform and PC merged to create CPC. This is why without the Liberals 'pulling a Mulroney' CPC will have a hard time forming a majority. If 'AdScam' only allowed a CPC minority the platform must change first. Examples: allowing gay marrige will pervail even in a free vote (ask supreme court, wait we already did that), long gun registry will most likely be left as is due to the amount of money spent getting it up and running vs. the low cost of maintaining it, and the GST cut was absorbed by business due to a lack of forsight, planning, and enforcement (a break on my income tax would have been better). Rather than reacting to the Liberal platform by simply going the opposite direction on the issues, how about creating some new ideas for Canadians? After all the CPC didn't win the last election, the grits lost it. It has nothing to do with integrity or pragmatism (one or the other)Canadians want a governing party who embodies both traits. It is this type of 'tory-opposite-speak' that has kept tories out of a majority for 15 years. A pragmatic approach to the examples listed above would really help the CPC.

Stéphane Dion has revived my hope for the future of this country.

Mr. Burman, while I have your attention, I find the simultaneous translation when French was spoken at the convention very irritating. The result is that I can hear neither the French, nor the English. We are a bilingual country. If we are not allowed to listen to French when it is spoken you undermine the efforts of Canadians who have taken the trouble to learn both languages.

I think that Stephane Dion will just might raise the tone of the debates in the House of Commons and certainly it needs to be. I hope that we can look forward to some constructive criticism from the Liberals rather than the juvenile display that they usually put on. To hear Ralph Goodale in a fit of rage say that the Conservatives "were kicking the hell out of the Wheat Board" is hardly parliamentary language. You have to hand it to the Liberals, they certainly haven't lost their arrogance but they do have short memories in that they are accusing the government of doing things that actually happened during the Liberal time in power.

Stephen Harper always appears prime ministerial and I think that Stephane Dion will behave with the same decorum. I'm sick of these parliamentarians (and I use the term loosely) behaving like a bunch of children. Where else could someone get a job that pays $145,000 basic + many perks and not have any of the requisite qualifications to fit the job. But then who would want to be lumped in with so many boors, it's not surprising that we don't have really well qualified, intelligent and educated people running for federal or provincial office.

I'm counting on the two leaders to raise the tone.

Congratulations to Mr.Dion on his leadership of the Liberal Party. As a voter, I choose to be uncommitted to any party but reserve the right to support whoever meets the criteria of honesty, integrity and work ethic. Politics involves doing the best for the greatest number of people. There is one situation that no politician has brought to the surface for examination. NORTH AMERICAN UNION of Canada, U/S. and Mexico into one entity under the direction of George Bush with a single currency- that of the Amero. The politicians planning this behind the backs of our citizens are creating the downfall of the Canada that we know and love.We will be dominated by the horrific conditions presently being developed in the United States where civil rights are being eroded to the point of no protection at all for self-expression or dissent. The control being proposed by this union is not welcome and I resent politicians thinking that we are too stupid to know what is being proposed. If you value the freedoms we have now, charge your members of parliament to reveal what is happening and being achieved in the matter of NORTH AMERICAN UNION in the near future. Much more is at stake than a supposed economic benefit. The actions deemed necessary for the control of terrorism are taking away the liberty we have now. Only by each individual questioning the planning can this insidious program be stopped. Who wants George Bush at our helm?

The liberals for years did as they pleased stole as they pleased, ignored provinces, aboriginals for years, military were left for dead with lousy equipments, Kyoto was on Chrétien desk since 1990-signed it in 1999 and guess what people- nothing happened not even during Paul martin time in office who also ignored the so-call Kyoto but manage to take 10billion dollars of the hard-earned taxpayers money and guess what, our money went to Mercer t.v. show, and of course, gas emission went up, but hey, so what-it is only our health, right! By the way, Dion was responsible for the Kyoto plans-do you know where it is of course you don't. The liberals also ignored education, health and so on. But don't let yourselves down-liberal-hearted fans, your money went to the liberals bank account and friends and hopefully find its way back to you-NOT A CHANCE. The corruption within the liberal party was- is so bad that it continues to this day and guess what, Dion was smack dam in the middle of it -isn't that amazing- but wait! he is a liberal and is entitle to do what he wishes with your mind-screw it until you become his lapdog as he and his buddies, the liberals are doing with the television newsmedia. Typical liberal. And, the amazing thing of all is that the liberals refuse point blank to return our money stolen by them, what does that tell you? Oh, by the way Dion is also a citizen of France, maybe he will send tons of our money to France into his bank account- what do you think. I think anything is possible when a liberal is involved.

I am so tired of the beating up of Mr. Dion.

If you follow his record he is a PROVEN Canadian patriot. Who cares if he has dual citizenship with France. I would love to have dual citizenship and I am twelfth generation Canadian.

Are we getting so narrow minded as to preclude people from being Canadian because they happen to have dual citizenship.

Mr Dion is a straight forward outstanding Canadian Citizen and I am proud to be a fellow Canadian and stand beside him.

Stay standing tall and proud Mr. Dion.

Jack Scott, White Rock, B.C.

I don't belong to any politcal party. I congratulate Mr. Dion on his victory. Hopefully, he and his colleagues can cobble together cogent policy before the next election and defeat the Tories.

What a convention!Congratulations Stephane Dion.For weeks I was worried,that Ignatieff would win.That would have left us with no choice.Harper is putting all our chips on Bush`s sinking ship.Like buying a ticket on the Titanic right after it hit the iceberg.Ignatieff I felt could not be trusted.He seems te have to big an ego and worst of all claimed once,that torture should be legal and permitted under some circumstances.He talks like a Bush- or worse,Cheney clone.People with that kind of mindset do not belong in the politics of our great country.Thanks also to Gerard Kennedy for doing the right thing on our behalf.

I must admit I am more perplexed than ever what has changed in the liberal party since the election of Mr. Dion. It's the same old bunch, same old, same old. As a voting liberal I switched my vote the last election, as I could no longer stomach the corruption, lack of morals, scandal after scandal, sense of entitlement, and government waste.

Mr. Dion had been ignored in my former party for years and years. Not one member of the liberal caucus or in the party, supported him in the run for leadership. How amazing is that? now he's the last coming of the liberal messiah.

This business of Mr. Dion's refusal to cancel his French citizenship indicates a weakness in his character.