We're Ready to Take You On, Um, You Know, Sometime After We Keep You in Government...
- September 29, 2009 3:35 PM
- By Rosemary Barton
NDP Leader Jack Layton. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
It is a well-known fact every party must be ready for an election when there is a minority government.
But this email from NDP national party director Brad Lavigne just popped up in my in-box:
"We're at an important political deadline -- tomorrow is the cut-off for the next quarterly fundraising report. Why does this matter?
Stephen Harper's team reads these reports to gauge which party is ready to take them on. That's why I want your help now.
I'm asking you to make a secure online donation before the deadline. You'll be sending a strong message: Mr. Harper -- don't get too comfortable. New Democrats are united, we're getting results for today's families, and we're ready to take you on."
Now, it's all well and good to fund-raise and fill the coffers; I get that.
Here's what doesn't really make sense: this email is coming from the very same party that has made it pretty clear they don't want an election right now. That they want employment insurance legislation to be passed to help "working families."
In fact, the Liberal no-confidence motion that will be voted on Thursday will not be supported by the NDP (they'll either vote against it or get a case of the flu).
So the NDP may be ready to "take on" the Conservatives, they're just not quite ready to do it now.
About the Authors
- Rosemary Barton started her television career reporting from Quebec City where she covered the ins and outs of Quebec politics. She moved to the CBC Parliamentary Bureau in 2007. She also stood on the side of road awaiting U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade for hours in the cold. When she finally spotted him, all of Canada heard her shriek, "I saw him!"
- Alison Crawford worked in Fredericton, Calgary and Winnipeg before returning to her hometown to work in the CBC parliamentary bureau. Her beats include the RCMP, justice, public safety and the Liberals. Alison credits her investigative skills as well as a national etiquette column and coverage of a ferret Christmas party, with having prepared her for covering national politics.
- Andrew Davidson is a producer for the CBC politics page in Toronto. He joined CBCNews.ca's national desk in 2006 and was the lead news writer for the website's 2008 federal election coverage.
- Chris Hall is the National Affairs Editor for CBC News. He's been a member of the CBC Parliamentary Bureau since 1998. That adds up to 11 budgets, four elections, three prime ministers and too many confidence votes to count. Chris started his career in print before moving to the CBC in 1992. Since then, he's worked in Toronto, Halifax and St. John's, as well as Ottawa.
- Leslie MacKinnon Leslie's been working in news and current affairs since newsrooms used teletype, televison was shot on film and radio tape was edited with a razor blade. She saw through The Journal's long run on CBC-TV, and since then has worked in Halifax, Toronto and Ottawa in the CBC's various permutations. Right now, she's a TV news reporter in the political bureau, and likes certain parts of Ottawa - the canal, the Hill - a lot.
- Janyce McGregor has been a television producer in the CBC's Parliamentary Bureau since 2001. She started her career working for Studio 2 on TVOntario. In 2005 her then-doctoral student husband persuaded her to follow him to the U.K., where she worked for BBC World Service Radio in London. Janyce is originally a farm girl from southwestern Ontario. Her most important job title is "Norah's Mom."
- Chris Rands has been a member of the Parliamentary bureau since 2001. He started at Toronto's AM Radio giant CFRB before moving to CBC's National Radio News in 1996. Chris has worked in Toronto, Moncton, Sudbury, Regina, Washington and St John's. Every time Chris walks up to the Peace Tower, he wants to throw his hat in the air like Mary Tyler Moore.
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