lgarvin's Comments

Macleans.ca : 'There's a problem'

Fri, 6 May 2011 14:48:03 +0000

If she's been managing a bar then becoming an MP means that she'll be making a lot more money for a lot less responsibility.

Macleans.ca : 'There's a problem'

Fri, 6 May 2011 14:32:48 +0000

Fortune has nothing to do with it. Rob Anders - the pride of Calgary West - is being aggresively protected from any nomination challenge by the Conservative Party. It's not luck, it's planning.

Macleans.ca : 'There's a problem'

Thu, 5 May 2011 16:29:08 +0000

Which explains the continued success of Rob Anders, right?

Macleans.ca : 'There's a problem'

Thu, 5 May 2011 16:27:56 +0000

"...those nominations tend to be hard fought..." except when they are not. As is the case with Calgary West were nomination meetings are not even permitted.

Macleans.ca : What now?

Wed, 4 May 2011 18:19:32 +0000

I don`t believe the Conservatives are centrist in either practice or theory. They managed to emulate a centrist party while angling for their majority but they continued to pursue their more idealogical aims by stealth the entire time. I expect they will continue along the same path. A lot of the Conservative voters I know are expecting - with grim anticipation - that Harper will very quickly rip off his sheep`s costume and start raping and pillaging their favourite targets. They`ve been waiting for years and they feel it`s their due.

Macleans.ca : The Commons: The day after

Wed, 4 May 2011 17:25:39 +0000

I`m pretty cynical about the role of the standard MP. You could replace the lot of them with 40kg sacks of flour for all the difference they make in the governance of the country. I`m not happy with that state of affairs but the population as a whole has just confirmed that they are fine with it. Apparently we don`t elect a Representative any more, we just chose a token who gets money and perks in place of any real responsibility. It`s a decent trade off for them, a pretty raw deal for us.

Macleans.ca : A personal reflection on the Ignatieff Era

Wed, 4 May 2011 17:00:37 +0000

I don`t think you can rebuild under a failed leader. I respect Ignatieff for what he tried to do, and for the way he handled his defeat, but you have to replace a leader who failed as dramatically as he did.

Macleans.ca : A personal reflection on the Ignatieff Era

Wed, 4 May 2011 16:56:07 +0000

You make good points but I think the fact that the Liberals will be doing all this housekeeping as the third party will - in a small consolation sort of way - give them a little more time and space to do it. The media will be focused on the trials and tribulations of Jack! and his Cub Pack as they make their inevitable fumbles. I think the next election in 2015 could see the Liberals come back as a strong opposition party or even as government. I expect, over the next four years, the Cons will fail dramatically and the NDP will fail as well, although less dramatically.

Macleans.ca : The Commons: The day after

Wed, 4 May 2011 16:43:34 +0000

I'm no expert but it's my understanding that constituency work is a pretty non-partisan affair conducted mostly with punlic service bureaucrats. I expect most jobless staffers will find new positions if they want them. The new MPs need experienced people and experienced people will be looking for work.

Macleans.ca : A personal reflection on the Ignatieff Era

Wed, 4 May 2011 15:51:11 +0000

All they are doing is announcing an intention to have a leadership contest. An interim leader will be appointed and an actual contest will be conducted over the next six-eight months. I just hope they don't appoint Ralph Goodale as interim leader. Rae would be good but I expect he will be putting forward his name for the leadership and obviously couldn't serve as interim leader. Too bad Dryden was defeated he would have been a good choice. Perhaps Irwin Cotler would be willing to serve? He's a respected, experienced guy along the line of Herb Grey, a previous interim leader.

Macleans.ca : A personal reflection on the Ignatieff Era

Wed, 4 May 2011 15:06:18 +0000

He's a Socialist out to destroy the Financial Sector! He hates the Rich! He's going to put Fishers & Bakers & Winemakers out of business. He's been seen canoddling with prostitutes and thieves! Where did he spend those Missing years and why is the media not asking about it? Sure he's "Christ-like" but I'm not sure he's really our kind of Christian.

Macleans.ca : A personal reflection on the Ignatieff Era

Wed, 4 May 2011 14:55:49 +0000

This is one of the best posts I have read on here in a very long time. Thanks for taking the time.

Macleans.ca : The Commons: The day after

Wed, 4 May 2011 14:48:10 +0000

All this hand-wringing about the callow youth in the NDP is a little overdone. They are going to be opposition backbenchers in a majority parliament. They are equivalent to the seat-fillers at the big television awards shows (just really well-paid seat-fillers.) Constituency work will be done by experienced staffers and their duties in Parliament could be just as easily performed by a two-sided placard - Yeah/Nay. They won the lottery, good for them.

Macleans.ca : A personal reflection on the Ignatieff Era

Wed, 4 May 2011 14:06:45 +0000

I disagree. Ignatieff needed to go to give the party even a chance to rebuild it's fortunes. When you lose that bad, you need a major change to send a message to the remaining party faithful. The party has four years to rebuild and there is, apparently, a huge amount of work to do. Why not start on day one?

Macleans.ca : The Harper majority

Tue, 3 May 2011 19:19:05 +0000

LOL You're the guy dedicating his post-victory party to dissecting a single word, in a single blogpost, looking for a scrap of circumstantial evidence of a bias that's been abundently proven, a dozen different times, over the past weeks, months and years, and is taken as self-evident among all sentient readers... But I'm the guy who's angry? LOL I'm not angry, Dennis. I'm a little disappointed with the Conservative majority but absolutely thrilled with the defeat of the Bloc, philosophical about the troubles of the Liberals, and cautiously hopeful for the NDP's newborn MPs. There is an old saying in politics "the people are never wrong" and even if I disagree with the people at large, I respect them. So, I'll accept their judgment. I was often agitated during the campaign (which is why I mostly stayed away from here) but I am kind of glad to have it settled today. Now I can get back to talking politics with some semblance of humour again... because I really did lose my sense of humour in the last few weeks, and I'm glad to have it back again.

Macleans.ca : The Harper majority

Tue, 3 May 2011 19:02:14 +0000

Who cares if Aaron is slanted? It's like complaining that grass is green or water gets you wet. Yes, we heard you the first 8,000 times and you don't need to keep flailing away about it to the point that you're doing. Poor Dennis is seeing evidence of Aaron's bias in the waterstains on his ceiling, apparently, and you people are just enabling the poor bastard when you carry on debating his delusions. Granted: Aaron Wherry is biased against the Harper Conservatives. Now can we, please, please, please, talk about something else? PS Yes, I'm aware that I am just as guilty as everyone else. Maybe moreso.

Macleans.ca : The Harper majority

Tue, 3 May 2011 18:54:57 +0000

I like that line best when I imagine it in Hannibal Lector's voice.

Macleans.ca : The Harper majority

Tue, 3 May 2011 18:47:51 +0000

I think your last sentence is the key. James is just having a little fun.

Macleans.ca : The Harper majority

Tue, 3 May 2011 18:43:18 +0000

It feels like six months already... Can't these poor victims even celebrate a win for a couple of days?

Macleans.ca : The Harper majority

Tue, 3 May 2011 18:41:30 +0000

I can't believe I read all that! I must be nuts. Dennis, Harper was speaking to his Supporters. I'd invite you to listen to the speech again... In the first 1:10 of the speech you will hear ... "Friends"... "Friends"... ""our team"... "the home team"... "You're w/ us & w/ us all the way." That, you incomparable doofus, is a speech to Supporters. I didn't expect that winning would make you any more intelligent, but I was kind of hopeful that it would make you somewhat less agressively stupid. I guess it's not to be... To say you are picking nits would be giving you too much credit, you are biting the toenails of nits.