But the Rae camp says that choosing a leader behind closed doors is not the right move for the Liberal party.
Although, to give Mr. Rae credit, he has been a fine team player ever since becoming a Liberal and I suspect, esp. if LeBlanc pulls out of the leadership race today, that he will do the right thing.
Well, how democratic was it to form a coalition behind closed doors - no one asked how the Liberal supporters felt about coalitions as I recall.
ReplyDeleteHow democratic was it at the last convention to play the back room games instead of just proceedin with voting rounds?
Now - so-called democratic process is the question of the day?
Hypocrites.
Rae needs to take a step back and act in the best interests of the party he purports to want to lead.
ReplyDeleteWhy is there always chaos around Rae - he made a big, media attention getter scene at the last debate that didn't involve the media and now this?
ReplyDeleteHe's too stressful for the Party. He's a sore loser - proven in the last leadership race.
Rae and chaos - stop please, it's making the party look like a bunch of clowns
RuralSandi: "How democratic was it at the last convention to play the back room games instead of just proceedin with voting rounds?
ReplyDeleteNow - so-called democratic process is the question of the day?
Hypocrites."
Right. Might I remind you of a few of the MANY recent Conservative backroom deals?
Didn't McKay win over Orchard's support and delegates during the Progressive Conservative leadership race as a result of a backroom deal where McKay promised that he would not pursue a merger with the Canadian Alliance. And, a few months later, didn't McKay break that promise when he entered into backroom discussions with Harper which led to such a merger?
How about the efforts of Day's proxies prior to the 2000 election to make a deal with the Bloc in the event of a Liberal minority government? The same effort that Mr. Day is denying now, in spite of him saying that he wouldn't be opposed to a deal on the record.
And then there's the 2004 effort by Harper to bring down the Liberals. Did he not enter into backroom negotiations with the Bloc? And stemming from that vote, didn't the Harper Conservatives try to influence Chuck Cademan to vote to bring down the Liberals? Of course you'll deny it, but I would suspect nothing less.
Hypocrite indeed.
Bob Rae the King of Queers is the real father of Three Stooges Rebellion
ReplyDeleteCapital Xtra
Where Queers Conspire
http://www.xtra.ca/blog/ottawa/
Bringing sexy back to the Parliamentary Press Gallery, Dale Smith gives you what you need to know about what's going on in politics.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Where have all the gay MPs gone?
Last evening, I was invited to a Wonderful Wednesday being hosted by the fledgling Fierté Liberal Pride network (whom you'll be hearing more about in the near future). And it while a fun time was had by all, none of the gay MPs showed up.
That's not to say that there wasn't a good turnout. Early in the evening, a bunch of MPs showed up, including Carolyn Bennett, Siobhan Coady, Anita Neville, and Mike Savage. Rounding out the first wave were Senator Art Eggleton, and former MPs Don Boudria and Sheila Copps. Hedy Fry's assistant made her apologies, saying that Hedy had House Duty and was thus in the Commons and unable to attend. But where were Scott Brison, Mario Silva or Rob Oliphant? I couldn't a clear answer to those questions.
Bob Rae turned up, and while talking to me, has promised Xtra a full-frontal centrefold spread - to complement his now infamous Rick Mercer exploit. I didn't even have to ask - he volunteered! Rae talked about how much he's learned from his Toronto Centre constituents, and on a more serious note, he's looking forward to sitting down with me in the near future to talk about GLBT issues in the context of his bid for party leadership. I'm going to hold him to that promise.
When the president of Fierté Liberal Pride, Bryn Hendricks, took the microphone to thank everyone for showing up, he spoke about the importance for Liberals to reclaim the GLBT vote, pointing out that in the 2004 election, lesbians disproportionately voted NDP. When he passed the microphone to Sheila Copps (whose birthday it happens to be today, so here's a shout out to you), she spoke about how the Liberals not highlighting their accomplishments when it comes to GLBT issues, they're not doing themselves any favours. Copps was also instrumental in helping Hendricks get the organisation off its feet, and they are now looking to set up chapters in every riding across the country.
While most of the MPs took off early for other engagements (a full social calendar has been compressed into four weeks, and there is a fall economic update tomorrow that rumour has it could spell doom for the Liberal party), a few turned up later in the evening, including Martha Hall Findlay and Gerard Kennedy. But if there was one image that stuck with me as I left, it was that the characterisation of a "velvet mafia" operating on the Hill with all those gay and lesbian staffers can't be too far from the truth.
(Oh, and Suite 34, the venue for the evening's festivities - a big thumbs down for running out of red wine. Seriously? You may have had hot boys behind the bar, but your shocking lapse in judgement when it comes to stocking your bar leaves much to be desired).
================================
Must read:
http://www.xtra.ca/public/Ottawa/Can_we_trip_Harper-5752.aspx
Can we trip Harper?
ANALYSIS / Tactics available to gays in the next Parliament
Marcus McCann / National / Tuesday, October 28, 2008….
http://www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/Election_forum_shows_anger_fear-5594.aspx
Election forum shows anger, fear
ELECTION 2008 / No clear strategy emerges for stopping Harper
Krishna Rau, video report by Micheal Pihach / Toronto / Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Karolak: if you don't stop cutting and pasting your garbage everywhere, I'm going to post your address and telephone number all over the Internet.
ReplyDelete...just kidding. I will petition for a 48- to 72-hour hold for psychiatric observation, however.