Travels In LiberalLand

I have been granted the honor of blogging the LPoC showcase downtown today.  I take these things seriously, so I will probably try to write a quick post about each of the candidates pitch speeches, though this ambition may get scaled back to Joyce and Justin's.  Maybe MHF's if I'm in a bad mood and want to hurl abuse.  Physically, I will be there for at least part of the show so as to absorb the triumphant vibe that surely must emanate from such a transplendant coagulation of Liberalness, but  may skip out the boring bits (ie any musical tributes).  Again, I'm not sure what I'll do when Ms. Findlay speaks; I may stick around  to observe how quickly the room turns against her.  I'm bringing one of those fancy digital stop-watches that can measure to the 1/100th of a second.

Otherwise I will be splitting time among ancillary events, particularly the Progblogs do at Omar's place.

As to the issue of slow ticket sales, I'm told this problem has been overblown.  Its also been rumored that the LPoC has tasked ex MP Joe Volpe with scaring up a few extra bodies.  So we'll see if my dead grandma is in attendance.

I will also be on twitter for the event. where I write as @Bigcitylib2.  At some point soon, though not necessarily today, I will endorse one of the candidates.  Not that anyone cares.  But I will.

Martha Hall Findlay Flip Flops On Northern Gateway

I haven't heard this mentioned in any of the coverage of yesterday's LPoC leadership debate, but on February 26th MHF was for Northern Gateway Pipeline; as of yesterday's debate, she's sudddenly agin it.  That's what you call a policy reversal...a waffle...a dither...a flip flop, even.

Worth noting too that among the contenders only Joyce Murray has come out against Kinder Morgan in addition to the NGP.  Joyce is a B.C. gal, and I'm assuming her opposition is a sign of which way the winds are blowing out on the left coast over that project.

If You Haven't Written Off Martha Hall Findlay For LPoC Leader

...now is the time:

It’s time for the Liberal Party of Canada to stop ignoring Alberta. That was the message leadership candidate Martha Hall Findlay brought to Fort McMurray during a Friday tour of the oilsands, where she reaffirmed her support of the oilsands, as well as the Northern Gateway, Keystone XL and west-to-east pipelines.

She trashes the old NEP, endorses the new, Alberta-centric one.  If chosen LPoC leader, she wouldn't get a single vote in B.C.

Parsing The Martha Hall Findlay Apology

Dear Justin,

 My campaign for LPoC leader is so fucking doomed right now that its pathetic, and  afterwards I'll have nothing to show for it but debt.  Debt, debt, and more debt. And just when I'd managed to shovel my way out the first time, too.  Not that you'd know about what that's like, you pampered little...  

But anyway.  I beg you to forgive my harsh words of the other night, and also to consider me for a position in some future government.  A small thing.  Minister of String, Cans and Jars might be suitable.  Or a Senate appointment. Now that would be sweet.  I could sell my principal residence and pay off the angriest of my money men.  I would eat for free in the Senate cafeteria, and sleep in my seat, the way the other Senators do.  Otherwise I fear that when you next see me I will be pushing a shopping cart up Yonge Street, speaking into a toy telephone and living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. 

Again, I cannot tell you how very, very... very sorry I am, Justin.  Sweet, beautiful, glorious Justin.  If you can see your way clear to forgiving this silly gal, and offering me some small but decently compensated post in what will surely be  a reign of historic greatness, I would be eternally grateful.

Yours,
Martha Hall Findlay

A Couple Of Good Names

WK has a few names of possible LPoC leadership potentials.  I've always heard good things about Cauchon, but I'd love to see Martha Hall-Findlay run again. I'd kill for that woman.  Also answer phones.

Liberal Environmental Policy: The Next Step

Liberal infrastructure critic Martha Hall Findlay lays it out:

New infrastructure investment can and should be 'green' - to enhance conservation and energy-efficiency; to ensure cleaner air and water; to increase training, education and investment with regard to green technologies. We can spend now, for immediate stimulus, in ways that can ensure a better, cleaner environment, and at the same time create the jobs of the future.

Pretty obvious stuff. Not that it will necessarily get listened to. I wonder though if this signifies a different approach on the part of the Libs. Under Dion they proposed a grand scheme; under Iggy, they oppose Tory plans by offering greener alternatives on an issue-by-issue basis.

And, oh yeah, the Green Shift is "now burdened with political baggage". Nice way of saying "dead", I suppose.