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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:10 am Post subject: Marc Garneau for new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada |
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What do you think? I've never voted Liberal before but with him at the helm barring any unexpected weirdness in policy I could see myself voting for them for the first time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Garneau
None of the other possible candidates they have will generate any excitement IMO. Ignatieff, Rae.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr0kvoKikeg |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007 Location: retired
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:14 am Post subject: |
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I do not like Ignatieff. I read his book and it is a recipe for how to turn a country into the Balkns. Rae, whatever. He wouldn't win. The boy Trudeau seems to have my Liberal friends excited.
I've never heard of Garneau. Why does he excite you? |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:21 am Post subject: |
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mises wrote: |
I do not like Ignatieff. I read his book and it is a recipe for how to turn a country into the Balkns. Rae, whatever. He wouldn't win. The boy Trudeau seems to have my Liberal friends excited.
I've never heard of Garneau. Why does he excite you? |
Basically because he was the head of the Canadian Space Agency and has been in space for over 700 hours. So yeah, I don't really have a reason beyond that. Personally though he doesn't seem to be overpartisan, he's perfectly fluent in both languages, was in the navy for a long time before becoming an astronaut as well, and just seems to be good at most everything. I could be wrong of course (some people unexpectedly turn out to be horrible leaders).
Trudeau's both blessed and cursed by being the son of the other Trudeau. He's already getting close to 40 but still gets treated as a baby whereas nobody really bats an eye at candidates getting elected in their 20s. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007 Location: retired
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:25 am Post subject: |
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Really, I trust both the cons and libs to do a reasonably good job governing. The PM is actually a very powerful position by international democratic standards and as such sound judgement is my main concern. For example, Stockwell Day, Canada's own Sarah Palin, should never have come that close. |
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prideofidaho
Joined: 19 Mar 2008
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:54 am Post subject: |
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He was the Chancellor at Carleton when I graduated. I thought it cool that a man who'd been in space signed my degree.
I've nothing meaningful to contribute.  |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:07 am Post subject: |
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I've nothing meaningful to contribute. |
No need to apologize. Any information about a candidate can be useful.
For myself, I generally dont really go for the idea of people renowned in an apolitical field going straight into top-level politics, given that politics requires a certain sort of tempermant that you can only really get from being in politics. Ross Perot comes to mind here as someone who never quite made the leap successfully. (Yes, I know he came in a respectable third in the 1992 election, and got his name and ideas in the PoliSci textbooks forever, but I can assure you that the Liberal Party Of Canada is interested in forming government and nothing else.)
But as Mith points out, Garneau was the head of the space agency, which I guess might give him at least a lot of bureaucratic experience. I wonder how much that would have put him in a mode of dealing with the cutthroat realities of day-to-day politics. |
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enns
Joined: 02 May 2006
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:41 am Post subject: |
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I don't see this happening. Garneau is a relative neophyte and I doubt the Liberals are willing to take another gamble after the Dion debacle.
McKenna, Ignatieff(although still newish), Rae, or any other experienced hand would be the best choice at this time. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007 Location: retired
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:43 am Post subject: |
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I'd put my money on Ignatieff being the next PM. |
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BS.Dos.

Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:50 am Post subject: |
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Liberalism.
As the rest of western world attempts to shift towards prudence, Canada's tonic is a dose of more individualism.
Good luck. Maybe US losses are the Canucks' gains. |
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seoulteacher
Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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On the other hand wrote: |
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I've nothing meaningful to contribute - prideofidaho |
No need to apologize. Any information about a candidate can be useful...
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Ah, but there is need for yet another apology: even more so than prideofidaho's, for I have never even visited, far less attended, Ottawa's Carleton U. (And thanks, Ottawa impressed me on my one visit, but no thanks, the further west I traveled, the happier I've become...come visit BC! ).
However, two tidbits of hot-off-the press info for your consideration (which are quite distinct from Timbits; kindly explain to any non-Canadian colleagues), both courtesy of the currently-on CBC TV World News (4pm PST Fri; 8am ROK time Sat):
i) Canadian Liberal leader "Dion is expected to resign on Monday"; and,
ii) UN jefe Ban Ki-Moon was just on, talking about poor countries' coping mechanisms re the world financial crisis.
And seeing Ban Ki-Moon made me think of his ESL teacher(s) - whoever had helped him to the level of English he now has. You're doing an important job, all you ESL teachers...and have a great weekend! |
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