Liberal Christmas Party Fun!

The Liberal Caucus Christmas party was held last night and it was absolutely amazing! Monsieur Dion made his way throughout the room mingling about, posing for pictures with everyone and I think a lot of people were still 'star-struck' by his presence; Mr. Kennedy was dancing the place up - and he is pretty good if I do say so myself - he lasted as long as I did up there! Mr. Ignatieff was up on the dance floor with wife Szusanna doing the twist- and fairly well at that, I was impressed to see Iggy getting "iggy with it" for real! Hall-Findlay joined us along with Kennedy over at Wall Stones for the after party as well. It looked like the Liberal party was back together - "tous Emsemble" having the good time that we always do. If you were there it was fun to watch all the ex-candidates let loose and dance it up with the rest of us on the floor - they are phenomenal people!

I noticed a lot of familiar faces that I met at the convention in Montreal and it was great to see so many Liberals once again together sharing all their stories.

Harper

Oh, ah.... so it looks like you've found out how bad we are doing?
Huh, I guess that'll be all then Mr. Speaker

Tribute to Micheal Ignatieff - Congrats to Stephane Dion/ Liberals Forever!

To so many of us out there, Michael Ignatieff has been a true asset to our party. He has done and will continue to do tremendous things. As he has said "I am not going anywhere" and I for one am greatful that he has come into politcs and given us all something to remember. He is a great leader, a great intellectual and although he did not win the race this party has still won in having him rejoin us in this historical way.

This past weekend has been absolutely phenomenal! Seeing so many Liberal from across the country come together to choose our new leader has been one of the most memorable things for myself as I am sure it has been for many of you. The momentum that was built goes far beyond anything I could have imagined. Every campaign - Dryden, Brison, Kennedy, Dion, Hall-Findlay, Volpe, and Rae- has worked so hard and each and every one of us ought to be proud of what we have accomplished! None of our work has gone to waste; It is truly the result of individual dedication that made this weekend a success and that will always make this party great. I welcome Mr. Dion as our Leader and I think that "tous ensemble" we will be able to defeat the Conservatives. He is a man of good values and has such a deep connection with the work that he does and for that I know he will be a strong leader that we can all be proud of.

I just want to take this moment to say a big THANK YOU to Michael Ignatieff for his inspiration, his determination and his onward dedication to the Liberal Party and to Canada. He truly has been a man of greatness throughout his life and this moment is only the beginning for him. I know we can expect great things to come.

And THANK YOU to all of you who have helped make this convention a great one that will be remembered for decades!

Convention Starts Tomorrow

So the time we have all been waiting for is finally here! The Convention officially starts tomorrow and continues all the way throught the weekend. I don't know about everyone else, but this is exciting!

With Gerard now becoming the only canadidate to dismiss the idea of Quebec as a nation all together, and Ignatieff showing pure confidence in his chances, and Rae of course assuming the race is in his back pocket and Dion perhaps gaining momemtum by teaming up with others - the outcome is sure to be eventful.

For all who will be there, we'll see you. For those who won't be, I am sure you'll be watching the updates as they occur.

Harper Recognizes Quebec as a Nation within Canada & What about Ignatieff?

So Nobody saw this coming??? Nobody? For me it wasn't all that unexpected. I mean Harper had two choices: 1) Take the same stance as Ignatieff and use it as leverage for himself or 2) Disagree with Ignatieff and hope the rest of Canada will see him as a sort of savior from this disuniting force. He chose the former and I would have to say did good. Good for who exactly? Well we'll see.

It turns out that not only does Ignatieff feel this way, in addition to the renewel commission, but so do most members of the house. This idea was not and is not new; it is not revolutionary or completely absurd. The issue with separtism will not be fueled, for at the heart of serpartism is extremism and with that there is not common ground; its all or nothing. This is not an issue of separtism - it just isn't. It is a means to bring Canada closer together - something that the Seperatist's do not want or ever will want. Therefore I see this step - that was first deemed an Ignatieff proposal, and now as a Harper proposal to the house- as one that has great capabilities. If for nothing else should we appreciate Stephen Harper, it would be for bringing this out directly for all to see and hear.

What does this do for the Ignatieff Camp?? Well I think it has enourmous potential to capitalize on it. Now that the Conservatives are supporting the idea of Quebec as a nation, should the Liberals (under new leadership) oppose this notion, then what? We are all of a sudden hypocritical and anti-quebec; at least that is what Harper and his conservatives will use. Do we really want to debate this issue and sweep it under the rug yet again? I really do think we can make this work and I think that Liberals at the convention will see realize this when it comes time to vote on it. Quebec as a nation does not have to be a scary sentence - if we think about it, understand it there is nothing frightening about it.

Let's be reasonable, no one wants to see Quebec leave Canada (even most quebekers)but we do want to ensure that the problem that does exist gets the attention it deserves. This is the time to talk about it, and this is the time to do something about it.