Wine -Tasting With the Candidates

I know that I said that I wouldn't post till after Labour Day...but I just came back from this wine-tasting with the candidates shindig at Denis Paradis's vineyard in the Eastern Townships... so I just couldn't resist posting.

A few highlights:

1) All candidates were in attendance, except: M. Kennedy, Mme Bennett, M Volpe, and Mme Martha Hall - Finley... I thought that M. Kennedy's absence was notable; I mean he's supposed to be up there in the final 4 right? And wasn't he spending his summer in Quebec working on his French? It seems to me that there is no better place to be brushing up on your French then wine tasting with Quebecers... but that's just me.

2) I think that the candidate that seemed to be having the most fun was Brison...(Maybe he was just enjoying his role as latest media darling, post scoring points off of Ignatieff's repeated gaffes this week).

3) I've had the opportunity of seeing all the candidates in action over the past 4 months and is it just me or is this a loooonnnngggg campaign? The speeches seem long, everyone seems to be saying the same thing over and over and over again. It's nice that Liberals are all on message: ie. talking about Canadian values, etc and attacking Stephen Harper, while saying that attacking Stephen Harper is not enough of a campaign strategy. But it's tough hearing the same speech, though slightly different renditions and nuances, 6 different times. I know that campaigning is tough and it’s tough to be ON all the time... but I'm starting to find participating at these all candidates events sort of tough on my little grey cells.

4) Dryden. I like Mr. Dryden, he seems like a really nice, noble, honest man. But I keep waiting for him to bring on the hockey metaphors. I want to hear what it was like to be tied in the 3rd period and saving the goal that won the game. I want him to whip out the hockey stars and for them to tell us how Dryden is a leader and a visionary and how his strategy won us game 7...I know that Mr. Dryden wants to tell us about his searing vision for the future of our country, but I think that nothing touches us more than good old anecdotes from Canada's game.

5) Not sure that this counts as a highlight per se, but after that panegyric in the Globe last week, everytime I bumped into Iggy,(looking very Mephistophelian in a full black suit), I couldn't help thinking about him in a more ahem compromising "coming of age" situation, let's just say...It was a little um, weird..."Well," as my one of my fellow wine tasters said: "At least now we know he's human and not, in fact, of the same genus species as Spock..."

6) The wine was great (particularly the red)!

A Liberal Utopia

While I am off on vacation in my own little version of Canadian utopia, I am busy setting up real one of my own. This utopia is a place where Liberals can come and go with freedom, where we can build up our careers and follow Canadian politics from a safe distance, all in the heart of our neighbour's capital.

I am thrilled that more and more fellow Canadian political refugees are following my exodus down to the capital of the free world. This new place, this new land, offers the chance for Liberals, young and old, to reconvene after last elections losses. A place where we can lick our wounds and reflect, where we can debate, learn and discuss with our liberal democratic cousins. A place where we can build our strengh, sharpen our comms skills (see posting on Ned Lamont)and gear up, well rested with sharpened wits, ready to take on the Conservative machine (or jalopy - as time will tell).

I am already looking forward to the next election campaign. Whatever, the Tories want it to be about: softwood, dismantling our healthcare system, denying a woman's right to choose, I say: BRING IT ON! This new Canadian political animal in exile is ready!

(That being said, I am going back to my curling up by the fire - what's up with extreme weather? - with none other than JC's classic: Straight from the Heart).

N.B. As I mentioned last week - postings will continue to be sporadic until return after Labour Day to full internet connection (v hard to post from the woods with retro dial-up and all)!

In the interim, I give you DC's latest Canadian political refugee:Prairie Fire. Enjoy!

SOFTWOOD

I was at a party in Georgetown a few weeks ago. We were standing in a group of about 10 people. Turns out one of them (an American) is a local staff member at the Canadian Embassy. He started going on and on about some of the more "ridiculous" aspects of Canada, such as, according to him: parliamentary democracy ("there was, like, this weird vote last year that the government depended on and this guy that was dying of cancer had to fly all the way across Canada just to stand up in the House of Commons to vote") and our "obsession" with the softwood lumber trade dispute.

He asked the group if any of them knew about the trade dispute - none of them had any idea what he was talking about. After his explanation, which focused on the fact that nobody in the States cares or is interested in softwood lumber, I ventured to enlighted him on the subtle art of North American diplomacy:

Rule #1 - there is nothing in the world that Canadians dislike more, than being lectured to (by Americans) on the idiosyncracies of our own delightful system. Especially when, (in the case of softwood), we happen to be in the right.

In his honour, I give you Rick Mercer's Everything you ever wanted to Know about softwood but were too afraid to ask...(just scroll down to the week of February 7th)

(Thanks also to Savage Washington for pointing out that Wonkette - an American blog of note - has discovered Rick Mercer's Talking to Americans...and thus provided the inspirational force behind this post.)

Far from the Madding Crowd

To add to Calgary Grit's posting about the possibilities (or lack thereof) of Scott Brison resigning from the leadership race, I've also heard rumours (though note they are unsubstantiated rumours) that Ken Dryden might be dropping out as well...

...As for an update of all things South of the Border... Latest CNN poll shows that 61% of Americans disapprove of the Iraq war (the highest percentage ever in a CNN poll since the war began 3 years ago)...

N.B. Apologies again for the sporadic nature of postings, have been doing a lot of travelling lately without consistent internet access... things will return to normal after Labour Day weekend.

Cheers!

Icing on the Cake

A great way to end my week back home... the one and only, the inimitable Frog Lady responded to my request for a visual of our fearless leader traveling deep into the realms of our new solar system. Check out her gorgeous display, here.

Adventures in the Great North

Apologies for lack of posting lately. Am savoring my week back home and catching up on all things Canadian and political. So far, I have not been disappointed - what with Bevilacqua supporting Rae (I actually had the opportunity to work for Maurizio on his campaign out in Western Canada - so more thoughts on this later); AND discovering that Scott Reid is still the "official spokesperson" for the Liberal Party of Canada on CTV's Questions Period... (does anyone else find that a little odd? Or know how long it's been going on for? I've been out of CTV range for a while now - but I'd be really curious to know how long Scott's been acting as the Liberal Party's official spokesperson...); not to mention Steve's Northern Romp, while the rest of the free (and not so free) world gathers at the AIDS conference in Toronto (the Frog Lady has a brilliant map of Stevie's travels in the Great North.)

Anyway, tons to mull over and analyze all while enjoying the pleasant weather and calm Canadian summer. More soon.

Changing Climate

I'm flying to Ottawa from D.C. today. Anticipating major delays due to yesterday’s thwarted terrorist attempt, I follow the advice of Air Canada and Dulles Airport. I give myself an extra hour to clear security on top of the recommended 2-hour check-in time for international flights. I take a taxi instead of the Super Shuttle. I repack my bags with liquids in one and solids in another.

When I get to the airport – no one is there. The main traffic seems to be from TV crews. Check-in and passing through security take a total of 10 minutes (in fact it was probably the shortest I’ve ever spent checking – in and passing through security). The flight attendant at the check-in counter said that they’re grateful to the media for doing an excellent job in getting the message out to passengers about the new security measures. She said that the check-ins for the morning flights worked with Swiss clock-like precision.

So now I have 3 hours to kill before boarding. I wanted to share the other story making headlines in the Washington Post today. I thought that it’s interesting that this article should make it on the front page along with all of the international security news. Perhaps this is a subtle way to remind readers and the federal policy-makers that there is another international security threat lurking… Maybe this is a sign of what’s to come in Canada as well…

Comment conundrum

I’ve received a couple of really nice comments lately from anonymous readers (Thanks, Mom!) Unfortunately blogger had an error with their system so rather than posting the comments, the system deleted them. Just wanted to say thanks for the comments – and that all bloggers systems are a go again.

On another note – it’s been a while since I’ve checked out Maclean’s website. Today I noticed a fantastic new blog by, believe it or not, a Canadian in DC. And here’s the wild thing – turns out we started posting at more or less the same time and our first two posts were more on less on the same topics. Check out Savage Washington for stellar insights on cross boarder living.

Mutual Learning

Ned Lamont won the Connecticut Democratic primary…here are some facts:

1) On the cover of the papers here in DC – it was all about Lieberman’s loss (not Lamont’s victory)

2) Lieberman is the 4th incumbent senator to lose a primary since 1980

3) Following Lamont’s victory, the majority of big name Democrats endorsed Lamont’s candidacy (even those who had been working on Lieberman’s campaign) and said they regret his decision to run as an independent.

4) An exit poll said that nearly 60% of voters thought Lieberman was too close to President Bush (figures according to PBS)

Lieberman went on to attack Lamont in PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer interview, saying that Lamont has no experience and has demonstrated his inability to work across party lines (which according to him is a necessity in the Senate).

Speaking of working across party lines… Paul Wells posted on his blog Maria Minna’s letter to members of the Liberal caucus regarding Wajid’s decision to work for Harper.

I sent the letter on to a friend and former colleague (aka Liberal party policy wonk). I think that his response was particularly, um, eloquent:

“Damn straight. I would never have let this happen if I were leader. Everyone is babbling about bi-partisanship. But this isn't a US Presidential system where it is okay to get bi-partisan advice and support from parliamentarians. It is a British Parliamentary system. The PM only gets to be PM if he/she has confidence in the House. The President can continue to govern if he/she loses votes in Congress, short of impeachment.

In the Canadian system the opposition's ONLY constitutional role is to oppose the government. We have no obligation constitutionally to provide advice to the government, even for the good of the country. In fact, our job is not to do that, it is to oppose. Anything else is a political decision, and it is a dumb political decision as well.

We have to stop pretending we are Americans all the time. Our system is not designed that way and it will break down if we behave that way. Bill Graham should know better. I would have kicked Khan out of caucus in a heartbeat.”

Now speaking of applications of American politics in Canada, I’ve had a couple of interesting political discussions with my new Americans acquaintances.

Once I have had a few more, I’m going to compile them will into a medley, a sort of “Talking to Americans” (thought less funny), probably more like “Talking Seriously to Americans”. I’ve been really impressed with the insights of my new acquaintances and think that there are several parallels that can be drawn between the Democrats and Liberals (for example, tips on avoiding a weak campaign strategy.)

Crossing the line

Uh, I'm all for cooperation across party lines, but does anyone else find this a little weird?

UPDATE: I guess that I'm not the only one.

Rocking the Vote

Thought this article about levels of support for Bush among young Americans was interesting...

Subliminal Messaging: A Progressive Liberal?

Some of my Montreal posse went to a roundtable with Iggy this afternoon. They said that he kept referring to himself as a "progressive" Liberal and said it was really important that people understood that about him.

Does he mean "progressive Liberal" like "progressive Conservative"? How many ways can you define progressive? Anyways, I'd be grateful if anyone could enlighten me and my Montreal peeps.

Speaking of subliminal messages, my friend Pumpernickel recently blogged about this mock - Liberal party Election 2006 website. It's pretty hilarious, especially some of their faux campaign adds (some of the titles seem a little strange and I can't seem to click on them) but other than that it's great fun.

I AM CANADIAN

I know this is old and now a beer own by a US company - but I had so many bureacratic hurdles to deal with today as a Canadian trying to integrate the US system and it's so hot (a balmy 43 oC) ... that this video really hit the nail on the head...there's not much I wouldn't do to share it with some of the folks I had to interact with today, nor to get my hands on some good Canadian beer...

Code Red

Because it’s so hot in DC – authorities have issued a “code red” day, which other than it’s exciting name has some real tangible benefits as well: namely free (air conditioned) public transport. Ideally, people will use public transport instead of their cars and help improve air quality (which is especially bad on extreme heat days). Maybe this is something that we could try back at home?