2012 NDP leadership convention

[Holmes]

Uh, that could only lead to bad news in the end, especially if it actually does lead to the defeat of the Conservatives. And under what party would the "joint candidate" be exactly? This kinda makes me want to support Mulcair more.

[Holmes]

Nope. The second choice for a lot of federal Liberal voters is not the NDP. See: southern Ontario, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, western Newfoundland. The NDP might've never picked up Edmonton—Strathcona with IRV, and a few seats in BC, Scarborough, Montreal (or Quebec in general)...

[Holmes]

Canada is not as populist as our southern neighbours. I could see it backfiring. Or maybe not.

[Holmes]

Paul Dewar town hall in Toronto Monday evening. I really wanna go, but I believe I'll be preoccupied. Blah.

[Holmes]

I'm just a little amused that Mulcair has been painted as this big right-wing monster. How will the Conservatives portray him in their attacks if he wins the leadership? If it's not one thing, it's another.

Peggy Nash joins the race Friday.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1076258

[Holmes]

The only "anti-union" thing he's said is what the NDP members at the convention voted for, which is the one member, one vote rule. He said he won't be the union candidate, since all the unions seem to be going for Topp, and now that Nash is in...

[Holmes]

I hope there's one in Northern Ontario. But they'll probably be in places the NDP wants to capture or hold, as well as places that are close to home for the candidates. Toronto(Nash) or Ottawa(Dewar), Montreal(Mulcair, Saganash?), Halifax(Singh, Chrisholm), Regina or Saskatoon, Winnipeg(Ashton) and Vancouver or Victoria(Cullen) are probably high on the list.

[Holmes]

Angus has only really talked about Dewar on Facebook, and Mulcair a bit as well. And there's this.

http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3362304

So him endorsing either one of them wouldn't surprise me. And I told him how sad I'd be if he endorses Topp.


Rick Mercer: 7 billion people enter NDP leadership race.

[Holmes]

Local news on Dewar's visit to Timmins.
Newspaper article.

Daily Press sux, though.

[Holmes]

Apparently met Thomas Mulcair. And he's shorter in person. Or maybe I'm just awkwardly tall.

Anyway, it was at the Duke of York pub in St George. Ritzy. There were membership forms, and I filled one out. Oh, and his volunteer form said "help us defeat the Conservative majority in 2014". *shrug* He went around and talked to everyone for about 45 minutes, then Dan Harris introduced him, and he made a 15 minute speech, then answered questions for about 20 - 30 minutes. He spoke rather well, and was really personable. He said he has a lot of surprise endorsements coming, especially from environmental groups. Said he's definitely not anti-union, and is definitely not a separatist, either. He talked about the election in Saskatchewan (he called it tragic, I call it pathetic), and the need to do things differently there... how you can't do things the same for three elections in a row, and hope to get different results. He also said places such as New Brunswick and PEI are target-rich areas.

Questions were pretty typical for Torontonians... they asked about Ford Nation, and things like transit, public housing, union questions... he answered them all rather well, I found. He didn't really dodge anything. Oh, and his wife was there too. She was nice.

Now that I think about it, I have a lot of questions I could've asked, but I was too nervous. When I told him I was from Timmins, he said "not everyone is perfect." Said he got that one from Charlie. Anyway, he's visiting the north in January.

[Holmes]

NDP memberships on the rise in Quebec. Good news for Mulcair. I wonder if the Liberals will have effective membership drives during their leadership race... in 2 years? And the BQ's leadership race seems to be either really secretive, or boring. No one seems to care.

[Holmes]

Brian Topp's website sez the first leadership debate will be on December 4th, in Ottawa.

[Holmes]

I think Mulcair's gonna be my first choice.

[Holmes]

Go Ontario.

And the leadership schedule and locations have been selected. Lemme just say... I will now accept my accolades.

Dec. 4, Ottawa – Building an inclusive economy

January, Halifax – Giving families a break

February, Quebec City – Providing leadership on the world stage

February, Winnipeg – Building bridges between urban and rural Canada

March, Montreal – Building a strong united Canada

March, Vancouver – Creating opportunities for youth and new Canadians

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/ndp-membership-soars-but-quebecs-share-remains-a-mere-fraction/article2239704/

So first debate will be economy, second will probably be more about jobs and taxes, and third is foreign policy, fifth seems like a free-for-all, and the rest seem to speak for themselves. I'm interested in the one about rural/urban Canada and the youth one most.

I think Dewar's plan for four more debates would be over saturation, imo.

[Holmes]

Bilingual. At least, the Ottawa one will be. And probably the one in Quebec City and Montreal.

[Holmes]

Mulcair self-identifies as an anglophone, fyi.

[Holmes]

Why do you prefer Topp over Mulcair when, from what I've seen, he represents a lot of what you dislike.

[Holmes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nu_dx84wjR8#t=186s

Martineau Duhaime talks about PQ, NDP, and a cute comment about the BQ. I have no idea who he is, but I like his attitude.

[Holmes]

Damn it, I have a study group on Sunday. I'm gonna have to miss the debate. I hope it's archived somewhere.

[Holmes]

I missed the debate too, but the first part is here. Still can't watch it yet because I'm studying, but holy crap, Cullen has scary eyes.

[Holmes]

Can Chisholm just drop out?

[Holmes]

Only 0.01% of the population makes >$250k/year?

[Holmes]

Let's just say, if the NDP wins Charlottetown, they have majority status, and Liberals are in low double digits. It's not happening. Mulcair said he wants to target PEI when I met him. But I don't think there will be actual results.

[Holmes]

Days until the 2015 federal election: 1403. Stop analyzing useless polls, especially since the second and third parties both haven't even chosen their leaders.

[Holmes]

All that matters is the leadership numbers. To which I am more than content with.