Cobourg Blog

According to media March 4 is the day that the House of Commons will vote on a possible Liberal motion to ammend the Federal Budget.  In recent days Dion has gone from voting against the budget to perhaps abstaining and even voting for it if it doesn’t hurt Canadians or the economy.  Dion is sniffing around Quebec this week during the House of Commons break to see if there is any support.  Depending on what he finds we could be off and running to an election.  Last year the Liberals raised 3 million dollars to the Conservatives 12 million.  While the Libs are likely to get financing for the National Campaign, what about the 308 Riding Associations .  Word is they are tapped out and without organizations.  So the question remains on March 4th will Dion march forth and send us to an election?  I think he will.  If he waits and loses 2 of 4 bi-elections as is now being projected for March 17, he will lose more credability.  He might as well lay it all on the line on the 4th. 

What can Stephane Dion learn from this very famous quote? For those who are not familiar with the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee in reference to the Union Army’s position on Cemetery Ridge, uttered these word to his General in the field, Richard S. Ewell. The Union Army was out numbered by the Confederates on the first contact between the two at the now legendery battlefield. Historians have argued that had Ewell attacked instead of waiting, Lee may have marched onto Washington. Isn’t hindsight wonderful. Back to Dion. Communication is paramount in battle, as Lee learned at Gettysburg. The current political atmosphere in Ottawa is beginning to feel alot like a battle is brewing, and communication will be key. Former Liberal Cabinet Minister Jean Lapierre recently told Mike Duffy that Liberal Riding Associations across Canada are asking that Dion hold off on causing an election. At the grass roots the Liberals are disorganized and shallow in the pocket book. Yet Dion told them he will vote against the budget sending the country to a General Election. Senior Liberals like David Smith, Ralph Goodale and Bob Rae are imploring Stephane to wait til spring. They don’t want to fight an election on Harper’s terms. All suggest that Dion wait and go at a time that is in the best interests of the Liberal party. What we have in this instance is a case where all of the Generals are telling the Supreme Commander not to rush up that ridge for fear of slaughter. At Gettysburg, General Longstreet didn’t want to run his men up Little Round Top knowing that the Union Army held the high ground and would be waiting for the Confederates like lambs at the slaughter. Lee ordered the attack on Little Round Top much to the dismay of Longstreet. Perhaps Rae, Smith and Goodale are worried that after Dion orders the troops to take the hill by storm, waiting for them at the summit is a slaughter at the hands of a big blue machine. They say history tends to be cyclical.

One full month and a few days into 2008 and it appears that we will be forced to get up off our couches and go vote in another General Election. It has been 2 full years since Harper and the Conservatives were sworn into office on Feb. 6, 2006. The sky certainly isn’t falling, yet Dion and his Liberals just can’t shake the fact that they are indeed in opposition and not government. Dion should be careful what he wishes for. An election may just be the only thing that will seal his fate as Liberal leader. The only way for his largely divided caucus to get rid of him is for him to lose the election. Since being elected Mr. Dion has done nothing to ensure Canadians safety, he oppose tax cuts (the GST) and appears ready to invade Pakistan. You need only to watch question period as Michael Ignatieff looks to enjoy Dion’s lack of “everything” as he awaits his coronation as the next Liberal leader. Current polls show that if there were an election the seat count in Ottawa would likely stay the same. So why go throughthe hassle and expense. Mr. Dion should worry about the polling during the election campaign itself. During this period Canadians will have a better look at Dion and that may well swing the polling numbers in favour of Harper. Why don’t we just wait until October 2009?

A year or more ago, Stephane Dion committed the Liberals would pull Canadians out of Afghanistan after the mandate ends February 2009. He has now travelled there and has seen the good work Canadians are doing and been thanked by the Afghanistan government for that. So now he is saying that Canadians should stay after 2009 but not have a combat role.

So who is going to protect the Canadians who do the “good work”? American troops? German troops? What has he been smoking? The only thing that makes sense is to have Canadian troops there doing the protection. And when the Taliban bombs the workers (and they will), will the Canadian troops just say “naughty boys” or will they actually protect by chasing after the bombers? And unless someone in our army has not been listening to Romeo Dallaire, they will actually have effective weapons and they will chase the criminal bombers. So how is that much different to the current role?

Stephane is either a dreamer (I’m being kind) or he is speaking nonsense and is an idiot - hopefully a potential PM is not an idiot.

John Draper