Category: Other

We’ve known about this one for a few weeks, but today it became official. Peter Kent, former anchor of the national news on CBC, and former Global television journalist, announced his candidacy for the next federal election for the Conservative Party of Canada for the riding of St. Paul’s.

“Paul Martin’s diminished moral authority at home is diminishing this country’s moral authority abroad, which has economic ramifications as Canada’s reputation slips deeper into international disrepute. The Prime Minister’s recent announcements are largely cut-and-paste reiterations of empty promises from last year’s campaign, and repackaged announcements made years ago. Other Martin announcements, like the pledge to re-unite immigrant families, should have been a priority when he first became Prime Minister, yet he waits until times are desperate for his party to even consider this important issue. Another year in limbo with a government that sees power as an end, rather than a means, is unacceptable. Canada needs new and competent government now.” — Peter Kent, Conservative Party of Canada candidate for St. Paul’s

Welcome aboard to Peter Kent! As the Liberals’ hold on power continues to erode, the Conservatives keep signing up star candidates. Things are looking good for the party.

Here are a few links
Peter Kent Campaign home
Harper announces Peter Kent as a Conservative candidate [Video]

If anyone really wants to know what Paul Martin really means when he insists that we “wait for Gomery”, take a look at this great post over at Gin and Tonic.

We can wait for Gomery, perhaps, but really… what are the limits of his mandate?

Paragraph K: the Commissioner be directed to perform his duties without expressing any conclusion or recommendation regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization and to ensure that the conduct of the inquiry does not jeopardize any ongoing criminal investigation or criminal proceedings;

The Chuck Guite testimony is set to be released this week. Can Gomery call Guite guilty? Can Gomery even let you know what he thinks about the Liberals and their involvement? Likely not as Paul Martin has set the limited mandate as is evident in paragraph K highlighted above.

The campaign is coming up and its coming quickly.

Blogging has become the new medium for getting the message out and, more importantly, getting it past the filter.

At the beginning of this year, I co-founded Blogging Tories, a grassroots organization of Conservative Party supporters that do not hesitate to express their opinions, point out media bias, and hold the Liberals and the NDP to account. They do this without compensation and thus their message comes from the strength of their beliefs. Blogging Tories is the case-study of grassroots activism.

In fact, as I have noted before, there seems to be more Canadian conservative-minded bloggers in the ‘blogosphere’ than there are on the left. The conclusion that I have derived is that conservative opinion is stifled by the mainstream media and has not generally been heard.

Until now.

Blogging has given a voice to those without one in traditional media and now these voices are being heard. Most recently, members of the Blogging Tories were instrumental in forcing the lid off of the Jean Brault testimony as Judge Gomery has now realized that publication bans cannot exist in the modern media climate; they cannot exist in the modern media climate that we have defined. Indeed, since this shift in media delivery after the advent of blogs, laws and unjust laws are being redefined concerning personal and press freedoms.

The Conservative Party of Canada is synonymous with the Grassroots. It is indeed the Grassroots Party of Canada. Therefore, blogging and Conservative make the perfect marriage of activism and desire for change.

The 2004 Presidential election campaign witnessed the first election in world history which exploited the potential of blogs to the fullest extent. From the automatic organization of neighbourhood parties for Bush to Meetups for Kerry, the blogging phenomenon enabled the American political class to appeal to the grassroots for help in delivering their the message.

The Conservative Party of Canada needs the blogosphere to deliver its message. In fact, citizens need the blogosphere to bypass the CBC, CTV and other mainstream media outlets to vent their anger and express their hope for change to their countrymen. While the CBC asks Canadians if they want an election right now (Liberal talking point), the blogosphere allows Canadians to tell each other that they don’t want an American style 10 month election campaign (Conservative talking point).

Conservatives gather around blogs for warmth in a cold and hostile media environment. From this small hopeful light in the darkness, conservatives spread the message to others open to positive change and re-establishment of our country’s pride. This is the grassroots and this is our time.

If you question the power of blogging in political campaigns, Google “Conservative Party of Canada” and check me out. I’m the 7th result as of the time of this post, and my name is the first person’s name that appears.

And I’m not even running. Maybe I should.