Tag: Stephane Dion

Stéphane Dion was leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from December 2006-December 2008.

Dion was elected leader of the Liberal Party after the resignation of Prime Minister Paul Martin after the Liberal election loss in 2006.

Dion’s leadership was marred by frequent gaffes and blunders and his inability to be an effective communicator. His interview with CTV’s Steve Murphy was a turning point in Liberal fortunes during the 2008 election. His hallmark Green Shift policy did not fare much better.

Ultimately, Dion’s mishandling of the 2008 coalition crisis – which saw the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois forming a potential coalition government – resulted in the end of his leadership.

Life after leadership wasn’t bad to Stephane Dion. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Trudeau government and the Canadian Ambassador to Germany.

Convention leftovers

I’ve a few convention leftovers that I want to share.

Convention buttons were a big hit on the floor among Liberals. (See my previous post for the other buttons)

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Speaking of Justin vs. Belinda in Smackdown 2008, check out Macleans top story about the race to replace Stephane Dion, the Liberals’ interim leader.

I mentioned in one of Greg Staples earlier hotstove podcasts that if Bob Rae had won, the Conservatives would have spun the new Liberal leader as “potentially Canada’s first NDP Prime Minister”. I think that this button captures that spirit.

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Staying on Bob Rae, and mocking him on his record instead of resorting to vicious ad hominem attacks we have this amusing button handed out on the convention floor:

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This button was critical of the lack of french spoken at the Liberal convention in Montreal. I heard that a full 80% of delegates could not speak french (or were unilingual, I forget which).

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Finally, on the last ballot between Iggy and Dion, these buttons made their first appearance on the convention floor. These are obviously funny for a few reasons.

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Moving on from the buttons, this piece came from the Conservative war room to help Liberals feel especially good about themselves at their party.

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And… the best piece from the convention, in my opinion, was produced by the NDP war room who were kind enough to email me the PDF of their “map to the scars”, an Adscam tour of Montreal. Print it out, fold it up and hand it out to your friends (but tell them to vote Conservative!)

Download the Adscam map (PDF)

Shameful anti-Semitic slurs against Rae

CP’s Joan Bryden tells us about the shameful anti-Semitic slurs spoken against Bob Rae’s wife Arlene Perly Rae. Bryden reports that these comments were made by Liberal delegates desperate to smear Rae to prevent him from becoming Liberal leader. CP:

Bob Rae was the target of anti-Semitic attacks during the Liberal leadership contest, motivated at least in part by the fact that his wife is Jewish.

Sources close to Rae say that his wife, Arlene Perly Rae, was approached during last weekend’s convention by a delegate who didn’t realize she was the candidate’s wife. The delegate told her not to vote for Rae “because his wife is Jewish.”

Perly Rae stonily informed the delegate that she was the wife in question. The delegate beat a hasty retreat.

The incident might have been shrugged off if it had been an isolated event. But Rae team insiders contend it was part of a larger pattern of anti-Semitic smears on Rae, who finished third.

Bryden, who provided some of the best behind-the-scenes coverage of the Liberal leadership convention (see this article for just one reason why), also goes on to describe a flyer that was circulated electronically among some delegates slamming Rae and his wife for their defense of Israel.

I received a copy of this shameful flyer:

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Sad.

UPDATE: Stephane Dion responds:

For Immediate release
December 8, 2006

Statement from Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion Regarding
the Anti-Semitic Comments Made Against Bob Rae and Arlene Perly Rae

The hateful comments made against Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae and his wife Arlene Perly Rae at the Liberal leadership convention in Montreal are reprehensible and will not be tolerated within the Liberal Party of Canada.

Canada is a nation founded on diversity and tolerance for people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. The Liberal Party of Canada celebrates and promotes this diversity and tolerance.

There is no room for abhorrent comments such as these within our Party. The individuals who made these despicable and prejudiced comments are condemned by myself and Liberals throughout Canada.

Good for Dion.