[maplesyrup]

Here we go again.

'Orchard files suit to block merger, reduce Conservative Party funding'

according to today's Globe and Mail.

http://www.globeandm.../?query=orchard

Follow the money here, folks.

and on December 22, 2003 we had:

'Sinclair Stevens headed to court in hopes of reversing Conservative merger'

according to canadaeast.com

http://canadaeast.co...22/CPN/21400022

Orchard's appeal is the the second court case in the past two weeks against the merger.

It sure seems very quiet out there from the proponents of this merger.

We had that blip about New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord entered the race, but since then things have kind of petered out.

It appears that Stephen Harper is the man to beat.

At this rate why even bother with a leadership race (no offence to Jim Prentice but...)?

[maplesyrup]

New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord will not be running for the leadership, CTV has learned. Lord will be making a statement later today.

http://www.ctv.com/

This is absolutely devastating news for the Conservatives,.

Now, in the eyes of the Canadian public, the merger will appear to be an absolute takeover by the Alliance party.

Too bad.

[PC4EVER]

It will be seen that way only if Harper wins the leadership or if another person associate with the CA wins the leadership which is not likely to happen.

Harper can win, but his appeal to a non corporate fundraising for this leadership indicates his weakeness in that department.

We need a person able to bridge the gap between the two formers party and up to now, the only one position to do it is Prentice.

[Alliance Fanatic]

I don't think this race will only be between Harper and Prentice. I think that Jim Flarhety may take a run for it due to his appeal to social and fiscal conservative's. Hey you never know maybe if Lord decides not to run, more people will take the chance at running for the leadership.

[Galahad]

Alliance Fanatic, on Dec 30 2003, 02:25 PM, said:

Hey you never know maybe if Lord decides not to run, more people will take the chance at running for the leadership.

What do you MEAN "if" ?

There is no ifs ands or buts about it, Lord ISN'T running.

Maplesyrup told us. LOOK!

"New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord will not be running for the leadership, CTV has learned. Lord will be making a statement later today."

Are you deaf or something?

[sir_springer]

I cannot possibly express enough just how much I resent the claim or notion that Harper winning the leadership of the CPC merely represents a CA takeover.

That is a line of utter crap being propigated by the Liberal Left media for no other reason than their outright contempt of the Reform/CA movement, and anyone connected to it.

Further, it is an outright slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of its members, past and present, as well as the millions of Canadians who have voted for the party.

It is beyond outrageous to suggest or imply that only someone from the PCs is qualified to lead this new party. In fact, it is downright insulting.

If Harper emerges as leader of this new party...and he damn well should...it will be for no other reason than that he deserves to.

He is, beyond a doubt and bar none, the most qualified man for the position. To suggest that he is not merely because he was leader of the CA verges, in the extreme, on outright discrimination and bigotry.



It's bullsh*t that I am really, really getting fed up with and tired of enduring.

[Neal.F.]

Hear hear Springer. If the party's chances of succes were dependent on the whims of a 38 year old provincial premier, the party would not be worth a tinker's damn to begin with.

Harper would be a good leader , as would Strahl, Runciman or Flaherty.

There is depth in the organization. and any one of the above could ter the hapless empty giorgio Armani suit paul Martin to shreds in a debate. martin has nothing to offer. he's Chretien all over again. He has 10 years of mismanagement and arrogance to answer for.

[Communist_boy]

Stephen Harper, the leader of the new Conservatives, it may not be the CA taking over the PC but lord help the CPC if Harper leads it. If he is the best that they can offer then we might as well crown a Liberal as the King of Canada as he aint got a snowball's chance in hell. The Conservatives havnt been a force since before 1993.

After that they were bairly a party, lol, Kim Cambell that was a laugh, Brian Mulroney he was one of the bigest liers ive heard of.

The liberals will win this election just like the last three. Canada needs a radically new political party that will reform politics and give the power to where it truly belongs, with the PEOPLE of Canada, not the corporations, or two faced fink politicions.

BTW, I'm not speaking of Communism as my name may suggest, rather Comsocarchy, then we can be truly free.

There are no more Conservatives left in Canada, they have been invaded, and as for the CA they arnt on the right, they're so far right fell off the damn scale.

The revolution will begin, it already has, reform is coming, and all who stand in its way will we wiped away.

[RT_1984]

Springer is absolutely right. I am so sick to DEATH of people saying we need a fresh face with no baggage. Harper has little baggage on the baggage scale from 1-10. Sure a comment here or there, but nothing more than anyone else (although lefties would nothing better than to convince people otherwise). He's billingual,a policy expert, has both a pc and alliance background. And seems to be the only one that can possibly distinguish the new party from the Paul Martin Liberals. We will not win on tax cuts alone. Social conservatism to a degree will have to be used. Face it, its one of the main reasons for the success of Reform in the first place. Manning knew the right degree to use as does Harper. Unfortunately, Stockwell Day didn't and it damaged our chances. Now under a new banner we'll have shed the alliance name. Perceptions are everything. People keep saying (and i'm seriously sick of this) that we need a party in the center. That's where Martin is. Why invent the wheel. Has Canadian politics been reduced to partisan bigotry. Besides, the center is only what the public decides it is. Most of the public are not ideological like we on this forum are. Do any of these idiot lefties really believe that people gave Mike Harris, two consecutive majority governments because they thought he was a right-wing, extremist, thug, chainsaw mike etc. Or Ralph Klein 3 terms. Give me a damn break. That's just the leftwing trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy, and unfortunately people on this forum are willing to condescend and play their game. I for one, will not. What we want is a distinct, two party system like the dems and the republicans in the US. Harper is the only one to do this. Others either lack the skills, qualifications, or vision. No, he isn't Pierre Trudeau. Neither is Martin. But he could be Mackenzie King. Extremely patient and increasingly shrewd. Give the man some credit for the past two years after the Day debacle. No, he didn't manage to convince the rest of Canada to drop the PC's and adopt the Alliance, but that's only because of the visionless partisanship of the East, which will be remedied by the new party merger. Traditional Tory ridings in Atlantic Canada will remain tory any. These people don't care who the leader is (except for Mulroney of course but he was a special case), these people supported a washed up party of Joe Clark for God's sake. And PC organizers have the balls, to whine about Harper. Completely unqualified, absolute hollow partisanship which I would like nothing better than to see destroyed in this merger controversy.

[Lost in Manitoba]

Harper will not ever be the Prime Minister of Canada. Leader of the Opposition is all he will ever achieve in this this lifetime. If that's what you want, Merry Christmas, you got it. The angry white men have their mascot. Cheers.

[RT_1984]

Lost in Manitoba: "Harper will not ever be the Prime Minister of Canada. Leader of the Opposition is all he will ever achieve in this this lifetime."
- Wow, what a bold statement. If Harper is so mediocre, then how did he ever become entrusted with Canada's second largest political party in the first place. Or how did he lead the NCC constantly dealing with the media. I guess they chose him because there was nobody else around and he was just so mediocre and drab. What an absolute bunch of BS. Look at George W. Bush - became President of the US. Not exactly the most articulate and charismatic person on the face of the earth now is he. And no one cares about such things as good ol superficial America. I hope the doubters and underestimators are proven wrong.

[maplesyrup]

-from the National Post today

http://canada.com/na...D5-5A527B899789

'So far, the leadership race has one official candidate: Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice. Harper has said he will officially declare his candidacy Jan. 12.

Meanwhile, former Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay is expected to enter the contest now that Lord is out of the picture. MacKay, a Nova Scotia MP, was worried about challenging Lord because the two politicians draw much of their support from Atlantic Canada.

The leadership vote will be held March 21.

Party sources said Tuesday they are still trying to draft other candidates, including longtime party strategist Hugh Segal and Toronto corporate titan Belinda Stronach.

Stronach helped broker the merger between the Alliance and the Tories earlier this year.'

[maplesyrup]

OK here it comes.

-from the Montreal Gazette

Good news for Martin in withdrawal of N.B.'s Lord'

"If Lord had run, Martin would have faced a left-right squeeze on the centre, which would be particularly dangerous in vote-rich Ontario."

http://www.canada.co...A0-AC15FA529DF6

I believe that the best person for leader is Chuck Strahl. Let's get in the real world here. Canada would be fortunate if the Liberals could be held to a minority government in the next election. So Mr Strahl has 4 or 5 years to perfect his French, leading up to an opportunity to become prime minister, two elections from now.

Oh, well, at least the Canadian dollar is going up (up 20% in the past year), that's good news isn't it, at least if you want to visit the US?

And the soldiers in Alghanistan might be happy today, there's a rumour going around that Governor General Clarkson is going to buy them a round.

[Neal.F.]

Martin is the most boring excuse for a leader i've ever seen this side of Dalton McGuinty.

Harper has demonstrated true ability in terms of
enginnering the merger, , not to mention getting the Alliance back on a
solid footing, and keeping the caucus in good order.

He may very well surprise the swaggering cocky Liberals. Remember the story
of the tortoise and the hare.

Martin can count on losing 30 + seats in Ontario. The plethora of scandals that have hit the BC Liberals will erase any gains he may have made for the FedLibs out there.

He will have to make big gains in Quebec, which is no sure thing.

I still don't think he has anything to offer, he's no different than Crouton. After all, he signed all the cheques between '93 and 2001.

Harper is far more intelligent, and will destroy him in debate.... Layton,
as much as I despise everything he stands for with every fibre of my being, will shred Martin from the
left with more flamboyance than substance.

Let Martin's minions become more arrogant and overconfident. they may well
wake up one fine may morning, on the opposition benches..... but not before
running the paper shreddders 24/7 until the transition takes place.

I really , truly and objectively don't think Martin has anything to offer. He can't run his campaign with Nick Discepola, Scott Reid & Stan Keyes as his spokesmen

[Brainiac]

There is no doubt that Harper is a skilled politician...but I don't necessarily think people here in Ontario really give a crap so long as he is associated with the Alliance. I know people don't like to hear that, but the fact of the matter is people in Ontario tend not to vote for people that leave a bad taste in their mouths...look at the provincial NDP(that is if you can still see them). The Alliance most definitely has left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths here in Ontario. I hope the new Conservative party can pick up some more seats in this province, but I don't think they will win this coming election. it would be nice to have a little less Liberal and a little more of anyone else in the Federal government.