Sunday, September 07, 2008

The "Underdog"

Here is some of the video of Dion's impressive speech today (h/t Jeff Jedras for posting):



Has Canada really become stronger?



Check out the new Liberal website here.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like the lib website. It's clear, simple. Interestingly, not a single picture of Harper anywhere on it.

Steve V said...

"Interestingly, not a single picture of Harper anywhere on it."

Which makes Harper's prediction of a nasty campaign all the more HILARIOUS. Compare this site to the cesspool the Cons call a site and the hypocrisy is exposed. I think Harper was just PROJECTING.

Richard said...

so the CPC is not trhe PC party of old, yet Harper is Mulroney-like.

get a leader that makes sense.

Steve V said...

richard

So Dion is a weak leader, yet he is similar to Trudeau.'

Get a leader that makes sense.

Blues Clair said...

Sorry, weak speech. He sounded better during the question and answer.

Anonymous said...

Dion:

"Leadership to avoid challenges, and to put us on a risky road of the challenges of the competitiveness of the economy, of climate change, of the fact that you have poverty in this country -- and the current leadership is doing nothing," he said. "Or leadership to tackle these issues with Canadians and to win together."

Smooooooooth.

Steve V said...

blues

That's fair. I thought he was quite good.

Mark Dowling said...

I noted the LPC's plane choice via Warren Kinsella. Dion's 29 year old Air Inuit 737-200C will burn fuel at about 50% more on a kg/passenger/hour basis than the Air Canada 319s the Tories and Libs are using. The only advantage that plane is likely to have is rough field capability up north.

Jeff said...

Part two of the speech is online.

Steve V said...

mark

Part of the reason Dion is travelling by bus more often, is too offset. I bet if you add it up at the end, his footprint will be less.

Steve V said...

Thanks Jeff.

Anonymous said...

Just curious, Mark, where do you get your numbers for fuel efficiency? The numbers used in the newspaper were closer to 10% difference on a short flight and the difference decreases for longer flights.

In any case, as Steve points out, what will really matter is how often the plane is used and for what kind of trips. Harper is starting off with two flights today, one across the country and Dion is starting off more locally with a bus. I'm not interested in keeping track of airmiles per party, but I do think politicians should display some awareness and not needlessly fly when alternatives will work. This could make a lot more difference than a small difference in fuel efficiency of their planes.

Steve V said...

Dion actually said he was disappointed in the plane he received, but then said he would purchase carbon offsets.

Great line from his campaign launch:

"I gave Canada clarity, Stephen Harper gave Canada Flaherty"


He was fired up on C-Span, a large, boisterous crowd. Apparently, Harper's first stop in Quebec was sparsely attended, in Quebec City no less.

Jerry Prager said...

I think Harper and the media have completely misunderstood the mood of the nation. Change that actually changes something requires courage and I think Dion has wells of reserve in him. Once he shrugs off the image so carefully crafted in Tory-Republican hate ad portraits of him the Con vote will distill into less than the core of the old reform party. Harper will reap the whirlwind and the Cons left standing will be like stumps in a clear cut.

Omar said...

Smooooooooth.

I think there are many in this country who can relate to the challenges of communicating in a language that is not their first. I'll take Dion's awkwardly delivered honesty over Harper's silky smooth deceitfulness any day of the week.

Möbius said...

Part of the reason Dion is travelling by bus more often, is too offset. I bet if you add it up at the end, his footprint will be less.

I'm sure Canadians will be very impressed.

Dr. Tux said...

Is Canada stronger?

Hell no.

Anonymous said...

The media and others would be well advised to lay off Dions english. Approximately 1 in 4 Canadians has some degree of diffculty being understood in the local official language. That would be one heck of a class action suit!!!

Steve V said...

William

Is it really that bad? People exaggerate, based on their own bias, he's completely coherent and clear. Suggesting anything else is frankly complete crap at this stage, not to mention slightly bigoted.

cls said...

I heard Dion speak this afternoon in Ottawa South and thought he did a very good job. I don't usually vote Liberal so went out of curiousity and was impressed by his energy and confidence. To me Dion shows great leadership recognizing that the world of cheap oil isn't going to last forever and we'd better be prepared to deal with it. Stephen Harper makes me think of someone in 1895 stubbornly insisting that "horses will be used 200 years from now because they've been used for centuries before."
Change happens and Dion has the courage and intelligence to recognize it. Heaven help us if we get stuck with Harper and his old fashioned way of thinking.

Gayle said...

From today's Edmonton Journal:

"With an election call just hours away, where would you expect to find Liberal Leader Stephane Dion? In the cosy comforts of some eastern, Liberal-friendly riding or speaking to the converted at some safe party function?
Well, no actually, he was right here, in the lion's den -- Tory-fortress Edmonton, in Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer's backyard, to be specific.
Dion turned up on the University of Alberta campus Friday to pitch his Green Shift plan and persuade young Albertans to look at the Liberal brand, just weeks after a July visit.
Dion clearly hopes to revive the small-Liberal flame that died when former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan lost to Laurie Hawn in Edmonton Centre in the last vote on January 23, 2006.
Now that's what you'd call an optimistic, brave and stubborn politician -- but you can hardly call that wimpish.
Meanwhile, here's the question for Tory candidates: Will Harper bother to darken Edmonton's door during the expected campaign or just count on the sheep coming home as usual?"

I post this because Roger Smith, who was covering the LPC for CTV, suggested there is something wrong with Dion starting the campaign at a "safe" riding. Brad Lavigne for the NDP went with that. No one mentioned this.

Steve V said...

"To me Dion shows great leadership recognizing that the world of cheap oil isn't going to last forever and we'd better be prepared to deal with it."

Yes, Harper doesn't seem to realize that we also have to buy oil, not just sell it.

gayle

I find Lavigne to be a nasty piece of business most of the time.

Gayle said...

Well wilson - that is about the size of it, isn't it?

While Harper drops money, time and attention on Quebec and Ontario, he ignores Alberta.

Albertans are famous for complaining about this when the liberals are in power, but completely ignore it when the CPC are in power.

So yes, Albertans are sheep. Nice to see you take pride in your identity.

Gayle said...

Now steve - you just made me look silly!

Anonymous said...

What promped me to write what I did Steve was the reporter on CBC this morning who asked Dion to his face about his English. I agree that most of us listen carefully when someone has an accent so we understand easily. A number of times this morning on CBC Dions english was mentioned and to me that is an insult to all Canadians or others who have an accent.

Steve V said...

I'm done with this crap. It's just mindless diversion.

BTW, you never look silly :)

Steve V said...

william

Here was something from the TS:

"The Liberal leader appeared relaxed, wearing a maroon sweater, and kept his English miscues to a minimum in his first rally of the campaign. "

Is that a compliment? Why exactly is that relevant, if it wasn't an issue, QUIT MENTIONING IT.

Anonymous said...

Steve, technical diversion: there is something wrong with your link to the new ad. Now I don't see it on your page at all, and trying to link to your post on it from Liblogs returns an error message.

Mark Dowling said...

@Catherine

Australia's CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) has a list of block hour fuel consumption for different types.

http://www.casa.gov.au/manuals/regulate/apm/256r003.pdf

Air Inuit's 737 is a 737-200Combi with 112 max seats whereas Air Canada's A319-100 is fitted with 14 business, 106 econ.

Here's my back of envelope calculations:
A319 3,100kg/block hour, 120 passengers (38.4kg/passenger/hour)
B732C 4,300kg/block hour, 112 passengers (25.8kg/passenger/hour)

Mark Dowling said...

stupid cut/paste error - the A319 is 25.8kg/pax/hr, the B732 38.4kg/pax/hr.

Anonymous said...

I've been hearing that Tories have been attempting to "pull a Russia" by overwhelming Lib Blogs & sites.

Steve V said...

anon

Good. If they want to waste their time posting, when it takes a nanosecond to hit delete, then I say time well wasted! LOL.