Chez Ignatieff, abstraction is a scarce skill indeed.

Everything's pointing to an election, sooner rather than later. The ads are up on the Tory side, filling the airwaves before the writs inevitably strangle the Conservative media might. The NDP is brushing up its populism, skillfully debunked by Tasha Kheiriddin in the NP. More shockingly, the Liberals have pulled the stops on their drivel taps and shown yet again their ineptitude at elementary political abstraction.

Let me elaborate. For want of an intelligent question, an interviewer digs up an old scarecrow, which our Prime Minister rightfully dismisses. What one believes is not necessarily one's policy. Heavens above, the red party crows for a parliamentary vote on the PM's beliefs, confident of empty screaming being akin to enshrining something in truth. Hardly so! Ascribing the PM policy he never suggested is outright lying, and should be called as such. How I long for the day when a Liberal will stand up publicly and beg his own party's leadership to grow the heck up!

For one, being mendacious is contemptuous of the electorate one is called to represent. The Liberals constantly offend Canadians' intelligence by assuming no-one thinks beyond what they hear on the telly.

Secondly, clamouring for a vote on a policy the Government has no intention of pursuing - simply because someone may believe something - shows a deep ignorance of Parliament's role. The House of Commons is not the Grits', or anyone's sandpit! 

If those who aspire to lead us cannot muster enough integrity to abstract the man Harper from the office upon him bestowed, how can they be trusted to govern in our interest rather than their petty own?

Why we aren't winning yet

After three weeks of vacationing plus a few days of other sadly more important business to sort out, I'd like to offer a honest opinion as to why the Tories have been shown in a poll again in a smaller lead over the Liberals than they truly deserve. Plus, a poll shows the Party at odds with Quebeckers and Ontarians. In a whole month since the beginning of July's poll, hardly anything has changed.

Quebec first. Declaring the Quebecois a nation within Canada and emphasizing their role in a united federation is excellent PR, however I believe more is needed to sway the complex lot that inhabits the east shore of the Ottawa river. Far from advocating more Quebec-focused policies and subsidies to ailing industries, the central government should be helping (or putting pressure on the QC government) those hit by economic change out of their trade by shifting their focus. Facing the facts, with Chinese workforce and Siberian taiga paper and wood will soon all come from Asia. Aiding the forestry sector and papermaking industry isn't a long-term solution. Why not help shift logging to maple cultivation? With Quebec's soon-to-be negotiating autonomy with France overseas demand for our syrup may well increase if the industry plays its cards well. Just a thought.

Ontario inhabits the realm of my ignorance, but McGuinty has been outsmarting Tory and bolstering the image of the red party in the province. As far as I know he holds the initiative of going on a disputable sales trip to Europe and introducing re-training schemes for displaced automotive industry workforce. Trade, competition, investment and labor mobility are typical Conservative battle horses. Where were our troops?

Recently I read an article in the Globe and Mail titled "The Tories' almost forgotten policy". Forgotten allright, and it's our fault entirely.

Without wanting to sound too pretentious or judgmental, the Party's communications strategy is lacking in appeal to those voters who are wholly uninterested in political wrangling. Therefore rubbishing Stephane Dion is not a long-term vote winner but a mere tool for keeping him at bay. Associating the Green Shift policy with the punchbag Liberal leader is also a double-edged sword.

Steve Janke pointed out that the two provinces expected to take the shaft from the Carbon Tax do not elect one Liberal MP save Ralph Goodale. Pandering to voters in those districts would seem a risky if at all worthwhile time and energy investment. On the other hand Ontarians may see higher taxes trickling down to higher prices at the pump, but the Liberal typical promise of more social programs and dish-outs can outweigh this concern.

So we all get shafted one way or the other, but for the proposing leader two provinces are hopeless and eight may be persuaded to risk income redistribution. Simplistic as it may sound, Dion's gambling with the odds in his favor. Compounded with widespread inbuilt social distaste for the oil industry and its profits, the Green Shaft touches a sensitive nerve in many Canadians' minds.

What can the Party do to send the GS to the rubbish bin? Step one is achieved: discreditation by association. But it isn't enough. The Tories must offer a viable alternative that would ensure both emission reduction and that the money redistributed by an eventual economic adjustment do travel out of oil companies' wallets into those of other Canadians.

Despite a company's only purpose being a profit, a government's duty is to promote investment and growth, especially in times of economic duress. Therefore instead of further reducing the GST the current Government should encourage inter-province investment. Alberta is raking in huge profits with the current oil prices, while Ontario motor industry is in a slump and British Columbians are shafted with the provincial carbon tax.

Tax credits for profits re-routed to viable investment in other provinces could help hammer out a new message:

Liberal Ontario/BC waste and tax, Tory Alberta/SK invest and enrich.

It's time to cut out the wrangling and show Canadians we can not just out-fundraise and out-campaign, but out-smart, out-initiative and out-policy the Liberals as well.

Murky Liberal lobbying money

The Chronicle Herald provides a very interesting article on the relationship between unregistered lobbyist Dingwall and Canada Post. The Crown Corporation will not reveal why it paid in excess of $200k to a lobbyist, and it excised information from databases that could be accessed via Free Access to Information law.

An agreement between a State company and a shadowy unregistered lobbyist that states "As per our discussions of last week, we would like you to advise us on the political and social implications of . . ." is fishy.

In 2005 testimony before the Gomery inquiry into the sponsorship program,
Mr. Clermont testified that Mr. Dingwall’s political adviser at the time, Warren
Kinsella, repeatedly called Mr. Clermont to request that the Crown corporation
hire certain Liberal law firms and advertising companies. Mr. Kinsella has
disputed Mr. Clermont’s claims.

They've been hiring each other, cheating the Canadian public out of money and covering their tracks, non?

"You’ve got two deans of the Liberal party," Mr. Williamson said. "One is hiring
the other. It looks awful, particularly since, at least in the public eye, they
were both forced out of their positions because of inappropriate actions. In
both cases, their careers did not end on a high note in terms of transparency
and accountability."

Who's naughty now?

Long Knives in the Liberal Camp

Liberal leader Stephane Dion desperately tries to maintain some order in his caucus by demoting capable critics and allowing rumours of major reshuffles to spread, hurting his most capable potential heirs such as Michael Ignatieff. Meanwhile, the CTV also presents us with some damning poll data from Dion's home province and his own hometown, Quebec city, showing the Liberals rock bottom and the Tories trailing the withering Bloc. L. Ian McDonald commented:

A leader without a base is like a prophet without a homeland

It is in dark times such as these that a wise leader abandons ego and desires for control and embraces the age-old wisdom: the best way to stay in power is to surround yourself with people brighter than you. People who can galvanize support, inspire trust and cast an image of professionalism and ability to discharge great duties. Dion is attempting to do the exact opposite, removing popular aides in order to give more prominence to the likes of Bob Rae. Although that might make him a little more popular in Ontario this is not a successful strategy for the remaining provinces.

It is not a safe route either, as Rae is an ambitious politician who no doubt eyes up the Liberal leadership without necessarily coming across as a viable alternative to Stephen Harper. A Rae leadership, though more colourful than Dion's, would be easier to fire on judging by the man's record in Ontario.

It is time for Dion to realize the danger he is putting his party in, resheath the knives and let a capable team of charismatic true leaders overshadow his blatant inability to keep a party caucus in line.

Stephane "porridge" Dion

How preposterous of Stephane Dion to define the Conservative government as underachiever based solely on one poll result. His cockiness isn't even funny anymore, nor is the Liberals' feebleness. As a successful politician (he seems to style himself such) he should have learned in his long honorable career that the only poll that counts happens at the ballot box, and that for centuries man has known the simple truth: statistics is just another form of lies.

The simple reality that the Liberals are trailing the Conservatives is a sufficient indictment of his policies and his tenure as Leader. However controversial Grits make the Tory legislation sound, Canadians are not ready to board Dion's Titanic, nor will they in the near or far future. Furthermore, excessive emphasis on opinion polls, Mr Dion should have learned from his Labour Party inspirers, conveys an impression of lacking determination and focus on policy.

If Mr Dion were a true leader and true to his party's ideals he'd whip his MPs to bring down the government instead of waiting for favorable opinion polls while betraying his voters on absolutely unacceptable bills from a Liberal perspective. Being a leader involves knowing how to lose with dignity and a clear conscience.

Dion's policy of abstaining isn't "rigid", he says. I guess "runny porridge" describes it better.