Stéphane Dion - A strong, positive and inspiring leader

What kind of a leader is Stéphane Dion?

Strong on the environment, social justice, human rights and the economy. And cool too! Who needs a rose and an opera cloak when you've got a leather backpack and a hockey stick? Top it all off with a great brain and a sense of humour - what's not to love?

In this video, Dion plays ball hockey, jokes with Gavin Crawford of This Hour Has 22 Minutes and does some standup comedy at Toronto Summit 2007.

He's strong and inspiring on the environment, Aboriginal issues and human rights.

We can no longer use our atmosphere as a free garbage dump.

Indigenous people are suffering, and we Canadians must be leaders for human rights in the world.

That's why we have a Canada on this planet - to protect human rights.

If you like the positive messages in this video, please vote for it at http://liblogs.ca/news.en.cgi?99!

Stéphane Dion - A Strong, Cool Leader

What kind of leader is Stéphane Dion?

Glad you asked. Strong on the environment, on social justice, on human rights, on the economy and good quality jobs. And cool too! Who needs a rose and an opera cloak when you've got a leather backpack and a husky? Top it all off with a great brain and a great accent - what's not to love!?

To celebrate the start of a new year that will surely bring us the coolest prime minister ever, I've put together a series of 6 short ads on the theme "What kind of leader is Stéphane Dion?"

These videos showcase a few of the many issues Dion has taken a strong stand on to defend Canadians and Canadian interests. (Click the "menu" button to choose another vid from the series.)

1. Too cool
Stéphane Dion - a cool leader. Stéphane Dion discusses Facebook, Avril Lavigne and forking in an interview with This Hour Has 22 Minutes' teen correspondent Mark Jackson (Gavin Crawford). [00:46]

2. Workers & industry
Stéphane Dion shows strong leadership for workers & industry. Dion consults with manufacturers, unions, workers, environmentalists and the provinces on a plan to protect Canadian manufacturing and Canadian jobs. [01:51]

3. Environment
Stéphane Dion protects Canada's environment. Dion discusses how to "reconcile the people and the planet" and make Canada a world leader in technologies to protect the environment and reduce climate change. [01:07]

4. Aboriginal People
Stéphane Dion supports Aboriginal people. Speaking at a powwow in Saskatchewan, Dion calls on the Conservative government to honour the Kelowna Accord to provide First Nations, Inuit and Métis people with better housing, health care, education and clean water. Dion also calls on the government to sign the International Declaration of Indigenous People and for Canada to be a world leader on human rights issues. [01:11]

5. Children - Stéphane Dion's leadership to reduce poverty
Stéphane Dion stands up for Canadian children. Dion discusses his 30/50 plan for reducing poverty in Canada. He commits a new Liberal government to reduce the number of Canadians living in poverty by at least 30% and to reduce the number of children living in poverty by at least 50% in 5 years. [01:09]

6. Human rights
Stéphane Dion shows leadership on human rights, writing to the governor of Montana to request clemency for a Canadian sentenced to die. Stéphane Dion speaks in the House of Commons to ask Harper to do the same, continuing the Canadian tradition of requesting that sentences be commuted for Canadians facing the death penalty in the USA and other countries. [00:47]

And let's not forget Dion's legendary sense of humour! In case you missed it, here are a couple of clips from his memorable performance at the parliamentary press gallery dinner this fall:

Lots more Dion videos available on my YouTube channel at http://ca.youtube.com/bruyerey.

Liberals uniting progressive-minded Canadians

The Liberal party has attracted a core group of former Progressive Conservatives, proving that the Liberal party under Stéphane Dion unites progressive-minded Canadians from both the left and the right...

Key members of Progressive Canadians to join federal Liberals

GLORIA GALLOWAY. Globe and Mail, Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 1:04 AM EST

OTTAWA — The entire executive and many senior members of the small political party formed by Progressive Conservatives who rejected the merger with the Canadian Alliance have decided to join the Liberals.

The Progressive Canadian Party, which expropriated the PC logo and adhered to the ideals of the old Tory party, will likely continue, said Tracy Parsons, who quit as party leader two weeks ago.

But Ms. Parsons will be taking out a Liberal membership, as will party president Jim Love, the four other members of the executive, several members of the national council, all of the CPC's Quebec organizers and many riding presidents.

The executive made the decision to quit en masse. It was a surprise when the others followed.

There was a realization, said Ms. Parsons, that Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion was offering policy options that closely mirrored their own.

“As a political party you are always trying to find your differentiators [with other parties] and I found that when Stéphane Dion became the leader of the Liberal Party that that differentiator was harder and harder to locate,” explained Ms. Parsons, who lives in Truro, N.S., and had been party leader since 2005.

“He had a lot of the same visions for the country that we had. And, of course, the Liberal Party has sort of moved into that Progressive Conservative space anyway.”

There were also some key points of departure with other Progressive Canadian Party members, she said.

“So when you start having some fundamental disagreements on direction inside the party, you have to start asking yourself where your energies are best spent. And if I am going to put out that much energy I would like to do good for this country,” Ms. Parsons said.

The Progressive Canadians are not large in number. They fielded just 25 candidates in the last federal election and took 0.1 per cent of the popular vote.

But the move will be seen as a shot in the arm for Mr. Dion, who has been derided by the Conservatives as a weak leader and who, according to a recent survey, is not as widely recognized by Canadians as Mario from Nintendo's video-game series.

Ms. Parsons said neither she nor any of the other defectors have ever been Liberal.

Her own association with the old Progressive Conservatives goes back two decades. “I was active in riding associations, president's council and I worked as a field organizer when [Jean] Charest was the leader,” she said.

“Ten years ago I would have said of course I was crossing to the enemy. But, if you look at being a Progressive Conservative towards the end of that party, those lines were becoming incredibly blurred under [former prime ministers] Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.”

Not surprisingly, Ms. Parsons said she found the federal Liberals “very welcoming. I am sure they were surprised.”

Senator Marie Poulin, the president of the federal Liberal Party, said the Liberals take the new arrivals as evidence of their leader's broad appeal to Canadians of many political backgrounds.
(Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071117.tories17/BNStory/National/home)

Tracy Parsons and her colleagues will join prominent former Progressive Conservatives such as Scott Brison, Garth Turner and Belinda Stronach in the Liberal fold.

Harper government indifferent to homelessness and poverty

Stéphane Dion reiterated his commitment to reducing poverty and homelessness in Victoria yesterday.

At a roundtable on homelessness, Dion learned that about 1,200 people in Victoria are "homeless or at risk." Dion said that the federal government should be involved in Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe's plan to find 1,550 housing units for the homeless in the next five years.

A Liberal government led by Stéphane Dion would work with other levels of government to find solutions to poverty and related social problems.

Dion confirmed that "The Liberals also plan to honour promises in the Kelowna Accord -- an agreement between the Liberal government of Paul Martin and aboriginal leaders two years ago -- to help aboriginal people living in poverty."

The Times-Colonist reported that "Dion also yesterday restated his party's support for supervised-injection sites as part of the fight against poverty and addiction. Dion said research shows the sites save lives and prevent the spread of disease."

Read the full story:

Dion endorses city strategy to fight homelessness
Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist (Victoria, BC)
Published: Friday, November 16, 2007

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion yesterday endorsed Victoria's strategy to fight homelessness and vowed that a government under his leadership would be a partner in the battle.

Dion, who held a morning round-table discussion on homelessness with civic leaders at the Victoria Foundation, admitted surprise that an estimated 1,200 people are homeless or at risk in Victoria.

"Incredible," he said.

But Dion said he was impressed to see the community united behind Mayor Alan Lowe's task force, which intends to find 1,550 housing units for the homeless over the next five years.

"When you have a plan, like the mayor has a plan ... the federal government must be part of the plan," he told the Times Colonist editorial board.

Dion criticized the current Conservative government for "doing nothing" about homelessness and poverty for the past two years. "The current government is indifferent," he said.

By contrast, he said, his party released a plan last week that would reduce the number of Canadians living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent during the first five years of a federal Liberal government. The number of children in poverty would be cut in half, he said.

Under the plan, the Liberals would expand the child tax benefit, increase the guaranteed-income supplement for seniors, and change the tax rules so people aren't penalized when they move off welfare into the workforce.

The Liberals also plan to honour promises in the Kelowna Accord -- an agreement between the Liberal government of Paul Martin and aboriginal leaders two years ago -- to help aboriginal people living in poverty.

"Keep our feet to the fire, because we have made a commitment," Dion said. "It's not a commitment of decades; it's a commitment of five years. A mandate. If Canadians are giving us the mandate, they will be able to be part of this unprecedented effort to decrease poverty by a third."

Dion said the Liberals will reveal the cost of the plan during the next election campaign. "It's affordable," he said. "We don't need to raises taxes for that. It's a matter of political will. And when I see how much the communities are ready to act -- as the one that we see today in Victoria -- I'm very confident that we will succeed."

Dion also yesterday restated his party's support for supervised-injection sites as part of the fight against poverty and addiction. Dion said research shows the sites save lives and prevent the spread of disease.

Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca Liberal MP Keith Martin told reporters Victoria's integrated plan to deal with mental health, housing, detox and medical issues could be a model for other cities.

"We're utterly confident that here in Victoria, we will be able to build a plan that deals with downtown core urban issues that are affecting cities across our country," he said.
(Source: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=7a742e55-6ee3-4e1d-b137-eeab897a7c54&k=77917)

Les libéraux resserrent les rangs derrière Dion

Denis Dufresne - La Tribune
SHERBROOKE, le lundi 12 novembre 2007

...Les libéraux resserrent les rangs derrière leur chef Stéphane Dion et soutiennent qu'il sera en poste lors des prochaines élections fédérales.

Tel est du moins l'avis du député de la circonscription montréalaise d'Honoré-Mercier, Pablo Rodriguez, et du futur candidat de Compton-Stanstead, William Hogg.

"C'est toujours difficile au début et ça a été le cas de plusieurs chefs. Une élection permettrait à M. Dion de se battre à visage découvert et d'offrir une autre vision pour le pays", affirme M. Rodriguez, de passage à Sherbrooke.

William Hogg juge pour sa part que le chef du Parti libéral du Canada est l'homme tout désigné pour rallier le vote progressiste, de centre et de centre-gauche, "en ce moment réparti entre le Nouveau parti démocratique et le Bloc québécois".

Pablo Rodriguez ajoute que les positions du gouvernement conservateur sur le registre des armes à feu, le protocole de Kyoto et son appui à l'approche guerrière du président George W. Bush sapent la confiance des Canadiens.

Et si les Canadiens étaient tout simplement devenus plus conservateurs au plan idéologique?

"Non, ce n'est pas cela! M. Harper est d'ailleurs incapable de dépasser les 36 pour cent d'appuis. Il a le pouvoir, il fait des annonces, mais il ne va pas chercher davantage de support", affirme William Hogg, professeur d'études politiques à l'Université Bishop's.

"Je crois que même à l'intérieur du Parti conservateur il y a de la grogne. M. Harper ne parvient pas à aller chercher la majorité et il y a des gens qui parlent de reconstruire le Reform Party; "les purs et durs" ne sont pas contents!" dit-il.

Pablo Rodriguez fait remarquer que le récent discours du Trône a déplu aux Canadiens, notamment au Québec, en raison de l'absence de mesures pour les aînés et les régions.

"La réduction de la TPS, c'est six milliards $ de revenus en moins pour aider les PME et les aînés", illustre-t-il.

Tout en reprochant au chef conservateur de multiplier les votes de confiance, MM. Hogg et Rodriguez reconnaissent que le PLC ne serait pas prêt à des élections.

"Aucun parti n'est prêt pour des élections. Nous n'avons pas à aller en élections parce que M. Harper le veut, ni à imposer un nouveau scrutin de 350 millions $ aux Canadiens", lance le député d'Honoré-Mercier.

Néanmoins, dit-il, le PLC a déjà les deux tiers de ses candidats au pays et son programme est presque terminé.

Lorsqu'on lui signale que les sondages ne favorisent guère les libéraux, particulièrement au Québec où ils n'obtiennent que 20 pour cent d'appuis, William Hogg soutient que le parti peut remonter la pente.

"Il faut être honnête, le PLC a traversé des moments difficiles, particulièrement au Québec, et il y a eu de la contestation à l'interne. Mais au niveau national, il talonne les conservateurs, entre autres à Toronto et dans les Maritimes", fait-il valoir.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20071112/CPTRIBUNE/711120832/5206/CPACTUALITES

Why Stéphane Dion should be Canada's next prime minister

Governing is complicated, we need a leader with a good mind

Stéphane Dion is often criticized for not being the master of the 10-second sound bite. In a modern, educated country such as Canada we need to get beyond being slaves to 10-second sound bites.

Running a country and playing an important role in international affairs is too complex to be expressed in 10 seconds - or even 30 seconds.

Isn't choosing a government worth more time and effort than choosing a brand of cereal at the grocery store? If it isn't, we need to give our priorities a shake.

Canada is immensely fortunate that someone like Stéphane Dion has put himself forward, even after years of unmitigated and undeserved abuse. With his rigorous intelligence he examines issues from every side and doesn't fall into the trap of accepting high-sounding rhetoric over reason.

Consulting with partners, stakeholders and experts, and using his intelligence and his decades of experience first studying then participating in Canadian political life, Dion makes calm and reasoned decisions on policies that would be best for all Canadians. No hidden agenda, just how best to balance policies for the benefit of all Canadians. Quebecers, Albertans, the ROC, businesspeople, working people, minorities, majorities, Aboriginal people - all of us.

What's so terrible about that?

To people who complain about Dion's English, I can tell you that he speaks English as well as, and often better than, many native English-speakers. I hear professional broadcasters stumbling and making mistakes all the time. Working in postsecondary education, I've edited the writing of people with advanced degrees for decades, and most of them have much worse grammar and syntax than Dion.

To people who don't like his accent, I say find some tolerance. If you're lucky enough to be a native English-speaker in a predominantly English-speaking country, that's purely a matter of chance. Imagine if you belonged to a linguistic minority - you'd be at the mercy of other people's tolerance through no fault of your own. And by the way, how's your French?

We need a leader who understands why Canada is a great country

When Dion talks about what he values in Canada, he goes straight to the heart of the matter and expresses it in terms that are very moving and yet very concrete:

The most important reason we have to make sure this country survives is that it has realized universal human ideals the rest of mankind can only dream of.

Canada is the best example of what the world must become in terms of tolerance, openness, and harmony between different communities.

Canada is perhaps the country where human beings, no matter where they come from, have the best chance of being treated as human beings. That, more than anything, is why I love this country, and why I don't want to see it torn apart. (Straight Talk: on Canadian unity, p. 9. Speech to the Canadian Federation of Municipalities, Calgary, June 2, 1996.)

"Where human beings ... have the best chance of being treated as human beings" - that's what I love most about Canada and I think the vast majority of Canadians agree. That's what's at the foundation of our deep attachment to things like the principle of universal health care. Canada's lofty mountains and majestic landscape are metaphors for these ideals.

We need a leader who can fit together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle

Stéphane Dion's three-pillar approach brings together environmental sustainability, economic prosperity and social justice in a "virtuous circle."

My goals are based on the three pillars of a prosperous economy, social justice, and a sustainable environment. These three pillars are not silos. They do not exist in isolation from each other. Rather, Canada must combine them, more effectively and more profitably than anywhere in the world.
(Speech to the Economic Club of Toronto and the Toronto Board of Trade, January 16, 2007. Economy and Environment: Smart Money Is Going Green.
Source: http://www.liberal.ca/story_12390_e.aspx)

We need a leader who will look out for the most vulnerable among us

In his speech "Towards a Fairer Canada Without Poverty" (Toronto, November 9, 2007), Dion says "Poverty today is a reality that mocks and undermines the prosperity known by most of our people in Canada." Dion pledges to help the working poor "climb over the welfare wall," and bring in specific measures to help children, seniors and Aboriginal people:

Over 5 years a new Liberal government will

1. reduce the number of Canadians living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent; and

2. reduce the number of children living in poverty by at least 50 per cent....

Our plan will address the issues of homelessness, affordable housing and universal child care....

We must be fairer to our seniors, who have invested so much of themselves in building our country. We will start by increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement payments for the lowest income seniors and we will ensure that the loss of a partner does not drive the surviving spouse below the low income threshold....

For Aboriginal families we will honour the promises made in the Kelowna Accord and its plan for a better future.
(Source: http://www.liberal.ca/story_13294_e.aspx)

According to the National Post,

... leaders of community groups that strive to give the poor a hand up, were delighted a party leader has decided to put the issue front and centre on the national agenda.

Rupert Downing, executive director of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network, said his group asked all the political parties to come up with a strategy and Dion was the first to respond.

"I think this is groundbreaking for Canada, but we have seen it in other countries," Downing said.
(Source: National Post, Friday, November 9, 2007.)

We need sound fiscal management

A prime minister should be looking for ways to reform the tax system to reduce the overall tax burden while not endangering social programs, infrastructure renewal etc. Make the tax system more progressive - reducing the burden on the most disadvantaged - while encouraging savings and investment to encourage job creation and innovation. Rather than a cheap trick like a GST cut which everyone from labour to big business agrees is a very bad idea.

"We can no longer use our atmosphere as a free garbage dump"

We need a leader who can deliver solutions to our serious environmental problems.

Dion's Carbon Budget has been praised by leading Canadian environmentalists. Not surprisingly, since environmentalists were consulted in developing the plan. (The Conservatives say that consulting the people with deep environmental expertise is a bad thing. This tells you a lot about the Conservatives.)

Dion's plan, released on March 16, 2007, is based on the principle that the polluter pays. Each large emitter is assigned a carbon budget, "limiting the total carbon emissions those industries can produce each year."

First, we will establish an absolute emissions cap, or total carbon budget, for the three largest polluting sectors: oil and gas production, utilities, and energy-intensive industries. This cap would be set at our Kyoto target of six percent below 1990 emission levels, and it would come into effect January 1, 2008.

Second, we will use that absolute cap to allocate an annual carbon budget to every large industrial emitter in each of these three sectors.

Third, we will put a price on carbon. Companies that exceed their carbon budget will be required to deposit $20 for each excess tonne of carbon into a Green Investment Account, or GIA, for each and every year that they exceed their budget. That price will grow to $30 per tonne by 2011, in line with prices on the international market....

We can no longer use our atmosphere as a free garbage dump. This plan asks industry to take responsibility for its fair share of our carbon emissions, and encourages businesses to invest in tangibly reducing their own emissions.
"Balancing Our Carbon Budget," Ottawa, March 16, 2007
(Source: http://www.liberal.ca/story_12588_e.aspx)

We need a leader who respects and works with others

According to Dion's biographer, Linda Diebel, speaking on TVO's The Agenda (November 9, 2007), official Ottawa admires the macho bullying tactics of Stephen Harper.

As a schoolyard bully, Harper may get top marks. But we all know that bullies are actually cowards and certainly aren't the people you call on when you want to get things done.

Harper has to run everything himself. He doesn't even trust his own cabinet ministers to talk to the news media. The times he's held press conferences himself since becoming prime minister can be counted on two fingers.

Running a country requires a prime minister who works with and trusts his own elected colleagues - ministers and MPs. A prime minister who is open and transparent - speaks to the media because he understands that the media in a sense represent the public - even on a bad news day. A prime minister also needs to work cooperatively with provincial premiers and stakeholders across the country.

Dion showed his capacity to work collegially the moment he won the leadership. He thanked and praised all the other candidates in the leadership race and gave top jobs to the top contenders and their supporters.

Canada's best opportunity for success

To sum up, Canadians have the opportunity to elect an intelligent, experienced, well-qualified leader to the top job in the country.

Stéphane Dion has developed sound policies for dealing with the pressing issues we face in relation to the environment, the economy and social programs. He has a record of working collegially with all levels of government and stakeholders across the country. He is working to make this a richer, fairer, greener country for all Canadians - wherever you are on the political, geographic or linguistic spectrum.

So if you're still stuck on Dion's accent - get over it or you'll be denying yourself and your children the best opportunity for success this country may ever have.

Stéphane Dion - Strong priorities, strong leadership

So if Stéphane Dion is not a leader, why do the Conservatives need to spend millions on more attack ads? Why didn't the first ads do it? Looks to me like Dion is incredibly strong to be able to withstand five waves of attack ads. Looks to me like Harper and the Conservatives are really scared of him. And they should be. Strength, courage, honesty, integrity - pretty scary stuff if you're a lying bully.

Liberals have to fight back positively

Kinder, gentler Dion preferable to nasty Harper
Winnipeg Free Press, Wed Oct 24 2007
View from the West and Beyond - Frances Russell

TEN months ago, the Conservatives brought a quick end to newly elected Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's political honeymoon with a brutal attack ad culminating in a stentorian voice proclaiming "Stéphane Dion is not a leader."

Last Saturday at a town hall meeting in Winnipeg, Dion used the ad to showcase himself as a person and a politician who couldn't be more different from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. An audience member urged Dion to go as negative and hard against Harper as Harper has against him.

"I try to imagine myself as a very negative person and to have attack ads like 'Stephen Harper is not a leader'" (and here he mimicked the announcer's doomsday tone, to applause and laughter.) "It's not me.

"I don't want ads that are personal," Dion continued. "Instead, I want ads where you contrast what they are doing and what we would do -- on the environment, on women's rights, on fighting poverty... I am confident in the big heart, the good sense and the judgment of the Canadian people."

Liberals have to fight back positively, the Liberal leader continued. "I don't mind to mention the Conservative record and where I think Mr. Harper is making mistakes. But it will not be his personal character that I will attack. It is what he's doing to this country."

He returned to the theme when asked about proportional representation. He prefers the preferential ballot, which allows voters to rank parties in descending order of choice.

"I like this system, because the information you receive from every voter is richer. It's not just your first choice, it's all choices," Dion said. "The other thing that is good is that there is an obligation to be more civilized in the debate."

Parties will be more respectful of one another because they will be wooing each others' partisans for their second or third choices. "If I insult them and I come out with attack ads, they will not want to vote for me. It will be good for Canada because there will be a more civilized debate."

Dion's plea for civility folded in neatly with his views on the close links between economic growth, social justice and environmental sustainability -- what he called the Liberals' "virtuous circle."

"The Conservatives, they have difficulty in seeing social programs otherwise than as a burden on the economy. We Liberals, we think that social programs that are well-designed will help people be better trained, better-educated, healthier, more confident in life and because of that, they will be better equipped to be competitive in the market... And then the market economy will be stronger and provide more room for social programs."

Dion's positive and inclusive message in Winnipeg stands in stark contrast to the nasty confrontational climate in Ottawa.

Last week, the Liberal leader was savaged in the right-wing media for dodging an election over the throne speech, although Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton both also ducked non-confidence motions during the short-lived Paul Martin minority. Dion Needs A New Dog, screamed one headline. Master of Disaster, blared another.

Also last week, Canadians learned -- and some voters reacted angrily -- to news that Harper's office had compiled a mailing list of Jewish Canadians and had issued an "outreach" strategy to Conservative candidates on how to target and recruit minority Canadians into the Conservative party that uses the word "ethnic" no less than 85 times. On Monday, the Conservative party followed Harper's earlier decision to turf Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey out of caucus for refusing to toe the line on off-shore resources by firing his entire Conservative riding association for daring to re-nominate him.

These actions recall and amplify Harper's recent "fish or cut bait" ultimatum to opposition parties and last spring's leaked 200-page manual showing Conservative MPs how to manipulate parliamentary committees even though the Conservatives lack a majority on them as they do in the Commons itself.

Among other things, Conservative committee chairs were told how to select party-friendly witnesses, how to obstruct debate and, if all else fails, to simply storm out, shutting committees down. Those MPs who tried to proceed through all-party consensus were severely reprimanded by party whip Jay Hill.

Finally, there's the new Tom Flanagan book proving that all the dark and duplicitous arts of the American Republican political culture have moved north. In Harper's Team, Flanagan, Harper's close friend, political strategist and former campaign
manager, quotes himself in one memorable passage on how to fund raise:

"...(M)ake people angry and afraid and set up an opponent for them to give against."

What happened to Harper's promises of grassroots democracy, respect for voters and for Parliament and ironclad guarantees of free votes on just about everything? Of course, Dion could disappoint just like Harper.

But as it stands now, the next election will offer one of the starkest choices in Canadian history: between openness and inclusion on the one hand and control and manipulation on the other. Source: http://winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/westview/story/4063366p-4666792c.html

Quotes from the Gas Station Theatre talk
(Winnipeg, Oct. 20, 2007)

Q: What will Liberals do with the Canadian Wheat Board?
A: Dion said Canada needs to protect the wheat board and let members of the board decide their future in a fair process.

Q: How will he address child poverty?
A: Dion vowed to make child care and early childhood development programs a priority, along with investing in families. "The Liberal agenda will have the biggest fight on poverty this country ever had. We need to give every child a chance."

Q: What is his response to Tory attack ads?
A: Dion said he's a positive person and doesn't want to make personal attacks against Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"We need to fight back, but we'd like to fight back positively."

Q: Does he support making Pierre Trudeau Day a national holiday?
A: "National day, certainly; national holiday, we need to talk."

Q: How will he improve the lives of Canada's First Nations?
A: "Education, education, education."

Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/4061782p-4665540c.html

After a brief speech, Dion spent 90 minutes fielding questions from audience members, who asked about everything from the cleanup of Lake Winnipeg to gun control. Dion criticized the Harper government for not taking a tougher stance on greenhouse gas emissions and investing just $7 million on the cleanup of Lake Winnipeg.

"This is wrong -- $7 million is a lot in your pocket but for a lake like this one it's nothing," he said. "We need to have a major investment in Lake Winnipeg based on science and good choices."

He also guaranteed Parliament would look a lot different with the Liberals in power by promising that one-third of candidates in the next election would be women.
Dion also criticized Harper's cosy relationship with U.S. politicians. He said Canada needs to work to develop multilateral relationships with countries around the world, but also has to be clear about its role abroad.

"For us, the U.S. is our ally and our friend, it's the biggest trade partnership in the world," he said. "But at the same time they are them and we are us and this is a distinction that is not made by Mr. Harper."
Dion travels to Saskatoon today. (Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/local/story/4061864p-4665314c.html)

Stéphane Dion - Tough enough to be prime minister

Conservatives best wake up
Lorrie Goldstein, Sunday, August 5, 2007 - Toronto Sun

Two books suggest why Stephane Dion could be a serious threat in the next election

The more I learn about Stephane Dion, the more I think it would be dumb of the Conservatives to underestimate him.

I know, according to the punditocracy, the federal Liberal leader is a dud-man-walking.

But they also told us Stephen Harper was a dud and Paul Martin was dynamite.

Oops.

Two books suggest why Dion could be a serious threat in the next election.

The easier read is Linda Diebel's Stephane Dion, Against the Current, published earlier this year.

The tougher but more eye-opening one is 1999's Straight Talk -- a collection of Dion's speeches and writings when he was Canada's unity minister, following the near-disaster of the 1995 Quebec referendum.

Reading these pieces, you quickly discover that Dion is, like Harper, scary smart.[1]

His speeches, letters and essays -- most given when he first entered Jean Chretien's cabinet on the advice of Chretien's wife, Aline -- literally demolish the separatists' arguments.

No wonder they hate him. He's smarter than they are.

Dion takes apart every myth they've ever propagated -- that Canada will have no choice but to accept a unilateral declaration of Quebec's independence following a referendum victory, that Quebec's borders are indivisible, that the international community will rush to recognize a self-proclaimed Quebec nation.

SEPARATISTS

Citing legal, constitutional and historical precedents, Dion almost mocks the separatists at times, challenging them to produce one argument that isn't naive, wrong or self-defeating.

Which brings us to Dion's role in the Clarity Act, fathered by Chretien, Dion, Harper and Preston Manning -- talk about strange bedfellows -- and in putting specific questions to the Supreme Court about Quebec's right to secede. Dion won a ruling from the top court that Canada cannot be compelled to negotiate separation unless Quebecers give a clear answer (well over 50%) to a clear referendum question, a much higher bar than the separatists have ever faced.

Of course it's not all brilliant. Dion proves even a smart political science professor can sometimes be brain-dead.[2]

In a 1998 speech at Queen's University, for example, Dion observes: "It's all very well for the federal government to negotiate wonderful international agreements on the environment, but they'll get absolutely nowhere without the provinces' co-operation."

Exactly! So perhaps Dion could explain when, exactly, his party is going to figure that out with regard to the Kyoto accord and Alberta?[3]

Similarly, in an 1997 letter to Bernard Landry, Dion chastises the Parti Quebecois for "your government's regrettable attitude of seeking to discredit your critics so as to avoid a debate of substance" on separation.

Right. And how would that be different from Dion's approach to debating global warming?[4]

The most revealing anecdote, however, is in Diebel's book -- an interview with
Stephane Dion's mother, Denyse, recalling the 1997 death of Stephane's father, Leon, a decade later.

Leon Dion, a respected political scientist in Quebec, died in a horrible drowning
accident at home.

Recalling the tragedy, Denyse Dion describes with contempt articles in the media and separatist talk hinting her husband's death was the result of his shame and disappointment over his son becoming the chief Liberal federalist spokesman in Quebec. "There were people who said he drowned himself because his son went into politics," Denyse angrily notes, calling them "idiots."

MOST HATED MAN

Think about that. At that time Stephane Dion -- who had followed his father's footsteps into academia -- was a political neophyte, whom the separatists were calling the most hated man in Quebec.

He was being depicted as a rat. Then his father, whom he clearly loved, dies in a terrible accident and his critics imply his father committed suicide because of him?

Never mind that Leon Dion wasn't a separatist and was proud of his son. What a cheap shot.

Even a strong person might understandably have said, "who needs this?" and retreated from politics.

Dion stayed. And fought.

To any Conservative (or Liberal) who thinks this guy isn't tough enough to be prime minister, maybe you'd better think again.

A couple of notes re: Goldstein:

1. Now, maybe it's just me, but I don't find "smart" to be scary in a leader. I find "stupid" a lot scarier. When I think of the country facing a serious disaster like a pandemic or climate change, I want smart people in charge. Smart people who actually care about the country (this country - Canada), that is, not smart people who only care about US oil companies.

2. Goldstein has admitted that Dion is smart and that he, Goldstein, finds smart to be scary. So why can't he figure out that Dion isn't "brain-dead" - he's just a whole lot smarter than Goldstein?

3. With 10 years experience working with the Alberta government as Intergovernmental Affairs Minister and another year-and-a-bit as Environment Minister, I'd say Dion probably knows more about the possibility of getting Alberta's co-operation on the Kyoto Protocol than Goldstein.



4. And - having watched a few hours of the 2005 Montreal UNFCCC conference - I've never seen any evidence that Dion is afraid of a substantive discussion on climate change or anything else.

Nice to see a conservative commentator finally catching on that Dion is anything but a wimp though.