From a Voter - Why the Liberals Lost

I had a hard time voting for the Liberal party this election. And I live in one of Scarborough's most ethnic communities in the GTA, full of immigrants, Muslims and (former) Liberal supporters. And yet, our riding went Conservative. Here's my take on why the Liberal party has been decimated in their stronghold of Toronto.

1. A "Just Visiting" Leader

A lot of us don't like Michael Ignatieff. And that's us Liberals; forget those who just know him from "Just Visiting" ads. The guy stays out of the country for 30 years, and then comes back and immediately wants to be Prime Minister? What does he even KNOW of the average Canadian? Hell, he even supported the Iraq war!

2. A Shift to the Right

The Liberal party was supposed to bring our troops home from Afghanistan. What happened?

The Liberal party was supposed to oppose corporate tax rate reductions. What happened?

The Liberal party was supposed to be against deficit spending. What happened?

The Liberal party used to have a balanced position in world conflicts. What happened?

When the voters cannot see a difference between Liberals and Conservatives, those on the right will vote for the real right party i.e. Conservatives. And those on the left will support the NDP, which is what happened. I have said long ago that Liberals need to be more left than right.

3. The Economy is Pretty Bad

Really. People are worried about their jobs, or how they will pay the next bill. And along comes the Liberals promising $4000 in tuition to students, cap and trade, telling people to "Rise Up" (for what?) and so on. What about their MAIN CONCERN?

As a Blue Grit, I would have LOVED to see my taxes go down. The Liberals should have borrowed Paul Martin's playbook and promised a reduction in income taxes. Liberals need to concentrate on the basics.

4. McGuinty Or, as I call him, Mc Guilty

You can blame Harper for the G20 all you want, we who live in Toronto know that the real villains were Mc Guinty and his secret law, and the powers he gave to a police force that seems to have abused it. And which party is Mc Guinty again? Oh, yes - the Liberals. And that's not even getting into the HST.

5. Taking Immigrants and the GTA for granted

What was the last thing the Liberals did for us immigrants? It let us in. And that was it.

For years, I have been crying out about jobs and credential recognition for immigrants, while the Liberals seem happy to just let in immigrants to work as pizza delivery men or window washers or taxi drivers. Stephane Dion told me during an interview on how he planned to tackle this, but nothing was proposed by the Liberals in the last 4 years. Instead, it was Harper who was seen to be moving on this agenda.

Only time will tell how the Tories will reward Toronto and Rob Ford for their support, but at the moment, Harper is right when he mentions about the money he had spent in Toronto (Union Station, Spadina subway extension, and yes, G20).

Opposition "Outraged" At Prorogue

Er... except that Michael Ignatieff is somewhere in Europe and Layton is surfing in Belize.

Seriously.

What is Ignatieff's stance on Galloway?

What is Mr Ignatieff's stance on Galloway?

Mr Ignatieff is an unelected (by rank and file Liberals) leader.

He supported the Iraq war (initially).

We have had no debate on his positions and views of Canada as leader of the Liberal party post-Dion.

As a Liberal, I deserve to know where Mr Ignatieff stands on issues important to Liberals. Issues like freedom of speech, justice and peace.

Mr Galloway is clearly no security threat to Canada. In fact, he is in the USA right now speaking.

Will he be allowed to do so in Canada? Will Mr Ignatieff do the right thing and work to overturn this ban? Or at least speak out against it, as the NDP has done?

Ignatieff Smacks Down Day

When the then-Liberal government began belatedly, timidly asking for Arar's release from his Syrian torture chamber in the fall of 2002, opposition leader Stephen Harper was dismissive. The Liberals, he claimed, were "hitting the snooze button on security matters". His colleague, Stockwell Day, even argued the government's "lack of vigilance" had allowed a notorious terrorist like Arar to avoid detection and detention in the first place. [source]

"I have in my possession a letter from the former Commissioner dated November 2, in which he notes his intention to clarify his initial testimony," said Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion today. "Given that the Prime Minister's national security advisor must have known about these inaccuracies, why did the Minister of Public Safety tell Canadians on Monday (Dec 4) that the commissioner ‘still has the confidence of the government’?"

Today, in Question Period, Stockwell Day had this to say:

"Why these folks across the way refused to deal with it then and let an innocent man languish in prison?"

Ignatieff's response was smack on.

"This government, when it is in a tight position, has become accustomed to blaming the previous government."

"You are the government now. When are you going to start to act like one and take responsibility?