Indeed. Rumor has it he's likely to be appointed to the Cabinet sometime in 2009, either as Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports, or as Minister of Culture and Communications.
Lazarus, Icarus, and Canadian Politics: An Infobox Timeline
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Indeed. Rumor has it he's likely to be appointed to the Cabinet sometime in 2009, either as Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports, or as Minister of Culture and Communications.
Is Bob Rae's leadership under threat from anyone the way Turner's leadership was under threat from Chretien?
Like any Liberal leader, yes. But I won't go into any details, lest I spoil anything I may or may not have planned.
As a Liberal, (and I can't believe I'm about to say this) I find the infighting that happens in the Liberal Party fascinating.
@CanadianTory I know the update happened some time ago but I doubt Ahmad Shah Massoud becoming president of Afghanistan without strident Pashtun opposition. Pashtuns hate him, while Tajiks love him. You are making the War on Terror a lot worse by having Massoud becoming president of Afghanistan.
Jeez Louise, a lot of progress has been made on this TL. I should have followed sooner!
Update #66: 2009 and Miscellaneous
2009 started out in quite the negative fashion for Canada. Within the first month of the new year a series of pipeline bombs exploded in British Columbia, gang violence had erupted within Vancouver, large blackouts hit Toronto, and Finance Minister John Tory presented the 2009 Canadian Federal Budget to the House of Commons. Perhaps the most senior member of Jim Dinning’s cabinet, the Prime Minister’s one-time opponent for the Conservative Party leadership had become a close friend, and enjoyed his complete confidence. So, when the Finance Minister explained the tough medicine needed for the January budget, the Prime Minister, himself the former cut and slash Finance head of the Albertan government, excepted his colleague’s radical recommendations. In order to stave off the American-born financial crisis from doing any further damage to Canada, not to mention preserve the Tories’ hold on power, the country needed to go into deficit spending. Badly. That meant stimulus spending in the amount of $35 billion dollars, with an additional $17 billion dollars in personal income tax cuts for Canadians, with additional stimulus for the provinces. When all was said and done, the federal government was looking at spending around $60 billion dollars, with routine reports to Parliament on how and why the money was spent. With support from the Liberals and the Auditor General, it appeared as though the Tories had found political cover for the time being, and would wait to call another election sometime next year, once the recession had eased and the progress of infrastructure projects became visible. Once Canada was back in black ink, the federal government would begin transferring more responsibility to the provinces. That’s not to say that the Tories escaped damage entirely. Industry Minister Jim Flaherty, a long-time opponent of the Finance Minister, disagreed with the direction Tory, and thus by extension the Prime Minister, was taking the party. Having coveted the Finance portfolio since his election to parliament four years earlier, Flaherty argued that he could do a better job at overseeing the country’s finances without sacrificing conservative principles. Ultimately though the Prime Minister would refuse Flaherty’s request, causing the MP for Whitby-Oshawa to resign from cabinet and announce his immediate departure from federal politics. He would later be replaced that year by his wife, Ontario MPP Christine Elliott, who had previously replaced him at Queen’s Park.
The new year also saw the beginning of discussion between emissaries of both the federal Liberal and New Democratic parties over some form of cooperation. With his party sinking in popular support, combined with his past as a member of the more left-wing party, it seemed only natural that Bob Rae would pursue some kind of agreement with the NDP, if only to save his own job. Together the two parties represented almost forty-four percent of voters, more than enough to throw the Tories out and secure a majority government. With the onset of the Great Recession, NDP leader Pat Martin saw the opportunity for members of his caucus to finally sit in the government benches, and dreamt of himself welcoming foreign leaders as the Canada’s new Prime Minister. Even a plurality of Canadians seemed open to the notion of some kind of electoral cooperation or merger, as indicated by a poll commissioned by Liberal Party insiders. As such a committee was struck in secret, consisting of Denis Coderre, Martha Hall Findlay, and Blair Wilson representing the Liberals, and Pat Martin, Ed Broadbent, and Peter Stoffer representing the New Democrats. Yet, despite all the early handshaking and promises for a bright future for everyone involved, any and all deals eventually fell through. Only days into their secret meetings, the fact that such negotiations existed reached the ears of Dalton McGuinty, who threatened to publicly condemn Rae and call for his resignation unless the meetings were ended immediately. Outcry was equally as expressive on the NDP side, where such outrage eventually made its way to the press. Much to the embarrassment of all those involved, Liberal Leader Bob Rae was forced to admit to the existence of their negotiations, but claimed that they did not involved talk of merging their two parties. Pat Martin on the other hand claimed a merger had been on the table, and that despite the criticism coming from some of his caucus colleagues, he would stay on as NDP leader and fight the next election. If the Liberals were too afraid of dancing with them, the NDP would move forward without them. For the time being, discussions between the two parties would be shelved.
In terms of provincial politics, 2009 was filled with new leadership and promises of resignation. First came Stockwell Day. After only three years as Premier of Alberta, which had been consumed by caucus infighting, the further growth of a populist opposition, and a lacklustre election campaign, Day signalled that he had had enough. The Premier informed his closest allies that he would make the official announcement of his retirement in December of that year, with a leadership election scheduled for some time in the mid-point of next year. He would inform either his caucus or cabinet, lest he risk a quicker than planned exit from provincial politics, as had befallen his predecessor Ralph Klein. Over in Ontario the provincial Liberals, who had suffered two embarrassing defeats against Premier Janet Ecker, had replaced Dwight Duncan with the affable and tough George Smitherman, the second openly gay man to leader a major provincial political party, with the first being Premier Scott Brison in Nova Scotia, who himself seemed poised to lose next years provincial vote. Bill Blaikie and Alan Buchanan continued their unstoppable dominance of Manitoban and PEI politics, respectively, while Saskatchewan’s Dwain Lingenfelter battled the re-energized Saskatchewan Party, now led by former Finance Minister Brad Wall. British Columbia’s Gordon Campbell staved off a challenge from the NDP to win his third consecutive election victory, privately indicating his desire to retire rather than attempt a fourth. The only other note of change in provincial politics came in New Brunswick. After a decade as the province’s Premier, Bernard Lord called it quits at age forty-four. In the ensuing leadership race, Saint John MLA Trevor Holder would narrowly be elected his successor, and gain the privilege of facing Liberal leader Michael Murphy in the provincial legislature.
To end out the year, Prime Minister Dinning announced that rather than open up the constitution to reform the senate, he would instead informally reform it through consulting Canada’s Premiers, much to the chagrin of some within his own caucus. Some Tories felt that as the benefactors of power, it was their duty to address the imbalance of the senate and appoint Conservatives only. Still, with the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia represented by center-right governments, Dinning reasoned that although the majority of appointments would likely be Conservative, consulting the Premier’s would allow the government to appear impartial to voters, and add pressure to the opposition to avoid unnecessarily stonewalling the government’s agenda, lest they assume the title of obstructionists. Ultimately, December’s senate appointments would be a mixed bag for the Tories.
(Thanks to @LeinadB93 for helping me with this)
Premiers of New Brunswick:
Frank McKenna (Liberal) 1987-1997
Ray Frenette (Liberal) 1997-1998
Camille Thériault (Liberal) 1998-1999
Bernard Lord (Progressive Conservative) 1999-2009
Trevor Holder (Progressive Conservative) 2009-
The new year also saw the beginning of discussion between emissaries of both the federal Liberal and New Democratic parties over some form of cooperation. With his party sinking in popular support, combined with his past as a member of the more left-wing party, it seemed only natural that Bob Rae would pursue some kind of agreement with the NDP, if only to save his own job. Together the two parties represented almost forty-four percent of voters, more than enough to throw the Tories out and secure a majority government. With the onset of the Great Recession, NDP leader Pat Martin saw the opportunity for members of his caucus to finally sit in the government benches, and dreamt of himself welcoming foreign leaders as the Canada’s new Prime Minister. Even a plurality of Canadians seemed open to the notion of some kind of electoral cooperation or merger, as indicated by a poll commissioned by Liberal Party insiders. As such a committee was struck in secret, consisting of Denis Coderre, Martha Hall Findlay, and Blair Wilson representing the Liberals, and Pat Martin, Ed Broadbent, and Peter Stoffer representing the New Democrats. Yet, despite all the early handshaking and promises for a bright future for everyone involved, any and all deals eventually fell through. Only days into their secret meetings, the fact that such negotiations existed reached the ears of Dalton McGuinty, who threatened to publicly condemn Rae and call for his resignation unless the meetings were ended immediately. Outcry was equally as expressive on the NDP side, where such outrage eventually made its way to the press. Much to the embarrassment of all those involved, Liberal Leader Bob Rae was forced to admit to the existence of their negotiations, but claimed that they did not involved talk of merging their two parties. Pat Martin on the other hand claimed a merger had been on the table, and that despite the criticism coming from some of his caucus colleagues, he would stay on as NDP leader and fight the next election. If the Liberals were too afraid of dancing with them, the NDP would move forward without them. For the time being, discussions between the two parties would be shelved.
In terms of provincial politics, 2009 was filled with new leadership and promises of resignation. First came Stockwell Day. After only three years as Premier of Alberta, which had been consumed by caucus infighting, the further growth of a populist opposition, and a lacklustre election campaign, Day signalled that he had had enough. The Premier informed his closest allies that he would make the official announcement of his retirement in December of that year, with a leadership election scheduled for some time in the mid-point of next year. He would inform either his caucus or cabinet, lest he risk a quicker than planned exit from provincial politics, as had befallen his predecessor Ralph Klein. Over in Ontario the provincial Liberals, who had suffered two embarrassing defeats against Premier Janet Ecker, had replaced Dwight Duncan with the affable and tough George Smitherman, the second openly gay man to leader a major provincial political party, with the first being Premier Scott Brison in Nova Scotia, who himself seemed poised to lose next years provincial vote. Bill Blaikie and Alan Buchanan continued their unstoppable dominance of Manitoban and PEI politics, respectively, while Saskatchewan’s Dwain Lingenfelter battled the re-energized Saskatchewan Party, now led by former Finance Minister Brad Wall. British Columbia’s Gordon Campbell staved off a challenge from the NDP to win his third consecutive election victory, privately indicating his desire to retire rather than attempt a fourth. The only other note of change in provincial politics came in New Brunswick. After a decade as the province’s Premier, Bernard Lord called it quits at age forty-four. In the ensuing leadership race, Saint John MLA Trevor Holder would narrowly be elected his successor, and gain the privilege of facing Liberal leader Michael Murphy in the provincial legislature.
To end out the year, Prime Minister Dinning announced that rather than open up the constitution to reform the senate, he would instead informally reform it through consulting Canada’s Premiers, much to the chagrin of some within his own caucus. Some Tories felt that as the benefactors of power, it was their duty to address the imbalance of the senate and appoint Conservatives only. Still, with the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia represented by center-right governments, Dinning reasoned that although the majority of appointments would likely be Conservative, consulting the Premier’s would allow the government to appear impartial to voters, and add pressure to the opposition to avoid unnecessarily stonewalling the government’s agenda, lest they assume the title of obstructionists. Ultimately, December’s senate appointments would be a mixed bag for the Tories.
(Thanks to @LeinadB93 for helping me with this)
Premiers of New Brunswick:
Frank McKenna (Liberal) 1987-1997
Ray Frenette (Liberal) 1997-1998
Camille Thériault (Liberal) 1998-1999
Bernard Lord (Progressive Conservative) 1999-2009
Trevor Holder (Progressive Conservative) 2009-
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Just to give everybody some heads up, 2010 will include some non-political updates. I thought I might try to add a few here and there.
Interesting.
I can't wait to see how John Edwards will implode.
Who did Fred Thompson appoint to succeed William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O'Connor?
I can't wait to see how John Edwards will implode.
Who did Fred Thompson appoint to succeed William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O'Connor?
Or maybe @CanadianTory is just messing with us and the affair has been butterflyed.
It's John Edwards, him doing something stupid is highly likely.
How did Dinning get the NDP to reverse its stance on the Senate enough to allow Calvert and Grey to join under the NDP label?
My rationale is this; if presented with a chance to actually have NDPers in the Senate, and possibly influence the path towards reform, a lot of the people in charge would be willing to make sacrifices. It's easy to oppose having NDPers sitting in the senate when its never going to happen. Besides, NDP Premiers are the ones being consulted, and they're likely more pragmatic due to the fact they actually enjoy the trappings of power.
In other words; I'm fucking cynical.
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It just struck me that Frank McKenna is kinda like the Brad Wall of this TL. A popular premier constantly talked about as a leadership candidate, but who refuses to enter.
But since I despise Frank, I can tell you he's never going anywhere in this TL.
Me? Mess with people? When have I ever done that!?
*Remembers what happened to the Trudeau clan in Brother Jonathan*
I also killed Paul Martin and Lucien Bouchard. No one is safe from my wrath.