David Raymond Amos@DavidRayAmos Replying to @DavidRayAmos@alllibertynews and 49 others "Content disabled" Methinks everybody knows why I look forward to debating the member of the People's Party of Canada who plans to run in Fundy Royal N'esy Pas?
Bernier's in — and the federal election debates just got less predictable
1809 Comments
David Raymond Amos Content disabled Methinks everybody knows why I look forward to debating the member of the People's Party of Canada who plans to run in Fundy Royal N'esy Pas?
David Raymond Amos Methinks much to Maxime Bernier''s chagrin the Rhinoceros Party knows why I look forward to the debates in Fundy Royal N'esy Pas?
David Raymond Amos Methinks it not rocket science to Google Maxime Bernier's name and mine N'esy Pas?
David Raymond Amos Methinks Gerald Butts must be a very nervous camper these days N'esy Pas?
Deganawidah Ayenwatha It's not all bad for Scheer - Bernier is unlikely to perform well. I've heard him in Parliament - you almost need subtitles. He may make Scheer seem more moderate
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Deganawidah Ayenwatha: Dream on
Chuck MacDonald o and make sure the cbc is deported as well
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Chuck MacDonald: Methinks I should agree with your joke for rather obvious reasons N'esy Pas?
DAVID MCGRUER Since the essence of the other large parties is the same, here is a public opportunity to show what is wrong with all of them. Go get 'em Max. Give the country a hint of what a move back towards freedom would look like
Sue McPherson
Reply to @DAVID MCGRUER: So, what do cuts to the CBC really mean?
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Sue McPherson: Methinks it would save the taxpayers a lot of dough much to the chagrin of the people who use propaganda machine within our bureaucracy for their own benefit N'esy Pas?
Mike Parniak
It doesn't really matter that Bernier's party won't do much in the election - if he'll hit the various party leaders with tough and/or uncomfortable questions during the debate he'll be useful to canadians. Even more useful would be a requirement that the leaders give straight answers rather than talking around the questions.
Mark Thomas
Reply to @Mike Parniak: At least the possibility now exists that if immigration policy is raised - and it might not have been without Bernier on the stage - we'll actually hear a debate on the topic rather than regurgitated and often inaccurate bromides.
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Mike Parniak: Methinks many agree that they may win as many as 200 seats whether your friends like it or not N'esy Pas?
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Mark Thomas: Oh So True
Rod Davis
Ahhh the unwashed liberal faithful.. clearly there is nothing their anointed one can do that is wrong in their eyes.. SNC.. JWR.. Philpott.. Norman.. Carbon.. Creston.. Veterans.. Atwal.. Boyle.. Khadr... Jack... McClintick.. Khan.. 68900 illegals.. 68 returned Syrian fighters.. failed trade with .. India.. China.. UK.. US.. AUS.. peoplekind.. elbowgate.. sandbagging.. paper water bottle box thingys.. dress up.. Nannies.. selfies.. Vacations..utter and blind devotion to the abysmal train wreck.. cloaked in failure from day 1
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Rod davis: Methinks that is rather comical statement because conservatives have often referred to me as part of the great unwashed Many of the elite within Peoplekind know that the Proud Hillbilly in me has always felt honoured that such nasty people did not consider me part of their club or anyone else's for obvious reasons N'esy Pas?
Laine Smith I hope Max pulls out all the stops!! Call out the LPC for inviting tens of thousands of illigals, screwing with our justice system, their countless scandals, influencing the RCMP, CRA, DND, CBSA, and call out the MSM for giving them a pass while pushing a nation destroying leftist agenda!
David Raymond Amos Reply to @Laine Smith: Me Too
Kimmy Smith It means Andrew Scheer is in trouble. This guy is gonna snag 5% at least of his lunch.
David Raymond Amos Reply to @Kimmy Smith: Methinks Scheer may lose 20% of his dinner too N'esy Pas?
Sue Dow This should spice things up a bit.
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Sue Dow: Welcome to the Circus
David Raymond Amos Surprise Surprise Surprise
Keith Rodgers Good for the Cons, I think Quebec is going to like Bernier....He will get Con Votes, Bloc Votes and Undecided Liberal Votes...
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @keith rodgers: I concur
Mark Williams Apparently Trudeau bought Goldy some drinks in an Ottawa bar.
Headline to article,
How Faith Goldy became the most dangerous woman not on the campaign trail
Kyle Billing
Reply to @mark williams: Nice billboard you have given her, not.
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @mark williams: Too Too Funny If True
Don Pooley
Reply to @mark williams: The article warns this could blow up in Scheer's face, but by all means keep her in the conversation.
Mark Williams
Reply to @mark williams: Also, how about looking to this CBC and doing a fact check?
$1.5 Billion?
Mark Williams
Reply to @Don Pooley: Let the chips fall where they may, a fact will clear it up.
I'm all for one, how about you?
Mark Williams
Reply to @David Raymond Amos:
"Too Too Funny If True"
That'll completely unhinge them if it is. :)
CBC has the reasonability to fact check this because they have made her an issue in relation to Scheer.
Let's see if they'll do their job.
Mark Williams
Reply to @mark williams:
responsibility
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @mark williams: Methinks if folks wish to do a simple fact check just Google my name and that of Maxime Bernier or Justin Trudeau or a legion of others N'esy Pas?
Kevin Delaney Max is not likely to impact the committed voters of the Liberals, Greens or NDP. Max will impact the Conservatives. Andy was hard pressed by Max. Andy is going to get the vast majority of any downside here re loss of support.
David Raymond Amos
Reply to @Kevin Delaney: Methinks you forgot the Bloc N'esy Pas?
Bernier's in — and the federal election debates just got less predictable
In such a tight race, Bernier's sudden elevation to the big stage will change the debate dynamic
People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier has been invited to participate in two upcoming official federal election debates. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)
The stage is set for Maxime Bernier. His challenge now is to perform.
The leader of the nascent People's Party of Canada (PPC) yesterday got his coveted invitation to take part in the two televised debates organized by the independent Leaders' Debate Commission. The debates — one in English and the other in French — will be held on Oct. 7 and Oct 10.
The invitation extended by debates Commissioner David Johnston reverses a preliminary ruling last month that found Bernier didn't meet two of the commission's three criteria to qualify.
Johnston's initial conclusion was that, according to polling data current at the time, the PPC didn't have a "legitimate chance" to win more than one seat. He gave the PPC time to submit more material to change his mind.
And now Johnston has — by citing polling data from four ridings the PPC itself had identified as winnable and by factoring in what Johnston called the "recent political context" that included the party's membership and fundraising activity.
So Bernier's in. What does that mean for him, his party and the debates themselves?
For Bernier, the benefits are obvious. Johnston's conclusion that his party has a real chance of winning more than one seat confers a new level of legitimacy on the PPC and its core messages.
The outlier candidate
"Canadians will be able to look at all the options," Bernier said after the decision was released Monday. "I can tell you that the People's Party is a real, national party with serious reforms that need to be done for a freer and more prosperous country."
The debates give Bernier a national stage upon which to promote his ideas — many of which are at direct odds with those of the other parties, and some of which challenge some of this country's long-standing policies in support of an egalitarian and open society.
Bernier has vowed to defend what he calls a "Canadian identity" by limiting immigration and requiring those who come to this country to first pass a 'values' test. He also would do away with official multiculturalism.
Bernier is alone among federal party leaders in saying he would eliminate all government subsidies to industry and kill supply management.
And the PPC rejects the scientific consensus that human activity is the principal cause of global warming. Its platform promises to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, scrap any price on carbon and withdraw subsidies for green technology.
"Despite what global warming propaganda claims, carbon dioxide is not a pollutant," the party's platform says. "It is an essential ingredient for life on earth and needed for plant growth."
A bigger target
Taking part in the debate vastly improves Bernier's chances of contrasting these views with those of the other leaders before a large Canadian audience. But it also will make him a bigger target for the other leaders' attacks. Neither the NDP nor the Conservatives wanted Bernier in the debates. They still don't.
"Mr. Bernier's conduct risks bringing the debates into disrepute," the NDP wrote in a letter to Johnston. "He has eagerly courted outright racists for his new party … His willingness to accept the support of openly bigoted activists is matched by an eagerness to mislead and misinform the public."
The Conservatives made their own submission to the election debates commission (cited by Johnston in his decision) pointing out that the last time a party won a seat with less than three per cent of the national vote was in 1949. The CBC Poll Tracker estimates PPC support nationally at 2.9 per cent.
The Liberals put out a statement saying simply that the party accepts Johnston's decision.
Bernier's presence will change the dynamic on stage, said long-time Conservative strategist Jason Lietaer. More leaders on stage could mean fewer opportunities for the kind of one-on-one exchanges that defined the 1984 and 1988 elections — when Conservative Leader Brian Mulroney and Liberal Leader John Turner engaged in spirited exchanges over free trade and the GST.
For the frontrunners, a new distraction
"Tactically speaking, adding a [sixth] voice to these debates means less time for a bunfight between the frontrunners," Lietaer said. "It will make harder for anyone to score points."
Lietaer and other strategists said they expect Bernier to focus most of his energy and time on painting Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer as two peas in the same pod.
Bernier regularly vows through his Twitter feed that a PPC government would eliminate the deficit in two years — three years faster than Scheer is promising to do — through cuts to foreign aid, corporate welfare and funding for the CBC.
"It will make Scheer's job more difficult. He will now have to parry attacks from both the left and the right," Lietaer said. "I expect Bernier to go after both. He'll make the argument that Trudeau has failed and Scheer would be no better."
So Bernier has his stage. He has a role. The only thing that's not set is the script. Will he be a bit player, or will he be cast as the villain? If the other leaders have their way, we can expect a little bit of both.
Chris Hall is the CBC's National Affairs Editor and host of The House on CBC Radio, based in the Parliamentary Bureau in Ottawa. He began his reporting career with the Ottawa Citizen, before moving to CBC Radio in 1992, where he worked as a national radio reporter in Toronto, Halifax and St. John's. He returned to Ottawa and the Hill in 1998.
Maxime Bernier (right), a 42-year-old delivery man from Lac Saint-Jean, is running in the same riding as PPC leader Maxime Bernier. (Rhinoceros Party)
The Rhinoceros Party is hoping name recognition will give their newest candidate a leg up in the Beauce region, or at the very least sow confusion.
The party has nominated a candidate named Maxime Bernier where the leader of the People's Party of Canada, who has the same name, is also running.
In an interview with CBC News, Bernier said he was approached by members of the satirical party on Facebook and asked if he wanted to run.
Although he's never met the PPC leader, he said it was impossible to avoid the association.
"For the last 20 years, I'd say my name, and I'd hear exactly what Maxime Bernier was doing," he said, adding that people would often joke about how they have the same name.
"This is like, we'll switch the roles. And we'll see if people like me more than him!" he said.
"It's like a payback, but without any bad [intentions]."
Despite the tongue-in-cheek reason he was approached, Bernier said he's serious about running a campaign.
"They asked me at the beginning if I could be just a name," he said. "And I refused that. If I'm doing to do it, I do it all, or I'm not doing it at all."
People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier is running in Beauce again in 2019. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)
The 42-year-old from Lac Saint-Jean, who works in the delivery sector, said he plans on focusing on local issues that concern the Beauce, instead of national issues.
"Maxime Bernier thinks it's a bigger concern to fight with a little 16-year-old girl… and tell everybody that [climate change] is not happening, that it's just a story to scare kids, instead of taking care of the people that are supposed to vote for him," he said, referring to Bernier's comments about teenaged climate activist, Greta Thunberg.
"The way he's thinking, I really think it's from another century."
He said that his campaign would focus on the needs of people in Beauce, especially those in the agricultural and dairy sectors, "because they're the ones that elect me."
"I'm not going to try to win Ontario because I want to be the chief of a party," he said.
In a statement to Radio-Canada, the PPC said it was "a good joke" but that they were "confident that the people of Beauce will vote for the Maxime Bernier they know, and not the one imported from Lac Saint-Jean."
As for the Rhino candidate, he said that if anyone is confused, they can refer back to his slogan. "If you're not sure, then vote for both!"
So, what do cuts to the CBC really mean?