New Brunswick Politics

I decided to bring this one to my own blog, after taking part in a discussion about it over at Spink About It

Why is it people like Brent Taylor (I won't link him, as wouldn't want Brent to have to deal with us Anonymous idiots :-) ) feel that if myself or another blogger or commentator does not put his name on his thoughts, then we simply are irrelevant?? Are my thoughts not mine as I write them, with or without my name??

What Brent and others like him seem to forget is politics is not my life. I do not make a living in any way shape or form from politics as he does. I am simply a private citizen who wants to have his say. If you take a look around the blogosphere you’ll notice most of the “big name” bloggers, either in Canada or the U.S. dealing with politics are involved in it in some way or other. Whether it’s first hand, as a serving or former politician , party worker or insider,or as a “paid” commentator in some way, TV, radio, newspapers etc……..there are exceptions of course, but they are few, and far between.

Would I like to put my name on my blog?? Absolutely……..

Can I?? Not without putting my own livelihood and others, on the line. Seems silly? Take a look around……. We are seeing often these days’ people being fired from their jobs for comments posted on their personal blogs, even those that don’t directly impact their jobs…….so the question is……………do I post under a pseudonym and have my say?? Or do I put my own job and those of my co-workers and employer at risk to appease someone like Brent Taylor who given his past political affiliations has already done as much damage to his own reputation as is probably possible?

I think I’ll choose to continue to post my thoughts about politics, politicians, and whatever, for those that enjoy the read, and urge those who are offended by the notion of “Anonymous” bloggers, to kindly not darken my doorstep.

The holier than thou among us, should perhaps reflect on the fact, that perhaps some of us have other commitments more important than our hobby blogs………….it is after all “just politics” to us laymen, not a way of life.

**EDIT**
You'll notice that I didn't say only Brent Taylor.......I also mention others.....Taylor is not the first one to mention this, and I have even had some emails on the subject over the past year that this blog has been in existance. Sorry Brent if you feel it was only you I was speaking to.....I've highlighted ther "other" so you don't feel so picked on.**

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:54 PM | Permalink | |

As reported on CBC New Brunswick, Bernard Lord's former law partner is the first Tory appointee to head for the hills. Yassin Choukri was eventually appointed Deputy Justice Minister after working in Lord's office after the 1999 election.

I wonder how many will leave voluntarily, and how many will wait to be shoved out........

Posted by PoliticsNB at 10:24 PM | Permalink | |

I have to hand it to my bud Spinks he's like a dog with a bone once he gets his teeth in to something.......lol

As I posted on his blog, I have my doubts that he'll have any success getting an apology out of Carmel Robichaud at this late date.......however, I do agree that an apology is/was is order.

Admittedly, at first glance, I had my doubts about Spinks' objectivity on this one. But after some thinking on the subject, I do believe he has a point.....granted, the optics are not the best, but as Scott points out.......optics is not the issue here, lobbying to get a license returned for a convicted drunk driver is.

What she did was wrong, and it deserves an apology. If he was calling for her resignation right after she faced the elctorate in an election I'd tell him to get a grip.........but is an apology is different....is that so wrong??

Anyway......if you agree with him.....make sure to pop over and sign his petition.

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:38 PM | Permalink | |

From the "shock and awe file"........

They say you learn something new everyday......I was listening to CBC's As It Happens this evening, and heard a report about the "RED FRIDAY RALLY" in Ottawa. I listened to Stephen Harper talking about supporting our troops, etc, as he often does lately. Shortly after, there was a story about a vet from Windsor Ont. named Murray Sinnet(sp?) who is pushing for a Canadian military medal similar to the U.S. military's "Purple Heart" given to soldiers wounded in action. Color me surprised and embarrased to find out Canada has no medal to honor men who are wounded/injured in combat. Why????

Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming Stephen Harper for the lack of a medal, as obviously this situation has existed long before Stephen got the helm......But Stephen Harper has the oppotunity to change the situation. He can do it if he chooses......Show the military he's doing more than simply paying lip service to their sacrifices.

A medal can never replace a limb, or heal a permanent injury. A medal is simply a small token of respect for someone who's been permanently maimed or injured in the service of his/her country........

What do you say Stephen?? You up for it?

Admittedly I'm no expert in military matters....Perhaps a vet or someone involved in the military can tell me if I'm missing something here??

You can listen to the AIH interview here: (Requires Real Player) CDN PURPLE HEART
Starts at 16:20 and runs 5:05.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:48 PM | Permalink | |

Since Oct 3 has been chosen as the day the new Liberal Government of New Brunswick is going to be sworn in, I had planned on some thoughts about possible cabinet positions.......but as I suspected, NBPolitico is All Over It
:-)
So I think i'll leave the cabinet speculation up to him on his blog. I have to say at this point, I simply don't care where or how Graham positions his team. I'm more intrested to see what he's going to do with all the promises that were made during the campaign.

I've been watching with a touch of amusement all the speculation about Bernard Lord and his "future" plans.......everything from Federal Politics, to An Ambassadorship to France, to staying on as opposition leader. The last one seems highly unlikely. Lord is far to ambitious to be happy playing second fiddle to his old job. No, Lord will no doubt find a ton of opportunities......as well he should.

Give the guy a break already. We'll all know in time........when he and his family are ready to share, and he's weighed all his options.

Oh, and to a certain "Anonymous" critic out there..........nope sorry to disappoint you my friend.......i'm still around. :-) I wouldn't have thought a two day absence would have fueled speculation that I had left the building. Sorry if that disappoints you. For someone who constantly raves and rants about the irrelevance of political blogs in New Brunswick, and the fact that pretty much nobody reads them...........you certainly seem to spend a ton of time on them yourself........commenting about how dumb and inferrior everone is to you.......... ;)

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:12 PM | Permalink | |

After watching the evenings proceedings, it's quite clear that the conservatives were not decimated or even beaten very badly. Their popular vote actually increased, and the Liberals share increased in proportion to the Loss of vote by the NDP. The popular vote is almost identical.
Those out there looking for a change, will get it........but still a large and strong conservative opposition. The Liberals simply have a bit more breathing room than the PC's had last time around.

Mr.Graham, I urge you not to squander your shot at the "Big Chair." The bloggers of New Brunswick are going to be following your progress, or lack there of. There is no free ride. We have the platform, and the promises. New Brunswickers gave you 4 years.......make them count.

Now the questions.......Bernard Lords Future? Allison Brewers future? Do they stay or do they go. I would have to think they will both step down.....so when? Right away? As we discussed earlier in another blog, who if anybody is waiting in the wings?

I hope all the bloggers that joined in during the campaign will stick around, and even more join in. Thanks to Spinks and Charles for their part in the evening, and a special thanks to all those that joined in the chat. I had alot of fun spending the evening chatting with other political junkies while watching the returns come in.

Congratulations to all the winning candidates, and the unsuccesful ones as well. They all deserve a pat on the back for putting themselves out there for election to public office, and their willingness to serve the public. I know we beat up on politicians, and i'm as cynical as the next guy, but I do believe most get into politics for the right reason. And the ones that forget?? Well, that's what elections are for.

oh........and bloggers! :-)

Posted by PoliticsNB at 11:25 PM | Permalink | |

Pretty obvious where the disintegrated NDP vote went. This was more of a vote against the Conservatives more than a vote of confidence in the Liberals IMO. People wanted a change obviously.

People were not buying the 5 in 5 nor the 20 point checklist. Closing Hospitals, Insurance, Orimulsion.......It all adds up.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:38 PM | Permalink | |

I guess people wanted a change after all, even if the Newspaper editors in this province said not.

So much for polls. They were not as close as most thought.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:35 PM | Permalink | |

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So the newspapers were wrong that people didn't want a change. Still early........but it's looking good for the red and bad for the blue......if it holds.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:34 PM | Permalink | |

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It will probably come as no surprise that I'll be watching CBC television and the CBC Website, for my MSM election coverage. No doubt that my protege Spinks will probably get most of his from CTV TV, and CBC on the web....(I'm sure he'll correct me if i'm wrong).....as the other media outlets have horrible web sites, and to them New Brunswick seems not to exist.....anyway....off that tangent and back to tonight. :-)

Should be a great evening........hope to see you here starting at 8:00 when the polls close.

If anyone at a campaign headquarters etc. has internet access, please try to pop by and give us the scoop from where you are.

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 6:10 PM | Permalink | |

**EDIT**
As you can see Charles Leblanc is on the prowl in Saint John Tonight and will be uploading pics throughout the evening......and chiming in with some on-site reports......

Intresting shirt Charles......no need to ask how you voted........LOL

PNB

Posted by Blogger Charles LeBlanc at 4:43 PM | Permalink | |

Just hours away now from Election Day. I'm sticking with my numbers, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see a one or two seat win yet again, if the polls are close at all. I think it may be a late one tommorrow night. :-)

Looking forward to blogging along with the election coverage with my bud Spinks over at Spink About It. The Chat will be open on both sites, hope you can join us, as we'll start as soon as the polls close at 8:00pm. I think this is going to be alot of fun no matter who wins......

Make sure you all get out and vote!!
The Polls are open 10:00am to 8:00pm

Good luck to all the candidates.......

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:50 PM | Permalink | |

Well, here it goes! Normally I leave my predictions until the night before election day, but I said I’d put em up Friday, here they are:

Liberal: 32
PC :22
NDP: 1

Looking high for the Libs you say?? Yeah………they are. But I think there is a bit of a surge taking place, and I think the Libs will be in the 30+ range. I should mention, I came to this not because I think Shawn has magically transformed himself, but I think minus any Major election issue this time around, it is going to come down to a race between local candidates, and not really a leadership contest. That said, I think the Liberals simply have a better slate of candidates than the PC’s this time around.

I'm going to add my thoughts on the local ridings in the Saint John area. It’s the area I'm most familiar with and the other areas have been picked apart, and analyzed to death.

Fundy - River Valley: This is a riding where many feel ignored by the Lord Conservatives. I think there will be a backlash, although Borden DeLong for the PC’s is a strong candidate, I'm giving the edge to Jack Keir of the Liberals.

Saint John - Fundy I actually have a strong Anti-Jamieson bias, and I'll be damned if I can figure out how this guy keeps getting elected. That said, I have a feeling he will once again pull a rabbit out of his hat, and convince enough people he deserves the job. This riding is not a gimme this time around, and a drive around will tell you there are a ton of James Huttges supporters in this area. This one could be very close. Call goes to Jamieson.

Saint John East Roly MacIntyre should grab this one fairly handily for the Liberals. MacIntyre should be a shoe-in for cabinet if the Liberals form a government after Monday night, and he retains his seat like I expect.

Saint John Lancaster An interesting choice of candidate in this one from the PC’s. Peter Hyslop was the public intervener in the NB Power rate hike hearings in front of the PUB. He has come out and publicly stated he thinks Lord should apologize for the Orimulsion fiasco. With friends like this........
I don’t think he can take Abel Leblanc quite frankly. I think Abel has a ton of support, and should take this riding without much trouble.

Saint John Harbour This one should be a cake walk for Liberal incumbent Dr. Ed Doherty. He’s very, very popular in this riding. PC candidate Idee Inyangudor was Trevor Holder’s assistant. Probably the only person they could find after the beating the PC’s took in the recent by-election. Inyangudor is the sacrificial lamb in this case. This one won’t even be close.

Saint John Portland One of the most interesting races in Southern New Brunswick IMO. Holder came close to losing this one last time around by 169 votes to Colleen Knudson. What saved him was the vote splitting on the Left between the Liberals and the NDP. NDP candidate Clare Mudge is an unknown this time around, and popular former federal NDP Candidate Terry Albright is working with Knudeson. Holder is in trouble I think. I'm calling Knudson by a comfortable margin.

Rothesay This is a tough one. I’ve been hearing good things about the Liberal Candidate Paul Barry. Even so, Margaret-Ann Blaney may be tough to beat. Constant reader will know I'm not a fan of Blaney, however, she still commands a lot of support in this area. I do think Barry could take this, if there is a real desire in the electorate for a change, but I'm giving the edge here to Blaney, in what I'm projecting will be a squeaker.

Quispamsis I’ll be watching this one very closely. Brenda Fowlie should not be re-elected if there is any justice at all. She does not deserve to be an MLA, let alone a cabinet minister with one of the top portfolios. She squeaked this one out last time by 19 votes. I think it will be a much larger margin this time around…….but not in Fowlie’s favor. The Liberal’s have worked this riding very, very hard, and I'm calling Mary Schryer in Quispamsis.

Hampton – Kings Bev Harrison has had this one in the bag for the last couple of elections. He’s been campaigning harder this time around than he ever did in the past. Redistribution may play a role in this one. Harrison is gaining some of Fowlie’s old riding, and has lost some strong Conservative support up in the Norton area. Liberal Linda Watson has worked hard here, but I'm a bit perplexed to be honest. I would have expected a higher profile candidate this time around in this riding. Given the past history of this area, I have to give the edge to Harrison, unless, again, a “change” catches on and there is a move to dump the conservative. This one is in my “Ones to watch” category. Call goes to Harrison.

Finally, I just want to comment on the Fredericton - Lincoln race. Up above in my predictions I gave the NDP 1 seat. This is it. I'm not totally convinced she can win this one. Greg Byrne will be tough to beat. I think this one could very possibly wind up PC due to vote splitting. That said, I think the Province would actually be better served by having Brewer in the Leg and out of the gallery. She's a smart lady, and while I may not agree with all her ideas, i'm convinced that a Legislature made up of only Liberals and Conservative MLA's is in nobody's best intrest, except perhaps the Liberals and Conservative MLA's.

Oh and while i'm at it.......Tanker malley will win again. Should he??? Absolutly not........but go spend some time on the Chi' and you'll know why Malley will be re-elected and be rewarded with his pension.

That's it..........The above senario is one of the reasons I put the Libs out front. This one is going to be fought in the trenches at the local level. Hope you join Spinks and I election night....I think this one will be a dog fight.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:08 PM | Permalink | |

I’ve asked this question on another site but the Liberal response was no response at all. I’m very disappointed. Hell, maybe it's a stupid question, but here it is again.

Since Premier Lord’s “reason” for calling this election was because he did not want to face another session in the Legislature running what amounts to a minority government, if the PC only win by two or less seats, would this be a failure on his part? And, should his caucus have full confidence in his leadership?

If your answer is, “Lord isn’t winning, so the question is moot” or “Lord is a liar”, then I don’t want to hear it. That is what I meant by responding with no response at all. Indeed, those were two of the answers I received. Also, if your answer is simply, "Lord will win handily", the same goes for you.

Take a second and think about it. If you manage to wrench your head out of your respective party’s butt, I would really like to see what you have to say. Nobody is going to read this and have their minds changed so profoundly that they will buy what you or I are selling.

Posted by Monctonite at 9:15 AM | Permalink | |

I see CBC is carrying a report that advanced polls are up 50% over the 2003 election. In it, Barry Kay from Wilfred Laurier University talks about the “theory” of heavy voting in the advance polls translating to a high turn out for the election (which he says has no basis in fact). I agree with him. I think many just take advantage of beating the "rush" and getting it done early. Myself I prefer the "old fashioned" vote on election day, then settle down with a few cold ones and watch the returns come in. :-)

However, it got me to thinking about the issue of voter turnout. If there is a high voter turnout, is that good for the Incumbent Conservatives? Or would a small turn out be more in their favor. Depends how you look at it I guess. I would tend to think a High turn out in the overall numbers could be trouble for the PC’s, as it may signal many people are in a “looking for a change” state of mind, and A low turnout, signals an apathetic, indifferent, or satisfied electorate, and I would have to think that would benefit the PC’s. That’s my take…….interested to hear some other thoughts.

What do you think?

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:18 PM | Permalink | |

(Via CBC: Paper bans election talk from letters page )

After reading this one, I simply had to mention it here.

A newspaper, banning election letters during an election….they have to be kidding.

Sure the Partisan workers try to get their partisan spiel in the paper. No different than having a candidate for office on a phone in talk show and party supporters jamming the phone lines.
What’s different in this case is Greg Mulock the editor of The Northern Light simply banned Election letters outright. Isn’t that what editors get paid to do?? EDIT?? Sorry if I simply cannot get my head around this one. Pretty hard to have debate, and exchange of ideas during a campaign, when newspapers pulls out the muzzle for its readers.

Sure tighten up the editing, and watch for those over the top Partisan letters, but don’t muzzle the community totally from discussing the issues.

Just wrong IMO.

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 6:54 PM | Permalink | |

Well, the new poll by CRA is out, and from the numbers, it would appear that the New Brunswick "Red Machine" is in better shape than many thought.

Liberal: 44%
Conservative: 42%
NDP: 10%

What I find intresting is, yesterday the MSM and blogs were all abuzz with anticipation of this poll, as CRA tends to be the most accurate of the bunch. They were bang on in the last couple of elections. When the last Bristol numbers came out, they were played up far and wide by my right leaning associates, even with their dubious methodology. This time, those same folks are strangely quiet. Not the numbers are enough to get overly excited about.....but they show another horserace.....on that the Liberals are actually slighly leading this time.

Still hearing around Saint John area "anybody but Lord" as a mantra. Also, the big knock against Graham seems to be that he's inexperienced and green. Seems to me that that was the exact same thing that was said about Lord when we handed him the keys. I'm beginning to wonder if Shawn doesn't actually deserve a shot. Is there a shift in the tide against the Lord Conservatives?? It's only a small edge at this point....is it enough to win?? It may be an intresting Election night......

Posted by PoliticsNB at 1:35 PM | Permalink | |

As you may or may not have already seen over at Spink About It , Spinks and I going to have tag team election night coverage on the 18th. The chatroom will be open, and Live and accesible on both blog sites all evening. I'm also looking at a couple of things as well...stay turned.....Looking forward to having some fun, as well as some intresting observations and discussions. So pull your computer over by the TV and join in....Election nights are made for Political junkies :-)

As Spinks mentioned, it would be great if we could hear from some people at returning office's or a campaign headquarters/party that evening....

Hope to see you all on Monday night.

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:28 PM | Permalink | |

As you may have read over at Spink About It , Fundy-River Valley Liberal Candidate Jack Keir has entered the Blogosphere with a bang. Up until this point I have been leaving the "candidate" blogs to my bud Spinks, as he's doing a fine job with it........however, I have to give a shout out to Keir and his team for having the Cahones to not only open the comments, but to link other political blogs in NB, even those that may not endorse him, or agree with the party platform. It would appear that Mr.Keir and his team believe that discussion of the issues is a good thing.......no matter what your political stripe. Kudo to the Keir team!

I notice that the only candidate that Spinks has listed in his Links is Brent Taylor. Kind of curious, considering in order to get a reciprocal link on Taylor's blog, you must be a member of the
Blogging Tories

I'm going to add a link for Mr.Keir, as he has linked me. I believe in proper Netiquette. However, i'm going to go a step farther, and start a "Candidate Blogs" link list, and any of the candidates in New Brunswick, who shows the same guts gets a link, no matter what the political stripe.......yeah you too Brent......LOL

**EDIT**
I should have qualified with saying, it is not a requirement to even add "my" blog, but a cross section of the NB Blogs works. There are many good ones. I should have made that clearer.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:09 PM | Permalink | |

The Liberal platform has been released. You can grab a copy @ The Liberal Charter for Change

I'm gonna read it over before I comment on it.
Meanwhile go grab a copy and see whether it gets a thumb up or a thumb down.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:48 PM | Permalink | |

I have to start by saying I think Lord gets the nod for the debate, mostly because it was sooooo boring, and absent of any new ideas or debate. The hour was simply too short to really get into any meaningful discussion on any of the topics. It should have been 1 1/2 to 2 hours IMO. Everytime an actual debate started to happen, Terry had to cut them off. As with the campaign......ho hum, ho hum......and that's advantage incumbent.

Lord was his usual slick self, he is obviously speaking to those who support him.....nobody else. IMO he seems to be showing a touch of arrogance these days. Anyway, Five In Five, Blah, blah, blah. He probably will win.....because he's not saying anything at all, let alone anything wrong.

Graham did better than I expected, and did make a few points, however, nothing to set the campaign on fire. My complaint with Graham, is, he only seemed to want to talk Orimulsion......and while it is an issue, not sure it's the major one......gotta find something else Shawn, because Orimulsion is not going to be the insurance issue of this campaign.

Brewer did ok for her first debate, but she appeared very nervous and read far to much from her notes. It was good to hear her bring up the foolishness in the last session by the MLA's on both sides of the house. Of course, it was ignored by the other two......but a reminder to Joe Citizen can't hurt. I thought she also did an admiral job in the Healthcare section, calling Lord on healthcare cuts.

I hope the second debate is better, but since I don't subscribe to Rogers, I guess I won't be able to watch. I'll have to rely on the TJ the next day for the story...... :-(

Go ahead and say what you want about the CBC, but at least they are accesible to all New Brunswickers, not just those with cable TV. An election debate covered only by Rogers TV is a diservice to New Brunswickers IMO.

Anyway, it was as boring as I expected........and I bet will help nobody make up their mind. Mark me down as "Still Undecided."

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:06 PM | Permalink | |

Well tonight at 7:00 pm is the NB Leaders Debate on CBC. I'll be moving the chat to the top of the page, and will be here chatting and blogging while I watch. Hope to have people join in. I think it will be intresting to get some instant reaction to the debate as it rolls along.

Cya tonight.

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 3:05 PM | Permalink | |

**Via Here NB**
Blogging the political trail

By David Gingras

The article Spinks spoke of a couple of weeks ago, is printed in "Here" this week. Nice to see a positive article about Blogging in New Brunswick.

Well done David!

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:29 PM | Permalink | |

The problem with only two voices in the Legislature is that they will eventually come out sounding like they’re in stereo. The campaign so far has already showed us that policy-wise there isn’t much difference between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives.

I’m not one to preach for the advancement of the NDP cause, but the fact remains since Elizabeth Weir stepped down from the Legislature and stepped into obscurity the Leg hasn’t been the same.

Why is the third party so important?

Recently, I was made privilege to some information concerning the possible abuse of private flights by government members from the capital to their individual ridings. When some opposition caucus members wanted to bring this to the attention of the Legislature, the outside influences that follow Shawn Graham around quickly nixed the idea. Why? Well, the reason given was the members could have said something that would come back to haunt a future Liberal government. Imagine that. The opposition ignored an issue of possible interest to the taxpayer; because the Grits would essentially do the same, that is, abuse the system.

When a lowly peon like myself is given access to such information, it scares me. I have to believe that there are dozens of other examples of such irresponsible governing. Whether they are government or opposition, the Grits and Tories run things from the same playbook.

I have plenty of Liberal friends and it just drives them when they ask me what I think about some PC policy or decision and I respond with “that’s exactly what I would do and it’s exactly what you would do.” I don’t know why they remain friends with me, but they keep coming back.

To get back to my original point, some riding in New Brunswick should take one for the team and elect an NDPer for the good of the entire province. It would be nice to have someone in the Leg who wasn’t there for the sole purpose of attaining more power. However, I don’t think the people of Fredericton-Lincoln are going to co-operate. Will anyone else? Regretfully, democracy and the people of New Brunswick aren't going to be well served in the next Leg.

Posted by Monctonite at 7:58 PM | Permalink | |

Well, once again, we see the benchmark New York harbour price fall sharply, and the PUB again drops the ball and the gas regulation legislation fails New Brunswickers. I guess they are all too busy to take time out of their busy schedules to do what they were put on this board to do. Can’t wait to see what weak excuse they’ll have this time. So much for Brenda Fowlie's jabber about that special "trigger" built in for these sort of circumstances.

Perhaps my fellow bloggers on the “liberal bias watch” will come up with information that the PUB are all Liberals, and are purposely out to get Lord & Company. LOL

Is gas regulation working??? I know one thing………..the PUB certainly isn’t.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:24 PM | Permalink | |

It certainly appears that way........insurance is back for a return engagement.

If you missed part one of the Robert Jones report, i'll post the link below. (Requires RealPlayer Free Edition...... you can get it HERE )

You can bet it will be everywhere tommorrow. I dare say the spin doctors will be VERY busy for both parties tonight.

**EDIT**
Listen to the report via CBC.
(Now updated with it's own link to the video)

Insurance reform gone wrong

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:23 PM | Permalink | |

Well today we finally see Graham start to go on the attack against Lord on his record of the past seven years in office. I guess the message finally got through that Shawn Graham's message hasn't been resonating overwhelmingly with people. Since most people can see very little difference between the two platforms, the edge in that case usually goes to the incumbent. IMO, it’s really Graham’s only chance. If he doesn’t go after Lord and attack him on his record, he may as well fold up the tent and stay home for the last twelve days. Will it work for him?? That remains to be seen. If he goes for the jugular in the debates, and is successful, this race should really heat up. But if he lets Lord dipsy doodle, and stick handle around, this one is likely over.

I'm hoping for some fireworks myself………this damn campaign needs some fireworks, instead of the ho hum we’ve seen so far.

Speaking of which………anyone know what format the debates will take? Will there be a chance for the candidates to confront each other??

I'm assuming I’ll not get to see the second debate, as I don’t have rogers cable…….anyone got the details on that one??

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:44 PM | Permalink | |

**Via CBC New Brunswick**
Show me the money, expat New Brunswicker tells Lord

I understand that the Lord Governments "Repatriation" program has been deemed a success by the PC spin doctors because they "exceeded" their own targets. Government numbers indicate 800 people returned over the last three years.

So let’s look. First, how many were returning anyway for their own reasons? Were they counted in this number? Next, how many of the 800 stayed after they came back. And the biggest question I have is, how many others have left during that same period??

I'll commend Bernard Lord for trying. Problem is, I believe we need some real changes here in NB to make it happen. Simply creating a few jobs and telling NB'ers in Alberta that it's all roses at home don't cut it.

You see, we've all heard the horror stories about the people that go out to Alberta, and work 7 days a week and live in the camps. But make no mistake, there are many, many others who do very, very well, who while they miss New Brunswick, see no future here for them in the foreseeable future, due to the lack of high paying jobs, to match their skills. I personally have 5 very close friends who fit in this category. How do we "repatriate" these people?? They would love to come home……but the question they will inevitably ask is…..come home for what???

Lord's plan to try and get some mfg. jobs setup doing outsource work for Alberta firms is a good one. There is some of this happening right now in the province. Question is, is even that enough?? Personally I don't believe so.

What needs to happen of course is creating jobs that will appeal to people as long term, that they can build a future on here in NB, not simply a year or two of steady work. How do we do that??

Bingo!

If I knew that, I’d run for Premier……… lol.

In the meantime, beware of the "spin" being tossed out on this one.........it's really not as good as it sounds.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:34 PM | Permalink | |

Leaders Debate:
Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006
7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (AT)
to be broadcast on CBC Television, CBC Radio, and CBC.ca.

Got a question you want answered by the party leaders that may help you decide what party gets your vote??

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CBC Leaders Debate

I Plan on being on hand debate night on the live chat.......hope to see you here.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:07 PM | Permalink | |