Tory Attack ads target Bloc Quebecois on crime issue

The Tories are experts at pandering to irrational fear and tainting any party that dare criticise their hard line views on crime. In this case the PQ was defending the right of judges to use their discretion. Cases often vary considerably in their details and depending on circumstances a more severe or lighter sentence would be reasonable. But not for the Tories.



New Tory attack ads target Bloc Quebecois on crime issue
The Canadian Press
The federal Conservatives have launched a new series of attack ads targeting the Bloc Quebecois on the crime issue.
The message features a blurry picture of a small boy leaving a park hand-in-hand with an older man while a nearby swing sits empty.
The campaign targets the Bloc as the only party to vote against a bill in April imposing minimum sentences for the trafficking of children.
The ad also states the Bloc prefers `sweet deals for criminals' and accuses Bloc MPs of voting `against the protection of children.'
Quebec Conservative MP Steven Blaney says the ads denounce the fact that the Bloc is voting against the values of Quebecers.
But Bloc MP and whip Michel Guimond says the party voted against Bill C-268 because it prevents judges from exercising discretion.

Duceppe gets nearly 95% leadership confidence vote.

This is from the Star.

The Bloc is obviously not suffering any leadership crisis. Many pundits keep predicting the demise of the party and Duceppe but it would seem that the Bloc is still alive and kicking. With Harper now abandoning Quebec it would seem and the Liberals supporting the Tory budget that neglects Quebec the Bloc can look to a bright future.

Gilles Duceppe gets nearly 95% on Bloc leadership confidence vote
January 31, 2009 THE CANADIAN PRESS
ST-HYACINTHE, Que.–Gilles Duceppe has received an overwhelming 94.8 per cent support from his party in a confidence vote on his leadership.
Today's result at a Bloc meeting in St-Hyacinthe, Que., falls just short of the 95.4 per cent support he got in October 2007.
Duceppe targeted Michael Ignatieff's Liberals today, saying they were turning their backs on Quebec.
Duceppe likened Ignatieff to his federalist and centralist predecessors and promised the Bloc would take him on as they did former Liberal leaders Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.
His speech marked a 180-degree change in his attitude towards the Grits since last December when he promised to support a coalition between the NDP and the Liberals.

Bloc regaining support in Quebec.

This is from the Winnipeg Sun.
The Bloc may help prevent the Conservatives from gaining a majority but the debate tonight may perhaps change things a bit. However, Duceppe is an excellent and experienced debater.
The Harris Decima poll cited does not really show much change federally from other recent polls.
However the Quebec poll shows a thirteen percent lead over the Tories.

OTTAWA — The Bloc Quebecois is regaining support that eroded in mid-campaign, offering a new Quebec challenge to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a new poll suggests.
Nationally, however, the Conservative lead over the Liberals has risen to 12 points.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey puts the Tories at 36 per cent in popular support, with the Liberals off slightly at 24 per cent.
The NDP is at 17 per cent — off a percentage point — while the Greens are steady at 11 per cent and the Bloc is up a point at 10 per cent
The changes are within the poll’s margin of error.
In Quebec, with a higher margin of error, the Bloc leads with 40 per cent, a gain of three points, while the Tories trail at 27 per cent and the Liberals at 15.
The poll put the NDP in fourth place at 11 per cent support and the Greens at five per cent.
Harper’s get-tough promises on crime — especially a pledge to make life sentences available for 14 year olds — and his cuts to culture spending seem to have undermined his early gains in Quebec and revitalized the Bloc.
The data indicates that the televised debates will be high-stakes proposition for all the party leaders, said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson.
“For Mr. Harper, a majority is quite plausible, but to achieve it, he needs to stop a resurgent Bloc and ideally further depress Liberal support in Ontario,” he said.
Green Leader Elizabeth May has a chance to solidify her support and Jack Layton of the NDP needs to translate his high personal ratings into gains for his party, Anderson said.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion faces the biggest debate challenge, he added.
“He simply cannot afford to lose more ground; he must weaken the Conservatives, recapture support lost to the NDP and co-opt Green party support.”
The national poll surveyed a total of 1,266 people Sunday through Tuesday and is considered accurate to within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Bloc lists Demands for support of Throne Speech

It seems almost certain the Bloc will not be able to support the throne speech. The Conservatives will not support Kyoto nor will they undertake to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2009. The question now is whether the Liberals and NDP will also vote against the speech. The NDP might as well force an election now after doing well in
Quebec. It will be interesting to see how they do in Ontario.
Dion might be well off to fight an election campaign now before things get worse for him. He has always been underestimated and that may be the case now. The Bloc seems to be fading somewhat but at least Duceppe does not seem to fear an election.

Bloc to outline demands for supporting throne speech
Last Updated: Saturday, September 22, 2007 | 9:41 AM ET
CBC News
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is set to outline five conditions he says the federal government must accept if it wants his party's support for the Oct. 16 throne speech.

In a speech obtained by the Canadian Press and to be delivered to Bloc members Saturday in Rimouski, Que., Duceppe concedes that he has taken a hardline position that increases the possibility of a general election this fall.

Duceppe is said to be seeking a clear commitment that Canadian soldiers will leave Afghanistan when the mission ends in February 2009.

The NDP has long been demanding the withdrawal of Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan. On Friday, NDP Leader Jack Layton said his party will wait to hear the throne speech before deciding how to vote.

The Bloc's other conditions for supporting the throne speech kicking off a new session of Parliament call for:

The elimination of all federal spending powers in provincial jurisdictions.
The government to respect the Kyoto Protocol.
The continuation of supply management in the agriculture sector.
Promises to help Quebec's battered forestry industry.
The Bloc leader's comments are to be made two days after Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, the Conservatives' Quebec lieutenant, told reporters that Duceppe is "not useful" in Ottawa.


Cannon also said Duceppe's party, founded to promote Quebec sovereignty, doesn't play a "vital role" and hasn't "delivered anything" for the province.

The pressure will be on the Liberals or the NDP to support the Conservatives if they don't want the government to lose the vote on the throne speech.

Since the Tories were elected in January 2006, the Bloc has helped the minority government survive three confidence votes, including two on federal budgets.

Last Monday, the Conservatives won one of three byelections in Quebec, capturing a Bloc stronghold. The Bloc also won a riding, but by a much smaller margin than expected, while the Conservatives were close behind.

Current standings in the 308-seat Commons are: Conservatives 126; Liberals 96; Bloc 49, NDP 30; three Independents and four vacancies.