On the move!
Agh! You’re still here? My new site and weblog, ianking.ca is now up and running; new posts are building up over there, never to be mirrored here. Go! What are you waiting for? All the stuff worth keeping has been migrated over to the new server, and I don’t anticipate making any more posts here.
Bloggers and webmasters: Update your links! Simply replace vancouverscrum.blogspot.com with www.ianking.ca in your blogrolls or bookmarks to point to the new site. Old posts will remain on this server for as long as the people at Blogger/Google allow them to remain; unfortunately, I’m not going to bother to come up with any way of converting permalinks on this blog to their corresponding posts on the new site. Yes, I plead laziness. I also realize the irony of switching away from Blogger just it starts to add features that the demanding blog nerds insist upon.
Thanks for reading and linking, and see you over at ianking.ca!
—Ian King, December 13, 2004
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993, is encouraging New Brunwick premier Bernard Lord to run for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives.
Mulroney said of Lord:
"I think he's an extremely talented young man... He's been a very successful premier. He's knowledgeable. He's hard-working. He has a good style. He's approachable and he's close to the people"
Well, I do happen to think the same of Mr. Lord.
It's true that Mulroney is still regarded warmly within the federal Tories, and the resentment that Canadians had of him when he left office has dissipated somewhat. Nonetheless, he's still a controversial and polarizing figure in Canadian politics.
This reminds me of the endorsement given NDP leadership hopeful Jack Layton by controversial NDP MP Svend Robinson, or Hedy Fry's endorsement of Paul Martin for Liberal Party leader. Endorsements from the likes of Fruy or Robinson might mean something, but you might not want word to get out -- some might think "well, that nutjob supports so-and-so, so maybe I shouldn't!"
As for Lord, I must say that I was impressed by his performance at last week's Tory convention. His speech on the convention's opening day gave the vision of a sort of conservatism -- a less ideologically diven, socially progressive one where there is opportunity for all to improve their lot in life -- that can be appreciated by those centrists who have voted Liberal in the last three elections. When you talk of low tax rates on small corporations, and the idea of nobody on minimum wage having to pay provincial income tax, these are ideas that appeal across the spectrum.
I remember one person saying of the conservative dilemma, "It's not about uniting the right; we have to seduce the centre." Bingo! Lord's steady approach may not be the ideal for ideologues, but it's what can appeal to enough Liberal voters to make them switch.
Reports, opinions, columns, and anything else on this site, are © 2002-2003 Ian King unless otherwise noted. Permission granted to use material on this site for non-commercial purposes provided that the work is attributed to the original author. All other uses require specific permission of the original author. Contact weblog owner with any inquiries.
Feel free to link to this web log. The management likes getting lots of traffic.
