Liberal Women: Tough….except for when they don’t have to be
March 15, 2007 · By Aaron Unruh
The Liberal Party is currenty working through the logistics of finding safe seats in which to install members of its “Dream Team” in time for the next election. By Liberal safe seats, of course, I mean seats in the city of Toronto. Following Kennedy and Rae in downtown Toronto, the latest is Martha Hall-Findlay in Willowdale:
Martha Hall Findlay has been handed the plum Toronto riding of Willowdale to make her bid for a seat in the House of Commons in the next election.
Liberals love to point out how tough and promising Hall-Findlay is. Why, her last name is even hypthenated! But if she is so tough, why then couldn’t she win the nomination on her own? Why the need for Dion’s patronizing pat atop her head? Because she’s a woman? Tell that to Sheila Copps.
Meanwhile, the Liberal association in Willowdale remains on bended knee before the Marquis de Dion. It’s one thing for constituency associations to have their right to nominate candidates deprived from them by the party leader. But it’s quite another to willingly accept such an indignity:
Willowdale Federal Liberal Riding Association President Joanne Pratt said the riding association voted overwhelmingly in favour of Hall Findlay’s appointment.
Pratt must be another one of these tough women the Liberal Party loves to brag about.
I have to agree with you here. If she’s such a star, why is opening up the nomination such a big deal?
Shouldn’t Garth Turner be protesting this?
“Shouldn’t Garth Turner be protesting this?”
Good point.
He must have missed the news.
Another non-issue. All parties parachute their star candidates into easy ridings, and override the wishes of the local riding association and constituents whenever they see fit.
Emerson, Khan, Stronach, Turner, Harper, etc. etc. And each party is outraged when the other does it.
Abattoir, that’s simply not true. I know the Conservatives hold nominations races even for sitting MPs.
Why can’t Martha cut it with her own riding members?
Conservatives - Honourable. Liberals - not.
Dion’s promised more female candidates. This is the first time I’ve seen him keep a good riding for a female - so far his buddies are getting the safe ridings, leaving female candidates to take the write-off seats in Alberta and elsewhere.
This doesn’t bother me too much. It gives the Conservatives something to fight in that riding.
Justin Trudeau must fight for his nonimation in a riding they currently don’t hold.
Bob Rae is running for his nomination.
Why can’t Hall Finlay?
Because she’s a woman and therefore incapable of doing it on her own? Am I reading this right?
Dennis, I’m sure that for most seats, they have proper nominations. But when the party really needs a particular member in a particular seat, do you think the CPC would actually listen to the constituents?
Ezra Levant ’stepped aside’ for Harper shortly after being selected by his own riding association. Fortier didn’t even try to try to run for office in Montreal. Emerson switched to the CPC right after the election, and the riding association certainly didn’t choose him. The riding association for Halton continued to support Turner right up to the moment his Conservative credentials were revoked.
Glass houses, pots & kettles - pick your metaphor.
Abattoir, you can confuse the issue all you want. The fact of the matter is that Harper does not appoint candidates. Period. Hall Findlay refuses to be challenged. It’s that simple.
Clearly, Dion is running his own party less democratically than Harper is, at least when it comes to selecting candidates.
Come to think of it Dennis, maybe you’re right. I can’t imagine that Harper would ever appoint a candidate improperly.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calga.....ml?ref=rss
Abattoir, you might make light of the point, but I think the Conservatives should be proud of the way they handle nominations — even if there are predictable snags along the way.
Harper doesn’t appoint any candidates, including hand-selected ones. He makes all sitting MPs face their local ridings in a nomination race.
Heck, Garth Turner applauded the process until he was almost bitten in the butt by it.
Liberals feel comfortable appointing candidates and senators — as a matter of routine. Stephan Dion has proven absolutely no different in that regard. Same with Martha Hall Findlay, unfortunately. And this is someone who was in charge of party renewal, too. Wow.