September 29, 2008 Election News Clips Edmonton
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 ELECTION NEWS CLIPS EDMONTON JOURNAL 1. NDP official Opposition? 2. Harper's vow to ban exports of raw bitumen spectacularly rude 3. Vote-swapping websites target city ridings 4. Election's 'sacrificial lambs' out to make a difference 5. NDP to tax corporations to aid families 6. Communist sees elections as learning opportunity CALGARY HERALD 7. Harper stands by Calgary Tory, cites 'ridiculous, gotcha journalism' 8. Voters want cure to waits, staffing 9. Alberta Greens buffeted by power struggle GLOBE AND MAIL 10. Majority movement gains speed as Harper's lead soars 11. Harper says no to abortion debate 12. The Tories get a little culture shock from Quebeckers - and the Bloc EDMONTON JOURNAL 1. NDP official Opposition? New poll shows Liberal support crumbling, Conservatives heading to victory David Akin, Canwest News Service Published: Saturday, September 27 OTTAWA -Support for the federal Liberal party is crumbling, so much so that the New Democratic Party appears to have a realistic chance of forming the official Opposition, according to a new poll commissioned exclusively for Canwest News Service and Global National. The poll, by Ipsos Reid, indicates that the Conservatives are cruising toward victory and, barring a significant stumble by Stephen Harper during next week's debates or some other cataclysm by the Tories, the only question appears to be whether Harper will have a majority or a stronger minority government. "What's happening right now is that both the Conservatives and the NDP have given voters very good, affirmative reasons for voting for them," said Darrell Bricker, Ipsos CEO. "People who are opposed to the agenda Stephen Harper is eventually going to bring to Canada are finding a very happy home in the NDP. For the Conservatives, it's not that they're growing so much, it's that the Liberals are falling apart." Thirty-nine per cent of the respondents said they would vote Conservative, about the same number as a similar poll a week ago. Just 23 per cent of respondents said they would vote Liberal, a drop of four percentage points in a week, while 18 per cent would pick the NDP, a gain for that party of three percentage points. Support for the Green party also climbed in the week, by two percentage points to 11 per cent. In the 2006 federal election, the Conservatives received 36 per cent of the popular vote compared to 30 per cent for the Liberals, 17 per cent for the NDP and five per cent for the Greens. Liberals will be looking to next week's debate and the final two weeks of campaigning to avoid recording that party's lowest level of support on election day in modern history -- in 1984, then leader John Turner won just 28 per cent of the popular vote, good enough for only 40 MPs. Bricker said that the Liberal vote is fracturing in many parts of the country, with those on the right side of the party -- a Paul Martin liberal, for example -- drifting to the Conservatives. Meanwhile, those on the left side of the party -- a Lloyd Axworthy liberal -- are heading for the NDP. "The Liberal vote is evaporating," said Bricker. Ipsos Reid surveyed 1,000 Canadians by phone between Tuesday and Thursday. It says the national voter intention results are accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20. The survey's regional results use a smaller sample and, as a result, have a greater margin of error. The top issues in this election, as identified by survey respondents, are the economy, health care and taxes -- issues where the Ipsos survey finds that more Canadians believe Harper has the best policies. In fact, when it comes health care, more Canadians think Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton could do a better job than Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. On the environment -- the one issue that Dion has been most closely associated with since he became party leader -- just as many Canadians think the Liberal leader has the best policies in that area as those who believe Harper does. Both Harper and Dion, though, rank behind Green Leader Elizabeth May when Canadians are asked which party leader would be best for the environment. The poll also finds that Liberals are doing particularly poorly in British Columbia, where they are now in a statistical tie with the Greens, behind both the Conservatives and the NDP. Ipsos found that 42 per cent of respondents in B.C. would vote Conservative, 31 per cent would vote NDP, 13 per cent would vote Liberal and 12 per cent would vote Green. The Conservatives are the leading federalist party in every region of the country except Atlantic Canada. In the four maritime provinces, the Liberals are the choice of 40 per cent of voters, followed by the Conservatives and NDP, both at 26 per cent, and the Greens at six per cent. That result may be particularly bad news for May, who is running against Conservative MP and Defence Minister Peter MacKay in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova. In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois has widened its lead over the second-place Conservatives. Ipsos said the Bloc has the support of 32 per cent of voters, compared to 24 per cent for the Tories, 20 per cent for the Liberals and 18 per cent for the NDP. In Ontario, a province where the Liberals must do well if they hope to hold Harper to a minority, let alone win a government, the Conservatives are widening their lead. They are now the pick of 41 per cent of voters in Canada's most populous province. The Liberals are preferred by 28 per cent of Ontarians; the NDP is at 16 per cent and the Greens are at 13 per cent. © The Edmonton Journal 2008 2. Harper's vow to ban exports of raw bitumen spectacularly rude PM's 'poorly considered' cowboy act in Calgary--home of oil-industry honchos -- leaves Alberta Tories gobsmacked Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal Published: Saturday, September 27 On Friday, Stephen Harper blew into Calgary and made a brief and most extraordinary announcement. If re-elected, Harper pledged, his government would ban exports of raw bitumen to any country that failed to conform with Canadian carbon emission reduction standards, including the U.S. His plan, he said, would keep upgrading investment and jobs in Canada, and make sure that no one circumvented Canadian environmental rules by shipping bitumen abroad for processing. Greening of protectionism However appealing its environmental trappings, it's a pledge that may well violate both the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Canadian constitution. And it's a plan Harper unveiled without notifying or consulting the government of Alberta, which has jurisdiction over the oilsands. "This is perhaps the most risky economic policy statement I've ever heard," says Barry Appleton, a Toronto-based trade lawyer and academic, and one of North America's leading authorities on NAFTA. "I have never heard of such a poorly considered policy in my life. It can't be NAFTA consistent, there's no way. We're just trying to 'green up' what is clearly a protectionist policy." Appleton says the Harper plan would potentially violate both Section 6 of the NAFTA, which governs the energy sector, and Section 11, which deals with foreign investment. Worst of all, he says, it could reopen the trade agreement, a dangerous thing at a time when the American economy is reeling and protectionist sentiment in the U.S. is high. Appleton likens it to throwing a lighted match into an oilsands tailings pond. "Congress despises the NAFTA. It's a five-letter word, but it's the dirtiest four-letter word in Washington. The last thing we want to do is to start playing risky trade politics in the middle of an already inflamed U.S. debate." Right now, about 30 per cent of Alberta's bitumen is exported to the United States, to be upgraded and refined, with more exports in the works. China target of proposed ban The new rules, Harper confirmed, could mean that his government would forbid the export of raw bitumen to future Asian markets, such as China. It seems the ban would not effect current agreements to export bitumen to the United States. It might, however, mean that any future exports could be forbidden, until the American government brings its emission standards in line with Canada's. On Friday, industry minister Jim Prentice played down concerns about U.S. exports, suggesting a new U.S. government would soon bring emission-reduction standards in line with Canada's. But while it's true that we probably will end up with harmonized North American regulations before too long, Harper's plan is still protectionist on its face -- a terrible long-term strategy in the current international economic climate. On top of that, let it be said, the bitumen doesn't technically belong to the government of Canada. Under Canadian law, natural resources fall squarely under provincial jurisdiction. That's what makes Harper's cowboy act so extraordinary. Leaving aside the NAFTA implications, Harper totally blindsided his provincial Conservative counterparts. In an act of breathtaking political discourtesy, Harper arrived in Calgary to make a policy promise with radical consequences for Alberta's economy, and the constitutional division of powers, without any advance notice or consultation -- at least according to Alberta's deputy premier and minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations, Ron Stevens. "I'd never heard about it before. No one's talked to us about it before," Stevens told me Friday.