Free Republic

During the recent parliamentary crisis, a Liberal MP's constituent proposed the governor-general appoint "a fellow aristocrat, His Highness Count Ignatieff" to form an alternative government. It was tongue-in-cheek advice. But, as in all good humour, it contained kernels of truth. If it weren't for nearly a century of history since the Bolshevik Revolution, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff would be a count today; perhaps living on the grand estate bequeathed to his ancestors by Catherine the Great, Empress of all the Russias. That's a big if, of course. In fact, the Mestchersky country palace, where his grandmother Natasha was born a...

OTTAWA - The political line in the sand -- the one that will divide Liberals and Conservatives in the next election -- was clearly drawn with Stephane Dion's first question as Official Opposition leader. It was not so much that Mr. Dion wanted to know why Prime Minister Stephen Harper had closed a dozen Status of Women offices, but the way he punctuated his question: "Is it not to cripple those who dare challenge his neo-conservative ideology?" That theme -- the Liberals as compassionate, caring centrists vs. cold-hearted, hard-nosed Conservatives -- threaded itself through the Liberal attacks during Monday's Question...

MONTREAL - The Liberals would easily be beaten by Stephen Harper's Conservatives -- no matter which of the four main leadership contenders headed the party -- if an election was held now, a new poll has found. The poll, conducted by Ipsos Reid for CanWest News Service/Global News and released yesterday, also found that none of the four leading candidates has caught fire among Canadians as someone who would persuade them to vote Liberal. In fact, they all stand about the same chance of attracting voters back to the Liberal fold, but the result would nonetheless be another election loss....

Liberals still don't know why they lost: Party feels no need to discipline Joe Volpe for his questionable election practices The Edmonton Journal Sun 11 Jun 2006 Page: A18 Section: Opinion Byline: Lorne Gunter The federal Liberals still just do not get it. They cannot come to grips with what it is about their ethics and attitude that finally put off enough voters to dislodge them from power last January. Yes, I'm talking about Joe Volpe, the Toronto MP and leadership candidate who took $27,000 in campaign donations from five children; money he has since returned. But I am...

WINNIPEG - The Liberal leadership race lost its veneer of civility Saturday as the 11 contenders locked horns over Afghanistan and campaign financing and began sharpening their attacks on the perceived front-runner, Michael Ignatieff. Toronto MP Joe Volpe, struggling to recover from a kiddie campaign donation controversy, heralded the more aggressive tone at a news conference just hours before the first official all-candidates' debate. He announced that he will disclose all donations to his campaign in future as they are received and challenged his rivals to do the same or "bow out of the race." Volpe cast himself as the...

As a party eager to shake off its recent history of governance and ethical scandals, the Liberals had a bad week. A major fraud conviction served to remind Canadians of the sponsorship scandal that helped dislodge them from power last January. Their parliamentary caucus expelled a senator from its ranks after he was found to have abused his tax-funded expense account. Toronto MP Joe Volpe remained adamant that he had done nothing wrong while raising money for his leadership bid and would not quit the race despite mounting pressure on him to withdraw. And the Canadian Press news agency uncovered...

Volpe returns controversial donations View Larger Image Joe Volpe. Photograph by : Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward Article Tools OTTAWA -- Joe Volpe has moved to quell a controversy battering his Liberal leadership campaign, announcing Thursday he's returned $27,000 in donations from the children of current and former drug company executives. Volpe spokesman Corey Hobbs said contributions from five donors, all under age 18, have been returned. Each had given $5,400, the legal maximum. Hobbs would not name the donors who've been reimbursed. But they presumably include the 11-year-old twins and 14-year-old son of former Apotex Inc. vice-president Allen Shechtman. Volpe will...

Only three years ago, Canada's Liberal Party was seen as destined to play the same apparently invincible role in the 21st century as it played throughout the 20th, but it has now slid into so deep a malaise that current speculation centers on whether it will survive at all. No fewer than 11 candidates are contesting the leadership left vacant by the resignation of Prime Minister Paul Martin following his defeat in last January's election, but not one of them has a powerful national profile. Nor have any of them the long experience of office that characterized most previous Liberal...