Ian Welsh , the moderate conservative blogger at Tilting at Windmills and BlogsCanada eGroup , offers these thoughts as the election begins: "I’ve only seen Jack Layton once. It was budget time in Toronto and I thought I’d go watch city council in session. I arrived late in the day, after work, to one of those interminable sessions where citizens give depositions to the city government...." "Most of the people obviously cared a great deal. One man had an entire box of docu...

Horse Race : Good: "A new Ipsos-Reid poll, conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV this week, showed the Liberals falling four percentage points to 35 per cent..." Better: "The Ipsos-Reid poll also shows the New Democratic Party, not the Conservatives, picking up the support that the Liberals are losing...." Best: "The Liberal strategy of painting Conservative Leader Stephen Harper as scary is ineffective because respondents do not think he wil...

As we all know , Liberals and Conservatives launched attack websites against one another this week, StephenHarperSaid.ca and TeamMartinSaid.ca . The Liberals' launched their website in support of a negative ad campaign, meant to get out ahead of Stephen Harper. But the Conservatives taught Team Martin a lesson in quick response: the Tories' site went online Tuesday morning -- just as the major newspaper's began covering the original, Liberal ads. Now the Conservatives have redoub...

Medisys, Paul Martin's private healthcare provider, was apparently amongst those Jean Chrétien threatened to have shutdown in 2000: "Yesterday, echoing earlier warnings by federal Health Minister Alan Rock, Prime Minister Jean Chretien threatened to penalize Quebec and other provinces that allow private clinics to do magnetic resonance imaging." Quoted in defence of two-tier healthcare is one Sheldon Elman, CEO of Medisys and personal physician to Paul Martin : ...

Two weeks ago, Canadians learned that Paul Martin frequents a Montreal based private healthcare provider . It appears, however, that Medisys -- Martin's clinic -- not only provides private medical services, but may be exploiting a Medicare loophole allowing it to practice outright two-tier healthcare. Martin claims that his own treatments at Medisys are all covered under Medicare; however, many patients may not be so lucky. Here's how it works. Medisys offers expensive executive ...

Sy Hersh blows the Abu Ghraib prison torture story wide open. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone approved a black ops interrogation program to used in Iraqi prisons -- a program originally designed for use against high-level Al Qaida terrorists: "The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense ...

My suggestion for a positive NDP ad: Exterior, Parliament Hill. An offset, medium-wide shot of Layton. Bright, blue sky, blown out. LAYTON: I believe that this is the greatest country in the world -- and we have a positive vision for Canada. LAYTON: But most Canadians are working harder than ever, just to get by. And too many are still left behind. LAYTON: We can choose a vision that says: 'This is the best we can do. Some people win, some people lose.' LAYTON: Or,...

This is rich .

My suggestion for a comparative NDP ad: Auditorium. Out of focus crowd in foreground and background. Deep-background lite with deep, dark orange gels. Layton at a podium. Picture letterboxed. LAYTON: [ briskly ] At a time when our hospitals, our students, our cities, our environment are being straved... LAYTON: At a time when our world is in chaos... LAYTON: The new Liberal Party promised us a 'bold new vision'... LAYTON: [ amused ] Is this it? LAYTON: [ calml...

My suggestion for a negative NDP ad: CHYRON: [ blue on black ] "Blue Liberal" Blue tint, blue trim, waving blue Canadian flag. Upbeat music. VOICE OVER: Prime Minister Paul Martin. VOICE OVER: Conservative MP Scott Brison has joined his team. B-roll of Paul Martin with Scott Brison. VOICE OVER: Former Conservative Premier Ernie Eves says 'He gets it'. B-roll of Martin and Eves. Blue trim still waving. VOICE OVER: And Alberta's chief Conservative Ralph K...

What's great about having a blog is that you can say whatever the hell you want. Usually that means trumpeting your opinions to the world, no matter how asinine. So, in that very spirit, this week I'll be presenting my ideas for New Democratic Party ads for the up coming election. Over the next three days I'll post hypothetical scripts a negative, a comparative and a positive ad. They focus on the NDP's theme of making a positive choice -- contrasting it with Paul Martin's lack of vi...

Our healthcare system is unsustainable! It's one of those senseless memes, repeated so often it seems entirely senseable. Well, contrary to all manner of political blather, our healthcare system is actually a veritable picture of sustainability. The Canadian healthcare debate has been hijacked, taken over by partisan hacks. These guys have got an agenda, but no Google to back it up. Research is manipulated, economics are disregarded and politics are pursued at the cost of...

A little overboard, but worth the read : "NDP Leader Jack Layton and the coyote character in the Road Runner cartoon have a lot in common these days." "Over the past 18 months, momentum has propelled the NDP forward." "But a sizeable amount of running on thin air is involved in the process. In classic Looney Tunes tradition, gravity could kick in before the party reaches safety on the other side of the election abyss."

How could any decent human being want to 'limit' this scandal ? "The publication of more photos showing the abuse and degradation of prisoners in Iraq prompted U.S. President George W. Bush to apologize Thursday for the humiliation they had suffered." "The new photos threaten U.S. efforts to limit a scandal spiralling out of control. They come amid reports from the International Committee for the Red Cross that its officials were worried about activities at Abu Ghraib prison, ...

Liberal Attack Ad : "If Stephen Harper becomes PM you'll have two healthcare options: Be rich. Or don't get sick." Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew : "If some provinces want to experiment with private delivery options, my view is that as long as [provinces] respect the single, public payer, we should be examining these efforts and then compare notes between the provinces." Former Health Minister Anne McLellan : "My view of this is: Does corporate s...