Read it here or here : "Mr. Clement took a similar tack, explicitly targeting Ms. Stronach for a recent interview in which she waffled on whether she might be willing to consider two-tier health care, in which those who could afford it would be able to opt out of the public medicare system." "That's the kind of indecision the party can't afford, said Mr. Clement. 'We will not have a second chance to make a first impression on Canadian voters.'" Stephen Harper's far more...

Puzzling and repetitive non-sequiturs from Belinda Stronach. In a debate outside her own party -- with people who weren't concerned about being 'nice' to each other -- she'd be eaten alive. (2:46pm)

Tony Clement is reading my fucking mind! (2:28pm)

Good, God. What with all the screaming? From the crowd, from the candidates -- it's weird. Stronach's answering French questions in English, but she's still gonna win Québec! (2:25pm)

The Conservative Party's two leading candidates have clear cases to be made in today's debate. Stephen Harper must make the case that, with election actually in play, the party must select an experienced leader that can be Prime Minister. Belinda Stronach must make the case that, with election actually in play, the party must select a moderate leader that can attract moderate voters. Things are more difficult for Tony Clement. As 'everybody's second choice' Clement must try to c...

Don at Revolutionary Moderation takes care of this , so I don't have to: "Klein ... said he is willing to step outside of the Canada Health Act to control health costs even if it means being denied federal health care dollars." --via The CBC "Would you consider permitting people who wanted to step outside the publicly funded system to avail themselves of private care, if they so chose?" "'I do respect Canadians' freedom to choose, and it's something we could ...

Read it here : "[T]he Prime Minister's advisers have settled on the unprecedented strategy of sending Martin to the front line rather than take evasive action, or let foot soldiers bear the brunt of the assault." "It is a high-risk gambit that has some shaking their heads in dismay, including many Liberals. Their recent body language, to put it mildly, has not always been in sync with that of the Prime Minister."

During Paul Martin's leadership campaign, Liberal membership in B.C. quintuples (including dead golden retrievers). Martin says nothing until irregularities are noticed by the media. The Liberal government reports that Paul Martin's company has received only $137,000 in government contracts (instead of $161 million). Martin says nothing until the opposition forces the issue months later. Paul Martin's colleagues misspend $100 million of public money to enrich Liberal supporters. M...

Ipsos-Reid : "A honeymoon-ending poll, conducted immediately after the release of Auditor-General Sheila Fraser's report, shows the new government dropped nine percentage points this month, down to 39 per cent of decided voters, from 48 per cent in January..." "The Conservatives saw their support jump to 24 per cent, from 19 per cent, while the NDP nudged upward by two percentage points to 18 per cent." COMPAS : "The opinion poll found that most people blamed Mr. ...

Some may quible. They'll say that one shouldn't answer that one is " not a military expert " when asked about contributing Canadians soldiers to the invasion of Iraq -- at least not if one is a candidate for Prime Minister. But, nevertheless, I hereby throw my unconditional support behind Belinda Stronach for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. I have reasons, three: Non-Threatening: Belinda probably won't engender enough fear amongst the masses to cost the NDP many vo...

What do all these scandals have in common? Of course, they all involve Paul Martin's Liberals and a lot of money, but what else? In each case, while no one thinks the Prime Minister is guilty of corruption, the people around him seemed to be just that. Paul Martin is the "hear-no-evil, see-no-evil" Prime Minister. Martin has suffled off same-sex marriage to the supreme court, B.C. scandals to the RCMP, CSL to the Auditor-General and Maher Arar and the sponsorship scandal to ...

Cybergeeks may know Ian Capstick best as the blogger at Stick & Stones -- know him now as a New Democrat: "Capstick says he's defecting because he's among thousands of disaffected left-wing Liberals." "'I know Liberals from coast to coast to coast, and they're unhappy with the way the government has moved into things such as national missile defence.'"

Another word about the public-private partnership story below . P3s are likely to be far more lucrative than normal government construction contracts -- as they include management, maintenance and ownership of projects. So, pursuing such contracts with major campaign contributors makes the optics of this affair seem gastly, to say the least. But Paul Martin has also put an MP, John McKay, in charge of pushing for such deals -- which puts McKay at the centre of handing out government co...

In a stunning oversight I failed to link to Ed Broadbent's campaign blog. Well folks, better late than never.

Sheila Copps find a new angle , tying Martin to scandal: "'Realistically, Treasury Board would have discussed it, and he was the vice-chair of Treasury Board,' she said. "The safeguards that would have prevented the misuse of public money resided at Treasury Board and at Finance, where Martin served as minister, she added." As the less-than-well-informed comment that -- as Minister of Finance -- Paul Martin should have 'known where the money was', Copps makes an interesting...