Martin Appeals for the Out-of-Touch-with-Reality Vote

Polls seem to be tightening, including, now, Strategic Council. Most likely result is now a Tory minority government.

On the other hand, Ekos does not show the race tightening; it shows the Harper lead still growing. Ekos principal Darrell Bricker claims it is not tightening (Andrew Coyne), and Strategic Council’s result is apparently based on arbitrarily dropping a day from their survey sample (and boosting their margin of error). Odd that they would do that; they may have lost their nerve due to the disparity with other polls.

So it’s still a bit of an open question.



From David Crane in the Star:

“… how would Harper re-order Canada's priorities? Based on the Conservative platform, there is little attention to the issues of innovation and the knowledge-based economy, our biggest economic challenge, despite the fact that Canada faces a major business and jobs restructuring from intensified global competition and rapid technological change.”

This assumes that it is up to government to pick and support economic winners. And why would government be better at that than the free market? Has it ever been in the past?

Wanna buy a used Bricklin?


From Paul Martin (via Torstar):

“Citing Harper's statement that a Conservative government, even if it was a majority, would not have ‘absolute power’ because of Liberal-appointed judges and senators, Martin said the Tory leader's attitude toward power is cause for grave concern. ‘Who talks that way? Who thinks that way?’”

John Locke and Thomas Jefferson come to mind…

Is the doctrine of separation of powers now on the PC speech code forbidden list? It’s this kind of obligatory denial of obvious reality that keeps me living abroad.


Martin is campaigning today in the Toronto area. Again, this is not a good sign for him. Toronto was his safest area.


The Star again:

“Martin also raised questions about whether a Conservative government might countenance new legislation to outlaw abortion. To do so, Martin quoted a remark by Harper, who on Wednesday was asked by a Global television interviewer to confirm that under a Tory government there would never be a free vote in Parliament on abortion. ‘Never is a long time,’ Harper had replied.

Martin said his party would make an open-ended promise not to endanger ‘a woman's right to choose’ on abortion.”


I can’t see why this would be a winning issue for Martin. Most of the Canadian population wants some kind of restriction on abortion.

And of course, it is simply dishonest for a politician to make such a pledge. Never? No matter how public opinion shifts? He has pledged not to do so in the life of this parliament. That is all any reasonable, as opposed to fanatical, voter could want.

Are the majority of Canadians really, as the Liberals believe, fanatics?

I guess in a few days we’ll find out.