Liberal Leadership Convention: Live Chat/Speech Coverage

Via Scott at Progressive Bloggers, you're all welcome to join the live IRC chat at irc.oftc.net, channel #canada. If you use Firefox and have never tried using IRC before, just download Chatzilla, open it, type /server irc.oftc.net in the box and then /join #canada. There are also many other IRC clients available such as mIRC. Just find one, download it and come and join us. Scott is on the scene and is providing the inside scoop.

The candidates speeches are about to get underway as I write this. After one helluva long campaign, the race is finally getting exciting. I'll add updates as things move along.

My impressions of the candidates' speeches:

First up was Martha Hall Findlay: Great speech! Had her hair under control and she looked very prime-ministerial. Quote: 'We need brains, heart and guts and I have all three' (channeling the Wizard of Oz?). She also said that if she was elected as the leader of the party 'Stephen Harper wouldn't know what hit him'. Look for her as a possible future leader of the Liberal party because, unfortunately, she doesn't have the numbers to win this time. She's got the right (or left in this case) stuff. I forgot to add that she chose Bill & Hillary's choice of music: Fleetwood Mac's 'Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow'. Good choice!

Well, you can't exactly call Scott Brison Mr Excitement. That's not his style. His speech mainly focused on civil rights, social progress and the charter at the outset. Quote: 'Legacy is the child of purpose'. (I'll have to meditate on that one.) In the middle of his speech however, a sudden video montage appeared unexpectedly focusing on the environment which was quite the apocalyptic piece. (He should probably leave Al Gore to handle that issue.) Quote: 'If you believe that global warming is real, you're already ahead of Stephen Harper'. Brison then used the rest of his time to talk about environmental policy which is now, of course, the number one concern for Canadians.

Joe Volpe strode up to the podium to the tune of 'Life is a Highway' (no doubt paid for by child contributors) which played while a very long video was shown that had pics of Volpe with reps from every possible minority group he could find (not unlike Stephen Colbert's 'black friend' photo ops). Volpe then tried to give an empassioned speech beginning with his arrival to Canada as an immigrant but it took him a while to get to any actual issues and, even then, the rest of it was quite philosophical and emotional - in a Joe Volpe Mushy ™ kind of way. Face it: Joe loves himself and, as usual, his hair was almost perfectly coiffed. Too much "I, I, I and my, my, my'. Quote: 'Today, we're talking about leadership' (although he wasn't, really). He ended his speechifying with a 'Long live the Liberal party and long live Canada' moment where he damn near broke the podium because he pounded his fist on it so damn hard. Next...

Who doesn't like uncle Ken Dryden? Dryden's opening video highlighted his hockey career (of course). Quote: 'Like an army on ice we marched down south and returned every spring the conquerors.' He then went on to talk about some battle during the 1800s (?) and moved onto the 'Festival du Beouf' (?), another festival out in the west and morphed into an experience he had at a safe injection site in Vancouver. (The connection there escapes me). Standing in front of a 'Canada is Big" banner, I suppose he was trying to wax poetic on that but it was quite disjointed. Ken isn't a policy wonk, however. He's a philosophical teddy bear and, really, who doesn't love Ken? During the last bit of speech, he found that trademark Dryden Passion™ and the crowd roared (aided by one of those annoying hockey-type air horns). Quote: 'I'm not sure these Conservatives even like Canada'. (Amen). He then continued to pillory the Conservatives very effectively while talking about the differences between this crop of neocon-like Cons, the former PC party and liberal philosophy. Quote: 'This is a country, not an ideology'. This was probably one of the best speeches I've ever seen him give which he ended with 'I want my Canada back!' as his time ran out and the music began to play. Bravo, Ken!

Next up: Stephane Dion. Bolstered by a very noisy bunch of supporters, Dion got on stage (sans a video montage) and dug right into his speech. He started out by ripping Harper apart, calling Harper a 'control freak' and saying that Harper is so Bush-like that Bush should be getting royalties. (heh) His command of English was good (for those concerned about that issue), he was predicatbly passionate as he went on to speak about Canada's role in the world, focusing on 'the junction between the economy and the environment'. Quote: 'Yes, my fellow Liberals: the world needs Canada and, under my leadership, Canada will not fail the world.' Quote: 'The NDP do not understand the market economy and the Conservatives do not understand social justice'. Dion was also played off the stage by the music signalling that he'd gone overtime (not unlike the scene at the Academy Awards each year) but he gave a good, focused speech.

Gerard Kennedy's quick little video montage began with a swipe at how the pundits sometimes get things wrong with references to Trudeau and John A MacDonald. Justin Trudeau then introduced Kennedy whose theme music was 'Right Here, Right Now' (by Jesus Jones). He's chopped a considerable amount of his hair the past couple on months! Quote: 'I fought the 1999 election against the same bunch of neoconservatives that we now face in Ottawa'. Kennedy gave a very forceful, well-written speech that successfully covered virtually every policy issue of importance. Quote: 'I would be proud to be the first Liberal leader born and raised in western Canada' (he has a lot of support out here in Alberta). He spoke of his time working at a food bank out here and addressed poverty issues (more than the other candidates so far). Overall, it was a very solid, prime-ministerial sounding speech as well. Good job. I couldn't hear his French, so I can't judge if it's improved or not. One bright spot: he didn't get cut off at the end by the music.

Enter Bob Rae whose performance started off with a very muted type of video featuring endorsements from MPs and people who support him, along with a quick trip down memory lane - probably the best-produced video so far. Unlike the other candidates, Rae chose not to stand in front of a podium giving his speech a more 'heart to heart' feel. When he began speaking he referenced two quotes from 'the rabbi' about being there for everyone, not just himself (which may be viewed by some as pandering to the Jewish community). His speech was quite personal as he detailed his involvement in the restructuring of the Red Cross after the tainted blood scandal, his meeting with former PM Martin and 9/11 victims families and his work on the Air India file. Rae came across as being quite humbled by the opportunity to run for the leadership position and the confessional style of his speech addressed where he thinks he fits in the Liberal party. Quote: 'It's not about me. It's about us and it's about the country'. The vision he spoke about for Canada had to do with Canada's place in the world, focused on conflict resolution, along with addressing Canada's social problems, economic stability, the environment and referenced a strong future for Quebec. Rae's a very talented speaker who gave his speech without referring to notes or a teleprompter. Good job!


Michael Ignatieff had a video presentation that one IRC chatter said was almost as long as a feature film and may well be up for a Genie next year. He then left himself with about 10 minutes for speechifying and could it have been any more sleep-inducing?? It was one of the most boring speeches of the nite (next to Brison's) without any really memorable moments although he did say 'Let's win some seats in Alberta'. (Good luck with that!) His philospher king, weary, John Kerry-like style of speaking very slowly while trying to impart his so-called enormous wisdom on the crowd was a bit too laid back for such an energy-charged crowd (besides his die-hard supporters who chanted 'tous ensemble' and 'Canada' along with him at the designated times). Overall, definitely not the best speech of the nite. I expected more.