Let me go back briefly to last night’s Dion/Turner town hall in Halton, and then contrast it to what Stephen Harper did. Dion co-hosts a town-hall that had 1400 people show up in what was an open invitation to the public to attend (and everyone was invited to this event - including non-Liberals), takes open questions from the crowd for an hour, and prior to that takes questions from both reporters and bloggers. The questions aren’t screened or controlled.

Now check out what Harper calls “campaigning” while he was down in London:

read more from "Harper calls that campaigning?"

If I look at the various liveblogging that was done during the evening, it appears to have gone very well, with a crowd estimated between 1000 and perhaps 1200 at the event, and the bloggers were right there covering the event and giving good accounts of the goings-on. No apparent protests either, from the sounds of it, which some of the local Conservative rabble were threatening to do.

However, I would like to pass on a minor quibble to the Wingnuterer, which I already did at his one blogpost (or rather, at the blogpost that Impolitical did a guest blogging of) over his otherwise funny, amusing, informative blogposts:

Please, please, PLEASE learn to liveblog into as few blogposts as possible!

Learn the technique from Kady O’Malley if you must, but that way Progressive Bloggers (and Liblogs for that matter, which Wingnuterer is also on) doesn’t then turn into an exclusive Wingnuterer blogsite.

Otherwise, great job I look forward to reading some more blogging accounts later today from these and other bloggers who covered the event.

I’ve just finished participating in an interesting exercise. Yesterday I got an invite to participate in an “on the record” conference call that Stephane Dion was wanting to hold with various bloggers today.  Those who could join the call would be able to hear some remarks he would make, and then he would answer some questions to him if any of us had any for him.

I won’t steal the thunder of all the rest of the bloggers who were on this call and who asked questions  - I’m sure many of them will be posting their own thoughts, and I’m a tad rushed here - but for the specific benefit of Saskboy, whose phone cut out before the end of the conference call, I’ll say to him that Dion did definitely agree that the “10 percenter” fliers that the Conservatives have engaged in are definitely against the spirit of that law, and a definite indictment of this particular government on how it operates, and that some of his MP’s were going to see if they can make the case these violate the law (Saskboy has had 7 of these fliers show up in his mailbox from seven different Cons. MP’s - my sympathies).

I will say that I laud Mr Dion for going ahead and doing this and showing his willingness to interact with us. He made a good point about how younger people today seem to read blogs a lot more then they read or listen or watch traditional media, and that this will be an important medium now and in the future for getting people connected with politics and more involved.

UPDATE@6:48 pm: I should also mention that it sounds like from the folks who organized this that  Dion would be willing to perhaps hold more of these calls, and I think increased blogger participation (ie. inviting more bloggers) or interaction in such a hypothetical future conference call is not out of the cards.

UPDATE 2@11:20pm: Saskboy’s account and James Bowie’s acount of the chitchat are here and here (note that James plagiarized my title )

UPDATE 3@11:30pm: There was one part of the Q & A that Dion said that was very interesting to me that I will bring up. Dion said he has no intention of using attack ads such as the Conservatives have done to him since he became leader and the Liberals in general over things such as the Green Shift. He said the Canadian voters will have a choice whether to support a positive campaign as he intends to run, or a negative campaign as he anticipates the Conservatives will do during an election campaign, and only a campaign will tell which one prevails.

I presume of course that doesn’t mean he and the Liberals aren’t going to point out the shortcomings or be critical of what they perceive to be wrong policies that the Conservatives have implemented - but the methods will probably be more subtle then the sharp attacks the Cons. are doing. At any rate, it’s an admirable stance he takes - we’ll see whether it helps win him and the Liberals an election.

Update 4@ Aug 20, 1:30AM: Liberal Bag with his account of the call.

Update 5@ Aug 20, 11:15 am: Jason with his account here.

UPDATE 6@ 5:16pm: Jamie with his account here.

I thought I’d point out this article by David Graham who resides in Guelph and is also the Liblogs blogging aggregate coder. He was on hand in person to watch Stephane Dion’s appearance in Guelph yesterday, where he drew a very nice crowd and from what David says, a pretty good response. That would seem to be backed up by Steve V who also witnessed the event and came away suitably impressed by what he called “Dion’s authenticity”.

You might also note in David’s blog article the rather dismissive tone the local newspaper, the Guelph Mercury, did on Dion’s event, and which continues at their local blog, which is here. Steve over at his blog also felt the Mercury reporter there was a bit hostile at Dion, which is why Steve made the amusing remark that she seemed to have read the National Post’s drivel and then re-asked the question to Dion.

Regardless, some good blog reporting of the event by 2 bloggers who were there. (I should also note that Joseph Angolano, my sometimes guest blogger at this site, was also there and came away suitably impressed by Dion’s performance).

…basically more or less boils down to Harper making the claim that Dion is lying to Canadians about the details of this plan. Of all the things one can say about Dion, even his opponents have said he was a man of integrity. To pull this line of attack out as a means of trying to discredit the Green Shift is simply in my view a dead-ender for the Cons., but I invite them to try and keep using that attack line if they wish, because all it does is expose the fact that the Conservatives simply have no credible plan of their own to counter with, so they’re reduced to smears and “the sky will fall!” fear-mongering, using an oil-spill as their mascot. I don’t think Canadians will buy it.

As you might guess, plenty of comment on the progressive/Liberal blogosphere today about the Green Shift, as well as the media. Too many to list here, but I was interested in reading this blogpiece by Graheme over at his blog, because while he’s a progressive blogger, he isn’t a Liberal supporter, and he’s pretty non-partisan. He gives the Green Shift a fair assessment and believes overall despite the fact he has some reservations, its a good plan.

To make up your own mind, go to The Greenshift.ca website. You should also read the policy explanation here

As it says over at the website, The time has come to do what is right – not what is easy – for our environment and for our future.

..and one I don’t think is that far from the truth. Go read Aaron Wherry’s perceptions of Dion here.  Perhaps Jim might disagree, with all the animal portrayals he has been doing of late to show his discontent at the official Liberal abstention policy, but personally, I think Wherry’s characterization of Dion is “spot on”.

As for whether the trait that Wherry is associating Dion with is a good or a bad thing, I think it can be both a blessing and a curse.  As I said before, I guess we’ll see which it is over the decision to hold off on a summer election in the coming months.

(PS - While I’m not as angst-ridden as some about policy specifics of the Green Shift/Carbon Shift not being released yet, I do think it needs to be released sooner rather then later, and I think I prefer us using the “Green Shift” term when using a description for it - it projects much more of an optimistic tone).

I’m going to borrow Pogge’s phrase here used to describe what he thinks (and is correct in thinking) is bad or inaccurate reporting on some of our Canadian media and point it at the journalists/pundits in another fashion. In this instance, I’m taking aim at the pundits and journalists who months ago ridiculed Stephane Dion and the Liberals for abstaining on the Throne Speech last October and claimed it was done because the Liberals/Dion were weak, or had no principles, etc. I’m not blaming them for being critical of the Liberals abstaining - I wanted the Liberals to pull the plug back then too - but what I’m taking issue with is that some of these very same journalists who did the ridiculing back then are now calling on the Liberals and Dion to compromise on their position on Afganistan and not plunge Canada into an election over it, apparently for the good of the nation or to avoid partisan wrangling over it, or something similar (it’s already too late for the latter point - the journalists should blame that on the Conservatives and Government House Leader Peter Van Loan for calling the Liberals the “agents of the Taliban intelligence agency“, but that’s another story).

An example of this would be James Travers of the Toronto Star. This is what he said in his column back in October after the Liberals chose to abstain on the Throne Speech in questioning whether Dion was competent as the Liberal leader.

A beleaguered Liberal leader only made it easier to answer yesterday by choosing temporary self-preservation instead of a risky election fought on principles. His tortured reluctance to topple the Conservative minority over a throne speech crafted to offend his sensibilities buys time. But it does little to inspire confidence in Dion’s fitness to lead or repair the fissures in a party that once prided itself on being the Western world’s most successful.

Never mind that Dion wanted to go but the Liberal caucus persuaded him otherwise - again, another story. Let’s now see what Mr. Travers had to say about the Afghanistan motion and what the Liberals should do regarding this. Perhaps, you might think, he would laud them if they take the Conservatives down because they were doing so on principle. Not quite. Look how he frames this:

Strangely, Dion is likely to accommodate Harper… There’s an alternative to a lemming-like march to the polls. Opting for candour, Liberals could admit an election isn’t in their or the country’s interest. Economic and political instability are a lethal mix and it’s foolishly premature to decide the future of the Afghanistan mission before NATO completes a critical review. Still, when old warhorse nostrils flare, tests of strengths are hard to stop here even when opinion polls and common sense advise patience. So Canada is heading toward another election that Harper has the best reasons to want and Liberals would be wise to postpone as long as possible.

He answers his own puzzlement at how strange he thinks it is that Dion wants an election over this by mentioning the Liberals were repeatedly embarrassed for “sitting on their hands during confidence votes”. Well, yes, Mr. Travers, and YOU were one of the ones in the punditocracy castigating them for that strategy and questioning Dion’s competence and the Liberals courage. Now all of a sudden, going on principle isn’t a good thing, and Liberals should admit that, change their position on Afghanistan, and that sitting on their hands this time will benefit the Liberals?

Mr. Travers isn’t the only one to do this I’m sure, but I wonder at times if these folks even read their own old columns to see how hypocritical and self-serving they sound.

Someone else on the blogosphere mentioned the chattering classes were beating the drums of war back in 2003 when we were trying to decide whether to go into Iraq or not - but Jean Chretien bravely did what he felt was the right thing, even though he knew it would earn him the anger of the US and the derision of some of the media geniuses here. For my part, I’d suggest to Stephane Dion to do the same thing (and he appears to be doing so thus far). Go with what your gut and your heart tells you, and forget about listening to the advice of the media “experts”

Jason was hinting at his blog earlier that there would be some big news, and indeed there is:

Stéphane Dion is blogging from Bali… My expectation is that Mr. Dion will write clearly about what he is seeing on the ground and how his meetings are going.

Mr. Dion’s blog can be found here. I decided to take a peek at his site, and he’s been very busy with 4 blog entries already on his first day of blogging. Those include describing his arrival in Bali, his speech to municipal and city leaders, his meeting with Yvo De Boer (the UN’s climate change Secretary), and commenting on all the Fossil Awards Canada is receiving in Bali.

It’ll be interesting to see if he will keep the blogging pace up, but regardless, it will be an inside view of the conference from his perspective. I particularly look forward to the blogging he does after the panel he and Mr Baird are supposed to be on together on the 13th is completed and the anticipated fireworks some are expecting to happen occurs (presuming Mr Baird doesn’t chicken out on it, like he did with the government-sponsored event that as mentioned earlier, caused the Canadian youth delegation to leave in protest.)

Reflecting seems to be a popular theme this week in the media and the blogs about Dion’s win at the Liberal Leadership Convention a year ago. Jeff’s piece on the occasion is a very good article that more or less reflects my positions on what’s happened this past year, but I’ll throw in my 2 cents worth.

What I will say is this: as most in the blogosphere know, the reason I went from a left-of-centre progressive who was unaffiliated with any party to a card-carrying Liberal was precisely because of Dion winning and what I saw there in Montreal and the potential of the man. I’m not sure I would be a Liberal today if someone else had ascended to the mantle (no offense to any of them). I was impressed with his qualities and his policies, and I think some of that has been lost in the myriad of controversies and fake controversies generated this year. Despite all that, the Liberals and Cons. remain neck and neck within the polls, and I feel that in a 6 week campaign, if Dion (and perhaps more importantly, his advisers and handlers) can use those qualities and policies he has and properly showcase them to the voting public, he has a very good chance of being the next PM; Chantal Hebert, Jim Travers, and Greg Weston’s opinion notwithstanding. As others have pointed out, Harper and Chretien had miserable first years as opposition leader too - a point often forgotten by some of our know-it-all punditocracy - so a rocky first year does not automatically disqualify Dion from winning, despite what some would claim.

Secondly, I’ll specifically point to a part of Jeff’s piece taking aim at the OLO (Office of The Leader of The Opposition) and say I can’t disagree with what he writes about criticizing their communications strategy. I know a few of the individuals in the OLO and they’re good people, and smart people, and I’m on friendly terms with them. Overall though, for whatever reason, the message hasn’t been getting through to the public as well as it could, and the attempt at bringing aboard Liberal grassroots/netroots has not been gone at the right way, nor has there at times seemed like anyone up there is prepared to listen to constructive criticism or suggestions. It has seemed to me like a few people have taken such suggestions or constructive advice way too personally, and then dismissed or not acted on said suggestions (with the implied feeling being they know best).

I think it fair to say that the sense some of us get is that some people in the OLO would rather that the “roots” just sit down, accept a pat on the head, and parrot the party line without question (with a little venting allowed as a parent might do with a complaining child, without really seriously considering anything that is being brought up). I would hope after the recent shakeup at the top and the appointment of new advisers to Dion, things will have changed for the better, though I note that the outreach from the OLO to the roots has gone from at least courtesy listening and putting stuff out there to dead silence - which isn’t a good sign.

Nevertheless, we’re in the ballgame. There’s plenty of innings to go before a winner and loser is decided. The reclaiming of the environment agenda, and the poverty plan are encouraging signs, and I hope more progressive-minded policies are brought forth, and that efforts to reform the party from the bottom up and allow more input from the grass/netroots is looked at and embraced - and not just from Liberals identified as “Dionistas”, but from all Liberals.

Cliques within a party are a dangerous thing, as Liberals should recognize from some of the nonsense going on behind the scenes (and not so behind the scenes) this past year. Let’s hope a lesson or has been learned here by all and not repeated.

I’d just like to repeat what I’ve read elsewhere on this topic and say I think it’s absolutely a stroke of brilliance that Dion is going to go to Bali next month - out of his own pocket if necessary - to the United Nations climate change talks to ensure that the rest of the world knows that Stephen Harper does not speak for the majority of Canadians on climate change.

Dion is well known by most of these world delegations from the Montreal climate change meetings, and its generally agreed by observers he was well regarded, so he will certainly have the ability to have more then a few people’s ear in Bali, and that message will be not to let Harper and Baird stall or resist real climate-change targets.