Debates will show I'm ready to become PM: Dion

Speaking from Ottawa, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion makes the case for his party as the only choice both responsible and active enough to guide Canada through these uncertain times.

Canada AM: Stephane Dion responds to viewer questions

With Canadians still struggling with the concept of a carbon tax, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion tries to explain the benefits the plan will provide for both the economy and environment.

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CTV.ca News

Date: Mon. Sep. 29 2008 9:18 AM ET

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says this week's debates will give him the chance to show Canadians that he's ready to become prime minister.

Dion, speaking to CTV's Canada AM Monday, said he's looking forward to being in the living rooms of Canadians.

"Up to now they have seen on their TV a Stephane Dion that does not exist," Dion said. "The one that Mr. Harper wants to describe to us."

He said the debates will show Canadians how much he cares and how prepared he is for the country's top job.

The French-language debate is scheduled for Wednesday and the English-language debate will take place Thursday.

Despite Dion's confidence, a new poll shows voters in 45 battleground ridings have extremely low expectations for his performance in the debates.

According to a Strategic Counsel poll, conducted from Sept. 24-27 for CTV and The Globe and Mail, just eight per cent think Dion will outperform the other leaders.

Most voters (42 per cent) thought Conservative Leader Stephen Harper would out-perform his rivals.

NDP Leader Jack Layton received 20 per cent of the votes while Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and Elizabeth May both had 7 per cent.

Unsurprisingly, only two per cent of Conservative supporters thought Dion would be the best debater. But among respondents who identified themselves as Liberal voters, the number was also relatively low:

Stephen Harper (Conservatives): 28 per cent
Stephane Dion (Liberals): 22 per cent
Jack Layton (NDP): 20 per cent
Elizabeth May (Greens): 10 per cent
Gilles Duceppe (Bloc Quebecois): 1 per cent

Meanwhile, Dion said Monday his strong convictions have helped him to ignore the personal attacks out of the Conservative camp.

"Never an individual has been attacked by so many millions of dollars of low-blow attack ads than me and a policy attacked by millions of dollars of low-blow attack ads like the Green Shift," said Dion.

"We'll go through that and we'll win the election."

Dion said he was convinced he'd win because the Liberals have "good policies for the people, to create jobs for the people, to save jobs and to have a leading economy of the 21st century."

Comments are now closed for this story

Adele in Ottawa
said

"Debates will show I'm ready to become PM: Dion"

"He said the debates will show Canadians how much he cares and how prepared he is for the country's top job."

Please don't make me laugh. The debates will show one thing: that so long as he is the leader of the Liberal party, the liberals are dead in the water. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but his "leadership" skills are non existent. Hopefully once they lose the election (and badly I might add), the liberals will wake up and doing a full house cleaning. Start from scratch, revamp yourselves entirely and get back in touch with the realities facing voters... then maybe I'll go back to voting for you.... maybe.

FCS
said

"Just read the garbage posted by the Cons/Reformers to this."

Thats right, if an opinion differs from yours it's garbage. Just watch the shrill whinning of the left grow even louder as they realize that most Canadians don't share thier views and aren't all that scared of Harper. The name calling and outright lies are just the start. Of course it is all irrelevant since Mr Dion and his party of hacks is un -electable at this point. Liberal posts took on the air of desperation on this forum a long time ago and it is only gonna get worse. I for one can't wait.

proud conservative
said

I think the pity votes will go to the Conservatives after they see how every other party gangs up on Harper.Dizzy Lizzie should be very entertaining. I can see them all falling down and throwing a hissy fit.Should be fun.

Harper Supporter
said

Nobody has to protray Dion as bumbling fool, he does that on his own. Haper all the way

Lucie Anne-Marie Sabourin
said

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come back Jean Chretien!!!!!

Dion is killing Canada's only moderate political party.

johnedeals Calgary
said

All Dion needed was a debate to show he is ready. That's all, just a debate. He has nothing else to offer and the debate will simply confirm that. While he may come across better in the French debate, I doubt the "new Canadians" across Canada will tune in, given the language difference. In the English language debate, viewers will head to the fridge when Dion speaks.

R/H Ontario
said

...I do not know what all of the fuss about not being able to understand Dion's English. I have no problem picking up his meaning. It appears that most of Dion's negative comments come from English citizens that could probably not understand most English speaking people either."

...What an insult. I am from England, have spoken English all of my life so far, and if you have lived in England at all, you would understand that there are many dialects to comprehend, in England. French is not one of them, I do not have a problem with French speaking people but when it comes to a Prime Minister of Canada, He/She should be able to speak FLUENT English especially when addressing any Foreign Dignitaries. Also, as Canada has a majority population that is English speaking, WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT OUR PRIME MINISTER IS SAYING. I don't care if He/She is French, English, Irish, Italian or what ever. We need to know what is being said.

mac in Ontario
said

My memories are short - the last two elections - the Liberals (of which Mr. Dion was a major player!) slammed Mr. Harper as the boogie man! Guess what - Mr. Harper IS ok ! he did not take us into a black hole -he didnot trample on women's rights, etc etc !
In this campaign all the so called negative ads are showing is Mr. Dion as he flipflops on issues - why should we believe him now when he was part of the previous Liberal government and in a position to do something... and he did not...
The Conservatives are not perfect but they are not promising the sky, they are not saying the sky will fall -the ARE saying stay the course - stay with stability !!
Canada CAN survive without the Liberals Mr. Dion and - hey Mr Dion - your carbon tax would have gotten a boost from the 100$ million plus from the Adscam cronies or the almost 1 billion - yes BILLION dollars the Liberals had to pay out in 1993 for cancelling the contract for desparately needed helicopters for the military..and coast guard... and now you want us to believe you want to support the military - it was YOU who sent them into Afghanistan so stop using the Mission as a political tool ... on the backs of those we have lost. !
The list could go on - apparently you are an intelligent man Mr. Dion - best suited for the University not Parliament ! For your love of the country Mr. Dion - I hope the Liberals DO NOT get back in !

Pete from Cottam
said

To be ready to become Prime Minister one has to be prepared to lead with conviction and wisdom. There was not much conviction during the last session of Parliament when Mr Dion a supposed leader did not show up for numerous votes. That's not leadership. That's not wisdom. No debate will change that.

tc
said

Dion says the only Staphane Dion that Canadians know is the one created by Stephen Harper. Actually, for me, the one I know is from the daily news reports that show him on the campaign trail. And I don't need Conservative ads to tell me what he is like. I see that myself. Not very good.

Common Sense
said

The debate will show that the Greens and Liberals should actually be one party.

Vancouver Girl
said

Last night, while watching TV, I was interested to see that the NDP and Liberal ads were attack ads and the Conservative ads were Harper talking about what he stands for.

Who's delivering the "low blows" now, Stephane?

Michael
said

Lee in Calgary said:
I not exactly sure where the millions of dollars of smear ads are running that Dion suggests are framing him poorly but it certainly isn't in the Calgary market. I saw the pufin ad on the news not on TV (twice) and have seen the slot machine ad 4 times other than that all the conservative ads have been positive about what they'll do for Canada or what they claim to have done for Canada.

-------------------------

Of course you haven't seen them in Calgary! Does Harper really even need to campaign in Alberta? Nope. The liberals don't have a hope in Alberta, so there is no point in spending money on the adds in Alberta. I don't agree with Harper's policies in any way, but I'll be the first to admit that he's really good at the game. I say ABC, but I know its not going to happen, Harper has way too many people fooled, I'm now hoping for at least a minority so he at least has to consider what 60% of this wants. I'd rather see a government that tries to work together anyway, this whole party politics things is really stupid, its such a waste of money.

roy in oshawa
said

well mr tax everything party and mr Dion at the helm you better bring a sharp knife to cut that rope that will be shinched around your neck,because the other party leaders wont release it for you.

Vote ABC
said

To me one of the tests of a leader is which one would I prefer to sit down with and have a coffee and talk about things in general,
If Harper wished to have coffee with me I would decline knowing that conversation with him would be impossible, coffee with Layton would certainly be an interesting opportunity. Despite Dion's struggle with English I know it would be an interesting conversation.
If the PM can not inspire me at a basic level I doubt they will be capable of understanding the needs of the regular citizen. But then Harper has already proved he is out of touch by running his attack campaign. Most Canadians want to make their ballot choice based on positive reasons not negative reasons.

James from Vancouver
said

Dion is an excellent debater. I hope he does well.

Linda stoddard
said

The very low expections of Dion will play in his favour. I also believe Harper will be on the defensive so often and put on the hot seat so many times by ALL opposition leaders that the real stephen harper will be seen by all.

Michael O'Neill - Ottawa On.
said

The best thing to ever happen for the Conservatives was Stephane Dion. He even makes Jack Layton look good. Maybe Tina Fey would be interested in showing up at the leader debates in Dion's place.

Steve in Fredericton
said

The only way Dion will do well in either debate is if he stays home to watch it on TV. Then again, he has plenty of experience abstaining from important public business.

R/H Ontario
said

I think Dion would do better to go to France, his mother tongue country, and run for the French equal to our Prime Minister. That way at least he would be understood when he speaks. I have nothing against the French Language but I DO NOT understand it. If my Prime Minister cannot speak so that I can understand him.....Sorry but no way. I will listen to the debates and hope that the translator is on the ball. Maybe, just maybe I'll be able to make out what he is trying to say!

Harper has no team
said

Nice fake testimony "Historical Liberal Voter switiching 2 Reform"

You make some vague statement about low-blows coming from the Liberal party but give no concrete specifics (because we all know they're coming from Harper and his goons). It's pretty obvious your a Reform poster trying to sway people with more Harper-style lies.

To "Larry" - Those lies are the reason why Dion has to say "that is not what I said" - too bad Harper doesn't know how to debate a point but only try and slander others by spewing falsehoods.

Oh and quite the strong team Harper has:

-Two Evironment Ministers that have done nothing other than to increase emissions (one that was more obsessed with the chemicals on her face than the ones we have to breathe and one who is trying to single-handedly raise the earth's temperature by shouting everyone down)

- An Industry Minister who thinks saving cellphone users from getting dinged .25 a text message is more important than creating/retaining manufacturing jobs

- A Health Minister who refuses to try and set goals for wait times across the board

- An Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister who fails to understand that 19 deaths due to foodborne illness is not a joke.

- A Finance Minister who lied to seniors across the country and taxed their income trust investments after telling them that would not happen.
The same minister then made a public statement telling everyone not to invest in a particular Canadian province.

Great job - great team!

Lorne
said

I see alot of complaining about Harper's attack adds, but I seem to remember the "hidden agenda" attack ads the Liberals released in the 2004 and 2006 elections. Suck it up, and eat your own medicine Liberals!

Too much rhetoric
said

It is very interesting to read the postings to this site. It seems the Liberal supporters don't like nasty ads, but forget that the Liberals spent much of the last 4 elections painting Harper, Manning and every other Conservative as ultra religious, red-necked, terrorists intent on turning us into Alabama of the North. Now that the other parties have embraced attack ads they don't like them. Mr. Dion if you can't take the heat, get out of office. The other thing I notice is the Liberal supporters yelling "the CONs are this and that" whenever anyone disagrees with them. How do you know who I support? Am I not allowed to disagree with some of my party's choices and decisions?

MR from Mississauga
said

What is he saying? He'd better be more articulate in the debates or it will be a long night for Liberals!

By the way Stephane, the last time a leader was attacked with low blow ads costing millions of advertising dollars, the leader was Stephen Harper, and the party doing the attacking was the Liberal party. Not so comfortable now is it?

Bev. S
said

I do not know what all of the fuss about not being able to understand Dion's English. I have no problem picking up his meaning. It appears that most of Dion's negative comments come from English citizens that could probably not understand most English speaking people either. A bit of anti French showing. Go Dion.

Andrew
said

David -
attack attack attack -
Attack the Liberals ideas - not their speech capabilities... Im so tired of hearing people complain about Dion's english and not his policies.

Mr. O
said

The US vice-presidential debate will be much better

What's Up with You Guys
said

I'd like to know why all these "historical" Liberal voters, as they call themselves, are suddenly turning Con? The Con platform, ideals, values, and goals don't in any way reflect those of the Liberals past or present. I'm guessing that you folks were not very strong Liberals in the first place, but are simply "face voters". If you don't like the face of your current leader, you switch teams. Just remember that the Conservatives of today do not in any way, shape or form resemble the Progressive Conservatives of days gone by.

Trent
said

To you people who think Dion will do great in the leaders debate.. If he can't get his message out to us know what going to change on TV? It will show that he can not lead,Plus will show that he has no plan but to tax tax tax us even more. Thats the one thing him nd the NDP have in common Tax the hard workers.Will be fun to wacth then get their clock cleaned.

Campbell
said

Clearly, the Liberal/Media strategy is to play up the "Conservative Majority" angle to motivate the Liberal/NDP vote and downplay expectations of Dion's debating ability. Then,all Dion has to do is make a reasonable/mediocre performance, at the debates, and the Liberal sycophants, in the national media, will hail him as the "winner".

Peter in Ottawa
said

It is Dion and his party that have been running the negative campaigning.

Dion attacks the personality of Harper. Calls him a liar as one example. "Harpernomics" is their term, and not "Conservative Economics" as it would be if the Liberals didn't want to use personal attacks.

Harper attacks the policies and the lack of leadership of the Liberal party...ie not the man but his ability.

In this election and in the last election, the main Liberal platform has been attacks on Harper's personality.

And you watch, Dion will be trotting out the "hidden agenda', 'liar', 'abortion' and 'notwithstanding clause' nonsense once again as his party becomes more and more desperate. And he'll do it by framing the above items against Stephen Harper personally.

The Liberal party are the masters of personal attack, not the Conservatives.

DoninCalgary
said

In reading the liberal comments, it seems they think they are more Canadian than us Cons (as you call us). Let me tell you I am a 5th+ generation Canadian and this is my home as much as yours. I have spent a lot of time in Europe over the last few years and they are in a financial mess with lots of pollution. But if you feel strongly about wanting that kind of society then they are always looking for new immigrants. For your information, most of us Cons are Fiscally conservative, morally conservative and socially liberal. In fact conservatives give more to charity than liberals.

Larry, Maple Ridge, BC
said

To put it simply, I cannot understand Dion's English. As PM he would have to be understood when he speaks at the UN for example. He would be the only English speaking representative who's audience would need an English interpreter.
I suggest taking ESL courses if he wants the job as Canada's PM..
Larry

Barb, Regina
said

I just watched the interview with Dion. I have to say there is nothing impressive about his leadership. He is screatchy and comes across as angry. I think that when a leader can only attach the opposition on a personal level then he has hasn't anything to offer himself so he detracts from his shortcomings. He seems to have more to hide about who he is then the other candidates. It is also a great sign of weakness when other liberals have to come to Dion's defense. A leader leads not asks others to lead for him. From the ashes of the phoenix......

PCL
said

This should be one of the most entertaining debates in recent Canadian political history. Dion will crash and burn.

Garry in NS
said

Mr. Dion is a very intelligent man however, I do not consider him leadership material. Everytime Harper criticizes the Liberal Platform, Mr. Dion takes it as a personnal attack and looses his temper. Mr. Dion is far too thin-skinned to be PM let alone a politician.

Dion just isn't a leader - debate or no debate
said

I watched the Canada AM interview with Dion and my observations:

1) Dion has real trouble speaking English properly. That is a big issue especially when he represents Canada to foreign gov's like the US President.
That would be an embarrassment.

2) Dion spoke of investing in provinces. It was revealing how he only mentioned a Liberal Premier and no others. Will we see the same old Liberal bias towards Liberal provincial governments to the exclusion of other provinces? We have seen this same Liberal lust and manipulation of power former Liberal governments. Dion is not a leader and not a leader for all Canadians - just for Liberals.

3) He is a blatant hypocrite when he talks about "low blow ads". He is every bit as guilty for all the cheap shot misleading ads by the Liberal campaign. In fact I would call him an outright liar on that point.

4) I don't think Mr. Dion is a proper leader for Canada or a man Canadians look up to or respect. He comes off as a 98 pound weakling with a temper and is easily provoked - he just isn't leadership material.

Why would Canadians suddenly turn to this guy after 26 months of whining everyday in the media, then sitting on his hands with his colleagues on over 43 important Parliamentary votes then think he should be our Prime Minister? We would have to be nuts to support this guy.

There is a better choice for sure.

Henry Wysmulek
said

I only watch the debates for their entertainmant value, since debates only prove who the best debater is during that particular debate.

I am more interested in who will govern the country better.

Socialism is killing us
said

Dion is a joke of a leader no matter what language he speaks. A carbon tax when the economy is going down the sink? Are you kidding me? Tax when times are good not when they're sour or going there. That is the only platform I can see from Dion and the fiberals.

Louie
said

The ways it look's right now. I think that Mr. Harper is the best person fit for the Job as a Prime Minister. The Liberal needs to repalce Mr. Dion as a head of the Liberal party. A lot of people do not understand what he is talking about.

K. Johnston
said

I just watched McCullam and Iggy speaking to the people on morning television telling us that PM Harper has taken over the middle and is putting us to sleep with his sweaters - they are both upset and look panicked because this middle area use to be the Liberals'. 'We are the centre.' Never in all the elections I have witnessed have the Liberals been so far left.
Never in an election have I seen "the team" coming to the aid of a leader(?)in front of national cameras. It really looked like they are worried/scared/surprised that we are not voting for them.

Thank God for PM Harper. He is 2 plus years into already doing what the others on the left say we have to do - I just love our PM - good, steady leadership - what more could you ask for. Go Harper Go.

James
said

Too little, too late, almost. Mr Dion should have had this attitude right from the first day of the campaign, given who his opponents are. Harper, Layton and May wasted no time is blasting away at one another. Dion, on the other hand took a reasoned and diplomatic approach. Maybe it's Mr Dion's language difficulties, maybe it's his personality, who cares. What matters in an election is getting noticed, sometime for the right reason, sometimes for the wrong. Mr Dion simply did not get noticed because nobody could hear him.
I have one piece of advice for Mr. Dion during the debate. Fix your sight on Mr harper and go for the knockout. If you can't focus on Harper and get into a fight with Mr. Harper, you will not be noticed as Ms. May and Mr Layton try to tear a strip off Mr. Harper. This moment is it. Unless you strike hard and often, you may as well turn the rest of the election over to Mr. Rae.

BB in B.C.
said

The Lefties are so pathetic it borders on hysterical. I swear these posts are being manufactured by a very small number of war room hacks. They keep pounding on bully, dictator, Reformer, Republican, liar, hidden agenda, beady eyes, and sweaters. The words don�t even change enough to pretend they come from individuals who back the Liberals and they have nothing to do with election issues other than to vent some hot head diatribe. When did we ever have a Hollywood type for PM? Trudeau was plain ugly and sounded shifty. Diefenbaker looked like an old blood hound with the shakes. Stanfield was asleep on his feet and Joe Clark looked like a geek. If Preston Manning would ever have made PM the media would still be chirping about his looks or voice. John Turner and Kim Campbell were close but they were so plastic we turfed them before they could do any real harm. Chr�tien was a true bully and if he didn�t like you he might just choke you like a chicken. Dion has some obvious weaknesses and his reign will never happen. Now Harper, who obviously has the credentials and ability to handle the job, is the hands down best PM we�ve had in my 62 years. He is just about as normal and down to earth as a Canadian can get and no matter how much the Liberals can�t stand his success due to their stupidity and greed we most likely will see several more years of Conservative government in Canada. So suck it up you Lefties and show some respect because we know you can�t handle the criticism.

Mr Right
said

Liberals should look at themselves in the mirror, when they talk about smear campaigns against Dion, they should remember the biggest smear is the one towards Harper painting him as some sort of monster. Die hard liberals are so convinced that Harper is bad guy but they never seem to have the evidence to back it up. There is however an overwhelming amount of evidence to back up the fact that Dion is a weak leader.

WM from Bayfield
said

No one in there right mind would vote for someone who cannot be understood. Until a Liberal leader is chosen that has the ability to communciate effectively I and many others will not vote for the Laberals. Steven Harper has done an excellent job in bringing stability to Canada and I trust that a majority would be an excellent opportunity for Canada to become even a better country. By the way I have no political ties and have in the past voted for other parties but I would never vote for Dion. What did he say???????

proud conservative
said

GEOFFREY,
No one has an issue with Dions French. It is his English we have an issue with and only because we don't understand him. Nice try though with the English versu French thing though. Oh yeah, Nice try with the CANADIAN in caps to try and make us feel bad.You know,I don't think that is going to work this time either.I like almost every French person I have met.

Sukdeep in Brampton
said

4 leaders attacking Harper, means he is going to have the toughest time. Jack Layton thinks he is Obama he will probably attack George Bush.

Bonnie - Ontario
said

Thisis hilarious! Is he setting himself up for disaster?

DJ in Manitotoba
said

I think Mr. Dion is living in a dream world. I pray that the people of Canada are smart enough not to elect this man to be the leader of our County!

PrairieDog-prairies
said

Who is Dion trying to convince,us or himself? He will be looking to May to save him every time he loses his thought and starts to babble on. Dion must be quivering in his boots. Watching him this morning showed he doesn't even believe what's coming out of his own mouth. A sad day for the once great Liberal Party.

David
said

Dion is ready to become PM. If PM stands for Paul Martin, as he will lose the election and the leadership of the party...just like Paul Martin.

Shaking my head in Vancouver
said

So there is two Dion's ?

Dion says the one we say on TV does not exist ?

His english doesn't work, he has bad hearing, does anything in his head work right ?

He grabed the Green Shift from a fringe party at the last minute because he had no environmental or economic policy. The Liberals have no money, no platform and no leader.

I hate to use the word goof, but I think I need too.

I cannot bear to watch Dion destroy himself further, I might have to watch the Vice Presidental debates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

Did someone give Dion the Address of the debate, is that old plane actually going to get him there.

GC
said

Liberal bloggers have been nastier than any Conservative ads I have seen.

It is quite obvious Dion has little else to offer Canada; his only option is to promote the baseless accusations against Harper.

The irony is that this is the party that stole millions of taxpayers dollars to fund their covert activities.

Hypocrisy Liberal style

Larry
said

Many people who understand the French language say that Mr. Dion is an intelligent person.
I don't know this because I don't speak French and when Mr. Dion speaks English I can't understand what he is saying.
Mr. Dion has an excuse for every error he makes and when he makes a statement that is in error, he comes back with "that is not what I said". If Canadians cannot understand what Mr. Dion is saying, then how is he going to get his message across when it comes time to address the G8 conferences or other foreign matters. Oh, I forgot he has Bob and Mike to interpret for him.
We need a leader that can stand for Canada and represent what and who we are all about.

Jack Layton is a "pie in the sky" promise maker and does not seem to fully research the promises he makes and the impact on our economical balances they will have.
Oh, they sound good but then so did those low mortgage rates south of the boarder. Later they come back and bit you hard.

Historical Liberal Voter switiching 2 Conservative
said

Most low blows attacks against Dion are coming from the Liberal Party.
My Grand Parents and Parents voted Liberal and so did I last time. If they were here I think they would do what I am doing is switching my vote to the Conservatives. The Liberals have taken such a hard turn left I do not recognize the Liberal Party of 20 years ago.
8% think Dion will out perform the others, the poll must have a large margin of error.

Geoffrey
said

Just read the garbage posted by the Cons/Reformers to this. Shameful, just shows the apple does not fall far from the tree. Like Leader like followers, blind I might add.
I hope Mr Dion make a good show, this gentleman is french first, some of you obviously have an issue with that, however hopefully most of us CANADIANS dont.
GO DION GO

Erwin
said

Dion complains about 'low blow' ads defining his character. He also suffers from a very short memory. It was not that that long ago when Harper was in his position as the newcommer and the Liberals were in power with lots of money (some of it probably from adscam). The Liberals ran ads depicting harper as scary and claiming he would send in the military to patrol canadian cities among other things. The Liberal attack ads worked and Harper is still having to shake off the effects from that campaign. I guess the Conservatives learned from the masters and the shoe is on the other foot.

John Secord
said

Dion is just a weak leader, and the Liberal platform is only making the party lose more ground.

Where is Gerald Kennedy in all this mess. Thank you Mr. Kennedy for making the Liberal non-existent.

Hos
said

I beileve Dion is a good substance for being a PM. At least has not run a nasty campaign as Harper does. He has a clear agenda (platform) while Harper does not. Whatever idea does Dion have, You can trust him as he is almost clear on all CANADA issues as opposed to Harper who is secretive on many issues.

Art
said

I hope that issues will actually be debated. I am getting fed up with all this name calling. I would like to hear details about how the parties plan to deal with issues like the enviornment and economic growth. Especially from Harper whose plan so far seems to be do nothing, be happy, and criticize Dion's character.

Jonathan
said

I anticipate that the debate will show 5. things. 1. It will show that Dion is ineffective at getting his point across. 2. It will show that May will result to screaming to get her point across. 3. It will confirm that Duceppe is only concerned with tearing the country appart. 4. It will show that Layton means well, but we cannot afford what he wants to do. 5. It will show that the best choice will be Stephen Harper as he will be calm, cool and collected.

Lee in Calgary
said

I not exactly sure where the millions of dollars of smear ads are running that Dion suggests are framing him poorly but it certainly isn't in the Calgary market. I saw the pufin ad on the news not on TV (twice) and have seen the slot machine ad 4 times other than that all the conservative ads have been positive about what they'll do for Canada or what they claim to have done for Canada.

I believe Mr. Dion is framing himself and the Liberal parties policies are doing the Conservative parties job for it.

The debate in French may allow Mr. Dion to regain some credibility but I fear that will be lost the next night when he attempts to debate in English. He hasn't been able to convince the vast majority of Canadians that he's PM material over the past 3 weeks so I really doubt he's capable of doing it over 2 debates.

Good luck Mr. Dion, you have roughly two weeks left as leader of the opposition and then you'll be able to join Mr. Martin in retirement and it won't be the Conservatives showing you the door, your own party will be waiting with the knives out.

Nancy
said

I have been waiting for 2 yrs for him to show me he is ready.
Doin's weak leader, with a weak team with a bad plan.
Dion is moving out of Stornaway the residence of the official opposition, but he's not moving to 24 Sussex Drive.

Fairer Richer Greener
said

I don't think it's fair to portray Mr. Dion as a bubbling fool as tne CONS have with their ads. It really should come down to matters of policy and who has the best interest of Canadians at heart. And I believe Stephen Harper has alot of people fooled..warm and fuzzy on the outside..cold and calculating on the inside. Mr. Dion is an intellectual and doesn't need to hurl personal attacks, unlike Mr. Harper. I for one believe he will do well in the debates and hopefully it will make a difference.

Allan M
said

It seems that Harper likes to spend more time/money attacking an individual than attacking that individuals ideals. From the get-go the Conservative Party has been spreading misinformation about this 'Green Shift' thing. A good expample is a Conservative attack ad of an animated oil spot claiming it will tax gasoline played on screens at gas pumps.

In the debate, Harper cannot simply release another attack ad to counter Dion's efforts. He'll have to answer for himself on the spot with the whole country watching.

This is Dion's chance.

Steve Daly, Mississauga
said

'Dion, speaking to CTV's Canada AM Monday, said he's looking forward to being in the living rooms of Canadians.'

Stephane, this is a good plan for you. Couch surfing while you find a new residence can buy you a bit of time.

'Winning' the election at this point, for the Liberals, means remaining the Official Opposition and keeping 40+ seats.

Good Luck with that.

David from Toronto
said

Nobody will even understand a word coming out of this man's mouth. Harper will mop the floor with him.

KMD
said

Go Dion go, I hope the elections show that you have the great potential to be the leader of our country that I know you will be!

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It is about time - as a grandparent I have watched our kids (who were allowed to fail although I do remember some nagging on our part) learn, I have watched our children now micro-manage their children. A big part of it is the fact that there are predators out there and an extreme reluctance on the parents part to alllow freedom that might result in the children becoming victims.

Harvey

Parents must learn to stop meddling, author urges

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