Liberal Party finally chooses a candidate

Kyle Warwick is a fourth-year student at the University of British Columbia has been chosen as the Liberal Party candidate for Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

bclocalnews.com/bc_north/the … 19824.html

[quote=“TheNewsman”]Kyle Warwick is a fourth-year student at the University of British Columbia has been chosen as the Liberal Party candidate for Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

bclocalnews.com/bc_north/the … 19824.html[/quote]

Does Mr. Warwick at least have some kind of tenuous claim to having been in the riding? ie: maybe he used to live here or something, otherwise this is surely a sacrificial lamb of the Liberal persuasion.

[quote=“Smurfette”]

[quote=“TheNewsman”]Kyle Warwick is a fourth-year student at the University of British Columbia has been chosen as the Liberal Party candidate for Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

bclocalnews.com/bc_north/the … 19824.html[/quote]

Does Mr. Warwick at least have some kind of tenuous claim to having been in the riding? ie: maybe he used to live here or something, otherwise this is surely a sacrificial lamb of the Liberal persuasion.[/quote]

Yeah I agree he is just that as they don’t have a hope of getting in here… last time the candidate was from Rupert and people up the line did not even know her name… It will be an interesting experience I suppose but really it is just someone being a sacrificial lamb…

Story Updated to include info from an interview with Warwick.

Also, he is not from Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

bclocalnews.com/bc_north/the … 19824.html

He is sacrificial lamb likley doing this as part of his education … I hope he enjoys this excercise…

Sacrificial lamb for sure. One of the few times I have not voted NDP was when they parachuted Joe Barrett into the riding.

Given the amount of support for the BC Liberal party in this region, I wondered why a credible local candidate is not available.

And then I remembered: the BC Liberals are not liberals.

Well no disrespect to Mr. Warwick, but all things considered he really he should finish well down the pack of vote listings.

If the Liberals can’t even find one resident of a riding the size of Skeena to represent whatever it is Mr. Ignatieff is offering, then they shouldn’t get any votes. This is the problem with the Liberals federally at the moment, they are still but a shell of what they once were. While Paul Martin did a lot wrong in his short time as head of the party, he at least understood that that ridings needed strong “local” representation, this parachute thing is just a joke and hopefully will be accorded such respect by the voters.

Actually it shows a fair amount of contempt for the local riding, and perhaps shows the thin bench that Ignatieff has provided for in his time since the days of Dion.

It’s good news for the Conservative guy I guess, should reduce the vote split between libs and conservatives, maybe even make it a closer race than in the past, but probably even that in this instance it won’t be enough to take the riding away from the NDP.

In the View interview, he says he’ll be touring the riding after April 20th…12 days before election day! Does he even know how big the riding is and the logistics to visiting some of the communities. Not like Bella Coola, Atlin or Haida Gwaii are just around the corner!

[quote=“Smurfette”]Well no disrespect to Mr. Warwick, but all things considered he really he should finish well down the pack of vote listings.

If the Liberals can’t even find one resident of a riding the size of Skeena to represent whatever it is Mr. Ignatieff is offering, then they shouldn’t get any votes. This is the problem with the Liberals federally at the moment, they are still but a shell of what they once were. While Paul Martin did a lot wrong in his short time as head of the party, he at least understood that that ridings needed strong “local” representation, this parachute thing is just a joke and hopefully will be accorded such respect by the voters.

Actually it shows a fair amount of contempt for the local riding, and perhaps shows the thin bench that Ignatieff has provided for in his time since the days of Dion.

It’s good news for the Conservative guy I guess, should reduce the vote split between libs and conservatives, maybe even make it a closer race than in the past, but probably even that in this instance it won’t be enough to take the riding away from the NDP.[/quote]

I’ve had an interest in politics as a teenager (Thanks dad, now I finally have something in common with Rick Mercer). I’ve always thought that elections in Canada have three different meanings in my life.

On a local level, I’ll tend to vote for people I know. People that share the same municipal values as I do. Approachable, receptive, fiscally aware.

Provincially, not so much. I’d like to see the province attempt to be managed in a way that, I feel, is responsible. At this level on government, I’d like to think my vote will be cast for the party that has (in my opinion) a plan to deal with issues like deficit, debt, borrowing power, etc. Oh, and if the party leader has a personality, it’s a bonus.

This leads me to the last level. Federal elections. These use to excite(?) me the most. Maybe I felt a sense of togetherness with the rest of the country. Regardless, now a days I’m growing less stimulated by these public displays of verbal shellackings. I’ve found that representation in a riding has little or no meaning in my political world. Federally speaking, parties that have platforms which share my thoughts on foreign investment/ affairs, immigration, etc., will get the nod.

I don’t put much weight in a guy who seems to have dropped from the sky into our riding. It doesn’t matter. I’m not voting for him, I’m voting with the country in mind.

[quote=“Smurfette”] … If the Liberals can’t even find one resident of a riding the size of Skeena to represent whatever it is Mr. Ignatieff is offering, then they shouldn’t get any votes…Actually it shows a fair amount of contempt for the local riding …
[/quote]

I don’t think that the Liberals running a candidate who doesn’t live in the riding ranks that far up on the scale of contemptuous conduct, such that they should get no votes at all.

A governing Conservative party being twice cited for ‘contempt of Parliament’ by the Commons Speaker must be up there somewhere in the rankings for contempt for the electorate. That the Speaker is himself a Conservative MP seems to cancel out any allegations that he was just being partisan in making those rulings.

Skeena is a big riding as you point out but it’s a long way from being the most populated, and other considerations may apply. Getting strong and committed candidates is not just a challenge for the Liberals.

Take the NDP candidate in Brampton, for instance, who a few days into the campaign decided ‘aw shucks I’m going to back the Liberal instead’.

winnipegfreepress.com/canada … 17404.html

The article says that Jack Layton urges voters to think strategically to defeat the Harper government. Perhaps by running a no hoper in Skeena Iggy is sending much the same message. A ‘sacrificial lamb’ may serve Mr Cullen’s cause more than that of his Conservative opponent whose name I don’t recall at the moment.

As for the Liberal candidate being a civic minded university student, that doesn’t seem to compare that unfavourably to the Conservative Party’s offerings in Delta-Richmond, a populous riding by the way, where they dumped one candidate for having financial difficulties and replaced him with a candidate who had declared bankruptcy and stung her creditors with $382,000 in unpaid debts.

cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c … ndlay.html

When will the people in this riding realize that the NDP will never be a governing party federally. You will always be left out in the cold until you elect a member from one of the only two parties that will ever be the next government. You want your issues heard and dealt with? Stop electing third and fourth party - no hope- candidates who have no voice in Ottawa!
After years of sending an NDP mp to parliament you might as well give someone else a try. What have you got to lose???

Two words: Bill Belsey.

[quote=“dolly”]
After years of sending an NDP mp to parliament you might as well give someone else a try. What have you got to lose???[/quote]

Well, considering that the only candidate that has a chance to unseat Nathan is a Conservative, I would be losing my entire self-worth as a political being if I voted that way.

[quote=“dolly”]
After years of sending an NDP mp to parliament you might as well give someone else a try. What have you got to lose???[/quote]

My breakfast? :smile:
Nathan represents us very well indeed in our riding; he does very good work for us.

The riding. A Liberal vote is a vote for the Conservatives.

[quote=“hitest”]

[quote=“dolly”]
After years of sending an NDP mp to parliament you might as well give someone else a try. What have you got to lose???[/quote]

My breakfast? :smile:
Nathan represents us very well indeed in our riding; he does very good work for us.[/quote]

I just wish Jack would give him a portfolio title that doesn’t have “critic” in it. Think of the work he could do then.

As I understand it, every opposition MP in a shadow cabinet, including the NDP’s, is a “critic of the minister of …” (while the Leader is the “critic of the Prince Minister”) except for the House Leader, who manages procedural issues, and the Whip, who is responsible for discipline among the party’s MPs. I’m not sure if Nathan Cullen would be more effective in either of the latter roles, compared to one of the more prominent critic appointments.

I don’t know greyhair except through this forum so I wouldn’t want to put words in his mouth. But I thought he was either being sarcastic or wistful He was just pointing out the obvious, that the NDP will never win so Jack Layton will never be PM to appoint Nathan to a cabinet position where he would be in a better position to do some good.

Thanks DWhite. I’ve got to work on my sarcasm. 'something about my delivery.
I was actually trying to respond to hitest’s post regarding Nathan’s work in representing the riding. He’s doing the best he can, given his portfolio. He’s had his hand in a few bills. Some were passed. I liked the work he did ( or still is doing?) on asbestos.

Living in a resource based province and having to critique the federal government’s stance on national policy regarding natural resource and energy has got to be an unenviable posting. Even Mr.Layton knows that this job has a ‘status quo’ ring to it. Maybe I should put a spin on it and see this as a no brainer, given his riding is one of the larger ones and he did decide to reside in it.

Try to stay dry today

There is a scenario where he could but it involves an Oh God No!!! Unworkable. horrible, unholy coalition gov’t like all those other countries including a lot of those who’ve passed us economically so we’re mostly still in the G8 out of courtesy.
Like the UK at the moment, which hasn’t descended into civil war and a 3rd world economy. Or Italy, which doesn’t send boatloads of immigrants anymore, it sends Fiat to buy those Chrysler plants in Windsor.