So Stefan Dion is finally leaving. After a short time in the Big Seat and holding the dubious honour as only the second Liberal Leader to ever not win a federal election, the Long Knives have come out for Dion and he's now effectively on his way out.

And while I can understand the bitterness from the Liberals (they are used to winning after all) I think that they would benefit from a step back before shouldering him with all the blame.

Where do we begin? Was it the gutting of the health care and the environment by the Liberals under Chrétien and Martin? The rise of the NDP and the Greens? What about the sponsorship scandal in Quebéc? Or maybe it was the two generations of disenfranchisement the West has had with the party since Trudeau's Salmon Arm Salute?

The fact is that the Liberals have long been in decline and frankly, they've been completely undeserving of the leadership of this country even longer. They have a lot to answer for and this typical arrogance of their being Canada's ruling party is at the root of their problems. Liberals have to stand up and take responsibility for their actions on health care, the environment, in Quebec and the West. Then and only then will they be entitled to govern this country.

So lay off Stefan. Sure he made some bad calls, but he should in no way shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for the Liberal loss. His party didn't deserve to win. It's that simple.

The CBC hosted a televised debate for Vancouver-Centre candidates not too long ago and they'll be running the show tonight at 4:30pm, 7:00pm and 11pm PST on CBC Newsworld. While the "victor" has not been released, the following claims that the Greens did very well. If you're currently living in Vancouver-Centre or are just interested in how some of the lesser candidates are doing, it might be worth checking out:

The X Challenge with Mark Kelly / 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm and 11 pm PST

Tune in today (Wednesday, October 08) to CBC Newsworld and watch Green Party deputy leader and Vancouver Centre candidate Adriane Carr triumph in debate and studio audience polling on The X Challenge with Mark Kelley. The program airs at 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm, and 11 pm PST.

Adriane appeared with two other Vancouver Centre candidates, the NDP's Michael Byers and Conservative's Lorne Mayencourt, as well as Liberal Ujjhal Dosanjh, in a debate format that enabled voters to put their questions directly to the candidates, and to vote on the results.

After 90 minutes of debate, questions and answers, and voter polling, a final poll asked the audience to indicate if any minds had been changed.

We promised not to reveal the results of this pre-taped program, but let's just say that Green Party supporters will be delighted by Adriane's performance in the debates, and thrilled by her final placement in the polls.

It would be hard to imagine a better outcome!

The audience of about 100 was selected to represent political leanings as indicated by CBC's latest rolling poll and the idea was to gauge how many voters were influenced, and in which direction, by candidate's participation in the debate and answers to audience questions.

The X Challenge will air today, Wednesday, October 08, at 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm and 11 pm Pacific Time on CBC Newsworld. Don't miss it!

Strange that Hedy Fry, the Liberal candidate in Vancouver-Centre didn't show up and sent Dosanjh instead. I'm interested to hear their reasoning on that one.

I have no idea if it'll be available online, but if I find it, I'll post the link here.

Update: 2008-10-09 00:04:14 -08:00

True to form, the CBC has posted the entire debate online. Enjoy!

I just got an email from someone promoting voteforenvironment.com and I really wanted to rant here.

I really, really hate that site. Aside from the fact that it flat-out tells you not to vote for a party that wants to make the environment better, it openly advocates for a party with a long record for doing the opposite. Has everyone forgotten that the Liberals are the ones who actively gutted health care and the environment for twelve years before they were finally kicked out of office? How can anyone claim that they're better than the Conservatives on either of these issues when they've done everything they could to support big business over clean air and fresh water in the last two decades?

Sure Stefan Dion might be different from his predecessors, but you can be sure that the people under him like Hedy Fry (my current MP) haven't changed. Innaction and fear-mongering are the tennets of the Liberal party and claiming to support them in the name of the environment is either naive or misleading. Take your pick.

It's sites like this that foster fear and promote a complete lack of action on issues that they claim to support. If they just wanted to advocate that Harper's Conservatives are bad for Canada, I'd be right behind them, but claiming that a Liberal government would be better for the environment is like claiming that white cats don't eat mice. It's laughable.

Elections are at the core of democracy. We take what the people want, tally up the votes and move our government in that direction as a result. It's not a betting pool, it isn't a chess game. To use a phrase I read earlier today: "Don't vote for the lesser of two evils, vote for the one that isn't evil". It's not like you don't have a choice ladies and gentlemen, there are at least 4 candidates in every riding in this country and if you're interested in the health of the environment, I can promise you that the Liberals and Conservatives aren't the least bit interested in doing anything about it.

For those of you not following the federal election, the Big Debate is tonight, and for the first time in history, the Green Party will be represented.

It all starts at 9pmEST, which for the West coast folks, that's 6pm. I'll be attending a shindig at Soho pub on Denman with the rest of the Greens to watch Elizabeth May in action. If the French debate is any indication, it should be a really good show.

For my friends living outside the country, the CBC will be hosting the debates online as well. Just go to CBC.ca and follow the links from the front page. They use a form of streaming Windows™ media, but it should work on a Mac as well.

Is anyone else annoyed that CBC hasn't done more stuff with Bittorrent?

Also, for those interested in the U.S. election, the Vice Presidential candidates debate will be held at roughly the same time down south. I expect Palin to look like the complete idiot that she is. That too should be a fun show, and you can expect the guys at OneGoodMove to have some really good video when it's finished.

Slate has a humbling article about the past few years in Canadian politics:

If you're at all confused or curious about how things have been going in our country; who's said what, or changed what laws, it's worth a look. Among the topics mentioned, it covers our about-face on Kyoto, the disappearance of our financial surplus, and censorship in our cultural sector.

The old white men have spoken. They don't want Elizabeth May kicking their asses in the debates, so they threatened to pull out completely if she was permitted to participate:

The Consortium approached the parties to explore the possibility of including the Green Party in all or part of the Leaders' Debates. However, three parties opposed its inclusion and it became clear that if the Green Party were included, there would be no Leaders' Debates. In the interest of Canadians, the Consortium has determined that it is better to broadcast the debates with the four major party leaders, rather than not at all.

For further information: Jason MacDonald, Spokesperson for the Network Consortium, T (416) 482-1357, C (647) 205-4744, macdonald@veritascanada.com

Or to use Adriane Carr's words: "Five men can agree with three men to exclude the only female national leader in Canada."

The lines split like so: the Liberals were cool with her inclusion, The Bloc were on the fence, and Conservatives where dead against it. But I reserve my foulest bitterness for our "Champions of Electoral Reform": the NDP, who like the Conservatives, flat out said that they would not attend if she were permitted to participate. Shame on them. ...and people wonder why I ditched those cowards when I did.

If their platform wasn't enough to compell you to vote Green, maybe the blind rage appropriate for this situation will. They didn't even offer a challenge this time, instead they just said that they'd take their toys and go home if they had to play with the new kid.

How juvenile.

May said that she'd go after them in court over this and I hope she does. If we can't have our democracy in the debates, then I can only hope that we can take it back through the courts.

I received an email today from the Federal NDP with a most extraordinary statement enclosed. Siting the mass failings of the Liberal party to collectively stand up to the Conservatives on crucial subjects like Afghanistan and Kyoto, (choosing instead to abstain from the vote rather than risk an election), the President of the New Democratic Party has offerend the following:

I'm making an extraordinary appeal to all New Democrat supporters to invite their Liberal friends to join our party right now -- the only national party not in favour of three more years of war and the only national party standing up to Stephen Harper's agenda.

Just like we did nearly 50 years ago when we formed the NDP, it's time to build a new political coalition in Canada -- a coalition that will stand up to Stephen Harper and put forward a vision of prosperity, fairness and peace in the world.

Could this be the beginnings of a United Left in Canada? Does the NDP smell death on backs of the Liberal party?

I have no love for the Liberals, and even less respect for them lately in their capitulation to the Conservatives out of fear. I'm not saying that the NDP have everything right, but at the very least, they're standing up for the people who elected them. To all of the Liberal supporters who voted red to keep a balance in the house: how does it feel to know that the people you elected are doing nothing to represent you?

Following in Australia's footsteps, Ontario will soon become the first jurisdiction in North America to ban the old, inefficient, incandescent bulbs. It's a good step in the right direction, I just wish someone had thought of it sooner or at the very least introduced sliding taxes on the whole thing instead.