Canadians: How was Chretein?

[Sava]

I'm not a follower of Canadian politics, but I happened to catch Jean Chretein's retirement speech and I have to admit, I liked the rhetoric. I don't know if the Liberal party in Canada is like what Americans consider to be "liberal" but Chretein's principles sounded very close to my own.

So Canadians... How did Chretein function as a Prime Minister? Since the Liberal Party in Canada is apparantly the party in power, how are things for Canadians? Chretein spoke of how things are much better now than 10 years ago, about wiping away deficits, cutting some taxes, improving health care, and investing in social programs for children.

I have no clue about Canadian politics, but he sounded like the kind of leader we need here in the US. As always, I'm skepticle though, because politicians often are big on lip service and short on results. That's why I'm asking for your input.

thanks...

[KrazyHorse]

He was okay. Better than his successor will be...

[Ben Kenobi]

Interesting you should admire him for his rhetoric. He's widly acclaimed as the only Canadian Member of Parliament who requires translators in both French and English.

[St Leo]

He was spectacular in his last year.

I wish Sheila Copps had won the Liberal leadership.

[The Mad Monk]

Cretin?

[Hot Mustard]

He, and the Liberals, have had all the power they could wish for over the last decade - and they haven't abused it. That in itself is nice. There are definitely still problems in Canada, especially with resource management, but there's nothing glaring that I would say he neglected, or screwed up.

During the WTO incident a few years back...even though I philosophically agreed with the protestors...I kind of admired that he just took the situation into his own hands and dealt with it (both individually - remember the protestor he choked? - and otherwise).

I was very proud to be a Canadian this year though when he decided that Canada would NOT be drawn into the latest US bullshit war.

Last thing about him that I guarantee you'll never see in American politics - he's no pretty boy. A face like that and such horrible speaking would ensure he'd never win a vote in the US. Partly, we're not as concerned with the packaging up here, but also - he's a tough and smart cookie.

[DinoDoc]

This should be interesting when Asher get's here.

[cinch]

Chretien?

As an Albertan, I'm legally required to hate him.

But... I don't. He's made a lot of mistakes (Sea Kings, anyone? Also, the whole hotel thing, but that's just classic politician corruption), but there's something about that scrappy 'little guy from Shawinigan' that endears him to me. Maybe it's the fact that he always tries to be Trudeau, but just doesn't have that level of charisma... I don't know.

I mean, all things considered... we're not deficit financing anymore. Health care is surviving. Social programs are still adequate. Things haven't imploded. The economy is, for the most part, good. I can't complain much about that part of the situation.

It was also nice having a fairly forward-thinking (socially, at least) guy in power. He set the gay-marriage thing in motion, kept us out of Iraq, and at least made an attempt at some semblance of campaign finance reform.

So, yeah, he did a lot of good, and some bad. Overall, I'd say he had a positive effect on Canada, but he was far, far, FAR from perfect.

****************

Now, if Paul Martin can get his ass in gear with regards to military financing while still balancing the budget and keeping Canada prosperous, I'll be a real happy camper. He had a good speech tonight, but I'm still very leery of him. His sugary image just seems too... sweet... especially after all these years of in-my-face stubborn Chretien.

So, I don't know if Martin'll have my vote when he calls an election or not... I did like how he implied he wanted to relax party discipline, but I'll believe that when I see it, Paul-o.

Until then, I guess it's Natural Law for me!

Originally posted by DinoDoc
This should be interesting when Asher get's here.

You got that right.

[Sharpe]

I wish Sheila Copps had won the Liberal leadership.

Your kidding right? As someone who lives in Hamilton, I can firmly say that most of us will be quite happy for someone else to be in charge than Sheila Copps!

Time to break the cabinet hold of Hamilton East of Sheila and her predecessor John Munro while we are at it... I hear that 2 of Martin's key supporters are other Hamilton MPs that can replace Copps in the cabinet.

[techumseh]

6/10. Better in his last year. Kept Canada out of the Iraq war, moved to legalize gay marriage and marijuana. Golf buddy of Clinton's. Bush hates him, which is a good thing in my book.

[notyoueither]

For the longest time, he didn't do much of anything legislation wise. As someone who is in favour of less government, that had me liking him.

Then, having a PM I could call the Mangler had me liking him more.

Then things started to go a bit awry, if the treatment of Forces were not enough, blowing a billion dollars on gun registration which will accomplish dyck all pushed me towards thinking negatively of his time in office.

Like many Liberal leaders before him, he made political hay out of tiffs with the Yanks. But if that's what Canadians want to elect, then some of us can pay with our jobs. I hope those people who want to piss on American trousers think it is worth pissing off the guy's running the American govt. OTOH, the way these Yanks do things, I'm not sure anything could prevent some of the ridiculous tarrifs they are inventing in Washington.

[cinch]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Then things started to go a bit awry, if the treatment of Forces were not enough, blowing a billion dollars on gun registration which will accomplish dyck all pushed me towards thinking negatively of his time in office.

Ah yes, the gun registry... Knew I forgot something!

That was a shame of a thing, also... Many, many negative points to Cretch for wasting a Bil on that gaff.