Weekly Winner: Ed Broadbent. He’s not running, but seeing Jack Layton name drop Ed’s name a half dozen tims in the debates, shows he’s still a star. Plus, the NDP went and recruited another Ed is his 70s, Ed Shreyer.
Weekly Loser: Ambassador Williams. “I recognize it’s good for politics when the US attacks you. I will not attack Paul Martin.”
The Polls: The average of the most recent polling numbers, with projected seats in brackets:
Liberals 35.7% (122)
Conservatives 29.7% (99)
NDP 16.3% (27)
BQ 13.0% (59)
The Gamblers: This site has the Liberals with a 15.5 seat lead. The UBC Stock Market has the Liberals at 35.3%, the Tories at 31.4%, and the NDP at 16.0%.
Scott Feschuck Line of the Week:
4:31 PM – I want to thank the many loyal blog readers who have sent in witty and/or hostile remarks in relation to the unfortunate “beer and popcorn” commentary by my good friend Scott Reid, who is sitting next to me on the plane at this moment and who just now made me write the whole “good friend” part – which, between you and me, is completely bogus in the sense that now he is a total social leper and I have every intention of cutting the poor bugger loose. (To gauge from my inbox, public opinion is currently evenly divided on Scott’s comment, with half of people describing him as an “idiot” and the other half defiantly insisting he is a “complete idiot”.)
Joke of the Week: Sent in by a reader:
Conservative Stephen Harper promises to eliminate funding for the Canadian Military. In order to provide Canadians with greater choice, Harper proposes that every citizen be given $100 per month to spend on ‘whatever sort of weaponry they choose.’ “It’s not a tax break,” claims Harper “It’s a Military Plan.”
Blog of the Week: Derision 2006. I only found this blog this week, but I’m loving the light hearted look at the election it provides. “Scott Reid hires own Communications director” has got to be the best spoof of the election so far.
Quote of the Week: Gilles Duceppe, from the English debates:
“It’s not worth revisiting issues that have already been decided by a free vote”
Liberal Week in Review: B
Martin took aim at his enemies this week – George Bush and Andre Boisclair. The spat with the US hasn’t seemed to have a lot of traction; A lot of people like to see the PM standing up to the Americans, but it’s not exactly clear how he’s standing up to them, or on what issue. The separatism stuff was “the clip” from the debate and will certainly be a theme for the remainder of the campaign. Martin’s performance in the debates was better than last year, but still not spectacular, and the Liberals were still feeling the fall-out from “beer and popcorn” at the begining of the week.
Conservative Week in Review: B-
The daily policy barrage has died down, but we still saw tax breaks for kids in sports and help for the military. Harper didn’t get a ton of traction in the french debate, but did well in English. The polls still show the Liberals well ahead, but Harper is looking good and the new TV commercial on change looks like a winner. Still, the old speech wasn’t good news and the lack movement on the Income Trust Story means Harper has likely lost his silver bullet.
NDP Week in Review: B+
It’s been a tough campaign for Layton, but I think he picked it up a notch this week with a strong performance in both debates. The NDP also launched their child care plan, recruited Ed 2.0, and hit Martin hard on climate change.
BQ Week in Review: B+
Duceppe has been helped by a rather abysmal Quebec campaign from the Liberals. He wasn’t nearly as good in the English debate this year as in 2004, but he still won the French debate which is, obviously, a lot more important for him.
The Week Ahead
Expect things to quiet down as we approach the holidays. By Thursday, I expect the campaigns to be all but shut down.
