Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 02, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a7 Winnipeg repress. Com election 2008 Winnipeg free press thursday october 2, 2008 a 7 some restrictions May apply. No Purchase necessary place your saturday employment and at regular Price and re run that same and any number of Days the following sunday through Friday and receive 50% off the Price of your an when you take advantage of this offer your name will automatically be entered in a draw to win a 37 cd a div Call for details 697 7100 fax 697 7375 email of class free press. My. Ca living with hearing loss the society for Manitoban with disabilities offers classes to improve your speech Reading skills and enhance coping strategies to live More successfully with your hearing loss at Home at work and in social settings. Join other adults in a fun and relaxed learning environment. For More information Call Judi Bauer 975 3074 toll free 1 866 282 8041 or e mail to Bauer sad. My. Ca                                                  "  #  $ %   &                                                                                                                                                                    "       #   $  %  $ $   &                                ,.                             /     0    1  2                                                       3    1       4  5                                                                                                                                  "   # $                 % &               "                                 "   $                 % &               "  .        /           % &              0                                                                                                                                      6 #   77 6 #  7     # 7 1   " c Algary what exactly is it going to take to impress the voters in this election naked body painting Camp counsellors and drug smoking exhibitionists did not seem to Hurt the nip. The liberals have torched one candidate for musing about genocide and another for musing about How the u. S. Government and not bin Laden were behind 9/ 11. It a snot led to a free fall. And then there Are the conservatives. Prior to the Campaign the conservatives were facing numerous scandals including an on going Battle with elections Canada Over a cynical election financing and an investigation into a tory plan to buy the support of by Independent my Chuck Cadman who was dying of cancer at the time. Harper launched this Campaign with a decision to violate the spirit of his own fixed Date election Law. This Law was one part of the holy Trinity of populist conservative policy along with recall provisions and referendums on tax cuts. Harper could not bring in the other two and he has tossed aside the one he did deliver. That was soon followed by tory spin doctor Ryan sparrows attempt at defaming the father of a fallen Canadian Soldier. Then we had agriculture minister Gerry Ritzus death of a thousand cold cuts stand up routine. As the Campaign has stretched on the hits just keep on coming. This week a conservative staffer resigned after he admitted plagiarizing a speech by then australian prime minister John Howard to pump up an address in the House of commons by then opposition Leader Harper. This Story broke the Day before the first scandalous details of Julie Couil Lardis Tell All autobiography were revealed. In the reports Couillard claims Boyfriend and former tory foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier left so Many confidential foreign policy documents laying around her Montreal Home she could have used them As wallpaper. Has a sitting government Ever carried this Many problems into an election Campaign and lived to Tell the tale journalists generally hover Over the parties and candidates hoping they can sniff out an act of political self mutilation on the theory that every once in a while it changes the course of an election. The problem is nothing seems to be changing the course of this election. For example last week some pundits and journalists predicted the firing of Winnipeg Liberal candidate Leslie Hughes who penned a now infamous 9/ 11 conspiracy essay would destroy the Liberal Campaign. And yet rolling opinion polls in the Wake of Hughes Gate show Little Impact. The liberals were lagging Well behind the tories before Hughes imploded and they re still lagging behind now that Sheds a punch line for the grit Campaign. In addition to setting new lows for morality and judgement this Campaign May go Down in the annals of Canadian political history As the hokum Campaign where exhausted voters demonstrated an across the Board disinterest in incidents that would under Normal circumstances have altered the outcome of the election. How else can we explain the conservatives remarkable immunity All of their gaffes have been debated and reported and Analysed to death. And none of it to Date appears to have Hurt the tories in any meaningful Way. Harper remains stuck in the polls tantalizingly close to a majority but he a snot lost ground to his opponents and appears poised to win a larger minority at the very least. In 2006, the liberals were dealt a Knock out blow when Winnipeg nip my Judy was lycia leis released a letter indicating the ramp were investigating the Liberal government for leaking sensitive information about income trusts prior to a government announcement. Despite the weighty baggage of the Quebec sponsorship scandal then prime minister Paul Martin had a very Good Chance of forming some sort of government when the letter arrived. After it became Public the Liberal Campaign took on the trajectory of a hot air balloon in a meteor storm. Back to the plagiarism scandal. Can a single act of immorality become the income Trust investigation letter of the 2008 Campaign we journalists Are suitably outraged but its unclear voters care any More about this scandal than any of the other scandals. Poll results Over the next few Days should be watched closely. Perhaps the problem Here is that we in the Media Are simply looking for the wrong consequence. Although it appears none of these mini scandals is Likely to Hurt any one party it might Hurt All of them when nobody shows up to vote on october 14. Dan. Lett free press. My. Ca scandals abound but voters just dont seem to care Dan Lett on the web the liberals have launched an online offensive with a pair of partisan websites aimed squarely at prime minister Stephen Harper. One of the Sites appearing this week titled Harper comics expands on a set of gloomy foreboding to ads that attack the prime ministers fiscal policies. The other features a photo of Harper and u. S. President George w. Bush Side by Side with a voiceover by someone imitating the presidents distinctive drawl and speaking about my pal Steve. The site plays on the fact that Bush is leaving office Jan. 20. Ism going Back to Texas but if you vote for Steve i Ted be just As if i moved up there with yall the Impersonator cackles. Nelson Wiseman professor of political science at the University of Toronto said hers not surprised the liberals have turned to negative ads. They probably regret they did not Start right out with it Wiseman said. They made the big error of running on something rather than running against something. The websites can be viewed at wow. Harper comics. Com and wow. Bus Harper. Com. The Canadian press How. Can we explain the conservatives remarkable immunity All of their gaffes have been debated and reported and Analysed to death. And none of it to Date appears to have Hurt the tories in any meaningful Way. She might have been kicked to the curb by her own party but embattled Kildonan St. Paul candidate Lesley Hughes is Likely to wage a full on Campaign As an Independent. The disgraced Liberal candidate will be making an announcement today but hinted strongly wednesday that Shell be More than a name on a ballot. She said she wants to make sure an Independent my can have an Impact in Ottawa and not live in a Broom closet for the rest of your career. Ive been under an awful lot of pressure to continue As an Independent she said before a forum on women in politics at the University of Winnipeg. Ism considering whether an Independent candidate can actually do an effective Job for people. Is that a reasonable option to present to people i tend to think it might be. Hughes a freelance journalist and activist was turfed by the liberals last week after a column she wrote in 2002 about the 9/ 11 terrorist attacks resurfaced. In it she wrote that the Cia and the us government knew of the sept. 11 attacks beforehand a key claim of 9/ 11 conspiracy theorists some of whom Are tainted by anti semitic undercurrents. Hughes name will still appear on the ballot in Kildonan St. Paul under the Liberal Banner because it was too late to have it removed or altered. Hughes Campaign office is still open and she has retained her original Liberal Campaign manager Selina Bieber who ran for the grits provincially last year. She said if she runs Shell carry on As before with door knocking and Campaign events. The duo said they Are also planning something to Clear Hughes name of what she says Are unfounded and unfair accusations of anti semitism. Hughes made Light of her orphan status at wednesdays forum joking that she did not have a party to quote after other candidates on the panel read their policies verbatim. That earned laughs and a table thump from Winnipeg North nip my Judy was lycia leis. Maryagnes. Welch free press. My. Ca Hughes expected to run As an Independent by Mary Agnes Welch the daily voter Riding Selkirk Interlake voting nip the nip Are More for the people and they re More balanced than the others Jason Domansky Mike Aporius Winnipeg free press Lesley Hughes at forum wednesday. Tom Hanson Canadian press Stephen harpers conservatives Are stuck in the polls but they a vent lost ground. A 07_ oct 02 08. Ind a7 1 0/ 1/ 08 10 04 15 pm ;