Stockwell Day Leaving Politics? There's a Shock

Stockwell Day has just announced that he will not be seeking re-election, and in fact, may be retiring from politics.

I'm not going to pretend that this is sad news. He's been a horrible MP and a horrible cabinet minister.

Along with Day, Harper is also losing Chuck Strahl, someone I actually liked, and John Cummins.

Are they just getting tired of it all? Having no real function in a government of one?

I would imagine that Stockwell Day hates being called a 'Tory' as much as Stephen Harper does. All those years trying to create a new right wing, and instead their wings have been clipped.

Time for this party to go.

Bob Dechert Calls Chuck Strahl a "Rube Who Just Fell Off the Turnip Truck"

Bob Dechert has been a longtime neoconservative, with a social conservative leaning.

As former National Director of the Canadian Alliance Party, he played an integral role in the merger of the Alliance and Reform Parties, which saw Stockwell Day emerge as the leader.

As a longtime Day supporter, he also stood with him during the mutiny, that eventually resulted in Day being forced to step down.

*When National Alliance member Rick Anderson was fed up with Stockwell Days's incompetence, he spoke out publicly against him. This prompted Dechert to present a motion to throw Anderson out. It was passed by a vote of 21-18.

Chuck Strahl was one of those to leave the party, as a result, prompting Dechert to call him a "Rube" who "had just fell off the turnip truck".

(I made that my heading because it challenges the ten percenters that the Reformers are currently distributing, that suggest there are tensions in the Liberal Party because of comments made by Justin Trudeau against Michael Ignatieff during the leadership convention four years ago.)

*Then later when others realized that Day was a fruitcake, and there was a more concerted effort to have him resign, Dechert was one of only two members, to vote against it. He would later send out an email to the dissidents claiming that "The result of your unfortunate and ill-advised public mutiny may very well be the loss of all the principles of the Canadian Alliance which you profess to hold so dear...."

In 2002, when it looked like a leadership race was on the horizon, Stephen Harper was prompted to take a leave of absence from the National Citizens Coalition (lasted four years), and run for the party. He was challenged by several other Reformers, including Jay Hill. Bob Dechert supported Hill because he was afraid that the social conservative goals would be abandoned with Harper.

He needn't have feared. With Stephen Harper it's all about power, so he'll agree to anything, to hold onto that.

IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA? IS BOB DECHERT REALLY THE BEST CHOICE FOR MISSISSAUGA-ERINDALE?

* Requiem for a lightweight: Stockwell Day and the Image of Politics, Trevor Harrison, Black Rose Books, 2002, ISBN: 1-55164-206-9