An amazing story, consisting (apparently) of a 5-word caption.

And yes, doggone it, I do miss Jean Chretien, our clever, devious, always-Canadian William Lyon Mackenzie King. They both made Canada a winner. But Jean could make us laugh.

we were laughing AT him mary, not with him. the guy's a joke. he claims that his greatest accomplishment was forty years in public office. there were no real achievements. he just lasted. what a buffoon.

Dat is true dough what u say Elliot.

So, what's that make you Elliot? Share your great achievements with the class won't you?

Hey!

Remember to put the EMPhasis on the wrong sylABBLE!

Hey, remember, Ih whas just a littil guy frum Chawinagain!

Well, Elliot, dear Jean was one buffoon who had psychic abilities... he foresaw that the "war on terror" in Iraq would be a liability for Canadians - inclusive of culpability, cost, and lives. Just for keeping us out of the massive exercise in destruction he deserves a metal. He then ensured Canadians signed on with the international evironmental treaty (called kyoto), - and it couldn't have come to soon as we are currently experiencing the warmest recorded year globally and Vancouver is a future rainforest. -Pretty timely and something the neo-cons don't have enough vision to see (even with the leader suffering from asthma - the connection between smog and health is still a little too blurry for them to assimilate). But that is what separates buffoons from beavis and butheads....

kyoto's a joke too. chretien was too stupid to figure that out. he signed on without consulting anyone. even his closest advisors didn't know he was going to do it. if you're going to try to defend his record in office you have quite the uphill battle ahead of you. (kind of like trying to defend glennie clark) chretien was as incompetent and lazy as any prime minister has ever been.

You seem a tad bit angry Elliot. Are you getting enough medication? Are you another whiner, looking to deflect eyes from you and your miserable life? Did you wake up and find someone took your soother away? Holly shit! What an *******! Defend this!! (me giving you the bird)

"if you're going to try to defend his record in office you have quite the uphill battle ahead of you. (kind of like trying to defend glennie clark) chretien was as incompetent and lazy as any prime minister has ever been."

Hmm... I'd say 3 state majority Liberal governments in a row defends his record quite well. I've never even voted Liberal but I know how to respect a person who shows political savvy, intelligence and strategic thinking.

The problem with Internet message boards is every assclown thinks they are a political pundit with a monopoly on the truth.

Try and put partisanship behind and acknowledge, whether you love him or hate him, that Chretien has probably been the greatest PM of Canada in the last quarter century. And thats not from my vote. Like I said earlier, the numbers speak for themselves.

thanks for the laugh apollyon. now go out and learn about canadian history and politics. chretien's 'victories' were simply about not having an established opposition.
club; typical lefty response. if you don't agree with someone they must be angry and frustrated. my life is wonderful. you should try getting one.

Once again, a delightful and very funny read, Mark Leiren-Young.

Of course, there is the matter of Michael Ignatieff and how his supporters are packaging him as the new Trudeau. There is some humour there. Or, at least irony!

Well Elliot, the truth is, no matter what one cares to say about Chrétien, there can be no denying he would have wiped the floor with Harper. Scandals and all. It would have taken one timely sentence (and he is very good at those) and it would have been all over.

you mean like this one: "A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven."
Jean Chretien
or maybe you prefer this one: "You have to look at history as an evolution of society."
Jean Chretien
if that's not enough for you, there are two volumes full of them. face it, he's a clown.

maybe you'd prefer this one: "We hate the GST and we will kill it"
On May 2, 1994, after his election as Prime Minister

I don't think so, having won doesn't make him a great PM. He was a sleazy, corrupt weasel who only cared about winning.

bingo!!!!!

He's a 'clown' who would have beaten Harper with his eyes closed.

Hey noleftwhatever deoesn't that description of Chretien apply to you're neo-con hero's in the disgraceful republican party? I'm sure tom "horny toad" delay and the numerous others would disagree but vast amounts of evidence seem to be accumulating to the contrary.
And what about gordo and his corporate pick-pockets with the mega-over-budget, mega-projects (corporate welfare hand-outs) like the rav line and stupid f'in olympics.
I see that right-wing shills canwest-goebell did their usual thorough job covering these emerging boondoggles by reporting them in the back of their propaganda rags.
Just like the story how vancouver is now the least affordable city in North America. I guess that suits gordo's greedy developer and real-estate buddies just fine.
Other than spewing anti-left rhetoric why don't you lot turn your limited attention to the brazen hypocrisy of your own supposed fiscally conservative heroes. i.e. a bunch of greedy, unscupulous businessmen masquerading as corrupt politicians!

...yawn...

*grin* - I love that proof quote, Elliot - it actually is quite deep if one ponders upon its truthism. Chretien's "proof" would be in the pudding when he warmly shakes Harper's hand after he finishes recharging him.

Ha! Whew, just about lost my seat on the freedom bus.... Elliot you're not even as funny as Ron. We can only hope to aspire to a wonderful life like yours. But just to give us a head start..... Please stay at home and continue your great existance on the internet, this way the rest of us can go outside safely without worrying about running into your sorryclownass!

...yawn...

..I'm going outside now, can I get you anything Elliot? More chezzy poofs? Another 40 litres of diet cherry cola?

Elliot's points just reek of a deep seated ressentiment. His attacks on Chretien are either superficial (i.e making fun of his language or look) or naive.

He accuses Chretien of lying about GST. What politician has not lied? I have a long list of Canadian politicians, both liked and disliked and I can tell you that I don't even bother factoring in their truthfulness anymore.

Both rightwingers and lefties love to use petty comments to assail their enemies. Lefties are up in arms about Gordon Campbell lying too! Haha what did they expect?

How seriously would I be taken if I campaigned against the BC Liberals because "Gordo" had funny hair and lied about the so-called budget crisis that resulted in all his slashed programs?

I mean its one thing to point them out, take stock (of the lies at least, the superficial comments like the one about Chretien's speech should be left at the door) and make a solid campaign against some one or some party. But to whine about them? And use them as a basis to say someone hasn't been an extremely effective and largely well-liked politican is a waste of breath.

Again, I have my political views and am not above partisanship or bias, but at least I can honestly say I respect leaders of all different political stripes. I'm not going to make up petty remarks about someone simply because their ideology isn't mine.

I'm sorry, who were you talking about? Jack Layton? Steven Harper? Gordon Campbell? Glen Clark? Carol James?

Oh yeah, that's right, emotionally-charged but intellectually-empty comments go nowhere.

Um, apollyon. You may want to read the auditor generals reports for the last few years. Chretien was no choir boy. However, I'll agree with you, "emotionally-charged but intellectually-empty comments go nowhere." But alas, they seem to apply better to your post.

Chretien had the teflon don kind of approach to political scandal, and whether he was knew what exactly went on, doesn't give him any excuses. I mean from HRDC, to certain golf courses receiving magical funding grants, to AdScam, he showed absolutely no leadership in bringing about any form of accountability. Even when the writing was on the wall. If I was in a position of power and my underlings were rumoured to be stealing, I sure hope I would have the courage to at least launch an investigation. How long did that take?

However, you may be right. Any attacks on Chretien could be groundless. I mean, why should leaders take responsibility for what falls on their turf. He could have, like Kenneth Lay over at Enron been a Victim:
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8FFSFD04.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db

Hmm... and I just heard about the scandalous Salvation Army fraud where someone was embezzling funds right under the slack leadership of that charitable organization - and then there is the SPCA - the U.N. Food for Oil Program - heck, the whole Republican Congress of the US of A and their supreme court judges take what the can when they can - then there is the unscrupulous Martha (aka Ms. Stewart) - scientific fraud funded by large Canadian Universities.... The list is really endless, and all we can say about it is, boy, do we have a lack of leadership - and Chretien is neither unique nor the worst of the bunch. At least that money was reinvested in Canada and didn't involve anything unkosher (unlike the soup sloshed out to the homeless in France... but that is another story). Even the publishers of a freakin' memoire don't double check their facts to Oprah's dismay. So at the end of the day, we can just sit back in our relatively splendid environs and think - that Chretien boy could have been worse - he could have been a conservative.

As a further point, a recent poll in Quebec has indicated that those wanting seperation has dropped by 9% as a result of the rest of Canada finally dumping the Liberals.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060131.wsov0131/BNStory/National/

It would seem that the main reason Quebecers wanted to seperate was to get away from Liberals.

APEC 1997
Young protesters were blasted with pepper spray by RCMP,signs urging democracy and free speech were torn down by Canadian police.
Chretien when he was asked about the pepper spray attacks, DEE PEPHER DATS SOME DING I put HON MI FOUD HA HA HA HA
Another great moment in Liberal history.

Then they should stop voting for them. Quebecers have been the bulwark upon which the Liberals have ruled the rest of Canada for a very long time until just recently.

Even provincially, its separatists or Liberals. Perhaps Quebec ballots don't have other parties listed?

Many interesting comments but the question I am asking is who has the biggest smile after the election? Jean Chretien - he may have been forced out of the Liberal Party leadership but he had a big part to play in when he left and I believe he saw the troubles that Gomery was going to lay at his feet if he stayed on power. He left it for Martin, his rival.

Frank,

I think they've been trying to for awhile. The one exception was is 2000, when they did fairly well in Quebec. But I guess in comparison to Stockwell Day and Joe Clark in the French language debate, Chretien did surprisingly well.

Lib wins in Quebec:
1988 they won 12 of 75
1991 they won 19 of 75
1997 they won 26 of 75
2000 they won 36 of 75
2004 they won 21 of 75
2006 they won 13 of 75

Actually as a follow up, the only times in the last 30 years when the Liberals won more than 35% of the seats in Quebec was when Joe Clark was running.... that would be 79,80, and 2000. Coincidence????

'His attacks on Chretien are either superficial (i.e making fun of his language or look) or naive.' another ridiculous lie from apollyon. where's da proof?

hey chretien's mideast tour

hey chretien's mideast tour sure was great wasn't it?

Mark, you're not always on the mark but when you hit the target you're a marksman. I wish I was half as funny as you are. Satire is a tough gig.

As for the Belinda critics here, they underestimate the appeal of a social liberal and economic conservative. If she'd won the Conservative leadership Martin would have lost the 2004 election. Watch the woman go for the brass ring, critics be damned. Harper's appeal — such as it is — will wane as the US does.

Bush has led the US into a mire of record trade deficits, record deficits and debt, an unwinnable war and potential default on the debt. Today he told Americans they must get off their reliance on oil, or else they're at peril. Meanwhile the new economic giants, China and India, are a'courtin' South America, the Middle East and Canada for the resources they don't have but badly need. Every two weeks China builds the equivalent of a new urban city full of the mods and cons... think about that.

My money's betting on Canada and South America in the long term, Middle East in short term.

Chretien understood the power of discourse. Martin did not.

That's why Chretien was the teflon man. He knew how to change the subject. Martin - on the other hand - took a course of action that guaranteed Liberal corruption would be in the news every day for the rest of his mandate.

Love him or hate him, Chretien had political savvy to spare

so we go down the road towards the Eye of the Needle, by looking wistfully in the rear view mirror?

yawn.....