Bob Rae http://www.bobrae.ca Bob Rae - In the media en-us yann@bobrae.ca yann@bobrae.ca :: Bobrae.ca :: 2006 Observers hail Bob Rae as this race's 'sleeper' hit Thu, 23 Nov 2006 14:34:34 -0500 Middle of the road proves to be solid turf for ex-NDP premier wary of big promises
By Campbell Clark

OTTAWA -- Bob Rae appeared to be nodding off when he attended his first big Liberal function as a potential leadership candidate back in April. There were 16 prospective new leaders on a panel in Edmonton, and Mr. Rae roused himself as his turn approached, grasped a microphone and strode to the middle of the stage.

"Thank you," he said, hitting his mark and delivering a one-liner: "I'm much more comfortable in the middle."

Seven months later, Bob Rae has made a campaign out of the sense he can almost do politics in his sleep. And carefully plodding down the middle of the road.

His past was the brash, young social democrat. But the second coming of Bob Rae is the conservative in the Liberal leadership race. Not ideologically -- he asserts he can broaden the Liberals' appeal on the left -- but his style has been cautious, his policies orthodox Liberal, given more in outlines than details, and his public performances wily.

That would be expected if Mr. Rae were the odds-on favourite trying to hold his lead. But he entered the race with baggage from his controversial tenure as Ontario's NDP premier and a newly purchased Liberal membership card, and he has never been the front-runner.

Now, after a campaign without dramatic gestures or surprise stands, some in the party are rating him most likely to win after Michael Ignatieff's stumbles into controversy. "I think the sleeper in this race was Bob Rae," said Richard Diamond, the Liberal youth president, who backed Scott Brison.

"He has run a front-runner's campaign while not being the front-runner," said Peter Donolo, Jean Chrétien's former communications director, and now executive vice-president with polling firm the Strategic Counsel.

Many said he would need more to win a Liberal leadership race. Robin Sears, a former NDP aide to Mr. Rae, wrote recently in Policy Options magazine that to counter the street wisdom that he "destroyed" Ontario, Mr. Rae would need to redefine himself with a much more complete mea culpa and a powerful new "vision."

But Bob Rae resisted the free advice.

In an October speech, he again acknowledged his Ontario government realized too slowly that government spending would not turn the economy around. But it was not a no-holds-barred admission: He also said its failings were exaggerated because of a tough recession and federal cuts, and argued later that he erred on the side of compassion. Since then, he has mostly returned to campaigning on experience, and his political skills.

It is partly because Bob Rae's personality and political philosophy have shifted, marked by the battle scars of a difficult time in office that included not only attacks on his huge deficit spending but also cries of betrayal from the NDP's supporters on the left when he later imposed austerity measures. His new book, Canada in the Balance, is centred on the rejection of ideology and embrace of pragmatic politics.

But the campaign also bears the hallmarks of his older brother, John Rae, the Power Corp. executive and former Jean Chrétien campaign manager, famed in Liberal circles as the quintessentially unflappable and methodical strategist.

The two brothers have always had a blood-is-thicker-than-politics attitude, but Bob Rae's politics, and now his campaign style, have grown closer to John's.

John Rae, acting as an effective campaign chair for his brother, although not the campaign manager, has brought the no-mistakes, stick-to-the-plan plan that succeeded for Mr. Chrétien.

In 1993, newly elected Conservative leader Kim Campbell rose in the polls with a spate of pre-campaign campaigning. Nervous Liberals pushed for Mr. Chrétien to scrap his strategy of waiting for the campaign to unveil his "Red Book" platform, and fight Ms. Campbell tit-for-tat in the media.

It was John Rae who dismissed Ms. Campbell's flurry as noise. Mr. Chrétien stuck to the script, and took advantage as Ms. Campbell tripped. Now, by all appearances, Bob Rae is following same plan, sticking to the script while others stumble. He has found the openings when others made them, but been just as wily as Mr. Chrétien in avoiding being nailed down.

When Mr. Ignatieff said that he would one day recognize Quebec as a "nation" in the Constitution, Mr. Rae attacked him for proposing new constitutional talks. When a reporter asked if Mr. Rae believed the Constitution should never be reopened, he said: "Never's not a word I've used."

Mr. Rae's platforms have been issued in policy outlines, sometimes vague ones, and not program details. He called for a national pharmacare plan for expensive drugs, and competitive taxes. He issued an 11-point plan to attack global warming; Mr. Dion's was 53 pages. His agricultural platform calls for replacing Canada's crop-insurance program with "a new program that better deals with the challenges farmers face."

The lack of details is not an accident. His strategists believe too much detail is an opening for opponents. And Mr. Rae, who argues he has issued enough substance in platforms and past writings to give people an understanding of his directions, makes a virtue of keeping his options open.

"I'm very conscious of not making a whole series of programmatic promises that are sometimes hard to deliver on. And I guess that's the product of experience," he said in an interview as he campaigned in Winnipeg last week.

At a reception for 40 leadership-convention delegates at Winnipeg's Fort Garry Hotel, his sell tactic was simple: Imagine me in the job. "We're electing somebody who knows how to be a leader of the opposition and to run as a leader of the opposition against Stephen Harper," he told the delegates.

His listeners that day were not all sold, however. Winnipeg lawyer Matt Maruca, 26, a Ken Dryden delegate, met with Mr. Rae earlier in the hotel, and still has doubts.

"He obviously has political experience that he can learn from," Mr. Maruca said. "His cons would obviously be that his record in Ontario might be held against him."]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#43 Liberals would fare best with Rae, poll finds Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:32:57 -0500 Canadian Press
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Joan Bryden

OTTAWA -- As the nine-month Liberal leadership marathon entered its final days, a new poll suggested the party would fare best in an election with Bob Rae at the helm.

According to the Decima poll, released yesterday to Canadian Press, 37 per cent of respondents said they would vote Liberal or consider doing so if Mr. Rae were the leader, compared with 34 per cent for Stéphane Dion, 33 per cent for front-runner Michael Ignatieff and 31 per cent for Gerard Kennedy.

Mr. Rae appeared to have pull even among Ontarians, who've apparently forgotten or forgiven his rocky tenure as an NDP premier in the province.

The results could be influential in the close-fought contest, where the deciding factor will hinge on delegates' assessment of who is best positioned to lead the party back to office.

But the margin of error -- plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20 -- means there could be little significant difference in the national appeal of the top four leadership contenders.

The telephone survey of 1,123 Canadians was conducted Nov. 9-13, just three weeks before Liberals are to gather in Montreal to choose a new leader on Dec. 2.

Mr. Rae's edge was more pronounced among respondents who voted Liberal or New Democratic in the last election, although the margin of error increases with the smaller sample of such voters, ranging from five to seven percentage points.

Among Liberal voters, 68 per cent said they were certain to vote for the party again or would consider doing so with Mr. Rae at the helm, compared with 63 per cent for Mr. Dion, 61 per cent for Mr. Ignatieff and 59 per cent for Mr. Kennedy.

Among NDP voters, 41 per cent would vote or consider voting Liberal under Mr. Rae's leadership, compared with 31 per cent for Mr. Dion, 28 per cent for Mr. Kennedy and 27 per cent for Mr. Ignatieff.

Decima's Bruce Anderson said the poll results suggest Mr. Rae would best hold on to the Liberals' base of support from last winter's election and would have the greatest success in expanding it to include NDP voters.

"Over the course of this campaign, our data have been getting worse for Michael Ignatieff and better for Bob Rae," he said.

Moreover, Mr. Anderson said the poll suggests there is little basis to predictions that Mr. Rae would be unelectable in Ontario, where he presided over a recession-ravaged economy with soaring deficits, taxes and unemployment from 1990-95.

Among Ontario respondents, 46 per cent said they would or would consider voting Liberal with Mr. Rae as leader, compared with 45 per cent for Mr. Kennedy, 40 per cent for Mr. Dion and 38 per cent for Mr. Ignatieff.

Among Quebec respondents, there was no statistical difference between the drawing power of Mr. Dion, Mr. Ignatieff or Mr. Rae.

Twenty-eight per cent said they would or would consider voting Liberal under Mr. Dion, 26 per cent under Mr. Ignatieff and 25 per cent under Mr. Rae.

Mr. Kennedy, a former Ontario education minister who speaks awkward French and is little known in Quebec, was a draw with only 16 per cent of Quebec respondents.

Decima also tested the appeal of Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Rae against that of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

When respondents were asked who would make the best prime minister, neither candidate came out ahead of Mr. Harper, although Mr. Rae fared considerably better than Mr. Ignatieff.

Respondents preferred Mr. Harper over Mr. Rae by a margin of 44 per cent to 32 per cent.

Against Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Harper's margin improved to 48 per cent from 24 per cent.
]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#42 `Big Mo' behind ex-NDP premier — at least for now Sat, 28 Oct 2006 14:32:14 -0500 It's been a good week for Rae Camps planning convention tactics

Source : STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Linda Diebel

It's all about the "Big Mo." It always is in politics — who lost it, who's got it, who will have it tomorrow.
It's what George Bush Sr. dubbed the momentum that sweeps a candidate into office and, in the nasty, brutish and intensely personal race for the Liberal leadership, Bob Rae has been riding the wave.
In the last week, anyway.
He had it, Gerard Kennedy and Stéphane Dion appeared to be working on it together and the campaign of Michael Ignatieff, whom everyone's trying to beat, was able to "stabilize," as one political adviser put it.
Last week, Rae won the endorsement of Don Valley West MP John Godfrey, former minister of state. Yesterday, Rae snagged the support of a prominent GTA MP, who had left the Ignatieff camp.
"Bob Rae embodies all the qualities necessary to successfully lead the Liberal party and become the next prime minister — inclusive, principled, experienced, consistent and forward looking," Thornhill MP Susan Kadis said after joining Team Rae.
Until recently, Kadis was GTA co-chair for Ignatieff, the MP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. She quit, writing an angry, public letter about her disappointment in the candidate after he referred, on Quebec TV, to the summer's Israeli bombing of Qana, Lebanon, as a "war crime." (Ignatieff later stressed both Israeli and Lebanese civilians were victims of war crimes and that a ruling on Qana would come from international organizations.)
Kadis went further yesterday. "Rae is ready for the rigours of leadership. Is Michael Ignatieff not ready? My opinion is that he is not. That's why I parted ways with him," she said.
The thing about Rae is people keep whispering he hasn't got a prayer. Guffaws greeted the announcement of his candidacy. There's an ABR (Anybody but Rae) movement and some Liberals say they will rip up their membership cards if he wins.
"Are you people nuts?" an Ignatieff strategist asked, referring to "Rae Days" and other aspects of his NDP government. "His record from 1990 to 1995 was not some boyhood prank."
Political scientist Heather MacIvor, from the University of Windsor, also sees problems with Rae: "I have a very finely tuned political gut and my gut says he can't win."
And yet, the guy keeps on keeping on, picking up endorsements and claiming small victories. That's no guarantee, of course, that things won't fall apart or that the last month won't be tougher for Rae than the last six months combined.
"It will happen," said David MacNaughton, campaign manager for Kennedy. "Rae has had an easy ride so far, in my opinion, but there are quite a few people in the Liberal party who campaigned against him. The depth of the anti-Bob Rae feeling in the party may not be wide, but it is intense."
Still, in a week that saw frontrunner Ignatieff isolated over his stand on Quebec, MacIvor says it was a "strong message" for Rae to be able to keep pulling in endorsements.
Ignatieff's people may argue that high-profile converts — MPs Maurizio Bevilacqua (Vaughan), Carolyn Bennett (St. Paul's) and Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre) — couldn't bring their supporters to Rae. They point out that Ignatieff already had far more parliamentary support than his opponents.
But it's the "cumulative effect" of the steady exodus to Rae that should worry the other camps. "It gives the impression Rae has the `Big  Mo,'" said MacIvor.
Meanwhile, in this season of deal-making, Ignatieff appears to have been left out. The Toronto Star revealed the existence this week of talks about a potential alliance between the Dion and Kennedy camps. The idea appears to be that whoever trails after the second ballot — the former federal environment minister from Quebec or the former Ontario education minister — would drop out.
Other camps argue Ignatieff has little room to grow and that by supporting a resolution recognizing Quebec as a nation last weekend in Montreal, he further alienated other delegates.
The resolution recognizes  Quebec and binds the federal party to appoint a task force to report to the next leader on "possible ways and the appropriate timing to officialize this historic and social reality."
Rae, Kennedy and Dion all agree  Quebec is a nation. But they opposed the motion with the argument it could lead to failed constitutional talks.
The disagreement has heightened personal animosity. The other camps believe that, without Ignatieff, the motion would not have been on the menu at a meeting of the Quebec wing of the party.
Still, supporters of Ignatieff, who has the most delegates to the convention, argue that recent tough times are over. "The `war crime' comment shook a lot of people," said former federal Liberal Doug Frith, an Ignatieff campaign adviser. "But I think it has stabilized now."
He doesn't believe the candidate's stand on Quebec will hurt, and he's feeling good about the convention. In Frith's view, the `Big Mo' is returning to where it's been all along.]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#41 Bob Rae's moment? Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:31:27 -0500 National Post
Friday, October 27, 2006

When the current Liberal leadership campaign commenced, we were glad to see such an open field. Given the damaged state of the Liberal brand, we argued, the party needed to reinvent itself. And the best way to do this was through a genuinely competitive leadership campaign featuring a wide-ranging debate on the issues facing Canada.

Turns out we were one for two: Yes, we got a competitive leadership campaign -- featuring no fewer than four men who could win the big prize. But the accompanying policy debate has mostly been a snoozer, with Gerard Kennedy, Stephane Dion, Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae all sticking to safe centre-left positions on Kyoto, social programming, missile defence,  Afghanistan, Iraq, health care and other major issues. Only Scott Brison, who is out of the real running, has given us a sustained focus on the economy. And so the horse race has largely been fueled by optics, gaffes, gossip, charm, leaks, backbiting and idle chatter about "momentum changes" sparked by the aforementioned.

It is admittedly paltry grist for judging the field. But insofar as we can judge, it is Bob Rae whose stock seems to be rising.

Mr. Rae did not exactly blow us away when he visited the National Post editorial board a few weeks back. Indeed, he ducked just about every sensitive question we asked him. (His favourite tactic was to defer judgment to some higher authority -- the UN in the case of foreign issues such as Darfur; the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of domestic issues such as Senate reform.) But we were impressed by his general tone and erudition. The very least that can be said of Mr. Rae is that he is a consistently serious, lucid politician with a solid grounding in Canadian public service and policy research.

This is more than can be said for the front-runner, Mr. Ignatieff, who, despite his impressive political pedigree, continues to say silly things about serious subjects. We remain particularly concerned about his support for the idea of  Quebec as a "nation," and his clumsily recanted accusation that Israel perpetrated "war crimes" during its war with Hezbollah. Both claims demonstrate a penchant for pandering that belie his erstwhile reputation as a principled academic.

As for the other two finalists -- Messrs. Kennedy and Dion -- we are wary for different reasons. Prior to his airbrushing for the current campaign, Mr. Kennedy maintained an air of save-the-world utopianism which hails back to the worst social-engineering impulses of urban Liberals. Mr. Dion has lately struck a similar chord, preaching endlessly about environmentalism in a nation that has far more important problems.

Is Bob Rae the man to confront those problems, if only as leader of the Opposition? As Mr. Rae himself candidly concedes, the man made a hash of Ontario's finances during his tenure as premier. But after listening to his speech in Toronto yesterday (excerpted on this page, below), we believe he may have learned some hard lessons. We were particularly struck by the emphasis he laid in his speech on lowering taxes to increase Canada's ability to compete in a globalized economy. "I know this is anathema to the NDP," he declared. "But the NDP is wrong."

By the disappointing rhetorical standards that have governed this leadership campaign, these rank as blunt words. Welcome words, too. We urge Liberal party members to listen, and give them the hearing they deserve.

]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#40 Rae admits 'wrong' in past Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:30:34 -0500 Vows to cut taxes

Source : National Post
Friday, October 27, 2006

TORONTO - Just weeks before ballots are cast on his Liberal leadership hopes, Bob Rae came to the heart of the financial district yesterday to tackle what one supporter called "the elephant in the room" -- his disastrous term as premier of Ontario in the 1990s.

In a breakfast speech to supporters, Mr. Rae portrayed himself as a man who has learned a hard lesson, and didn't sound anything like his former self, promising tax cuts and a balanced budget and assailing his old allies in the NDP as outdated, unrealistic and "wrong on taxes."

"I'm aware of what people say about my bad points as well as my good ones," the former NDP premier said. "[But] in my life I haven't met many people who think exactly the same way today as they did 10 or 20 years ago."

In a speech loaded with subtle criticism of his main rival, front-runner Michael Ignatieff, Mr. Rae focused on economic issues and efforts to convince party delegates he has learned hard lessons from his difficult years as premier between 1990 and 1995.

"I have the advantage in this race ... all my negatives were well-known from the beginning," Mr. Rae said. "I did run a government that borrowed a lot of money and then lost an election."

He was at pains to establish his Liberal credentials, outlining both his environmental and economic program.

Mr. Rae also spoke of his plans for "a competitive and innovative tax regime."

"This means personal income-tax cuts that are fair, progressive, reward savings and boost productivity ... it also means that our corporate taxes must be competitive," he said. "I know this is anathema to the NDP, but I can tell you that Jack Layton and the NDP are wrong about taxes."

The former New Democrat insisted his political views have changed as a result of his term in government.

"From the Premier's chair I witnessed the challenges, the disappointments, and yes the pain ... It was a terribly tough time," he said. "The experience has very much defined who I am."

Mr. Rae became Ontario's first NDP premier in September, 1990, winning a majority despite garnering only 37% of the popular vote. He quickly ran into trouble with voters by back-tracking on key campaign promises such as creating a publicly owned auto insurer and by running up large deficits in an attempt to spend Ontario's way out of recession.

The spending failed, and the province was forced to introduce drastic cost-cutting measures including having civil servants take unpaid days off: the infamous "Rae days."

But he also criticized his successor as premier, Conservative Mike Harris, and said "voters made the leap out of the NDP frying pan into the Tory fire."

"Some things, I believe -- I firmly believe -- we got right," he said. "I also accept responsibility for the things that could have been done better."

At the same time, Mr. Rae managed to take aim at front-runner Mr. Ignatieff without once mentioning his name, emphasizing his many years in politics and by extension Mr. Ignatieff's relative inexperience.

"I know what it means to face the pressures of office. I have learned from them as did all of us in public life at that time," Mr. Rae said. "It is one thing to criticize and propose bright ideas ... it is quite another to actually deliver on those ideas ... that experience has taught me some fundamental truths, or lessons if you will."
That experience has converted him into a believer in balanced budgets and what he called "fiscal reality," including both corporate and income tax cuts.

"Economic prosperity must be of paramount concern ... in particular, I've learned that economies can turn on a dime and so can spending and so can revenue. Nobody should want to go back to the days of deficits."

Mr. Rae said his three main priorities as Liberal leader would be the economy, education and the environment: issues he said are inextricably linked. "We need a prime minister who gets it -- who understands how important this is to our country."

He said a Liberal government under his leadership would make the Kyoto Accord and environmental policy one of its priorities, but was careful to emphasize that he favours a "market-based" approach to the problem of global warming and pollution.

"It has to be based not on big governments walking around spending tons and tons of money. It's about getting consumers to change their behaviour; it's about getting companies to change their behaviour and getting everybody to understand that this is the way of the world."

After the speech, Mr. Rae suggested he wanted to address questions about his NDP roots and his lingering unpopularity in Ontario from his time as premier head-on.

"Look, I'm a total realist ... my challenges in terms of people's views about me were apparent before I became a candidate," he told reporters. "I just think it's something you've got to keep talking about in a factual way. I'm a great believer that the truth will set you free. So the more I tell the truth, the more people hear it ... I think the better off we'll be."

]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#39 Why I left the Left behind - Excerpt from Bob Rae’s new book Canada in the Balance Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:29:17 -0500
Simply put, after lengthy personal experience, I concluded that the federal NDP and its Ontario counterpart are wedded to a culture of opposition and protest. They have great difficulty embracing the lessons of the postwar world about the relationship between markets, society, and government. Determined to be in Canada what one of their leaders described as the “last, best, left,” the New Democrats are confining themselves to an ever-smaller universe. They are ignoring obvious lessons of history, solid research, and the example of other left-leaning parties elsewhere, such as “new Labour” in Britain. In my 1998 book, The Three Questions, the argument I expressed was that the pursuit of wealth creation was not opposed to social justice, as much thinking on the left seemed to imply. Rather, good public policy required a commitment to a balance between the self-interest of the market and the broader claims of the public good. Citing Edmund Burke’s aphorism that “there is nothing more dangerous than governing in the name of a theory,” the underlying theme of the book was the need to avoid ideological enthusiasm. It seemed to me then, as it does now, that both the right and the left have been unable to avoid the lure of ideology.

At its core, the NDP, both in Ontario and federally, has been more committed to protest than to seeing the country achieve a balanced, progressive, effective government. It cannot escape a knee-jerk reaction to business entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Most social democratic parties in power have had to address issues of marginal tax rates for businesses and individuals from an intensely practical viewpoint. Governments from Manitoba to Sweden have accepted that this is a precondition for prosperity. But the federal NDP’s recent opposition to any tax changes for large and even small business is a sure sign that “private sector is bad, public sector is good” is a flawed mantra it simply can’t avoid.

In the last federal election, the NDP’s final pitch to any Liberal was to “please lend us your vote” for one election. The party of Pearson and Trudeau, the argument went, wasn’t being represented by the current leadership: time in the penalty box would do the trick.

With a refreshed and refocused leadership, the Liberal Party is surely entitled to say to those same voters: “We are the party of Laurier, Pearson, and Trudeau. We are the party of prosperity, fairness, and pluralism. The NDP has not earned the right to retain your vote. We would like your vote back.”

The roots of the Liberal Party of Canada lie in the power of two ideas: First, responsible government required the end of an unaccountable Family Compact and its replacement by reform-minded governments committed to expanding democracy and the public good. Second, since, in Laurier’s words, “Canada is a very difficult country to govern,” the greatest care has to be paid to the sensitivities of French and English, the balance between regions, the never-ending issue of national unity, and the need to put our relationship with Aboriginal peoples on a new footing.

The Liberal Party’s strength is its capacity for governing and statecraft, its determination to seek balance, and its underlying commitment to prosperity and the sharing of opportunity.

Jean Chrétien’s election in 1993 and the crushing defeat of the Progressive Conservatives provided the party with a fresh chance to prove its strength and relevance to Canada’s needs. The greatest achievement of those years was undoubtedly the elimination of the deficit and the return of real fiscal strength to the country.

To these must be added the decision to sign the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change , the commitment to higher education, innovation and research, and Canada’s renewed focus on international development and peacemaking. Changes to Canada’s election financing laws will also be seen as a critical legacy.

Paul Martin’s accession to office in 2003 was quickly followed by an election in the spring of 2004. While only given a minority mandate, there were marked achievements of the Martin years, most notably the negotiation of the agreement known as the Kelowna Accord, a budget described by Greenpeace as “the greenest in Canadian history,” and an historic agreement on child care negotiated by Liberal MP Ken Dryden that marked both federal leadership and provincial flexibility.

I have learned from hard experience the costs of the ideology that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives want to impose on Canada, and that Canadians in a majority voted against in the last election. I am running as a Liberal for the leadership of the Liberal Party because I have learned that Canada needs a party that is committed to change, that is open to all Canadians, and that understands that politics is about people, not theories and ideologies.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier talked of his “sunny ways,” and reminded Canadians that faith and love are more important than doubt and hate. I like the Liberal Party because it is optimistic, because it builds on hope, not fear, because it believes in opportunity for everyone, because it is inclusive. My dad always used to say about certain people, “He’s a big person, he’s a builder.” For me, the glass is always half full. I love this country and all its people, and for me the Liberal Party best expresses those feelings.

There are some basic lessons I’ve drawn from my experiences as an active politician, premier, and mediator and problem-solver over the last thirty years. The first lesson I learned is what I call the Ella Fitzgerald lesson: “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and rich is better.” Prosperity and the encouragement of prosperity are critical. Not simply desirable, they are vital to improving the lot of our citizens today and those who will join us here in the future. I governed during the worst recession since the 1930s. The prosperity of the late 1980s came to a dramatic halt. Immediately, we learned of the difficulties that that entailed. Many business people have told me that in good times mistakes can be quickly overcome. In tough times, that is just not the case.

Since my time as premier of Ontario, Canada has developed a collective allergy to deficits, and that is a good thing. In some ways that has become as much a part of our political identity as quality health care. We must continue to keep our fiscal house in order.

We need competitive tax and regulatory policies, but they must be balanced by a renewed focus on learning, on innovation, and investments in infrastructure that encourage private and public investment. This was a key focus of the Chrétien-Martin years. They are not, apparently, on the Harper priority list. Harper’s idea of economic policy is to take a point off the GST. His right hand doesn’t know what his far right hand is doing. It just isn’t enough for a complex economy like Canada’s.

It’s a tough, competitive world out there. Preparing Canadians for the challenge ahead is at the top of my list. It needs to be a focus of our politics again. But as important as prosperity is, it is not enough. It must be matched with purpose.

Wealth creation must be a partner to shared opportunity. Children living in poverty are a challenge to our conscience and to our future. Child poverty challenges our sense of what makes sense—we know full well that generations left behind will be more likely to fall ill, to go to jail, to need constant support. Canadians deserve better.

I’ve learned that trying to turn heads is more important than counting heads. Taking what my father called the pulse of democracy should not deter people from understanding that things change—and that things must change. Henry Ford said, “If I’d asked people what they wanted, I’d have given them a faster horse.” We need to listen—but we also need to lead.

Ending child poverty is where we can lead. It can be, should be, a goal of our government. First reducing it, then eliminating it. To do that you have to begin at the beginning. With health care, with early learning and child development, with high-quality and affordable child care, with the social safety net that defines us as Canadians.

We need a health-care strategy that ensures our public system is accessible, safe, of high quality, and includes a focus on wellness and prevention, especially in the early years. The federal government must come to the health-care table as a player and a partner to help ensure these ends.

When a quarter of our high-school students drop out, and a further 25 per cent graduate school without going on, we have a problem. When students’ perception of the costs of higher education is greater than their sense of the value that comes from post-secondary skills, we have a problem. As Canadians, we have to strive for better.

During the last federal election campaign I was struck, like many Canadians, by the absence of discussion from the major political parties of Canada’s place in the world. It is no secret, no astounding revelation, that our well-being depends on what is happening around us. Our economic health is dependent on our trade with partners across the globe as well as just across the border. Our citizens come from every region of the world.

As Canadians, we would do well to remember the respect we have gained internationally—our reputation for stability and fairness and as a country that works. But that is not enough. It must be matched by a commitment to meet our international obligations, and then do more to lead.

A foreign policy borne of an ideology and excessive rhetoric is bound to fail—we have heard the reverberations of such failure echo ‘round the world. Jean Chrétien was right about Canada and Iraq—not because he was following public opinion, but because he thought the invasion ill-advised and contrary to international law. It was a judgment call that was fundamentally sound, reflected our values, and offered our independent voice. Like all the major problems that face our world, Canada cannot solve the environmental degradation and global warming alone. But we should be more of a leader. Signing the Kyoto Protocol was only the first step—accepting targets is one thing, achieving them is another. It would be nice to say that retreat from Kyoto is unthinkable. But, in fact, we know with the current government it is not. Mr. Harper has put us on notice: the Kyoto Protocol is of no importance to him. I disagree. Our environment—our children’s future—is not negotiable.

The Conservatives are attempting to take us down paths that do not reflect our strengths or speak to our most pressing challenges. On foreign policy, Canada’s voice has gone missing under the Conservatives. Most Canadians support Kyoto, child care, and rights for minorities. They want to see us investing in education, health care, and research and innovation. Canadians want and deserve an alternative that is hopeful, generous, dedicated to building prosperity and sharing opportunity. I want to help shape that alternative and get our country back on track.

The sooner, the better.

I have learned a great deal about federalism. I worked on and supported the Meech and Charlottetown Accords, but in recent years the experience of working with nations struggling to create their own federalism has also deepened my appreciation for what we have achieved in Canada. The Liberal Party of Canada has a fine tradition in building federalism that needs to be remembered and revered. From Laurier to Martin, Liberals have understood the twin need to be sensitive to the concerns of Quebec and French Canadians without compromising the ability to relate directly to all the citizens of Canada. Reconciliation and a deepened relationship with Aboriginal peoples is a further challenge to which our federal system can and must respond.

I have had extraordinary opportunities to serve over the years. Every project has introduced me to more Canadians, taught me more about what is meaningful to us, shown me more about who we are as a people.

From Burnt Church to softwood lumber, from terrorism to education, I have been forced to think of practical, workable solutions to seemingly intractable problems. I cannot claim to have always succeeded. I bear, as Teddy Roosevelt once said, the scars of having fought in the arena. But the arena is where one learns how to fight for what one believes in—and how to win.]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/opeds.php#01 Bob Rae, 'the experienced guy,' starting to look good Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:28:45 -0500 Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Barbara Yaffe

Of the eight remaining candidates in the Liberal leadership contest, Bob Rae arguably has made the most headway since the start of the race.

With a bit more than a month to go until a Dec. 2 vote at the party convention in Montreal, the former Ontario premier is now looking like the best shot to win.

No fewer than four wannabe Liberal leaders who dropped off the competition roster have thrown support to Rae: Maurizio Bevilacqua, Hedy Fry, Carolyn Bennett and John Godfrey, who early on had contemplated running.

At the start of the contest, Rae had backing from a single Liberal MP from New Brunswick. Today, 10 MPs back his bid.

More importantly, Rae is in the No. 2 spot in delegate support behind Michael Ignatieff, a candidate who has been making too many political errors of late and has an "anybody-but" movement building against him.

It's generally recognized that, in terms of raw political skill among the competitors, Rae has the edge. While never serving in a federal cabinet -- an advantage Stephane Dion has been able to tout -- the one-time Rhodes scholar has done just about everything but.

He pointed out in an interview Monday while in Vancouver briefly that he has been elected eight times, as an MPP and an MP, in addition to serving as NDP premier of Canada's largest province. He has headed public and private sector studies, worked internationally, and completed major contracts for provincial and federal governments.

Conservatives have readily admitted, of those vying for the Liberal helm, the one they'd least like to confront is Bob Rae simply because he is so politically experienced.

"I'm job-ready," nodded Rae, sipping coffee and contemplating the prospect of an early election. "It's one of the reasons why my experience is of some help."

In his quest for a majority government, Stephen Harper is likely to want to catch the Liberals and their new leader off guard next spring, presumably unprepared for a quick vote.

The prime minister certainly didn't demur from calling a pair of by-elections in Ontario and Quebec for Nov. 27 -- a date that's inconvenient for the Liberals starting their convention that week.

Rae's biggest handicap in the race -- being contested by others with their own fair share of handicaps -- has been the question of his Liberal bona fides.

He noted during our conversation that he formally resigned from the New Democratic party eight years ago and, until April, when he became a card-carrying Liberal, was non-partisan, prepared to help candidates from any and every party get elected.

Should he become Opposition leader, Rae cited two priorities: Reassessing Canada's armed forces commitment in Afghanistan, and repairing a federal-provincial system of grants and loans to students pursuing post-secondary education.

Rae also said he'd want Liberals to continue opposition to the U.S. ballistic missile defence shield. He'd want to reinstate the Kelowna accord aimed at bolstering aboriginal living standards and he'd renew the Liberals' daycare strategy.

He offered subtle criticism of Ignatieff, a longtime friend and leadership opponent who, speaking of George W. Bush, told a Toronto newspaper last week: "This president has been a disaster for the authority and the influence of the United States."

Rae said such comments were unnecessary. "I wouldn't, I don't do that. I don't think that's what you do. There's no need to be antagonistic. There's a need to be independent.

"I would absolutely stand comfortably with Mr. Bush in the Rose Garden. The job of a prime minister is to have a relationship with the president regardless of his party or point of view."

Rae predicted that, as a party leader, he'd differ from Harper in style as well as substance.

"I love the political process. I'd try to run an open government with a style that's a little less confrontational than Mr. Harper's. And less hierarchical."

Added Rae: "I'm not a control freak by nature. I believe you've got to give strong ministers a chance to do their jobs. And we've got to be more engaged as a country in listening to each other."
]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#38 Rae would do best against Harper, poll says Ignatieff comes second, Dion third and Kennedy fourth against PM Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:28:06 -0500 Globe and Mail
Thursday, October 18, 2006
Brian Laghi

Former Ontario premier Bob Rae would be the best potential prime minister the Liberals could choose to take on Stephen Harper, says a new poll on national politics.

Although Mr. Harper is seen as the best prime minister when put up against any of the four leading contenders for the Liberal mantle, it is Mr. Rae who would make the greatest mark against him, according to the survey by The Strategic Counsel for the Globe and Mail-CTV News.

When Mr. Rae is figured into a race against Mr. Harper, the NDP's Jack Layton and the Bloc Québécois' Gilles Duceppe, 26 per cent say Mr. Rae would be the best prime minister of the four, while 36 per cent picked Mr. Harper. Mr. Layton was picked by 15 per cent and Mr. Duceppe by six per cent.

By comparison, the front-running Michael Ignatieff, was chosen by 23 per cent in a battle against Mr. Harper, who was picked by 37 per cent in such a contest.

Mr. Layton is favoured by 17 per cent and Mr. Duceppe by seven per cent.

Of the other two main candidates, Stéphane Dion and Gerard Kennedy, 21 per cent would pick Mr. Dion over the others and 17 per cent would opt for Mr. Kennedy.

Perhaps most interestingly, criticisms that Mr. Rae would do worse in Ontario than his counterparts appear to be at least somewhat checked by the poll, which shows that 29 per cent of Ontarians believe Mr. Rae would be the best prime minister, well higher than the 22 per cent who picked Mr. Ignatieff and the 20 and 21 per cent, respectively, who picked Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Dion, respectively.

"It puts to the test -- or to the lie --the notion that Rae carries the most baggage in the province of Ontario and that his five years as premier makes him unacceptable," said Allan Gregg, chairman of the Strategic Counsel.

"In point of fact . . . he's slightly more acceptable than the other candidates."

By contrast, Mr. Ignatieff was most highly favoured by Quebeckers, 28 per cent of whom said they would pick him first among the other three party leaders.

Mr. Rae had 25 per cent of Quebeckers, Mr. Dion 24 per cent, and Mr. Kennedy 14 per cent.

Among Quebeckers, Mr. Rae, Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Dion are all seen as better prime ministers than Mr. Harper.

"The important thing here in the province of Quebec is just how far Harper has fallen," Mr. Gregg said. He noted that questions on who would make the best prime minister almost always favour incumbents.

Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Rae, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Dion finished first to fourth in the recently completed delegate selection meetings. The leadership will be decided in early December.

The survey, conducted between Oct. 12th and 15th, polled 1,000 Canadians and is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#37 Bob And Rick go Fishing on CBC TV Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:27:39 -0500 RMR website.
]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#36 Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae campaigns in Sask. farm belt Thu, 5 Oct 2006 14:27:14 -0500 “My impression is ... people think, ‘You come from Ontario. What do you know about agriculture?’ ” Rae said while standing in the garage of glass wheat artist Jacqueline Berting.

“If you’ve been premier of Ontario, you have to know quite a bit. It’s a big farm province.”

Listening to and learning from those who work in rural Canada, whether as farmers or business people, is the reason Rae said he came to Cupar, which is about 80 kilometres northeast of Regina.

He also wanted to satisfy his curiosity about his ancestors. Farmers can no longer afford to live off their capital assets and loans. Canadians have to decide what the future of farming and rural development is going to be in our country, said Rae.

“I don’t want to see us go through another cycle of foreclosures and mortgage sales and all the stuff we went through in the 1970s and ’80s,” said Rae.

Telling farmers nothing can be done until the next trade talks has not helped them earn incomes that cover production costs nor has it helped rural communities stem the loss of residents.

The value of agriculture goes beyond the products being produced. The biofuel industry and producers’ environmental stewardship are just a couple of other ways urban Canadians benefit from agriculture, said Rae.

That additional value needs to be considered in a much more comprehensive approach the federal government must develop to recognize trade and other challenges in agriculture, he added.

Supply management policies worked for farmers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They are a good example of what the federal government must develop with the provinces. Such a comprehensive policy will sustain rural communities and farmers much better than short-term income support programs like the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization or CAIS program, said Rae.

Rae is meeting with representatives of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and other agriculture groups while in Regina today. This latest visit is his fourth to Saskatchewan since the Liberal leadership campaign began.

While here, Rae is working on getting more people to make him their second choice in the Liberal leadership campaign. Maintaining those who have listed him as their first choice likely won’t be difficult.

Getting people to choose him on subsequent ballots to raise his initial support from the 20 per cent he knows he will get on the first ballot to a majority of the votes is his challenge now, he said.

The campaign ends in Montreal Dec. 2-3 at the Liberals’ convention.

Source : Leader-Post
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Karen Brownlee

]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#35 TVOntario’s The Agenda Wed, 4 Oct 2006 14:26:15 -0500 clicking here.
]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#34 Rae is emerging as one to beat Fri, 22 Sep 2006 14:25:18 -0500
Ignatieff's apparent failure to build an insurmountable lead is bad news for the NDP and for the Harper Conservatives. At this point, both would rather take Ignatieff on than face Rae in the next election.

That is especially true in Ontario, the very place where the former NDP premier was expected, only a few months ago, to be carrying too much cumbersome baggage to be a viable Liberal leadership candidate.

Now polls show that a sizeable number of New Democrat supporters would be drawn to a Liberal party led by Rae, a factor that is giving him a slight advantage on his main leadership competition in federal voting intentions in Ontario.

Among the general public, some polls have Rae running a close second to Ken Dryden in popularity. But Dryden is a non-player in Quebec, where his lack of proficiency in French is a fatal flaw. By comparison, Rae, Ignatieff and Dion would all have a fighting chance of raising Liberal fortunes in that province. At the same time, Liberal MPs from Ontario report that there has been a noticeable softening of resistance toward Rae among party activists.

To many Liberals, Ignatieff's past support for the Iraq war, his vote in favour of the two-year extension of the deployment to Afghanistan last spring and his lack of political experience are looking like bigger negatives than Rae's failed 1990 NDP government.

From a Conservative perspective, fighting a campaign against a Liberal leader who has staked the same controversial ground as the Prime Minister on foreign policy would be an asset.

As for Dion, he still has to overcome the widespread sense that the party is due for a leader from outside Quebec after the successive tenures of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin. While his campaign is exceeding expectations within Liberal ranks, that is not matched by similar progress in public opinion.

For Jack Layton, an Ignatieff-led party offers the NDP the best chance to preserve its core vote from a Liberal raiding expedition in the next election.

New Democrat supporters are more likely than any other group of voters to be influenced negatively by Ignatieff's foreign policy positions.

Layton would also rather not take on Dion, whose integrity and commitment to the environment he praised in glowing terms at the NDP convention earlier this month in the glib assumption that he did not stand a chance of winning the Liberal leadership.

Some Tory strategists claim that they would relish the prospect of tackling Rae in Ontario.

Many of them have fond memories of the 1995 campaign that saw the Mike Harris Conservatives sweep the NDP out of office at Queen's Park. But that presumes that lingering memories of Rae Days would weigh more in the scales of the next federal election than the more recent ones of the Common Sense Revolution.

The middle-class voters who booted the New Democrats out in 1995 have also soured on the architects of the Harris agenda since then.

Perhaps the most outstanding feature of Harper's Ontario team these days is that it is so dominated by Harris alumni, with Jim Flaherty, John Baird and Tony Clement all installed in senior portfolios.

The worst-case scenario for Harper in the next federal election would a mobilization of progressive voters under a common flag.

Conservative strategists got a taste of what that could mean earlier this week when a steep decline in NDP support paved the way for the defeat of Bernard Lord's Conservative government in New Brunswick.

Paradoxically, Harper needs a strong NDP to keep the Liberals out of power in the next election and to secure a majority. But, in turn, Layton needs the Conservative government to mellow before its policies drive its sympathizers to support the Liberals in droves in an all-out effort to get Harper out of office.

That need will become more acute if Rae wins the Liberal leadership later this year.

Source: Toronto Star
Friday, September 22, 2006
By Chantal Hébert]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#33 Bob Rae has the momentum Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:24:47 -0500
Bob Rae not only teed it up Sunday morning before the federal Liberal contest at Vancouver's Chan Centre, he did it in the rain, walking, at one of Canada's toughest courses.

In for a Province editorial board meeting the following day, a hacker columnist suggests to Rae that exclusive Shaughnessy, site of last year's Canadian Open, is one hard track.

"I tamed it," he replies with the mischievous grin of an old salt peppering a whopper fish story. Make way for Tiger Rae.

Rae wasn't exactly the Tiger Woods of the pack at the beginning of the Liberal tournament, and he hasn't tamed it yet.

But in the past few weeks, the ivory-haired, 58-year-old Rhodes scholar has emerged as the man with momentum, his old baggage as NDP premier of Ontario being submerged by a growing recognition of his considerable political chops and acceptance of his embrace of fiscal pragmatism and the Liberal cause.

First elected to Ottawa as a New Democrat MP in the 1970s, Rae took a heavy pounding during his time as premier from 1990 to 1995 and was turfed from office by the hard-right Mike Harris Conservatives. His term was fatally poisoned by a recession, deficit budgets, tax hikes and labour trouble, leading Rae to drop politics, raise his teenage daughters, and return to his law practice.

He quit the NDP in 1998 and now says that "at its heart, the federal NDP is a party of protest, it's not a party of power."

Rae was quickly tapped as the "go-to" fix-it man on assorted high-profile issues, helping to restructure the Red Cross after its tainted-blood scandal, putting the Toronto Symphony and Royal Conservatory of Music on sound financial footing, authoring a report on education for the Ontario Liberal government, and working on the pre-inquiry Air India bombing file.

Now, kids grown and mortgage paid, Rae is back because "I love politics, I love public service, and I love the country." That, and "I want to beat the pants off Stephen Harper."

The question of who is best able to defeat Harper has haunted nominal Liberal frontrunner Michael Ignatieff, the Harvard academic. As a rookie MP, his political skills are weak, and many Liberals can't get past his support for George Bush's doomed invasion of Iraq.

"You have to know how government works, you have to know how to get things done," Rae says in a thinly-veiled jab at Ignatieff.

A hardened, veteran campaigner, Rae is increasingly seen as the best match for Harper in a quick election. The two most recent dropouts from the leadership race, Maurizio Bevilacqua and Carolyn Bennett, both endorsed him, and a recent Decima poll showed him to be the most electable in Ontario of all Liberal candidates.

The word is being heard: Make way for Tiger Rae.

Source: The Province
Wednesday's, September 20, 2006
By James McNulty
]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#32 Exclusive poll of Liberal Party members shows little separates three top leadership contenders in tight race Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:23:52 -0500
Fresh insights into the race are contained in an exclusive poll of Liberal Party members conducted by the Strategic Counsel for The Globe and Mail/CTV News, which shows that Mr. Ignatieff, while slightly ahead of Mr. Rae and Mr. Dion, is nowhere near the level required to establish a commanding lead on the first ballot and lacks second- or third-ballot appeal…..

Mr. Ignatieff is the first choice of 19 per cent of Liberals surveyed, with Mr. Rae running a tight second at 17 per cent and Mr. Dion just behind with 13 per cent. Gerard Kennedy and Ken Dryden — with 9 per cent each — are tied for fourth. Scott Brison garnered 3 per cent of the vote and Joe Volpe 2 per cent, while Martha Hall Findlay got 1 per cent and Hedy Fry less than 1 per cent.

“This is really now a three-man race with two guys who are kind of contenders — Kennedy and Dryden — and a bunch of other people who really should get out of the race because they're going to humiliate themselves,” said Allan Gregg, chairman of the Strategic Counsel.

“It's going to be a long night,” he said of the convention vote. “But if you had to put money on it, you'd bet Rae right now.”

The poll was conducted from party membership lists provided to The Globe by the campaigns of Mr. Brison, Mr. Dryden and Mr. Dion. The poll of 1,000 Liberals was taken between Sept. 12 and 18 and is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time.

The poll also appears to demonstrate that Liberals believe they are electing the next prime minister: 81 per cent say it is likely their party will win the next election. This could spell difficulty for a candidate such as Mr. Kennedy, who is seen as someone who could lead the party in opposition while it rebuilds but may not be ready to defeat Stephen Harper's Conservatives in the next election.

According to the poll, Mr. Rae is the second choice of 23 per cent of party members and Mr. Dion is the second choice of 17 per cent. Mr. Ignatieff is well down, with only 12 per cent picking him as their second choice.

Mr. Gregg said the race between Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Rae could be almost a dead heat after the first tier of lower candidates drop out after the first ballot.

Mr. Gregg noted that the second-ballot choices of Liberals supporting Mr. Brison — who with 3-per-cent support would likely drop out after the first or second ballot — break significantly toward Mr. Rae.

The same holds true for supporters of Mr. Dryden and Mr. Kennedy. For example, 32 per cent of Mr. Kennedy's supporters pick Mr. Rae as their second choice, while 18 per cent pick Mr. Ignatieff and 16 per cent Mr. Dion. Mr. Dryden's supporters also break disproportionately to Mr. Rae, but not in as great numbers. Should Mr. Dion fall off the ballot, his supporters would go three to one in favour of Mr. Rae, Mr. Gregg said.

The proximity of Mr. Dion and Mr. Rae could mean a desperate final sprint for second place, with the No. 2 finisher picking up significant support on later ballots. It also foreshadows the likelihood of an “anybody but Ignatieff” movement, in which contestants and their supporters could band together to elect a contestant other than the first-time MP.

When it comes to candidates' attributes, the three men are also relatively bunched together, save for who the delegates think is the smartest. On that front, 20 per cent picked Mr. Ignatieff, 11 per cent picked Mr. Rae and 10 per cent Mr. Dion.

Mr. Ignatieff wins as best potential prime minister, but just barely, with 16 per cent picking the academic, compared with 15 per cent for Mr. Rae and 13 per cent for Mr. Dion. On the question of who would be the toughest competition for Mr. Harper, Mr. Ignatieff polled 18 per cent, compared with Mr. Rae's 17 per cent and Mr. Dion's 11 per cent. But Mr. Ignatieff also has the highest negatives among the candidates, with 12 per cent saying he would be their last choice. Nine per cent felt the same way about Mr. Rae, while only 2 per cent said the same about Mr. Dion.

Nonetheless, it does show that both Mr. Rae and Mr. Dion have greater strength in the general populace than had been assumed, especially in their home provinces. Mr. Rae's support in Ontario, where it had been thought that he still carries baggage from his tenure as an NDP premier, is 18 per cent, just one point behind the front-running Mr. Dryden but with twice as much support as Mr. Ignatieff. The poll also found that 50 per cent of NDP supporters in Ontario think Mr. Rae would be a good Liberal Party leader, considerably more than the other candidates.

Source: Globe and Mail
Wednesday's, September 20, 2006
By Brian Laghi]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#31 Rae a standout in Vancouver debate with Liberal rivals Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:23:14 -0500 in Vancouver but it was doubtful many Canadians planned their day around the
event.

The party contest, which winds up with a Dec. 2 vote by delegates to
choose a new leader, is becoming an interminable and somewhat boring affair
with too many competitors to make any clear impression on Canadians.

Political watchers are increasingly of the view that the top three
contestants -- in a field that recently has gone from 11 to nine -- are Bob
Rae, Michael Ignatieff and Stephane Dion.

Certainly at this point no single competitor has any assurance of being
significantly ahead of the others.

It is true that Ignatieff has received by far the most public interest and
establishment Liberal support. But that will count for little when push
comes to shove in widely anticipated second and third-ballot voting at a
convention, with the frenetic deal making and horse trading that inevitably
would take place around that.

Sunday's two-hour televised forum was made unwieldy by the fact that too
many competitors are still dreaming of being top dog.

Candidates such as Hedy Fry, Martha Hall Findlay and Ken Dryden have
little chance of winning but appear determined to stick it out.

Only Maurizio Bevilacqua and Carolyn Bennett have bowed out, both
announcing support for former Ontario Premier Bob Rae.

Because so many had to share the stage Sunday afternoon at the Chan Centre
or the Performing Arts, the party had to arrange 10 mini-debates among
assorted threesomes, something akin to staging a frantic two-hour game of
musical chairs. Liberal contestants repeatedly had their microphones cut off
in the middle of answers by moderator Dominic LeBlanc.

By far the most interesting exchange came at the very start as a trio of
the most prominent front-runners faced off against one another on the
hot-potato subject of deploying Canadian troops abroad in world trouble
spots.

Both Dion and Rae took aim at the perceived front-runner. They lambasted
Ignatieff for supporting U.S. President George Bush's military foray in
Iraq.

Ignatieff, who tended to be formal and pedantic in his pitches, insisted
he'd been motivated to back the American ouster of Saddam Hussein by his
empathy for Iraq's persecuted Shia and Kurd populations.

At the same time, Ignatieff undercut the credibility of his position by
declaring he wouldn't dispatch Canadians into battle in Iraq at any future
time.

The most impressive performer was probably Rae, who regularly chuckled and
used humour in his responses. He appeared most relaxed, easygoing and
statesmanlike at the podium.

"I'm running because I want to beat the pants off Stephen Harper," Rae
told the audience. "It's going to take discipline and focus and, if I may
say so, it's going to take experience and a passion and a feeling for this
country for a leader to be able to compel the vision, hope and feeling among
Canadians that will allow us to elect a Liberal government again."

Rae also told delegates their best pick for leader was not necessarily
someone who has the best ideas but the individual who can unite the Liberal
team in opposition to Harper.

Also inspiring was Dion, who in his closing statement demonstrated genuine
passion.

He recounted that New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton referred last
week to the only Quebec leadership contender as "a man of principle and
conviction and therefore almost certain not to be elected leader of the
Liberal party." Continued Dion:

"Jack you're right about me but dead wrong about the Liberal party!"

Dion then quoted Rudyard Kipling, about East and West never meeting.
"There is no other place in the world where Kipling will be more wrong than
here in Vancouver. I love Canada but it is not mainly for nationalist
reasons that I want to keep this country united. It is for universal
reasons.

"I want to show the world that Montreal and Vancouver together will
succeed to make the West and the East meet and make a great civilization
together."

The next and final debate is to be held mid-October in Toronto.

Source: Vancouver Sun
Monday, September 18, 2006
By Barbara Yaffe

]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#30 Poll challenges notions of who is frontrunner in Liberal leadership race Fri, 8 Sep 2006 14:22:33 -0500
The Decima survey says there is little difference between how each of the five top candidates are faring with the public. The so-called potential voter pool - a combination of people who say they would vote Liberal, consider it, or aren't sure - sits at between 56 per cent and 53 per cent for all candidates.

They include Ignatieff, former cabinet ministers Stephane Dion and Scott Brison, former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy and former Ontario premier Bob Rae.

"Mr. Ignatieff, despite being the perceived front-runner and having considerable media attention, has not been able to put real distance between himself and the others, when it comes to voter impressions," Decima's Bruce Anderson said in a release.

When voters who aren't sure are taken out of the mix, former Ontario premier Bob Rae inches ahead of the others: 26 per cent of respondents said they would vote Liberal or consider voting Liberal if Rae were at the party's helm, compared with 23 per cent for former cabinet minister Stephane Dion and 21 per cent for Ignatieff.

In Ontario, Rae has an even wider lead over the perceived front-runner, with 11 per cent more voters saying they would vote Liberal or consider voting Liberal if he were leader than if Ignatieff won.

The poll was conducted between Aug. 31 and Sept.4 by telephone. The results are based on a sample of just over 1,000 adult Canadians and are considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Source: Canadian Press
Friday, September 8, 2006]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#28 Keeping Canada united is key Fri, 8 Sep 2006 14:21:47 -0500 The great task Liberals have is to bring people together and show that the party, if given an opportunity again, can lead the country in a way that is closest to Canadian values.

Liberal party leadership candidate Bob Rae yesterday spent an hour with the Toronto Star's editorial board. Here is a partial transcript of his wide-ranging question and answer session.

Rae's Opening remarks:
There has not been a lot of focus on health care during the leadership campaign, although it's the Number 1 concern for most Canadians. I have the advantage of having seen health care as a patient and of being premier of Ontario, the province with the largest health-care system in the country. For a time I was the chairman of the quality committee of the University Health Network and went on to be involved in Princess Margaret Hospital after I left politics. So I have been able to see health care from a variety of perspectives. The main thrust of what I believe on health care is that the federal government has to remain engaged. Ottawa has occasionally put itself in the unfortunate position of being a nanny or a scold saying (to the provinces), Do this, and don't do this. For a long time the federal government withdrew from the health field until the late '90s, when it started to get back into it. But there is a real issue for me of how (Ottawa) ensures we keep the positive momentum for change going.

We need to be practical about how things are done. One of the real lessons I've learned is that implementation is everything — there's always more good ideas than there is money. One of the things that I'm really proud of when we (the New Democrats) were in government was (Ontario's) Trillium Drug Program. We did it because there were simply too many examples of people who were on medication. Pharmaceuticals are becoming more expensive than the cost of doctors and hospitals and they're not covered under the Canada Health Act.

The next logical step is to have a catastrophic drug plan that covers those who don't have a private plan, and where the costs of drugs take up an excessive share of income. The federal government would cover that cost like the Trillium plan in Ontario does.

In Atlantic Canada, the four provinces there have no such plan. So if you have multiple sclerosis or HIV-AIDS
in Atlantic Canada, you simply don't have coverage for those catastrophic costs. People move to where they can get coverage and that doesn't make any sense.

So let's start with small steps like the catastrophic drug plan and move on from there.
We must continue to look at the Canada Health Act. There's nothing that says, because it's a national icon, you can't reopen it. The Canada Health Act is legislation. We don't have accountability in there, we don't have wait times in there — these are things that make sense. They should be basic principles in the act.

We need a wait-times strategy for our country. You can't just keep throwing money at the problem. Everybody recognizes that health care as a proportion of spending is growing and we have to get a handle on it. But you really need a practical sense of how the provinces are doing it and being much more transparent about outcomes and insisting on the public having better information.

Q - You suggested when you met with the Star's editorial board a couple of months ago that your decision to run in the next election would depend on who was the leader of the party. Where do you stand now about running as a Liberal MP?

A - You can't just say that if I don't succeed (in his quest to become leader of the party) that I'm out of here. I told Liberals who asked me that question that I'm committed to running (and) being part of the team. Obviously, if the leader says, "You've taken positions that are completely at odds with mine and there really isn't a useful role for you to play," then obviously you say, "Well, I'm gone." But I don't think that's going to happen, and I very much want to be part of the team.

I'm very committed to renewing the Liberal party and to defeating Harper ... I'll be proud to be part of that administration in whatever role the delegates decide they want me to play — assuming that the leader was happy with that. I'm going to run in the next election, and I hope it's as leader, but I also very much want to get back into politics.

Q - What drives you to seek the leadership of the Liberals? What drives you to be the next Prime Minister of Canada?

A - Two things. One — and I know it sounds corny — is that I love this country. I think if you want to be its leader then you have to feel Canada in your bones. I've worked in every province and at every level of public policy. I believe intensely in the country.

The first obligation of a prime minister is to keep the country together. That's something that requires experience, knowledge of the country, and a deep feeling based on that experience and on that feeling you have for people. The second concern that I have is that, contrary to what I thought possible, Harper managed to create a (U.S.) Republican-style Conservative party. I don't want to see this country taken down an ideological path that I don't think a majority of Canadians want to go.

Sixty-five per cent of Canadians voted against (Harper's) agenda during the last election but their votes were divided among different groups. They were in favour of Kyoto, Kelowna, child care, of a more independent foreign policy. But because of our political system, that's not where they ended up.

The great task that we Liberals have is to bring people together, (and demonstrate) that party, if given an opportunity again, can lead the country in a way that is closest to Canadian values — certainly much closer than Harper's values. I modestly believe that I can do that job of bringing the party and voters together better than my fellow candidates. This is what I've been doing for 30 years, this is what I know what to do.

The first job as party leader is to unite the party. If you can't unite the party, you can't succeed. Second, to keep your eyes always on the shape of the country and to always think about how you can have strong opinions in one part of the country (while bearing in mind) where the common ground is that is going to keep Canada together.

The third thing is that it is easier to do that if you have a project that the country can agree needs to be done. Health care is such a project. Post-secondary education is one. Keeping the country reasonably prosperous and successful is another.

Q - Jack Layton wants Canada to pull out its troops from Afghanistan in 2007. What's your view on that? How do you benchmark success for Canada's mission in that country?

A - The problem I have with Layton's approach is that you have to recognize the nature of the (Afghan) enterprise and the obligations we have. After the 9/11 attacks NATO, under its charter, declared that an attack on one member is an attack on all members. When we sent troops to Afghanistan, we went as part of a NATO commitment, supported by the UN. The Afghan regime had sustained and nurtured Al Qaeda ... And so it was legitimate for us to get rid of this government. This is what the mission was — to allow the Afghans (to elect) a government to hold elections.

What Layton said the other day didn't make sense to me. (He said) we should pull out of Afghanistan because it is not in our traditions and then we should mediate and the problem would be solved. What planet is he living on? There are 35 countries doing different things in different areas of the country. Why would Layton think that if Canada pulled out the British would (follow us)? We're not in this alone, we're in with other NATO counties. I have expressed concern that NATO's mission be balanced and that it has a reasonable chance of success.

How will we gauge success? Success is the ability of the Afghan government to extend the rule of law and extend the state's capacity throughout the country. That is something that requires development assistance. If I were prime minister I would insist on a meeting with heads of NATO governments to discuss the mission. I would then talk with Canadians and parliamentarians about what the facts are, what we are doing, how we measure outcomes and then make judgments.

Q - Is this time to recalibrate Canada's relationship with the United States and the rest of the world?

A - I don't know about recalibrating. We have a very close relationship with the United States. It is our neighbour, we have huge cultural social, personal and economic ties with the U.S. No other relationship compares with it. At the same time, there is a sense among Canadians that when they hear their prime minister speaking that they don't want to hear an echo of Washington. I think there is a concern about the "Bushification" of Canadian foreign policy. If you look at the language being used, the rhetoric being used — to me it's important for us to reflect more on the causes of conflict and to have a greater understanding. It's not just about being tough on terrorism. It's also important to be tough on the causes of terrorism, which are diverse and complex.

We have to be thoughtful and realistic about the world we live in. It isn't enough to say it's a war. We must consider how are we going to deal with its risk, how are we going to deal with its impact and how are we going to reduce the level of violence in the world and reduce the level of risk to ourselves. That might not be as sexy as giving Churchillian speeches but they're necessary. There has to be a very gritty realism about our approach to these issues.

Q - Back in 1992, this province had more than 86,000 registered nurses. By the time you stepped down, it had 79,000. Medical school enrolment was cut (because) your government concluded we had too many doctors. Now you see yourself as the best person to help alleviate the shortage of doctors and nurses. Why would I trust you to fix this problem, when you did so much to make it worse?

A - Let's go back. Take the doctor situation. You are right that we reduced enrolment, but that was a decision taken by every single government in the country, as well as by the federal government. I didn't wake up one day and say: I have a great idea, let's have fewer doctors. The background of this is that we needed to recognize across the country that the supply of doctors was uneven. It was the view of (an advisory council) that if we had a better handle on the supply, we'd have a better handle on what the overall process would be.

What have I learned from that? First, you think you can predict the future, but you can't. Second thing I've learned: a very healthy skepticism about manpower projections.

We (governments) didn't take into account the number of people who would leave (the health field) or who would do other things and, second, that the nature of the practice might change. We did not take into account that the number of women coming into the workforce would change, and that changed the pattern of practice: People taking leaves, people taking maternity leaves, people working different hours and so on.

With respect to the nursing situation ... it's true that restructuring of hospitals started when I was in government in terms of numbers of full-time nurses. We brought in the Social Contract specifically so we would not have to lay off more people as a result of financial constraints. Then (Mike) Harris (declared) the Social Contract over and the numbers of people who were put out the door expanded dramatically. We lost 300 nurses at the UHN in the fall of 1995 and we've been trying to recover ever since.

So, I look back at what we were able to do with health care in terms of maintaining the integrity of the system, maintaining public support for the system, and, in fact, high levels of public satisfaction with the health-care system right through until 1995. We developed a policy on aboriginal health, which was the best in the country at the time.

We developed an analysis of the determinants of health; we were the first government to really move in that direction. I accept the fact that you learn from what happened. I also think that when you look at it all in balance, the record of the Rae government on health care is pretty good.

Q - You said you don't think we can solve health care by throwing more money at it. But you mention substantial new investment is needed for a wait-time strategy and a new drug program and adequate funding for the population health strategy. Where are you going to get this money? Do you think there is something in the system that's got to go?

A - No. The fact is there are going to have to be some investments made. We have to deal with the problem. Let's take electronic technology, for example. One of the big problems the public sector has is that we don't invest enough in capital. We don't invest enough in technology ... everything is focused on operating. You never get to save on operating unless you make those investments in the first place and that's our big challenge. We're always falling behind because we are never able to get the investments in place to get the systems better organized ... That is the key challenge we face.

I do think that as time goes on, we are going to have to as a country, continue to keep our eye on the relative balance of public investment in health and education and other things.

Q - You are talking about investment in infrastructure and falling behind. Is it time to switch the focus and put more emphasis on dealing more with global warming? Should the federal government be considering all of the options?

A - The first thing is ... global warming is not exclusively a Canadian problem. Somebody said we need to find a made-in-Canada solution to global warming. That doesn't make sense. You have to be part of a global approach to it. My sense from what I've read is that the impact of industrial growth over the last 250 years has yet to have its full impact on the environment. Even if we were to stop producing any greenhouse gas emissions from now on, we'd still have a problem. So your question is appropriate. What are we going to do about the human and other consequences of it as it affects us right now? It's already having an effect on our north.

The first people to experience it are in northern Canada. This has to do with sustainability of communities, survival of these communities, what's happening in their economy. Because it affects the (region's) ecology and has an affect on animal and plant life. We have to be thinking of the consequences.

At the same time, I think the hardest political thing to do is to convince people that even though the impact will not be felt directly by them tomorrow, there are things collectively we have to do and that's a difficult political challenge. I do believe we are due for a change with the internal combustion engine. If you talk to car manufacturers, they all tell you the same thing. They are not quite sure what the technology is, but they are all thinking that that's where it's going to be and they are all trying to figure out how to get there.

That's where we need to be as a country because auto manufacturing is critical for us so we should be doing a lot more in that area. Working with the car companies to say, look this is a huge industry for us as a country, how are we going to work with you on this? Because this is where we want to be and because we know this is where we're going to have to be. That kind of a change will have a dramatic effect on emissions as we go forward as transportation is one of the huge emitters.

Q - Can you tell us what you think of the recent softwood lumber deal?

A - I feel very strongly about it. I've worked hard on this issue on behalf of a group of companies that were trying to work toward freer access to the U.S. market for a long period of time. The deal is bad for two reasons. One is that it is economically much worse than I think people recognize. Canadian companies are going to be paying a tax if the price of lumber falls below $350 per 1,000 board feet; it is now below $350. Housing starts in the U.S. have either gone sideways or down. Nobody anticipates that lumber prices there are going to go up in the immediate future. So most of the companies are going to be paying more in duty than they were before the deal was signed.

Tell me, how that's a win? We've left $1 billion on the table of which a large chunk is going to go directly to the White House's allocation. To me, that is a capitulation. Anybody can negotiate a surrender. For Harper to stand up and say it's a win-win is preposterous. The industry is in for a very tough time. And communities are in for a very tough time as a result of this deal.

The second reason is because it sets a terrible precedent. We've always treated softwood as different. But this is worse, it tries to pretend that it's a long-term peace (pact) and that it provides certainty. It does nothing of the kind. Basically what it says is that Chapter 19, the whole NAFTA settlement procedure, is essentially done for. What it means is that even if you win at the tribunal level, even if you win at arbitration, you lose anyway.

I was talking to a senior industry executive yesterday, (who told me), "The government put a gun to our head and a boot on our neck and said, what do you think?"

So what is the industry going to do? They feel they have no choice. They feel embittered, they feel a sense of complete abandonment by the government ... They were directly told if they didn't take the deal there would be no assistance from the government. There would be no aid with legal costs ...

We've got $5 billion of deposit in the U.S. ... of which they are going to get $4 billion back. But they've left a billion on the table. So you say to a guy, well here's your $4 billion. So I've got 20 cents on the dollar down there; am I going to get it back? And the answer is no, you can't get it back.

And what's more, we are either going to give it to the White House or one of your competitors. How's that? It's a terrible deal.

Source: Canadian Press
Thursday, September 7, 2006]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#29 Question and Answer with Robert Rabey Tue, 5 Sep 2006 14:21:04 -0500 Q and A with Robert Rabey
Tuesday, September 5, 2006 ]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#27 Interview with the Next Face Sun, 3 Sep 2006 14:20:31 -0500 interview with the Next Face
Sunday,September 3, 2006
]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#26 Bob on the Jesse Show Sun, 3 Sep 2006 14:19:59 -0500 Bob on the Jesse Show, courtesy of YouTube
Sunday,September 3, 2006 ]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#25 Radio-Canada Radio - C'est Bien Meilleur Le Matin Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:17:29 -0500
Chantal Hébert's Politics Journal
Listen to the radio excerpt

'Chantal Hébert: "The one candidate in the group that has had the best summer, I my view, is Bob Rae. And more and more it seems that there are Liberals who look at that and say of all these candidates, the one who is really ready tomorrow to become Prime Minister it's probably him. He has the experience, the knowledge."

Source: Radio Canada Radio
La chronique politique de Chantal Hébert
Friday, August 25, 2006
By Chantal Hébert ]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#24 The race for the Liberal leadership - In Quebec City, it will be Rae or Dion Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:16:35 -0500
Source: Le Devoir
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
by Hélène Buzzetti ]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#27 Mr. Rae has the appearance of a leader of the Opposition Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:15:37 -0500
Source: Le Quotidien
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
by Michel C. Auger]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#26 Mr. Rae is the only candidate who has been battle-tested at the highest levels Mon, 21 Aug 2006 14:14:39 -0500
Source: Globe and Mail
Monday, August 21, 2006
by Norman Spector]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#25 How a coffee date led to an alliance Tue, 15 Aug 2006 14:14:04 -0500
The coffee became several cappuccinos and the meeting turned into a two-and-a-half hour conversation about the future of the country, the economy, the state of the Liberal Party and the meaning of public service.

On that day Mr. Rae and Mr. Bevilacqua were both candidates for the leadership of the federal Liberal Party, meeting as two colleagues after having spoken during one of the leadership debates about getting together for a chat. On that day Mr. Bevilacqua had no intention of withdrawing from the race.

But yesterday, the 46-year-old, six-term MP from the Toronto-area riding of Vaughan stunned many in the party with his announcement that he was stepping down and throwing his support to Mr. Rae.

It is a curious alliance, given that Mr. Rae is a former NDP premier of Ontario and Mr. Bevilacqua is considered a right-of-centre Liberal. Both men insist they are simpatico on economic issues. Still, there are many who doubt that.

Yesterday, when asked why he withdrew, Mr. Bevilacqua jokingly said: “I always like to be first.”

And he is the first of the 11 leadership candidates to throw in the towel after figuring he would not be first on the final ballot at the December convention in Montreal.

Mr. Bevilacqua is a realist.

“I think emotion and passion are very important to a leadership race, but when you have to make decisions you have to be very clear-headed about it,” he said. “Politics is passion but politics is also, you also have to be real about your circumstances.”

And so Friday evening, Mr. Bevilacqua, having discussed his decision with his wife and two children, telephoned Mr. Rae after talks had progressed between their intermediaries. (Mr. Bevilacqua has a good relationship with John Rae, Mr. Rae's brother, who masterminded former prime minister Jean Chretien's majority government victories and is key to his brother's leadership campaign. Mr. Bevilacqua also has a close relationship with Randy Pettipas, a veteran Liberal strategist who has a senior role in the Rae campaign.) “For us it was very direct,” Mr. Bevilacqua said about his discussion with Mr. Rae. “I spoke to him and said I was looking at the leadership candidates, I've been looking at my own personal situation and I'm ready to support you,” Mr. Bevilacqua said about his discussion with Mr. Rae.

He asked for nothing in return, he said. However, he accepted Mr. Rae's offer to be his national campaign co-chairman and chief economic adviser.

Mr. Rae was elated. Mr. Bevilacqua brings momentum, campaign staff and potential delegates to the Rae camp. He has nearly 20 years of federal political experience and a huge Rolodex full of contacts, especially on Bay Street after having served as the chairman of the Commons finance committee. Mr. Bevilacqua is also a good fundraiser and money was not an issue in his leadership campaign.

For the past two weeks, Mr. Bevilacqua and his closest advisers, Taras Zalusky and Jeff Angel, had been crunching the numbers, putting together different scenarios as to which candidate or delegate would go where and to whom on the second, third or fourth ballot at the convention.

Mr. Bevilacqua's campaign had sold 9,000 new memberships. He said he had support in 225 of the 308 federal ridings but he did not have great support in Quebec. His team thought it could win between 300 and 400 delegates during the delegate selection weekend in September. But no matter what scenario they developed, Mr. Bevilacqua never came out on top.

What kept coming up was that he would place fifth — a strong fifth he believed, behind Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, Stéphane Dion and Gerard Kennedy. But fifth isn't first and when Mr. Bevilacqua declared on April 19 that he was entering the race, he said he was in it to win.

“It wasn't there,” Mr. Bevilacqua said.

In the final analysis, he said, the only way to advance his agenda was to help someone who he believed could win, who could beat Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who could lead the country and who shared some of his ideas.

And that man was Mr. Rae. Their conversation over cappuccino last month had shown him that Mr. Rae also had personal qualities that he liked — maturity, lack of arrogance and what he calls a “core,” meaning a strong moral compass.

Mr. Bevilacqua said he had looked at all of the other leadership candidates but had spoken to no one seriously, with the exception of Mr. Rae. He said he was never aggressively wooed. Rather, it was clear to him that if he wanted to step down he would always be welcome in the Rae camp.

And so the decision last Friday.

Mr. Bevilacqua said he has no regrets; he did everything he possibly could to try to win.

Source: Globe and Mail
Thuesday, August 15, 2006
by Jane Tabert]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#21 Political mythmaking, Ontario style Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:25:32 -0500
I was appointed as a Deputy Minister by Premier Davis and served under him and his three successors, Premiers Peterson, Miller and Rae. None of those premiers would claim to have achieved perfection. But the suggestion that the Rae government did not live up to -- and in some areas exceed -- the standards and accomplishments of its predecessors on behalf of the people of Ontario is untrue.

When Bob Rae assumed office, the province was faced with an economic crisis -- a deepening recession, unprecedented competitive challenges from a Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., high interest rates, an overvalued dollar and a budget deficit of several billion dollars rather than the surplus predicted by the prior administration. Over 300,000 manufacturing jobs were lost between 1989 and 1992.

When the Rae government approached the end of its term, Ontario led the way in growth among the provinces and had one of the strongest economies in the G7. Surveys showed strong consumer and business confidence.

Private sector investment was back with billions in capital spending. Labour productivity was at an all-time high, as were manufacturing exports. Health-care costs were under much improved control as part of a broader strategy that was reducing the deficit.

My most memorable work with Premier Rae involved the restructuring of Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie and Dehavilland Aircraft in Downsview. From the outset, the premier made it clear that he was determined, in the interests of the employees, the affected communities, and the provincial economy, that both companies would survive. His personal efforts in achieving success exceeded, in dedication, intelligence and shrewd negotiating skills, anything that I had previously experienced.

The costs incurred by Ontario in these restructurings, as well as those extracted from the federal government, have been recovered, many times over, in tax revenues alone. And the dismal alternatives to success -- weeds in the companies' parking lots, padlocks on their gates, and thousands of discouraged unemployed workers, their families on welfare or seeking social assistance -- were all avoided. These achievements were repeated, at Spruce Falls Pulp & Paper in Kapuskasing and other communities across the province, under the Manufacturing Recovery Program, a program designed and implemented with the full involvement of the Premier.

Bob Rae was, from the outset, under attack from many in the business community. After taking office, he faced vigorous opposition from organized labour, principally for his efforts to curtail what he perceived to be excessive wage demands and his commitment to share the necessary cuts in government spending fairly. In my experience in the labour relations field, if you displease both labour and management, you are likely on the right path.

There were other noteworthy achievements during this time. The Rae government successfully promoted the Jobs Ontario program, with increased investment in child care and training; incentives to employers to hire people on welfare and those whose employment insurance had run out; the elimination of payroll taxes on any new employee hired -- policies that, combined, created in excess of 50,000 jobs.

Ontario's welfare system was renewed, focusing on the needs of children living in poverty; the child-care budget was expanded; hundreds of thousands of poor families were removed from income tax rolls; and the new Trillium Drug Plan gave affordable access to all in need of therapeutic drugs.

The Rae government placed a renewed emphasis on aboriginal affairs, leading to the first Statement of Political Relationship between a provincial government and aboriginal leadership, acknowledging the need for government-to-government relations and providing new funding to address native poverty, with emphasis on housing, child care and improved sewer and water facilities.

Finally, as premier, Bob Rae held a deep commitment to the success of our federal system, and in particular, one that would accommodate Quebec's goals and aspirations, without jeopardizing Canadian national unity. He played a leadership role with the First Ministers that produced an affirmative vote in Ontario on the national referendum on the Charlottetown Accord.

Many other reforms were set in motion, many of which have been continued by successive governments. As to the Liberal leadership race, may the best candidate win. But in the process, the trumped-up myth that Bob Rae presided over an ineffective government needs to be put to rest.

Tim Armstrong was Ontario's Deputy Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade and Technology and was the province's Agent General for the Asia- Pacific region, 1986-1990.

Source: The Hamilton Spectator
Monday, August 14, 2006
by Tim Armstrong
Page A15
]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#20 Softwood could bring down the government Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:30:28 -0500 And if our discontent is an election-writ dropper, who would win? Clearly, softwood is a huge issue for the lumber producing areas of B.C. and in a few downtown Vancouver industry boardrooms. But, is it a vote-spoiler - or for the Opposition, a vote-getter -- like the sponsorship scandal, or the fast-ferry fiasco, or the introduction of the GST? Stay tuned. If this issue develops any political energy, it could send us off to the polls.

Last weekend, federal NDP leader Jack Layton toured the Central Interior, ripped the Conservatives apart for delays in beetle-kill funding and promised to defeat the proposed softwood agreement legislation when it comes to a House of Commons vote this fall. That's a gutsy move on the part of Layton and the NDP.

However, the NDP alone can't send us to the polls; a non-confidence motion of this magnitude would require Liberal support. Just to recap the numbers, Steven Harper's Conservatives have 125 seats, the Liberals 102. If the leaderless Liberals stay on side with Harper on the softwood deal, it passes. If the Grits are opposed, or stay home, or go to a Hedy Fry barbecue that day, softwood and Steven Harper are off to the polls. I'm also making the assumption the Bloc Quebecois will oppose the agreement, as the majority of the Quebec forest industry is opposed to the current agreement.

So it rests with the Liberals, and an interesting set of Liberal leadership race dynamics.

Former Ontario NDP premier and current Liberal leadership hopeful Bob Rae is strongly opposed to the softwood package and Rae will be tough to beat in this fight. First, he's to the left of the Liberal party mainstream, a good place to be on the softwood issue. Any deal between U.S. Republican President George Bush and Conservative Prime Minister Steven Harper presents a delicious target for left-wing liberals like Rae.

Second, Rae carries some serious credentials into the softwood argument. He is former counsel to the Free Trade Lumber Council and he has the intellect to debate the issue with anyone. Rae has pointed out several problems with the softwood proposal, the most troublesome being its undercutting of the dispute settlement panel in the current free-trade agreement. According to Rae, this undercutting sets a bad precedent that could be used by other American industries against Canadian export commodities.

Rae is bang on with that argument. More importantly from a political point of view, the bad-precedent argument is one that would resonate with all Canadian exporters, whether they deal in fish, pork bellies or auto parts. On this Rae says, "The message it sends is that, unless things change, Canadians will always cave."

Rae can also be strong in Quebec. He is fluently bilingual; he is no doubt garnering support with the aforementioned Quebec lumber industry, and doesn't bring any Liberal sponsorship scandal baggage to his campaign.

B.C. Liberal leadership race officials report Rae has signed up 3,000 new members in B.C. and you can count on him to wave the anti-softwood flag at every B.C. stop.

Throw in Lower Mainland discontent with the author of softwood, David Emerson, and you can bet B.C. will be the focus of Liberal debate.

Conservative historians will also recall it was a young federal NDP finance critic Bob Rae who introduced the successful non-confidence motion against Joe Clark's government in December 1979.

There is, though, one little nagging problem with Rae and the Liberals making softwood an October non-confidence election issue. Rae doesn't have a seat, and the Liberals don't a have a leader.

But, if the Liberal hierarchy senses the sweet smell of victory, watch for an early Grit leadership conference, a non-confidence motion and a furious fall election campaign.

Bruce Strachan is a former B.C. cabinet minister and Prince George city councillor. His column appears Thursdays.
E-mail: brucestrachan1@shaw.ca

Source: Prince George Citizen
Wednesday, July 20, 2006
Page: 4
Section: Editorial

]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#19 Bob Rae on CTV’s Question Period Tue, 11 Jul 2006 16:48:00 -0500 here.

Source: CTV
Sunday, April 30, 2006 ]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#16 What makes Bob Rae run: The former Ontario NDP premier, seeking the federal Liberal leadership, cites his record and a vision for Canada Wed, 5 Jul 2006 15:50:04 -0500
If you ask Bob Rae, he'll tell you. He'd next like to be prime minister.

It could happen; of course, first he'd have to snare the Liberal leadership at a party convention in December.

Rae is just shy of 58, an Ottawa-born lawyer who lives in Toronto. He's the son of eminent Canadian diplomat Saul Rae and is believed to be running second behind star leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff, his one-time roomie at the University of Toronto.

Rae says he has "a feel for the country," that his vision is more in line with Canadians than that of Stephen Harper.

Rae projected a casual aloofness during a one-hour interview Tuesday with The Vancouver Sun editorial board. Wearing an open-neck shirt, he looked younger than his years thanks to a shock of blonde-white hair.

The candidate arrived in B.C. Saturday, visiting Prince George, Terrace, Prince Rupert and Comox before flying home Tuesday from Vancouver.

The one-time New Democratic Party MP and Ontario premier who quit that party in 2002 because he considered its fiscal policies outdated, purchased a Liberal membership in April.

He decided to run for the leadership after being urged by Ontario politicians Greg Sorbara and George Smitherman and former federal ministers Monique Begin and Jacques Sada.

"A number of people approached me after several potential candidates dropped off," he said, mentioning Frank McKenna and John Manley, "and I thought long and hard about it."

Rae reports having spoken with both Jean Chretien and Paul Martin since getting into the race. Older brother John is a vice-president of Power Corp. and was a longtime adviser to Chretien.

Rae hopes to be able to present Canadians with a Liberal vision, one that embraces national daycare, more emphasis on environmental protection and a focus on higher education, innovation and research and development.

When asked what specifically distinguishes him from Ignatieff, a writer and professor who only recently returned to Canada from jobs abroad, he responds impatiently: "We have completely different life experience in terms of where we've spent the last 35 years.

"I've spent it engaged in public policy and issues in this country, as a working politician for 20 years and a problem-solver and problem-fixer right across Canada for the last 10.

"I've led a party and led a government, and I know the difference between rhetoric and reality.

"I know I'm somebody who can actually get something done. If you want a national child care program, I know how to negotiate with provinces, to work through the bureaucracy.

"I bring a whole set of life experiences with me to the race."

Rae has indeed done some pretty star-studded contract work, with the Red Cross following the tainted blood scandal, helping resolve a fishing dispute in Burnt Church, N.B., restructuring the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, overseeing discussions between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, working with families of victims of the 1985 Air India disaster.

His long record in public service -- going back to his Oxford days when he helped find accommodation for squatters in London -- occasionally hurts as much as it helps.

Many believe Rae's controversial stint as premier from 1990 to 1995 will damage his chance of winning the leadership.

Rae acknowledged making mistakes as premier but insisted there's much in his record he's proud of. He recalls being premier during a debilitating recession.

And what does Rae know of the West? He says he has done legal work in the region and is knowledgeable about regional issues.

On softwood lumber, he believes the Harper government's recent agreement with the U.S. is a mistake, because a billion dollars in Canadian duties will never be repaid and the deal undermines NAFTA's dispute resolution mechanism.

Rae says if it were up to him, he would not lift a federal moratorium on oil and gas development off B.C.'s coast.

He'd ask the premiers to come to an agreement on Senate reform before making any federal move on piecemeal reform to the upper chamber.

And oilsands development in Alberta would be re-examined in light of environmental concerns. "The development of the tar sands has to be integrated with what we'd do with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and with respect to energy. These things have to be integrated."

Canada will probably be hearing a lot more from Bob Rae regardless of the leadership contest's outcome. He'll be running in the next federal election.

Source: Vancouver Sun Wednesday
Thursday, June 28, 2006
Page A17 - Editorial
By Barbara Yaffe]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#13 Top Martin strategist joins Chretien loyalists on Bob Rae's team Wed, 5 Jul 2006 15:49:36 -0500
John Webster, a member of Martin's tight inner circle and co-chairman of his election campaigns, confirmed Thursday that he's now supporting Rae, the onetime NDP premier of Ontario.

Until now, Rae's known support has consisted primarily of top advisers to former prime minister Jean Chretien, Martin's arch-rival.

"I'm happy to tell you that I absolutely do support Bob Rae," Webster said in an interview.

"I'm attracted by a number of things, including his vision, his ideas and his experience."

Rae's leadership team includes his brother, Power Corp. executive John Rae, who ran Chretien's leadership and election campaigns.

Chretien's longtime chief policy adviser, Eddie Goldenberg, is also on board, as are other top Chretien-era strategists and organizers, including Paul Genest, Randy Pettipas and Raj Chahal.

However, as he prepares to formally launch his campaign on Monday, insiders say Rae has been meeting with some of Martin's inner circle, trying to persuade them to come on side.

He is attempting to turn his status as a newcomer to the party into an advantage, demonstrating that he wasn't part of the decade-long feud between Chretien and Martin and, thus, is well-placed to heal the still-festering wounds.

To that end, snagging Webster's support is something of a coup for Rae. Webster said he has no problem working alongside some of his erstwhile leadership rivals.

"I'm not sure it's a problem that he has a number of Chretien supporters," Webster said. "I think they know how to identify a winner."

Rae has also met with or spoken to a number of other top Martinites, including Mike Robinson, Mario Cuconato, Charles Bird and Michele Cadario.

However, Cadario said she's remaining neutral in this contest while the others said they haven't yet decided whom to support.

Cuconato said the leadership race thus far has successfully bridged the Martin-Chretien divide, with old rivals now working together on any number of campaigns.

Former minister Stephane Dion, for instance, is backed by Chretien loyalist Don Boudria and top Martin organizer Mark Marissen.

Robinson said the Martin camp essentially no longer exists.

"As you know, there is no Martin collectivity anymore. . . . Everyone is doing their own thing."

Source: Canadian Press
Thursday, April 20, 2006
By Joan Bryden]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#14 Ex-leader Nixon endorses Rae to head Liberals ven., 23 juin 2006 13:39:54 -0400
Rae told The Spectator of the endorsement last night at an all-candidates meeting hosted by the Halton Federal Liberal Riding Association at a local golf club. Nixon confirmed it and also said he believed his daughter, former Brant MP and cabinet minister Jane Stewart, is supporting Rae.

Stewart could not be reached for comment.

"He's the best man for the job," said Nixon, who led the Ontario Liberals between 1967 and 1975.

"I've worked with him, usually against him, but he's intelligent and he has a good humour ... When he decided to run I said, 'That's the guy we need.'"

Nixon, who served as treasurer and deputy premier between 1985 and 1990 during the David Peterson government, said he bears the former NDP premier no grudge for his criticisms of the Peterson government.

"He took my skin off a number of times, but I came back on him," said the St. George resident.

Rae said winning support from Nixon was important for him in the 11-person leadership race.

"He's Mr. Liberal in southwestern Ontario. Everyone respects him tremendously and to have his support is great news. I'm very pleased."

Rae said Nixon told him last week he would support him. He plans to have Nixon phone party members.

"I'll do whatever I can,"

Nixon said. Nixon, whose father Harry was Ontario premier for three months in 1943, said his decision to support Rae has not generated flak from other long-time Liberals.

"I don't worry too many people," he joked.

Rae, and seven other candidates -- Carolyn Bennett, Maurizio Bevilacqua, Stephane Dion, Hedy Fry, Martha Hall Findlay, Gerard Kennedy and Joe Volpe -- attended the Halton event. Missing were Michael Ignatieff, perceived as the frontrunner, Ken Dryden and Scott Brison. More than 100 people attended.

All spoke of their vision for the party, the country, and why they should be selected leader.

Volpe came to the event after meeting party members in Niagara West-Glanbrook. He told The Spectator he was a French teacher at the old Saltfleet High School in Stoney Creek between 1971 and 1973 and ran into a former student with her husband and daughter. "She said, 'Mr. Volpe, I knew you when ... and I like you today,'" he laughed.

Volpe's not playing up his Stoney Creek connection in the Hamilton area to woo party members, preferring to talk policy.

"But some people are pleased I know something about the place firsthand. I know we used to get a thumping from the Ancaster football squad and that still smarts."

Source: The Hamilton Spectator
Thursday, June 22, 2006
By Daniel Nolan]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#11 Just who should lead the Federal Liberal Party? Tue, 20 Jun 2006 23:11:19 -0500
That, according to a report card put together by the Director for the School of Leadership at Royal Roads University.

Graham Dickson says he was fascinated by Bob Rae because of his many leadership qualities, "He's been touted as being Governor-General of the country on a couple of occasions, people expected him to be. Didn't quite get there. But to be Governor- General of the country you have to have a statesman like presence. he just has that aura about him."

As for Dion, Dickson says he was impressed with his strong stance on Quebec separatism, "He's a very strong federalist, which is tough to be I think, in Quebec, and so I give him strong marks for character in that regard."

Dickson measured the candidates using five categories, from their skills at team building to their knowledge of government.

Source: CKNW(AM980)
Monday, June 19, 2006]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#10 Many more questions than answers in early stages of Liberal race Mon, 19 Jun 2006 23:10:19 -0500
The two-and-a-half hour televised session in Moncton was a dull affair, plagued by sound problems and an overheated hall.

While it's difficult with so many candidates for anyone to stand out, Bob Rae managed to impress with his casual attire and magnanimous spirit.

The former New Democrat and one-time Ontario premier exhibited the manner of a leader, being gracious at all times and refraining from attacking his fellows.

He also spoke with passion about a visit several years ago to Sri Lanka where he recalled watching young girls bicycling to school; such girls likely are now imperilled by political turmoil in that region.

Perhaps the most unexpected moment in the session came when a francophone audience member interrupted the debate to complain candidates were speaking too much English.

It was left to the only Quebecer in the race, Stephane Dion, to instruct the grumbler: "When a question is put in English, we'll answer in English. When a question is put in French, we'll answer in French."

The debate was the second in a series of five to be conducted prior to a December convention in Montreal where delegates will select a new leader.

Their task is complicated by the numbers running. Eleven contenders make it impossible for any to get beyond platitudes and showcase clear personal ideas.

Michael Ignatieff, neophyte MP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, considered Paul Martin's man, has been pegged from the start as the front-runner.

And at this point, he boasts the greatest caucus support, including that of long-time Liberal heavyweight Senator David Smith.

But Ignatieff has not been all that impressive. In a June 10 debate in Winnipeg he mused controversially about introducing a carbon tax.

Rae addressed the issue clearly Saturday by stating any carbon tax should be linked to all polluting endeavours rather than targeting a particular industry.

Ignatieff has also run into real problems with his gung-ho approach to Canada's military contribution in Afghanistan.

This could be the defining issue in the long campaign, especially if many more casualties are incurred by Canadian troops.

During the first debate, Ignatieff absurdly attributed his May 17 Commons vote in favour of extending the mission by two years to his having learned that day of the death of a Canadian soldier in the field.

He's now locked into a position of being forced to continually defend his Afghan stance on a stage where most other candidates believe Liberals should focus on peacekeeping and act in opposition to policies of the Harper Government.

Ignatieff is also handicapped by a manner that seems somewhat patrician and humourless.

Meanwhile, second-ranking Rae continues being held back by memories of his puddle-prone stint as a premier.

Intellectually impressive and endearingly folksy, Rae is believed to be Jean Chretien's guy. He has several key Chretien-era types working for him, such as Eddie Goldenberg, Randy Pettipas and John Rae.

If in the Montreal leadership vote, one of the two front-runners places a distant second, a widely discussed scenario has delegates abandoning the runner-up and rallying with others to support a compromise candidate who could then come from behind to win.

Who such a third candidate might be remains an intriguing question as middle-weights in the race jockey feverishly for position.

The jockeying could be eased if some candidates start dropping out, either because they perceive their support is lagging or they run short of funds.

Who might step aside? Vancouver Centre MP Hedy Fry. Neophyte politico from Ontario Martha Hall Findlay, impressive as she is. Toronto's Carolyn Bennett. Toronto's Joe Volpe and Nova Scotia's Scott Brison, both of whom have been accused of ethically questionable behaviour. Volpe's breach involved a fund-raising source; Brison's, an indiscreet e-mail while in Martin's cabinet.

That would leave four second-tier aspirants in a more manageable race: Dion, Toronto's Ken Dryden and Maurizio Bevilacqua and former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy.

Bevilacqua has been impressive on the economy but lacks a certain royal jelly. Kennedy has not proven terribly articulate. And Dryden looks like a retired goalie who badly needs to go on a diet.

Source: The Vancouver Sun
Monday, June 19, 2006
By Barbara Yaffe]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#09 Backroom veteran touts Rae for leader Sat, 17 Jun 2006 23:09:10 -0500 Don Smith hosts a fundraiser, despite caution from old ally David Peterson.
At a dinner on Thursday with Don Smith, David Peterson offered the once-potent political fundraiser, who helped make him premier, a caution about Bob Rae, the man Smith now wants to help make prime minister.

Peterson, whose Liberal government was knocked from its Queen's Park perch in 1990 by Rae's New Democrats, told Smith his doubts about his former rival, who has joined the federal Liberal leadership race.

"He said, 'You're backing the wrong horse,' " Smith recalled yesterday with a laugh. "I said, 'Geez, you're going to have to eat a lot of words, David.' "

Just 12 hours after that dinner, Smith opened his beautiful London home to a fundraising breakfast for Rae, one of about a dozen people vying to become federal Liberal boss.

Despite their political history, supporting Rae was an easy decision for Smith, the London co-founder of construction giant EllisDon.

"There are some good candidates, but I think (Rae's) got a broader mind and more depth. That's why I support him," said Smith, a longtime backroom heavyweight and former fundraiser for the Liberals.

"It's going to be a tough fight. I think Rae will pick up steam (during) such a long campaign."

This winter, the party will pick a new leader, who will likely go head to head against Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the next election.

Standing on a stone staircase in Smith's backyard yesterday, Rae -- dressed in a dark suit and red tie -- pledged his loyalty to the Liberals.

"The Liberal party is the best vehicle for Canada to keep the country together," he told a crowd of about 100 prominent local Liberals. "The Liberal party is a party that genuinely cares about people and equality.

"I started out as a Liberal . . . then I drifted, I admit it," he said, referring to his time as an NDP member and leader.

Rae offered some criticisms for the party he led until a decade ago.

"The NDP, essentially in its heart, is too much about protest and not enough about power and responsibility," he said. "You have to know how to make wealth. It's essential to the prosperity of the whole country."

In an interview, Rae said he hopes longtime Liberals will accept him in their camp.

"Most Canadians are less totally partisan than they were 20, 30 or 40 years ago," he said. "I think there's going to be some people who will have questions, but I'm confident I can answer those questions.

"I'm not surprised there's mixed reactions, but . . . across the country there's a strong, positive reaction."

Joan Smith, Don Smith's wife, is among those Liberals welcoming Rae, even if he was her political rival in the 1980s.

While she didn't explicitly express her support for Rae, the one-time London Liberal MPP, who served in Peterson's cabinet, is pleased he's involved.

"We both profoundly believe in the democratic system and in strong parties, not a (single) strong party," she said of herself and her husband of 57 years.

"(Rae's arrival) is not a problem to me at all."

While Peterson -- and several other prominent Liberals -- are supporting former Harvard academic Michael Ignatieff's bid for the federal Liberal leadership, Don Smith is undoubtedly behind Rae.

"This is the kind of man I can support," Smith said.

"He's a great Canadian -- I emphasize Canadian."

Source: The London Fee Press
Saturday, June 17, 2006
By Patrick Maloney ]]> http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#08 Former NDP premier 'at home' with Grits lun., 29 mai 2006 22:47:07 -0400
Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae, now a Liberal vying against 10 others to lead that party, said Sunday the money Harper and his party are giving away is from a surplus that has helped shrink the national debt.

"We have reduced the national debt by $60 billion," he said. "It's not sexy. It's not dramatic."

He accused Harper of being short-sighted as well in accepting the latest softwood lumber deal with the U.S.

"It wasn't a win-win. It was a surrender," he said. "All we got was some of our money back."

Rae faced a crowd of 18 people at Hoodoos Bar and Grill at Sun Rivers in Kamloops Sunday morning, one of numerous stops on a rigorous leadership-bid tour that's in overdrive until the end of June.

He also went after Harper's decision to extend Canada's presence in Afghanistan for two more years.

"If I'd been in the House, I would have voted against it," said Rae, who went to Iraq in 2005 to provide information on federal systems and governance.

Canada went to Afghanistan with the United Nations and NATO to get rid of a government that was nurturing al-Qaida, considered a source of instability in the world. But elections have been held and Canadian troops are now involved with guerrilla confrontations, he said.

"Our role as a country is peacekeeping, constitution making."

Rae said he wants to return to B.C. for a week or so during the heat of summer to have more relaxed meetings at barbecues and picnics. July 1 is the cutoff for membership for delegate election meetings. The actual leadership vote takes place in early December.

As for his change of political parties, Rae pointed out he was a member of the Liberal party when Pierre Trudeau was elected as leader in the late 1960s.

"Then I drifted," he said with a self-effacing laugh about his move to the New Democratic Party and eventual foray as premier of Ontario.

"I've concluded the NDP at its heart was more about protest."

The party knew what it was opposed to, but when elected to power had difficulty running the government, Rae said.

The NDP are spenders, not money raisers, he added.

"The NDP are good at how to distribute the cake, but not how to make the cake."

After taking an eight-year break from the political front lines, Rae decided it was time to get back in the game. But this time wearing a different jersey.

"I realized I was much more at home in the Liberal party," he said. "I'm running because I think I can do a better job."

Two of Rae's 11 competitors -- former hockey great Ken Dryden and Gerard Kennedy -- have swung through Kamloops already on their leadership-bid tours.

"It seems to me, this is the kind of riding we should win," he said. "I see the future as being all about learning, about innovation, about being able to change."

While Harper's government has called for tougher penalties for criminals, Rae said he doesn't know of any politician who would suggest being softer on crime. What's needed, however, is to go after the causes of crime.

The brunt of the problem is among men between 14 and 30 years of age, he said.

"We have to look at why that is," said Rae, pointing to schools, families and addictive behaviour as all areas to be examined.

"It's not a matter of locking people up and throwing away the key."

He noted that his successor as Ontario premier, Mike Harris, created boot camps for youths involved in crime. Those programs were "a disaster," he said.

The next Liberal leader should be able to pull the party together, but also the country, Rae said.

He noted he has spent time throughout most of Canada with his long list of involvements, and the country shouldn't be split along east- west lines. Economic growth is stronger in the West than the East these days, he observed.

Rae also said westerners should realize not all Ontarians are from Toronto -- there are rural areas in that province, too, as well as a major agricultural industry.

"The biggest challenge is building a strong base across the country."

Ken Sommerfeld, who ran for the Liberals in Kamloops in the January election, said the leadership candidates are inspiring each other. He felt Rae's NDP background might actually work to his advantage -- and that of the party -- as there has been strong NDP support in Kamloops in the past, such as for 20-year politician Nelson Riis.

Source: Kamloops Daily News (Kamloops)
Kamloops Daily Newsr, Monday, May 29, 2006,
By Michele Young
Page A3

]]> http://bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#07 Rae brings leadership bid to Kelowna Mon, 29 May 2006 22:45:28 -0500 Liberal leadership hopeful Bob Rae put Stephen Harper in his crosshairs Sunday, accusing the prime minister of being paranoid and short-sighted.

Rae, one of 11 candidates vying for the party leadership in November, stopped in Kelowna after visiting Kamloops and Vernon on Sunday. He told 30 party supporters at the Ramada Lodge that he supports unscripted questions from the media and the scrutiny of open debate.

"I look at Harper and I see a kind of paranoid style emerging in Canadian politics, and I don't like that style," Rae said. "We don't stop cameras from filming tragic events. . . . We're an open people. We believe in discussion and debate."

Rae, 57, has been elected eight times provincially and federally. He was New Democratic Party premier of Ontario in the 1990s and retired from politics in 1996. He later realized the NDP was more interested in protest than in power, he said.

"The NDP as a party had an easier time figuring out how to distribute the cake rather than making the cake," said Rae.

Harper cancelled the Kelowna Accord, which promised billions in federal and provincial dollars to help aboriginal people, despite the "solemn commitment" first ministers made on behalf of their governments.

"You can't just tear those things up and walk away and expect to maintain your credibility with the people of the country," Rae said.

The best-known of the 11 in the race are Rae, former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden, academic Michael Ignatieff, former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy and ex-federal environment minister Stephane Dion.

Source: Kelowna Daily Courier
Kelowna Daily Courier, Monday, May 29, 2006,
Page A3

]]> http://bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#06 Rae says there's no U-S Republican paranoia here Sun, 28 May 2006 22:43:40 -0500
The former Ontario Premier made a stop in Kelowna Sunday. "I just want to say how much I love media."

Rae, hitting the Prime Minister for his staff's rigid control of media access turned serious as he sees a discomforting turn in Harper's style, "Almost a kind of paranoid style emerging in Canadian politics. And, I don't like that style."

Rae says he and many Canadians remain upset over Harper's decision to keep reporters away from the arrival of the remains of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, "We don't stop cameras from filming tragic events. We don't stop people from being able to share."

Rae says Harper is echoing Bush Republicans and their rigid control of political agendas.

Source: Kelowna Daily Courier
Kelowna Daily Courier, Sunday, May 28, 2006.

]]> http://bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#05 The Grits' Rae of sunshine? Fri, 26 May 2006 22:42:36 -0500
Bob Rae has been a little bit of everything, and 24 Sussex Dr. may be the next stop for the modern-day Renaissance Man.

It was Rae, as a young federal NDP MP in 1979, who put forth the non-confidence motion that toppled Joe Clark's minority Conservative government and paved the way for the return of Pierre Trudeau's Liberals.

It was Rae who in 1990 shocked many pundits by leading his Ontario New Democrats to power at Queen's Park.

Following his party's defeat in 1995, Rae morphed into a man to whom many turned for advice.

Rae helped the Dalton McGuinty Liberal government in Ontario with a report on education, worked on the Red Cross tainted blood scandal and oversaw talks between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers.

And it is Rae to whom the past Liberal government turned to advise them on whether an inquiry should be held on what occurred during the investigation into the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings.

All of which fits a man who was a Rhodes scholar and whose name has forever been whispered as the next governor general.

Rae is indeed a heavyweight among political heavyweights, and it is interesting and encouraging that the local federal Liberal riding association has managed to secure his attendance in the Tournament Capital.

Rae's arrival Sunday morning at Hoodoos Bar and Grill at Sun Rivers follows recent visits to Kamloops of fellow Grit leadership candidates Ken Dryden and Gerard Kennedy.

With 11 candidates vying for Paul Martin's old job, expect many more - if not all - candidates to make a stop in Kamloops between now and December's convention in Montreal.

Those with an interest in politics - intense or passing - would be wise to be at Hoodoos at 10 a.m. Sunday to hear what Rae has to say.

If his comments are as impressive as his curriculum vitae, it will be a Sunday morning well spent.

Source: Kamloops This Week (Kamloops)
Kamloops This Week, Friday, May 26, 2006, ]]> http://bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#04 Rae says values same despite switching parties lun., 15 mai 2006 20:00:05 -0400 http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#03 Liberals must get ready for next election Mon, 15 May 2006 19:59:13 -0500 http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#02 Rae would stick with peacekeeping policy Mon, 15 May 2006 19:58:26 -0500 http://www.bobrae.ca/en/inthemedias.php#01