[mtbr]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... M.20080704.



The Canadian Press

July 4, 2008 at 6:32 PM EDT

OTTAWA — Liberal MP Garth Turner has come under fire for blasting Quebec sovereigntists on his blog as “balkanizing separatist losers.”

Mr. Turner, who represents the Toronto-area riding of Halton, wrote a blog on Thursday praising Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's plan to defend his environmental policies against Tory attacks.

“You might not agree with everything the man says, but you have to admire this about him,” Mr. Turner wrote. “He stood up once to the self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing separatist losers in Quebec.

“I guess he can do it again in Alberta.”

As former prime minister Jean Chrétien's unity minister in the late 1990s, Mr. Dion drafted the Clarity Act, which set out stringent guidelines for Canada accepting a Yes result in any Quebec sovereignty referendum.

Turner said in an interview Friday he had spoken to Mr. Dion but refused to say whether his leader reprimanded him.

“He (Dion) said he believes it is important not to act the way the Prime Minister is acting,” Mr. Turner told The Canadian Press.

“I will admit I probably used words that are inflammatory and possibly I went too far. But if I've insulted people...then obviously I have gone too far.

“In my enthusiasm, I perhaps have misspoken myself. You know what? I have a sad history of doing that.”

Mr. Turner said he was trying to show that Mr. Dion has in the past faced large odds in trying to promote his vision and his view.

“I was trying to draw a comparison between the courage that it took Mr. Dion during the national unity debate to stand up to those with a strong separatist agenda, and the courage that it's taking him now, obviously, to stand up to those who would talk about separatism in the West.”

Mr. Turner said he would not remove the remarks from his blog but would clarify them.

Action Démocratique du Québec Leader Mario Dumont said he was “bowled over” when he found out what Mr. Turner had said on the blog.

“Mr. Turner presents Stéphane Dion as a man of courage for standing up to Quebeckers who are described in horrible terms,” Mr. Dumont said.

“The Liberal leader must impose sanctions for these shocking comments which are insulting to Quebeckers.”

NDP Leader Jack Layton also took exception to the remarks.

“One can disagree with sovereigntists but this kind of contempt has no place in politics,” Mr. Layton said. “After the sponsorship scandal, one would expect more respect from the Liberal party toward Quebeckers.

“Such comments really don't help to create winning conditions for Canada in Quebec.”

Mr. Turner, 59, was a Conservative when he was first elected to the Commons in 1988. He served briefly as revenue minister and ran unsuccessfully for the Tory leadership in 1993 and lost in the general election that year.

He was re-elected as a Liberal in 2006.


Turner responds.

http://www.garth.ca/weblog/2008/07/04/what-i-said/

posted by Garth Turner on 07.04.08 @ 7:12 pm |

Canadian Politics

In case you missed it, I’m in trouble again. On Friday afternoon I began receiving lots of emails in French from folks in Quebec telling me what I could do with myself, and what they’d like to do to my sister. That co-mingled with messages from Albertans reminding me that they have the oil and we have the problem. I did some battle on the radio, on Charles Adler’s rant, with people in the oilpatch who think this climate change talk is crap. And, just to cap things off, Stephane Dion called and chewed me out.

The issue is a single sentence in my last post in which I drew comparisons between those who wish to separate from Canada, whether they live in Quebec or Alberta. I called such separatists, who put regional and self-interest ahead of the national cause, “self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing.” Everyone I have heard from tells me this was a mistake. Quebecers tell me they consider such words racist. People like me, they say, encourage separation. Albertans say it’s exactly the sentiment of easterners who want to hobble the West. Others say it takes debate down to the level of Stephen Harper. Dion says it needs to be respectful.

So, why should I even try to justify my words? My attempt to show the Liberal leader has the stones to face down those who think of themselves first, and the country second – no matter where they hail from – succeeded only in making his task more difficult. That was not my intention. Nor do I have anything but respect for my fellow citizens in Quebec and Alberta.

But there’s no way I, as a federal member of the Canadian House of Commons, am going to lay down before people who openly advocate ripping the country apart. Moan all you want about money, or lament those who don’t share your culture or language. But don’t expect me to roll.

posted by Garth Turner on 07.04.08 @ 7:12 pm

[mtbr]

Time for this mouth piece to resign.

[sandorski]

Hmm, if a Conservative said this you would of given a "Hell ya!".

I find nothing wrong with what he said. The only people who like Separatists are Separatists.

[mtbr]

Hey Hurley Donny Brasco is handing out negative rep posts instead of offering his opinion. We know how you feel about that

[CanAm1]

This is a Liberal I can get behind. He is speaking as it is, and people don't like that. Hahahahahahaha! I would and could vote for someone with this type of gravitas. I don't agree with his stance on Alberta but as far as Seperatists he is on the money. If all the politicians had the nards that he has Quebec would be in the bag. Bravo Zulu! To a Lib, what is this world coming to that I am slapping the back of a Liberal.

[hurley_108]

mtbr wrote:

Hey Hurley Donny Brasco is handing out negative rep posts instead of offering his opinion. We know how you feel about that

Donny's got nothing on you for rep system abuse. You give neg rep to people who give pos rep you don't agree with. You give neg rep to people for calling you out on your abuse of rep. If you were a chick, I'd call you a cunt. Ah hell, I'll call you a cunt anyways. Cunt.

[mtbr]

hurley_108 wrote:

mtbr wrote:

Hey Hurley Donny Brasco is handing out negative rep posts instead of offering his opinion. We know how you feel about that

Donny's got nothing on you for rep system abuse. You give neg rep to people who give pos rep you don't agree with. You give neg rep to people for calling you out on your abuse of rep. If you were a chick, I'd call you a cunt. Ah hell, I'll call you a cunt anyways. Cunt.

I can thank him since he's the one I got the idea from

Nice Flame as usual...

[RUEZ]

I'm just waiting for Kenmore to show up to tell us this guy is a Liberal racist bigot. He doesn't just save that for Conservatives does he?

[saturn_656]

For once I agree with Garth Turner.

I feel so dirty now, no amount of bathing will rid me of this stink.

[Mr_Canada]

I agree with him.

Fucking Separatist Losers.

[mtbr]

Albertans are greedy maybe we should keep more of our dirty" oil money"
Is Saskatchewan greedy for wanting to do the same?

Liberal backbencher compares Albertans to 'greedy separatists'
Jason Fekete, Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, July 05, 2008

CALGARY -- A maverick Liberal backbencher has compared Albertans to "greedy ... separatist losers in Quebec." The comments come just as Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is attempting to win the support of Albertans.

Dion, in Calgary for the Stampede and to defend his controversial carbon tax proposal in Canada's energy capital, was expected to answer questions about a recent blog posting by one of his advisers, outspoken Ontario Liberal MP Garth Turner.

"You might not agree with everything [Dion] says, but you have to admire this about him. He stood up once to the self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing separatist losers in Quebec. I guess he can do it again in Alberta," Turner posted on his blog. "Not that there are any similarities."

In an interview, Turner said he was trying to make the point that Dion has the guts to stand up to the Alberta oilpatch on climate change, but took it too far in the blog.

"Did I go too far? Maybe I did," Turner said. "Are [the comments] incendiary? Yeah they are."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a Calgary MP, didn't speak to the media when he arrived in the city yesterday afternoon.

However, Conservative party spokesman Ryan Sparrow demanded Turner retract the comments.

"These comments are unbecoming of a MP and demonstrate a complete lack of respect and disdain for the hard-working people of Alberta by a senior member of the [Liberal Party of Canada]," Sparrow said.


Why would Turner and Dion apologize for those statements?

[Mustang1]

I say BRAVO, Mr. Turner!!! He was dead-on in his condemnation of bigoted nationalists (well...perhaps some terms could've been substituted) and it's his role as a Member of Parliament to confront enemies of POGG and protect the interests of not only his own constituents but ALL Canadians. There's not enough of this kind of patriotism in Parliament sometimes and if anything should cut across ideological lines, separatism should.

Anyone that thinks this guy should resign should give their head a shake, learn about basic politics and be ashamed of themselves.

I don't always agree with Garth, but in this case, we're on the same page!

[Arctic_Menace]

Mustang1 wrote:

I say BRAVO, Mr. Turner!!! He was dead-on in his condemnation of bigoted nationalists (well...perhaps some terms could've been substituted) and it's his role as a Member of Parliament to confront enemies of POGG and protect the interests of not only his own constituents but ALL Canadians. There's not enough of this kind of patriotism in Parliament sometimes and if anything should cut across ideological lines, separatism should.

Anyone that thinks this guy should resign should give their head a shake, learn about basic politics and be ashamed of themselves.

I don't always agree with Garth, but in this case, we're on the same page!

[Pimpbrewski]

At least Mr. Turner, had one thing right. He had the decency to differentiate the separatists from Quebecers as a whole.

Hey, where are Marc and Cmmd1? Hopefully they are not banned. I have some fun when each of them are around. As long as it's kept respectful, separatism vs Federalism discussions are quite entertaining to say the least.

[dino_bobba_renno]

Why on earth would anyone agree with Garth on this one? Sure, no likes separatists, well maybe with the exception of separatists themselves but didn’t a poll just find that Albertans were the proudest of all Canadians?

Just because Alberta (and Saskatchewan) don’t agree with a proposal being put forward by his fearless leader Dion we are suddenly labeled as being on the same level as the Quebec separatists???? WTF, so what, we can’t disagree and speak out against a policy that we feel will unfairly target us and disproportionately benefit the provinces like Ontario and Quebec with out being labeled “anti-Canadian”? Seems to me Garth is fishing for votes in Toronto with the “stick it to the West” mentality.

Alberta is part of this country the last time I checked, is it not? Does the fact that Dion’s plan will target Alberta and Saskatchewan more so than any other province not give a right to speak out and share our views on it? Or do our opinions not count? You’re more than happy to take money from us but heaven forbid we say anything about it. Sounds to me like the age old “Eastern Canada knows what’s best for the country” attitude.

What would happen if this tax instead was proposed to target Ontario’s manufacturing industry and Ontario spoke out against it? Would they also be called “Anti-Canadian” and labeled as separatist losers?