{"id":397,"date":"2008-09-22T19:13:39","date_gmt":"2008-09-23T00:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/election08.cusjc.ca\/?p=397"},"modified":"2008-09-22T19:13:39","modified_gmt":"2008-09-23T00:13:39","slug":"the-three-pillar-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/?p=397","title":{"rendered":"The three-pillar approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kate Scroggins<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Liberal leader St\u00e9phane Dion gave supporters a glimpse of his party\u2019s platform at his campaign launch in Ottawa yesterday, saying he wants to make Canada \u201cricher, fairer and greener.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dion, who said the full plan would be released over the coming days and weeks, hinted that his campaign would focus on the economy, social justice and the environment. The slogan comes as no surprise. It is the same three-pillar policy approach that Dion has pushed since his nomination as Liberal leader in 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dion defended what could become one of the key issues of the campaign \u2013 his controversial green shift plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cut the taxes on activities that are creating wealth … and you shift it to our pollution because we want to fight climate change for our children and grandchildren,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy is it so difficult to understand?\u201d<\/p>\n

He promised that the Liberals would provide an online tool for Canadians to determine their eco-footprint and create a governmental \u201cgold standard\u201d that would be awarded to environmentally-friendly products and services.<\/p>\n

About 200 supporters gathered at the Billings Estate Museum in Ottawa\u2019s south end to cheer on the Liberal leader and other candidates from the Ottawa-Gatineau area.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked Gov. Gen. Micha\u00eblle Jean to dissolve what he called a \u201cdysfunctional\u201d parliament. Canadians will go to the polls on Oct. 14.<\/p>\n

Recent polls have shown support for Dion\u2019s leadership is dwindling, with most Canadians surveyed saying that Harper and NDP leader Jack Layton would make better prime ministers than Dion.<\/p>\n

But at the rally, the Liberal leader fought back, saying that he welcomed the campaign as a chance for voters to get to know him better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will have the possibility to reach the Canadian people, our fellow citizens in their house, in their TV, directly, not through the attack ads of Stephen Harper,\u201d he said. \u201cThey will see who I am and what I stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local candidates echoed this sentiment.<\/p>\n

David Pratt, the former defence minister who is taking on John Baird in Ottawa-West Nepean, said he has always admired Dion. Pratt said that the leader\u2019s strong record as a minister would win over voters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s demonstrated over the course of the last number of years that he has a deep and abiding love of this country. And I think that\u2019s going to come through in this campaign as Canadians give another look to St\u00e9phane Dion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It was slow going for some supporters as they made their way to the national campaign launch.<\/p>\n

About 30 members of the Ontario Landowners Association drove a tractor and wagon at a snail\u2019s pace along Riverside Dr., backing up traffic. The protestors were not allowed into the rally, but they shouted their demands alongside eager young liberals jockeying to get a glimpse of Dion as his tour bus arrived.<\/p>\n

The association wants property rights enshrined in the constitution.<\/p>\n

Jack MacLaren, president of the association, said promoting <\/strong>property rights is the most important issue among rural voters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Liberal party or any other party wants the support of rural people, they need to recognize property rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kate Scroggins is a student in the Master of Journalism program at the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kate Scroggins Liberal leader St\u00e9phane Dion gave supporters a glimpse of his party\u2019s platform at his campaign launch in Ottawa yesterday, saying he wants to make Canada \u201cricher, fairer and greener.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election2008","category-election-2008-student-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions\/400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}