At one point, Graham asked Dion, "Are you confident . . . that you can communicate with English Canada in a way the competes with Mr. Harper or is that still a challenge?"
Dion (complete with hand gestures):
"I think it's a work in progress. My aim is to speak English good enough that when people are driving with the traffic, with the noise, that they hear me; they understand..."
Does that English tutor come with a money-back guarantee, Mr. Dion?
17 comments:
I loved it earlier this year when he kept saying that Canadians don't want a 'turd' election.
NeilD
Do you seriously think people are going to base their vote on his French accent?
Give people some credit. Most Canadians will base their vote on policies...and most of them will allow for the fact Dion's English is not his first language and will still be able to get his message. It is not like speaking English as a second language is unusual in this country.
But by all means, slam the guy for his less than perfect English. Hopefully the conservativs will follow Nicholson's lead on that as well. That will really help with the non-English speaking vote.
The interview was an embarrassment and was very painful to watch. Mr. Dion squandered the perfect opportunity to showcase himself and his party as a legitimate alternate to the Tories.
During the discussion on Kyoto, Mr. Dion gave Norway as an example of a country with a petroleum based economy that was close to reaching its Kyoto target of 5.2% under 1990 levels. The problem with his statement is that Norway is 25% above its target.
Mr. Dion needs to do some research before quoting facts to back up his position, otherwise he will make himself and his party look silly when they are proven to be false. He also needs to learn to deliver the Liberal message in short sound bites that resonate with the public. Otherwise the Canadian public will never be able to understand what the Liberal party stands for.
Canadians don't want a 'turd' election.
Ha-ha! Missed that one. Thanks Neil.
Maybe Stephane meant Normandy instead of Norway. Liberals have gotten those two names crossed up before you know:0)
"Do you seriously think people are going to base their vote on his French accent?"
Its not about his accent Gayle. Its about his inability to voice a cohesive sentence in proper English. This will be a huge liability in the english debates.
Now how about addressing Dion's false information/lie about Norway.
Gayle - I take issue with your assertion that most Canadians overlook the accent and concentrate on policy.
Most people are so busy trying to figure out what he is saying that they miss the content.
Plus Gayle, please give me your thoughts on the "content" of what he said on MDL about Norway, the "content" of which was totally inaccurate.
Also, please give me your thoughts on the fact that he wasn't called out on this error by GR and why there aren't headlines in all the papers about this error/lie/lack of knowledge.
After all, you have taken issue in the past with our assertion of bias in the press, yet when SD mixed up the way a river flowed (a pretty important fact compared to greenhouse gasses??????? NOT), he was vilifed in the press.
Just some questions for you.
But by all means, slam the guy for his less than perfect English.
Even though that is one thing to "slam" him for, it is hardly the only thing; not by a long shot.
So, its been a year for Dion, eh? The Liberals gave Dion to the Tories for Christmas last year and this year, they plan to continue with that festive generosity for the coming year. Well, at least until the election that Dion says will happen soon. Thank you LPOC. :D
It appears Dion has been spouting wrong information for some time. During a speech on October 10th of this year in Alberta Dion said this:
We need this Liberal plan not only for the environment but also for the economy. The world economy is becoming increasingly competitive. Countries that adopt decisive, sustainable strategies will lead the way. We may find inspiration in Norway’s example. Norway is the third-greatest net oil exporter in the world. It remains committed to Kyoto and is coming close to meeting its targets. By 2050, it plans to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero. The Norwegians will not hurt their economy by doing so. To the contrary, they will become more competitive.
Of course a quick google search reveals just how untruthful Dion is:
http://www.power-technology.com/projects/karsto/karsto5.html
Where Graham really folded was when Dion said he would still meet Kyoto targets and Richardson said: "Without hurting the economy" and Dion retorted: "You do not believe?,,,you do not believe?...(AKA: You do not believe your political masters of sorts)...Richardson shopuld of then insisted on specifics to acheive this goal.
Send an e-mail to MDL requesting that GR correct Stephane Dion's error in order to preclude the appearance of media bias.
"Its not about his accent Gayle. Its about his inability to voice a cohesive sentence in proper English."
Paul - you are contradicting yourself - his accent is a result of the fact English is not his first language, and his English language skills are not perfect. He can make himself understood. I have no trouble at all understanding him through his accent.
"Most people are so busy trying to figure out what he is saying that they miss the content."
No - most conservatives love saying this but it is not true. I have yet to hear one person tell me they cannot understand him. I hear some bigots complaining about his French accent, but no one has told me they cannot understand what he says.
And as for the comments about Norway, I am not sure why you are attacking me for not commenting on them. I did not watch the MD interview and did not claim I did, so please check your righteous indignation at the door.
For that matter you will have to forgive me if I do not automatically accept YOUR assertions about his error as true. Even if some of the media is biased as you claim, CTV is definately NOT biased in favour of the liberals. If anything they are biased towards Harper. The Sun chain is also supportive of Harper - particularly in Alberta. So, if Dion is out there spouting half truths as you claim, I am 100% confident one of those media chains would have picked up on it. If they have I would appreciate a link.
In any event, my comments were directed towards attacking the guy for the fact French is his first language. It is not about the substance of his comments. If you do not agree with him (and it is abundantly clear that he could bring forth world peace and most of you would still not vote for him) that is your prerogative. Let us just keep the criticisms for his policy rather than his accent.
I agree with Gayle that [hopefully] people are not going to base their vote on Dion's French accent. If that's all that people judge politicians by, we're certainly in trouble.
I also hope that "Most Canadians will base their vote on policies."
And THAT'S where Mr. Dion comes up short. Never mind whether Dion says things like "thank you to invite me" - I couldn't care less.
What I do care about is that Dion
• still wants to impose Kyoto on the country
• still wants to impose a national daycare policy
• still wants to keep non-elected senators sitting almost in perpetuity
• still wants criminals' rights to supersede those of victims
• still does not recognize that the fiscal imbalance still exists because people are paying too much tax for ineffective programs
• still views the US as if it were an enemy rather than a partner for safe trade and security in North America
• still thinks Canadian values are the exclusive prerogative of Liberals, that Conservatives' values are unCanadian ...
the conservative habit of mocking those they feel threatened by is well documented. unfortunately, as dion's english improves, harper's numbers don't.
imagine the frustration of those who have donated to the CPC only to watch their money squandered on mean-spirited and childish attack ads.
it's ironic that harper places all his hope for a majority in quebec when the vast majority of his caucus and indeed, his cabinet, cannot speak french.
you think dion struggles with english? have you ever heard peter van loan speak french? it's brutal.
you hope english speaking canadians will reject dion because he doesn't speak perfect english yet fully expect quebeckers to embrace the most unilingual govt in decades?
can you have it both ways?
"you hope english speaking canadians will reject dion because he doesn't speak perfect english yet fully expect quebeckers to embrace the most unilingual govt in decades?
can you have it both ways?"
Apparently you missed the Liberals telling Canadians to reject Preston Manning because of his inability to speak french Jeff?
Gayle, I will state it one more time. I was not talking about his accent, but his ability to put together words properly in sentence form when speaking in english, particularly when he gets flustered. I like the sound of a french accent, what I don't like is mangling english.
As for Dion's Norway mis-truth Gayle, its all there. I have provided a link showing Norway's current and projected ghg emissions. You can see Dion's interview on the CTV link Joanne has in the original post. I can provide the link for the speech he gave in Alberta in October where he also mis-stated Norway's emissions. And a simple google search shows Dion has repeated this many times at other events. You said Canadians will base their vote on policies. Dion's biggest policy is Kyoto. If the statement about Norway's emissions are any indication his credibilty is exactly nil.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2157059.ece
"Gayle, I will state it one more time. I was not talking about his accent, but his ability to put together words properly in sentence form when speaking in english, particularly when he gets flustered."
Paul - I will state this one more time. Whether it is his accent or the fact his English is not perfect due to the fact it is not his first language is immaterial to most voters. Only the most superficial voters would reject a man's policies on that basis.
We all know what he is saying.
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