David Orchard for Liberal leader? Why the hell not?

[IntravenousDemilo]

David Orchard mulls run at Liberal leadership
Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- Saskatchewan farmer and two-time Tory leadership hopeful David Orchard is thinking about leaping into the Liberal race.

"What I'm really doing right now is taking calls. I certainly had not been considering it, but calls kept coming so I kept answering them and listening to what people have to say,'' Orchard said in an interview.

"I'm not ruling anything in or anything out.''

Orchard ran twice for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party, where he was regarded as an outsider -- but a powerful one.

His last kick at the Conservative can saw him come a strong second to Peter MacKay. His support on the final ballot in exchange for a guarantee of no merger with Stephen Harper's Alliance secured MacKay's victory.

When the Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance, Orchard found a new political home with the Liberals. He took out a Liberal membership before the last election.

Anyone who dismisses Orchard as a dreamer does so at their own peril.

Orchard proved in his time with the Progressive Conservatives that he has a strong, loyal following across Canada that turns out to vote at convention time.

"One of the very prominent Liberals recently told me that there isn't a Liberal in the country that has a database of 30,000 names like you do,'' Orchard said.

Still, he expressed reservations over the short lead-up time to the convention. The cut-off for selling memberships to would-be supporters is late June.

Orchard is a strong proponent of sustainable development and strongly opposes genetically modified foods. His organic farm, now specializing in alfalfa, is a hugely successful operation in central Saskatchewan.

He is a self-professed defender of the Canadian military, but did not approve of Canada's deployment to Afghanistan.

Orchard is also bilingual, and spent the last six weeks in Quebec City keeping his language skills intact.

He joins a growing list of potential leadership candidates. So far, only two people, businesswoman Martha Hall Findlay and Liberal MP John Godfrey, have thrown their hats into the ring.

[CHIMO]

1. Would Be

Nice if you would post reference to to article, unless of course you are the author!

[IntravenousDemilo]

6. Nope, I'm not the author, but here's a link...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060327/orchard_libs_060327/20060327?hub=Canada

Okey dokey?

[CHIMO]

8. Great

If he could obtain sufficient power to overtake the old guard. He has the capability to bring in many new members into the party and to obtain a good vote at the convention. However, would it be enough to win? Martin's group seems entrenched in the ridings and if he didn't succeed in gaining at least a strong position in the party then he runs the risk of disappearing like Heller did.

It would certainly add a whole new dimension to discussions about what parties stand for. I think that the NDP might get lost in the dog fight between the libertarians and the nationalists.

On the whole I would like to see him have a try at it.

[enigmatic]

2. Tell me more about him

What's everybody's take on him?

[CanSocDem]

5. In the PC leadership race...

...he sounded so good I was tempted to forsake my lifelong NDP membership and send him $10.00 for my place on the bandwagon. Nader was running for the US 'residency so it looked like with him down there and Orchard up here, there was a good opportunity to save the planet.

Who could have forseen that massive election fraud was so close...?????

Anyway, he is also pro-Canada, anti-Nafta and rightly suspicious of the ruling class. If he wins the leadership of the Liberals, I'll vote for him with a clear conscience.

[enigmatic]

9. thanks for this

I'm going to read up on him this weekend...

[Wabbajack]

3. "strongly opposes genetically modified foods."

Biological luddite.

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Good, at least he'd get my luddite vote.

GM Ban Long Overdue

Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

SNIP

For years, the pro-GM lobby has been denying and dismissing all evidence pointing to the health hazards inherent to the GM technology. Meanwhile, more damning evidence has surfaced.

A research team led by Dr Irina Ermakova of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported in October 2005 that 36 percent of rats born to pregnant rats fed Roundup Ready GM-soya starting from before the rats conceived were severely stunted, compared with 6 percent of rats born to those fed non GM-soya. Within three weeks, 55.6 percent of the progeny of GM-soya fed rats died; a death rate six to eight times that of progeny from rats fed non-GM soya, or a diet without added soya <3>.

SNIP

Commenting on some of the evidence presented here, Dr. Michael Antoniou, Reader in Medical and Molecular Genetics at King's College London, had this to say <18>: “ If the kind of detrimental effects seen in animals fed GM food were observed in a clinical setting, the use of the product would have been halted and further research instigated to determine the cause and find possible solutions. However, what we find repeatedly in the case of GM food is that both governments and industry plough on ahead with the development, endorsement and marketing GM foods despite the warnings of potential ill health from animal feeding studies, as if nothing has happened. This is to the point where governments and industry even seem to ignore the results of their own research! There is clearly a need more than ever before for independent research into the potential ill effects of GM food including most importantly extensive animal and human feeding trials.”

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMBanLongOverdue.php

[V. Kid]

7. But of course, he doesn't really stand a chance....

...as the Liberal Party is far too far to the right economically for him to fit in. He's a quintessential tory. People always get confused when they saw him in the Progressive Conservative party, but that party was traditionally full of people like him as well as economically right-wing people. It had been a coalition between red and blue tories.

Essentially he's a red tory, in the traditional sense, not in the modern sense that moderate or socially liberal (but economically right-wing) Conservative MP's are somehow "red". He is conservative, as in doesn't like change. And therefore he doesn't like the way that the NAFTA agreement have hurt Canada's previously traditional pro-nationalist institutions, and thus hurt Canada's identity and sovreignty. He doesn't like GMO's, becaues he prefers to be cautious, and thinks they are un-healthy. Apparently he's moderatley socially conservative, ie: doesn't approve of Gay Marriage. But that said, he's not a religion thumper either. I'd say he's like Diefenbaker and other real "red" Tory leaders, who are somewhat infavour of a mixed-economy between socialist and free enterprise solutions, but still in favour of traditional institutions like the Monarchy.

[MrPrax]

10. Why does David '5 bucks' Orchard...

even get attention on GM (or the environment for that matter) when there are many many more people, much better informed, that are starved for attention.

This clown has NEVER been elected anywhere and at anytime for any party...YET somehow people are diluted in thinking that Orchard is a 'popular' guy?...or stands for something? Popular with who? The media?

This guy is going into his three decade of opportunism and comedy...retire already, Dave

[CHIMO]

11. Well If

You think that a person that can bring at least 10,000 (min) members into a political party is a non-event then I would have to ask you what would a politician have to do. And these are committed door knocking kind of supporters.

His supporters are committed and have shown it in their backing of him.

[MrPrax]

12. Oh come on...

Orchard has lots of supporters in SK? BC? Northern Ontario...where exactly?
or has he simply been around for awhile

...he finished 3rd in 2000 as PC and then became a liberal and, THEN, didn't run--his so called legion of 'supporters' didn't get Chris Axworthy elected in this last election...

Orchard has name recognition and the media likes him...he is really incoherent as to what 'he wants', 'what he thinks Canadians want' and 'what is really needed'...

Don't get me wrong...I liked the guy back in the early 90s, but his bag of tricks haven't changed much and he got some mileage out of the MacKay 'treachery' of the 'red Tory' legacy that HE, David Orchard, claims...he's bogus.