Stephane Dion on ATV

[universalradio]

So how often are we going to see whether Harper has screwed up in French? Answer - never - because most of Canada speaks English, so they'd never know. Right?

[kimleebeaudriault]

This question was worded in such away that if you did not review the question several times you would be thrown off, and for ctv to air the mistakes that Stephane Dion made even though thy told him he could restart the interview, was a bad move on their part. The interviewer should have said "If your party had won the last election? What would have done about the current finacial crisis compaired to what Stephen Harper has done?".

[cmclella]

I'm a blogger and regularly interview senior people in music and media.

"You claim Harper has done little to address the financial crisis that emerged 6 months ago. What would you have done in that time that he has not?"

Or better yet, how about:

"If elected, how will address the crisis, and in what ways is this different from the Harper plan?"

Journalist needs to go back behind his desk to the warm comfort of his teleprompt.

[chuckiachuckia]

Ladies and Gentlemen- Mr. Stephane Dion.... lol!!!!

[boogyjuggy]

Dion , what an idiot...go watch the video is WHISPER (Part I) Whats Quebec/the french really up to?

Quotes-"Bill 101 is a brilliant piece of legislation" - Stéphane Dion. "Given these facts, should French-speaking people concentrate their

efforts on Quebec, or take the whole of Canada as their base? In my

opinion, they should do both, and for the purpose they could find no

better instrument than federalism" Pierre Trudeau

[cne08]

Dion is an idiot! Canada is in trouble if he becomes Prime Minister.

[Igarak]

Pt 3: Steve Murphy is Atlantic Canada's go to anchor for CTV? With questions so badly composed - a sentence with contradictory verb tenses - this is more a reflexion on the interviewer than on the interviewee. CTV knows how to pick their "journalists".

Re: Shifty Harper's Reform campaign team, they can only bully their opponents by pointing out foibles to distract everyone from their own weaknesses and true revisionist agenda. Smoke and mirrors... I pity those who follow him so blindly.

[LukeSchenn2]

You can tell immediately that Dion was confused from the very 1st question.

"If you were Prime Minister now.." Dion then asks, "you mean now? or 2-3 years ago?" He was looking for a clear question, and never got it.

The girl then tried asking the question to Dion and was actually worse....

"If you were the Prime Minister when since Harper's been Prime Minister.." <--- what is "when since?"

What is "when since?"

[DLJTMB]

It was a tough question for Dion to answer, but if your going to be the leader of a country such as Canada you require both english and french.We need someone who can lead us today not in 30 days.

[DarcyTucker]

The girl who tried to repeat the question to Dion said it even worse... "IF YOU WERE THE PRIME MINISTER WHEN SINCE HARPER'S BEEN PRIME MINISTER" <--- What the heck is "when since?"

Can somebody tell me where you would use "when since" in a sentence ??

[DarcyTucker]

The journalist should have been more educated to have known how to ask a question properly. Knowing that Dion is better speaking French than English, to air this stuff over the air was deliberate, and was meant to embarass Dion. And the public (that's us) are smart enough to see CTV's stunt for what it is. The question is, how much does this help Dion and hurt Harper? Think back to 1993.. Kim Campbell won only 4 seats. Yes, history could repeat itself.

[BenGariel]

Elect the wrong guy, everybody loses. Canada simply cannot afford an experiment at this time of worldwide turmoil.

[jimmyfb911]

It's a shame that Dion is playing victim. He clearly was not ready for this question.

[boogyjuggy]

Nothing but another bumbling french idiot from Quebec. I thought Chretien was bad, this could be worse. Go back to Quebec, they deserve you.You green socialist clown!

[jackofhearts21]

Go back to your cave pis mange d'la marde...

[DarcyTucker]

"I disagree !! look at what you've done !!"

This is how I would have done things. Dion was simply being asked... "what would you have done?"

It's not a trick question.

[LivingArts23]

You need to look at the full question, not part of it. "If you were PM now, what would you have done that Mr. Harper has not done," does not make sense.

... If you were to see this comment now, what would you have posted 7 hours ago?

[DarcyTucker]

You are opposition government. You disagree with Harper because of what's happening and what's happened to Canada (past tense). Dion was simply asked, "what would he have done?". You disagree with somebody on how they've done something, well? what would you have done? it's not a trick question.

[DarcyTucker]

Even Dion confirms that Harper doing nothing is not an option. He is simply being asked, "what would you have done?" <--- it's not a trick question.

[DarcyTucker]

After Dion asked if he could start over, the question was then asked properly, and he (Dion) still could NOT understand it.

"If you WERE prime minister now, what would you have already done in this crisis that Mr Harper has not done?" <--- There is nothing wrong with this question, it was asked correctly.

[GGkinz]

The question makes no sense. "If you were prime minester NOW, what WOULD u HAVE done differently?" Not 2.5 years ago, not this tuesday but right now? What the hell kind of question is that? That's like asking wut would u do if u were PM for a day. RIDICULOUS! and I dont see how this has anything to do with his leadership ability!

[StewNWT]

If you were PM right NOW, what would you HAVE done, that PM Harper HAS NOT DONE?

That's some incredibly bad freaking grammar. Should have been what would you DO today.

It's not like he actually didn't understand the question, but he was isolating the interview's horrible tense phrasing.

[LARGANG]

I actually understand how Dion got messed up. I am presently taking French language training and it is difficult to identify if a question is in past, present, or future context. The interviewer really messed him up with his references to Today, if you were PM now what you have done, TODAY, ..This guy should learn how to ASK a question.

[Georgoking]

What a lot of bother about nothing...

It was a poorly asked question.

If anyone looks dumb its ctv.

'we owe it to you to show you'....

what a load of malarky.

[lynseysable]

this is a terribly worded question, im sorry. if you WERE prime minister NOW, what would HAVE DONE? well, that's impossible. that implies he started being prime minister right at that moment only, but... can act in the past too? jesus, this is a mess of tenses. and secondly, how many english candidates would have been able to handle that in french? BOO CTV! trying to embarass dion, you emabarass yourselves!

[jldupont21]

Dion a mumbling idiot? Wake up... None of these candidates are...

Poor moment for CTV... That's no way to treat a guest.

Let's ask the following question to MR. Harper: "If you WERE in the opposition TODAY, what would you HAVE SAID the PM 2.5 years ago to make things different".

[TheMerryMisanthrope]

I agree...a terrible question. Everyone was confused by it - Murphy should know better.

[jldupont21]

usausausaqwerty says :

"What would you have done that Prime Minister Harper has not done?? It is not a hard concept to grasp my friends."

But that is not the question he asked isn't it?

He asked "if you WERE the prime minister NOW, what you have have DONE?"

That can mean 1 of 3 things:

- if I had been elected 2.5 years ago, what would be different now?

- if I suddenly become PM, what would have I done (makes no sense)?

- If I am elected next week, what will I do?

[alphabetSound]

EXCACTLY!!!!!

[kngschmaltz]

Lord save us from mumbling idiots!!

[jldupont21]

The interviewer can not even quote himself correctly... Not a huge difference but if you are going to quote yourself do it correctly.

[willowbud]

OMG ~ Palin is lookin good now.......at least I can understand her accent.

[jlawrence3814]

F A K E! F A K E! His hard-of-hearing comment was edited out at 2:09! You can hear the audio skip, and Duffy's has the full version.

Tory censorship. What a surprise!

[alphabetSound]

CTV "owes it to us to show everything"...???!! this is manipulation of media at it's worst. The way television works is you take a few takes and then decide which one to air. Let's see the "out takes" from the Harper interviews...show us "everything" then.

This is a disgrace to Canadian journalism. It actually shows Dion's intelligence and integrity as he tries to understand a ridiculous question. If he were Prime Minister now - things wouldn't be the way they are...!

What a terrible set-up.

[usausausausaqwerty]

That stands in minor situations. if your such a fucking idoit you can't understand a simple question, don't run for priminister. This is basic stuff, you would think he would know some of this. He has proven that there is a politican dumber than George Bush....

[kngschmaltz]

wake up. His own staff couldn't even get thru to the mumbling idiot.

[ktkoch]

You are so brainwashed, Dion's an idiot face it.

[LivingArts23]

C'mon. Listen to the question -- "If you were PM now, what would you have done that Mr. Harper has not done." That is a confusing question. If I were NOT the PM yesterday, what could I have done as a PM yesterday? The interview should have phrased it as, "if you were PM, what would you have done that Mr. Haper has not done."

[billyboyletop]

English is my first language, and I would be telling the interviewer to clarify the time he means, because that changes the question entirely. I would have more confidence in Dion as prime minister than our current speech-stealing, economy-wrecking ideologue.

[qlkgg7]

May God help us when people running for Prime Minister can't understand a question like that. If people cant understand that question Im sure there are lots of things they will have trouble wrapping thier minds around.

[usausausausaqwerty]

If you were in power right now!!! not that hard of a concept, you agree??

[alphabetSound]

usausausausaqwerty - It is a hard concept if you THINK about it. If he were in power right now things wouldn't be as they are - so he wouldn't be dealing with the same problems. How could he answer that?! The question is a set up.

It's actually a ridiculous, irrelevant question. His response shows intelligence as he struggles to interpret a poorly worded question.

[StewNWT]

if you were in power right now what would you already have done (that PM harper has not done)? The tenses don't match at all, and particularly if your first language is French where the tense is everything. This is such a non story, the interview should have just admitted he asked poor question and be done with it.

[billyboyletop]

I agree. There's nothing wrong with Dion's response. The question is goofy, vague, and clearly meant to cause confusion.

[MGS2guy]

dion sucks harper 08

[1975Jim]

Dion thinks the interviewer is asking him if he gets elected what would he have done. But he can't answer what he WOULD have done if he gets elected Now. The question should be simply, IF YOU WERE PRIME MINISTER NOW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? or IF YOU WERE PRIME MINISTER WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

Dion is confused about a stupid hypothetical question that doesn't make sense because he is being asked in both present and past tense.

[JYOGIS]

A very convoluted question. Dion had every right to get clarification. Also, highly unethical on CTVs part to air these clips after promising not to. Seems highly partisan.

[alphabetSound]

I Agree!!

[usausausausaqwerty]

What would you have done that Prime Minister Harper has not done?? It is not a hard concept to grasp my friends. You could provide some insight into the current fiscal polices of the conservative government. Maybe try and persuade people that they are not working affectively. The problem is however, that he would have done nothing different. Prime Minister Harper has run a sound economic government thus far, and stephan Dion knows it.

[crystalshilo1]

El Retardo Grande.

That's gotta hurt.