Ignatieff spokesman Ross Rebagliati calls for an end to the monarchy, but no end to pot

Ross Rebagliati, Michael Ignatieff's star candidate in Okanagan-Coquihalla, has joined the Liberal Party's policy renewal process with a few modest proposals of his own.

Here's a few of the great man's Deep Thoughts, as told to a German reporter at the Olympics:

On renouncing Canada's membership in the Commonwealth:

I think the Commonwealth is over. We have to move forward.

On ending the monarchy:

To have the Queen appointing a governor-general... I don't know.

On Stephen Harper and why he should be more submissive to China:

We do a lot of business with China.

On Harper's well-received participation at a black tie arts gala last year:

Only an arrogant man can play The Beatles on the piano wearing a tuxedo.

Rebagliati also accuses Harper of being "Bush's puppet". It's a rather stale cliche in the second year of an Obama administration, but it also shows a touching obliviousness to Ignatieff's own eager support for the war in Iraq, and for the use of torture and targeted assassination.

My favourite part of the interview, though, has to be the total admiration Rebagliati has for himself:

On speaking to the Liberal caucus:

I gave a speech before the Liberals at the Ottawa parliament without being an MP. That is something that had never happened in history, I'm like a star.

Not really. Non-MPs speak to party caucuses every single week -- staff, party officials, policy experts, etc. But if Rebagliati's a little hazy on his "history", at least he's clear about one thing: he's his own favourite person -- a star, if he does say so himself.

The German interview was good, but the real Rebagliati comes alive when he's interviewed by friendlier media, like the journalists as Celebstoner.com.

After a shocking interview last month with the Daily Telegraph in London, Rebagliati was ordered by Ignatieff's office to stop talking about marijuana. He had told the Telegraph that his own success “proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it can be part of a healthy lifestyle”, and the Liberals freaked out. He was told to go out and talk about the Olympics, but to shut up about his drug habit.

But seriously, how long was that gag order going to last in an interview with a website called Celebstoner.com? I mean, we know Rebagliati isn't the type to quit anything cold turkey.

The first half of the interview was "on message" -- just Rebagliati whining about the fact that he didn't get free tickets from the government. But that discipline could only last so long. Soon Rebagliati was waxing eloquent about the charms of mary jane.

How safe is marijuana?

I personally think it is safer than alcohol and cigarettes.

Attaboy. I can hardly wait until an all candidates forum at a local high school in Kelowna. I'd love to hear him coach kids about a "healthy lifestyle" that is "safer than alcohol and cigarettes". Maybe he can hit some Sunday schools with his uplifting message of drug abuse, and then lying about it. I'm no scientician, but I don't think that's gonna get Ignatieff the soccer mom vote back.

But enough from me. I'm a Tory sympathizer, so I'm probably biased. Let's close with a thought from this week's Hill Times, quoting a Liberal "insider":

...the Liberals are not there yet, and after four years in opposition, they have learned to fear the Conservative machine, said one insider.

"I can just imagine [Liberal candidate] Ross Rebagliati in an ad about everybody smoking dope, and Liberals talking about raising the GST, they can take that stuff and they can really run some negative stuff. ...I'm not sure the Liberals are ready to fight a battle [like] that right now."

Seriously: Ignatieff's own courtiers are citing Rebagliati as a reason not to go to the polls right now. So let's take a poll of our own, shall we?

Will the Liberals let Rebagliati continue his disastrous campaign as their candidate? Or will they quietly underbus him after the Olympics, and run a candidate who's a little less in love with the chronic -- and himself?

Leave me your thoughts in the comments section!