Canadian Election
polaris
Posts: 3,527
sooo ... I searched and there doesn't seem to be a thread ...
what are everyone's thoughts - i've been away for the better part of 2 weeks and would like to hear what everyone's thinking right now about our upcoming election ...
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it looks like harper's base is solid and that the vote-splitting amongst the left/centre parties will result in another harper victory ...
what are everyone's thoughts - i've been away for the better part of 2 weeks and would like to hear what everyone's thinking right now about our upcoming election ...
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it looks like harper's base is solid and that the vote-splitting amongst the left/centre parties will result in another harper victory ...
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Expect more cuts to Education, The Arts, and more tax breaks for the rich and more Federal funding to the Oil Sands.
I'm voting Green this election, as I think we desperately need some aggressive Green representation.
green it is.
i live in alberta. my vote's pretty much irrelevant.
and my career is fairly closely tied to the oilsands.
good times.
Hopefully this year will be different, but I am assuming that Harper, Dion and Layton will just cut each other off and point fingers while failing to actually get anything significant across. They seem more interested in undermining each others qualifications then actually discussing the issues at hand.
I hope that they get embarrassed by the green party and bloc.
i honestly like the turn and new faces in the liberal party - however, the country is not going to vote for someone weak and that is what stephane dion is ... weak ...
I don’t know how we’re ever going to break the vote-splitting cycle in the left…they need to find a way to integrate the Greens and the NDP, then get another right-wing party going to split votes with the Cons, or we could be stuck in this cycle for a long gime.
I’m pretty sure I’ll be goin NDP, if not Green....I’ll take financial hardship in my home province to get out of Afghanistan…
We're obviously gonna be stuck with Harper...we can only hope he doesn't get a majority, but I think he might this time.... hopefully the NDP can win enough seats to influence some decisions. I too have zero confidence in Dion... let Ontario vote for him....I'm sure as hell not.
I’d appreciate it if my fellow Canucks could post as much election propaganda as possible in this thread...it’s tough to find anything outside of the usual CTV/CBC/Global/CP circles, esp with the US election going on (yo Harper:...intentional?)…so if anyone knows of any good Canadian political sites or blogs (from anywhere along the spectrum), plz link ‘em up
ndp or green vote here.
oh yeah? well I didnt even know we have an election coming up. haha j/k
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(article)
Canada has become a more conservative nation, Harper says
By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Stephen Harper contended Saturday that Canadians have become more conservative while his rivals slammed the prime minister for trying to remake the country in his own right-wing image
Harper launched the ideological debate in Fredericton, N.B., where he remarked that Canadians had come to embrace "small-c" conservative values since he got into politics
"At the same time, I don't want to say the Canadian public is overwhelmingly conservative or that it is necessarily as conservative as everybody in our party.
"And that means that our party has to make sure that it continues to govern in the interests of the broad majority of the population. That means not only that we want to pull Canadians towards conservatism but Conservatives also have to move towards Canadians if they want to continue governing."
Harper's comments appeared to be aimed at dispelling opposition accusations that he harbours a hidden, extreme right-wing agenda. And it was consistent with the message the Tories have been hammering home in television ads throughout the opening week of the campaign: Harper is a moderate, steady leader who's in tune with mainstream Canadians.
But Liberal Leader Stephane Dion interpreted the prime minister's message as proof of a hidden agenda.
"He said today, if I'm not wrong, he said that Canada's not conservative enough to his taste," Dion said in Richmond, B.C., where he announced $800 million over four years to help streamline and modernize the immigration system.
"So I want to ask him, how far is he more right wing than Canadians? What is his hidden agenda?"
Nor was Jack Layton buying Harper's makeover. At an enthusiastic rally in Toronto, the NDP leader painted Harper as a heartless puppet of big corporations who has no interest in the needs of ordinary working families.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/indepth/fed_election/s/capress/080913/national/fedelxn_main
For sure, he's also been pretty open about taking it in the ass from the Americans and enjoying it. haha!
He's not trying to hide anything.
Umm ya..thats why I've always felt that the Conservative name is misleading because they are more like the old Canadian Alliance than what we know as the Progressive Conservatives.
That said I fear this will be more an an Anti-Dion vote than it will be a pro Harper one. What many people fail to realize is that Harper couldn't do what he really wanted to do this term because he had the NDP and Liberals to keep him in check (and to a lesser degree the Bloq, because he always bought them off with some unnecessary spending in Quebec to get them to vote their way in the Commons).
I think giving Harper a majority will be a HUGE mistake. I'd be ok with another minority...but give the NDP and Green more seats because we've seen the Liberals are pushovers and the Bloc can be bribed.
I never understood why people always say that Harper is 100% pro america. I mean the guy basically told George Bush to his face that artic waters were Canadian territory and if you don't like it then tough shit. Hardly something that he would say if he was totally on their side.
yeah ... i don't think anyone wants a Harper majority but that would mean people would have to vote strategic which is very tragic ... at this stage the old progressive conservatives would rather shift harder to the right then move left so we really are screwed especially as lesser parties (Green/NDP) grow (which ironically is a good/bad thing) ...
anyways - it would seem as long as harper continues his approach of not saying much policy wise, we are just gonna have to wait to see if he gets his majority ...
My sentiments exactly.
He actually publicly stated he was not a Bush clone....well....if you have to say it...guess fucking what eh?
I'm going NDP or Green... Dion and Harper syndrome is explained in my sig.
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
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( o.O)
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People apparently cannot come up with more creative criticisms than this. Sad but true. Its telling that people take the assfucking from the US shots but no one provides specific examples of such.
You can't think of any yourself off the top of your head?
hmm...
foreign policy on Afghanistan for starters.....spp anyone?
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
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( o.O)
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No, because our foreign policy with regards to Afghanistan was set by Paul Martin's Liberals, well before Harper came to power. And both parties claim they would abide by the previously set pull-out date.
Wow! You and I are usually on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but I gotta say...you've made some great posts in this thread. Some of what you say I agree with, some I don't...but thats why I LOVE this forum.
That said...I am no fan of Stephen Harper, but I think that another conservative minority is what I would like to see. The only reason it seemed as though he was steady at the helm is because he's had the NDP and Liberals to keep him in line and leaning too far to the right. (I intentionally didn't mention the Bloc cause I still remember how they were bought to push Harpers budget through). It scares the hell out of me to think of what he'd do with a majority.
I am usually an NDP supporter and will probably vote that way again only because I think the NDP are a really good opposition party and would LOVE to see them make gains to that end. Sadly though my riding has been a liberal stronghold for over 20 years (same MP that whole time I shit u not).
We can only pray that enough people see through those stupid fireside and attack ads that don't say fuck all about where Harper stands on anything or what he plans to do over the next 4 years. (and yes I acknowledge that the Liberal ads are similar in how little they say too).
Remember the good ole days when the Conservative vote was split?
He has fallen in line with US foreign policy stances at almost every turn, at a time when the US govt has their lowest support EVER! (besides, who cares what the Libs started, we all know they're just as bad...the Cons are supposed to be representing US in the here and now, right?)
and ya....the arctic sovereignty thing was laughable.
He quietly made a lot of our problems go away...
Who passed legislation for this very thing?? (fixed election dates)...Hmm? YUP Harper!
Who broke his own fuckin law as soon as his approval rating got high enough???
Right again..Harper!!!
Seems like Harper isn't any more trustworthy than anyone else in politics.
Ohh and lets not mention the scandals of the last couple of years that make the conservatives look like the biggest hypocrites EVER! (see their attack ads in the last election and note how they did many of the same things!)
I really wish we weren't having an election right now as nobody running is really fit to lead IMO.
I just want to add one little thing, not directed at you, but everyone. Don't be fooled by associating today's Conservative Party with the Progressive Conservatives of the past. Today's Conservative Party under Stephen Harper IS the old Canadian Alliance/Reform Party. Stephen Harper has been aligned with the Reform Party since the 1990s when he worked directly under Preston Manning and he was a key member of the Stockwell Day-led Canadian Alliance.
I agree with your assessment that giving Harper a majority would be a HUGE (!!!) mistake. We need the Liberals/NDP/Bloc to get enough seats to keep Harper in check.
i'm definitely in favour of proportional representation and voted for such during our last provincial election but similarily to the liberal campaign now - no one understood it and so it bombed ...
i do think the concept of harper running a steady helm is laughable tho ... he hasn't accomplished anything except cut gst and cut funding to soical programs and the arts ... his mantra of accountability was the biggest hypocrisy yet - the branch overlooking this has actually said under harper - gov't is less accountable than under the liberals ... and we all know his talk on the environment was BS ... everyone could see through that ... if you live in ontario - i don't understand how one can vote conservative ... flaherty screwed us with harris and he's screwing us again ... history is repeating itself ...
although i haven't voted liberal in many moons nor plan to - i do think the liberal plan is best suited for all of canada ... their problem is their leader is weak and no one understands the plan ... they are disorganized ...
That proportional representation thing was a joke, gee that is what I want, more appointed politicians who answer to their party rather than actual constituents. No matter what system you use people who voted for the loser are going to feel unrepresented, unless there is a switch to a system where every law passed is passed by a referendum.