Canadian Election 2011

[Martin]

Well, it's all but official now - we'll be heading to the polls sometime in the first week of May. What do you guys think? Who are you going to be voting for? What outcome are you hoping for? What outcome do you think is most likely?


I voted for Harper (ie, the local Conservative candidate) in 2006 because he offered a clear agenda vs Paul Martin's everything-for-everybody approach and promised clean governance after the scandals at the time. I could not have been more let down and sincerely hope he looses badly during this election. Even though he represents a minority of both the ridings and the popular vote, he has never actually worked with opposition MPs, he's a coward who uses prorogation to escape tough situations, has appointed a defacto Information Minister (Soudas) and simply cannot stop lying - the cost of his prisons building spree, the cost of his jets, doctored memos, Afghan detainees and too many others to list.

Despite my personal feelings, I'd be surprised if he doesn't win another minority, perhaps even majority.

 

[Jimmah]

I too was terribly disappointed with the Harper government these few years. With them originally running on the platform of transparency and responsible government only to become the most secretive government to date is a real let-down.

The Liberals unfortunately don't seem to have everything together either, likely I will be voting NDP again. What I really want is for a coalition between 2 or 3 parties with the Bloc cooling off and being involved. We've got such a wide variety of political leanings in this country, it would be nice if they all got together once and played nice.

 

[yllus]

Boo, is this really going to happen? What an enormous waste of money.

I also voted Harper in the last election (and in the one before that) due to some terrible campaign promises by the Liberals. This time around I'm open to voting Liberal (well, Bob Rae is my MP and will win handily regardless of my vote) as I really don't mind Ignatieff and of all the things in the Harper agenda it's his "law and order" bills that really irk me.

On the other hand, the Conservatives have been pretty good on items that actually affect me - Clement's ruling to allow Globalive to fund WIND Mobile, the hard stance against UBB, and now the new rules mandating easy service transfers between the cable/telco industry giants and smaller operators. I suppose I'm open to be swayed by whoever preaches the best message.

 

[sandorski]

I just can't get on board Harper's bandwagon. Ignatief might be Intelligent, but lacks Leadership skills, any clear agenda, or even the perceived ability to achieve one. I can never vote for the NDP, although I like having them around as a buffer against a soul less Government. Greens are somewhat attractive as a buffer against continued GW foot dragging, but is mostly a wasted vote even with that agenda in mind as not enough people will swing their way to influence Government Policy.

I'll likely vote Liberal, but not enthusiastically and my Riding is a Conservative stronghold anyway. I predict another Conservative Minority, unless something big breaks out. The recent Scandals might catch hold or new ones surface in the Campaign. Maybe Ignatief will step up his game, showing some Leadership skills or coming out with a good Agenda/Platform. Who knows? Time will tell.

 

[iGas]

What option do we have?

Conservative == liars

Liberal == liars

NDP == in fighting seems to be the mandate of the party.

The rest of the parties are nut jobs.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Which party believes in the abandonment of having the queen of england as the head of state? If everyone is a liar or a nut job, then vote for the party that believes in equality and will thrust Canada into human decency.

 

[Imp]

Never been a big fan of Harper. I'm betting on him winning another minority government though. The opposition is just too weak, and he hasn't done anything bad enough in the eyes of the public.

I vote along party lines because I know full well that they're politicians and liars, but they're mostly reliable ideology-wise.

Strongest opposition leader, I think, is Jack Layton, but NDP is too hardcore left for me. Ignatief is just "absent". He doesn't make any strong stances, doesn't make any noise, and you wouldn't know he was the Liberal leader unless you were told. Dion wasn't remotely bad in retrospect. Ya, the Bloc....

 

[silverpig]

We're in for another Conservative minority I think, which sucks and is pointless.

Bloq - Sucks.

Green - Not a "real" party yet. They need a platform and a very charismatic leader.

NDP - I'll give Layton points for passion and leadership, but can't vote NDP. They won't win a seat in my current riding, but I'll be moving to Toronto in the fall so I may be right in NDP territory.

Libs - My vote will probably go here again even though I don't really like Iggy. I used to, but see him more as a good foreign affairs minister than a PM. Still, he's better than Dion.

Cons - They have done a decent job with the economy, although I wonder how much of it is due to policies that predate them. I really like Clement and don't like Harper. I am not impressed by the $56B deficit, but will cut them slack for the economic downturn. I'm not a fan of the F-35 deal, not that I'm against the spending if we need it, but that it wasn't done very openly. I'm also very disappointed with the de-facto campaign spending using government money (the "our economy is improving but the global economy is still fragile, but our government is doing the right things" commercials).

Mainly, I'm pissed that the Conservatives tabled a budget and specifically said they did it without considering the demands or concerns of any of the other parties. Hello! You have a minority government! You have to work with the other parties to get shit done because you didn't earn a majority! Don't act all proud about it.

 

[iGas]

Which party believes in the abandonment of having the queen of england as the head of state? If everyone is a liar or a nut job, then vote for the party that believes in equality and will thrust Canada into human decency.

There aren't any party with the mandate to remove the Queen & Governor General out of Canadian politic and that include the nationalist party, Canadian Action Party.

Bloc Quebecois, Christian Heritage Party, Communist Party of Canada, Communist/Marxist-Leninist, and Libertarian Party are the ones that might try to free Canada from the grip of the Queen if they hold majority power and are push on the agenda.

All of the above parties are run by nut jobs, and Bloc is the only party that have seat/s in parliament.

 

[Jimmah]

Which party believes in the abandonment of having the queen of england as the head of state? If everyone is a liar or a nut job, then vote for the party that believes in equality and will thrust Canada into human decency.

Not even a decent troll post, again you disappoint.

Come back when your argument is worth crushing. Until then, please eat some more paint chips.

 

[yllus]

Parliament's about to call a vote for the motion of non-confidence in the government...

http://www.cpac.ca/forms/index.asp?dsp=template&act=view3&pagetype=watch&hl=e&watchID=1e

 

[RabidMongoose]

There aren't any party with the mandate to remove the Queen & Governor General out of Canadian politic and that include the nationalist party, Canadian Action Party.

Bloc Quebecois, Christian Heritage Party, Communist Party of Canada, Communist/Marxist-Leninist, and Libertarian Party are the ones that might try to free Canada from the grip of the Queen if they hold majority power and are push on the agenda.

All of the above parties are run by nut jobs, and Bloc is the only party that have seat/s in parliament.

Bloc Quebecois seems to be a decently large political party. Honestly, if they're one of the few that are for removing the Queen from Canadian life, then they may be one of the few non-nut jobs out there. How can the other parties run on a platform that doesn't mandate the removal of the Queen and not be nut jobs?

 

[yllus]

Motion passed by about 9 votes. The Prime Minister will tomorrow meet with the Governor-General to have the government dismissed.

It'll be interesting to see if Harper even wants to run yet another minority government. The possibility of a coalition will also make this interesting. I will vote against anything and anyone that wishes to place the Bloc in power (and to a lesser extent, the NDP).

 

[Dominato3r]

The Liberal options in the country involve parties with no leadership at all, Layton is passionate by his ideas make no economic sense, and Iggy just looks like he doesn't give a fuck.

We're in for a Conservative government again.

 

[monovillage]

So Conservatives will probably end up with over 154 seats ?

 

[Iron Woode]

So Iggy thinks he's all that and a bag of chips now, eh?

acting all tough, "We won't vote for the budget no matter what's in it." His stupid posturing and pandering for power that will only backfire on him.

No one wants an election now. $300 million could be spent helping our economy. No, all because Iggy is on a power-trip. He knows his time is almost up, so now he pretends he is a leader for the Liberal party. Hoping he doesn't end up in the dustbin of history.

The end result of his hubris will be either a stronger minority for Harper or a majority. Either way Iggy is toast and Layton and his NDP will be a footnote. They didn't even have party status last time. It was Harper that bent the rules to allow the NDP to stay.

People prefer the devil they know.

This election is unnecessary.

 

[Jimmah]

So Iggy thinks he's all that and a bag of chips now, eh?

acting all tough, "We won't vote for the budget no matter what's in it." His stupid posturing and pandering for power that will only backfire on him.

No one wants an election now. $300 million could be spent helping our economy. No, all because Iggy is on a power-trip. He knows his time is almost up, so now he pretends he is a leader for the Liberal party. Hoping he doesn't end up in the dustbin of history.

The end result of his hubris will be either a stronger minority for Harper or a majority. Either way Iggy is toast and Layton and his NDP will be a footnote. They didn't even have party status last time. It was Harper that bent the rules to allow the NDP to stay.

People prefer the devil they know.

This election is unnecessary.

So the contemptment ruling doesn't matter I assume? Or the recent in-and-out scandal? Harper has no desire to be honest with Canadians, going from 9b for the un-needed fighters balooning to 30+ when we have no need for them. Worse, they're starting to mirror the US's crime policies. Scary stuff.

Ignatief isn't the strongest leader, Layton I like his passion and will vote for him again. Better than the Conservatives, Harper has been far too dictator-ish for Canada, much too GOP flavoured for our values I think.

I would really like to see a coalition between the Bloc, NDP and Liberals. I don't think it is fair for 30% of the country to control the rest, I would rather everyone work together or at least try to, it has worked elsewhere.

One more thing, the forcing the public service to change 'Government of Canada' to 'Harper Government' is a touch egotistical, it's really such bullshit.

 

[Jaskalas]

I too was terribly disappointed with the Harper government these few years. With them originally running on the platform of transparency and responsible government only to become the most secretive government to date is a real let-down.

Hah, sounds all too familiar to us Americans.

 

[silverpig]

Bloc Quebecois seems to be a decently large political party. Honestly, if they're one of the few that are for removing the Queen from Canadian life, then they may be one of the few non-nut jobs out there. How can the other parties run on a platform that doesn't mandate the removal of the Queen and not be nut jobs?

The BQ is a Quebec-only party. They run no candidates in any other province. It'd be like having a Texas-only federal party. They're very selfish, and their standard mode of operation is: "Oh, we'll vote to pass the budget... only IF you give an extra $4b to Quebec."

So Iggy thinks he's all that and a bag of chips now, eh?

acting all tough, "We won't vote for the budget no matter what's in it." His stupid posturing and pandering for power that will only backfire on him.

No one wants an election now. $300 million could be spent helping our economy. No, all because Iggy is on a power-trip. He knows his time is almost up, so now he pretends he is a leader for the Liberal party. Hoping he doesn't end up in the dustbin of history.

The end result of his hubris will be either a stronger minority for Harper or a majority. Either way Iggy is toast and Layton and his NDP will be a footnote. They didn't even have party status last time. It was Harper that bent the rules to allow the NDP to stay.

People prefer the devil they know.

This election is unnecessary.

I think we'll get a slightly weaker minority. There hasn't been much movement in the polls, and for every good thing Harper does, he does at least one bad thing.

And the $300m for an election is actually a good way to boost the economy, at least temporarily. Virtually all of that money is spent employing Canadians.

 

[Iron Woode]

So the contemptment ruling doesn't matter I assume? Or the recent in-and-out scandal? Harper has no desire to be honest with Canadians, going from 9b for the un-needed fighters balooning to 30+ when we have no need for them. Worse, they're starting to mirror the US's crime policies. Scary stuff.

Ignatief isn't the strongest leader, Layton I like his passion and will vote for him again. Better than the Conservatives, Harper has been far too dictator-ish for Canada, much too GOP flavoured for our values I think.

I would really like to see a coalition between the Bloc, NDP and Liberals. I don't think it is fair for 30% of the country to control the rest, I would rather everyone work together or at least try to, it has worked elsewhere.

One more thing, the forcing the public service to change 'Government of Canada' to 'Harper Government' is a touch egotistical, it's really such bullshit.

those so-called scandals pale in comparison to those by the liberals.

I loved the whining by Iggy about the Federal deficit. Hello Iggy, it was you that forced Harper to pass an excessively lucrative bailout package. Of course intelligent people had already predicted that this is what would happen. And it did.

I am not in favour of new jets.

I am in favour of harsher punishment for violent offenders. Let them serve the time they were sentenced to. No more credit deals for time already served. The only reason lefties don't like this is because criminals will be held accountable for their actions. Lefties don't like things such as personal responsibility. Instead they prefer the 'hug-a-thug' school of criminal justice.

As for a coalition of the idiots: no thanks. Most Canadians are opposed to a coalition; especially with the Bloq having the final say.

The Liberals need Ontario, and with Dalton screwing the Province, most people want nothing to do with the Liberals. Layton is on borrowed time as well. The rural vote is looking to punish the NDP for the Long Gun Registry vote.

All in all, I predict a most interesting election result.

 

[yllus]

I have no problems with buying new fighters for the military. We're an enormous country and in my mind we need a modern air force that can get from the big base in Alberta to either side of the country ASAP. The F-35 seems like a perfect fit.

More jails... Why? It seems like a partisan play that's not grounded in reality. And after a couple of pieces by Conrad Black ("The Purpose Of Prison") what I'd really like to see happen in that area is massive reform. This seems like exactly the wrong direction.

The Liberals have today ruled out a coalition, but the question really is what we'd get if they were in power instead of the Conservatives. They'd vote for the new jets and they'd vote for the crime bill. They'd kill the corporate tax cuts. They'd "respect" Parliament. With the probable need to get the Bloc or NDP on board to pass bills, I think to the majority of the electorate they spell trouble.

 

[Dominato3r]

IMO 65 jets is not enough.

And if the cost is high, just get 30 of the F-35s ($110M a pop) and 70 of the Superhornets ($55M a pop, but I heard Boeing was willing to sell them for less) - you'd get that for the same price as 65 F-35s. They are gen4.5 technology though...

And I wonder how healthcare is going to play out, there's been little to no talk of it. Isn't the Federal/Provincial health deal set to end in a few years?

 

[Herr Kutz]

From the bbc (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12872973):

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement in the capital, Ottawa, after asking Governor-General David Johnston, Queen Elizabeth's II representative in Canada, to dissolve parliament.

What the fuck? Why is this still required in the 21st century? Last I checked the western world has left the middle ages. Why do some countries insist on hanging back along with the middle east?

 

[Steeplerot]

From the bbc (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12872973):



What the fuck? Why is this still required in the 21st century? Last I checked the western world has left the middle ages. Why do some countries insist on hanging back along with the middle east?

Why do fire stations have dalmatian dogs? More importantly, what does it matter?

Conservative types like a figurehead to look up to, we should have a powerless one here like Japan. Gives stupid people shiny stuff to focus on instead of screwing up a functional government as "big daddy" stable authority figures do not make good politicians usually.

That's my take on it

 

[sandorski]

From the bbc (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12872973):



What the fuck? Why is this still required in the 21st century? Last I checked the western world has left the middle ages. Why do some countries insist on hanging back along with the middle east?

no, read up on the system