The 2008 Candian Federal Election

[UA-Archangel]

It looks like Harper is pulling the cord on the current Parliament and Canadians will be voting for a new government.

I hope I'm not starting this thread too early.

If so, ah well, throw on the big dump of past threads.

How would you rate his government?

 

[Shifty]

It looks like Harper is pulling the cord on the current Parliament and Canadians will be voting for a new government.

I hope I'm not starting this thread too early.

If so, ah well, throw on the big dump of past threads.

How would you rate his government?

Well there was that one guy who made the Canadian government a international laughing stock by leaving secret documents out in front of his ex-biker girlfriend.

Their plans for the environment are a joke. 2050?

Wont be voting for them. But the alternatives aren't that great either. I think the Green Party will be the only party that will improve nationally compared to the last election. Liberals may take a few seats back in Ontario and Quebec. And its either still going to be a minority Conservative or minority Liberal. And a minority government may not be a bad thing.

It will be interesting to see how Harper uses the media after telling them to "take off, eh."

 

[Superman]

Who cares? It's Canada.













No seriously, So you guys up there are about to have an Election too? Cool. So hows it look up there? Are you guys going to get a good PM or what?

 

[UA-Archangel]

Well there was that one guy who made the Canadian government a international laughing stock by leaving secret documents out in front of his ex-biker girlfriend.

Their plans for the environment are a joke. 2050?

Wont be voting for them. But the alternatives aren't that great either. I think the Green Party will be the only party that will improve nationally compared to the last election. Liberals may take a few seats back in Ontario and Quebec. And its either still going to be a minority Conservative or minority Liberal. And a minority government may not be a bad thing.

It will be interesting to see how Harper uses the media after telling them to "take off, eh."

It may not have been the wisest thing to have bad relations with the media, but it doesn't seem to have hurt him too badly. Most Canadians really don't like the media either. It's kind of like a necessary evil.

Considering that he's had a minority government, with three other parties fairly hostile to him (though they're kinda held hostage by him at the same time), he's had a very productive government. He'd done more legislation in those two years, then the previous Liberal government did in their ten years of majority government.

 

[UA-Archangel]

Who cares? It's Canada.









No seriously, So you guys up there are about to have an Election too? Cool. So hows it look up there? Are you guys going to get a good PM or what?

Harper, like him or not, has been a fairly moderate Conservative leader. Somewhat to the right, but not so right that he's pulled out the hoods.

He didn't have much choice though, being a minority leader.

 

[UA-Archangel]

When one of my newspapers releases the platform of each party, I'll post them.

 

[Shifty]

Harper said it. He is a fruit.

 

[POWdER-man]

Why is it that no one can spell Canadian....I have seen the same mistake at least three times...

On topic, who in their right mind thought this ad was a good idea and in good taste....

 

[JLBats]

I like that in Canada none of the candidates are sensationalized Messiah figures. I also like that they all got to their positions by working for it, instead of being thrust into the position by a party or the media for political gain. There's no "Imma war hero!" rhetoric that doesn't have a ****s worth to do with the issues, and the debate is rarely on the latest crass attention-grabbing politikal move.

However, none of these candidates are for me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Pearson
^the best Prime Minister we ever had, I feel bar none. And he doesn't get the kind of love and admiration he deserves except for his airport, but dude was a Nobel Peace Prize winner who did so many amazing things for our country, while working with a MINORITY GOVERNMENT(!).

Let's see either maverick reformer on the other side of the border do 1/8th of the political party crossing that would be required to achieve that in Canadian politics.

 

[StorminNorman]

Gold team rules!

 

[The Senator]

While Canadian politics are of very little interest to me, I do not believe that the conservative party will dominate the upcoming parliamentary elections like Harper hopes. Canada is a fairly liberal country, and I do not see the liberals losing control in the near future. Maybe in distant elections, but right now, I am not so sure it is feasible.

 

[JLBats]

Well, that's what we all told ourselves a few years back, when they already did lose control. I just hope this time we don't end up with a stable Conservative government.

 

[POWdER-man]

I don't think Atlantic Canada and Quebec is going to improve much for the Conservatives.....if they hope to gain majority they will need to make more ground in Ontario......which IMO won't happen....

 

[hippie_hunter]

I read a few articles that are saying that they're expecting the Conservatives to be just shy of a majority or managing to obtain a majority government by a few seats.

Opinion polling is also looking very good for the Conservatives as well.

 

[hippie_hunter]

A new Canadian Press-Harris-Decima poll released Friday shows that the Tories are consolidating their support in most regions of Canada. According to this survey, the Conservative Party has a 41% support among likely voters, followed by the Liberal Party at 26% and the NDP at 14%. This is definitely a majority-forming support that Mr. Harper's party is seeking.

But most of the Tories' gains came out of the Liberal collapse in Ontario, as Bloc Québécois remains solidly ahead in Quebec with support from 35% of likely voters, followed by the Tories at 28%. The Liberals are most certainly out of the picture in Quebec, sagging at 17%.

With limited backing in Quebec, it's unlikely that Mr. Harper's majority would be handed to him by Quebec voters. If the Bloc is able to maintain its nationalist base, Ontario will most likely be the province that decides whether Mr. Harper's Tories are worthy of forming a majority government.

 

[UA-Archangel]

The Conservatives have been polling relatively high in all provinces. High enough, that not even a strong swing in support of NDP supporters towards the Liberals, like last election, is going to stop the Conservatives from forming a strong minority or slim majority party.

 

[Alex The Great]

Dion and Layton need to die.

Go Harper.

 

[UA-Archangel]

Here is the Conservative platform from their official website:

www.conservative.ca

1. Sovereignty - more spending to increase our presence in the arctic and claim to the north.

2. Environment - basically it's a requirement for industry to burn fuels as cleanly as possible and a reliance on technology development to reduce emissions, including support for hydrogen in BC and eventually, presumably across Canada.

3. Health - try and cut patient waiting times, address doctor shortages and investments in cancer research.

4. Taxes - reduce income taxes and give tax credits for transit, education, and apprenticeships.

5. Childcare - focus on helping families care for their children, as the parents see fit.

6. Crime - get tougher on crime. Remove the anonymity that youth have when they commit serious crimes.

7. Accountability - make the government more accountable to the people.

 

[The Senator]

Here is the Conservative platform from their official website:

www.conservative.ca

1. Sovereignty - more spending to increase our presence in the arctic and claim to the north.

2. Environment - basically it's a requirement for industry to burn fuels as cleanly as possible and a reliance on technology development to reduce emissions, including support for hydrogen in BC and eventually, presumably across Canada.

3. Health - try and cut patient waiting times, address doctor shortages and investments in cancer research.

4. Taxes - reduce income taxes and give tax credits for transit, education, and apprenticeships.

5. Childcare - focus on helping families care for their children, as the parents see fit.

6. Crime - get tougher on crime. Remove the anonymity that youth have when they commit serious crimes.

7. Accountability - make the government more accountable to the people.

"get tougher on crime"

"make the government more accountable"

"we are sovereign"

In other words, the platform of the conservative party can be summed up as this:

Let's do... uh, something, eh?

Interesting...

 

[UA-Archangel]

"get tougher on crime"

"make the government more accountable"

"we are sovereign"

In other words, the platform of the conservative party can be summed up as this:

Let's do... uh, something, eh?

Interesting...

That's a typical Canadian election, no flash.

Canadians would rather hear about the details of what parties tend to do, than lots of glitz and glamour like an American election.

It's one thing about Canadian politics that I really like, that parties can actually take time to explain their platforms...

...and Canadians will actually take time to listen.

 

[UA-Archangel]

The Liberal party's platform is heavily reliant on an environmental platform.

They basically believe by manipulating taxes, they can convince Canadians to change their behaviours on the environment.

www.liberal.ca

 

[The Senator]

That's a typical Canadian election, no flash.

Canadians would rather hear about the details of what parties tend to do, than lots of glitz and glamour like an American election.

It's one thing about Canadian politics that I really like, that parties can actually take time to explain their platforms...

...and Canadians will actually take time to listen.

But, my point was that the points you listed, aside from the environmental platform, do not explain anything whatsoever. They are vague statements, such as "we will get tougher on crime" or "we will make the government more accountable."

 

[UA-Archangel]

But, my point was that the points you listed, aside from the environmental platform, do not explain anything whatsoever. They are vague statements, such as "we will get tougher on crime" or "we will make the government more accountable."

That's just from their websites.

I'm hoping that one of the newspapers will release a comparison chart that I can copy and paste here showing a side-by-side comparison as to what has been promised.

One thing I will say though, two years with Harper has been more productive than the last 13 years with the Liberals.

 

[Microchip]

It's going to be a tough election to vote in. There's Stephen "snake eyes" Harper... I'd vote for Conservatives, but I really don't like this rather creepy dude representing Canada on the world stage.

Then there's Stephan Dion, who looks like some sort of meek weasel, and has a barely-conversational grasp on English. I'd vote Liberal, but I feel this is the weakest leader the party has had in a long, long time. He's a joke, to me.

Jack Layton has charisma, but I've never supported the NDP, and I won't start now. Plus, he sort of has the "I just stole your lawnmower" look to him.

The Green Party's leader acts like she has hysteria.

The Americans are really spoiled with candidates this year, in comparison. I'll just take whoever you guys don't want.... but if not, I think it's a toss up between Liberal and Conservative for me. The Liberals need to bring the new Trudeau in.

 

[Shifty]

It's going to be a tough election to vote in. There's Stephen "snake eyes" Harper... I'd vote for Conservatives, but I really don't like this rather creepy dude representing Canada on the world stage.

Then there's Stephan Dion, who looks like some sort of meek weasel, and has a barely-conversational grasp on English. I'd vote Liberal, but I feel this is the weakest leader the party has had in a long, long time. He's a joke, to me.

Jack Layton has charisma, but I've never supported the NDP, and I won't start now. Plus, he sort of has the "I just stole your lawnmower" look to him.

The Green Party's leader acts like she has hysteria.

The Americans are really spoiled with candidates this year, in comparison. I'll just take whoever you guys don't want.... but if not, I think it's a toss up between Liberal and Conservative for me. The Liberals need to bring the new Trudeau in.

I wouldn't want the American's problems.