Canadian Federal Election Call Set For Sunday

[Jalinth]

Personally, I don't think conservative's are the "great evil" the Libs are trying to portray.

What I'd like (but don't think would happen), is a minority government with the Conservatives. They get to govern, but the outside supporters ride check on them should they prove incompetent/idiotic (should the entire Cabinet suddenly drink Bush's intelligence juice and all turn into mental shrubs).

As it now stands, the best we can hope for is a Liberal minority that hopefully gets the smugness punched out of them. Unfortunately, they'd likely ally with the NDP - Layton is very radical left - so kiss the budget goodbye. The only other option is to go it alone and try to get a few key votes from a few indepent minded members of the other parties.

[SirNitram]

Personally, I don't think conservative's are the "great evil" the Libs are trying to portray.

They're not evil. They're stupid. Stupid is infinitely more dangerous than evil.

[Solauren]

I agree, the Federal conversatives (and if my grandmother ever reads this, she's gonna skin me) is very stupid, very 'fundie', and therefore very dangerous.

The only problems with the Federal libersal is the sponsorship scandal, and Paul Martin appears to be trying to clear that up.

'course, had he waited another 1 1/2 years to call the election and get the scandal cleaned up.....

I think we need to form a Canadian SD.NEt political party

[Aaron]

I think we need to form a Canadian SD.NEt political party

I'll second that. Mike Wong for Prime Minister.

[aerius]

There was a interesting bit on the news that shows what kind of a person Steve Harper is. The Liberals announced new healthcare funding & reform today, and Harper was asked by the political commentator of our local newstation if he had anything he wanted to say about it. Harper refused to be interviewed, and his comments were basically, "I don't want to talk about healthcare, it's not part of my platform & it's not important. But I'll give you a full interview about the Liberal sponsorship scandal". What an assclown. No way in hell I'm voting for that shithead.

[Montcalm]

Thats something i didn't hear on local news here,most of what i heard is he was pointing that a few months ago PM said there was no money for healthcare and now "POOF" 9 billions magicaly appeared.

[Ma Deuce]

Harper refused to be interviewed, and his comments were basically, "I don't want to talk about healthcare, it's not part of my platform & it's not important. But I'll give you a full interview about the Liberal sponsorship scandal". What an assclown. No way in hell I'm voting for that shithead.

Damn, I thought Team Martin's attempt to dig up something Harper said during the '94 Refurrendum was bad .

Now that the campaign is in full swing, Let the mudslinging commence!

[Icehawk]

Not very. Conversely, voting for the conservatives weakens the liberals, yadda yadda yadda. I know all this. Voting for the liberals weakens the Greens too. And whatever other parties you've got. That's kind of how the system works. But I'd rather not vote for any evils at all (and by God I won't, even if I wind up having to write myself in! ).

Actually, it ONLY helps the conservatives realistically in the end because its the Conservatives goal to get the Liberals out of power and the only party which has a chance at beating them is the Liberals. If a certain chunk of people who normally voted Liberal suddenly decided to, vote independent in an effort to "punish" the Liberals, it could easily mean the difference between victory or defeat for the Liberals and it would only mean a slight increase in popularity for the independant candidates.

[Montcalm]

I've decided that i will vote independant,sadly it will change nothing since the Liberals will win Paul Martin will be Prime Minister,and the Bloc Quebecois will be the official opposition

[Darth Wong]

I love the way Harper jumps all over Martin for promising more money for health care and refusing to rule out tax increases. Meanwhile, Harper promises that every Canadian will continue to have the quality of health care they have now; he just figures he'll find some magical way to make it cost less, while balancing the budget, cutting taxes, paying down the national debt, and increasing military spending. It's easy to promise big things when you're a fucking moron who can't operate a calculator.

[aerius]

Yeah, because with Harper in power, money will just magically appear somehow. Of course he's not the only one who can't count, Jack Layton of the NDP needs some help with math as well. He promised 29 billion in additional healthcare funding, 9 billion in some other social program I can't remember, as well as fees or taxes for those making under $15k. At the same time he said there'll be 9.5 billion in tax increases, and somehow he says the budget is going to balance out. As far as I know we don't have a 30 billion plus budget surplus lying around these days, so I don't know how the fuck he's going to get a balanced budget with all this. Hmmm...can you say "Bob Rae"? I knew you could.

[Aaron]

I can't decide who to vote for. The Liberals are corrupt but they will not fight the gay marriage issue, which I'm for. Their also finacially conservative, which I'm also for. The only real beef that I have with the Liberals is that they neglect the military which is an issue close to my heart, being an ex-soldier. And there's the whole corruption scandel whcih pisses me off. I think that I will probably vote Liberal, although I'll feel dirty afterwards.

Does anybody have any clear info on what the Conservatives and NDP platforms are? I saw some info on CBC on the NDP and I like their Healthcare plan, 29 Billlion over four years.

[Jetfire]

I'm figuring better the Devil we know fairly well than the idiot we somewhat know and despise.

So I'll be swinging Liberal for now (only my second Federal election and I've normally stayed out of politics myself)

I've never talked politics with my parents, but I have a feeling that they, or at least my mom, will go red as well, mainly cuz she hates Harper.

[President Sharky]

My support has always been for Mr. Harper and the Conservatives. However, I place a lot more importance on my riding's candidate, then on who's the party leader. Local issues are very important in my opinion, and I would want David Turnbull (my riding's Conservative candidate) in Parliament.

At any rate, a Liberal minority government is the best we Conservatives can hope for this time around. Mr. Harper is a fine leader and he know what to do should he ever become Prime Minister. The Liberals have had nearly eleven years in power, and eventhough the first four were spectacular, they have degenerated to a corrupt and stagnant governing party, and they must be ousted or reduced.

[Darth Wong]

Mr. Harper is a fine leader and he know what to do should he ever become Prime Minister.

How do you know he will be competent to be Prime Minister? The man makes promises on his campaign website which are mutually contradictory; I don't see why we should expect competence from such a person. Worse yet, he has destroyed the concept of the old Conservative Party, which was to be fiscally conservative while not trying to control society. He has replaced that vision with the idiotic and poisonous concept of bundled fiscal and social conservatism.

The Liberals have had nearly eleven years in power, and even though the first four were spectacular, they have degenerated to a corrupt and stagnant governing party, and they must be ousted or reduced.

In favour of whom? The Canapublican party?

[President Sharky]

Well, as long as David Turnbull and some other local Metro Toronto Conservative candidates win a seat in Parliament, I will be pleased. Though having a minority government will be a victory for those, like me, who wish to see the Liberal Party decimated eventually.

[J]

I see things like this, the Chretien liberals were corrupt, that's undeniable. What we don't know, and what we won't know until well after the election is how far the corruption went and if and how deeply involved Paul Martin & his current cadre were in the whole thing. And that's the problem, by withholding any information they have, the NDP & Conservatives can continue to cast doubt on the Liberals and make vague accusations of scandals, cover-ups and corruption against them. It plays to their advantage to keep the public uninformed, as long as there's no decisive conclusion to the funding scandal they're free to make whatever accusations the please against the Liberals.

The Liberals are well, in a very bad fix. They could try and bring the sponsorship scandal inquiry to a quick conclusion, but then they get smeared for trying to bury the issue, and if they let things take their course then the situation described above takes place, either way they're in trouble. The smart decision would've been to wait till the whole thing blew over, which would've happened given a few more months, by then it'll be an issue of minor importance and they could concentrate on things which are actually important to our country, like healthcare, budgets, social programs, etc.

[Solauren]

I still think Paul Martin should have waited until he HAD to call the election, and us the mean time to do major public changes, fines, firings, etc of the people behind the sponsorship scandal.

By doing that, he'd prove the liberals are clean

Oh well.

[Drooling Iguana]

The way I see it, the Liberals are corrupt, but that's to be expected. They're politicians, after all. However, it doesn't seem likely that the Liberals are going to go out of their way to take away my rights. I'm not so sure about the Conservatives.

Frankly, I'd much rather have the government's hand in my wallet than have their nose in my bedroom.

[Aaron]

The way I see it, the Liberals are corrupt, but that's to be expected. They're politicians, after all. However, it doesn't seem likely that the Liberals are going to go out of their way to take away my rights. I'm not so sure about the Conservatives.

Frankly, I'd much rather have the government's hand in my wallet than have their nose in my bedroom.

Are the Conservatives really that bad? Other than opposing gay marriage, is there any evidence that they would try to bring in any draconian sex laws? IE: banning sex toys, outlawing anal sex and that sort of thing?

[Darth Wong]

The way I see it, the Liberals are corrupt, but that's to be expected. They're politicians, after all. However, it doesn't seem likely that the Liberals are going to go out of their way to take away my rights. I'm not so sure about the Conservatives.

Frankly, I'd much rather have the government's hand in my wallet than have their nose in my bedroom.

Are the Conservatives really that bad? Other than opposing gay marriage, is there any evidence that they would try to bring in any draconian sex laws? IE: banning sex toys, outlawing anal sex and that sort of thing?

Hard to say. They haven't talked much about what they want to do on that front, but their website says it all: they brag that they are "social conservatives who want to strengthen families", and I only hear that kind of self-description from the so-called "family values" assholes who crop up every goddamned time somebody's titty shows up on TV or the word "sex" is involved. You can call it alarmism, but people said that about George Bush too, and it all turned out to be true. When people try to drum up votes among rednecks based on "family values", that's code language for "shuttin' down those damned city liberals and their sexual freedom".

[Jalinth]

The way I see it, the Liberals are corrupt, but that's to be expected. They're politicians, after all. However, it doesn't seem likely that the Liberals are going to go out of their way to take away my rights. I'm not so sure about the Conservatives.

Frankly, I'd much rather have the government's hand in my wallet than have their nose in my bedroom.

Unfortunately, the more the government tries to do with your money, the more they will generally need to take away your rights. Look at the hate speech legislation - whittled away at certain rights. Human Rights Commissions are notorious for this. All of the various programs have to be monitored, so more people are hired and more information is gathered. 4

I'm still hoping for a minority - as long as Hedy Fry goes, I'm happy.

[J]

Hard to say. They haven't talked much about what they want to do on that front, but their website says it all: they brag that they are "social conservatives who want to strengthen families", and I only hear that kind of self-description from the so-called "family values" assholes who crop up every goddamned time somebody's titty shows up on TV or the word "sex" is involved.

A TV ad of theirs I just saw mentioned "better standards in TV", that doesn't sound good. I don't want our movies to get cut & crapped like the lame shit on TBS where every dirty word, violent act, and peek of skin is cut out. It's just stupid.

[Aaron]

Hard to say. They haven't talked much about what they want to do on that front, but their website says it all: they brag that they are "social conservatives who want to strengthen families", and I only hear that kind of self-description from the so-called "family values" assholes who crop up every goddamned time somebody's titty shows up on TV or the word "sex" is involved. You can call it alarmism, but people said that about George Bush too, and it all turned out to be true. When people try to drum up votes among rednecks based on "family values", that's code language for "shuttin' down those damned city liberals and their sexual freedom".

How do they intend to "strengthen" families? Is my MP going to personally come and help my wife and I with marriage counselling? Or perhaps there will be free workshops and counselling sessions for couples. Of course these would only apply to the traditonal husband and wife families, gays would be unable to take advantage of any family programs put in place by the Conservatives.

Personally I think the government is nosey enough, what my wife and I do in the privacy of our own home is our business, not Mr. Harper's. I can see it now, if the Conservatives get elected than the CRTC will start going the way of the FCC in the USA. Suddenly every dirty word will be censored, and their will be no nudity on tv. How all that is supposed to "strengthen" families I have no idea.

As much as I agree with the Conservatives plan to up military spending, their other intentions do not sit well with me. I may have to vote Liberal and watch the military crumble even more. But at least gays will be able to marry and we'll continue to get balanced budgets.

[Icehawk]

As much as I agree with the Conservatives plan to up military spending, their other intentions do not sit well with me. I may have to vote Liberal and watch the military crumble even more. But at least gays will be able to marry and we'll continue to get balanced budgets.

Thats exactly it. I would love to see our military refurbished as well, but thats simply not nearly as important as making sure millions of our own citizens have equal rights and making sure an ass backwards social agenda doesnt consume our country like it has in the US.