2011 Canadian Election Thread

[sevenarms]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

I wish they'd wisen up, and force every major political party who wants to call themselves Federal, to have at least one candidate per province. That means the BQ must have one person running in Alberta. Or if you want to take it even further, force all parties to have a person running in every single damn riding, or they are ineligible. Drastic? Sure. But I'm sick of the fringe parties like the BQ having so much power, when they don't have a single MP outside of Quebec.

I agree with the sentiments so far, I don't see anything changing.

The only difference that will make is token candidates running outside of Quebec.

[Traditional_Ale]

This is going to work out splendidly for the Conservatives and I am excited. They have the ultimate card to play.

"I don't really see how those three contempts of parliament bear any weight anymore since it has become obvious the other parties, by rejecting this budget, are not looking out for the interests of the Canadians who elected them. They are instead concerned with games and power. Our budget was balanced, fair, and full of concessions but aparently the actual running of our country is secondary to them. It would seem their primary impetus for this election is self-agrandization and being power hungry."

[Dion]

The Harper government will win another minority. He will fail to get enough votes in Quebec.

Micheal Ignatieff will be removed as leader of the Liberal party when the election is over.

[Finny61]

I haven't followed much but I was under the impression that the budget was going to have some goodies for the NDP to help buy some support (and yes obviously there was according to the article). I am assuming that if we are going to an election that they figure they can swipe some more seats from either the Cons or Libs?

These guys are related right?

[TylerSVT]

Id love a Conservative Majority, that way the other stupid parties cant bull their bull#### and call an election every 2 years.

Our political system is a joke 90% of the time.

[Resolute 14]

Here's a pretty good example of what the Liberals and NDP are facing:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...22-715521.html

Canada's 2011-12 federal budget could help cement the country's status as a recovery pacesetter for the world's advanced economies, if it survives the country's fractious political process intact.

The Tory ace in the hole is Canada's performance during the global recession, and while the cost of an election is barely a tenth of one percent of what the government expects to spend, they will be beating the opposition over the head with the argument that they are just wasting money while the Tories are working to improve the economy.

[Barnes]

So do we just not have a budget for next year?

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

If Harper couldn't get a majority against Dion how can he get a majority against anyone else?

It has little to do with who Harper is facing. Look how many people voted for Stephane Dion, one of the most useless, least competent persons to ever run for PM. The political landscape currently makes it very difficult for any party to gain a majority. A stuffed pig would have gotten just as many votes as Dion, some people will never vote conservative regardless.

[transplant99]

"We find that the priorities of this government are not the priorities of ordinary Canadians," Ignatieff said. "We don't believe the budget is credible. We're forced to reject the budget and we're also forced to reject a government that shows so little respect for parliamentary democracy and our democratic institutions."

What an odd thing to say. Of course it is credible. He may not like it or agree with it, but how does that take away from its credibility?

Sounds like he is already ratcheting up the rhetoric and away we go.....again.

And this..

The CBC is a big beneficiary of the federal budget.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced an extra $60 million per year “to be used in the production of high-quality Canadian programming.” The boost in funding is on top of the $1.1 billion the state broadcaster already receives from taxpayers.

Opposition MPs had been pushing for CBC to get more money in the budget, claiming the Harper government was cutting funds to the government-owned broadcaster.
The bonuses for the CBC don’t end there, though. As they often say on late night infomercials — wait there’s more!

The government is also providing $100 million to the Canadian Media Fund which, combined with funds from cable and satellite television subscribers, helps to fund the production of television shows

Ugh.

[the_only_turek_fan]

^ If I were ever PM my first act would be to attempt to try and defund the CBC. Not a fan of state run TV especially at $1.1B+

Question for the CP faithful: The fiscal year ends on March 31st and since this budget is not going to pass how will the government be funded between April 1st and the eventual passing of the budget?

[SeoulFire]

Well as long as you live in Alberta your vote does not really matter anyways. From 1968 to 2005 the results of the Federal election would have only been different once if Alberta was completely removed from the ballot. 2005 would have been a Liberal minority rather than a Conservative minority.

Federal representation indeed.

[MarchHare]

Unless there's a major campaign-killing gaffe or scandal by either the Conservatives or the Liberals, all an election now will do is waste $300 million. We'll get another CPC minority government with a small amount of seat-shuffling but no major changes.

That said, if Harper can't win a majority in two elections against the weakest, most useless opposition he's ever likely to face, he may be pressured to step down as leader in favour of someone with greater appeal outside of ex-Reform Party members. Depending on how poorly the Liberals do, Ignatieff may be forced aside as well. So while it's doubtful an election will have an immediate impact on parliament, the aftermath could prompt leadership changes for more than one party.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by SeoulFire

Well as long as you live in Alberta your vote does not really matter anyways. From 1968 to 2005 the results of the Federal election would have only been different once if Alberta was completely removed from the ballot. 2005 would have been a Liberal minority rather than a Conservative minority.

Federal representation indeed.

Huh?

I'm not sure that I get what your saying? Are you saying that Alberta votes shouldn't count for anything. Why don't we just remove Toronto from the voting equation and then we can state that the Conservatives would have gotten their majority in the last election.

Honestly, the Liberal's have done a terrible job of campaigning and trying to get votes in Alberta so instead of blaming Alberta voters you should blame the Liberal's for not trying to make in roads in this province.

At least the conservatives have worked at getting Ontario votes.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Huh?

I'm not sure that I get what your saying? Are you saying that Alberta votes shouldn't count for anything. Why don't we just remove Toronto from the voting equation and then we can state that the Conservatives would have gotten their majority in the last election.

Honestly, the Liberal's have done a terrible job of campaigning and trying to get votes in Alberta so instead of blaming Alberta voters you should blame the Liberal's for not trying to make in roads in this province.

At least the conservatives have worked at getting Ontario votes.

I think he's complaining that Albertans can't really influence the outcome of elections because this province only has about 10% of the seats in the House of Commons and most elections result in a greater than 10% seat differential between the winning party and second place.

What he apparently is not realizing is that his complaint could be equally applied to almost every other province (even Quebec!). How many times in the last 50 years has Nova Scotia or Saskatchewan, for example, been the difference-maker in a federal election?

[Yasa]

I'd just like to see all the attack ads go away. The parties need to start publicizing their platforms and tell us why their great, rather than telling us why everyone else sucks. I don't care for out-of-context quotes and black and white images.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Yasa

I'd just like to see all the attack ads go away. The parties need to start publicizing their platforms and tell us why their great, rather than telling us why everyone else sucks. I don't care for out-of-context quotes and black and white images.

yeah good luck with that. That is the PCs calling card. I wish the liberals would use some of those back at them.

[SeoulFire]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Huh?

I'm not sure that I get what your saying? Are you saying that Alberta votes shouldn't count for anything. Why don't we just remove Toronto from the voting equation and then we can state that the Conservatives would have gotten their majority in the last election.

Honestly, the Liberal's have done a terrible job of campaigning and trying to get votes in Alberta so instead of blaming Alberta voters you should blame the Liberal's for not trying to make in roads in this province.

At least the conservatives have worked at getting Ontario votes.

I am not saying that they shouldn't count for anything I am saying that they don`t count for anything. If Alberta did not vote at all only the results of one election would have been different between 1968 and 2005.

I am actually saying quite the opposite - our votes should count for something and that we need better representation. Since that will never happen I guess I will go vote and hope that it can be one of those rare times where Alberta actually matters.

[J pold]

Yeah put me in the 'this will basically amount to small seat shuffling and we'll have another Conservative minortiy government'. I'm really not a fan wasting money, governments around the world are tightening their belts and implementing fiscal austerity measures, and we are having a useless election. Way to be Canadian political system. Honestly I'd take a majority government from the Liberals or Cons just so we don't have deal with this minority BS every two years.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by SeoulFire

I am not saying that they shouldn't count for anything I am saying that they don`t count for anything. If Alberta did not vote at all only the results of one election would have been different between 1968 and 2005.

I am actually saying quite the opposite - our votes should count for something and that we need better representation. Since that will never happen I guess I will go vote and hope that it can be one of those rare times where Alberta actually matters.

Sorry I misread your quote.

[SeoulFire]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

I think he's complaining that Albertans can't really influence the outcome of elections because this province only has about 10% of the seats in the House of Commons and most elections result in a greater than 10% seat differential between the winning party and second place.

Not complaining just stating a fact.

What he apparently is not realizing is that his complaint could be equally applied to almost every other province (even Quebec!). How many times in the last 50 years has Nova Scotia or Saskatchewan, for example, been the difference-maker in a federal election?

I will ignore the fact that you basically called me an idiot by your first sentence.

The fact of the matter is I don't give a damn about those provinces (and neither do the feds). Our government is skewed and broken and that is just the way it is.