2011 Canadian Election Thread

[Nehkara]

Some of the numbers in the new Angus Reid poll released today are fascinating.

Overall:

CPC - 37%
NDP - 33%
LIB - 19%
BLQ - 6%
GRN - 4%

The interesting parts:

- NDP owns the youth vote (41% NDP to 27% CPC).

- CPC leads voter certainty (83% CPC to 75% NDP).

- Layton leads approval (50% Layton to 34% Harper).
- Layton leads "momentum score" - measure by which opinion has improved/worsened throughout the election (+40 Layton to -5 Elizabeth May)

- Harper believed best suited to deal with Crime and Economy.
- Layton believed best suited to deal with Health Care and Ethics and Accountability.
- May believed best suited to deal with Environment.

- Harper believed best suited to be Prime Minister (31% Harper to 29% Layton)

- 44% believe the CPC has done a poor job and do not deserve to form the next government (29% believe the CPC performed well and deserves a majority).

- 42% would be satisfied with a NDP-Liberal coalition not needing support of the Bloc.

- 40% would be satisfied with a CPC majority.

Link to PDF

[Bownesian]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Although a magazine, Mcleans endorsed the Liberals.

The wiki-linked MacLeans article didn't seem to be an endorsement of either party per se. Andrew Coyne endorsed the Liberals but there are contrary "endorsements" among Macleans columnists:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/04/25/a...s/#more-186267

[Bownesian]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

I LOL'd, you need to make more of these. This one's already my facebook profile photo!

Maybe something like

Appoint Ombudsman, Ombudsman finds gasoline market competative,

.
.
.
Regulate prices anyway!


Also rename the pictures Jack Layton so when someone searches google images these come up!

I had a friend suggest a new one:


And I did yours too:

[Stranger]

I still can't believe people are buying what Jack Layton is selling. I could run for office too if I promised the world and didn't have to answer for anything. He's getting a complete free ride.

He talks about the CPC privatizing health care, but when he needed to get a hernia fixed he goes to a private clinic. His answer is he didn't know.

He pretends to stick up for the poor but, when he was a Toronto councilor making over $100,000 per year he lived in subsidized housing taking a spot for someone who actually needed it.

And then even putting himself in the massage parlour situations, guilty or not, makes me question if he even thinks before he does or promises anything.

Any of these situation involving Ignatieff or Harper would have been all over the news.

[CaptainCrunch]

Stranger, everyone loves the underdog, and Layton has played that role to a T. I have seen some polls that show that NDP momentum might be slowing down, and he's not going to get a free ride over this weekend, most of the media is now taking a serious look at his platform and saying like "What the frack are you talking about dude"

I still figure that the NDP will end up with between 60 and 70 seats and the Libs with 40 to 50 seats.

the big question is the Bloc who have positively stumbled, and the Cons who have been fairly consistent within a couple of points throughout this election.

This Monday should be very interesting, because I'm on vacation, I'm going to be pinned to the T.V. and CalgaryPuck.

It was funny I was having a coffee with the old man today and the Western Block Party was in overdrive handing out policy cards, I'd never even heard of these guys til today.

http://www.westernblockparty.com/

If you like crazy this is the site for you.

His interview is an awesome mixture of angry guy and Bloc strategies.

[burn_this_city]

I live in Calgary SE, I should vote for Fromm so they get $1.75 for my vote.

[Stranger]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I live in Calgary SE, I should vote for Fromm so they get $1.75 for my vote.

I think the parties need at least 2% of the popular vote to get money from the government for votes.

[Stranger]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Stranger, everyone loves the underdog, and Layton has played that role to a T. I have seen some polls that show that NDP momentum might be slowing down, and he's not going to get a free ride over this weekend, most of the media is now taking a serious look at his platform and saying like "What the frack are you talking about dude"

I still figure that the NDP will end up with between 60 and 70 seats and the Libs with 40 to 50 seats.

the big question is the Bloc who have positively stumbled, and the Cons who have been fairly consistent within a couple of points throughout this election.

This Monday should be very interesting, because I'm on vacation, I'm going to be pinned to the T.V. and CalgaryPuck.

It was funny I was having a coffee with the old man today and the Western Block Party was in overdrive handing out policy cards, I'd never even heard of these guys til today.

http://www.westernblockparty.com/

If you like crazy this is the site for you.

His interview is an awesome mixture of angry guy and Bloc strategies.

Yeah I know, he's starting to get asked about his policies more. I just hope they really grill him these last few days so people can really see his policies for what they are.

I'll have to look at the link you gave.

[Slava]

Thought some might be interested that the OPP has been asked to look into the leaked police notes on the Layton massage issue...

[CaptainCrunch]

None of the other parties have even bothered to respond to the massage story. The Bloc was the only party to comment.

As far as the leak goes, its unlikely that it will ever be linked to a political party, even though all three would have reasons to leak it.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

None of the other parties have even bothered to respond to the massage story. The Bloc was the only party to comment.

As far as the leak goes, its unlikely that it will ever be linked to a political party, even though all three would have reasons to leak it.

I think that is both good of the other parties and based on the limited commentary, other than CP, probably wise. Most people seem less than impressed that it was brought up, regardless of their political leaning.

I just figured people would be interested in knowing the latest.

Oh, and of course Harper didn't reply. He's working on some ways to not call the house for 6 months following Monday, and plotting course to work through that pending constitutional crisis!

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think that is both good of the other parties and based on the limited commentary, other than CP, probably wise. Most people seem less than impressed that it was brought up, regardless of their political leaning.

I just figured people would be interested in knowing the latest.

Oh, and of course Harper didn't reply. He's working on some ways to not call the house for 6 months following Monday, and plotting course to work through that pending constitutional crisis!

the more I think about it, the more I doubt there will be a constitutional crisis come Tuesday.

My bet is that Ignatieff is sick of his party, and they're underwhelmed by him, he'll probably be done by Tuesday.

If the Liberal's need to rebuild their party, I doubt that they'll enter into a governing coalition with the NDP based around the idea that they won't want to be seen as being the NDP's bitch in any upcoming election, and thats how they'll be seen.

My sense is that they would be fine with a coalition with the NDP if they held the power and all the key portfolio positions, but they don't want to be the second fiddle in that arrangement.

I would also think that they are going to be very unhappy with their seat losses and won't want to support the NDP in government which might cement those losses for the next few elections.

In a coalition as a second banana the Liberal's lose in every reason, the NDP and the Conservatives would win in every conceivable long term way.

The NDP would win because they would gain the legitimacy that they've been looking for, and it would ensure that the Liberals' are in third place for a long time.

The conservatives would lose in the short term as they would lose power, but in the long term, they would let the NDP destroy the economy and would probably sweep to a majority in the next election.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I live in Calgary SE, I should vote for Fromm so they get $1.75 for my vote.

Ummmm

Paul Fromm is a pretty nasty character.

A western separatist party has to import some goober from Ontario as one of its handful of candidates?

I think that party is a front for something else.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Ummmm

Paul Fromm is a pretty nasty character.

A western separatist party has to import some goober from Ontario as one of its handful of candidates?

I think that party is a front for something else.

LOL. Yeah on second thought... I just saw they had a candidate in my riding.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

the more I think about it, the more I doubt there will be a constitutional crisis come Tuesday.

My bet is that Ignatieff is sick of his party, and they're underwhelmed by him, he'll probably be done by Tuesday.

If the Liberal's need to rebuild their party, I doubt that they'll enter into a governing coalition with the NDP based around the idea that they won't want to be seen as being the NDP's bitch in any upcoming election, and thats how they'll be seen.

My sense is that they would be fine with a coalition with the NDP if they held the power and all the key portfolio positions, but they don't want to be the second fiddle in that arrangement.

I would also think that they are going to be very unhappy with their seat losses and won't want to support the NDP in government which might cement those losses for the next few elections.

In a coalition as a second banana the Liberal's lose in every reason, the NDP and the Conservatives would win in every conceivable long term way.

The NDP would win because they would gain the legitimacy that they've been looking for, and it would ensure that the Liberals' are in third place for a long time.

The conservatives would lose in the short term as they would lose power, but in the long term, they would let the NDP destroy the economy and would probably sweep to a majority in the next election.

The Liberals will never ever prop up the NDP. The NDP is illegitimate in the Liberal philosophy. They'll support the Conservatives for a couple of years and keep Harper in power while they rebuild.

I'll say it again.. it's up to Ontario to show it's still a big boy. Show that they're a have province and not a poor province dependent on the NDP.

They have more than 1/3 of the seats, Bay Street can bring stability to the country by voting for a Conservative majority. Get Ontario MPs back into the cabinet and play a major role in the federal government again.

Otherwise as you said we'll be in constitutional crisis and in a few years who knows what could happen. Minority governments and chaos does Ontario no good.

[CaptainCrunch]

BAHAHAHAHA I was approached by Nazi skin head white supremacists and I didn't even know it.

My evil radar is definitely offline.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

BAHAHAHAHA I was approached by Nazi skin head white supremacists and I didn't even know it.

My evil radar is definitely offline.

Mine too. I figured they could use my $1.75 to upgrade their pathetic website.

[CaptainCrunch]

Doug Christie the parties founder ain't much better

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Christie_%28lawyer%29

[CaptainCrunch]

Geez now I'm thinking that I might be labeled a nazi because I posted their website.

[SebC]

Catching up here... would've loved to have gotten into a debate on environmental policy with the NDPers about 30 pages back, but too late now.

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

The problem with Layton being there is he couldn't have known either the age or the williness of the prostitute. Thats why you don't go to seedy brothals. IF Layton gave a damn about stopping sexual trafficing and slavery he could have made better choices.

The reality is that it's the laws surrounding prostitution that create these environments. In Amsterdam, in order to rent a window a woman has to show ID proving she has EU citizenship and is not underage. And the room has a panic button that calls the cops. The laws that prevent that kind of system being used in Canada are in place largely because of Christian conservatives like you.

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

Well at least you didn't call them the "State's kids". But I suppose you would support the State taking away the kids if the parents don't toll the line.

Originally Posted by V

I don't know, I see a little more than that in Harper. I get the impression he'd sell his soul if it got him a majority. He has a special air of power hunger you don't quite see with others.

I've been saying "Harper would sell his soul for a majority" for years! In fact, I see psychopathic tendencies in him, in that he seems to be able to lie to Canadians about how our parliament works, betray his core supporters, spend their money to buy votes, and make tax cuts that as an economist he surely knows are inefficient, all without the slightest hint of regret.

Originally Posted by transplant99

I see the Liberals are sabre rattling again about Harper prorogueing parliament.

I will simply ask this....were you as up in arms about it when Chretian did the same thing....4 times...including once to prevent the auditor generals release of her report on AdScam?

Or were you equally "disgusted" with Pierre Elliot Trudeau when he prorogued parliament 11 times?

And since those who opposed the coalition because it was wrong were hit over the head repeatedly with "but its legal and how the system can work", how is prorogueing not allowed to fall under that same banner?

It may come as a shock to some (it did to me), but the Parliament of Canada has been prorogued over 100 times since it's inception. Admittedly the reasons for them vary and were never quite the same as either of Harpers, but again its a perfectly legitimate part of the Parliamentary system

But hey...lets take Harper to task on it shall we? He is bad, he is evil and facts be damned, he must pay for it even though its completely legal!

Harper prorogued against the will of the elected parliament. That's where the problem lies for me.

Originally Posted by spotthefan

“First of all, it’s time that these companies absorbed some of the cost of their pollution. I think most people agree with that. Naturally, the big companies like Exxon, big global corporations, are going to try to scare Canadians – to say, ‘If you try to do anything about pollution, we’re going to make you pay.’ That’s exactly what they said when we dealt with the issue of acid rain and sulphur emissions.”

I don't disagree with this comment at all. However, the conundrum is how do we ensure that we won't "pay" for it. This is a big issue. Oil companies still have record profits, yet are up in arms when royalties are raised by the provincial government.

Personally, like any other natural resource, Ottawa's place is not in the revenue of oil. That should be left to the provinces. However, saying that, Ottawa should be the ones that mandate environmental policies to ensure that "big corporations" are not blackmailing provinces, and politicians in provinces are not benefitting from doing nothing.

The difference between CO2 and SO2 is that SO2 has local effects, whereas CO2 has global effects. Reducing SO2 emissions locally helps the local environment, even if it's only displacing the emissions to another country (provided it's far enough away). That means there's a somewhat tangible incentive for individual countries to reduce their SO2. That can justify the economic cost. CO2, however, produces global effects. Displacing CO2 emissions hurts the economy, but does not create local environmental improvements because it does not matter where the CO2 is emitted. That's why I didn't like the idea of Canada implementing the Kyoto accord, with its exemptions for developing countries and no US participation.