Federal Election Called for Oct 19, 2015

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

Parliament is dissolved when the election is called, so while I'm no expert on these things I imagine that means he technically isn't Prime Minister right now.

The PM and all Ministers retain those roles even after the writ is dropped.

Even if/when Harper loses, he will remain the PM, until Mulcair is sworn in.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by SebC

GST rebate. Problem solved.

I guess you'd still need to qualify based on income, but that doesn't really change things for the affected people.

You'd certainly have to raise the amount given back on GST rebates quite a bit to match the personal exemption, correct? I'm also not convinced a consumption tax would generate enough revenue, especially in down economic years. Or at least it would have to be much higher than 5%.

[rubecube]

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/fact...IwCqg.facebook

In 2013, Canada accepted 1,063 Syrian refugees. The Conservatives insisted that refugees be prioritized based on religious or ethnic grounds, a policy that many have called discriminatory. The government failed to meet their commitment to accept 1,300 refugees in 2014. In January 2015, Alexander promised that Canada would accept 3,300 Syrian refugees per year for three years. Between January 1 and June 10, 2014, only 58 private sponsorship applications had been approved.

The Conservatives have drastically changed how Canada accepts refugees. They have relied more on private sponsorships than government sponsorships, and the bureaucratic measures that have been added to the application process are slowing the speed with which claimants are accepted. Under the Conservatives, in 2014 Canada fell from fifth place to 16th in the list of top refugee-receiving countries.

The Harper Conservatives tried to eliminate access to healthcare for refugees, they placed billboards in countries warning people to not seek asylum in Canada, and border agents have been placed in airports around the world to stop refugees from boarding planes to Canada. Canada doesn't even accept refugees who arrive from our principle border: an agreement signed in 2004 allows Canada to turn all refugee claimants from the U.S. back to the U.S.

Since the Conservatives took office, 87,000 migrants have been jailed in Canada as they waited to be processed, including nearly 1,000 children. Canada is the only Western country that jails migrants in the same facilities as people serving criminal sentences.

To deflect from these numbers, Harper and Alexander have preferred to comment about they say is the root problem of the migrant crisis: ISIS. Refugees are fleeing a number for a number of reasons: military action against ISIS by the U.S.-led coalition, the civil war in Syria, and Turkey's bombing of Kurdish areas.

[rubecube]

Don't know if this was posted before, but purported independent and non-partisan fact checker for the Canadian election.

http://factscan.ca/

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Don't know if this was posted before, but purported independent and non-partisan fact checker for the Canadian election.

http://factscan.ca/

Would someone please think of the politicians?!? If they can't lie and mislead, what else can they do to convince people to vote for them? Actually come up with a good platform and follow through? Don't be ridiculous.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by rubecube

You'd certainly have to raise the amount given back on GST rebates quite a bit to match the personal exemption, correct? I'm also not convinced a consumption tax would generate enough revenue, especially in down economic years. Or at least it would have to be much higher than 5%.

Of course it has to be more than 5%...we already pay that plus income tax. The consumption tax could easily generate enough revenue though, it just needs to be structured effectively. As far as the personal exemption, the tax could obviously not include necessities (like we already do with the GST).

[troutman]

Yukon woman handcuffed by camo-clad Conservative candidate after defacing signs

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/...igns-1.3214833

It took her a while to recognize just who had placed her under citizen's arrest: Conservative candidate Ryan Leef.

"I said, 'Mr. Leef is that you?'...and he's like 'Yeah.'"

Boles says she didn't know that defacing election signs is illegal, and didn't have a clear motive for cutting up the signs. She explained to CBC Yukon that she was simply, "Having one of those days."

[Canuck-Hater]

Gotta keep those signs safe....

[Slava]

Originally Posted by troutman

Yukon woman handcuffed by camo-clad Conservative candidate after defacing signs

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/...igns-1.3214833

It took her a while to recognize just who had placed her under citizen's arrest: Conservative candidate Ryan Leef.

"I said, 'Mr. Leef is that you?'...and he's like 'Yeah.'"

Boles says she didn't know that defacing election signs is illegal, and didn't have a clear motive for cutting up the signs. She explained to CBC Yukon that she was simply, "Having one of those days."

That is awesome. I have spent hours putting up signs for myself and others. I get that she doesn't plan to vote for the guy, but who plots to use a knife to carve up the signs like that?

I can't believe that the guy didn't mention once that he was tough on crime though. I definitely would've tried to crowbar that line in there at least once in hopes that the headline would be used!

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Slava

Of course it has to be more than 5%...we already pay that plus income tax. The consumption tax could easily generate enough revenue though, it just needs to be structured effectively. As far as the personal exemption, the tax could obviously not include necessities (like we already do with the GST).

Yeah, I'm not saying I couldn't be convinced, I'd just need to see how it would all be structured. A consumption tax might also have the add bonus of slowing down consumption, which is something that's desperately needed.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Serious question about signs: Has anyone ever decided to vote for anyone based off signs?To me they seem utterly useless and like a waste of time/resources to put them up. Do they really matter at any significant level?

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

To me they seem utterly useless and like a waste of time/resources to put them up. Do they really matter at any significant level?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbourhood_effect

Short Version: You're more likely to vote one way if you think that is the consensus choice of your neighberhood. Signs are a pretty good way to demonstrate that.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Serious question about signs: Has anyone ever decided to vote for anyone based off signs?To me they seem utterly useless and like a waste of time/resources to put them up. Do they really matter at any significant level?

Sadly, I suspect that many people are strongly influenced (likely subconsciously) by a perception of which candidate is most popular amongst his or her neighbors.

EDIT: Parallex beat me to it and even included fancy references.

[getbak]

I bet some people voted for Richard Pootmans because of the defaced "Hard Poo Man" signs.

[Frequitude]

My general feel is that there are more Hehr signs around Calgary Centre than Crockatt signs. I am finding this surprising.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

My general feel is that there are more Hehr signs around Calgary Centre than Crockatt signs. I am finding this surprising.

You shouldn't. I used to live in his district when he was an MLA... he was the only candidate that came to my door (once personally and once via representative) no one else even bothered to knock once. Kent puts the work in, he's an excellent campaigner.

[OMG!WTF!]

I bumped into Kent Hehr in an elevator once when he was campaigning in 2012. He started talking about his platform and then asked if I knew who he was. I said, yeah, you're Rob Anders, right? Hilarious meltdown. He was a good sport.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by rubecube

You'd certainly have to raise the amount given back on GST rebates quite a bit to match the personal exemption, correct? I'm also not convinced a consumption tax would generate enough revenue, especially in down economic years. Or at least it would have to be much higher than 5%.

Yes, you'd need to raise the GST rebates, and the GST rates substantially.

To me the bigger issue is that if Canada does this, and USA doesn't, guess where a lot of Canadians will do their shopping. In my opinion, transitioning to consumption taxes needs to be treated like transitioning out of protectionism - you need agreements with your trade partners that they'll not seek an advantage over you so that both of you can get the benefits that are only possible through cooperation. Just like free trade zones, we'd need "comsumption tax zones" to really make it work.

[Swift]

I live in Harper's riding, and only today saw my first Harper sign. He's obviously got the name recognition, and will likely win no matter what, but I guess I was a little surprised I hadn't seen any of his signs.

I'd like to vote for somebody who is more active in my riding. Does he do door-to-doors?

[EldrickOnIce]

If I remember my social econ class well enough...
One theory was exempting food gave the wealthy a much larger tax break than the less wealthy, as they might spend twice as much on groceries, tax free. GST rebates could return the GST portion paid on food, based on need.
This made really good sense to me.