Federal Election Called for Oct 19, 2015

[Slava]

Originally Posted by pepper24

To be fair though deficits started in 08-09 when the great recession started. Before that they had surplus's according to graph in the article.

Sure, I give them that. I even give them that 2008 and 2009 were deficits. What about the following years though? Couple that with the fact that they've basically already squandered this surplus on vote buying tax credits and you have no fiscal accountability that matters IMO.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by pepper24

To be fair though deficits started in 08-09 when the great recession started. Before that they had surplus's according to graph in the article.

While no fan of the CPC, imo pretty much the only thing they have done decently on is handling the economy/recession. Even if there might be some fancy math going on to show a surplus this year, when you compare it to the liberals and NDP who are basically promising massive deficits I think they come out looking pretty decent in that respect if that's something you would be basing your voting preferences on.

[Looch City]

Nice, Harper has sealed the majority win with that news.

[MarchHare]

How much of this surplus is the result of a one-time cash injection from selling government-owned GM stock and dipping into contingency funds? If this wasn't an election year, would The Harper Government have done either of those two things to generate desperation revenue?

[FlamesAddiction]

I'm not sure having a budget surplus during a recession is necessarily a good thing if some of that surplus could have been used to boost economic growth. As others have mentioned, what opportunity cost did this conveniently timed surplus have?

Deficit spending, especially during a recession, is not necessarily a bad thing.

[Slava]

Of course the other side of the coin is that it looks like the surplus is short-lived as the PBO is projecting a deficit for the 2015-2016 fiscal year as well.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Nice, Harper has sealed the majority win with that news.

Wow, that's a brave statement.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah the surplus sounds nice, and then you look at this chart and well...

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Nice, Harper has sealed the majority win with that news.

doubt that, but I think it will give him a bump in the polls and some much needed momentum.

I think a majority government is out of the question in any form.

I think we'll have a short lived minority government and another election within 12 to 18 months.

[Looch City]

I wasn't being serious. Just poking fun because you can see how it'll be perceived by CPC and CPC supporters.

But when you actually put it into perspective...it doesn't mean anything positive is occurring, especially not now.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

doubt that, but I think it will give him a bump in the polls and some much needed momentum.

I think a majority government is out of the question in any form.

I think we'll have a short lived minority government and another election within 12 to 18 months.

Did anyone see a majority coming last time? Anything could happen.

I honestly thought there would be some type of coalition government formed since the country was so split back then. Then lo and behold, Jack Layton kills it at the debate stealing votes from the Liberals in Quebec, Ignatieff and the liberals kept shooting themselves in the foot with blunder after blunder, and Harper just kept chugging along at status quo, shockingly getting a majority.

I would be MORE shocked with a majority this time, but my gut is that CPC win a minority. I think an average voter probably feels global politics and economics are still a little shaky, best keep the devil you know.

[username]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Yeah the surplus sounds nice, and then you look at this chart and well...

Compare that to the other G8 nations over the same time period and then you'll understand how fiscally responsible the conservatives have been. Getting through 08/09 with that little of a deficit is pretty amazing actually.

That being said, there's no doubt that a little stimulus would go a long way to help out right now.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I would be MORE shocked with a majority this time, but my gut is that CPC win a minority. I think an average voter probably feels global politics and economics are still a little shaky, best keep the devil you know.

Historically, the opposite tends to be the case. When the economy is weak, incumbent parties lose elections more often than not.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Did anyone see a majority coming last time? Anything could happen.

I honestly thought there would be some type of coalition government formed since the country was so split back then. Then lo and behold, Jack Layton kills it at the debate stealing votes from the Liberals in Quebec, Ignatieff and the liberals kept shooting themselves in the foot with blunder after blunder, and Harper just kept chugging along at status quo, shockingly getting a majority.

I would be MORE shocked with a majority this time, but my gut is that CPC win a minority. I think an average voter probably feels global politics and economics are still a little shaky, best keep the devil you know.

Last election most of the polling a month or so out pointed to a Conservative majority. It got closer as time went on but the Liberals were rarely within 10 points of the Conservatives for the entire campaign and the NDP didn't pass the Liberals until about 10 days before the election. The Conservatives 2-3% ahead of the NDP in even the closest polls.

This is miles closer.

[Jacks]

Ok let me get this straight, now running a surplus is bad and deficits are good?

Just trying to keep up with the Liberal talking points.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Ok let me get this straight, now running a surplus is bad and deficits are good?

I think you miss the issue. Running a surplus would be amazing.

Forcing a small surplus (when compared to recent deficits as the graph showed) by selling off assets just to get good optics in an election year while the country is in a recession is bad.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Yeah the surplus sounds nice, and then you look at this chart and well...

A positive trend post recession. Looks like they have done a decent job getting back into the green.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Last election most of the polling a month or so out pointed to a Conservative majority. It got closer as time went on but the Liberals were rarely within 10 points of the Conservatives for the entire campaign and the NDP didn't pass the Liberals until about 10 days before the election. The Conservatives 2-3% ahead of the NDP in even the closest polls.

This is miles closer.

I admit I didn't look at the numbers recently, but I remember the campaign being fairly neck and neck, and the majority coming as quite a shock. I don't recall polls ever pointing to a majority at any point. Definitely not gonna argue that though without looking anything up.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Just trying to keep up with the Liberal talking points.

Well to be fair Trudeau's dreamy eyes seem to elicit random thoughts in his supporters. Like the NDP in Alberta part of me wants it to happen just so people can learn their lesson again to vote with their heads not out of anger. Vote for the zero substance pretty boy so the masters at passing money under the table can get back to what they do best and buy out the Quebec, alienate Western Canada and grow their personal interests.

[FlamesAddiction]

Aren't we technically by definition back in a recession after briefly coming out of one?