Federal Election Called for Oct 19, 2015

[Jacks]

Don't try to move the goal posts, you said it was a nothing issue to virtually every Canadian. That statement was totally false. It is possible to discuss issues that aren't the highest priority.

[Looch City]

Hey don't judge.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Don't try to move the goal posts, you said it was a nothing issue to virtually every Canadian. That statement was totally false. It is possible to discuss issues that aren't the highest priority.

I'm not moving any goalposts. It is a nothing issue to virtually every Canadian, and just because they answered "yes" or "no" on a two minute phone call doesn't change that.

It sure as hell doesn't belong in a leader's debate leading up to a federal election. Mulcair was right, it is a distraction, it's done on purpose, and people fall for it.

Hell, you could say I fell for it, since here I am. We're in a recession, and he brings up clothes that very, very few people actually wear, and this is where (I'm as guilty as anyone else) it took the election discussion. So I guess I'm done.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Well that really isn't true.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cana...-pco-1.3241895

It's not really an important issue to me, but I do find it funny that the niqab is banned from some public places even in predominantly Muslim countries (like Egypt and Saudi Arabia). Not that those countries are usually a bastion for human rights, but I find some irony in a secular country like Canada we would be trying to protect this as a religious right when countries with large numbers followers of the religion don't even care about that much.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by starseed

Trudeau claims to catch Mulcair in a lie. Says he has video proving his bulk water exports stance that Mulcair repeatedly stated that he never said. Will they release the video after the debate?

He (Trudeau) tweeted it (the video).

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Does it matter to you? I mean, like, really? Do you actually care?

I don't think I've ever even seen a person in Canada wearing one of those things, and I wouldn't care if I did, but now it's an election issue., when it is a nothing issue to virtually every person in Canada.

There are actual fish to fry here, and actual issues that affect us all, but they are talking about the clothes of, I don't know, 0.001% of the population, if that.

Now I'm not telling anyone what does and does not matter to them, but if this does matter to a white guy hockey fan in Calgary (like me), it shouldn't.

Does it matter to me personally? Not a bit....like none.

Does it matter to 10's of thousands of others that Harper was addressing with his comments? Yeah...apparently quite a bit.

[rubecube]

So Harper wants to ban the niqab because he's such a staunch supporter of women's rights, but he's cool with selling weapons to one of most oppressive regimes towards women in the world because they're an ally? That's a real special brand of insincerity.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Wow, that's brain dead language even for Trudeau. He makes me feel smart like all the time. I'd love if someone asked him what community exactly see the fathers missing.

To be honest, I thought the comment about the misogynistic song lyrics were referring to country music loving community.

[Bownesian]

Originally Posted by rubecube

So Harper wants to ban the niqab because he's such a staunch supporter of women's rights, but he's cool with selling weapons to one of most oppressive regimes towards women in the world because they're an ally? That's a real special brand of insincerity.

On the flip side, the opposition parties want to stop selling weapons to S.A. but are doing their best to obstruct a pipeline that would displace imported middle-eastern oil with Canadian oil, and Mulcair says one of his first acts would be a trade mission to China, bastion of human rights that regime is.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Bownesian

On the flip side, the opposition parties want to stop selling weapons to S.A. but are doing their best to obstruct a pipeline that would displace imported middle-eastern oil with Canadian oil, and Mulcair says one of his first acts would be a trade mission to China, bastion of human rights that regime is.

I'm with you on the first half of that, up until the China part because it can't be any worse than signing on to the TPP and the other agreements Harper has signed with China.

[Thor]

Pretty cowardly by the NDP asking my friend Stefan to step down after what I would call mild comments about misogyny within a Jewish religious sect being similar to the Taliban's treatment of women...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...ect-to-taliban

Three years ago, Jonasson posted a religious article on social media, and accused the Haredim — an Orthodox branch of Judaism — of mistreating women by segregating the sexes, enforcing strict dress codes and more. He wrote "much like the Taliban and other extremists, the Haredim offer a toxic caricature of faith at odds with the spirit of the religious tradition they profess to represent."

The comments surfaced this week on The True North Times, a web site that has promised to expose controversial comments by nine politicians in nine days.

The Times said Jonasson compared Jews to the Taliban, but Jonasson said that is a extreme distortion of his comments — that he was only targeting one ultra orthodox group.

"What I was arguing was that I thought the misogynistic position of this group … I was actually arguing that that is against the spirit of the religious tradition they profess," he said.

"I care deeply about freedom, reason and tolerance in religion, but I also care deeply about the rights of women."

[Makarov]

^Frankly, I don't see anything objectionable about those comments.

[EldrickOnIce]

Unless I can't read good, he is defending gender equality. And for this is must step down?
This is going way overboard.
Trump is right, in is effed up way - we don't have time for all this so called political correctness.

[Thor]

Here's the "gotcha" article, such nonsense. These guys I'm sure are the typical "you libtards and your PC speech" yet this is what they go with...

http://www.truenorthtimes.ca/2015/09...-ndp-jonasson/

[FlamesAddiction]

He must have been using some type of secret coded language.

[Thor]

lol they posted a new article at this True North Times, where they say that the voters should decide and they don't support him being told to step down....

I guess that's why they used the inflammatory headline suggesting he said the "Jews are like the Taliban..."

Update (September 25th, 8:30AM): Stefan Jonasson has in fact been dropped by the NDP due to these comments. We do not and will not encourage parties to preclude a candidate from running, that is the duty of voters at the ballot box.

http://www.truenorthtimes.ca/2015/09...e-north-times/

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Makarov

^Frankly, I don't see anything objectionable about those comments.

I dunno, are the Haredim promoters of religious/political violence? Legit question... I know nothing about them. If they're not then he compared them to a political regime that harboured and supported Al-Queda within living memory and even if he only meant to compare the internal repressive nature of the groups it's something of an overreach don't you think. That being said it doesn't seem bad enough to warrent removal as a candidate but it was a poor choice of words (or rather word).

Interestingly this particular resignation could have some actual electoral consequences... that is a close riding according to 308's riding projection with the CPC and LPC fairly close and the NDP in 3rd.

[Coach]

NDP is making my choice easier and easier, pretty weak to force that guy out.

[Dan02]

So all over town we're seeing these 1votematters signs, seeing as they're not signs from a party in the election aren't they illegal?

[Looch City]

Why is NRCan's fuel price report suspended during election?

The current government seems to consider information a political tool, easily weaponized, and has ordered bureaucrats largely to refrain from communication with the general public they are supposed to serve. With particular emphasis, of course, on the media.

[...] The bi-weekly report, published on the NRCan website, is a rich collection of statistics on gasoline prices, a subject of interest to just about every consumer.

[...] But once the election was called that data was pulled offline, shutting down an impartial source of information to anyone who might want a serious discussion of fuel prices during the long weeks of campaigning.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cana...nald-1.3240778