Harper named Time's top Canadian newsmaker

[ikaris]

Originally Posted by Azure

The ever arrogant attitude of..'I told you so.'

Fact is, we all had good reason to believe Saddam had WMD, he WAS an evil person, and I supported the invasion because of that.

I believe Harper would attest to the same belief.

While there was a certain amount of people that believed this, the majority of Canadians did not support going into this war, and this is why the Liberals did not join in (thankfully). BTW, I do not really like Liberals either. I like the Green party

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Azure

The ever arrogant attitude of..'I told you so.'

Fact is, we all had good reason to believe Saddam had WMD, he WAS an evil person, and I supported the invasion because of that.

I believe Harper would attest to the same belief.

"We" had good reason if "we" believed Bush and his administrations inteligence reports. If "we" didnt believe those reports, then "we" did not have any good reason to believe as such.

I know you or someone else will bring up his non-complience with UN inspectors, but that to me is not reason to believe he had WMD's, just made me believe he was a rebilous ass.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

Putting aside the fear mongering, who else would you select as Canadian of the year?

Rory!

[Hemi-Cuda]

his stance on gay marriage and marijuana decriminalization are enough for me to not vote for him. i want a progressive leader that gives people more freedom, not a regressive who wants to limit it

[FLAMESBURNOIL]

Originally Posted by ikaris

While there was a certain amount of people that believed this, the majority of Canadians did not support going into this war, and this is why the Liberals did not join in (thankfully). BTW, I do not really like Liberals either. I like the Green party

Canadian soldeirs in the middle east predates the Harper goverment, nice political move by the liberals...at least they had the foresight to see that this would become an issue if they lost the election....and now a liberal decision is haunting the harper goverment...

[FLAMESBURNOIL]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

his stance on gay marriage and marijuana decriminalization are enough for me to not vote for him. i want a progressive leader that gives people more freedom, not a regressive who wants to limit it

I don't think you fully understand the issues at hand here, decriminalization of marijuana opens up a whole can of worms, and the fact is marijuana users are in the minority in Canada, its not worth it.

Gays have always had the same rights as a married couple thanks to something called a civil union - and because we live in a democracy and there is a large amount of people who stil believe in a marriage being between a man and woman, that debate will always be there....

[evman150]

Originally Posted by FLAMESBURNOIL

that debate will always be there....

No it won't.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians from right wing bigotry. End of discussion. Don't support the Charter? Move to a right wing country like the US where their citizens are treated preferentially according to race, religion and sexual orientation.

Stephen Harper better enjoy the coming months. It's the last he's ever going to see of 24 Sussex. In my opinion he doesn't stand a chance against the Dion-led Liberals. The Liberals were in absolute shambles last election and lost by what, 20 seats? A revitalized Liberal Party with exactly the right leader and the Tories are out of luck I'm afraid.

[FLAMESBURNOIL]

Originally Posted by evman150

No it won't.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians from right wing bigotry. End of discussion. Don't support the Charter? Move to a right wing country like the US where their citizens are treated preferentially according to race, religion and sexual orientation.

Stephen Harper better enjoy the coming months. It's the last he's ever going to see of 24 Sussex. In my opinion he doesn't stand a chance against the Dion-led Liberals. The Liberals were in absolute shambles last election and lost by what, 20 seats? A revitalized Liberal Party with exactly the right leader and the Tories are out of luck I'm afraid.

lol

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by evman150

No it won't.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians from right wing bigotry. End of discussion. Don't support the Charter? Move to a right wing country like the US where their citizens are treated preferentially according to race, religion and sexual orientation.

Stephen Harper better enjoy the coming months. It's the last he's ever going to see of 24 Sussex. In my opinion he doesn't stand a chance against the Dion-led Liberals. The Liberals were in absolute shambles last election and lost by what, 20 seats? A revitalized Liberal Party with exactly the right leader and the Tories are out of luck I'm afraid.

Where are these seats going to come from pretell?

Dion is not loved in Quebeec like most french politicians because of his federalistic views, he wont get anything in western canada, in fact he will probably lose what little there is to lose. So you think he is going to make dramatic in roads in ontario then? A frenchmen that can barely speak a word of english and was a member of the federal liberals, in QUEBEC I might add, during the sponsership scandel?

Yeah....keep dreamin.

[evman150]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

Where are these seats going to come from pretell?

Dion is not loved in Quebeec like most french politicians because of his federalistic views, he wont get anything in western canada, in fact he will probably lose what little there is to lose. So you think he is going to make dramatic in roads in ontario then? A frenchmen that can barely speak a word of english and was a member of the federal liberals, in QUEBEC I might add, during the sponsership scandel?

Harper, a man who can "barely speak a word of" french, sure did well for himself in Quebec this year. Dion will be fine in that regard. This is a country that elected three Jean Chretien majorities. Canadians tend to look past a little language difficulty.

In the 1993, 1997, and 2000 the Liberals won ~100/103 seats in Ontario. This year they won 54. To me that seems like a lot of ridings that look for an excuse to vote liberal. With the party back on track, I don't see why at least half of those ridings wouldn't revert to their regular voting pattern.

Also, 2006 was a disaster in Quebec. It really can only get better.

And I'll be doing my part in my riding to get the Liberals in here. Stupid NDP!

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

Where are these seats going to come from pretell?

Dion is not loved in Quebeec like most french politicians because of his federalistic views, he wont get anything in western canada, in fact he will probably lose what little there is to lose. So you think he is going to make dramatic in roads in ontario then? A frenchmen that can barely speak a word of english and was a member of the federal liberals, in QUEBEC I might add, during the sponsership scandel?

Yeah....keep dreamin.

You don't think the liberals will get anything in BC? or does Canada's Western boarder stop at the rockies?

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by evman150

Harper, a man who can "barely speak a word of" french, sure did well for himself in Quebec this year. Dion will be fine in that regard. This is a country that elected three Jean Chretien majorities. Canadians tend to look past a little language difficulty.

In the 1993, 1997, and 2000 the Liberals won ~100/103 seats in Ontario. This year they won 54. To me that seems like a lot of ridings that look for an excuse to vote liberal. With the party back on track, I don't see why at least half of those ridings wouldn't revert to their regular voting pattern.

Also, 2006 was a disaster in Quebec. It really can only get better.

And I'll be doing my part in my riding to get the Liberals in here. Stupid NDP!

Chretien was never publically as federal as Dion, not even close in fact. To say it will only get better in Quebec is a cop out. Why would it get better? Quebec voters want to see a Liberal that is going to recognize them as a individual sect, where as Dion looks to unify the country without giving Quebec anything but provincial status. And like I said before the fact Dion was a party member and MP in the province during the sponsoship scandal will not help him.

You reference past elections in Ontario like Chetien didnt deserve his votes. I didnt like the guy, but he was and is very charismartic and very progressive, he deserved the votes he won in Ontario, there is no evidence Dion will or should garner similar support.

As for why they wouldnt revert back to their old voting pattern. First of all, all of those votes your quoted were before the united Conerservative party, which basically makes all of them a moot point in this discussion. The Ontario voters never wanted to vote Reform or Alliance, but have shown throughout history they will vote Torrie. And on top of that, despite you views Hatper has done a good job. He has followed though on campiagn promises and has not ****ed off many voters. I can see no reason at all the Ontario voting patterns would revert to pre united Conservatives.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

You don't think the liberals will get anything in BC? or does Canada's Western boarder stop at the rockies?

Frankly I wasnt counting BC into the statment, but while on the subject I dont think he will get anymore then the Liberal's already have in the region.

[CaptainCrunch]

I think its pretty funny that the Liberal's had a chance to renew thier party and follow the track that the Conservatives did to rise out of thier ashes. And instead they elected another member of the Chretien clique, who's already shown that he has very little respect for the concept of Canada as a nation from coast to coast. Dion is probably the worst choice that the Liberal's could have wanted if they wanted to rebuild thier base in Quebec, and any chances of the Western Liberal's going out to thier ridings with the message that the Liberal's are going to be friendlier to the west and address the democratic deficit in this country has gone up in smoke with his speech attacking the energy sector. As far as I'm concerned the Liberal party has taken a step into the past to get thier next leader. I was hoping that we would have more time before a next election so that Dion could completely discredit his part, but thats unlikely to happen as the Liberal's will want an election before Dion blunders away any momentum gained by his victory at the leadership convention.

I expect another conservative minority if the Bloc causes the fall of the government, and a majority for the Conservatives if the Libs cause an election.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I think its pretty funny that the Liberal's had a chance to renew thier party and follow the track that the Conservatives did to rise out of thier ashes. And instead they elected another member of the Chretien clique, who's already shown that he has very little respect for the concept of Canada as a nation from coast to coast.

The Conservatives really didn't do anything to change their party or to "rise from the ashes". It's still the same party with the same minds behind it as it was for years before Harper became PM. All they had to do to win the last election was not screw up as the Liberals did practically everything possible to hand the election over to the Conservatives. They didn't win because Canadians rallied for them. They won by default because the Liberals tossed support away.. I wouldn't call that a triumphant rise from the ashes for the party. Watching those 2 parties battle it out during the last election was like watching the Canucks and Oilers battle it out for the last playoff spot last year.

Even with Dion as leader, I think they are starting off on even ground.

[Aegypticus]

I think that what hasn't been considered here is the "c'mon, just gimme a chance" angle. Do easterners still think that Harper is satan come to eat their children? I don't think he has really fit at all into what the Liberals portrayed him as, has he? I don't see any reason for him not to make more headway in the east now that he has shown that he isn't in Bush's pocket.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

his stance on gay marriage and marijuana decriminalization are enough for me to not vote for him. i want a progressive leader that gives people more freedom, not a regressive who wants to limit it

Hemi, he manufactured how we would handle gay marriage so we wouldn't have to deal with it. I think the two of you have the exact same view of gay marriage, it's just that he had a western rural vote and religious right vote to appease.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by ikaris

Ya I like what the real Time magazine in America has chosen: YOU. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...569514,00.html

Sorry, but that is a cop out. Please name someone who you feel is a more fitting Canadian newsmaker of the year.

[eazyduzzit]

Gotta love the wording of the "centerist" CBC.

Yeah right.

[Hack&Lube]

Harper is a brilliant politician but not very good with policies. Everybody can see through them for what they really are. I mean, I support the Conservatives but anybody with a brain could see the "Clean Air Act" was just the "Stalling Act" for Kyoto with no actually efficacy on the environment.

The Quebec is a Nation thing was a way to trump the Bloc's motion (regarding a nation but no mention of Canada) but he was called on his bluff.

I will commend them on the same-sex marriage vote however. It was quite obviously simply something done to fulfill a campaign promise and then to move on because again, anybody with a brain realizes that it's an untenable position.