Federal Election Called for Oct 19, 2015

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Interesting timing, given that Crosby was apparently involved in a wedge strategy in Australian elections where the government falsely claimed that asylum-seekers were throwing children overboard in an attempt to gain asylum. Will the Conservatives attempt to use the current Syrian refugee crisis as their own wedge issue?
(I don't actually know anything about this, just wikipedia-ing it.)

It only works as a wedge issue if you can divide followers of other parties. I don't think there is a ton of debate on the Liberal or NDP side to offer more help.

It was different in Australia because people were actually showing up there in boats - so something like this might work in Europe where the refugees are showing up. The refugees can't just show up in Canada en mass since they are so far away so its a much less in your face issue. Canada can say we'll accept an extra X number of people which is much easier than having to decide what to do when the people are already in your country (which is why you already see this in the US Republican Presidential stuff - with Mexico and building a wall and all of that).

If you were going to do it in Canada - it would have to be something like religious symbols at work or some sort of Native population issue where people may be more divided.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

Pretty amusing that the Conservative supporters on this board complain about the anti-Catholic rants of the NDP Director of Communications saying he should be sacked, and then the very next day the Conservatives go and hire a guy with a known anti-Muslim comment and the originator of dog whistle politics as their campaign strategist.

Up until 2008, the tendency of Catholics was to vote for the Liberals. At some point, they started to feel less desirable in those circles. In English Canada where Catholics make up 17% of the population, they fled to the Conservatives. In Quebec where they are 80% of the population, they went to the NDP and Bloc. It's had a pretty big effect on the politics of the country.

Parties like the NDP and Liberals would be wise to not make strong anti-Catholicism comments if they was to win an election.

[Baron von Kriterium]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Harper just hired Lynton Crosby to run his campaign. He got the conservatives elected in the UK and Australia but is most known for going on a foul mouthed racist rant against Muslims while working for the London Mayor.

Is this Crosby fellow a Temporary Foreign Worker?

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Interesting timing, given that Crosby was apparently involved in a wedge strategy in Australian elections where the government falsely claimed that asylum-seekers were throwing children overboard in an attempt to gain asylum. Will the Conservatives attempt to use the current Syrian refugee crisis as their own wedge issue?
(I don't actually know anything about this, just wikipedia-ing it.)

Making false claims about refugees seems to be in vogue right now.
The NDP already have Fin Donnelly lying about and using the tragic circumstances in the death of a child for political gain.

That's the worst part of this long campaign - personall disgust for all of them grows daily.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by rubecube

In my experience, this view is very rarely not steeped in some heavily racist, colonial bull####.

Terrible post. Man, am I ever glad no one took my drunk post, bait. Good job, guys!

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Terrible post. Man, am I ever glad no one took my drunk post, bait. Good job, guys!

This post is terrible show be making regular visits to this thread, on all sides.

[EldrickOnIce]

Trudeau's promises starting to add up.

Using a private rooftop garden at Vancouver City Hall's engineering services as a backdrop for his announcement, Trudeau said his party would quadruple the Conservatives' infrastructure investment program and put nearly $20 billion in "new dollars" into transit infrastructure over the next decade.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Jus...#ixzz3lRl9AcWR

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Trudeau's promises starting to add up.

And I'm fine with that. Vancouver's transit is a mess these days. Half the suburban area is way harder to get to than it needs to be for large chunks of the day.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

And I'm fine with that. Vancouver's transit is a mess these days. Half the suburban area is way harder to get to than it needs to be for large chunks of the day.

I don't know of any major Canadian city that isn't, and I thought Vancouver's was probably the best?

[Coach]

Yeah living in Victoria and partially in Vancouver, their transit systems are MILES ahead of what we have. I'm perfectly fine with the government providing funds for this stuff. Especially if they are going to leave it in the hands of the local governments to decide what's best.

Trudeau is starting to sway me.

[The Goon]

I can't believe this election campaign is only half over. Bleah.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by The Goon

I can't believe this election campaign is only half over. Bleah.

Just look at what the States has to deal with and thank the sweet spaghetti monster that we don't have to go through that hot mess.

2 months for an election campaign does seem so bad. The individual leaders campaigning before the actual start date is what makes it seem longer.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by The Goon

I can't believe this election campaign is only half over. Bleah.

Be grateful, the US election cycle is only 15% done with 14 months to go....

[The Goon]

Yeah, I forget about the US campaign being so long. It feels more like reality television than it does about electing a leader. At least there's an entertainment factor with Trump.

Still, it feels like this has gone on too long. I think my riding (Calgary Signal Hill) is safely CPC, so at least I'm not getting endless phone calls or visits.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by The Goon

I can't believe this election campaign is only half over. Bleah.

F-Me... "only half over"? More like "already half over"? Where has the time gone?

(and no, I'm not saying I want this to go on longer... I just want time to slow down)

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

I don't know of any major Canadian city that isn't, and I thought Vancouver's was probably the best?

Vancouver, as in the city core, is amazing. It's quick, efficient and only has the draw back of being at the mercy of Vancouver traffic. Add in the skytrain and it's all you could ever want. Once you cross a bridge, or have to take a highway things get muddy. To give you an idea, in North Van, trips that should take 7 minutes take 25 - 30 because they force the bus to wind through back roads needlessly. While they are smartly adding more smaller shuttles to these routes, we still need more. We also need more regular service on the routes going downtown. Every half hour going from the Mt.Seymour and Deep Cove area is insane.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Vancouver, as in the city core, is amazing. It's quick, efficient and only has the draw back of being at the mercy of Vancouver traffic. Add in the skytrain and it's all you could ever want. Once you cross a bridge, or have to take a highway things get muddy. To give you an idea, in North Van, trips that should take 7 minutes take 25 - 30 because they force the bus to wind through back roads needlessly. While they are smartly adding more smaller shuttles to these routes, we still need more. We also need more regular service on the routes going downtown. Every half hour going from the Mt.Seymour and Deep Cove area is insane.

And don't even think about trying to get to Tsawwassen terminal in anything remotely resembling a reasonable time.

[AcGold]

Watching Harper in interviews is like watching a small child trying to talk their way out of a lie. He never concedes a point, I can't take someone seriously that is so defensive. When he talks about the scandal in his office it's mind bottling watching him try to talk his way out of it, just will not admit to a mistake that I've seen.

I didn't even know much about it until I saw an interview and he is just so arrogant while simultaneously dripping with guilt.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by rubecube

And don't even think about trying to get to Tsawwassen terminal in anything remotely resembling a reasonable time.

Yep. I was just focusing on what I deal with on a day-to-day basis.Tsawassen, the outreaches of Surrey, North Vancouver's upper areas. That we have no service getting too and from Squamish yet is another interesting one that should be fixed. Forget about trying to transit on Sundays from any of these places. They want us to not have a single drop of alcohol before driving, but good luck trying to get home if you stay out past midnight, hope you brought enough for a cab.

Again, downtown its great, but really downtown can be navigated on foot.The places that really need it have sweet #### all. Except West Van. West Van is lovely.

[XeO]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Watching Harper in interviews is like watching a small child trying to talk their way out of a lie. He never concedes a point, I can't take someone seriously that is so defensive. When he talks about the scandal in his office it's mind bottling watching him try to talk his way out of it, just will not admit to a mistake that I've seen.

I didn't even know much about it until I saw an interview and he is just so arrogant while simultaneously dripping with guilt.

Sorry to be a grammer nazi, but this always bothers me. It's Mind Boggling good sir! Thanks

From google: mind-bog·gling
ADJECTIVE

1. overwhelming; startling:
   "a chip that processes data at mind-boggling speed"