Ask Me Help Desk - Canadian politics!

Thanks for reminding everyone to vote, CaptainForest! It's very very important and I second that reminder!

Well, as I think I said to you guys before, I voted NDP at the advanced polls. Mostly for the sake of my province, as the NDP have done a lot for Saskatchewan. Plus I still can't bring myself to trust Harper, regardless of his promises or his party's platform. Maybe if Peter McKay had been the leader I could have voted conservative... he seems more trustworthy to me. Plus the conservative candidate in my riding is WAY too right of centre for my tastes. Bordering on being an extremist, and has been accused of being racist, too. Whereas the NDP candidate is a farm rights activist, and farm rights are really important here. I didn't hear many promises or plans for the farmers this time around and that is really sad.

I've thought of running for city council myself. I took a year long leadership course through the Chamber of Commerce 2 years ago, and we learned a lot about city politics and how it works. I found it fascinating. However, I'm going to be a mom right away so that will have to be on hold for a while.

Good luck to you guys though if you decide to run at whatever level... munipal, provincial, federal... whatever! :)

Vote!!

Bump bump!

If you live in Canada, please VOTE today!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

bump bump!

If you live in Canada, please VOTE today!!!

I agree with Orange. VOTE TODAY if you haven't already done so.
Although personally, I voted last week in the Advance Polls.

Canada

IF YOU LIVE IN CANADA

PLEASE VOTE TODAY!

IF YOU LIVE IN CANADA.

PLEASE VOTE TODAY!

OF COURSE THE BLUE REPRESENTS CONSERVATIVE FOR ME AND RED FOR CANADA, ALSO THE BLUE IS FOR TML

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesushelper76

IF YOU LIVE IN CANADA

PLEASE VOTE TODAY!

IF YOU LIVE IN CANADA.

PLEASE VOTE TODAY!

OF COURSE THE BLUE REPRESENTS CONSERVATIVE FOR ME AND RED FOR CANADA, ALSO THE BLUE IS FOR TML

lol.

I feel like the NDP are being left out.

Vote for Jack, or Stephen....or Paul

But either way, VOTE

What about the Green?

I guess they are used to it though. LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesushelper76

What about the Green?

I guess they are used to it though. LOL

hehe.

True.

We debated (for like 30 seconds) proportional representation in my class today. The Green will get 6% and no seats, the Bloc 11% and like 60 seats.

On another note, it looks like Harper will get about 150 seats (155 needed for a majority, so its close), and there is a chance that the BLOC might form the official opposition. Now, that would be fun to watch.

Purple, a neutral colour.

Yes, the make of the house will completely be different this time around. I have to admit I think that there are more intelligent people leading the bloc then the liberals. It will be very interesting to see how everything turns out. I will be watching much tonight. Harper will be so close to a majority and well the liberals what can I say. Everything comes back in circles. Hopefully the concervative stick to their plans and do as much as they can especially issues about Crime, and corruption.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesushelper76

I have to admit I think that there are more intelligent people leading the bloc then the liberals.

The people running the Green Party are more intelligent than the Liberals. The Liberal campaign was just one bust after another.

I hope Harper keeps his promises, because if he doesn't, then I hope there will be hell for him to pay.

Although... some rumours are that Bob Rae, yes that Bob Rae, might run for the Liberal leadership if Paul Martin steps down. In that case, I think I would rather see a right wing religious leader run this country than Bob Rae.

And I will be watching the returns tonight. Most likely on CTV and Rogers Cable (for those 905 campaigns). I might also watch Global as well. CTV provides the best online internet coverage, so I am getting use to them.

Edit: In case some of you are wondering who Bob Rae is... he was the NDP Premier of Ontario from 1990-1995. The first and only NDP Premier of our province.

And will be the last. So that shows us, that if he can not run a province. Imagine what he would do to the country? That is more scary to me then any right wing extreme concervatism.

Who is Bob Rae and why is he so scary? If you guys would rather have a right wing extremist (or any extremist for that matter) in power in place of him, that's pretty damn scary! :eek:

What I wish - this could never happen of course, but I think it would be cool - would be for each party (other than the liberals) to get a turn to run the country as a majority, each for a year, like Bloc, Conservative, NDP, Green, etc... and see who does the best job. Maybe even the old Rhino Party could have a turn! ;)

You do not know who Bob Rae is? Imagine every year different leader as majority now that is scary to. So many different changes every year, It might sound neat but would not work. I think that having manitory 5 year terms would be a start. I think that having the states where no leader can run for more then 8 years. That is the way it should be.

What do you think. It would be different to see how the green party would rule. The NDP, sorry no way. I would even consider the bloc but they have made it clear Quebec is there only interest, so if they were in power how would the rest of the country fair if they had a majority.

I

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

Who is Bob Rae and why is he so scary? If you guys would rather have a right wing extremist (or any extremist for that matter) in power in place of him, that's pretty damn scary! :eek:

What I wish - this could never happen of course, but I think it would be cool - would be for each party (other than the liberals) to get a turn to run the country as a majority, each for a year, like Bloc, Conservative, NDP, Green, etc... and see who does the best job. Maybe even the old Rhino Party could have a turn! ;)

Orange,

Bob Rae was the NDP Premier of Ontario from 1990-1995. He was the first NDP Premier of the province, and he will be the last. He ruined the provinces economy. He had the charisma of Bill Clinton which helped get swept into power in 1990. But he was awful.

And the 1 yr/majority. That would be nice to see how each party would actually preform. But that posses problems as well. Such as the Bloc. They would give all this special interest to QC and would ruin the rest of the country.

CONSERVATIVE MINORITY GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best possible outcome possible. Let's see how Stephen is as PM.

Paul Martin resigned as Leader of the Liberal party... I am happy he is gone. But my human nature felt a bit sorry for him too. He was kind of like the bad kid who realizes he has lost everything because of his bad behavior.

And voter turnout was 65%. 60% in 2004. It was a good voter turnout. I think it is thanks to Orange, Jesushelper76 and myself for encouraging everyone to vote :P

Mad Cow in Alberta... again.

And yet, this time America says they Won't close the borders. Hmmmm, I wonder why that is?

Hold on, I'm thinking. Oh, yes. Could it be because a Tory now runs the country? In the end, that is a good thing for the Canadian economy because another closure of the beef border would be bad for our economy.

This can be the end of Canada

This can be the end of Canada
Mr Harper is a pro American style type with the health plan and fighting the crime similar way.
My work related travel to US showed me a big picture of this country and I'm really concern about became another big state of it .
Canada is the very safe place to live ,I can walk ,run everywhere in this country at any time .
On US streets even I'm in my friends opinion kind of brave guy I'm really afraid to walk or do my routine jogging .
Nobody will believe me but I can take him and show the huge areas of when you can be shut just for fun or the gang initiation rules
I have been in some poor countries but what I have seen in States is devastating .picture.How people live there.
The recent picture which I have on my mind is Beaumont, Texas near Exxon .
I was chase up there by the car and push to the fence .In Gary near Chicago same story .The housing was much worse then in Cuba
Everybody get angry for very soft sentences for crime in Canada ,myself too but magically this work .US have a capital punishment and more prisoners than people with college diploma .
There are prisons and prisons and very high crime.
Health care is not accessible for 50 million people and the pollution is real bad.
There are plants where people work for 7 days .
There is also rich America according to the American dream you can achieve you goals and be rich but locked in you cage as I see .
If you have to avoid places because is danger there is no freedom for me .
Now conclusion ,Canada was a safe country with health care plan for everybody ,education ,and peace.
What Mr Harper is going to bring ,gradually all the best doctors will move to the private hospitals ,he will start to fight with crime because it will grow ,for him there is only big business counts which will create o lot of poor communities and crime.
Army will grow and cost and we will start to participate and share action.
(here I agree with US policy of fighting terror and really support their effort )
Finally, please don't take me wrong as you read my comment .
I like American people ,its still the country of opportunities but like better Canada the way the Canadian way not Mr Harper Way.
PS as you see English is my second language ,sorry for some errors

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainForest

Orange,

Bob Rae was the NDP Premier of Ontario from 1990-1995. He was the first NDP Premier of the province, and he will be the last. He ruined the provinces economy. He had the charisma of Bill Clinton which helped get swept into power in 1990. But he was awful.

Oh okay thanks for answering my question. I likely wouldn't know who Bob Rae was because I just started getting interested in politics recently, and I don't know much about Ontario... I know a lot more about what's going on in the west. Plus I was 11 years old in 1990!

Interestingly enough, around the same time, my province also had a premier who ruined our economy and was very corrupt, and he was conservative! So I don't think the actual party matters in the grand scheme of things. Any of them can be a nightmare, if the wrong people are in power.

I'm happy with the election results too. I think a minority was the best possible outcome here.

I am happy with the outcome too. My only fear is that he cozies up to Bush too much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainForest

Mad Cow in Alberta...again.

And yet, this time America says they WONT close the borders. Hmmmm, I wonder why that is?

Hold on, I'm thinking. Oh, yes. Could it be b/c a Tory now runs the country? In the end, that is a good thing for the Canadian economy b/c another closure of the beef border would be bad for our economy.

You're probably right there! And it is a good thing. But it's pretty creepy of the States to do that. It shouldn't matter who the prime minister is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedKarma

I am happy with the outcome too. My only fear is that he cozies up to Bush too much.

YES I hope not! Bush is way beyond scary IMO!

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenforest

This can be the end of Canada
Mr Harper is a pro American style type with the health plan and fighting the crime similar way.

Welcome to the board, greenforest! I share some of your fears, but I'm confident that because this is a minority government, Mr Harper will really have to be on his toes. I don't think he will be able to make any changes to the country that the other parties disagree with strongly, because he will face a lot of opposition in that case. And the last thing anyone wants is for the government to be overthrown again.

Honestly I think the outcome is promising, he has a chance now to live up to the promises he's made, and I'm interested to see how well he will do that. I hope he does well because some of his promises were very good, and it would be nice to have an actual working government in power for a change, rather than all the bickering and scandals we've seen over the last couple of years. If he turns out to be a creep like everyone else and doesn't do anything he promises, well then I give up!

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

Oh okay thanks for answering my question. I likely wouldn't know who Bob Rae was because I just started getting interested in politics recently, and I don't know much about Ontario... I know a lot more about what's going on in the west. Plus I was 11 years old in 1990!

Interestingly enough, around the same time period, my province also had a premier who ruined our economy and was very corrupt, and he was conservative!! So I don't think the actual party matters in the grand scheme of things. Any of them can be a nightmare, if the wrong people are in power.

I'm happy with the election results too. I think a minority was the best possible outcome here.

Orange, I agree with you that a party is defined by its leader. And Bob Rae defined the NDP very bad. So if Bob Rae was to take over the Liberals, I would become a full fledge member of the Harper team to stop Bob Rae.

But party's, once they get rid of certain people, can rebound.

GreenForest,

For one thing, your fear of Mr. Harper is based on lies of the opposition. Liberal now being opposition. Mr.Harper was born in Toronto, Ontario. Canada. Mr. Harper is Canadian and everybody who lives out west is Canadian. Look at where MARTIN HAS LEAD THIS COUNTRY. PRISONERS VOTING, HIGHLY VIOLENT CRIMINALS LIVING IN HALF HOUSES, KILLERS BEING REALISED, BILLIONS OF DOLLARS BEING STOLEN. 218 PROMISES, NOT ONE KEPT IN THE 13 YEARS IN POWER.

CONSERVATIVE, STEPHaN HARPER. LETS SEE Tougher on crime, better money management, cracking down on scandels and more I could mention. Of course I believe he should have Won by a majority. Now he will have to work with other parties in order to pass the new policies. So he might not be able to keep all his promises because it depends on the other parties.

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenforest

This can be the end of Canada
Mr Harper is a pro American style type with the health plan and fighting the crime similar way.
My work related travel to US showed me a big picture of this country and I'm really concern about became another big state of it .
Canada is the very safe place to live ,I can walk ,run everywhere in this country at any time .

Hello greenforest and welcome to the board.

I am sorry to start by saying to you that I disagree with you.

You say it I not safe in the US? Heck, with all the dam gun shootings here in Toronto, I don’t feel safe on the streets of Toronto!!

On Boxing Day, an innocent predestination was shot dead right outside the Eaton Centre. Toronto’s largest shopping mall in downtown Toronto!!

I have walked the streets in some pretty major US cities at night and I was never attacked or harmed. Granted, you have to be careful in both the USA and Canada.

Mr. Harper has said he supports public health care, let’s give him a chance to keep his promise there before we go calling him a liar.

Harper supports tougher sentences? So does Jack Layton!! The punishments in Canada are a joke. Violent offenders shouldn’t be out in 10 years. One of the men who killed the girl I spoke of on Boxing Day, was out on bail from a gun related charge!!

No one is forced to work 7 days a week. Everyone gets 2 days off/week, unless they CHOOSE to work more. The only exception is if you are emergency services (police, firefighters, etc.) or work in the Travel and Tourism Industry (but then, only in an emergency). But people who work in plants, get 2 days off a week.

Harper only has a minority, so he will have to tread carefully. But if he were to keep all his election promises, overall, it would still be good. The corrupt Liberals are now gone.

You also say our army will grow? Yes. But Paul Martin has also been building up our army since he took over as Prime Minister. Will we participate in more missions? Perhaps. 81% of our military missions are when we go along with the USA. The other 19% are with the UN. Harper has noted he won't go to Iraq, and I don’t think he will break that promise.

I like Canada and America too. And I think Harper is the best thing for Canada right now to rid us of the evil and corrupt Liberal Party.

The NDP won the seat in the NWT. They took it away from the Liberals.

The Conservatives swept Alberta and picked up 10 in QB.

And the best news of all, the Bloc LOST seats (down to 51 from 54) and they did not get more than 50% of the vote in QB. They only got 42%

I agree with a lot of what CaptainForest is saying. I'm die-hard NDP and I'm for tougher sentencing as well. We really need Canada to be a lot safer! Other methods have been tried and failed. I'm against the death penalty, but I believe mandatory sentencing and other tougher penalties will make people think twice before committing crimes.

The other thing is, yes, certain areas of the US have a lot of crime, but not all. I live a days' drive from Montana and North Dakota, and go to both fairly often, and both of those states are much like my part of Canada, quite serene and not a lot of violent crime. So it really depends on what part of the states you're taking about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainForest

The NDP won the seat in the NWT. They took it away from the Liberals.

Good! I hadn't heard that... actually I think that's very good for the NWT, as the NDP are sympathetic to the issues of the First Nations peoples. We have a very large number of First Nations here in my province too, as they make up roughly 15% of the population for the whole province. Especially here in the north where I live, their issues are very much in the forefront.

Paul Martin Liberal Cabinet Minister David Emerson crossed the floor today, joining up with Harper's Conservatives and becoming a Minister in the new government.

Craig Oliver on CTV said he can't remember the last time a Cabinet Minister held on to his post with a change in the governing party.

Yet another blow to Paul Martin's liberals…

And GREAT news for Canada.

Why?

Because now Tories (125) + NDP (29) = 154 seats in the House of Commons

155 needed for a majority, but there is one Quebec independent MP.

Now Harper doesn't have to rely on the separatists. Although I think the Liberals will support whatever budget he brings out in March simply because they are in no shape to head into a new election.

Ugh I forgot to watch the proceedings on TV this morning! Guess I was too excited being back home and thinking about buying a house. :p Thanks for the reminder though, Captain Forest. I agree, I think they can make a coalition without the separatists. I can't imagine the NDP wanting to side with the Liberals at this point.

It was good to watch all the proceedings on television. No nonsense in this government. It seems harper did very well in balancing posts made for the new cabinet even give less to alberta then some other parts which shows that he is not trying to stack government from out west and that he does want to reach out to the rest of canada and actually.

I think he is doing a good job so far. Very lean cabinet machine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesushelper76

I think he is doing a good job so far. Very lean cabinet machine.

I agree.

And it's nice to see some high profile Ontario Ministers who we know can get the job done (Tony Clement - Health, Jim Flaherty - Finance, and that John Baird as National Revenue Minister…all 3 former Ontario Premier Mike Harris Cabinet Ministers)

I was very happy to hear on the news tonight that the Prime Minister is going to make good on the money he promised for families with children 6 and under. He said it would done by summer and that's perfect timing since that's when my baby is due! I've been told it's not a lot of money if you use it to pay for daycare (works out to only $25 a week), but since I'm going to be a stay at home mom it will be perfect for me! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

I was very happy to hear on the news tonight that the Prime Minister is going to make good on the money he promised for families with children 6 and under. He said it would done by summer and that's perfect timing since that's when my baby is due! I've been told it's not a lot of money if you use it to pay for daycare (works out to only $25 a week), but since I'm going to be a stay at home mom it will be perfect for me! :)

Thanks to your post I went and looked for info:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/natio...re-060206.html

I have a 1 year old and a 5 year old. A little windfall for the missus and me. Thank you Mr. Harper.

Yeah it's awesome! Actually my adoptive mom said that there used to be something similar to it years ago, called the Family Allowance. She can't remember why it got scrapped or by whom, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

Yeah it's awesome! Actually my adoptive mom said that there used to be something similar to it years ago, called the Family Allowance. She can't remember why it got scrapped or by whom, though.

Yea, I remember my mom getting those too. I think they still exist but you now have to qualify as being in a low income bracket and the cheques are marginal. (look --> "cheques" :) )

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Yea, I remember my mom getting those too. I think they still exist but you now have to qualify as being in a low income bracket and the cheques are marginal. (look --> "cheques" :) )

Funny. :)

Yeah, we use to have that and I believe it was Chrétien/Martin team that eliminated it. (reduced it, same thing, they basically took it away from almost everyone).

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

works out to only $25 a week

Actually,

$1,200 / 52weeks = $23.08/week :p

You know what I do not understand is the reason why a lot of the talkshows and news casts are in such an uproar over the choices that Stephen harper made in his cabinet and are already labelling him corrupt and a liar. I do not understand all the fuss.

Joe,

Biggest reason is that Foriter guy he named to cabinet. Foriter isn't a Member of Parliament, so Harper is going to appoint him to the Senate. Michael Fortier = Minister of Public Works (a Montreal guy)

But Harper promised to elect the Senate, and appointing Foriter isn't electing him.

I understand why Harper is doing what he did and I agree with him on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesushelper76

You know what I do not understand is the reason why a lot of the talkshows and news casts are in such an uproar over the choices that Stephen harper made in his cabinet and are already labelling him corrupt and a liar. I do not understand all the fuss.

Well I know here in the west, there was that one guy from BC (name escapes me) who was elected as a Liberal and then switched to being a Conservative. A lot of people are really angry about that, including some of the Conservative MPs in my province. In fact this one Conversative who was re-elected in my riding has been speaking on the local news about how disappointed he is about it, and about other Cabinet issues. I think maybe he is just upset that he wasn't named to cabinet himself.

Anyway, even though I'm not Conversative, I DO think Harper should be given a decent chance, I mean REALLY people, he hasn't been in long enough to do anything much good or bad, so the press AND his MPs should definitely leave him alone and let him prove himself! He's already started on his child care promise, and I think that's a good sign that he's sincere! I think the press just enjoy finding fault wherever they can. It makes for interesting news.