[orange]

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!

[CaptainForest]

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.

[JoeCanada76]

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.

[CaptainForest]

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.

[CaptainForest]

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%

[orange]

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.

[orange]

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.

[CaptainForest]

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.

[orange]

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.

[JoeCanada76]

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.

[CaptainForest]

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)

[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! :)

[NeedKarma]

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.

[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.

[NeedKarma]

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" :) )

[CaptainForest]

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).

[CaptainForest]

works out to only $25 a week

Actually,

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

[JoeCanada76]

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.

[CaptainForest]

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.

[orange]

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.