Muskrat
Wade Wilson
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Post by Muskrat on May 1, 2011 1:24:03 GMT -5
Andrew, I'd love to see the Green party make some ground at some point, but it still seems like 95% of Canada still considers them a joke. Which is frustrating beyond belief, because I;d love another legitimate option beyond the three jackoffs we have running now
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darthalexander
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Post by darthalexander on May 1, 2011 1:25:25 GMT -5
The reason the NDP is gaining ground in Quebec is because of two reasons:
1. No one likes Pauline Marois - she strikes everyone as a snooty twit (she leads the Parti Quebecois).
2. Jean Charest, our current Premier of Quebec (think something along the lines of a Governor, you American members here) represents the Liberal party and their track record in Quebec in the last few years has been terrible. Not to mention he's as useless as tits on a bull.
So stuck with those two winners, the NDP is getting the nod. However, I believe that if the NDP fails, those votes get shifted to the Parti Quebecois (or is it the Bloc Quebecois?).
I really wouldn't be surprised if we get another damn minority government with Harper in the lead. So then next year we can have yet another election!
I think the worst thing of this is probably everything will remain the same no matter who wins. We'll still pay too much tax, we'll still get sub-par medical service (especially here in Quebec), etc.
However I will warn people that if any politician has universal childcare on their agenda, be very careful. We have that in Quebec and it costs a fortune and it's also a nightmare.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on May 1, 2011 1:48:06 GMT -5
The reason the NDP is gaining ground in Quebec is because of two reasons: 1. No one likes Pauline Marois - she strikes everyone as a snooty twit (she leads the Parti Quebecois). 2. Jean Charest, our current Premier of Quebec (think something along the lines of a Governor, you American members here) represents the Liberal party and their track record in Quebec in the last few years has been terrible. Not to mention he's as useless as tits on a bull. So stuck with those two winners, the NDP is getting the nod. However, I believe that if the NDP fails, those votes get shifted to the Parti Quebecois (or is it the Bloc Quebecois?). I really wouldn't be surprised if we get another damn minority government with Harper in the lead. So then next year we can have yet another election! I think the worst thing of this is probably everything will remain the same no matter who wins. We'll still pay too much tax, we'll still get sub-par medical service (especially here in Quebec), etc. However I will warn people that if any politician has universal childcare on their agenda, be very careful. We have that in Quebec and it costs a fortune and it's also a nightmare. Parti Quebecois is the provincial party, Bloc Quebecois is the federal one.
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Post by Free Hat on May 1, 2011 1:54:51 GMT -5
The reason the NDP is gaining ground in Quebec is because of two reasons: 1. No one likes Pauline Marois - she strikes everyone as a snooty twit (she leads the Parti Quebecois). 2. Jean Charest, our current Premier of Quebec (think something along the lines of a Governor, you American members here) represents the Liberal party and their track record in Quebec in the last few years has been terrible. Not to mention he's as useless as tits on a bull. So stuck with those two winners, the NDP is getting the nod. However, I believe that if the NDP fails, those votes get shifted to the Parti Quebecois (or is it the Bloc Quebecois?). I really wouldn't be surprised if we get another damn minority government with Harper in the lead. So then next year we can have yet another election! I think the worst thing of this is probably everything will remain the same no matter who wins. We'll still pay too much tax, we'll still get sub-par medical service (especially here in Quebec), etc. However I will warn people that if any politician has universal childcare on their agenda, be very careful. We have that in Quebec and it costs a fortune and it's also a nightmare. Parti Quebecois is the provincial party, Bloc Quebecois is the federal one. And I might add that the Quebec Liberals haven't had any formal ties to the federal Liberal party since the 1950s. Charest himself is actually a former Mulroney cabinet minister and even lead the Progressive Conservatives in the 1997 federal election.
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Tim
Dennis Stamp
myers.timothyTheTimMyers
Posts: 4,358
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Post by Tim on May 1, 2011 1:55:00 GMT -5
America needs multiple parties. Two major parties cannot possibly come close to encompassing the vast differences in views. It's a matter of changing peoples' thinking that it's "wasting your vote". It's also why I think preferential voting is something we need to try as well.
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Post by TripleMerc on May 1, 2011 2:52:29 GMT -5
but if I don't then I have no right to bitch about any of these ass clowns. I just wanna tackle this point really quickly. By all means, everyone SHOULD vote, but if you don't, and the government that comes about screws you over, you have as much a right to bitch as any other citizen. If you find no party suitable for your government, then vote for no party.
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Square
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by Square on May 1, 2011 9:03:34 GMT -5
So is the Canadian elections more UK like with many parties or US with the 2?
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Post by Free Hat on May 1, 2011 10:30:21 GMT -5
So is the Canadian elections more UK like with many parties or US with the 2? It's a multi-party system, but only two parties have ever governed at the federal level, the Liberals and the Conservatives. The makeup of the House of Commons at the time of dissolution looked something like this: Conservatives: 143 Liberals: 77 Bloc Quebecois: 47 NDP: 36 Independent: 2 Vacant: 3 Ever since 2004 we've had nothing but minority governments, so the smaller parties have kind of held the balance of power so to speak.
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Urethra Franklin
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Post by Urethra Franklin on May 1, 2011 11:14:22 GMT -5
Anybody else find the Sun's Layton smear campaign from late Friday as ridiculous as I do?
For those who don't know, Sun Media is Canada's arch-right outlet, owning a large number of newspapers and a new all-news network (which many have dubbed FOX North).
On Friday, an "unnamed source" from the Toronto Police Department said that Layton was found naked in a "bawdy house" (a massage parlour offering "happy endings") in 1997. He pleaded ignorance of the place's status as anything more than a massage parlour and no charges were ever filed or arrests made.
Just by some sheer coincidence, this info comes out 72 hours before Layton's NDP (Canada's furthest left major party) stand to win their largest number of seats ever. What are the chances???
The kicker? Layton has run 8 election campaigns on various levels since that time, yet it has only come out now. Hmmmmmm...
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Post by Milkman Norm on May 1, 2011 11:39:06 GMT -5
So is there a decent chance of the NDP replacing the Liberals as the official opposition party? Assuming that an NDP/Lib or bizare NDP and or Lib/Con coalition gov could not be made ala the Lib Dem/Con goverment in the UK.
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Urethra Franklin
King Koopa
When Toronto sports teams lose, Alison Brie is sad
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Post by Urethra Franklin on May 1, 2011 11:44:42 GMT -5
So is there a decent chance of the NDP replacing the Liberals as the official opposition party? Assuming that an NDP/Lib or bizare NDP and or Lib/Con coalition gov could not be made ala the Lib Dem/Con goverment in the UK. Based on current polls and projections, I'd say yes, but honestly, it's still too early to say, despite being only 24 hours away from the election. What must be disconcerting for the NDP is that their support is considered "soft", meaning that those who say that they'll vote for them in polls might not when it comes time for the election or might not vote at all. This is why it's premature to predict anything when it comes to the NDP.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on May 1, 2011 11:53:31 GMT -5
Anybody else find the Sun's Layton smear campaign from late Friday as ridiculous as I do? For those who don't know, Sun Media is Canada's arch-right outlet, owning a large number of newspapers and a new all-news network (which many have dubbed FOX North). On Friday, an "unnamed source" from the Toronto Police Department said that Layton was found naked in a "bawdy house" (a massage parlour offering "happy endings") in 1997. He pleaded ignorance of the place's status as anything more than a massage parlour and no charges were ever filed or arrests made. Just by some sheer coincidence, this info comes out 72 hours before Layton's NDP (Canada's furthest left major party) stand to win their largest number of seats ever. What are the chances??? The kicker? Layton has run 8 election campaigns on various levels since that time, yet it has only come out now. Hmmmmmm... I don't take the Sun seriously, and neither should Canadians. Everything about it just screams "sleaze". From the bad puns, to the lame photoshop covers, to their "coverage", it's just terrible.
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Post by Milkman Norm on May 1, 2011 11:55:21 GMT -5
Yeah I was kind of assuming that was the case? Is it wrong of me to assume that the "soft" nature of the NDP surge is similar to the Lib Dem surge in the weeks prior to the UK national election last year? By that I mean it seemed like many potental Lib Dem voters in the week or so prior to the election seemed to "go home" to their usual party preference on election day despite what they had said in polls prior to election day.
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Post by Free Hat on May 1, 2011 12:05:06 GMT -5
Yeah I was kind of assuming that was the case? Is it wrong of me to assume that the "soft" nature of the NDP surge is similar to the Lib Dem surge in the weeks prior to the UK national election last year? By that I mean it seemed like many potental Lib Dem voters in the week or so prior to the election seemed to "go home" to their usual party preference on election day despite what they had said in polls prior to election day. There are some major differences. If I remember correctly, Lib Dem support peaked early in the campaign before falling back to "normal" levels, whereas the NDP surge has only just happened, and support still appears to be climbing in some regions. And taking into account that the Liberals and BQ have completely tanked, it's pretty clear who the number 2 party is. The "anyone but Conservative vote" that those parties have been reliant on for the last few campaigns isn't coming back.
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Post by Milkman Norm on May 1, 2011 12:13:39 GMT -5
Yeah that is true. I believe that the Lib Dem support was at it's highest after Clegg's performance in the first leaders debate and then after Cameron and Browne went after him the the Lib Dem numbers fell.
I guess my assumption had less to do with timing and more to do with voters who have had a usual pattern to vote for either the grits or torries switching their votes on election day. It's one thing to say it to pollsters even the day of the vote, it's another thing when your by yourself voting.
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W?Y
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Post by W?Y on May 1, 2011 13:24:40 GMT -5
All's I know is where I stand for my local MP. I don't know if I'll actively vote for any of the parties for PM:
Conservatives: They're done, and we need a change. We need to focus on different things.
Liberals: I WOULD vote for them, if I wasn't supporting Ignatieff, who I can't stand and who I don't want as my PM.
NDP: I don't think Layton can effectively lead, and I'm not really for his party as a whole.
Everybody else I generally don't care about. Call me the average know-nothing voter, I guess.
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darthalexander
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Post by darthalexander on May 1, 2011 14:31:54 GMT -5
Parti Quebecois is the provincial party, Bloc Quebecois is the federal one. Yeah I screwed that one up. I'm so used to focusing on the Parti Quebecois that I mesh them with the Bloc. Duceppe isn't much better although he does get more respect than Pauline does. I think the problem the Bloc and the Parti have is that they keep this underlining "seperatism" agenda and I think a lot of people are fed up with it and are getting tired of it - the exception being the hardcore seperatists of course. I think people here are tired of the same old BS from the Liberals and the Parti and the Bloc. We need change here and they won't bring it.
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h
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Post by h on May 1, 2011 14:32:27 GMT -5
To be fair, the Liberal campaign was pretty solid until a couple of weeks ago. It was relatively gaffe free, Iggy was performing well, their TV ads have been well produced and on message, and on the whole they've seemed much more organized than they were in 2008. It's just that nobody saw the NDP surge coming, and it's sent them into a panic. I've very surprised to hear that. I've been following, but I haven't heard anything from the Liberals during this campaign. Are there many NDP signs in anyone else's areas. I've been in two districts during this election, Cape Breton Sydney-Victoria and Fort McMurray-Athabasca, and I don't see NDP signs anymore. I think I saw a few when traveling to Halifax though. I've seen a ton of NDP signs. Probably more than any other party. but if I don't then I have no right to bitch about any of these ass clowns. I just wanna tackle this point really quickly. By all means, everyone SHOULD vote, but if you don't, and the government that comes about screws you over, you have as much a right to bitch as any other citizen. If you find no party suitable for your government, then vote for no party. I strongly disagree. If you find no party suitable, you go in and spoil your ballot. Then you're at least making a statement. Sitting at home says more about the voter's laziness than it does about any of the parties or candidates. For those who don't know, Sun Media is Canada's arch-right outlet, owning a large number of newspapers and a new all-news network (which many have dubbed FOX North). ...and just as many have stated their relief that there is an outlet available to balance out Canada's taxpayer-funded left-wing propaganda machine known as the CBC.
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Post by BillyMax on May 1, 2011 17:22:18 GMT -5
My picks (if you care...)
Con-138 NDP- 106 Lib- 44 Bloc- 19 Ind- 1
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on May 1, 2011 21:00:49 GMT -5
Parti Quebecois is the provincial party, Bloc Quebecois is the federal one. Yeah I screwed that one up. I'm so used to focusing on the Parti Quebecois that I mesh them with the Bloc. Duceppe isn't much better although he does get more respect than Pauline does. I think the problem the Bloc and the Parti have is that they keep this underlining "seperatism" agenda and I think a lot of people are fed up with it and are getting tired of it - the exception being the hardcore seperatists of course. I think people here are tired of the same old BS from the Liberals and the Parti and the Bloc. We need change here and they won't bring it. Do Quebecers even care about secession from Canada anymore? That issue stopped being relevant since the 1995 Referendum.
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