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Originally posted by DigiNut Personally, I'd rather that people who don't take the time to educate themselves and instead base their opinion on whatever they hear second-hand would just stay home. People should vote, but only if they understand what they're voting for. And I'm not only directing that to uneducated Liberal voters as opposed to Conservative (although I believe that there are more of the former). If you want to vote for the NDP because you're a hardcore socialist and support the unions then go and vote for the NDP. But if you're going to go out and vote Liberal because the Conservatives are Conservative and have a hidden agenda then please, stay home and watch TV instead.

I agree that people should educate themselves before voting.

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Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

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Originally posted by Brennen I have voted in every election since I turned 18 and what has changed? NOTHING!!! The last election I voted for some Croatian guy running as an independent. First you said: Then you said this: So you never voted, you just showed up and informed them you were not voting. So by your logic you should be out of the country.

no, I still voted and my vote was counted....I voted for none of the candidates.

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Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

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Originally posted by MarkT I'm stunned so many are supporting Harper. let's see... Senate Reform? fail. Harper just stacked the Senate AGAIN in recent weeks. I'm sure Jacques Demers is among the top candidates that were available.

Harper wanted to change the constitution and have an elected senate. Of course he cannot do this without the support of the provinces. So he left it to the provinces to decide whether they wish to elect the senate. I believe only Alberta choose to do this while the other provinces did not. So as a result we DO have an elected senator from Alberta. The fact is that these seats have to be filled and therefor he filled them. But ALL senators he appointed have agreed to pass a bill that would limit their terms to 4 years (or was it 8) if the bill ever went to the senate (A conservative majority would be needed for this)

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Environment Plan? fail. lame duck John Baird given new ministry, now known for his Toronto can "fuck off" comment. way to dismiss the economnic powerhouse of the country, douchebag.

And i applauded him. Miller thought he could circumvent the rules by failing to meet the mandate and deadline of the stimulus funding. When asked to bend the rules Baird basically told miller to fuck off. GOOD!! He wasnt saying toronto can fuck off so much as he was saying Toronto COUNCIL can fuck off. And i agree with him.

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Fixed election dates? fail. Harper calls an unneessary election for the sole purpose of trying for a majority...denies contravening his own fixed election date plan under the bullshit guise of this only applying to majority gov'ts. how convenient.

And we all know the Liberals were about to pull the plug anyways. So Harper did it for them. I do think harper should have let them pull the non confidence vote themselves but either way the election was going to happen. Dion was feeling his Liberal support crumble and was desperate for an election.

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Balanced budget? fail. we all know that was b.s. by all parties, but publicly the CPC says 2015 (most economists laugh) and privately states they don't know when they can balance the books.

I HATE THE DEFICIT. MAJOR FAIL! I agree here. I blame the Liberals and Conservatives (and somewhat the NDP) equally though. Id like to see what would have happened under a majority where harper wasnt forced to govern like a quasi liberal and give into a lot of the spending demands. But just think, had Martin been re-elected wed be paying for a national day care program (much like health care) and if Dion had been elected we would be paying billions to foreign countries for "pollution credits".

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Transparency/accountability? fail. information has never been more restricted, gov't ministries have never been more muzzled and power has never been more concentrated and controlled in the PMO.

Yes the government does need to be more open but at the same time Harper knows the media is NOT his friend and this is partly why he does it. I can see his point. Give the media rope and they will hang you with it.

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True colours? check! fires staff who provided $400k grant to Toronto Pride...a weeklong event that brings hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy and subsequently denies any funding to Montreal's event. gotta appease the right-wing homo haters among the party faithful, I suppose.

I cant defend some of the social aspects of the right wing as i am a more moderate and libertarian person when it comes to these things. However as for same sex marriage, im extremely doubtful that will ever be revisited by any government in the future that wishes to even have a chance at being reelected.

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Hypocrisy? check! the CPC has the GALL to run a commercial this week saying that an election now is a *waste of money*. ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME??? Ignatieff forcing an election would be for the possibility of a change of gov't, while Harper's last election was nothing more than $200 million roll of the dice for him to score a majority.

Again last time around the Liberals were about to force it. And yes an election right now is uncalled for. Most people agree (except the hardcore harper haters). King Iggy cant stand to be on the opposition bench. There is no doubt about that one.

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Lies? check! the same commercial claims that Ignatieff supports a coalition, despite his repeated public statements he will not consider.

HE IS ON RECORD AS SUPPORTING THE COALITION! In fact he even said he would lead it. Will he support one now? Maybe, maybe not but the track record that he is capable of supporting one is a MATTER OF FACT.

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Originally posted by ChemEnhanced no, I still voted and my vote was counted....I voted for none of the candidates.

You can officially ask to "Decline your ballot" which goes on record basically as "none of the above"

Spoiling your ballot goes into the spoiled ballot bag and basically says "Im a retard who cant follow instructions" and sends no political message at all.

I used to work as a DRO and SDRO for polling stations

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Originally posted by Jayx1 ... HE IS ON RECORD AS SUPPORTING THE COALITION! In fact he even said he would lead it. Will he support one now? Maybe, maybe not but the track record that he is capable of supporting one is a MATTER OF FACT.

last week:

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Fed...ition-NDP-Bloc/

'Ignatieff dismissed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's warning that the Conservatives need a majority or the Liberals will try to form a coalition with the "socialists and separatists."

"The Liberal party will not agree to form a coalition," Ignatieff said flatly. "We do not support a coalition today or tomorrow."

He said that if he had supported a coalition rather than rejecting it last January: "I could be standing here as the prime minister of Canada."

Ignatieff promised to form a "compassionate, moderate government of the centre."


yes...the "I could be standing here..." is a bit bullshit. The reality is that public opposition to the coalition was *at least* as much of a deciding factor...never mind that the GG agreed to Harper's request to suspend Parliament and make it a moot point.

point being...he's made it rather clear that the coalition is not an option. The CPC is clinging to issues that haven't been relevant for some time.


your reply to the fixed election dates is a cop out crock of shit. he pulled it for Liberals? that is fucking ridiculous. he clearly did so to try to form a majority. there was NO other reason. they'd passed every piece of legislation they put forth, yet claimed parliament was "dysfunctional". really? he got everything he wanted!

how you can possibly justify his election call vs. this possible one is beyond me. so it's ok to ignore your own fixed election date stance to corral more power, but it's not ok for the opposition to try to force an election for a change in gov't?

wow.

Last edited by MarkT on Sep-15-2009 at 03:16

i don't get why everyone in Canadian politics is so anti-coalition?

why are they letting the right wing take control of the country when only the one third of the people voted for them?! thats just plain WRONG.. left wing parties better grow some balls, form the coalition and SERVE THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE!

ugh

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Originally posted by mute79 i don't get why everyone in Canadian politics is so anti-coalition? why are they letting the right wing take control of the country when only the one third of the people voted for them?! thats just plain WRONG.. left wing parties better grow some balls, form the coalition and SERVE THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE! ugh

Why? Because traditionally the party that wins the most votes governs. What we need in Canada are run off elections. If 50% + 1 isnt reached by any single party, the top 2 parties have a run off election to determine who gets power.

Why should the green party for example that gets 5% of the vote be allowed to partially govern whereas a party that receives 37% of the vote cant govern at all?

Coalitions are not the answer. Neither is our current system (which technically allows coalitions) but ill take the current way of doing it over the coalition any day.

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Originally posted by mute79 i don't get why everyone in Canadian politics is so anti-coalition? why are they letting the right wing take control of the country when only the one third of the people voted for them?! thats just plain WRONG.. left wing parties better grow some balls, form the coalition and SERVE THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE! ugh

uh, no.

while I accept a coalition as a perfectly legitimate, legal option (and it's commonplace in many countries)...it's not a good idea. no one voted for a coalition and CERTAINLY not one that would have been lead by Dion, who badly lost an election and widespread support in his own party.

few people want to see the ludicrous (and expensive) concessions that would need to be made to keep a coalition intact...many of which would also not serve the interests of the people.

as much as I can't stand Harper, that's not the way to get him out of office. the way is to point out what a hypocrite he's been and how he's failed miserably to implement his platform. he feels the only way he can govern is with a majority and can't accept the FACT that Canadians do not want him to have one.

the THREAT of a coalition was beautiful in that it was a giant bitch slap across Harpers smug face that chilled him the fuck out for a while...but that's worn off and it's time for him to go

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Originally posted by MarkT last week: http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Fed...ition-NDP-Bloc/ 'Ignatieff dismissed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's warning that the Conservatives need a majority or the Liberals will try to form a coalition with the "socialists and separatists." "The Liberal party will not agree to form a coalition," Ignatieff said flatly. "We do not support a coalition today or tomorrow." He said that if he had supported a coalition rather than rejecting it last January: "I could be standing here as the prime minister of Canada." Ignatieff promised to form a "compassionate, moderate government of the centre." yes...the "I could be standing here..." is a bit bullshit. The reality is that public opposition to the coalition was *at least* as much of a deciding factor...never mind that the GG agreed to Harper's request to suspend Parliament and make it a moot point. point being...he's made it rather clear that the coalition is not an option. The CPC is clinging to issues that haven't been relevant for some time. your reply to the fixed election dates is a cop out crock of shit. he pulled it for Liberals? that is fucking ridiculous. he clearly did so to try to form a majority. there was NO other reason. they'd passed every piece of legislation they put forth, yet claimed parliament was "dysfunctional". really? he got everything he wanted! how you can possibly justify his election call vs. this possible one is beyond me. so it's ok to ignore your own fixed election date stance to corral more power, but it's not ok for the opposition to try to force an election for a change in gov't? wow.

As i said, Iggy is on record as stating that he supported the coalition. He backed out after seeing how a coalition polled and realized that a coalition would probably mean a slaughter at the polls. Would he do one now? I dont think so, but it's possible. If the numbers polled in his favour you dont think he would try it? I do!

I agree that the conservatives SHOULD have let Dion slay the dragon but the fact is that we all knew it was a matter of days before the call was to be made. Essentially he called dion's bluff. Do i agree with how it went down? Not exactly. But i do understand why it happened.

As for this election being uncalled for. We are in a recovery and an election will shut down parliament for 3 months leaving government unable to respond to any changes in the economy. If iggy is so hot for an election perhaps he should at least wait until the next recess or until the recovery is strong. Ah, but that wouldnt be good opportunism because people are generally happy with a government on a recovery whether they feel that government is responsible or not. Hence why Iggy is desperate to have an election NOW

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Originally posted by MarkT the THREAT of a coalition was beautiful in that it was a giant bitch slap across Harpers smug face that chilled him the fuck out for a while...but that's worn off and it's time for him to go

What it did was help create the massive deficit we now have by having Harper spend money like a drunken liberal.