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Canada Poligaf - The Wrath of Harperland

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K

killer rin

Member
matthewwhatever said:
Come on now, Stephen Harper hasn't been a politician his entire adult life. His non-MP professions run the gamut from politician's assistant all the way to political lobbyist.

On two unrelated notes:
1) 9 PMO staffers have been placed on unpaid leave for unspecified reasons, which may signal a writ-drop is imminent.

2) The Liberals finally have a new ad responding to those "Nice hair" ads from the Conservatives. I'm obviously biased here, but I like it -- if the Conservatives are going to focus their entire campaign bashing Trudeau, then the Liberals need to find a way to turn that around.
Click to expand...
That is actually an amazing ad. I'm not sure if I like this, or the NDP truthful-attack ad better, hmm.
 
G

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
matthewwhatever said:
Come on now, Stephen Harper hasn't been a politician his entire adult life. His non-MP professions run the gamut from politician's assistant all the way to political lobbyist.

On two unrelated notes:
1) 9 PMO staffers have been placed on unpaid leave for unspecified reasons, which may signal a writ-drop is imminent.

2) The Liberals finally have a new ad responding to those "Nice hair" ads from the Conservatives. I'm obviously biased here, but I like it -- if the Conservatives are going to focus their entire campaign bashing Trudeau, then the Liberals need to find a way to turn that around.
Click to expand...

I like it too

Conservatives pointing out Trudeau's hair is extremely petty and unprofessional, this was a great response to it.
 
M

maharg

idspispopd
matthewwhatever said:
2) The Liberals finally have a new ad responding to those "Nice hair" ads from the Conservatives. I'm obviously biased here, but I like it -- if the Conservatives are going to focus their entire campaign bashing Trudeau, then the Liberals need to find a way to turn that around.
Click to expand...

It's a pretty good ad for this sort of thing, but I'm not sure it really wins any voters. It falls into the trap narrative of the Liberals playing a defensive game. But as long as it's not the only kind of ad they run, it could help engage the Liberal base.

This perhaps won't surprise anyone either, but I think the NDP approach of aggressively highlighting the failings of the conservatives (especially on areas where they are perceived as strong and are in fact weak) will be more effective. Just, it could backfire and not be more effective for the NDP in particular.
 
B

Boogie

Member
lupinko said:
Yeah I've only been gone for a year, but thanks Harper, first you make me, Thomas Mulcair and Sir John A. MacDonald and many other Canadians second class, and now you want to take away my voting rights too!
Click to expand...

Didn't know Harper sat on the OCA in addition to his PM duties.
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
"So, Joe Oliver, you've plunged Canada into a recession and the dollar at a ten year low. Thoughts?"
9fW0qN2.gif
Click to expand...


Even by the low standards of Conservative finance ministers, this one is pretty abysmal. His complete inability to do anything well and his tendency to make things worse whenever he opens his mouth almost makes me sorry for Harper. *Almost*.
 
S

Slavik81

Member
killer rin said:
Awesome, now we just need them to make the same ruling on wireless... then we'll start to see some real competition.
Click to expand...
There was a nice ruling recently that Bell couldn't give their video streaming service special bandwidth cap exemptions. I'm hoping Bell will give us the bandwidth rather than scrapping BellTV, but I don't have much hope. Bandwidth caps haven't meaningfully changed since I got my first smart phone nearly 6 years ago.
 
A

Azih

Member
Why are you bringing up things from three years ago?

Edit: Especially since the article you posted has this from an NDP insider:

“The leader himself has been very clear many times that after the next election, if they face themselves with not a majority of seats, obviously they’re going to have to look for some way to govern,” he continued.
 
S

Silexx

Member
Back away from the cliff, Canada-GAF. I know it looks bad, but you still have so much to live for!

Mainstreet Research, in a survey provided exclusively to Postmedia Network, has Stephen Harper's party enjoying almost the same level of support this week that it got in the general election of 2011 when the party won its first-ever majority government.

Mainstreet asked more than 5,000 Canadians who they'd vote for if an election where held now, and 38% of decided voters picked the Tories. In the 2011 general election, 39% actually voted Conservative.

Thomas Mulcair's NDP were in second at 27% and Justin Trudeau's Liberals were third at 25%.

No survey published by a major pollster since Trudeau got elected leader in the spring of 2013 has had the Conservatives above 35%. Of the nine polls published by other pollsters in the last month, the Conservatives were between 27% and 32%.
Click to expand...

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/07/24/tories-take-huge-lead-in-latest-poll
 
R

ryan-ts

Member
gabbo said:
It was right there in my sentence: either the companies or publicly-funded lines. If middle of nowhere towns in the US can do it, I'm sure smaller areas here can too.
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Canada is a lot more spread out than the states and I'm not confident anyone will want to foot the bill for fibre optic service. The CRTC is not going to be able to force the big companies into a financial nightmare. If you're going to try to make it a Canada-wide movement, the infrastructure and upkeep costs in the most remote areas will be insane.
 
S

Simon Belmont

Banned
ryan-ts said:
Canada is a lot more spread out than the states and I'm not confident anyone will want to foot the bill for fibre optic service. The CRTC is not going to be able to force the big companies into a financial nightmare. If you're going to try to make it a Canada-wide movement, the infrastructure and upkeep costs in the most remote areas will be insane.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure we subsidized the shit out of the lines they're using now. We did it once, we can do it again.
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
Silexx said:
Back away from the cliff, Canada-GAF. I know it looks bad, but you still have so much to live for!

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/07/24/tories-take-huge-lead-in-latest-poll
Click to expand...

I'm skeptical -- a Forum poll came out yesterday that was NDP 34/Liberals 29/Conservatives 28. Not that Forum has an amazing track record, of course, but's a lot more in line with what most other pollsters are finding, whereas this Mainstreet/Postmedia poll has the CPC several points higher than anyone else. I haven't read the Sun story, but in the Post's reporting of it, even they admit no other poll has had the Conservatives breaking 35 since last year. I'm thinking
desperately hoping
that this has to be a rogue poll.

Azih said:
Why are you bringing up things from three years ago?
Click to expand...

How is it not relevant? I know that Mulcair has a tendency to say whatever suits the moment and whatever language he's speaking in, but I don't see why it's not relevant to mention that three years ago, he was ranting about how he'd never work with the Liberals. It hardly makes for an atmosphere of cooperation.
 
P

Pedrito

Member
Look at the bright side. Now that the cheques have been sent, it's all downhill from here. People will spend the money and quickly forget about it (until it's time to fill their tax return...).
 
M

Mr.Mike

Member
Silexx said:
Back away from the cliff, Canada-GAF. I know it looks bad, but you still have so much to live for!



http://www.torontosun.com/2015/07/24/tories-take-huge-lead-in-latest-poll
Click to expand...

This poll's methodology is different from other polls in that it only uses decided voters, whereas other polls also include people who are "leaning" towards a certain party. This skews the poll greatly in favour of the Conservatives as there are a lot of people undecided between the NDP and the Liberals. There has also been a Forum poll recently showing the CPC in third place.
 
M

maharg

idspispopd
Mr.Mike said:
This poll's methodology is different from other polls in that it only uses decided voters, whereas other polls also include people who are "leaning" towards a certain party. This skews the poll greatly in favour of the Conservatives as there are a lot of people undecided between the NDP and the Liberals. There has also been a Forum poll recently showing the CPC in third place.
Click to expand...

Yep, exactly. One thing is for sure: most CPC voters are sure of their vote.
 
A

Azih

Member
matthewwhatever said:
How is it not relevant?
Click to expand...
It's not irrelevant but it is far far less relevant then what he's saying right now and what he's saying right now is that he's open to a coalition if that's the parliamentary situation after the election. For some bizarre reason Trudeau seems to be misreading the electorate by pooh poohing the idea. Canadians aren't repulsed by the idea of coalitions now that the BQ seems like a non factor.
I know that Mulcair has a tendency to say whatever suits the moment and whatever language he's speaking in
Click to expand...
I don't know anything like that myself.
 
W

Walpurgis

Banned
Who are the CPC voters? Do they have internet? Whenever I scroll down to the comments on CBC, it is always taking a huge dump on Harper. You would think that the CPC would be below the Green Party.

Speaking of the Green Party, is there a place where I can compare the policies/stances of the different parties on various issues? Whenever I see an Elizabeth May quote in an article, I feel like she's the smartest person in the room. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about their behaviour and policies (other than green :p).
 
M

maharg

idspispopd
Walpurgis said:
Who are the CPC voters? Do they have internet? Whenever I scroll down to the comments on CBC, it is always taking a huge dump on Harper. You would think that the CPC would be below the Green Party.
Click to expand...

Well, most of them think the CBC is a den of communist traitors, so that might answer some of your bafflement.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
No one in here posted about this, but the Ontario Court of Appeals upheld a law that disenfranchises Canadian citizens who have been expatriate for more than 5 years. I do not think it will survive an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but this is kind of concerning. There are many reasons for non-residents to leave the country for more than five years while maintaining significant ties to the country, and additionally disenfranchising non-resident citizens creates a donut hole where non-resident citizens who are not citizens of the country in which they reside can't vote anywhere.

The Globe wrote an editorial in support of the law:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...-abroad-shouldnt-get-to-vote/article25613373/

It's pretty vacuous. For example, the editorial notes that there is an exemption to the law for Canadian Forces members, but does not do anything to clarify why they should get an exemption. The stated purpose of the law according to the ruling and the Globe's own phrasing is that non-resident citizens shouldn't get a say on matters that don't affect their daily lives. That logic is no doubt true for military members living on a base in Germany or America. If the reason for giving them an exemption is that they are worthy as Canadians performing exemplary service, then it's a tacit judgment on the non-military reasons for people to be absent from the country.

This op-ed is much stronger and clearly articulates why expatriates still have a meaningful connection to the operation of the country:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...-not-as-much-as-i-used-to-be/article25666787/

It's troubling that in a time where voter turnout is its lowest ever, the government deems it important to target a low-turnout group and further limit their ability to vote. Democracy works best when it can be said to represent a meaningful aggregation of individual preference into collective preference; disenfranchising anyone undermines that goal.
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
It's pretty crazy that at a time when most countries are expanding their definitions of citizenship to include as many expats and children of expats as possible, our country is set on narrowing it. It's obviously a Conservative ploy to appeal to a certain strand of nativism, but there's clearly a portion of the population that goes for it.

maharg said:
Yep, exactly. One thing is for sure: most CPC voters are sure of their vote.
Click to expand...

That's what the CPC is counting on: having more dedicated voters than anyone else. And as sure as most of us are here about voting for our preferred parties, I'm genuinely concerned that the other two major parties don't have the kind of GOTV operations to fully capture and mobilize their bases. Today alone, I've seen stories about the NDP not having candidates in half the Ottawa ridings, and about the dire financial positions of most of their Quebec MPs. I think the Liberals are in a better position as far as fundraising goes, but they're still no match for the Cons organizationally.

Walpurgis said:
Speaking of the Green Party, is there a place where I can compare the policies/stances of the different parties on various issues? Whenever I see an Elizabeth May quote in an article, I feel like she's the smartest person in the room. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about their behaviour and policies (other than green :p).
Click to expand...

I know the Liberals have realchange.ca for most of their policies. I can't speak for the Conservatives or the NDP. I imagine we'll be seeing platform launches for everyone pretty soon.
 
S

Silexx

Member
Canada-GAF! Break out the champagne and let's start the orgy!
The federal New Democratic Party continues to hold the lead in public support, according to a new Forum Research poll conducted this week.
The survey found the NDP ahead with 34 per cent support, while the Liberals and Conservatives were locked in a statistical tie at 29 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.
The Bloc and Greens are far back at 5 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
The NDP have been leading or tied for the lead in Forum’s polls for the past several weeks.
Click to expand...
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news/canada/2015/07/24/poll-predicts-ndp-minority-government.html?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FEyXJQx0Bsv
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
So Harper just named Justice Russell Brown of Alberta to the Supreme Court. Who is Russell Brown?

Well...

However, another more recent appointment to the Alberta Court of Appeal may be more in line with the prime minister’s view of the role of the judiciary.

Justice Russell Brown was appointed to the Court of Appeal last year after just 13 months on the Court of Queen’s Bench.

The former associate dean at the University of Alberta law school is also a past member of the advisory council of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. The right-of-centre legal organization is headed by John Carpay, an unsuccessful candidate for the Wildrose party in the last Alberta election.

A past endorsement from Brown is included on the organization’s web site.

“Current events remind us that the notion of limited government, particularly as it pertains to freedom of conscience and freedom of expression, can never be taken for granted in Canada,” wrote Brown, who suggested Carpay’s organization would become of the country’s “most important” watchdog.
Click to expand...

Ugh.
 
A

Azih

Member
So.. Olivia Chow returning to federal politics and the NDP seen as the best stewards of the economy?

Chow:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/olivia-chow-launches-ndp-bid-in-spadina-fort-york-1.3170301

NDP #1 Capitalists!
http://globalnews.ca/news/2133770/i...ll-suggests-nearly-half-of-canadians-say-yes/

Are the Conservatives going to stop focusing on attacking the Liberals first did Stephen Harper decide he'd rather take Justin Trudeau down with him than get re-elected?

Edit: Chow should never have stepped away from federal politics. That's where she does the most good. She's also completely brain dead on municipal election reform.
 
E

explodet

Member
Hrm. Olivia Chow vs. Adam Vaughan. Looks like I've got to do my homework this election.
Azih said:
Are the Conservatives going to stop focusing on attacking the Liberals first did Stephen Harper decide he'd rather take Justin Trudeau down with him than get re-elected?
Click to expand...
I've read my share of analysis/editorials that indicate that Harper loathes the Liberals. But that's just punditry which means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
Normally I think Canadian political pundits are idiots, but at the same time...I don't know, I could see Harper's hatred of the Trudeau name blinding him to any other considerations. His whole time as PM has been characterized by going out of his way to take swipes at the Liberals -- he even redesigned Government of Canada websites to make them blue and white instead of red and white! -- so it wouldn't be totally out of character for him to go down in flames because his hatred of Trudeau and the Liberals is that great.

Slavik81 said:
I'm not getting it. Are you upset that he's too inexperienced, that he's not from Saskatchewan, or that he believes in "limited government, particularly as it pertains to freedom of conscience and freedom of expression"?
Click to expand...

I don't care where he's from. I'm a little leery of someone with so little judicial experience suddenly being on the SCC, but that's not necessarily the worst thing in the world (it's not like Nadon, who was disqualified for not meeting the SCC Act requirements). But someone who holds absurd, unworkable beliefs being appointed to the highest court in Canada...yeah, that's not great, and it's yet another sign of Harper actively trying to make government not work.
 
G

gabbo

Member
matthewwhatever said:
Normally I think Canadian political pundits are idiots, but at the same time...I don't know, I could see Harper's hatred of the Trudeau name blinding him to any other considerations. His whole time as PM has been characterized by going out of his way to take swipes at the Liberals -- he even redesigned Government of Canada websites to make them blue and white instead of red and white! -- so it wouldn't be totally out of character for him to go down in flames because his hatred of Trudeau and the Liberals is that great.



I don't care where he's from. I'm a little leery of someone with so little judicial experience suddenly being on the SCC, but that's not necessarily the worst thing in the world (it's not like Nadon, who was disqualified for not meeting the SCC Act requirements). But someone who holds absurd, unworkable beliefs being appointed to the highest court in Canada...yeah, that's not great, and it's yet another sign of Harper actively trying to make government not work.
Click to expand...

No, he just wants it to work only as he sees fit for it to work.
 
G

gabbo

Member
matthewwhatever said:
I don't know...when his idea of working is to gimp the census, muzzle scientists and generally do what he can to make sure that government departments can't do their job, is that really "working"?
Click to expand...

By your and my definition, no. But Harper doesn't want government departments/bureaucracy to get in his way/in any way contradict him, so in that sense, yes it completely does.

He wants to shape a narrative and then make that narrative a reality. Like his Anti-Justin/Ignatieff commercials, on a societal scale.
 
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