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[Hawksley]

I'll hold my nose and vote for a (hopefully) minority Conservative government.

You'll regret it when they kick me out of the country.

 

[BigJonsson]

Voting Liberal

The conservative party is just Reform in a new package....they still have the same right wing extremists that want Canada to be the 51st state

I will always vote Liberal so this is a no-brainer for me...look what Mulroney did to our country for fucks sake...

And I fear the type of scandals involved with the Conservatives....

And Harper would send troops to Iraq and ahhhh so much BS

 

[Winged Creature]

Voting Liberal

The conservative party is just Reform in a new package....they still have the same right wing extremists that want Canada to be the 51st state

I will always vote Liberal so this is a no-brainer for me...look what Mulroney did to our country for fucks sake...

And I fear the type of scandals involved with the Conservatives....

And Harper would send troops to Iraq and ahhhh so much BS

I couldnt agree more Mulroney is fucktard. The conservative always fuck things up then the liberal have to come clean it all up and then they get blamed for "making" things worse when there really trying to fix the problems that the conservatives created.

 

[Memles]

This post is more reasonable and precise, but the post I quoted before wasn't quite so clear.

Your previous post said he would be"denying people's human rights as Canadians." That's not cliched rhetoric?

And again, he isn't going to summarily deny gay couples the ability to get married. It's the free vote in the House of Commons thing again.

Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, discrimination against homosexuals is not allowed. It is their charter right to be given that right, and it is something that should be recognize. They are being denied their human rights to get married as Canadian citizens, regardless of their sexual preference. That's not cliched rhetoric.

I know the value of a free vote, and I know that Mr. Harper seems to be affixed with them. I like the idea, personally, but I also feel that a Free Vote in a minority government would probably be a lost cause, considering the likely desperate need of the Liberals and NDP to attempt to force the Conservatives out of power, so they'd probably stick to party lines anyways.

Free Votes would more likely work when a party is in a situation of majority, where then defections will not mean a swing of power in the House of Commons.

For the record, I'm 18 and don't even pay income tax, so when it comes to not really seeing the effects of the Liberal's fiscal tomfoolery, that's me in a nutshell.

I couldnt agree more Mulroney is fucktard. The conservative always fuck things up then the liberal have to come clean it all up and then they get blamed for making things worse cause there trying to fix the shit that the conservatives created.

However, this is a bit of a generalization. The sponsorship scandal and the gun registry, the two big "OH my God, I hate the Liberals!" points of note are in fact Chretien's "legacy". There is no question in my mind that the issues are not that the Liberals were unable to clean up Mulroney's mess...the only promise they broke horribly was eliminating the GST (That was a whopper) that was actually in response to Mulroney's mistakes.

But really, the Iraq thing is the one that I don't think anyone can doubt Chretien's decision on.

 

[Fjord]

Voting Liberal

The conservative party is just Reform in a new package....they still have the same right wing extremists that want Canada to be the 51st state

I will always vote Liberal so this is a no-brainer for me...look what Mulroney did to our country for fucks sake...

And I fear the type of scandals involved with the Conservatives....

And Harper would send troops to Iraq and ahhhh so much BS

What a load of crap.

 

[warabi-mochi]

Sorry about the length!!

Well, still don't know who I'm voting for, but there's lots of time still. So no rush.

It might be that I'm originally from Saskatchewan, where there was nothing to do but pay attention to politics, but seems like lots of people here need to get their heads out of their ass.

Go out and vote. Not voting at all is rather pathetic really. Politicians and pollsters pay attention to everything. Don't like the parties? Get as many people as you know to vote for someone you know. Yourself, a friend, whoever. Doesn't really matter. Make yourselves heard. Get enough votes for that one person, and it will show up. It's a really simple way to get the attention of party members who've just won their riding.

To continue on, anyone looking at voting for the NDP need to look at how poorly they've run every provincial government they've been elected to. They have an amazingly horrible track record. They really need to learn that some common sense has to be applied with the idealism.

The green party? Well, I suppose I'd have to look into them. Haven't heard much about them, from anyone really(media, friends, etc), but I suppose if you want to increase their funding for the next election, toss em a vote.

The bloc is no longer really a separatist party. Sure it's still part of the mantra of the party, but really, they're pretty much what the Alliance used to be now. A regional party that tries to make it's region heard in parliament. The only way they'll ever really go away is if the federal government finally tries to start solving the problems it has in dealing with provincial issues.

Well, it's pretty easy to see why a lot of people would vote for the conservatives if just to get the liberals out of power. Only governments I've seen waste money on this kind of scale previously have all been NDP provincial governments. So the idea that they're somehow the lesser of two evils I don't think holds water anymore. The party needs to be seriously shaken up. Even with Chretien no longer holding the reins, it's still massively divided. So, while Martin purging it of Chretien loyalists seems like the right thing to do, all it really does is create Martin loyalists that will create the same kind of government they previously ran anyway. Otherwise, most of their policies on issues seems solid. It just doesn't seem like they'll ever follow through with any of their promises until the old guard gets rattled a bit.

Conservatives this year are a strange beast, part Alliance, part Tory, with stances on issues showing that quite clearly. May not agree with some of the stances some members in the party publicly state, but at least they publicly state them. If they actually get elected, and put issues to a free vote, it's not really possible for them to be the evil, hyper conservative group of screwballs lots of people try to portray them as. Since at best they'd only have a majority government, votes on things abolishing abortion, gay marraige, etc, would be very difficult pass. Unless, of course, a lot of those Liberal/NDP/Block people that get voted in hold more conservative views than they're willing to publicly state.

Otherwise, country needs some serious electoral reform. We either need some sort of proportional representation, or something more along the lines of the percentage of votes a party gets, determines the number of seats it gets in parliament. Almost anything is better than what we have now though.

 

[maharg]

Personally, I think the party system should be abolished altogether. Removing the ability of a party leadership to force its party's vote is only a half-assed step towards this.

Of course, then there'd be the question of who gets what funding, but frankly, I don't think any particular candidate should get a larger amount of government funding than another just because they happened to join a popular party. All that does is create a cyclical reinforcement of power into those parties.

However, I do NOT feel that our system of determining seats and ridings should go. I hate my provinces' grass roots party(s), but I'll be damned if I don't defend the lower population province's right to be heard in the federal government. A directly proportional system would further consolidate power into Ontario and Quebec and that's just not right imo.

 

[Socreges]

I'm leaning towards Liberals at the moment. If I were to say anything more, I'd be mostly reciting what Memles has said. For instance, I'm also not going to write off Martin and the Liberal government purely because of fuck-ups in the last administration. Concerning what will happen in the next four years, I still feel more confident with putting my stake in the Liberals.

That said, I haven't written off the Conservatives at all.

NDP? Not likely.

Green Party? They're so adorable, aren't they?

Oh, and screw Boogie for his strawman bullshit. That's all I'll say about that.

 

[explodet]

I don't like that we have one month to decide who rules for the next four years.

Of course, we could be like the Americans where everyone knows when the next election is and the campaigning goes on and on and On and On and ON AND ON....

 

[Socreges]

Yeah, it's amazing how much can change in two months as opposed to one. I think the pendulum would actually swing back in the Liberals' favour if they were given another month, in fact. People are still stewing over the scandal.

 

[Azih]

Harper scares the shit out of me. He's going to increase health spending, increase defense spending, slash taxes and he has the gall to say that he won't go into defecit and social spending won't be affected? Who the hell is he trying to kid?

Look, I don't like taxes anymore than anybody else, but we've had 10 years of taxes being reduced and frankly it's gone too far. We *need* more health spending, we *need* more defense spending but you know what? We also need a helluva lot more funds to public transit and education and the environment. All of these things will be reduced under a Harper government. Toronto is bleeding, Ontario is limping financially and it's all because the federal government has been abdicating it's responsiblity over the past freaking decade.

Is this government wasteful? Fuck yeah, but that doesn't mean that goverment programs aren't necessary. Poverty is on the rise, so is homelessness and pollution. These things add up. With gas prices up, it's getting more and more important to wean ourselves off petroleum and shit like that isn't even on the list of priorities for the Conservatives.

Here's a fun fact: the conservatives budget predictions (what they're basing all of their tax cut and health/defense spending predictions on) is the *most* unrealistic of the three. The Conservaitves are predicting the government is going to have *billions* more than either the NDP or the Liberals. If they're wrong then either they're going to have to cut back on their spending/tax cut announcements or they're going to slash and burn through social spending. And that is *not* a good thing.

Also one of the biggest issues for me personally is the way votes get tallied. Our system isn't proportional representation. It's a system that's similar to the assinine electoral college system in the States. The Liberals have been getting LESS THAN 50% of the vote and they still have a majority government. This is unacceptable and the only party that's proposing to do something about it is the NDP.


My ideal result in this election would be a minority Liberal government with the NDP holding the balance of power and then we can have a referendum on switching our system to proporitional representation.

Edit: Most important Point. The NDP has said that holding a referendum on Proportional representation is a necessary part of their joining a governing coalition. This is just so very important.

 

[Memles]

The bloc is no longer really a separatist party. Sure it's still part of the mantra of the party, but really, they're pretty much what the Alliance used to be now. A regional party that tries to make it's region heard in parliament. The only way they'll ever really go away is if the federal government finally tries to start solving the problems it has in dealing with provincial issues.

Let's not draw comparisons between the Reform Party (The Alliance was more National) and the Bloc, simply due to their lack of political coordination. Because, the Bloc is probably the most Leftist Party in the Country, and the Conservatives the furthest to the right. This is why a Bloc/Conservative Merger would end up failing, because any right-wing policies are technically against the ideals of the Bloc. The only thing keeping them from being out by the NDP to the left is the Seperatist line.

On the NDP...I personally like some of their ideals, and Layton is an energetic guy, but they have their support and that's where their support will stay. I know that here in Metro Halifax, we LOVE the NDP. It's like a sickness, an illness; we love them to death. This is Alexa's area, and we currently have an NDP Opposition Party in the Province, so we're veritable NDP Territory. And, they haven't destroyed us yet, and it seems that McGuinty isn't exactly lighting the world on fire in Ontario.

 

[Azih]

The most frustating thing is that even when the NDP gets 15 - 20 % of the vote then they don't get 15-20% of the power. It's shit like that that turns me off voting.


Hell a proportional representation system would have kept the PC party alive. People would have had a socially progressive/fiscally responsible party and a socially and fiscally conservative choice and the two parties wouldn't have cannibalised each other. Shit the Greens would be an actual force in parliment with proportional representation.

There would be more diversity in the government and that is critical.

Edit: This election. Vote proportional representation!

 

[Memles]

My ideal result in this election would be a minority Liberal government with the NDP holding the balance of power and then we can have a referendum on switching our system to proporitional representation.

Proportional Representation will not work, just as a minority government very simply will not work.

PR is awesome, but PR in Canada has a general concern. The concern that we have a totally adversarial system...just look at the smear campaign that Liberals are flying out, or the attacks on Paul Martin from all sides. Forcing parties to work together in a minority situation is fine every now and then, and an NDP/Liberal Coalition might just work, but to have pretty well nothing but Minority Governments (As PR pretty well guarantees) would likely create political instability.

For this reason, I think that it's a great idea in theory, but I think it should be first tested on a provincial level (In Ontario, Quebec, BC, etc.) to give us an idea of how Canadians will react to the idea, and adapt to it.

 

[Azih]

Every democratic government in the world is adversarial. That's the whole *point* of democracy, difference of opinion. If less than 50% of Canadians vote for a party, it should not have the executive werewithal to do whatever the fuck it wants.

Dammit it's only when I vote strategically (that is vote for who I think might win, and not vote the way I want) that my vote counts. When I vote the way *I* feel is good for the country my voice IS NOT HEARD. It's lost. Gone. Vamoos. Vanishes into thin air. I have no mouth and I must scream kinda deal.

 

[SickBoy]

Well, gotta love GAF, and how you're all parroting the Liberal line of how "scary" Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are. I'm not sure if you're all just that gullible to the Liberal ads, or if you just like labelling conservatives as scary monsters that will eat your children

Seeing as I used the term "scary" in my post in regards to elements of the Conservatives, I feel compelled to respond.

First, I like the fact that those who feel this way are "parrots." I don't know who is voting Liberal, but I can tell you I won't.

Much of it stands - the Canadian Federation of Students rightly pointed out this week that the Conservatives offer nothing beyond vague promises on post-secondary education (the Liberals, I'll note, aren't much different). Not what I call a commitment. I'm no longer a student and it doesn't apply to me, but I do believe in affordable education for students... something that's moving further from reality every day. It's not a situation that will get better under the Conservatives.

As far as other issues go, it's no secret that Stephen Harper supported the war in Iraq (although he denies calling for military support -- a very tenuous claim).

Add to that the fact that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.... The Canadian Taxpayers Federation expected that the Conservative platform promises were more expensive than the Liberals' and were nearly as costly as the "wasteful NDP's"

Also, is it unfair to question the party on its stance on social issues? These issues will not disappear for the next three, four or five years. The Conservative party has no current policy on a lot of issues, so are Canadians out of line when they worry about a party whose candidates suggest abortion is the moral equivalent of terrorists beheading a captive and MPs who essentially say that gays are repugnant?

I'm hardly comforted by the fact that many of the Conservatives are re-striped Alliance candidates -- Art "Hang'em High" Hanger, Stockwell "Walking With Dinosaurs" Day, the ever-annoying Jason Kenney to name a few

Significant portions of the Conservative platform are tough to argue -- their goals to cut waste in Ottawa are well-aimed, as are some of their reforms like working to better recognize the credentials of immigrants. But to suggest there's nothing to cause concern -- well, I'm not sure what to make of that. In fact, I'm not comfortable with any of the parties' platforms.

Interesting spin on things, considering Harper didn't "started talking" about abortion, but rather got "ambushed" by Liberals and protestors who tried to shove the issue in his face.

Actually, Rob Merrifield is the guy who ultimately helped "shove it in his face." In a Conservative government, he'd be health minister. (Columnist Don Martin pointed out that what Paul Martin and Merrifield said about abortion and counselling were actually quite similar, but if you're blaming someone for opening the can of worms, Merrifield is the man -- I've met Merrifield and he's a nice guy, but as some critics have pointed out, maybe not the ideal health minister).

I think that a Conservative majority would cause the same result we've seen in B.C.: people who are happy until the government starts executing its plan. Then they realize they don't want to live with the pain. While Bishop points out how much the NDP government here screwed the province up, I'll note this: the Liberals won 77 of 79 seats here in the last election. In recent polls, the NDP have been nearly neck-and-neck with the B.C. Libs.

I'll also note that the Liberals are one of those parties who promised tax cuts. They delivered. The province has been operating at a deficit, and there has been some pretty aggressive cutting to balance the books. This from a province that did post a surplus before the "cut waste" government. (Don't get me wrong, the Liberals have eliminated waste in B.C. in a variety of ways, but it's hardly been a glowing success) EDIT: the point is this -- can an Alliance tax cut happen without program cuts?

Bottom line: I might vote Green just for the campaign finance issue, which would also give them some legitimacy and an opportunity to participate in the national debate in the next election. I think the Conservatives are going to win it, at least a minority government, and quite possibly a majority. With everything I've said, I would completely change my mind vote for any party that issues a commitment to electoral reform.

-SB

 

[Azih]

SickBoy: The problem I have with the Greens is that they really do leech support from the NDP.

Now that shouldn't be a problem, and it wouldn't be, if it wasn't for the lack of proportional representation. Since the NDP is the only party fully commited to holding referendums on PR I really hope you suck it in vote NDP and hope that enough of them get elected to enter a Liberal coalition government.


In a perfect world in four years time there will be at least a somewhat PR based system in Canada and then you can vote Green and I can vote NDP and we won't be merely splitting third place and letting the Liberals (in your area) or Conservatives (mine) rise to the top of our ridings.

 

[Socreges]

Every democratic government in the world is adversarial. That's the whole *point* of democracy, difference of opinion. If less than 50% of Canadians vote for a party, it should not have the executive werewithal to do whatever the fuck it wants.

Dammit it's only when I vote strategically (that is vote for who I think might win, and not vote the way I want) that my vote counts. When I vote the way *I* feel is good for the country my voice IS NOT HEARD. It's lost. Gone. Vamoos. Vanishes into thin air. I have no mouth and I must scream kinda deal.

Actually, that would be undemocratic. True democracy would be voting for what you want. When you employ strategy and not your true wishes, you may be taking the most practical route, but it's not what I'd call democracy.

Let it be known that I'm just being a devil's advocate.

 

[Azih]

Another thing about the conservatives.


I just graduated from University. I have a 22,000 dollar debt haning off my shoulders.

I know that there are schools in my province that don't have enough books and don't have the funds to even fix leaky roofs.


The Conservatives would just make things worse.

 

[SickBoy]

In a perfect world in four years time there will be at least a somewhat PR based system in Canada and then you can vote Green and I can vote NDP and we won't be merely splitting third place and letting the Liberals (in your area) or Conservatives (mine) rise to the top of our ridings.

In that perfect world, I wouldn't vote Green in four years. My vote this year is almost certain to be based more on offering the party legitimacy than it is on supporting the platform I find most compatible.

EDIT: Socreges -- I think that's exactly his point.

EDIT 2: Azih, you should read the link in my first post in this thread about making your vote count.

-SB

 

[Azih]

Actually, that would be undemocratic. True democracy would be voting for what you want. When you employ strategy and not your true wishes, you may be taking the most practical route, but it's not what I'd call democracy.

Let it be known that I'm just being a devil's advocate.

Yeah and that's what I'm so frustrated. The current system FORCES me to vote undemocratically so I can have a chance of having my vote count.

In a proportional representational system I would vote for whoever I wanted and know that my vote *will* get counted.

 

[Azih]

In that perfect world, I wouldn't vote Green in four years. My vote this year is almost certain to be based more on offering the party legitimacy than it is on supporting the platform I find most compatible.

EDIT: Socreges -- I think that's exactly his point.

-SB

Edit: Alright got it, at least campaign financing is Proportional. but the NDP has the only realistic shot of forcing a minority government into a position where they have to call for a referendum on PR.

 

[Memles]

I honestly don't see a Conservative Majority happening any time soon...I believe their inability to break into Quebec (Where it's a two-horse race) will keep that from being possible. But a minority is definitely a possibility.

 

[Azih]

Memles: If they take Ontario, they take the majority.

 

[Socreges]

Yeah and that's what I'm so frustrated. The current system FORCES me to vote undemocratically so I can have a chance of having my vote count.

In a proportional representational system I would vote for whoever I wanted and know that my vote *will* get counted.

Ohhhhhh. Sorry, I didn't interpret that properly. I completely agree with you then.

 

[Memles]

Memles: If they take Ontario, they take the majority.

All of Ontario? Not happening. While they have a lot of support, I don't think they'll grab a majority without a breakthrough in Quebec. I just don't think it will happen, despite the large amount of seats in Ontario up for grabs.

 

[Azih]

Speaking as a very urban person. NONE of the mayors like the Conservatives plans on cities. Hell HAZEL MCALLION (a more conservative person you will not find) is extremely leery of the Conservative's urban agenda.

 

[Azih]

I hope not memles, because a Harper majority would be like Harris/Campbell on a national scale.

 

[FightyF]

I'd like to say a few things about the CPC, because there are many misconceptions being thrown around.

First off, the extremist Reform element has been greatly subdued to a large extent. You have Reform/Alliance bigmouths like Ezra Levant shutting up, and distancing himself from their party. You have Stockwell Day being regarded as a nutcase by many former Alliance members who are in the current party. You have people disgruntled with Rob Anders, wanting to get rid of him. And lastly you have people like Ablonzky who are changing the tone of their rhetoric (ie. she claimed that Arar had ties to Al Qaeda, but now has changed her stance on the issue as more information came out).

So you had a party full of zealots (the CA/Reform party), blend in with the PCs, and the largest influence within the party have been the PCs, despite Harper becoming the leader.

I say this because I was heavily involved with the merger, and I'm still involved with many people running, both former PCs and CAs alike.

As far as Harper going to Iraq goes, let me tell you that Canada will most likely not do anything that does not involve the UN. Our military is not in the state where we can do what we want. Consider that he's dealing with intelligent people within his party, whereas with the CA, he'd be consulting with a bunch of redneck racists who put their own personal agenda before Canada's.

The CPC is a viable option, don't let past associations and alliances scare you from that fact.

 

[explodet]

As far as Harper going to Iraq goes, let me tell you that Canada will most likely not do anything that does not involve the UN. Our military is not in the state where we can do what we want.

But Harper has said on record he wishes to increase military spending - once it reaches the state he wants... well, the whole Iraq thing will probably be over (here's hoping). But America's War On Terror (tm) will continue, and will Canada actively participate?

And he also wants to increase health care spending, and cut taxes even more... people are wondering (myself included) where this money is going to come from.

 

[Draff]

Well they could have all very well stopped talking because Harper made everyone sign a gag order.

 

[Boogie]

But Harper has said on record he wishes to increase military spending - once it reaches the state he wants... well, the whole Iraq thing will probably be over (here's hoping). But America's War On Terror (tm) will continue, and will Canada actively participate?

Him wanting to increase military spending != joining the US in Iraq.

He wants to increase military spending because our military needs it. It is drastically underfunded and underequipped. We're already "actively participating" in the war on Terror in Afghanistan, and we also tend to commit our troops to many peacekeeping operations (Haiti, Bosnia, etc). If we are going to continue to commit our troops everywhere, then we should at least fund and equip them properly.

 

[Hawksley]

Him wanting to increase military spending != joining the US in Iraq.

He wants to increase military spending because our military needs it. It is drastically underfunded and underequipped. We're already "actively participating" in the war on Terror in Afghanistan, and we also tend to commit our troops to many peacekeeping operations (Haiti, Bosnia, etc). If we are going to continue to commit our troops everywhere, then we should at least fund and equip them properly.

Agreed.

The military needs it, so give it to them. Unless we're going to not have soldiers at all, we need to pay to keep them well equipped and trained so they can keep as safe as possible.

 

[explodet]

Yeah, I'm not saying don't give the military money - we all know it could damn well use it.

 

[Boogie]

Yeah, I'm not saying don't give the military money - we all know it could damn well use it.

K, I just wasn't sure where you were going there.

 

[explodet]

Ouch:
http://www.canada.com/news/national/story.html?id=7372811d-f033-4369-80de-afdec67eddcd

OTTAWA (CP) - Stephen Harper tried to reach out to all Canadians Friday even as a former top Canadian Alliance official urged people to think twice before voting Conservative.

Barry Yeates, ex-director of political operations for the Canadian Alliance, is the latest renegade to throw his support behind the Liberals. In an open letter Friday to news editors, Yeates writes: "I find myself increasingly apprehensive of the vacuous platform and social conservative agenda now being purveyed by the newly formed Conservative party."

Meanwhile the negative ads continue:

Harper said Canadians aren't being fooled by the latest round of Liberal attack ads.

"They'll remember the ad scandals," he said.

"They'll ask themselves 'who paid for these? who's profiting from these? why are they pointing a gun in my face and the face of my children and why is the Canadian flag being used to score cheap political points by these guys."

Things are getting ugly.

 

[explodet]

K, I just wasn't sure where you were going there.

I try to keep my politics close to my chest, it usually means I get vague when discussing this stuff.
It's just me.

 

[FightyF]

What he was saying is that if military spending increased to the point where Canada's Army could be used to invade another country while not being part of a large coalition like the UN.

Even the Liberals are going to increase military spending. The difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives is that the Liberals are going to spend enough to make sure the Army is well equipped, and to create an anti-terrorist force that will specifically target terrorist threats. The Conservatives plan to spend more to beef up the Army. Personally, I think the Liberal plan on military spending is better and more effecient (though they will spend fewer dollars on it), but that's only one issue of many, and the Conservatives can adopt many ideas from the Liberals (as the Liberals took ideas from the NDP).

 

[bishoptl]

You'll regret it when they kick me out of the country.

Why would they do that? I don't know your personal background, so...

 

[Hawksley]

Why would they do that? I don't know your personal background, so...

They're not too fond of The Gay, reportedly. But I'm a nice guy: I take old people to the grocery store!

Edit:
Now, I haven't exactly done my research, I'll admit. I base my distrust of the CPC based on commentary made by somebody in the NDP in relation to some event where homosexuals were tossed in the same category as pedophiles. I really haven't gotten very far with my whole sluething thing, so we'll see where this goes, I guess.

 

[DopeyFish]

I will vote whoever is willing to bring back Rey days.

 

[Crazymoogle]

For the love of whatever Adult Link title you hold holy, just keep the NDP out! They cut up BC like a one sided Lineage 2 PVP battle.

 

[talking head]

i think i'm voting NDP, but I am liking Martin's promise to make Canada a technological leader in becoming the world's largest producer of wind power. That sounds fun and healthy.

 

[FightyF]

i think i'm voting NDP, but I am liking Martin's promise to make Canada a technological leader in becoming the world's largest producer of wind power.

Note that he didn't mention how he plans to achieve that...with billions of dollars spent on importing beans.

Perhaps I should be banned for such a lame comment.

 

[DopeyFish]

Voting Liberal

The conservative party is just Reform in a new package....they still have the same right wing extremists that want Canada to be the 51st state

I will always vote Liberal so this is a no-brainer for me...look what Mulroney did to our country for fucks sake...

And I fear the type of scandals involved with the Conservatives....

And Harper would send troops to Iraq and ahhhh so much BS

As I told you before, voting Liberal pretty much pastes an "I AM STOOPID" label on your forehead.

What did I say last election? vote conservative.
What did the majority vote for? liberal
How many of the voters are now regretting their votes? Almost all.

Though I will admit the liberals on the federal level are at least a lot more tolerable than liberals at the provincial level... it still doesn't help when all they do is spend, spend, spend.

Like now, like always... vote conservative.


This message was brought to you buy the New Democratic Party of Canada

 

[maharg]

I find the idea of increasing military spending troublesome. I have no problem being involved in peace keeping operations, but I want to keep it that way. I have absolutely no interest in Canada developing a large standing army just 'cuz (like the US). The question then becomes "what do we have this army for?," and the answer, once a country has such an army, rarely seems to be "well I dunno, let's fix it." It tends to go more like "well I dunno, let's find a use for it."

Maybe we should actually be cutting down on our foreign intervention so that we don't need to beef up the army. Once we're at that point, then we can look into expanding the army to fit specific needs. I don't like this idea of paying for earlier, poorly planned, expansion of military responsibility.

It's like buying a car you know you can't afford and then the next month taking out a second mortgage to pay for it.

 

[Azih]

Alright, so to my concern about the Conservatives.

If health care expenditure is going to go up, and millitary spending is going to go up, and taxes are going to be cut. Then where is the money going to come from? The Conservatives have the most costly promises of all the major parties.

 

[NetMapel]

Oh yeah, and there was a poll on the news here in Vancouver a while ago with stats similiar to this:

Conservatives: 35-45%
Liberals: 25-30%
NDP: 20-25%
(We don't care about Green Party and misc !)

So I guess us BC people are more or less Conservatives supporters (not me though, I'm not supporting anyone as I've said before). But hey, that NDP commercial on TV here sure looks pretty convincing

 

[Socreges]

I like it when he sticks his hand in the water. He really cares!

A friend (more like acquaintance) of mine is actually running for the Green Party riding in New West/Coquitlam. I think it's awesome. She's done a lot to get the Green Party more ground in the 'political world'. I think because she's young and cute, all the old and crusty politicians are push-overs.

 

[Azih]

Another thing I don't understand is how Conservative backers can outright dismiss the idea that Harper would have sent troops to Iraq.

I mean Harper was extremely critical of Cretien's stance on the issue, and there is no doubt that Canada would have acted like Britian and Australia did if Harper had anything to do about it. And this was before Canada pulled off a face saving fence sittting manoever by commiting to a major troop deployment in Afghanistan, so there was enough slack in the Canadian millitary to commit troops to Iraq.

"We should have been there, shoulder to shoulder with our Allies."

I mean really, what am I supposed to take that to mean?