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Official Canadian Federal Election Thread - May, 2011

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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
So, after the government unveiled the 2011 federal budget today (the most nothing budget in at least a decade), it seems certain, if not official, that there will be an election as a result of the vote on friday. It'll take place on May 2 or May 9. Although I am guessing no one will have much to say yet, things always heat up as the campaign goes along so I thought I would make a thread.

Will there be a conservative majority? Who will you vote for (or who would you vote for if you could)? Will the current issues surrounding the budget form a jumping-off platform for election issues? I'm thinking not - there is simply nothing really in there to campaign on or against, aside from the elimination of the federal deficit by 2015. From where I sit, the issues at stake will develop over the next couple of weeks and we'll be talking about completely different things than now. Aside from contempt of Parliament which is a good election buzzword.
Mar 22 2011 6:24PM
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I.B
Posts: 8137 - Karma: 24,354
I'm american....
Mar 22 2011 6:25PM
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Arabian.
Posts: 9632 - Karma: 54
I don't know Canadian politics, but you better keep the beer and weed coming, otherwise America will invade.
Mar 22 2011 6:28PM
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KRASHED
Posts: 7803 - Karma: 466
Let's go conservative majority! I'm sick of this minority bullshit. I've never voted conservative but I feel like they handled the failing economy issue pretty well.

O ya, maybe they'll successfully kill the long gun registry!
Mar 22 2011 6:30PM
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corona
Posts: 12753 - Karma: 32,281
I wish the Liberals had a real leader..
Mar 22 2011 6:46PM
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Flying~Squirrel
Posts: 6494 - Karma: 192
go ron paul!
Mar 22 2011 7:17PM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
Im voting to keep conservatives out, though I personally side with the NDP on most ideas I think I will be going liberal because they are the best chance against conservatives in my region.
also, yes, I dont like Conservatives. liases faire doesn't work.
Mar 22 2011 7:26PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141

Why do you not trust Ignatieff?

If he had been the liberal leader instead of Stephane Dion the Liberals would have 20 more seats right now than they do. He is an excellent politician and a really smart guy. The liberals' problem is not their leader.

Mar 22 2011 7:26PM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
yes, very agree
Mar 22 2011 7:27PM
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dreadyboy
Posts: 2306 - Karma: 34
Go green
I turn 18 may 5th but do I have to do my taxes before I can vote?
Mar 22 2011 7:40PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
No. Just have to register. Assuming the vote is after may 5, that is.
Mar 22 2011 8:23PM
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Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
I don't think he's that bad, that where my vote will probably go. I haven't liked any of the options the past elections, I generally just don't like the Conservative Party.
Mar 22 2011 8:46PM
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corona
Posts: 12753 - Karma: 32,281
their problem is exactly the leader. he's not a leader! that's the problem. you can be the most intelligent person in the world, and be a great politician, but you have to have leadership skills to get elected. Harper is much more charismatic and generally a better "leader" than Ignatieff. (I hate Harper with the passion of a thousand firery suns though). Dion is an incredibly intelligent guy and a decent politician too, just a dreadful leader. bad speaker. doesn't exude confidence.  Ignatieff is in the same boat, just not quite so bad.

that's why the Liberals probably won't win, and for sure won't get a majority, if there is an election. If they had someone the likes of Trudeau, they'd mop the floor. Bob Rae would have done much better than either of them solely based on his leadership skills.
Mar 22 2011 8:46PM
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Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
"Harper is much more charismatic" I lold
Mar 22 2011 8:51PM
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corona
Posts: 12753 - Karma: 32,281
than Dion? course he is. he's a much better speaker

than Iggy? not by much, but I'd still say so
Mar 22 2011 8:55PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
At this point it doesn't even seem like a question of the liberals winning. There is almost 0 chance that will happen unless the contempt thing really has legs and the campaign goes incredibly well for them and bad for Harper. It's more of "will the Conservatives get to a majority", which is why I think it's bullshit when Jim Flaherty gets up and says "we don't want an election, Canadians don't want an election" - bullshit, you totally want one.

I don't even think you can measure leadership skills from seeing someone talk to a reporter on a tv set. That's just a substitute way of saying "I don't really like this guy personally". The weird thing is he comes across totally different on TV, where he apparently seems to need to act like a politician - I've met Ignatieff a couple of times and heard him speak on several occasions and would rather he were my Prime Minister than Stephen Harper, who as far as I can tell is basically a husk of a human being completely devoid of any ideas or personality. Basically, the way I see it, their leader is the ONLY thing the Liberals have going for them. They have no issues to use as the foundation for an attack on the Conservative government, they have one scandal (currently playing out, we'll see how big it gets), and everyone basically sees them as a disorganized party without a vision. To some extent, okay, that's what you're talking about: a failure of leadership. But it's not really; it's almost entirely the result of it being an old party with its own internal politics and fragmentation, that completely failed to transition out of the post-Trudeau 30 years where the party was still being run by people who had connections to Trudeau. That's why Dion became leader and that's why they will lose in this election and probably lose seats.
Mar 22 2011 8:57PM
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corona
Posts: 12753 - Karma: 32,281
^ I too would much rather Ignatieff over Harper. I'd rather that dude in the Alexander Keith's commercials who was constantly yelling and who got child pornography charges over Harper.

Like you said, you've met Ignatieff and is great in person. And you say you can't judge him from over TV. Well it's a pitty, because that's how probably 80% of people vote, is who is better at talking on TV. And from what I've seen that's Harper. Although personally I think Layton is better than them both. Even May.
Mar 22 2011 9:05PM
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PJS.
Posts: 11943 - Karma: 895
Obama?
Mar 22 2011 9:06PM
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RudyGarmisch
Posts: 25443 - Karma: 13,844
Canada has a government?
Mar 22 2011 9:07PM
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TaySwift
Posts: 3436 - Karma: 1,622
Aunt was a MP for Liberals, i say fuck every one except NDP Jack Layton Rock mustache march all year. NDP LIFEEEEEEEEE
Mar 22 2011 9:09PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
Yeah but it's pretty much just a stand in for the Queen.
Mar 22 2011 9:15PM
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geteducated
Posts: 6410 - Karma: 86
wouldn't vote for any of them.






Mar 22 2011 9:18PM
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AWALLRUS.
Posts: 5762 - Karma: 223
marijuana party
Mar 22 2011 9:30PM
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shibby
Posts: 7088 - Karma: -19
I probably won't vote this time around. I live in a riding that is heavily Conservative and (hate me now I'm a poli sci student) I just don't find Canadian politics that interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing an NDP/Conservative coalition come out of this though.
Mar 22 2011 9:41PM
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skiminnesota
Posts: 9093 - Karma: 429
im 21 and what is this?
Mar 22 2011 9:49PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
Mar 23 2011 10:43AM
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katie.
Posts: 2833 - Karma: 874
But the queen doesn't do shit for Canada except for appear on our money. And visit once every few decades
Mar 23 2011 10:46AM
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Lord.Quasimoto
Posts: 958 - Karma: 33

haha it's all such a joke... politics that is.

of course Flaherty makes a budget that acknowledges the NDP's concerns but doesn't go half as far as they were asking. It's a smart move because now the conservatives can claim they are listening to opposition demands. They can also claim they don't want an election putting the blame on the other parties for wasting Canadian's money/time. In reality they want to go to election because they will probably win a majority when it happens.

Who would I vote for? Does it really matter at this point? I'll be voting, but not for any of the major parties. We need another party to rise up in Canada.

Mar 23 2011 11:39AM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141

I was being facetious. So was Ginko.

Mar 23 2011 11:43AM
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neutralzombie
Posts: 8629 - Karma: 606
every time is virtually a joke, if it's not smelly hippies(notseriousalert) it's bad politics. i don't know about anyone else, but i've heard this is more or less the general concensus is that no one really knows who to vote for. i feel that way. i don't agree with everything the conservatives do, and i don't agree with the liberals, and the chance of a third party going anywhere seems ...well not possible. i've tried to gain interest in this but it just get kind of overwhelmed. sooo i'm willing to discuss this.
Mar 23 2011 12:19PM
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neutralzombie
Posts: 8629 - Karma: 606
and by every time i meant every party
Mar 23 2011 12:19PM
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B4NE1
Posts: 876 - Karma: 16
During a time when the world is falling apart with this earthquake and whats happening in Libya the 3 stooges (NDP, Liberals and Quebecois) are putting forward and election. This is absolutely retarded the world needs canada's full attention and here we are arm wrestling over a silly budget. I'm voting conservative they kept us in great shape during this recession. Liberal party likes to waste money on big ideas like the gun registry back in the day, I know you liberals will argue that the conservatives have ordered 65 Brand new F-35 Fighters which will cost $16 billion but with our aging fleet of F-18's we need a reliable fleet of military aircraft to patrol the north so the Ruskies don't try to drill into the north pole.
Mar 23 2011 12:31PM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
F-18s are sick, but the F-35 is like the F-22s little brother! I am so stoked to see those on Canadian soil :D also, I am not sure it was necessarily the concervitaves that let's us alive during the recession. If you where on the west coast you where in the Olympic bubble (I certainly was protected by this). If I recall correctly the east wasn't fareing so well because a bunch of the foreign owned factories got shut down. Also, I do beleve that the concervitaves have been running a deficit; though I could be wrong.
Mar 23 2011 2:12PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
To be fair it was probably Paul Martin policies (and their predecessors) firmly in place before the Cons took government that were responsible for us managing so well when the recession hit. The economic recovery policies, those were the Conservatives'. It is debatable how well they have worked. However, I liked a lot of them, so I'm not on the naysayer side of things. They certainly weren't a home run, though.
Mar 23 2011 2:48PM
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B4NE1
Posts: 876 - Karma: 16
Look on the bright side we aren't in as bad a situation as the US. Ya we are running a deficit but in times like this who isn't. BC had the Olympic bubble to protect them while Alberta has Fort Mac.
Mar 23 2011 3:08PM
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Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
Don't think the Olympics did that much during the recession to be honest. And Fort Mac's oil is only as profitable as the American economy.

The fact that we did ok during the recession is more because of long term policies set forth years ago, and that we didnt allow double or triple mortages like our neighboors down south.
Mar 23 2011 3:46PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141

According to yesterday's budget the worst case scenario is that the deficit will be gone by 2015, maybe 2014. That is pretty damned impressive if true.

It's not true to say we didn't allow double or triple mortgages dude, look at what happened in 2007 with the freeze of the entire ABCP market - it hit us a little early and we adjusted a bit better because of that but mostly it was much lower average leverage ratios.

Mar 23 2011 3:49PM
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CAPSLOCK*
Posts: 345 - Karma: 19
To have majority in Canada you need to win Quebec. The only place where the conservatives could hope to win a few seats is the Quebec city area and they just killed all their chances by denying them the new arena.

I do agree with their decision but that's how it's gonna playout.

Go Bloc
Mar 23 2011 3:57PM
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geteducated
Posts: 6410 - Karma: 86
and im fucking glad they did.

and if i recall, it was the liberals who entered the initial agreement for the f-35's way back. unless someone can prove me wrong.

and to the guy up there, f-18's aren't all that. just because the number is higher than an f16 doesn't make it better. f16's are baller status. f18's are toyota camrys.
Mar 23 2011 4:51PM
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Lord.Quasimoto
Posts: 958 - Karma: 33

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Opinion+Stephen+Harper+duped+opposition+into+election/4494924/story.html

here is an article written today in the vancouver sun with the same comments I made above. Harper wants an election and the oposition is dumb enough to give him one. what a waist of Canadian time / money.

Mar 24 2011 2:31PM
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Proletariat.
Posts: 1797 - Karma: 45
Conservatives baby!
Mar 24 2011 2:35PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
i ain't voting.
Mar 24 2011 2:40PM
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Lord.Quasimoto
Posts: 958 - Karma: 33

one good reason why ur not voting?

Mar 24 2011 3:19PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
Pretty sure Krob lives in Alberta like me, our votes pretty much don't count for anything, the conservatives will win in a blowout regardless.
Mar 24 2011 4:31PM
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notadoctor
Posts: 398 - Karma: 589
truth.
Mar 24 2011 4:46PM
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Lord.Quasimoto
Posts: 958 - Karma: 33

thats still not a reason to sit on your ass on election day.

voter turn-out was what not even 60% last election? that 40% who didn't vote probably think their voice doesn't matter because its not in the mainstream.

Mar 24 2011 5:08PM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24704 - Karma: 29,684
REPUBLICANS!!! WOO!

Wait...


Mar 24 2011 5:16PM
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9o2mdkNamzz1_1
Posts: 2113 - Karma: 10
gr33n party!
Mar 24 2011 5:27PM
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dreadyboy
Posts: 2306 - Karma: 34
Yeah it's retarded, people need to get there shit together
Mar 24 2011 6:54PM
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Blurst
Posts: 13577 - Karma: 10,168
Did you actually just say that Harper is charismatic! He is boring as shit.

Harper could not be more stoked about this because he is going to win and stay in power when maybe when maybe if this election happened in a few months he wouldnt have the public support.

All in all it will be a shitty minority and nothing will be accomplished again.
Mar 24 2011 7:03PM
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