Harper Calls Early Election

[Missioncmdr]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/09/07/election-call.html

Looks like our Canadian friends will be beating us Americans to the polls this year. What is interesting, is that Harper himself got a law passed requiring fixed election dates. So it looks like there will be another federal election in one year.

 

[RocketMan_Len]

I doubt it. Most likely, the next election will be a fixed date *after* this new one.

The timing seems a bit off to me, since it got called while a couple of seats are being fought for here in Ontario. Now, the byelections will be 'folded into' the big one... wasting even more taxpayer dollars.

 

[Cairan]

wasting even more taxpayer dollars.

I don't really agree with that... For me, the constant barking of the liberals up the conservative's tree, demanding elections and then chickening out under the excellent leadership of Dion for the past 2 years is what I'd call wasting time and money.

You know the saying: be careful what you wish for. Opposition parties have had this coming for a couple of months now, and I agree that it pretty much would have been a wasted session.

 

[RocketMan_Len]

I don't really agree with that... For me, the constant barking of the liberals up the conservative's tree, demanding elections and then chickening out under the excellent leadership of Dion for the past 2 years is what I'd call wasting time and money.

Which is the point I was trying to make. (Badly, I guess... )

Harper *could* have waited for the Liberals and NDP to gather up enough guts to bring him down in a no-confidence vote. At that time, he could have gone to the electorate and said "You SEE...? We wanted to work with them, but THEY are forcing this on you."

As it is, he looks like one of those schoolyard punks - you know the type... they kick someone without provocation, and when caught, say "They MADE me do it!"

 

[Cairan]

That may be one way to see it, but I can't wait to see the Bloc out of the picture and down to 20-ish or 30-ish MPs. I really wish luck upon the NDP and the Green Party, I think it's good to have a good counterweight to the conservatives, which the Liberals have utterly failed to be.

The Liberals just keep blowing with the wind... whenever something makes the news, they just take the opposite of whatever the conservatives say, just on the premise that if it's from the right, it must be wrong.


I don't really care if an idea or policy is leftish or rightish. As long as it's good common sense. If Kyoto really was so badly important for Dion et al., then why on Earth did Canada's greenhouse emissions go UP so much on their watch?

Not that I wholeheartly embrace the conservatives, just that if you want to bark about some policy issue, at least don't have a multiyear record proving you failed miserably to give attention to said issue.

 

[RocketMan_Len]

Dude, I could NOT agree with you more.

 

[Notebook]

Your electoral promos are a lot more entertaining than ours.

N.

 

[orwellkid]

Yeah, so far the Consevatives have some great Ad's. I, personally, will be voting Conservative, even though they're gonna get slaughtered here. I live in Downtown Toronto, owned by NDP

I hate the parliamentary system. I wish we had a system like the US where you can vote for your local stuff, and still vote for someone for President. The Liberal guy in my riding would likely do the best job, but I still have to vote Conservative so I can vote for Harperbot.

And yes, I said Harperbot... cuz the man looks and acts like a Robot. Although I must say the new campaign ads make him look a lot more human... kind of.

 

[Notebook]

I'm not sure about the Puffin reference, is that the Canadian National Bird? I always thought it was Celine Dion.

N.

 

[warm icepack]

Well I live in Alberta, the Conservative stronghold. I have mixed feelings about it, to be sure. I'm not a huge fan of the Liberals or the 'Green Shift', so I won't be voting for them. Then again, Harper has been less than stellar these past few months.

What I find ironic about this whole election mess is that fact that Harper tried to exclude the Green party from being included in the leaders debate even though said party now has a seat in Parliament. Strangely enough, look at the Block, which runs in only one province. They have no hope of ever forming a government, yet they are happily included in the debate. Does that not seem backwards to you?