According to my sources, this is a calculated move by Harper to lose the election to a minority Liberal government which the knowledge that the economy is about to take a sharp turn downwards.  Then, once the Liberal minority falls, he'll at long last get his Conservative majority.

 

Regardless, i'll be voting NDP.

I would love to hear him admit that he acted in contempt of Parliament purposefully, for those reasons.  I will probably vote Liberal, possibly NDP.  In any case I'd vote Marxist/Leninist before I voted for the Conservatives.

 

I'm sorry, but this is kind of hard to swallow. That would be a ludicrously risky plan for Harper. He's already on pretty thin ice, having failed to win a majority in multiple elections despite having all the advantages; if he were to lose an election entirely, his ass would be gone before he could implement phase two of his sinister plot. Besides, how did Harper manage to control when the opposition turned on him?

 

This is essentially the make-or-break election for Harper and Ignatieff, and quite possibly both. And of course Layton's likely to be stepping down before too much longer.

I don' know if this is the make or break election, after all the prediction is that the result will be the same as it has been for the last 2 elections (PC party will have most seats but not enough for majority).

 

I image the election that will comes 2 years after this next one though will be the make or break.

 

My point is that if Harper fails to win a majority, the party leadership are likely to be fed up with him and give him the boot. If Ignatieff can't win at all, same thing. Everyone's sick of the status quo, and Harper and Iggy have both had their chances.

I agree that both leaders are under the gun -- but Ignatieff far more than Harper, especially if Harper delivers even a minority.

That said, I find it disheartening that the CPC might get government again given how sleazy and authoritarian and just plain unconservative fiscally. Not to mention, with my background in science, how horrified I am at their deliberate promotion of ignorance and misinformation.

I'm pulling out my hair listening to people say, "why vote, it's only going to wind up to the same government as before" ....

Yeah, Iggy is definitely out if the Liberals don't at least get a minority. He's dicked around too much. Like Dion, he cant get his platform out there. The Liberals don't really have any kind of "issues". They attack Harper and Co. on lame things and they don't seem to fight back with good ammunition.

 

Also, it doesn't help that it seems like most Canadians are lazy sheep who just can't be bothered to vote Harper out. He really does deserve to go but ugh.... to replace him with Iggy? I'm voting Liberal but even I don't get all that enthused with the Liberal party or him. How many more years until Justin Trudeau is the party leader?

 

I admit i was being a tad inflammatory in my earlier prognostication.

 

I think Harper will stick around if he wins another minority.  As a minority leader he's been surprisingly effective though that's got less to do with him and more to do with a weak and disorganized opposition.

 

If Ignatieff's Liberals succeed, it'll have nothing to do with their leader who will not last long regardless of the outcome of the election.

 

Jack Layton's going to stick around.  I think he realizes that he's the only person seen as a true leader, even if his party isn't likely to win a majority in the next ten years (And that's me being optimistic).  Health wise, I don't think he's as frail as the media would make him out to be.  I've seen him recently at a few events around Toronto and in the flesh he seems as fit as a fiddle.

Bob Rae -- though he's an instant target from his Ontario days.

Otherwise, the MSM is accused of being "liberal" (though the vast majority isn't) .

Personally, I look towards sources like the Economist who are pretty good at calling out CPC crap. There seems to be some weird disconnect that the Tory government is somehow divorced from the actions of the government, e.g., Tory tax policy is somehow being distorted or perverted by "liberal" bureaucrats.

Political discourse seems to be "an inch deep and a mile wide" which inevitably leads to hyper-partisanship.

Take the prison building debate for example: I was listening to this Carlton prof Dr Lee beat his chest about his article on how we're underspending on imprisonment in Canada. Nobody challenged his basic assumptions: we're incarcerating the right people, prosecution resources are adequete and are properly focused, laws are adequate, and our common justice principles/goals haven't shifted. His report was useless without at least acknowledging these basic ideas but everyone proceeded blithely on arguing about the simple economics of imprisonment, e.g., we don't have nearly as many people in prison as the UK so we need more prisons!

As I said a few years back, we've moved to a society of implicit understanding instead of trying to be as clear and explicit as possible, e.g., using labels (e.g., neo-con or liberal) instead of discussing actual policy and intentions honestly.

But, I do enjoy this.

Does anyone still run into people who think that the "coalition" that was formed back in 2008 was illegal? I hear people from time to time saying that the Liberals, NDP and Bloc were wrong in what they did and are saying they'd do it again. However, before, the Bloc was never part of the Coalition. They basically said that they were cool with it and wouldn't stand in the Liberals and NDP's way if they formed one. Rick Mercer had a great piece on it ( http://www.youtube.com/user/mercerreport#p/u/15/yi1yhp-_x7A )that I wish more people had seen.

 

I may not be the most educated person on which party is better or what's going on with our government but I do know that I am WAY more educated then the majority out there. I read CBC News daily (several times thoughout the day), I watch CBC News whenever I can and I try and pay attention to at least give me a good idea of whats happening. It's a shame that people, especially young people, don't care. It's also disappointing to see how many people on my Facebook are going to vote Conservative. Ugh. It's a shame really since the Liberal candidate for our area is a really good guy and has good values and I think he'd be a great choice. *sigh* Oh well. Once the Liberals lose again and Iggy steps down maybe they'll find someone who isn't afraid to call out Harper and Co. and can actually talk about issues and creates platforms to stand on. And they really do need to go after the young vote.

 

I don't mean to keep going back to Rick Mercer but he had a another good piece last week or the week before about how the parties are ignoring young voters because we don't vote. So they're just going after the older population. Which is true! But there's a huge young person population out there that if you can connect with you can swing votes your way.

I promise to make all members of CHUD favoured serfs -- until you piss me off and I have to ship you to Winnipeg.

Since we're ranting here: what about how the Craigslist Conservatives ignore the criminal investigations, the convicted party hacks and all manner of rule and law breaking when it's in their favour? Law n' order my Royal Canadian Mounted!

Further to the above, this video pretty much sums things up in terms of the legal implications of the dissolution of parliament.

 

The CBC did a pretty good job at blowing Harper's really big lie about the coalition out of the water.

 

Has anyone else noticed how the left (e.g., not the conservatives) have so far done a really good job at distilling anti-Harper talking points down to simple, easy to spit out factoids?  Being in Toronto I'm in a weird bubble since the closest Harper's going to get to me is offering hand jobs to the suburbanites in the 905.

Hey! I'm in the 905! Actually it was funny, after I posted my rant above the parties ignoring the youth vote, I went upstairs and my mom was watching CTV News about how the parties aren't going after the youth vote. Apparently Iggy is starting too with the his ideas on tuition reform. But he needs to hound that shit home. These guys really need to go after young people. Goto high schools and speak to kids who are 18 and are heading into University/College next year. Talk to these kids and find out what they want. ARGH!! AAhahaha! We need a candidate who's young enough to have charisma and a personality to grab the youth vote as well as one whos able to speak to older people.

Wait, so you're the cunt I get to blame for Rob Ford?!

 

On a serious note, I thought getting the youth vote was why the Liberals drafted Justin Trudeau last election.  I've got a feeling that in a post-Ignatieff world, he'll get pulled in to make the party viable again.  Just a pity it may take a Conservative majority to do it.

 

In other news I'm addicted to this.

No, No. I don't live in Toronto. Ahaha, I'm the other 905, the Ontario South 905. Niagara-Hamilton. And there's too many pie charts on that site! And bar graphs! THAT SITE IS JUST GRAPHS!! THAT'S ALL IT IS!! Ahahaha! Nah, that's an interesting site. Thanks man!

 

 

 

It's interesting that the early release of their platform have got some of my staunch NDP supporting friends thinking about changing teams.  I think they're on to something that might bring the soft left onto their side.  Too bad for them that's only about 4% of the voting public.

 

I have a very bad feeling about this election in spite of the small chance (About the same as an NDP opposition) of Rick Mercer moderating a debate.

The conservative platform in comic form!

That's a pretty great run down on what Harper and Co. have done while they've been holding office. I've posted it to my Facebook. Actually, I've been posting a lot  of CBC News stories that are negative to the Harper held government. I really wish that people would educate themselves. Christ. FUCK!!

 

 

I'm fairly impressed at how much information is being disseminated over Facebook.  I'm trying not to irritate people too much with constant election postings.  At the same time, I wonder how much is simply preaching to the converted.  Me and 99% of my Canadian Facebook friends are, at the most conservative, staunch NDPers.  The last percent, a bunch of rightwing bumfucks I'm related to through marriage who wax romantically for the days of the Reform Party and will go to their graves putting their own interests ahead of society.

I'm watching the debates. Am I imagining things, or did Layton just turn into Poochie for a minute there? THAT'S A HASHTAG FAIL!

Thoughts so far:

Haper needs a new shade of lipstick; Layton's head looks really big; Duceppe's skin is alternatively pink or orange and Ignatief is just fucking terrible.

When I think of Harper I think of Sideshow Bob.

This shit does not look good.

Oct 19, 2015: The earliest that we'll be able to get rid of that cunt.

Fuck this country.I knew they were going to at least get a minority but a majority? Come on.

 

At least folks will finally get to see what Harper's really all about.

 

 

At what cost, though?

Too much to think about without weeping.

I'm actually de-friending people on Facebook over this.

Well, Lizzie May won and the reptilian Lunn is out and the BQ are wiped out, but what a Pyrrhic victory for the NDP and what a kick in the teeth for the country!

I've never been more disappointed in Canadians and have to give a severe talking to for those idiotic NDP and Liberal strategists that thought vote splitting would be to their advantage.

Harper to move fast to use his new authority

Fuck.

sigh. I knew he was getting in, but I didn't see the complete collapse of the bloc and the flocking of the liberals. Here in Alberta its 27 Conservatives and 1 ndp riding.

 

Well i guess its big prisons, harsher drug laws, and a Gov't who's respect for the Canadian people is faker then the perfectly preserved nose of Michael Jackson.

 

 

To help soothe the pain and replace it with rage, I downloaded the latest available election results and came up with this:

In other words, in 45 electoral districts the Libs + NDP neutered themselves to our new Conservative masters.

Not that I want the Conservatives to have another seat (does it really matter if they do anyways?) but this seems fishy and wrong:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/05/06/pol-ndp-brosseau.html

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/citing-fresh-complaint-liberal-candidate-challenges-election-of-absentee-new-democrat/article2012943/

Jack Layton dies at 61

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/08/22/layton-obituary.html

 

 

More at the link above.

 

Sad news. He fought off cancer before but when it comes back again what are the chances of fighting it off for a second time? I never voted for the NDP but I liked Layton a lot. I liked his no-nonsense approach and that he never really had a problem calling out the other leaders. He had a passion for his job and the people of Canada that I haven't seen in awhile. We need more politicians like him. It really is a shame that we never got a chance to see him as the Official Opposition Leader and what he maybe could have done.

This is a letter that Layton wrote a few days ago when he knew his battle with cancer was over.

 

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/08/22/jack-laytons-letter-to-canadians/

 

I'd highly recommend reading it.

This is crazy. Guy wins a major victory and then dies. While I have no idea what's going to come of this, I know Layton was a huge lynchpin of the NDP...I can't help but think this is just going to compound the problem of the newly elected Conservative majority. Canada may be seriously fucked.

When I was reading Layton's letter the thought popped into my head of Harper reading it and thinking, "you know what? He's right. Jack is right. We CAN have a better Canada!" and he then proceeds to change his stance and policies. AHAHAHA!!! I guess there must be a gas leak in the house messing with my head.

A sad day for Canada. He strove to make this country a better place for all peoples, even the poor, the disenfranchised, and generally those who couldn't defend themselves. I just wish Harper could infuse those ideals into his parties economic success.

 

RIP

RIP Jack Layton.

Didn't vote for him (abandoned his party long ago) but you did get a sense that he and Duceppe were campaigning for a different type of country than certainly Harper and, to some extent, Ignatieff were.

I'm loving the new trend on Twitter: tellviceverything

 

Even Justin Trudeau has done one. With Bill C-30 being discussed this is a time when having Jack Layton would be awesome. He'd make so much noise about this thing that Canadians would probably actually start to listen. It's such a God damned shame that he died. He was the perfect choice to fight the Harper Government for the next four years. Now I fear that Bill C-30 will pass and create such a fucking mess of society.

 

I loved that Vic Toews said that if you don't support Bill C-30 you side with the child pornographers. Yep. That makes a lot of sense. Sounds like a Conservative thing to say.

well it looks like the internet backlash has once again surprised the gov't (really? its 2012 folks, not 1998) and they are going to make some changes to the bill. I really wish they would listen as much to the response to the crime bill as to this.

Apparently the vikileaks30 twitter account IP address has been traced back to Parliament. Naturally of course the conservatives starting blaming the NDP. Toews has asked for an investigation into his privacy being breached (ahahaha!) and he said that he understands if Canadians are mad about his "stand with child pornographers" comment but he hasn't offered an apology for it or to the Liberal MP he addressed it too. And I'd be curious to know what "changes" they'll make. As citizens we can ask any company that keeps information on us to tell us what they have done with that information and who they've given it to. However with C-30 if the police get our information, without a warrant, the police can then tell those companies to NOT to tell us that they have given our information to the authorities. Three and a half more years of bullshit like this from these guys. Terrific. Fuck everyone who let them have a majority government.

So it was a Liberal staffer who was doing this. He has since resigned. It really sucks that he did this, as it really takes a lot of ammo away from the Liberals in regards to this new Robo-Calling scandal that is really heating up.

Who fucking cares if a Liberal sent it? This C-30 bill is specifically designed so that the Conservatives can spy on critics, dissenters and political opponents in exactly the same way that Bushco. did under the guise of "finding terrorists" with their warrant-less wiretapping. Toews is a piece of shit who is basically saying "if you don't support this fascist legislation then you support child pornographers". Typical Orwellian conservative tactics.

 

Why is it that conservatives always pull the same fucking shit whether it be spying on people, fucking over the working class and the poor, hating on women, children and the elderly, destroying everything they touch and yet there are still a large amount of people known as "stupid cunts" who STILL vote for these fucking assholes?!?

 

Even with the "robocall" bullshit that went down, it saddens me that the election was even close enough to let these fuckers get a majority. I can't even imagine what Canada will look like by the time Herr Harper and his Reich are fucking done. Why is there not a single fucking politician screaming about how Harper took our surplus and turned it into a record deficit and how they're now talking about fucking "austerity"!!! Why does no one explain to the public that the Conservatives are trying to engineer a crisis so that they can take even more control and dismantle our country!?!

The Conservatives released an "attack" ad on Bob Rae today. It's pretty hilarious. It's like something South Park would do in one of their episodes. It's so dumbed down that it comes across as an ad made for stupid people who don't want to think or ask questions. Here it is:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXlNVvAHfxE&feature=youtu.be

 

I also like that they have him saying "I don't mind having a conversation about that." refering to his time in office. Which means to me he's open to speaking about his record and defending it. Which is a bad thing... how?

 

Also, Rick Mercer did one of his rants about two weeks ago on the robocall issue:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDPaRKXoVeA

 

And here's Rex Murphy's take:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8pgb6gl5HY&feature=related