Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Dutty on September 15, 2008, 05:20:06 PM
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;)
Yeah yeah ah know we election doh have hot chicks, war heroes and clandestine muslims...but ah fine de attention whore campaign in de south shoudnt get all de shine
Besides de election go done before this thread even make page 2...dais EEF it even make 2 pages
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Not ah damn seat for them!!! :devil:
In de 416
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Canadian Politics???
sound like a Oxymoron
But here are my issues (dey are not really mines .. I borrow them from a certain right wing papers :angel:)
1) Annual Productivity Growth: Canada ranks 25th in the world
2) Taxes: 46.2% effective tax rate on labour
3) Infra structure: not enough being spent on new and on maintaining
4) Regulations: there are 13 seperate securities regulators in Canada versus 1 in the US ... :thinking: given what happening in the US . .maybe there is merit to this
5) Medicare: not sure what happening here
Add to this list
Maybe we can construct a cohesive list e of issue to pose to the next candidate who knock on your door.
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My welfare cheque get cut 5 times in the last 2.5 years.
BTW, did you know that a person receiving welfare gets a tax return and gst cheque?
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My welfare cheque get cut 5 times in the last 2.5 years.
BTW, did you know that a person receiving welfare gets a tax return and gst cheque?
PM meh .. .
I bought a book with my GST rebate: "How to Beat the Tax Man" :devil:
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The National Piss
what a paper
Not ah damn seat for them!!! :devil:
In de 416
:applause: :applause:
let's all vote for Jack...and piss off uncle sam :devil:
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The National Piss
what a paper
Not ah damn seat for them!!! :devil:
In de 416
:applause: :applause:
let's all vote for Jack...and piss off uncle sam :devil:
Nah
Elizabeht May
She thinks the Canadian voters are stupid or not stupid .. depending on what day of the week it is
de US have Pailn and Clinton, Canada have May ???
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May?
dais de Green Lady wid all dem teeth?
I doh kno nutten bout she eh
give we some info man
on second thoughts...I goin with the Yogic Flyers :devil:
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Take dat Stephen Harper
:) :applause:
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i will only vote for harper if he change up that hair style.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e80/stephenharper/pmsjh_chedder.jpg)
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you makin joke..leave it to beaver hairstyles makin ah comeback dred
de man posin big and bole wit ah kitten oui ::)
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he in touch with he sensitive side ... leave de man alone :rotfl:
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he in touch with he sensitive side ... leave de man alone :rotfl:
oh ho dais de trick..after he shake he son hand on the boy first day of school some years back...he tryin to sorfen de image...so he leave out de family altogether now
just he and de pussy by de fireplace 8)...wit de pedo-smile
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Harper is kicks oui. Man win election, so camera following him as he took his son to school. Man facing the school with he son, shake the youth man hand and take off we. No good luck in school today son, with ah hug nah. Handfackingshake!
Ah say wheys.. maybe I was to sorf on my kids oui.
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As a public service announcement for the ex-Pats living in Canada
Here are the political leaders in the upcoming Federal Elections. Some people say that 1 in 5 Canadian cannot name the leaders of these parties
(http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/images/images&downloads/parties.jpg)(http://www.greenparty.ca/files/EMslideshow.jpg)
Elizabeth May, O.C., L.L.B., PhD (Hon)
Leader, Green Party of Canada
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Harper is a cock head. Bush ventriloquist puppet
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:rotfl: :rotfl: cockhead he say oui!
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who here read this yet
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_harper/?cl=132738709&v=2223
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who here read this yet
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_harper/?cl=132738709&v=2223
so you make yuh donation yet? ::)
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who here read this yet
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_harper/?cl=132738709&v=2223
so you make yuh donation yet? ::)
nah......I sooo poor
I can't even "Pay attention"
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after the last leader's debate with martin, harper, layton and duceppe, i would have voted for duceppe - IF he ran nationally ;) honest, it's too bad he on the other side.
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after the last leader's debate with martin, harper, layton and duceppe, i would have voted for duceppe - IF he ran nationally ;) honest, it's too bad he on the other side.
Likewise
Yeah I even wanted to ask his party how to start up a BC version ;D
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
Richardson regrets immigrant crime remarks
Updated: Thu Sep. 25 2008 16:31:08
ctvcalgary.ca with a report from CP
The Liberals and NDP are demanding Conservative incumbent MP Lee Richardson resign for inflammatory remarks about Canadian immigrants.
In an interview with Fast Forward Weekly, a newspaper based in Calgary, Richardson is quoted as saying that crimes in Canada aren't being committed by "the kid that grew up next door."
He is also quoted as saying that people from other cultures "don't have the same respect for authority or people's person or property."
Liberal Calgary Centre candidate Heesung Kim, herself an immigrant from South Korea, denounced the comments as "disturbing."
"To say that if you weren't born and bred in Canada then you're more likely to be a criminal is completely unbelievable," she said.
Richardson's remarks threaten to undo a vigorous Conservative effort led by Jason Kenney -- the party's liaison to minority groups and the Tory candidate in the adjacent riding of Calgary Southeast -- to woo immigrant voters.
In a written statement late Thursday afternoon, Richardson said he regretted making the remarks.
And of course the asswipe is from Calgary
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
[
I go answer that ..
de Conservatives dont have a monopoly on duncey head remarks
dey does all say schupid things
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
I go answer that ..
de Conservatives dont have a monopoly on duncey head remarks
dey does all say schupid things
wait nuh Pecan, dem Conservatives ent play dem is LOW lifes eh
ya hear what the "federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz" said.......
let me repeat that, THE "federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz" said.......after people had died from listeriosis?
if dem tink that they gettin my vote...day go have to wait a loooonnng time.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/09/18/listeriosis-families.html
check what this next JOKER said about the Greyhound Bus killing
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080920/election2008_bob_rae_080920/20080921?s_name=election2008
if allya STILL not convinced
read this
http://groups.google.com/group/ont.politics/browse_thread/thread/446d6342a2759c71
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
I go answer that ..
de Conservatives dont have a monopoly on duncey head remarks
dey does all say schupid things
wait nuh Pecan, dem Conservatives ent play dem is LOW lifes eh
ya hear what the "federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz" said.......let me repeat that, THE "federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz"said.......after people died from listeriosis?
if dem tink that they gettin my vote...day go have to wait a loooonnng time.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/09/18/listeriosis-families.html
yeah .. that was a rather asinine and insensitive thing to say. No argument
But take a look at any government, regardless of party.
They have all made asinine statements in the past and will continue to so so in the future, regardless of political stripes
I think I might vote for the APC
The Anarchy Party of Canada
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
I go answer that ..
de Conservatives dont have a monopoly on duncey head remarks
dey does all say schupid things
wait nuh Pecan, dem Conservatives ent play dem is LOW lifes eh
ya hear what the "federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz" said.......let me repeat that, THE "federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz"said.......after people died from listeriosis?
if dem tink that they gettin my vote...day go have to wait a loooonnng time.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/09/18/listeriosis-families.html
yeah .. that was a rather asinine and insensitive thing to say. No argument
But take a look at any government, regardless of party.
They have all made asinine statements in the past and will continue to so so in the future, regardless of political stripes
I think I might vote for the APC
The Anarchy Party of Canada
ya goin to de next WTO meeting wid dem den? :devil:
I tink ah have a picture of you
(http://www.witiger.com/internationalbusiness/scan~WTO~protest2003~2SM.jpg)
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
[
I go answer that ..
de Conservatives dont have a monopoly on duncey head remarks
dey does all say schupid things
Pecan, conservatives, by the very definition of the word tend to stick with the old and are more out of touch with social change. Conservatives natural base in Canada as it is for the US is in the rural "heartlands" where the more traditional forms of culture manifest themselves as I'm sure you are aware of. Most imigrants don't settle in rural areas, hence the limited contact with conservatives and their base.
Now let me point out that it is really the Reform Party stalwarts that have been hiding under the carpet of this "new" conservative party that making all this setta noise. This is the ultra conservative cabal that suggested that visible minorities and gays should retreat to the back of the store if a racist/phobic person does wish to enter a commercial transaction with them.
Now if if you want to characterize immigrant crime, it is more in line with social/cultural deprivation than being an immigrant, i.e. "crime" is more contingent on social/economic conditions than immigration status. Native Indians are not immigrants yet they have far higher crime rates than immigrants. The key variable is economic/social status not country of origin. The conservatives just do not give more than a cursory thought thought to these issues precisely becuase they are out of touch.
Let me be plain: Somehow immigrant crime seems to be more aggregious than white crime, its new, scary, different and all that. Ritz says the boy-next-door does not commit crimes. Is he mad? Robert Latimer Robert Pickton probably casually slaughtered more women than the whole immigrant population of Canada, and he have the gall to talk 'bout boy-next-door?
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
I go answer that ..
de Conservatives dont have a monopoly on duncey head remarks
dey does all say schupid things
Pecan, conservatives, by the very definition of the word tend to stick with the old and are more out of touch with social change. Conservatives natural base in Canada as it is for the US is in the rural "heartlands" where the more traditional forms of culture manifest themselves as I'm sure you are aware of. Most imigrants don't settle in rural areas, hence the limited contact with conservatives and their base.
Now let me point out that it is really the Reform Party stalwarts that have been hiding under the carpet of this "new" conservative party that making all this setta noise. This is the ultra conservative cabal that suggested that visible minorities and gays should retreat to the back of the store if a racist/phobic person does wish to enter a commercial transaction with them.
Now if if you want to characterize immigrant crime, it is more in line with social/cultural deprivation than being an immigrant, i.e. "crime" is more contingent on social conditions than immigration status. Native Indians are not immigrants yet they have far higher crime rates than immigrants. The key variable is economic status not country of origin. The conservatives just do not give more than a cursory thought thought to these issues precisely becuase they are out of touch.
Let me be plain: Somehow immigrant crime seems to be more aggregious than white crime, its new, scary, different and all that. Ritz says the boy-next-door does not commit crimes. Is he mad? Robert Latimer probably casually slaughtered more women than the whole immigrant population of Canada, and he have the gall to talk 'bout boy-next-door?
orrite Zandoh, let we be very clear here
"more traditional forms of culture " = Red Neck Ideologies :devil:
on a side note here, and as ya bring up Latimer...you do know that he is in a half way house as we speak, so my question is this
"What is your take on his situation, and do you believe that he is a threat or a danger to society?"
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Well breds, I'm trying to be kind eh, and rednecks is people too. Some of them not so bad once you get beyond the mutual mistrust. So leh we say traditional Canadian culture for now nah :)
See my correction I meant Robert Pickton the pig farmer who going up on trial for at least 26 murders. I really don't know much about Robert Latimer and all the issue pertaining to that scence. What is your take?
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Well breds, I'm trying to kind eh, and rednecks is people too. Some of them not so bad once you get beyond the mutual mistrust. So leh we say traditional Canadian culture for now nah :)
Yeah, dem is people too and I am sure God really loves dem also
and they do provide us with kicks.
My only question that I maybe would want answered about Latimer is this
"Did he ever consider putting his daughter up for adoption, if he and his wife had a hard time watching her day in day out?"
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Well breds, I'm trying to kind eh, and rednecks is people too. Some of them not so bad once you get beyond the mutual mistrust. So leh we say traditional Canadian culture for now nah :)
Yeah, dem is people too and I am sure God really loves dem also
and they do provide us with kicks.
My only question that I maybe would want answered about Latimer is this
"Did he ever consider putting his daughter up for adoption, if he and his wife had a hard time watching her day in day out?"
maybe they did not want to do so at first, but as they got older and could do less and less maybe the frustration caught up with them. The same government that probably deny the man any assistance atall end up condemning him.
That discussion well out my paygrade. I keeping myself happy just waiting for the next outburst from a Reform Party jackass who should know better.
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I keeping myself happy just waiting for the next outburst from a Reform Party jackass who should know better.
as past experiences have shown....you ent goin to have to wait too long fa dat :devil:
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Why is it that conservatives always wait until an election to open dey mouth and say something dumb?
Is stupid they stupid? Wait, doh answer that....
[
I go answer that ..
de Conservatives dont have a monopoly on duncey head remarks
dey does all say schupid things
Pecan, conservatives, by the very definition of the word tend to stick with the old and are more out of touch with social change. Conservatives natural base in Canada as it is for the US is in the rural "heartlands" where the more traditional forms of culture manifest themselves as I'm sure you are aware of. Most imigrants don't settle in rural areas, hence the limited contact with conservatives and their base.
Now let me point out that it is really the Reform Party stalwarts that have been hiding under the carpet of this "new" conservative party that making all this setta noise. This is the ultra conservative cabal that suggested that visible minorities and gays should retreat to the back of the store if a racist/phobic person does wish to enter a commercial transaction with them.
Now if if you want to characterize immigrant crime, it is more in line with social/cultural deprivation than being an immigrant, i.e. "crime" is more contingent on social/economic conditions than immigration status. Native Indians are not immigrants yet they have far higher crime rates than immigrants. The key variable is economic/social status not country of origin. The conservatives just do not give more than a cursory thought thought to these issues precisely becuase they are out of touch.
Let me be plain: Somehow immigrant crime seems to be more aggregious than white crime, its new, scary, different and all that. Ritz says the boy-next-door does not commit crimes. Is he mad? Robert Latimer Robert Pickton probably casually slaughtered more women than the whole immigrant population of Canada, and he have the gall to talk 'bout boy-next-door?
I cant really argue with what you say because I think yoiu generally capture the gist of the conservative philosphy.
I do not trust Harper. On the other hand, I dont trust the Liberals either. I still have a copy of Cretien's "Red Book" where he made a multitude of promises and failed to deliver.
As for the NDP and Green Pary, they living in a fantasy world.
So what is one to do?
In three of the last Federal elections, I took my ballot and handed it back to the Returning Officer as a protest against the nonsense I see in Federal Politics. Needless to say, I made as much impact as a male Chihuahua trying to mount a great dane bitch
In my riding i dont like the incumbent Liberal MP - I sent her five e-mail and faxes and snail mail (well a combination). Not once did she acknowledge my questions.
The Conservative candidate I know of since 1988. And I do not hold him in high regard.
So i eh know what to do .....
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I cant really argue with what you say because I think yoiu generally capture the gist of the conservative philosphy.
I do not trust Harper. On the other hand, I dont trust the Liberals either. I still have a copy of Cretien's "Red Book" where he made a multitude of promises and failed to deliver.
As for the NDP and Green Pary, they living in a fantasy world.
So what is one to do?
In three of the last Federal elections, I took my ballot and handed it back to the Returning Officer as a protest against the nonsense I see in Federal Politics. Needless to say, I made as much impact as a male Chihuahua trying to mount a great dane bitch
In my riding i dont like the incumbent Liberal MP - I sent her five e-mail and faxes and snail mail (well a combination). Not once did she acknowledge my questions.
The Conservative candidate I know of since 1988. And I do not hold him in high regard.
So i eh know what to do .....
Frankly I don't trust what coming out of the Liberal party now either, they generally are the opposite of Conservatives and only say what they think you want them to say. Preston Manning once said he would place more faith in the Bre-X prospectus than the liberal red book. 8)
I am not really a Jack Layton fan and the Conservatives are...well the Conservatives!
I went to hear Elizabeth May speak at a green party address last year and she quite impressed me. The Greens not as flaky as you may think. However with them its a mixed bag, one of their provincial candidates a few years ago billed himself as a "juggler" and street performer :-\ But they do have some serious candidates depending on location.
I would say hold yuh nose and vote oui. I was lucky to have had a great liberal MP in my riding during the Chretien years. Perhaps the key is not to be satisfied with just taking whoever the riding association decides to fling out and get involved in putting a hand in who they select to represent you.
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Frankly I don't trust what coming out of the Liberal party now either, they generally are the opposite of Conservatives and only say what they think you want them to say. Preston Manning once said he would place more faith in the Bre-X prospectus than the liberal red book. 8)
I am not really a Jack Layton fan and the Conservatives are...well the Conservatives!
I went to hear Elizabeth May speak at a green party address last year and she quite impressed me. The Greens not as flaky as you may think. However with them its a mixed bag, one of their provincial candidates a few years ago billed himself as a "juggler" and street performer :-\ But they do have some serious candidates depending on location.
I would say hold yuh nose and vote oui. I was lucky to have had a great liberal MP in my riding during the Chretien years. Perhaps the key is not to be satisfied with just taking whoever the riding association decides to fling out and get involved in putting a hand in who they select to represent you.
1) Green Party: I actually know the Green Party candidate to say "hello to". But in the the setting in which I know her, she never struck me as the type to run for federal office. Can she do a good job? .. I have not seen any evidence that she has what it takes ... but I will look into her platform some more.
2) Conservatives: My neighbour dong the street was campaigning to get the present candidate nominated. I refused to sign the nomination (so in a way, I did have a hand in deciding who would get in ::)). But he still got the nomination.
3) Liberals: my other neighbour is a good friend of the Liberal Incumbent .. I have to be careful of what I say. At least with by conservative neighbour, I can openly voice my opinions.
I have my questions lined up for when they come knocking on my door.
"I would say hold yuh nose and vote oui." - but I suspect this might be the way I vote this year :(
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I do not trust Harper. On the other hand, I dont trust the Liberals either. I still have a copy of Cretien's "Red Book" where he made a multitude of promises and failed to deliver.
Yeah I feel the sameway
In my opinion Cretien single handedly destroyed what Pierre Trudeau did for the Liberal party of Canada and I am looking to see if this new character, Stéphane Dion, will revive the party to the high standards of yesteryear.
I cant figure Dion out as yet
Is he just not able to express his ideas properly in English or he just plain chupid...time will tell
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;)
Yeah yeah ah know we election doh have hot chicks, war heroes and clandestine muslims...but ah fine de attention whore campaign in de south shoudnt get all de shine
Besides de election go done before this thread even make page 2...dais EEF it even make 2 pages
aye Dutty - is two pages .... and elections still three weeks away. ;D
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ya goin to de next WTO meeting wid dem den? :devil:
I tink ah have a picture of you
(http://www.witiger.com/internationalbusiness/scan~WTO~protest2003~2SM.jpg)
de problem is that we having a hard time trying to UNITE
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buh wait. I now get meh voting reg card in the mail friday, then check to see who i voting for.. me eh see no UNCa or PNM candidates. Is den I remember I living Canada and not TnT and should starting knowing about things that directly affect me and mines. Lesson to learn here people.
so the next fella who send me ah juzzy getting my vote.
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ya goin to de next WTO meeting wid dem den? :devil:
I tink ah have a picture of you
(http://www.witiger.com/internationalbusiness/scan~WTO~protest2003~2SM.jpg)
de problem is that we having a hard time trying to UNITE
sounds like anarchy in trute :devil:
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buh wait. I now get meh voting reg card in the mail friday, then check to see who i voting for.. me eh see no UNCa or PNM candidates. Is den I remember I living Canada and not TnT and should starting knowing about things that directly affect me and mines. Lesson to learn here people.
so the next fella who send me ah juzzy getting my vote.
my local PC came to the door yesterday
i told him, if he give me $10 id vote for he
he say he cant do that, steupps
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last election, meh pops and i was talking and i thought i really had him pegged as a moderate kind of progressive. then he tell me he vote for the CHP - wtf?! what a misread! but eh, i've cast votes for conservatives, liberals, new democrats and greens at one time or another. let's see what happens this time round.
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buh wait. I now get meh voting reg card in the mail friday, then check to see who i voting for.. me eh see no UNCa or PNM candidates. Is den I remember I living Canada and not TnT and should starting knowing about things that directly affect me and mines. Lesson to learn here people.
so the next fella who send me ah juzzy getting my vote.
my local PC came to the door yesterday
i told him, if he give me $10 id vote for he
he say he cant do that, steupps
;D - but how people does be putting sign up on lawn and fence for a candidate? that should cost something, ent?
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last election, meh pops and i was talking and i thought i really had him pegged as a moderate kind of progressive. then he tell me he vote for the CHP - wtf?! what a misread! but eh, i've cast votes for conservatives, liberals, new democrats and greens at one time or another. let's see what happens this time round.
CHP?...well I learned something new today
http://www.chp.ca/en/index.html
Federally, I have mostly voted Liberal and, when Cretin was in power, I voted NDP.
Provincialy, I have voted NDP as the BC Liberals, who are NOT associated with the Federal Liberals, are really Socreds.
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I C WWGP is alive and well in Canada. Dem yanks eh have dat problem but d fella is not d cream in d oreo so dey havin problems
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Ah not shame to say, but I'm so out of the loop where this elections is concerned. For one, Conservatives will win this again, simple reason, they have no competition. Liberals have Jackass Dion at the helm, Elizabeth and Jack - I don't know, whenever both of them speak I tend to go into a day dream. They hold no substance in their speeches to get me even close to being interested to hear more.
I'm more interested in the US elections, because who ever win that one will tell me who will be running Canada.
Ever since they call elections in Canada, all of a sudden gas prices at it's lowest since the beginning of the year, a new proposal for a transit system in the GTA. The 2 most important issues that affect each Canadian and Immgiant on ah daily basis. Concidence ???
Strangely enough, I haven't heard anyone mention unemployment issues especially in the manufacturing industry. Or did I miss it ???
Again i'm out of the loop.....
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;)
Yeah yeah ah know we election doh have hot chicks, war heroes and clandestine muslims...but ah fine de attention whore campaign in de south shoudnt get all de shine
Besides de election go done before this thread even make page 2...dais EEF it even make 2 pages
aye Dutty - is two pages .... and elections still three weeks away. ;D
I be are stunned. :o
Look like dis years shotgun contest not as devoid of personality like Stephan Dion
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Tonight, a volunteer from the Liberal incumbent MP phone to see how I voting.
Ah tell she dat in the las election, I sent two emails and three faxes to my member of parliament and i didden even get one acknowledgment (I sent the missives to both the Ottawa office and the local London office).
Yuh know what she tell me?
Maybe I should send another letter complain that no one answered me the first five times.
I steups and tell she no ... but if the Member comes to my door, I will be happy to talks to her.
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Tonight, a volunteer from the Liberal incumbent MP phone to see how I voting.
Ah tell she dat in the las election, I sent two emails and three faxes to my member of parliament and i didden even get one acknowledgment (I sent the missives to both the Ottawa office and the local London office).
Yuh know what she tell me?
Maybe I should send another letter complain that no one answered me the first five times.
I steups and tell she no ... but if the Member comes to my door, I will be happy to talks to her.
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Next time when she call ya, tell she yas ah illegal immigrant, and ya hoping conservatives win so ya could stay longer.
Conservatives in dey area ah think thursday evening.
Liberals on friday.
green party...dunno, like dey fraids we :devil:
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blasted tief ...
==
Harper rocked by plagiarism charge on eve of debates (http://news.sympatico.msn.ca/election_08/contentposting.aspx?feedname=cp_en_election&showbyline=true&newsitemid=71189035&paginationenabled=false)
OTTAWA - A spiralling economic forecast and damning charges of plagiarism against Stephen Harper have injected some drama into the federal election campaign on the eve of the televised leaders debates.
Bruce Cheadle, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The prime minister formally requested Tuesday that the economy be given more space - up to half the allotted time - in the two-hour debate format.
"I have instructed my party to do everything possible to accommodate a format change to ensure these debates focus on the No. 1 issue on the minds of Canadians - the economy - and that the economic discussion take precedence over less urgent issues," Harper said in a release.
Among those lesser issues, according to a Conservative official, is evidence that Harper lifted huge segments of a 2003 speech in the House of Commons directly from then-Australian prime minister John Howard.
Harper's speech advocated Canadian entry into the U.S.-led war in Iraq, a conflict that continues to this day and has cost more than 4,000 American lives while draining the U.S. treasury of almost US $600 billion.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, a former academic, said "Harper should be expelled" for the plagiarism, adding that the context in which it occurred is "even worse."
"It's about Stephen Harper saying that Canada should go with the war in Iraq," Dion said in Gatineau, Que.
"He's unable to choose his own words, he chose the words of (U.S. President George W. Bush's) coalition of the willing."
A Harper spokesman flatly refused to deny the speech was plagiarized, even when offered a direct invitation to do so. He also repeatedly refused to say who wrote the speech.
Instead, speaking on a conference call with reporters under the cloak of anonymity, he condemned the controversy as "more gotcha politics" that shows "Liberal desperation."
He dismissed a question about whether Howard and Harper may have received Iraq talking points from the Bush administration as "one of the most ridiculous, speculative assertions" - but never responded directly.
He said Harper's past public comments as Opposition leader should have no bearing on how Canadian voters judge his government.
"You're trying to draw comparisons to statements from people in Opposition to the actual record of a government who was in charge of the country. That is an apples-to-oranges comparison."
It's a line of reasoning that effectively negates many stock Tory attacks on Dion, such as the Liberal leader's musings about the GST, deficit financing and Tory child-care allowances.
The Liberals had already begun this week to turn their campaign toward the past Liberal record as deficit-slayers and managers of a roaring Canadian economy.
Not to be outdone, the New Democrats reminded voters Tuesday of several Liberals who advocated Canadian participation in the Iraq war, most notably deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.
NDP Leader Jack Layton had advocated this week for an all-party leaders' summit on the economy before Wednesday night's French-language debate.
The Conservatives argued Tuesday that their proposal to expand the economic segment of the debate to an hour from 15 minutes fit with the NDP rationale.
Harper, Layton and Green Leader Elizabeth May all cleared their schedules for Tuesday, planning to devote their time exclusively to debate preparation.
Harper emerged briefly to see his young daughter Rachel off to school Tuesday, in a staged photo-op that was organized by Conservative party strategists.
Dion and Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois held brief events across the river in Gatineau, Que., before buckling down to their own pre-debate studies.
All the opposition leaders have been berating the prime minister in the wake of a stock-market meltdown sparked by economic woes in the United States.
The Toronto stock exchange plunged more than 800 points Monday, following news that American legislators had rejected a massive bailout package proposed by the Bush administration to clean up the mess on Wall Street.
Harper's response is that now is not the time for what he characterized as massive spending plans by the opposition parties that would push the country's finances into deficit, significantly hike taxes - or both.
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Shithong
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lets remember that Harper ent writing no speech, its his speech maker
that man is the thief and shithound
Harper ent go know that something placed in front of him is plagiarism...kind of an ironic statement lol
that being said, the PCs have some very WEAK support people
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Doh mind Newcastle struggling, I still think Shay Given is a better goalkeeper.
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Doh mind Newcastle struggling, I still think Shay Given is a better goalkeeper.
:o
:rotfl: :rotfl: :devil:
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lets remember that Harper ent writing no speech, its his speech maker
that man is the thief and shithound
Harper ent go know that something placed in front of him is plagiarism...kind of an ironic statement lol
that being said, the PCs have some very WEAK support people
boss, PCs is old ting. they drop that "Progressive" label long time. but i hear you - some of those old Reform Party members still getting a wuk. that is loyalty of a kind.
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lets remember that Harper ent writing no speech, its his speech maker
that man is the thief and shithound
Harper ent go know that something placed in front of him is plagiarism...kind of an ironic statement lol
that being said, the PCs have some very WEAK support people
boss, PCs is old ting. they drop that "Progressive" label long time. but i hear you - some of those old Reform Party members still getting a wuk. that is loyalty of a kind.
lol ah did forget that
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They still have a PC Party - Progressive Canadian Party
http://progressivecanadian.ca/english/navigation/about/about.html (http://progressivecanadian.ca/english/navigation/about/about.html)
I watch a all candidates debate last night for my Riding.
The Green Party candidate sounded good for the first 40 minutes than she begin to melt down when the topic turned to the environment.
The Liberals, Conservatives and NDP were predictable
The CHP was a no show.
The PC candidate ?? - I felt sorry for him. He was at a loss for works most of the time and just ended up sounding like a blabbering idiot.
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just finished listening to the french language debate. wow, harper took WOOD. licks pass and harper get most of the abuse. layton talk stupid - all his answers turned into questions to harper, like he was still in parliament. dion agreed with harper too much. may was the most honest - she could have talked more but was uncomfortable with the language. duceppe was the maestro as usual.
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9:00 - 11:00 TV tonight go be interesting - all competitive stuff
1) Canadian Leaders English Debate
2) US Vice-Presidential Debate
and
3) America's Got Talent - Top five take the stage
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9:00 - 11:00 TV tonight go be interesting - all competitive stuff
1) Canadian Leaders English Debate :yawning:
2) US Vice-Presidential Debate
and
3) America's Got Talent - Top five take the stage :yawning: :yawning: :yawning: I painting a room so have to watch it dry ;D
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9:00 - 11:00 TV tonight go be interesting - all competitive stuff
1) Canadian Leaders English Debate :yawning:
2) US Vice-Presidential Debate
and
3) America's Got Talent - Top five take the stage :yawning: :yawning: :yawning: I painting a room so have to watch it dry ;D
make sure yuh not watching Palin while you paint cause you might zug up the paint job when you start to laugh (then again, she might surprise us .. wait and see)
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they had one jokey question in last night's debate - someone asked the 5 leaders to say something nice about the person to their left. may had real problems finding something nice to say about harper professionally - so she said he is a wonderful father. like she eh see mr. handshake send off his youth to school. :rotfl:
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like she eh see mr. handshake send off his youth to school. :rotfl:
ent.
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9:00 - 11:00 TV tonight go be interesting - all competitive stuff
1) Canadian Leaders English Debate :yawning:
2) US Vice-Presidential Debate
and
3) America's Got Talent - Top five take the stage :yawning: :yawning: :yawning: I painting a room so have to watch it dry ;D
make sure yuh not watching Palin while you paint cause you might zug up the paint job when you start to laugh (then again, she might surprise us .. wait and see)
Palin/Republicans are ah real head case
Too bad Gilles Duceppe aint for ALL of Canada
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How can we elect a Prime Minster who has no seats outside Canada Quebec. That sounds like treason to me.
The debate last night looked like "gang up on Harper again".
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How can we elect a Prime Minster who has no seats outside Canada Quebec. That sounds like treason to me.
The debate last night looked like "gang up on Harper again".
Harper is de King of the castle
an de res are de dirty rascals
it will be good for him
make hair grow on his chest
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How can we elect a Prime Minster who has no seats outside Canada Quebec. That sounds like treason to me.
The debate last night looked like "gang up on Harper again".
Harper is de King of the castle
an de res are de dirty rascals
it will be good for him
make hair grow on his chest
but he always wearing fuzzy sweaters .. .no body go see it unless Layton strip him :devil:
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How can we elect a Prime Minster who has no seats outside Canada Quebec. That sounds like treason to me.
The debate last night looked like "gang up on Harper again".
Harper is de King of the castle
an de res are de dirty rascals
it will be good for him
make hair grow on his chest
but he always wearing fuzzy sweaters .. .no body go see it unless Layton strip him :devil:
ha ha ;D that was a real gay remark from layton about what harper had under his sweater. layton staying up dreaming about what is under harper's sweater or wha?
i gorn spoil my ballot and write in "duceppe" ;)
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How can we elect a Prime Minster who has no seats outside Canada Quebec. That sounds like treason to me.
The debate last night looked like "gang up on Harper again".
Harper is de King of the castle
an de res are de dirty rascals
it will be good for him
make hair grow on his chest
but he always wearing fuzzy sweaters .. .no body go see it unless Layton strip him :devil:
ha ha ;D that was a real gay remark from layton about what harper had under his sweater. layton staying up dreaming about what is under harper's sweater or wha?
i gorn spoil my ballot and write in "duceppe" ;)
I din ketch dat part
wap nin day?
Layton have latent homosexual tedencies or wha
He cyar wait for the erection election or wha? :devil:
I paid more attention during the last election and Duceppe made a lot of sense with his ideas.
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How can we elect a Prime Minster who has no seats outside Canada Quebec. That sounds like treason to me.
The debate last night looked like "gang up on Harper again".
Harper is de King of the castle
an de res are de dirty rascals
it will be good for him
make hair grow on his chest
but he always wearing fuzzy sweaters .. .no body go see it unless Layton strip him :devil:
ha ha ;D that was a real gay remark from layton about what harper had under his sweater. layton staying up dreaming about what is under harper's sweater or wha?
i gorn spoil my ballot and write in "duceppe" ;)
I din ketch dat part
wap nin day?
Layton have latent homosexual tedencies or wha
He cyar wait for the erection election or wha? :devil:
I paid more attention during the last election and Duceppe made a lot of sense with his ideas.
but dew man lobbying for secession?
Layton comment was near the end when he asked Harper what he hiding under his sweater (I am paraphrasing) :devil:
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How can we elect a Prime Minster who has no seats outside Canada Quebec. That sounds like treason to me.
The debate last night looked like "gang up on Harper again".
Harper is de King of the castle
an de res are de dirty rascals
it will be good for him
make hair grow on his chest
but he always wearing fuzzy sweaters .. .no body go see it unless Layton strip him :devil:
ha ha ;D that was a real gay remark from layton about what harper had under his sweater. layton staying up dreaming about what is under harper's sweater or wha?
i gorn spoil my ballot and write in "duceppe" ;)
I din ketch dat part
wap nin day?
Layton have latent homosexual tendencies or wha
He cyar wait for the erection election or wha? :devil:
I paid more attention during the last election and Duceppe made a lot of sense with his ideas.
but dew man lobbying for secession?
Layton comment was near the end when he asked Harper what he hiding under his sweater (I am paraphrasing) :devil:
hearnuh
PEI (5,683.91 km² ) is smaller than Vancouver Island (32,134 km² ) ;D
I could run for premier of the province of VI
Ah go need ah minister of Engineering ;)
den hook up wid Ducceppe and secede
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i think layton was trying to find the conservative platform so he asked harper - something like. "where's your platform? under the sweater?" any number of responses to that setup.
wasn't there a secessionist movement involving BC, washington state and oregon? here it is: Cascadia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_(independence_movement))
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or we could move to the islands of St. Pierre and Micquelon and take it from France and form our own nation on the east coast (it closer to TR&T)
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Anyone who votes NDP should be forced to move to Baffin Island with Layton where they could set up and live in their perfect society with pristine environment, and no industry, not to mention dancing pixies and unicorns.
Or course he would need a no limit Visa card to pay for it all .
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Anyone who votes NDP should be forced to move to Baffin Island with Layton where they could set up and live in their perfect society with pristine environment, and no industry, not to mention dancing pixies and unicorns.
Or course he would need a no limit Visa card to pay for it all .
ha ha - no industry, but everyone in a union. :D
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Anyone who votes NDP should be forced to move to Baffin Island with Layton where they could set up and live in their perfect society with pristine environment, and no industry, not to mention dancing pixies and unicorns.
Or course he would need a no limit Visa card to pay for it all .
ha ha - no industry, but everyone in a union. :D
wait nah .. what about seal hunting and ice production?
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OK .. I done vote a few minute ago.
Advanced polling is Oct 3, 4 and 6 in our riding.
:-\ :-\ :-\
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Anyone who votes NDP should be forced to move to Baffin Island with Layton where they could set up and live in their perfect society with pristine environment, and no industry, not to mention dancing pixies and unicorns.
Or course he would need a no limit Visa card to pay for it all .
Buh A A. Dem Albertans well gettin orn.
Ah feel Ricky jes waitin fuh Preston to bring back out de Reform Party yes... ;D
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or we could move to the islands of St. Pierre and Micquelon and take it from France and form our own nation on the east coast (it closer to TR&T)
nah nah nah man
out dere have sumting called
w
i
n
t
e
r
every year my snow shovel that I had in Edmonton does only steeeuuupss at me :D
I staying right here in de Tropic of Canada ;D
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I know Pecan and Dutty have already read this article
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/10/03/online-poll-gives-nod-to-harper-with-layton-second.aspx :o
this article is what I have been talking about
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/10/03/gilles-duceppe-canada-s-master-debater.aspx
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this article is what I have been talking about
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/10/03/gilles-duceppe-canada-s-master-debater.aspx
fur troot?
I think someone at the National Post was having a little fun
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mmm hmmm
We get we first piece of election 'drama'
Support de liberals and dey go cut yuh brake lines....pecan, yuh peoples fightin dirty ;)
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081002/election2008_liberal_vandals_081005/20081005?s_name=election2008 (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081002/election2008_liberal_vandals_081005/20081005?s_name=election2008)
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Anyone who votes NDP should be forced to move to Baffin Island with Layton where they could set up and live in their perfect society with pristine environment, and no industry, not to mention dancing pixies and unicorns.
Or course he would need a no limit Visa card to pay for it all .
ha ha - no industry, but everyone in a union. :D
wait nah .. what about seal hunting and ice production?
there's also the tourist industry - baffin island is ideally situated to service american icebreakers as they pass by on their way to claim sovereignty over everything the canadian navy cyah reach. ;)
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this article is what I have been talking about
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/10/03/gilles-duceppe-canada-s-master-debater.aspx
fur troot?
I think someone at the National Post was having a little fun
is ah good ting he ent put the "de" infront of the "master" and end wid "bater" :devil: :devil:
demasterbater :o
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Things not going so well for Steve-O. People losing $$$ left right and center and Stevie talking about "buying opportunity". It was working better with the sweater and the pedophile-smile. Somebody please throw a ball gag in the man mouth.
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apparently nobel prize laureate yann martel is trying to encourage stephen harper to read more:
http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/
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apparently nobel prize laureate yann martel is trying to encourage stephen harper to read more:
http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/
"No doubt being Prime Minister fills his entire consideration and froths his sense of busied importance to the very brim."
:o
HOW do people think up stuff like this......amazing
and then to read this
"Truly I say to you, there are only two sets of tools with which the rich soil of life can be worked: the religious and the artistic. Everything else is illusion that crumbles before the onslaught of time. If you die having prayed to no god, any god, one expressed above an altar or one painted with a brush, then you risk wasting the soul you were given. Repent! Repent!"
Fund the Arts my dear PM
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apparently nobel prize laureate yann martel is trying to encourage stephen harper to read more:
http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/
"No doubt being Prime Minister fills his entire consideration and froths his sense of busied importance to the very brim."
:o
HOW do people think up stuff like this......amazing
and then to read this
"Truly I say to you, there are only two sets of tools with which the rich soil of life can be worked: the religious and the artistic. Everything else is illusion that crumbles before the onslaught of time. If you die having prayed to no god, any god, one expressed above an altar or one painted with a brush, then you risk wasting the soul you were given. Repent! Repent!"
Fund the Arts my dear PM
Oh to be an artist ... stillness is what I yearn for but it eludes me, from the depths of my consciousness to the world around me, I have yet to find that moment, where I can be at peace with my creator and dwell in the serenity of stillness ...Oh to be an artist.
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apparently nobel prize laureate yann martel is trying to encourage stephen harper to read more:
http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/
So Yann Martel go be mailing books for some time to come
I wish I had the time to read a book to expand my stillness every two weeks
I also wonder about the case of plagiarism against Martel as cited in Wikipedia. Fuh sure the arts needs funding if Cdn artists have to resort to plagiarism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi#Plagiarism_Controversy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi#Plagiarism_Controversy)
Plagiarism Controversy:
“Also, I am indebted to Mr. Moacyr Scliar, for the spark of life.”
This dedication to Moacyr Scliar appears in the preface of his novel Life of Pi and sparked controversy. Many people wonder whether this book was deliberately plagiarized.
Scliar's Max e os Felinos, published in 1981, is a story of a German refugee who crosses the Atlantic Ocean while sharing his boat with a jaguar. Max and the Cats, an English translation by Eloah F. Giacomelli, was published in 1990. The striking similarity caused critics to question Martel..
Martel says he did not read Scliar's book, but he did read a negative review many years prior to writing Life of Pi. What makes it more confusing is that Martel said the review was written by John Updike in The New York Times. However, the newspaper never ran a review of Max and the Cats, nor has Updike ever reviewed the book. When the prize was awarded to Martel in 2002, Scliar said he was perplexed that Martel "used the idea without consulting or even informing him", and considered taking legal action. After talking with Martel, however, he elected not to pursue the matter.[5]
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Ah not shame to say, but I'm so out of the loop where this elections is concerned. For one, Conservatives will win this again, simple reason, they have no competition. Liberals have Jackass Dion at the helm, Elizabeth and Jack - I don't know, whenever both of them speak I tend to go into a day dream. They hold no substance in their speeches to get me even close to being interested to hear more.
I'm more interested in the US elections, because who ever win that one will tell me who will be running Canada.
Ever since they call elections in Canada, all of a sudden gas prices at it's lowest since the beginning of the year, a new proposal for a transit system in the GTA. The 2 most important issues that affect each Canadian and Immgiant on ah daily basis. Concidence ???
Strangely enough, I haven't heard anyone mention unemployment issues especially in the manufacturing industry. Or did I miss it ???
Again i'm out of the loop.....
ah could ah save Canada millions ah dollars and 5 weeks ah bullshit...
Dion get dey fack out ah liberals, ya do more harm dan good....blasted arse >:(
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yes it was a total waste of time and money cana, but to be honest if thats what it cost to get rid of Dion its worth it.
Replace him with Ignatieff , replace Harper with Peter Mackay and this country will be fine. The minoroty may have well just got rid of Harper as well.
Im dont agree with ND or PQs policy, but Layton and Duceppe are very good party leaders.
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apparently nobel prize laureate yann martel is trying to encourage stephen harper to read more:
http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/
So Yann Martel go be mailing books for some time to come
I wish I had the time to read a book to expand my stillness every two weeks
I also wonder about the case of plagiarism against Martel as cited in Wikipedia. Fuh sure the arts needs funding if Cdn artists have to resort to plagiarism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi#Plagiarism_Controversy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi#Plagiarism_Controversy)
Plagiarism Controversy:
“Also, I am indebted to Mr. Moacyr Scliar, for the spark of life.”
This dedication to Moacyr Scliar appears in the preface of his novel Life of Pi and sparked controversy. Many people wonder whether this book was deliberately plagiarized.
Scliar's Max e os Felinos, published in 1981, is a story of a German refugee who crosses the Atlantic Ocean while sharing his boat with a jaguar. Max and the Cats, an English translation by Eloah F. Giacomelli, was published in 1990. The striking similarity caused critics to question Martel..
Martel says he did not read Scliar's book, but he did read a negative review many years prior to writing Life of Pi. What makes it more confusing is that Martel said the review was written by John Updike in The New York Times. However, the newspaper never ran a review of Max and the Cats, nor has Updike ever reviewed the book. When the prize was awarded to Martel in 2002, Scliar said he was perplexed that Martel "used the idea without consulting or even informing him", and considered taking legal action. After talking with Martel, however, he elected not to pursue the matter.[5]
i miss - martel is a booker prize winner, not a nobel prize laureate ... and in this day and age, he should know tief does get catch!
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yes it was a total waste of time and money cana, but to be honest if thats what it cost to get rid of Dion its worth it.
Replace him with Ignatieff , replace Harper with Peter Mackay and this country will be fine. The minoroty may have well just got rid of Harper as well.
Im dont agree with ND or PQs policy, but Layton and Duceppe are very good party leaders.
Mac wha Kay ???
Nah come wid somebody else to replace dat Fox call Harper
Ah hear today dat Jackass Dion was going to resign....He do it yet ?
Ah iffy bout Layton eh. Ah cyah figure he out yet.
Now ah hearing dat another elections reel soon. Is how much dem want per year ???
steupse
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4) Regulations: there are 13 seperate securities regulators in Canada versus 1 in the US ... :thinking: given what happening in the US . .maybe there is merit to this
Pecan, did you see "CBC Sunday" show last night? 23 Nov 2008
video of show here: http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/sunday/112308_8.wmv 23 Mins. long
show website here: http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2008/11/112308_8.html#comments
ya know I always wondered why the USA, and not the canadian police, had to go after Conrad Black until I saw the show last night :o
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Mama mia looks Like we going to GEt a next one
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Mama mia looks Like we going to GEt a next one
if we have another damn election .. I not paying my quarterly tax installment as I cutting spending . .steups
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Flaherty is ah case ...
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More licks for Steve-O...coup d'etait in he backside
JEFFREY SIMPSON
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
E-mail Jeffrey Simpson | Read Bio | Latest Columns
December 2, 2008 at 2:30 AM EST
What an unpalatable choice now beckons Canadians: a government led by a Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, whose approach has disappointed so many; or a government led by Stéphane Dion, the Liberal Leader Canadians resoundingly rejected six weeks ago.
That the winner should become the loser, and the loser the winner is a script no one would have imagined possible last week. The author of this improbable scenario was Mr. Harper, whose miscalculations produced a coalition deal yesterday signed by Mr. Dion and NDP Leader Jack Layton, backed by the separatist leader Gilles Duceppe, to govern for 21/2 years.
Mr. Dion would become prime minister under this coalition deal until May, when the Liberal Party will select his successor.
If this coalition takes power, therefore, Canada would be led by a temporary prime minister who almost every Liberal MP wishes were not the leader. Not having been successful in leading his own party, it would be fascinating to watch him run a coalition government.
If Michael Ignatieff had been willing to challenge Mr. Dion, a challenge that depended on Bob Rae agreeing to abandon his own leadership hopes, Mr. Dion would have been forced from his job. As it is, the Liberals would be governing, in a manner of speaking, while their minds are distracted, even focused in some cases, on their own leadership rather than governing Canada. For a party that is broke, that just won the lowest share of the popular vote in history, that desperately needs to rethink its future, Liberals must be pinching themselves to imagine a return to power.
It will certainly be a shock to the 74 per cent of Canadians who did not vote Liberal, and the large majority who ranked Mr. Dion by far the least popular leader, to discover that he has somehow managed to become prime minister.
And it will be even more of a shock to discover that the Liberal-led coalition will hinge on the Bloc Québécois support, a party dedicated to breaking up Canada eventually but, in the meantime, demanding greater power and more money for Quebec, while continuously complaining about contemporary Canada. Somewhere, Pierre Trudeau must be rolling in his grave, especially if he could have seen Liberal MPs rising in the Commons yesterday to applaud the Bloc.
That the NDP rose as one to salute the Bloc should surprise no one, since they are desperately eager for a chance to wield power – a chance they have never had before. In 1980, the party under Ed Broadbent refused to consider negotiating cabinet seats with Mr. Trudeau. In other parliaments, the NDP held the balance of power. Under the coalition, the NDP would get six of 25 cabinet seats, but, mercifully for the country, not the Finance portfolio.
This proposed coalition, backed by the Bloc, is intended to demonstrate to Governor-General Michaëlle Jean that when (if?) the Harper government falls next week, she should turn to them to form a government, rather than yielding to the Prime Minister's demand for a dissolution of Parliament and an election.
Mr. Harper, who bulldozed his way toward this cliff and who will be judged harshly and perhaps fatally by his party if the government goes over the cliff, has tried unsuccessfully to show belated flexibility by backing down (temporarily) from plans to eliminate party subsidies and ending the right to strike. But he had nothing new yesterday – not that any fresh concession would have derailed the coalition's drive for power.
His options now would seem to be a) persuade the Governor-General to prorogue Parliament only three weeks after a Speech from the Throne, hoping to gain time to manoeuvre; b) lose the confidence of the House but persuade the G-G to dissolve Parliament and call an election.
He could always offer a mea culpa and alter his economic statement. It would not likely impress the coalition partners.
Mr. Harper has either to get to another Speech from the Throne in January that might be a better platform than the rickety one of Thursday's economic statement, or get to the people and argue, as he and his MPs did yesterday, that the opposition parties are trying to take power through parliamentary intrigue, having been defeated in the election.
His fate depends, it would appear, on the Governor-General's decision to grant prorogation or an election. Otherwise, he will have done a Joe Clark, miscalculating his way out of office.
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Harper was and always will be an ass. He is also a bully and his colours was bound to show.
He try to pull a fast one and get ketch. He will go down in history as de only political leader in de history of Canadian politics, to unite BOTH de right AND de left.
Asshole! Canada deserve wha dey get fuh electin he in de fuss place. Dion might have his faults, but is best to have a faulty moral human at de controls dan an insufferable, arrogrant prick like Harper.
Good factin riddance!
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Wasting my facking time oui. Dion get he damn wish. Resign my backside. Come May all of ah sudden somebody in dey back go bawl out 'leave Dion right dere, we doh need ah re-election"
Dat Jackass get dey fleckin wish >:(
Nah boy, me ain't know who wuss between Harper and Dion
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I tell yuh ... if the coalition government forms or we have a new election or Harper don't resign, I starting a tax revolt. To hell with my tax that is due on Dec 15th. Send CRA and the RCMP to collect it. steups
Imagine, gilles duceppe, a man whose raison d'etre is to break up the county will become the kingmaker. double steups.
All a dem are a bunch of self serving liars and crooks. None a dem seems to want to put the country first .. triple steups
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Harper was and always will be an ass. He is also a bully and his colours was bound to show.
He try to pull a fast one and get ketch. He will go down in history as de only political leader in de history of Canadian politics, to unite BOTH de right AND de left and the separatists
Asshole! Canada deserve wha dey get fuh electin he in de fuss place. Dion might have his faults, but is best to have a faulty moral human at de controls dan an insufferable, arrogrant prick like Harper.
Good factin riddance!
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All ah dem is a set ah selfish assholes, they have no interest for de people and only want power .. with Duceppe in dat, it ain't gonna be long before he get his own country.
Liberals applauding de Bloc ... :cursing:
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I hear day have a new party in Canada called the
New Liberal Bloc Party :devil:
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Global National (which I'm almost embarrassed i say i watch) just said Layton is due to be the minister of Industry in this setup :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
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Harper and Dion was just on TV .. .quadruple steups
Look at a email i just received:
I recognize that many of my friends vote differently than I do and that diversity makes this country the best in the world.
You may not agree with the present government but voting against this coalition is the right thing to do as consent will undermine all that our forefathers have worked hard to build: DEMOCRACY.
Approval of this coalition open's a 'Pandora's Box' and most importantly sends a clear message to our youth that their vote DOES NOT count.
(The best thing about Canada is that a democracy gives you the right to agree, sign & forward this e-mail, or disagree and delete )
Please take a moment to express your thoughts about our current political situation! PLEASE FORWARD to as many CANADIANS as possible.
No - this isn't a chain letter. No, you won't have good luck or win the lottery, but you may just get the opportunity to exercise your right to vote, instead of having your vote erased by those that claim to "know better" than we as the Canadian electorate.
Signing takes only a minute, forwarding just a second - the results can last a lifetime!
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/CANADIAN/petition.html (http://www.PetitionOnline.com/CANADIAN/petition.html)
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I hear day have a new party in Canada called the
New Liberal Bloc Party :devil:
doh joke nah man .... >:(
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I hear day have a new party in Canada called the
New Liberal Bloc Party :devil:
doh joke nah man .... >:(
ok on ah serious note then
I believe that STABILITY at this juncture would be best for Canada and that ALL the parties should do what ever it takes to attain that......not so
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I hear day have a new party in Canada called the
New Liberal Bloc Party :devil:
doh joke nah man .... >:(
ok on ah serious note then
I believe that STABILITY at this juncture would be best for Canada and that ALL the parties should do what ever it takes to attain that......not so
agree .. .we need stability
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I hear day have a new party in Canada called the
New Liberal Bloc Party :devil:
doh joke nah man .... >:(
ok on ah serious note then
I believe that STABILITY at this juncture would be best for Canada and that ALL the parties should do what ever it takes to attain that......not so
agree .. .we need stability
I have not being paying any attention to this and was listening to mansbridge and he said that harper had removed some of the things that he wanted to do yet the opposiotion are still intent on bringing him down instead of discussing things
what is the real take on this situation?
mansbridge also says that dion look like he on youtube :rotfl: :rotfl:
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Steve-O get a 7 weeks rest. His fate now rests in how much backside he could kiss or how much venom he can stir up using the "Axis-of-Evil" concept to describe the association of the Bloc with the coalition.
If he offer some perks to a few blue liberals he might be able to pull a few away. The wust thing he could do is stir up dat hornets nest of separatist sentiment and have polarizers like Parizeau and Bouchard Dumont buzzing in the media.
Either way the conservative agenda is effectively over in this country, unless he forces an election and gets a majority, and no way Mr. Sweater getting any such mandate.
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Canadian posse I hear all yuh singin God save d Queen as d GG side wit Harper
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At least I learn new words
prorogue, prorogues, proroguing, prorogued, prorogation
if anybody remotely interested, Wikipedia have a summary of events
2000 Canadian Parliamentary Dispute (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Canadian_parliamentary_dispute)
Of note is the role of the Governor General in this debacle.
Michaelle Jean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean) - a Haitain born female
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/51/Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean_1_11072007.jpg/200px-Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean_1_11072007.jpg)
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I never thought canadian politics could actually have bacchanal...look ting
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I never thought canadian politics could actually have bacchanal...look ting
Yuh never hear about P.E.T...?
I quote
"Some things I never learned to like. I didn't like to kiss babies, though I didn't mind kissing their mothers. I didn't like to slap backs or other parts of the anatomy. I liked hecklers, because they brought my speeches alive. I liked supporters, because they looked happy. And I really enjoyed mingling with people, if there wasn't too much of it."
" If you want to see me again, don't bring signs saying "Trudeau is a pig" and don't bring signs that he hustles women, because I won't talk to you. I didn't get into politics to be insulted. And don't throw wheat at me either. If you don't stop that, I'll kick you right in the ass!"....Comment to a young protester throwing wheat at him during a speech in Regina in 1969.
"Trudeau: Well there are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is, go on and bleed. But it's more important to keep law and order in the society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don't like the looks of a soldier—"
"Mangez de la merde.".....Translation: Eat shit. The Prime Minister chastizes a group of striking Montreal mail truck drivers in 1970.
"The next time you see Jesus Christ, ask Him what happened to the just society He promised 2,000 years ago".....
In reply to a student's question about what happened to his promises of a "Just Society". Saskatchewan 1972)
"I've been called worse things by better people." When it was reported President Richard Nixon had called him an "asshole" in 1971.
and my personal favourite..
"f**k off.".....Comment made to an opposition MP during question period.
(http://www.cbc.ca/arts/images/pics/Grey3.jpg)
Trudeau at the Grey Cup championship of 1970
Now THAT was Prime Minister!
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you forget the famous single finger salute he gave to a group of protesters :rotfl:
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you forget the famous single finger salute he gave to a group of protesters :rotfl:
I personally like when he mock de queen in she own state room with the ballet move
Trudeau was ah gangster at heart oui
(http://www.cbc.ca/arts/images/pics/Grey3.jpg) :mackdaddy: :mackdaddy:
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(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/v5/images/newspaper/20081206/cartoon-400.png)
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all ah dem could still haul meh arse oui >:(
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Yes, Zando!!!
Some say that the conduct of politics is not a profession ... others say there is no such thing as a professional politician, but grant that there are political professionals ... those of Trudeau's ilk bring the initial assertion sharply into focus ... and question.
I never thought canadian politics could actually have bacchanal...look ting
Yuh never hear about P.E.T...?
I quote
"Some things I never learned to like. I didn't like to kiss babies, though I didn't mind kissing their mothers. I didn't like to slap backs or other parts of the anatomy. I liked hecklers, because they brought my speeches alive. I liked supporters, because they looked happy. And I really enjoyed mingling with people, if there wasn't too much of it."
" If you want to see me again, don't bring signs saying "Trudeau is a pig" and don't bring signs that he hustles women, because I won't talk to you. I didn't get into politics to be insulted. And don't throw wheat at me either. If you don't stop that, I'll kick you right in the ass!"....Comment to a young protester throwing wheat at him during a speech in Regina in 1969.
"Trudeau: Well there are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is, go on and bleed. But it's more important to keep law and order in the society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don't like the looks of a soldier—"
"Mangez de la merde.".....Translation: Eat shit. The Prime Minister chastizes a group of striking Montreal mail truck drivers in 1970.
"The next time you see Jesus Christ, ask Him what happened to the just society He promised 2,000 years ago".....
In reply to a student's question about what happened to his promises of a "Just Society". Saskatchewan 1972)
"I've been called worse things by better people." When it was reported President Richard Nixon had called him an "asshole" in 1971.
and my personal favourite..
"f**k off.".....Comment made to an opposition MP during question period.
(http://www.cbc.ca/arts/images/pics/Grey3.jpg)
Trudeau at the Grey Cup championship of 1970
Now THAT was Prime Minister!
Dutty, the dissonance kicks in when the bacchanal is unaccompanied by substance ... see another thread for the relevant evidence on exhibition. :angel:
(then again, maybe I'm being too unkind ... perhaps one shouldn't political maturation in an immature political state)
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HOW TO START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK
1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it "Jack Layton".
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you: 'Do you really want to get rid of "Jack Layton?"
6. Firmly Click 'Yes.'
7. Feel better?
GOOD! ----- Tomorrow we'll do "Stephan Dion"!"
In celebration of the Coalition signing, Colonel Sanders is issuing a Coalition Bucket. No salad, no fries, just left wings and assholes.
;D ;D
-
HOW TO START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK
1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it "Jack Layton".
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you: 'Do you really want to get rid of "Jack Layton?"
6. Firmly Click 'Yes.'
7. Feel better?
GOOD! ----- Tomorrow we'll do "Stephan Dion"!"
In celebration of the Coalition signing, Colonel Sanders is issuing a Coalition Bucket. No salad, no fries, just left wings and assholes.
;D ;D
lol
-
The Closing of the Canadian Mind
By Stephen Marche (The New York Times).
Opinion Editorial
THE prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has called an election for Oct. 19, but he doesn’t want anyone to talk about it.
He has chosen not to participate in the traditional series of debates on national television, confronting his opponents in quieter, less public venues, like the scholarly Munk Debates and CPAC, Canada’s equivalent of CSPAN. His own campaign events were subject to gag orders until a public outcry forced him to rescind the forced silence of his supporters.
Mr. Harper’s campaign for re-election has so far been utterly consistent with the personality trait that has defined his tenure as prime minister: his peculiar hatred for sharing information.
Americans have traditionally looked to Canada as a liberal haven, with gun control, universal health care and good public education.
But the nine and half years of Mr. Harper’s tenure have seen the slow-motion erosion of that reputation for open, responsible government. His stance has been a know-nothing conservatism, applied broadly and effectively. He has consistently limited the capacity of the public to understand what its government is doing, cloaking himself and his Conservative Party in an entitled secrecy, and the country in ignorance.
His relationship to the press is one of outright hostility. At his notoriously brief news conferences, his handlers vet every journalist, picking and choosing who can ask questions. In the usual give-and-take between press and politicians, the hurly-burly of any healthy democracy, he has simply removed the give.
Mr. Harper’s war against science has been even more damaging to the capacity of Canadians to know what their government is doing. The prime minister’s base of support is Alberta, a western province financially dependent on the oil industry, and he has been dedicated to protecting petrochemical companies from having their feelings hurt by any inconvenient research.
In 2012, he tried to defund government research centers in the High Arctic, and placed Canadian environmental scientists under gag orders. That year, National Research Council members were barred from discussing their work on snowfall with the media. Scientists for the governmental agency Environment Canada, under threat of losing their jobs, have been banned from discussing their research without political approval. Mentions of federal climate change research in the Canadian press have dropped 80 percent. The union that represents federal scientists and other professionals has, for the first time in its history, abandoned neutrality to campaign against Mr. Harper.
His active promotion of ignorance extends into the functions of government itself. Most shockingly, he ended the mandatory long-form census, a decision protested by nearly 500 organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops. In the age of information, he has stripped Canada of its capacity to gather information about itself. The Harper years have seen a subtle darkening of Canadian life.
The darkness has resulted, organically, in one of the most scandal-plagued administrations in Canadian history. Mr. Harper’s tenure coincided with the scandal of Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto who admitted to smoking crack while in office and whose secret life came to light only when Gawker, an American website, broke the story. In a famous video at a Ford family barbecue, Mr. Harper praised the Fords as a “Conservative political dynasty.”
Mr. Harper’s appointments to the Senate — which in Canada is a mercifully impotent body employed strictly for political payoffs — have proved greedier than the norm. Mr. Harper’s chief of staff was forced out for paying off a senator who fudged his expenses. The Mounties have pressed criminal charges.
After the 2011 election, a Conservative staffer, Michael Sona, was convicted of using robocalls to send voters to the wrong polling places in Guelph, Ontario. In the words of the judge, he was guilty of “callous and blatant disregard for the right of people to vote.” In advance of this election, instead of such petty ploys, the Canadian Conservatives have passed the Fair Elections Act, a law with a classically Orwellian title, which not only needlessly tightens the requirements for voting but also has restricted the chief executive of Elections Canada from promoting the act of voting. Mr. Harper seems to think that his job is to prevent democracy.
But the worst of the Harper years is that all this secrecy and informational control have been at the service of no larger vision for the country. The policies that he has undertaken have been negligible — more irritating distractions than substantial changes. He is “tough on crime,” and so he has built more prisons at great expense at the exact moment when even American conservatives have realized that over-incarceration causes more problems than it solves. Then there is a new law that allows the government to revoke citizenship for dual citizens convicted of terrorism or high treason — effectively creating levels of Canadianness and problems where none existed.
For a man who insists on such intense control, the prime minister has not managed to control much that matters. The argument for all this secrecy was a technocratic impulse — he imagined Canada as a kind of Singapore, only more polite and rule abiding.
The major foreign policy goal of his tenure was the Keystone Pipeline, which Mr. Harper ultimately failed to deliver. The Canadian dollar has returned to the low levels that once earned it the title of the northern peso. Despite being left in a luxurious position of strength after the global recession, he coasted on what he knew: oil. In the run-up to the election, the Bank of Canada has announced that Canada just had two straight quarters of contraction — the technical definition of a recession. He has been a poor manager by any metric.
The early polls show Mr. Harper trailing, but he’s beaten bad polls before. He has been prime minister for nearly a decade for a reason: He promised a steady and quiet life, undisturbed by painful facts. The Harper years have not been terrible; they’ve just been bland and purposeless. Mr. Harper represents the politics of willful ignorance. It has its attractions.
Whether or not he loses, he will leave Canada more ignorant than he found it. The real question for the coming election is a simple but grand one: Do Canadians like their country like that?
_____________________________________________________________
A novelist and a columnist at Esquire Magazine who lives in Toronto.
-
The Closing of the Canadian Mind
By Stephen Marche (The New York Times).
Opinion Editorial
THE prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has called an election for Oct. 19, but he doesn’t want anyone to talk about it.
He has chosen not to participate in the traditional series of debates on national television, confronting his opponents in quieter, less public venues, like the scholarly Munk Debates and CPAC, Canada’s equivalent of CSPAN. His own campaign events were subject to gag orders until a public outcry forced him to rescind the forced silence of his supporters.
Mr. Harper’s campaign for re-election has so far been utterly consistent with the personality trait that has defined his tenure as prime minister: his peculiar hatred for sharing information.
Americans have traditionally looked to Canada as a liberal haven, with gun control, universal health care and good public education.
But the nine and half years of Mr. Harper’s tenure have seen the slow-motion erosion of that reputation for open, responsible government. His stance has been a know-nothing conservatism, applied broadly and effectively. He has consistently limited the capacity of the public to understand what its government is doing, cloaking himself and his Conservative Party in an entitled secrecy, and the country in ignorance.
His relationship to the press is one of outright hostility. At his notoriously brief news conferences, his handlers vet every journalist, picking and choosing who can ask questions. In the usual give-and-take between press and politicians, the hurly-burly of any healthy democracy, he has simply removed the give.
Mr. Harper’s war against science has been even more damaging to the capacity of Canadians to know what their government is doing. The prime minister’s base of support is Alberta, a western province financially dependent on the oil industry, and he has been dedicated to protecting petrochemical companies from having their feelings hurt by any inconvenient research.
In 2012, he tried to defund government research centers in the High Arctic, and placed Canadian environmental scientists under gag orders. That year, National Research Council members were barred from discussing their work on snowfall with the media. Scientists for the governmental agency Environment Canada, under threat of losing their jobs, have been banned from discussing their research without political approval. Mentions of federal climate change research in the Canadian press have dropped 80 percent. The union that represents federal scientists and other professionals has, for the first time in its history, abandoned neutrality to campaign against Mr. Harper.
His active promotion of ignorance extends into the functions of government itself. Most shockingly, he ended the mandatory long-form census, a decision protested by nearly 500 organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops. In the age of information, he has stripped Canada of its capacity to gather information about itself. The Harper years have seen a subtle darkening of Canadian life.
The darkness has resulted, organically, in one of the most scandal-plagued administrations in Canadian history. Mr. Harper’s tenure coincided with the scandal of Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto who admitted to smoking crack while in office and whose secret life came to light only when Gawker, an American website, broke the story. In a famous video at a Ford family barbecue, Mr. Harper praised the Fords as a “Conservative political dynasty.”
Mr. Harper’s appointments to the Senate — which in Canada is a mercifully impotent body employed strictly for political payoffs — have proved greedier than the norm. Mr. Harper’s chief of staff was forced out for paying off a senator who fudged his expenses. The Mounties have pressed criminal charges.
After the 2011 election, a Conservative staffer, Michael Sona, was convicted of using robocalls to send voters to the wrong polling places in Guelph, Ontario. In the words of the judge, he was guilty of “callous and blatant disregard for the right of people to vote.” In advance of this election, instead of such petty ploys, the Canadian Conservatives have passed the Fair Elections Act, a law with a classically Orwellian title, which not only needlessly tightens the requirements for voting but also has restricted the chief executive of Elections Canada from promoting the act of voting. Mr. Harper seems to think that his job is to prevent democracy.
But the worst of the Harper years is that all this secrecy and informational control have been at the service of no larger vision for the country. The policies that he has undertaken have been negligible — more irritating distractions than substantial changes. He is “tough on crime,” and so he has built more prisons at great expense at the exact moment when even American conservatives have realized that over-incarceration causes more problems than it solves. Then there is a new law that allows the government to revoke citizenship for dual citizens convicted of terrorism or high treason — effectively creating levels of Canadianness and problems where none existed.
For a man who insists on such intense control, the prime minister has not managed to control much that matters. The argument for all this secrecy was a technocratic impulse — he imagined Canada as a kind of Singapore, only more polite and rule abiding.
The major foreign policy goal of his tenure was the Keystone Pipeline, which Mr. Harper ultimately failed to deliver. The Canadian dollar has returned to the low levels that once earned it the title of the northern peso. Despite being left in a luxurious position of strength after the global recession, he coasted on what he knew: oil. In the run-up to the election, the Bank of Canada has announced that Canada just had two straight quarters of contraction — the technical definition of a recession. He has been a poor manager by any metric.
The early polls show Mr. Harper trailing, but he’s beaten bad polls before. He has been prime minister for nearly a decade for a reason: He promised a steady and quiet life, undisturbed by painful facts. The Harper years have not been terrible; they’ve just been bland and purposeless. Mr. Harper represents the politics of willful ignorance. It has its attractions.
Whether or not he loses, he will leave Canada more ignorant than he found it. The real question for the coming election is a simple but grand one: Do Canadians like their country like that?
_____________________________________________________________
A novelist and a columnist at Esquire Magazine who lives in Toronto.
Harper's administration is currently embroiled in many scandals. Time for them to go.
It will be an interesting election. This is one of the first times in history where 3 major political parties each stand a good chance of winning the election. This can work in the Conservatives favor because the center and center-left is fragmented between two parties (Liberal and NDP). While the right and center right only has one party to choose from.
I think the Liberals and NDP will form a minority government.
-
The Closing of the Canadian Mind
By Stephen Marche (The New York Times).
Opinion Editorial
THE prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has called an election for Oct. 19, but he doesn’t want anyone to talk about it.
He has chosen not to participate in the traditional series of debates on national television, confronting his opponents in quieter, less public venues, like the scholarly Munk Debates and CPAC, Canada’s equivalent of CSPAN. His own campaign events were subject to gag orders until a public outcry forced him to rescind the forced silence of his supporters.
Mr. Harper’s campaign for re-election has so far been utterly consistent with the personality trait that has defined his tenure as prime minister: his peculiar hatred for sharing information.
Americans have traditionally looked to Canada as a liberal haven, with gun control, universal health care and good public education.
But the nine and half years of Mr. Harper’s tenure have seen the slow-motion erosion of that reputation for open, responsible government. His stance has been a know-nothing conservatism, applied broadly and effectively. He has consistently limited the capacity of the public to understand what its government is doing, cloaking himself and his Conservative Party in an entitled secrecy, and the country in ignorance.
His relationship to the press is one of outright hostility. At his notoriously brief news conferences, his handlers vet every journalist, picking and choosing who can ask questions. In the usual give-and-take between press and politicians, the hurly-burly of any healthy democracy, he has simply removed the give.
Mr. Harper’s war against science has been even more damaging to the capacity of Canadians to know what their government is doing. The prime minister’s base of support is Alberta, a western province financially dependent on the oil industry, and he has been dedicated to protecting petrochemical companies from having their feelings hurt by any inconvenient research.
In 2012, he tried to defund government research centers in the High Arctic, and placed Canadian environmental scientists under gag orders. That year, National Research Council members were barred from discussing their work on snowfall with the media. Scientists for the governmental agency Environment Canada, under threat of losing their jobs, have been banned from discussing their research without political approval. Mentions of federal climate change research in the Canadian press have dropped 80 percent. The union that represents federal scientists and other professionals has, for the first time in its history, abandoned neutrality to campaign against Mr. Harper.
His active promotion of ignorance extends into the functions of government itself. Most shockingly, he ended the mandatory long-form census, a decision protested by nearly 500 organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops. In the age of information, he has stripped Canada of its capacity to gather information about itself. The Harper years have seen a subtle darkening of Canadian life.
The darkness has resulted, organically, in one of the most scandal-plagued administrations in Canadian history. Mr. Harper’s tenure coincided with the scandal of Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto who admitted to smoking crack while in office and whose secret life came to light only when Gawker, an American website, broke the story. In a famous video at a Ford family barbecue, Mr. Harper praised the Fords as a “Conservative political dynasty.”
Mr. Harper’s appointments to the Senate — which in Canada is a mercifully impotent body employed strictly for political payoffs — have proved greedier than the norm. Mr. Harper’s chief of staff was forced out for paying off a senator who fudged his expenses. The Mounties have pressed criminal charges.
After the 2011 election, a Conservative staffer, Michael Sona, was convicted of using robocalls to send voters to the wrong polling places in Guelph, Ontario. In the words of the judge, he was guilty of “callous and blatant disregard for the right of people to vote.” In advance of this election, instead of such petty ploys, the Canadian Conservatives have passed the Fair Elections Act, a law with a classically Orwellian title, which not only needlessly tightens the requirements for voting but also has restricted the chief executive of Elections Canada from promoting the act of voting. Mr. Harper seems to think that his job is to prevent democracy.
But the worst of the Harper years is that all this secrecy and informational control have been at the service of no larger vision for the country. The policies that he has undertaken have been negligible — more irritating distractions than substantial changes. He is “tough on crime,” and so he has built more prisons at great expense at the exact moment when even American conservatives have realized that over-incarceration causes more problems than it solves. Then there is a new law that allows the government to revoke citizenship for dual citizens convicted of terrorism or high treason — effectively creating levels of Canadianness and problems where none existed.
For a man who insists on such intense control, the prime minister has not managed to control much that matters. The argument for all this secrecy was a technocratic impulse — he imagined Canada as a kind of Singapore, only more polite and rule abiding.
The major foreign policy goal of his tenure was the Keystone Pipeline, which Mr. Harper ultimately failed to deliver. The Canadian dollar has returned to the low levels that once earned it the title of the northern peso. Despite being left in a luxurious position of strength after the global recession, he coasted on what he knew: oil. In the run-up to the election, the Bank of Canada has announced that Canada just had two straight quarters of contraction — the technical definition of a recession. He has been a poor manager by any metric.
The early polls show Mr. Harper trailing, but he’s beaten bad polls before. He has been prime minister for nearly a decade for a reason: He promised a steady and quiet life, undisturbed by painful facts. The Harper years have not been terrible; they’ve just been bland and purposeless. Mr. Harper represents the politics of willful ignorance. It has its attractions.
Whether or not he loses, he will leave Canada more ignorant than he found it. The real question for the coming election is a simple but grand one: Do Canadians like their country like that?
_____________________________________________________________
A novelist and a columnist at Esquire Magazine who lives in Toronto.
Harper's administration is currently embroiled in many scandals. Time for them to go.
It will be an interesting election. This is one of the first times in history where 3 major political parties each stand a good chance of winning the election. This can work in the Conservatives favor because the center and center-left is fragmented between two parties (Liberal and NDP). While the right and center right only has one party to choose from.
I think the Liberals and NDP will form a minority government.
agree, with dat. harper hair helmet turn from brown to grey with his time in office. he need to go.
thing is though, the scale of scandal for this conservative govt still pales in comparison to the libs. dollar-wise, libs still way out in front when it comes to wasting taxpayer money.
i wouldn't mind even an ndp majority if it would mean abolishing de senate.
-
The Closing of the Canadian Mind
By Stephen Marche (The New York Times).
Opinion Editorial
THE prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has called an election for Oct. 19, but he doesn’t want anyone to talk about it.
He has chosen not to participate in the traditional series of debates on national television, confronting his opponents in quieter, less public venues, like the scholarly Munk Debates and CPAC, Canada’s equivalent of CSPAN. His own campaign events were subject to gag orders until a public outcry forced him to rescind the forced silence of his supporters.
Mr. Harper’s campaign for re-election has so far been utterly consistent with the personality trait that has defined his tenure as prime minister: his peculiar hatred for sharing information.
Americans have traditionally looked to Canada as a liberal haven, with gun control, universal health care and good public education.
But the nine and half years of Mr. Harper’s tenure have seen the slow-motion erosion of that reputation for open, responsible government. His stance has been a know-nothing conservatism, applied broadly and effectively. He has consistently limited the capacity of the public to understand what its government is doing, cloaking himself and his Conservative Party in an entitled secrecy, and the country in ignorance.
His relationship to the press is one of outright hostility. At his notoriously brief news conferences, his handlers vet every journalist, picking and choosing who can ask questions. In the usual give-and-take between press and politicians, the hurly-burly of any healthy democracy, he has simply removed the give.
Mr. Harper’s war against science has been even more damaging to the capacity of Canadians to know what their government is doing. The prime minister’s base of support is Alberta, a western province financially dependent on the oil industry, and he has been dedicated to protecting petrochemical companies from having their feelings hurt by any inconvenient research.
In 2012, he tried to defund government research centers in the High Arctic, and placed Canadian environmental scientists under gag orders. That year, National Research Council members were barred from discussing their work on snowfall with the media. Scientists for the governmental agency Environment Canada, under threat of losing their jobs, have been banned from discussing their research without political approval. Mentions of federal climate change research in the Canadian press have dropped 80 percent. The union that represents federal scientists and other professionals has, for the first time in its history, abandoned neutrality to campaign against Mr. Harper.
His active promotion of ignorance extends into the functions of government itself. Most shockingly, he ended the mandatory long-form census, a decision protested by nearly 500 organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops. In the age of information, he has stripped Canada of its capacity to gather information about itself. The Harper years have seen a subtle darkening of Canadian life.
The darkness has resulted, organically, in one of the most scandal-plagued administrations in Canadian history. Mr. Harper’s tenure coincided with the scandal of Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto who admitted to smoking crack while in office and whose secret life came to light only when Gawker, an American website, broke the story. In a famous video at a Ford family barbecue, Mr. Harper praised the Fords as a “Conservative political dynasty.”
Mr. Harper’s appointments to the Senate — which in Canada is a mercifully impotent body employed strictly for political payoffs — have proved greedier than the norm. Mr. Harper’s chief of staff was forced out for paying off a senator who fudged his expenses. The Mounties have pressed criminal charges.
After the 2011 election, a Conservative staffer, Michael Sona, was convicted of using robocalls to send voters to the wrong polling places in Guelph, Ontario. In the words of the judge, he was guilty of “callous and blatant disregard for the right of people to vote.” In advance of this election, instead of such petty ploys, the Canadian Conservatives have passed the Fair Elections Act, a law with a classically Orwellian title, which not only needlessly tightens the requirements for voting but also has restricted the chief executive of Elections Canada from promoting the act of voting. Mr. Harper seems to think that his job is to prevent democracy.
But the worst of the Harper years is that all this secrecy and informational control have been at the service of no larger vision for the country. The policies that he has undertaken have been negligible — more irritating distractions than substantial changes. He is “tough on crime,” and so he has built more prisons at great expense at the exact moment when even American conservatives have realized that over-incarceration causes more problems than it solves. Then there is a new law that allows the government to revoke citizenship for dual citizens convicted of terrorism or high treason — effectively creating levels of Canadianness and problems where none existed.
For a man who insists on such intense control, the prime minister has not managed to control much that matters. The argument for all this secrecy was a technocratic impulse — he imagined Canada as a kind of Singapore, only more polite and rule abiding.
The major foreign policy goal of his tenure was the Keystone Pipeline, which Mr. Harper ultimately failed to deliver. The Canadian dollar has returned to the low levels that once earned it the title of the northern peso. Despite being left in a luxurious position of strength after the global recession, he coasted on what he knew: oil. In the run-up to the election, the Bank of Canada has announced that Canada just had two straight quarters of contraction — the technical definition of a recession. He has been a poor manager by any metric.
The early polls show Mr. Harper trailing, but he’s beaten bad polls before. He has been prime minister for nearly a decade for a reason: He promised a steady and quiet life, undisturbed by painful facts. The Harper years have not been terrible; they’ve just been bland and purposeless. Mr. Harper represents the politics of willful ignorance. It has its attractions.
Whether or not he loses, he will leave Canada more ignorant than he found it. The real question for the coming election is a simple but grand one: Do Canadians like their country like that?
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A novelist and a columnist at Esquire Magazine who lives in Toronto.
Harper's administration is currently embroiled in many scandals. Time for them to go.
It will be an interesting election. This is one of the first times in history where 3 major political parties each stand a good chance of winning the election. This can work in the Conservatives favor because the center and center-left is fragmented between two parties (Liberal and NDP). While the right and center right only has one party to choose from.
I think the Liberals and NDP will form a minority government.
agree, with dat. harper hair helmet turn from brown to grey with his time in office. he need to go.
thing is though, the scale of scandal for this conservative govt still pales in comparison to the libs. dollar-wise, libs still way out in front when it comes to wasting taxpayer money.
i wouldn't mind even an ndp majority if it would mean abolishing de senate.
Good point. But there is a certain level of dishonesty, mistrust and criminality that is associated with the Harper administration.
It is interesting how Harper continues to avoid debates. That must be part of the Conservatives communication strategy. If Harper agrees to attend a debate, he will not be able to dig the party out of the hole they are currently in.
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First Kamla now Harper. Harper is out. Majority government for Trudeau. Good for Canada.
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Ah wonder if Ribbit in mourning?
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Ah wonder if Ribbit in mourning?
Ribbit is a neo-con?
You in Canada Asylum?
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Ah wonder if Ribbit in mourning?
Ribbit is a neo-con?
You in Canada Asylum?
If he isn't, he does a good job of masquerading as one. :P Maybe he'll make a definitive statement in concession.
Nah, but follow and following.
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Ah wonder if Ribbit in mourning?
Ribbit is a neo-con?
You in Canada Asylum?
Nah, but following.
So you is a educated man then. Canadian politics kind of boring to the average man. I in Canada.. so I seeing the consequences of the conservatives agenda. They widened the gap between the rich middle class and poor.. F00ck things up for the newcomers as well. I jusy glad Harper is out. I just read he gave up his position as leader of the Conservatives.
The roots of the new Conservatives are in the Reform party. Very racist background.. Makes the tea party look like altar boys.
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interesting election dominated by strategic voting. if hitler self was leader of the liberals he would have won. anything but conservative (abc). imagine steve have a campaign stop just before the election with rob ford - steups. glad to see oliver, alexander and fantino gone. truth is the ndp was the more progressive option. ah mean, what is the difference between a conservative voting for c51 or a liberal? well, de youth vote trudeau in and it will be on their backs that he will keep his campaign promises. might see weed legal too.
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interesting election dominated by strategic voting. if hitler self was leader of the liberals he would have won. anything but conservative (abc). imagine steve have a campaign stop just before the election with rob ford - steups. glad to see oliver, alexander and fantino gone. truth is the ndp was the more progressive option. ah mean, what is the difference between a conservative voting for c51 or a liberal? well, de youth vote trudeau in and it will be on their backs that he will keep his campaign promises. might see weed legal too.
Harper sunk to a new low by trying to rely on the support of the Fords. Imagine a political figure who stands staunchly against recreational drug use, relying on support from another political figure who actively uses recreational drugs, and has no qualms promoting his drug use. Huge contradiction there. In fact the think tank within the Conservative party told Harper not to mention the Ford name when speaking at rallies.
Harper will be leaving his position as leader of the Conservatives. So he will not be the opposition leader anymore.
Yes. I hope that Trudeau does legalize the "healing of the nation" . Because Canada needs healing after 9 years of Harper.
Next up is the American election. We will see if the Republicans choose a rich jack ass like Trump.. or a top prized brain surgeon who ironically does not make much use of his brain when speaking in front of cameras.
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Thanks to John Oliver or I would have never known Canada's election was Monday gone....can't say much about Stephen Harper and his reign but from what little I've gleaned about his term, good riddance I guess....
https://www.youtube.com/v/0V5ckcTSYu8
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Thanks to John Oliver or I would have never known Canada's election was Monday gone....can't say much about Stephen Harper and his reign but from what little I've gleaned about his term, good riddance I guess....
https://www.youtube.com/v/0V5ckcTSYu8
Yeah Brownsugar. It's hard to follow if you're outside of Canada. But it was good riddance. Imagine 9 years with Kamla in a pants instead of a skirt.
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one of my pardna who i know is not a conservative say he vote for harper...he say how he thought harper had the best message re; future prosperity etc. now that trudeau win meh pardna say he want to get first dibs in case they leagalize weed ;D
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https://www.youtube.com/v/2MRPTgShdPI
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one of my pardna who i know is not a conservative say he vote for harper...he say how he thought harper had the best message re; future prosperity etc. now that trudeau win meh pardna say he want to get first dibs in case they leagalize weed ;D
Evidence of him being in an altered state?