Canada may have a federal election

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What gets me is this Conservatives' belief that if they repeat something often enough, it will magically become true. (Hmm, I think I've seen *that* behaviour somewhere else, too....)

"Canadians don't want an election." Well that seems laughable. There are a lot of Canadians who are quite keen to see an election take place. More to the point, the Liberals have known that the field was ready for a few months. They would never have painted themselves into a corner on the budget so early in the Session if they'd been uncertain of their ground. The Bloc look unassailable. And Jack's intention not to make a decision on the budget until after talking with his caucus lasted all of about 30 seconds. If Canadians truly did not want an election, neither the Liberals nor the NDP would have staked out the positions that they have.

"Political opportunism vs. Putting Canadians' interests first." This one makes me laugh. The budget is a hollow, politically oppotunistic sop. It's not a fiscal blueprint for the government, it is an election manifesto with sops calculated to appeal to the ridings that the Conservatives intend to target. Woe betide you if you live between the Rockies and Thunder Bay--the Conservatives will have nothing for you, because they are putting all their eggs in the 905 belt.

"It's all about Michael." Well, if the (ahem) Harper Government has taught us anything, it is that it's all about Stephen.

The conservatives have a few advantages going in: they have a lead in the polls, and a seemingly unassailable base. But incumbent governments generally lose ground in Canadian federal election campaigns.

The Liberals have a few advantages too. First off, expectations are low. No one expects Ignatieff to shine during his first campaign as leader, which means it will be much easier for him to exceed voters' expectations than for Harper. That could turn around the "Leadership" polling numbers pretty fast.

The Prime Minister is about to lose his exclusivity of airtime--suddently Ignatieff is going to have equal time and equal column inches.

Well, there is a road in the Arctic.

I also assume that everyone's seen the website put together by the Conservative Reform Alliance Party frat boy operatives.

http://ignatieff.me/

Stephen Harper's centralized, secretive, Con Artists have quite a few plans for destroying the residual social programs when elected into office with a Majority.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0mX_nHmtNc[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpSnTakKvws[/youtube]

If there is an election, I'll be voting NDP!

A parody in french of conservatives ads.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJ5YzRTH7w&playnext=1&list=PL43979022546D09F7[/youtube]

Sadly, my vote will be for the candidate in my riding who: a) is not conservative, and b) has the best chance of getting elected over the conservative candidate.

I really am not a fan of the way our elections work (ie - popular vote vs. how seats are won). Not sure what the correct term for it is. I can bet someone here will be able to tell me, though.

Je pense qu'il y a beaucoup de personnes qui n'aiment pas les sourcils d'Ignatieff (comme moi!)... Et je ne serais pas surprise si les conservatifs veulent utiliser ca contre lui.
Mais "etre pour qu'on frappe les anglophones de la province avec nos voitures"...

It's a damn shame the Conservative parties merged a while back. IIRC the party Mike Harris was in was centre-right. LOL that ad was the worst case of context illiteracy I've ever seen.

The term for what we have is "first past the post." What you are supporting here is proportional representation. I rather agree with you, but it's not going to happen. What would be nice would be if they made the Senate elected on proportional representation and kept the House of Commons as is. Won't happen since that would require a major constitutional amendment, but I think it would work well.

I'd be tempted to vote NDP too (if I was old enough to vote), but that might not be a good idea in my house. My dad is vehemently anti-NDP. My mom can put up with them, but prefers the Liberals. Not that it makes a difference who we vote for. In our riding you could run a blue dog and it would win.

The other party I'd like to vote for, but it would be a complete waste, would be the Greens. They have a lot of NDP-esque components to their platform, plus would actually do something for the environment. If I ever live in a riding where there was a decent concentration of Green voters I probably would go that way myself.

You have no legal obligation to tell your dad (or anyone, for that matter) who you vote for so don't worry, you can just lie if pushed

Thanks AstroGeek. Didn't we have the chance at the last election to change the way the seats are allocated, so that some would be put aside to allow for some proportional representation? I think we did. But I'm so brain dead with lack of sleep (new baby in the house) that I can't remember what I ate for dinner,let alone the last election.

The great thing about voting is that no one is there looking over your shoulder (or they shouldn't be!). Just vote how you want, and tell your dad whatever he needs to hear.

Edit - Oh I see Vigilans beat me to that... ah well...

I know, I know. Mostly that's just an excuse for the fact that I generally hold similar views to my parents and this would be the first time I'd really differ... which would be rather scary in a way. Also, I find it very difficult to lie to people (and wouldn't want to lie to my parents). If I refuse to tell them who I voted for they'd probably figure out that it was NDP. Mind you, as long as I live in this riding my Dad would frown and shake his head and not be terribly upset because a Conservative will be elected no matter what I do. So since my vote would be wasted anyway, I might just vote Green and give them a few more cents to campaign on next time around. It will help pay for Elizabeth May's train ticket

I would just like to add a cheerleading note here for Westminster style Parliamentary monarchies and republics.

On a day like this it is never clearer that the highest organ of power in the country is the House of Commons. No matter the reserve powers of the Crown, no matter the accretion of power to the PMO that has taken place over the last fifty years, at the end of the day it is the right of the House of Commons to say, "this government shall rule no longer."

If the Liberals are to earn the votes of the centrists in this election, perhaps they should include a chapter in the Red Book about parliamentary privilege. If the hallmark of the "Harper Government" has been the centralization of command and control, perhaps the Liberals should demonstrate a willingness to restore power to Parliament.

...And it's done, 156-145.

Fall of the Harper Government topic

Five years is long enough. And I hope there is no coalition in the cards.