| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
gampy
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Oct 27, 2006
Posts: 828
Location: Soviet Canada
|
 Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:46 pm Post subject: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
  |
|
link This should be interesting.
| Quote: | | The election is expected to take place on Oct. 14. |
One thing I have to say for parliamentary democracy...when they decide to have an election, they move quickly, no year long campaigns.
Two general elections this fall in the US, and Canada.
I can't see any kind of majority happening, but if the NDP and Greens pick up any seats, it could make things interesting next parliament. I think the Liberals will lose huge here. Good riddance, I say. I would rather have an NDP loyal opposition, than Liberal.
_________________
"Some people are like Slinky's. They don't serve a useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs." |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
venky
Intermediate Crude
![]()
Joined: Mar 13, 2005
Posts: 856
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:58 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
Why is there never an NDP-Liberal coalition (both left of center parties) instead of a minority Conservative government?
_________________
I play the cards I'm dealt, though I sometimes bluff.
Only Man is vile. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Byron100
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 846
Location: Atlanta, GA
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| venky wrote: | | Why is there never an NDP-Liberal coalition (both left of center parties) instead of a minority Conservative government? |
Better late then never, right? I'm going to hope and pray that our good friends to the north make the final, sharp turn to the left and put together a truly liberal majority government.
Then maybe Canada can teach the stuck-in-the-mud US body politic a thing or two...
_________________
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide...
...and the meek shall inherit the Earth! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
heroineworshipper
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Jul 14, 2006
Posts: 759
Location: Calif*
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
What's an election? Doesn't the media determine the president & the voters do what they're told?
_________________
People first, then things, then dollars.
There will be enslavement, cannibalism, & zombie invasions. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fishman
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Aug 11, 2005
Posts: 879
Location: Eastern NC
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:09 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
Venky
No liberal coalitions can exist. They tear each other apart. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tyler_JC
Moderator
![]()
Joined: Sep 25, 2004
Posts: 4825
Location: Boston, MA
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| Fishman wrote: | | Venky No liberal coalitions can exist. They tear each other apart. |
But why?
More importantly, why didn't Canada get rid of Quebec when they had the chance???
Anyone who voted "No" on the 1995 referendum should be kicking themselves.
Tens of billions of your tax dollars are going to subsidize a province that never ceases to whine and demand more money.
Cut'em lose and let them pay their own way. 
_________________
"www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Nickel
Light Sweet Crude
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
Posts: 1859
Location: The Canada of America
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| Tyler_JC wrote: | More importantly, why didn't Canada get rid of Quebec when they had the chance???
Anyone who voted "No" on the 1995 referendum should be kicking themselves. |
That was a provincial referendum, not a federal one. The only people who voted in it were in Quebec.
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Nickel
Light Sweet Crude
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
Posts: 1859
Location: The Canada of America
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:22 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| Fishman wrote: | | No liberal coalitions can exist. They tear each other apart. |
The Liberal minority government in 1972 ran with the support of the NDP for two years before the 1974 election. Similarly, a minority Liberal government in Ontario ran in coalition with the NDP in the 1980s, breaking an uninterrupted 43-year string of Progressive Conservative governments in the province. It's not par for the course in this system, but it does happen.
It would be considered illegitimate, though, for a coalition of two parties to attempt form a government when neither had the plurality of seats in a legislature. That is, if party A had 75 seats (out of 160, say), and B and C had 65 and 20 respectively, a minority government would be formed by party A, even if B and C were amenable to a coalition, since A is the single party with the largest number of seats.
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
auscanman
Heavy Crude
Joined: Dec 28, 2005
Posts: 302
Location: Toronto, Ontario
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:15 pm Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
This election will be totally pointless. The outcome seems certain to be more or less the same minority situation there currently is. Harper won't reach the sort of numbers he needs for a majority, and Dion is perhaps the most pathetic leader politics in any country has ever known. The best outcome conceivably possible IMO would be a thinner Conservative minority, with the Liberals bleeding a lot of seats to the Greens and NDP, and the Conservatives bleeding some support to the Greens.
Both the Conservatives and Liberals seem to be rotten to the core, so neither of them will be getting my vote. I'll probably vote Green, depending on who their candidate is in my riding (although I'm not a fan of Elizabeth May and her strategic alliance with the Liberals). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Nickel
Light Sweet Crude
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
Posts: 1859
Location: The Canada of America
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:52 am Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| auscanman wrote: | | This election will be totally pointless. |
Well, I dunno. The Globe and Mail reported that a poll indicated the Tories stand at 37%, and in a multiparty election, that's fringe majority territory. If nothing else, it represents a much stronger minority government.
What I find particularly bothersome, though, is that that Tories, having gone and passed legislation to give us regular elections in October every four years, are cynically considering resigning the government and forcing an election a year in advance simply because the polls are sweet.
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
drew
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Jul 22, 2004
Posts: 900
Location: canada
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:01 am Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| venky wrote: | | Why is there never an NDP-Liberal coalition (both left of center parties) instead of a minority Conservative government? |
Liberals being left of centre??
You've got to be kidding, right?
They are the same pro business bunch as the Tories.
You should look at how Paul Martin ran Finance before he became PM.
The business community LOVED him.
Drew |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
DaleFromCalgary
Tar Sands
Joined: Jul 31, 2008
Posts: 64
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:08 am Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
"Doesn't the media determine the president & the voters do what they're told?"
Setting aside the fact that Canada doesn't have a president, the problem is that the media are regionalized, and so are the politics. Western Canada will go Tory, and outside the cappucino-drinking urban areas in eastern Canada and Vancouver, few Canucks will trust the NDP with the keys to the Royal Canadian Mint. Bloc Quebecois will be the spoilers in Quebec, and the Liberals have a leader who is incoherent in both official languages.
One reason the Tories seem ready to call an election now is that oil prices are in a lull, so Canadians indignant about how much it costs to fill up their SUV have sunk back into complacency. Gasoline is a rough average of about $1.30 per litre, which converts to about $6 per gallon. That is why I don't have any sympathy for Americans whining about $4 gas. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
drew
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Jul 22, 2004
Posts: 900
Location: canada
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:30 am Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| DaleFromCalgary wrote: | | Gasoline is a rough average of about $1.30 per litre, which converts to about $6 per gallon. That is why I don't have any sympathy for Americans whining about $4 gas. |
Well said my Trudeau hating friend!
(hey that even rhymes) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Maddog78
Heavy Crude
Joined: Jul 14, 2008
Posts: 217
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:22 am Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| 3.785 * $C1.30 * $US0.94 = more like $US4.63/US gal but yeah I get your point. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gampy
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Oct 27, 2006
Posts: 828
Location: Soviet Canada
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:44 am Post subject: Re: Looks like Canada is going into a general election |
|
|
| venky wrote: | | Why is there never an NDP-Liberal coalition (both left of center parties) instead of a minority Conservative government? |
I would say that the liberals (and consevatives) are too large at the moment to make that appealing to them. They still are the dominant parties. It's not quite like it is in Italy, or other parts of Europe.
The NDP , and the Liberals do tend to vote together, but I don't think they have all that much love for one another.
I have a feeling that the Liberals will be gutted, and they will have another leadership convention after the election. Poor Dion. How he ever became the leader is a mystery to me.
I imagine Ignatieff will get the nod next time around.
_________________
"Some people are like Slinky's. They don't serve a useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
