Conservatives in Canada

[Eric6420]

There will be elections in a couple of weeks in Canada and the conservatives are in advance. They could even make a majority government. The only place they are not popular is Quebec.

The conservative leader Stephen Harper would be a great friend for G.W. Bush. Gay marriage may be in jeopardy.

I wonder why the conservatives became suddenly so popular... I hope that it is not a backlash against gay people...

A conservative government would probably go out of the Kyoto protocol, would spent more money on the army and the police, put more people in jail. Is that the true face of Canada?

Québécois, on the other hand, are more progressives and will probably elect André Boisclair (as the next premier's of Quebec), an oppenly young gay man who has the intention to make Quebec a country.

If the conservatives win, and for exemple suppress the right of marriage for gay people, it will be easy for André Boisclair to persuade Québécois that Quebec has nothing to do in that country (CANADA).

[Eric6420]

There will be elections in a couple of weeks in Canada and the conservatives are in advance. They could even make a majority government. The only place they are not popular is Quebec.

The conservative leader Stephen Harper would be a great friend for G.W. Bush. Gay marriage may be in jeopardy.

I wonder why the conservatives became suddenly so popular... I hope that it is not a backlash against gay people...

A conservative government would probably go out of the Kyoto protocol, would spent more money on the army and the police, put more people in jail. Is that the true face of Canada?

Québécois, on the other hand, are more progressives and will probably elect André Boisclair (as the next premier's of Quebec), an oppenly young gay man who has the intention to make Quebec a country.

If the conservatives win, and for exemple suppress the right of marriage for gay people, it will be easy for André Boisclair to persuade Québécois that Quebec has nothing to do in that country (CANADA).

[namedun]

"I wonder why the conservatives became suddenly so popular"

I beleive you've been living under a rock. The conservatives are so popular because of all the money lending scandals at the foot of the liberals. I'm pretty sure the majority of Canadians are past the gay marriage issue and are just fed up with the status quo of missapropriation of funds and blackhole programs like gun control.

[nacktman]

Conservatism is a disease that has infected the US and it is failing here due to the very nature of the beast and the medicine of liberlism and like a dying animal it is looking for a place to crawl off to where it vainly hopes to lick its wounds and somehow survive.

Canada is the most logical place. It is largely an country of WASP heritage, the prefered 'race' of conservatism, has a market economy that conservatism can rape and plunder (Worried about money scandals with your liberals---you have not seen anything yet.), and is by in large a "christian" country. Prime feeding for a foul beast.

While the label of liberal means something somewhat different in Canada than it does in the United States conservativism is the same and that is bad. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Bush are all conservatives, three of which the world has condemed and eliminated one has been condemed and is awaiting elimination does Canada really need to have someone join that brief (only because it would take too much bandwith to do a complete list) yet horrific list?

[hm0504]

Glad you started this topic Eric6420. I've already tried a bit to get a similar discussion going in but it is best if a new topic is started for it.

The Conservatives are doing well because
a) the Liberals are running an awful election campaign;
b) the Liberals are tainted, and rightly so, with the AdScam scandal;
c) the Conservatives are effectively using every rumour and funny smell coming from the Government as evidence of corruption (whether there is corruption or not);
d) after over 12 years of one party in power, people tend to want change regardless of whether that change; whether that change is good or bad is not considered important.

On the social conservative aspects, Canadians are not giving that due consideration because the Conservatives have devised a strategy so that topic will not be discussed during the election. Some social conservatives are beginning to have a hard time keeping their mouth shut (e.g.
1: http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael...6/01/07/1382512.html
2: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/200...election2006&no_ads=
)
but for the most part, social conservative Conservatives have done a good job of not talking about social conservatism.

With regards to Québec, even there the Conservatives have soared so they are almost matched will the Liberals (around 20%) with the BQ still having the major share of votes. Though I am wary of Stephen Harper's social conservatism, it may be that he will also be for reducing the powers the federal government. But that of course is the tricky part about some conservatives in Canada and the U.S. -- they talk about restricting the influence of the federal government as a sacred priority, and then when in power, they massively expand the role of federal government. (The Liberals of course, do the opposite -- they talk like they want to expand government then shy away from that when in power.)

If the Conservatives do a get a lot more people elected from outside Canada's Bible Belt, that may help to reduce their social conservatism. However, one just doesn't know what kind of government will get until one has put them in power (just ask our American friends!). If the Conservatives win, and they start pushing a social conservative agenda, let's hope they are in a minority position and their time in power will be short.

[Boreas]

I think the conservatives are doing so well because they are running a slick campaign this time. As much as I do not like Harper, I have to give him and the party credit for the way they have been running this campaign. The last time, they came of as self-righteous zealots pointing fingers at the bad guys. People are also sick of the Liberal arrogance and there have been a few well-timed new scandals coming out. I was disgusted with Martin after his government was defeated. He seemed to be celebrating some win, when his government made history by being defeated "just because".

At this point, I don't care which major party gets in. I live in Jay Hill's riding and you would not know he had any competitors to look at signs around. It is pretty sad. He will most likely win in a landslide. That being said, I do hope the NDP gets enough seats to have a voice of some kind.

I watched the last Rick Mercer report before Christmas. I liked his view that either way there will be two leadership races soon (unless there is a majority government ) and then perhaps we will have a better pool to choose from.......well one can dream right?

Go and VOTE!

[Eric6420]

quote:

Originally posted by hm0504:
Glad you started this topic Eric6420. I've already tried a bit to get a similar discussion going in but it is best if a new topic is started for it.

The Conservatives are doing well because
a) the Liberals are running an awful election campaign;
b) the Liberals are tainted, and rightly so, with the AdScam scandal;
c) the Conservatives are effectively using every rumour and funny smell coming from the Government as evidence of corruption (whether there is corruption or not);
d) after over 12 years of one party in power, people tend to want change regardless of whether that change; whether that change is good or bad is not considered important.

On the social conservative aspects, Canadians are not giving that due consideration because the Conservatives have devised a strategy so that topic will not be discussed during the election. Some social conservatives are beginning to have a hard time keeping their mouth shut (e.g.
1: http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael...6/01/07/1382512.html
2: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/200...election2006&no_ads=
)
but for the most part, social conservative Conservatives have done a good job of not talking about social conservatism.

With regards to Québec, even there the Conservatives have soared so they are almost matched will the Liberals (around 20%) with the BQ still having the major share of votes. Though I am wary of Stephen Harper's social conservatism, it may be that he will also be for reducing the powers the federal government. But that of course is the tricky part about some conservatives in Canada and the U.S. -- they talk about restricting the influence of the federal government as a sacred priority, and then when in power, they massively expand the role of federal government. (The Liberals of course, do the opposite -- they talk like they want to expand government then shy away from that when in power.)

If the Conservatives do a get a lot more people elected from outside Canada's Bible Belt, that may help to reduce their social conservatism. However, one just doesn't know what kind of government will get until one has put them in power (just ask our American friends!). If the Conservatives win, and they start pushing a social conservative agenda, let's hope they are in a minority position and their time in power will be short.

I agree with you, at least with most of it. The problem is that, as you said, we do not know how far they will go. There is also the NDP that is just at 15% of the vote. It is difficult to understand why the NDP is falling. At least in Quebec, the Bloc Québécois will get most of the counties, and will have a progressive voice to fight the social conservatives.

[Nu]

I would say that hmo504 has a good grip on the situation in points "a" to "d", and especially "c" above.

The Liberals have actually done a good job at running the country.
They have reduced the national debt, reduced income taxes, run current account surpluses, helped with foreign aid, and assisted farmers in the BSE crisis, amongst other things.

The Adscam item is indeed a black mark-though attributable to the previous regime.

Financial experts have suggested that market forces caused stock prices to rise, rather than any leakage from the Finance Ministers' office.
So far, RCMP have found no wrong doing in their ongoing investigation.

One thought for you Eric 6420- is that if you are concerned about how far the Conservatives will go, if in power, and especially on the same sex marriage item- why not vote for the Liberals who might retain power and keep the current same sex marriage procedures in place?
(by the way, I am in favour of same sex marriage, though not gay myself.)

[jon71]

Still Boreas is right. Conservatives are much better at image crafting than governing. For them style beats substance any day.

[Guest]

quote:

Originally posted by Nu:...The Liberals have actually done a good job at running the country. They have reduced the national debt, reduced income taxes, run current account surpluses, helped with foreign aid, and assisted farmers in the BSE crisis, amongst other things.
The Adscam item is indeed a black mark-though attributable to the previous regime.
Financial experts have suggested that market forces caused stock prices to rise, rather than any leakage from the Finance Ministers' office.
So far, RCMP have found no wrong doing in their ongoing investigation.

... why not vote for the Liberals who might retain power and keep the current same sex marriage procedures in place?

Hear, hear, on all counts, Nu.

[Boreas]

Did anyone watch the debate tonight? I found it somewhat formal, though I am glad they could not interupt as much as they'd like. I am not sure I learned anything new. Harper seems to have had lots of grooming and such on how to look like a Prime Minister. Layton has certainly calmed down and matured into federal politics. He clearly had his message and line that there is a third choice. Martin and Deseppe had their moments too.

I suspect that we will have a new PM in two weeks. That is a scary thought, though not as scary as last time around for some reason.....perhaps that in itself should be more scary!

I pray that it will be a minority government with a strong NDP voice.

[Qikdraw]

I really hope that the conservatives don't get a majority. Simply for the fact that Harper will get far to close to the Bush admin. I don't think he'll have the best interets of Canadians in his policies.

I do, however, agree that more money should be spent on the military. Its well past due for some updates. I also think that Canada should have the ability to move its troops around the world easily, which it currently can't do very well.

Qikdraw

[simony]

I hope for a conservative majority

[hm0504]

quote:

Originally posted by Nu:...The Liberals have actually done a good job at running the country. They have reduced the national debt, reduced income taxes, run current account surpluses, helped with foreign aid, and assisted farmers in the BSE crisis, amongst other things.
The Adscam item is indeed a black mark-though attributable to the previous regime.
Financial experts have suggested that market forces caused stock prices to rise, rather than any leakage from the Finance Ministers' office.
So far, RCMP have found no wrong doing in their ongoing investigation.

... why not vote for the Liberals who might retain power and keep the current same sex marriage procedures in place?

Allow me to clarify my previous remarks about the Liberals rightly being tainted with AdScam. I absolutely agree that one must recognize that it the Martin government, as vindicated by the Gomery report, had nothing to do with it. Paul Martin has objected to the Sponsorship program for years, which is perhaps why it was run directly by the PMO (not the Ministry of Finance as Conservatives suggest).

The other reference in the oft-running Conservative ad is to Dingwall who was accused by the Conservatives as mis-spending Government funds (where Dingwall makes the "I am entitled to my entitlements!" statement). I find that part particularly disgusting as an audit showed that Dingwall did nothing out of line. Whether the government's rules on trip expenses need to be tightened or not is one question, but the subsequent audit showed that Dingwall followed the established rules. If the Conservatives don't believe government officials are "entitled to their entitlements", then I would suggest they back that up by agreeing to accept only half of their normal pay as members of Parliament. If they do not do something like that, then they are being dishonest and hypocritical with that ad.

[simony]

latest polls show a 9 point conservative lead. Let's hope for a majority. Reduce taxes and restore marriage and morals is important.