Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Are you serious? I sometimes wonder what they teach in US schools of the world outside the US. I had my sister-in-law once tell me that the US was the only free country in the world. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

No, we have a political system similar to that of the UK and other commonwealth countries. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">He just gotta be joking, but it'd be a bLast if he was serious! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hmm, give back the guns and tell the people where the sex offenders are, a way of solving overcrowding in prisons I suppose, but not the way I'd propose... (I'm not defendeing them but murder is a bit over the top, and I know that I'll get contradictions, won't anser those as this is an election thread.
Couldn't just not point out the connection there guns - offenders...)

[ June 19, 2004, 04:49: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

Gun registry's do not stop criminals. Criminals do not register guns. And they are less likely to be caught with an unregistered gun. And the only way to be sure someone doesn't have an unregistered gun and is to do house-to-house sweeps.

Gun registry's are a stupid idea. As long as you have sales records and serial numbers, which we have in Canada, you have all you need to investigate spontanious crime.

Organized crime files the serial numbers off if it's gonna be used in a crime.

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

We want the Canadian Gun Registry scrapped not because of what it's trying to do and its merit; we wanna scrap it because it has wasted 1 Billon Dollars (Canadian Funds) of our (the taxpayer's) money.

The Liberals deserve to be taken down a notch just for that alone.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Edited: Typos and Format

Edit: to answer the renegade's question; If I had to vote (say, somebody put a gun to my head and forced me to vote), I would vote Conservative or NDP, but in reality, I wouldn't vote at all; I don't particularly see Stephen Harper as our prime minister, and I don't like their plan to get our own Version of the HMS Ocean when we should be thinking about replacing our equipement, not adding new ones to the maintenance queue. I think Tesco best described the NDP platform, and I'd rather jump into the St. Lawrence river than vote Parti Quebecois. I'd vote for the green party, if they got rid of that 20% gas tax, which they probably won't, and I wouldn't want the liberals to stay, unless I felt like going to LaSalle (Paul Martin's home riding) and personally give my pin numbers to let Paul Martin use them at his discretion so he could finance another report about anything about anyone three-fold.

[ June 19, 2004, 06:31: Message edited by: TerranC ]

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Are you serious? I sometimes wonder what they teach in US schools of the world outside the US. I had my sister-in-law once tell me that the US was the only free country in the world. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

No, we have a political system similar to that of the UK and other commonwealth countries. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I r hiskul grduate.

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

Well, I'll be quick and to the point,..

Background Info: I live in Quebec and consider myself 100% Canadian. (FYI: An elglish speaking Canadian living in Quebec is at best a second class citizen and at worst we have the right to remain silent, anything we say can and will be used against us by the language police.)

Thoughts on the upcomming election,..

What about Paul Martin? (Liberal Leader) Well, I have nothing good to say about a man who goes out of his way to lie or avoid telling the truth. But maybe I shouldn't be too hard on him, he is a politician after all, and it's in their nature to be like that.

What about Gilles Duceppe? (Bloq Leader) Well, no federal politition should be allowed to run for Prime Minister of CANADA if all they have is a 'Provincial' adgenda. All Gilles talks about is making Quebec better off. But HELLO! Quebec is just one provence, he has yet to show any real interest in the rest of Canada. Not exactly my idea of what the Prime Minister of Canada should be.

What about Stephen Harper? (Conservative Leader) This one is easy,.. any politician that lists "Lower Taxes" as part of his campaign promises should be disgarded with extreme prejudice. The term "Lower Taxes" has allways proven to be the exact opposite. Don't believe me? Ok, vote for him, and when your taxes go up send an extra 3% my way for giving you this warning.

What about Jack Layton? (NDP Leader) Well, he walks, talks and acts like a very bad used car salesman. I just can't see myself buying anything from him. He's against the privatization of healthcare. Well, if you look at it as a way to replace the current healthcare then I'd have to agree. But if it is put in place to 'suppliment' the current healthcare. To give the people that pay high health insurance (Blue Cross etc, or happen to be in the middle to high income bracket) the option of going to a private hospital for their care. Well, I see no reason to prohibit that option. If all or most of the 'insured/rich' people went to private hospitals, the immediate effect would be to reduce waiting times in our current over-crowded hospitals. Canada's healthcare system is in serious trouble, spending wads of money to pay for 'overtime' in our hospitals to offset the long waiting periods is going to lead to dire consequences. We can't keep asking our healthcare givers to work 60+ hours/week indefinately. Eventually it will lead to burnout. The entire system will then collapse.(I'm sorry if I got a bit too verbose on this issue, but all four candidates don't seem to realise the gravity of our healthcare situation.)

So, with all this said, who am I going to vote for? Martin? Duceppe? Harper? Layton? Well, I guess there is no good choice this time, so I'll probably vote Liberal. The logic behind this is that although things will still get worse, I think they will get worse at a slightly slower pace with the Liberals. And, I can only hope that in 4 years my choices are better and a new candidate arrives with Canada's well being as his/her top priority.

I usually stay away from political threads, but I felt that it was about time you all got a better idea of my political views.

Have a great day, Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ June 19, 2004, 11:34: Message edited by: David E. Gervais ]

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Any party that will actually try to upgrade our armed forces will have to spend huge; after the conservatives get new uniforms, new recon vehicles (to replace the paper-thin Bombardier Iltis jeeps), new recon planes and boats for our coast guard, and new helicopters to replace the sea kings for our navy, they say they will try to get an amphibious assult vessle, then they'll probably try to get new planes for our air force, and then some. What do you think the bill will come to after all that? At least the NDP's being honest about it.

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

and plus i do not think we need to upgrade our armed forces... just cut back on our commitments...

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

In reality, it's a choice between 3 or 4 bad choices. Which is no choice at all. We all just have to choose who we think will be, not good (few politician's are capable of goodness), but the least bad!

Who really knows what each party will do if they're voted into power. No one knows. If there's one thing we all know, its that politicians are proficient at breaking promises, and hiding their true agenda's. I'll just be happy if the new gov't doesn't increase the national debt, and actually does something to reduce it a significant amount. That would be the single best thing that could happen to Canada, a reduction in debt.

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

Well when this whole mess started I was leaning towards a coservitive vote. I live in BC and i've seen what a mess NDP'ish governments can cause + I dont think they are very tough on foreign policy or to stand up for themselves for canadians against the millions of minority Groups (Appeasement, throwing money at them isnt negotiation for all of canada IMO). Jack Layton has done nothing to dissuade me from that notion.

On principal I WILL NOT vote LIBERAL as throwing a vote in that direction ultimately forgives them for the horrendous acts of public betrayal they've perpatrated.

I'm not from Quebec and I'M CANADIAN so the Bloc is totally out.

Stephen Harper sings a tune I like on Education, Health Care, Armed Forces etc But the guy scares me on Same Sex Marriage, (not on abortion, I believe him that he wont press that hot button.) Still I dont think he has enough reign on his people to manage them effectively and a lot of his people seem downright RABID.

So I was more than mildly surprised when I discovered I had another REAL alternative. The Green Party. They are hovering somewhere between 7 and 10% of the popular vote AND with every vote they get that places them OVER 2% they get a 1.75 in funding to better portray themselves.

Myself I've read all the platforms and to be honest I was quite surprised at what I found in the Green Party's Platform. They are not about to sack the military (THE NDP wants to phase out all offensive weaponry) Instead they want to reform it into a quick response force that can go just about anywhere to combat terrorism or keep the peace. Sounds reasonable.

"When crisis emerges or disaster strikes in any nation, Canadians are deeply moved to provide help. To play a role in international assistance missions, Canada must maintain a large, highly-trained and well-equipped Rapid Response and Deployment Force (RRDF). This will require new investments in long-range strategic air-lift equipment, disaster-relief equipment, state-of-the-art armoured personnel carriers, personal protective equipment and training for our forces."

What?! That doesnt sound 'Green' to me, it actually sounds responsible!

They also want to use Canada's influence to reorganize NATO (not scrap it like the NDP). Instead of 5 Veto Holders they want 15, 5 of the wealthiest, 5 of the most populous and 5 elected countries to form a larger more rounded security council. I'll be damned if that doesnt sound good too!

They plan on turfing the wasteful, ineffective GUN REGISTRY as well.

They want to implement a balanced set of Tax Cuts and Increases That:

*Lower taxes on income, profit and investment, to promote increased productivity and job creation.
*Raise taxes on harmful activities such as pollution, waste and inefficiency.
Shift taxes onto land values and away from building values.
*Reform the public sector to be more responsive and accountable.
*Re-focus government programs on promoting the long-term public interest; creating a world class education system and building strong communities. (Again not just looking to benifit your TERM in office but long term Canadian growth)
*Use tariffs when necessary to discourage unsustainable industries and human rights violations. (READ getting read of things that often end up replacing jobs in CANADA, as sweat shops always will and always do produce faster and cheaper than we will)

They also take a strong stance on Health Care providing incetive for Canadians to eath Healthier and excersice (which I think most of us will admit has a lot to do with the strain on our health care). All of this means that they will actually take the helm on the problem not just throw more money and a ailing system. They also plan on reducing pollution and cleaning up water (again who else does that?).

The one thing that scares me but probably makes others happy is the plan to reduce the standard work week for all canadians (stress=poor health). If they can pull that one off i'd love it, dunno how it can be done tho!

All in all the Green party platform (to me) seems the most comprehensive. I really get the feeling of a party that intends to govern Canada as if it was a life long job, not a 4 year term before we have to worry about it again (screw around for 3 years and then make false promises for 1 year).

Now I work within a circle of 20 people and i'm generally the most outspoken of the group. I tracked the voting trends at the begining.

8 Liberal
7 Conservitive
5 NDP

Before Debate (Mid Election)

5 Liberal
11 Conservitive
4 NDP

After Debate

4 Liberal
8 Conservitive
2 NDP
1 Green
5 Undecided.

(I was the Green Vote, formerly the Conservitive. Generally my circle was turned off from the debate, most of us agreed that Harper was the winner of the debate, clear and well spoken. Some of us just didnt like what he was saying).

NOW since then i've been sharing the Green ideas and having my friends go over the Green platform we now sit at.

2 Liberal
4 Conservitive
0 NDP
14 Green


By golly you know I think they may have a shot at Making a Minority or propping one up!

My suggestion, read the platform, share their ideas and see if you want to vote for em, and if you do inform others. They actually have a rounded, fiscally responisble platform that speaks to a lot of us.

www.greenparty.ca

btw prior to this i'm usually a staunch conservitive (because of economics not right wing views). I'm a supporter of what Klein did in Alberta, but a detractor of what Campbell does in BC (not as bad as his NDP predecessors tho).

All in all i'm sick of party fat cats riding promises to the top then throwing our money around like it was coming out of style once they get there.

So this election year I'LL be voting Green. And if not this term, but possibly the next I hope to see them IN OFFICE!

Re: OT: Canadian Federal Election
 

Actually, the Green party might be more honest too. After all, a slick politician wants a party they think has a chance.