2015 Canadian Election

[Haan (Ancient)]

Didn't his mother intervene to "leave him alone" amidst all the media scrutiny he was receiving?

Lord knows at this point, it doesn't sound unlikely.

Scrapping the income-splitting, admiring China's dictatorship, and saying that budgets balance themselves..... yes, it really does not sound unlikely.

[Padnak]

Canada needs more political parties

all the current ones suck

[Kryozerkia]

It is possible as history has a couple of very recent examples of this. Take Mulroney's Tories. When they took a majority government in 1988 they had 169 seats and 43.02% of the popular vote. In the 1993 election, they suffered a massive fall from grace (official party status requires 12 seats), landing only 2 seats with only 16% of the popular vote. Similarly the Bloc Quebec lost official party status in the last election. In 2008, they won 49 seats, only to go way down to 4 seats in 2011.

Given the polls, that kind of a collapse isn't going to happen unless they screw up badly.

I agree, however, even if they don't screw up, it is a possibility. After all, the Canadian voting public is a finicky bunch. I should know... I was going to vote Liberal but I may go back to NDP. Depends on who they toss to my riding's lions.

[Fanosolia]

Canada needs more political parties

all the current ones suck

What even Pirate, PACT, Libertarian, Canadian Action, United Canada, and Progressive Canada?

[Nation of Quebec]

Given the polls, that kind of a collapse isn't going to happen unless they screw up badly.

I agree, however, even if they don't screw up, it is a possibility. After all, the Canadian voting public is a finicky bunch. I should know... I was going to vote Liberal but I may go back to NDP. Depends on who they toss to my riding's lions.

If the election had been a year ago we would have had a Liberal majority government. They only started to slide in the polls when Harper began scaring Canadians about terrorism. They are still polling higher than they did in 2011 and I predict that unless we see an Ignatieff style implosion, the Liberals will come out of this with at least 80 seats.

I'm still planning on voting Liberal. They are the best choice to defeat the useless Conservative backbencher in my riding and I do like Trudeau's plans for democratic reform. As I mentioned before, the NDP are my second choice and I wouldn't be upset if they won. There is no way they could do any worse than Harper.

[Kryozerkia]

If the election had been a year ago we would have had a Liberal majority government. They only started to slide in the polls when Harper began scaring Canadians about terrorism. They are still polling higher than they did in 2011 and I predict that unless we see an Ignatieff style implosion, the Liberals will come out of this with at least 80 seats.

I'm still planning on voting Liberal. They are the best choice to defeat the useless Conservative backbencher in my riding and I do like Trudeau's plans for democratic reform. As I mentioned before, the NDP are my second choice and I wouldn't be upset if they won. There is no way they could do any worse than Harper.

Terrorism. The Con's favourite boogeyman de jour because hatin' on commies is so 1950s, and it's political incorrect to pick on foreigners or any particular religion, but we know terrorism in the Con's playbook is just a polite euphemism. After all, it's political suicide to name a specific group.

Voting Liberal is probably sound strategy. It's tragic but it's the reality of Canadian politics. We've got one right-wing party and the left is fragmented between moderate centrism peppered with rational leftist policy to neon-pink socialism that would bleed red if the knife cut the thin facade of their platform - not that there's anything wrong with socialism. A successful nation needs more than right-wing politics to be successful. The human element is often forgotten in the race to the bottom line. If both sides of the spectrum were equally fragmented, we'd have a better balance and better representation. After all, some people who voted for the Tories didn't do it for the regressive social policy but for the fiscal policy and tax breaks. The right was balanced when it was the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives. Harper destroyed that balance.

[Lancaster of Wessex]

If the election had been a year ago we would have had a Liberal majority government. They only started to slide in the polls when Harper began scaring Canadians about terrorism. They are still polling higher than they did in 2011 and I predict that unless we see an Ignatieff style implosion, the Liberals will come out of this with at least 80 seats.

I'm still planning on voting Liberal. They are the best choice to defeat the useless Conservative backbencher in my riding and I do like Trudeau's plans for democratic reform. As I mentioned before, the NDP are my second choice and I wouldn't be upset if they won. There is no way they could do any worse than Harper.

Terrorism. The Con's favourite boogeyman de jour because hatin' on commies is so 1950s, and it's political incorrect to pick on foreigners or any particular religion, but we know terrorism in the Con's playbook is just a polite euphemism. After all, it's political suicide to name a specific group.

Voting Liberal is probably sound strategy. It's tragic but it's the reality of Canadian politics. We've got one right-wing party and the left is fragmented between moderate centrism peppered with rational leftist policy to neon-pink socialism that would bleed red if the knife cut the thin facade of their platform - not that there's anything wrong with socialism. A successful nation needs more than right-wing politics to be successful. The human element is often forgotten in the race to the bottom line. If both sides of the spectrum were equally fragmented, we'd have a better balance and better representation. After all, some people who voted for the Tories didn't do it for the regressive social policy but for the fiscal policy and tax breaks. The right was balanced when it was the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives. Harper destroyed that balance.

It's because of a united Right that I see almost no alternative, should the NDP and/or Libs falter this election, but to unite the Liberals and NDP if they want to dethrone the Conservatives. The Greens are irrelevant (and always will be, unfortunately (I guess)), and Canada is quickly on its way save for maybe some BQ seats (if Gilles can work his magic in La Belle Province) to becoming a two party state a la the USA.

[Nation of Quebec]

If the election had been a year ago we would have had a Liberal majority government. They only started to slide in the polls when Harper began scaring Canadians about terrorism. They are still polling higher than they did in 2011 and I predict that unless we see an Ignatieff style implosion, the Liberals will come out of this with at least 80 seats.

I'm still planning on voting Liberal. They are the best choice to defeat the useless Conservative backbencher in my riding and I do like Trudeau's plans for democratic reform. As I mentioned before, the NDP are my second choice and I wouldn't be upset if they won. There is no way they could do any worse than Harper.

Terrorism. The Con's favourite boogeyman de jour because hatin' on commies is so 1950s, and it's political incorrect to pick on foreigners or any particular religion, but we know terrorism in the Con's playbook is just a polite euphemism. After all, it's political suicide to name a specific group.

Voting Liberal is probably sound strategy. It's tragic but it's the reality of Canadian politics. We've got one right-wing party and the left is fragmented between moderate centrism peppered with rational leftist policy to neon-pink socialism that would bleed red if the knife cut the thin facade of their platform - not that there's anything wrong with socialism. A successful nation needs more than right-wing politics to be successful. The human element is often forgotten in the race to the bottom line. If both sides of the spectrum were equally fragmented, we'd have a better balance and better representation. After all, some people who voted for the Tories didn't do it for the regressive social policy but for the fiscal policy and tax breaks. The right was balanced when it was the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives. Harper destroyed that balance.

This is why I'm hoping that the Wildrose begin to run federally. It's still surprising that there is no other right-wing option. The Libertarians realistically have no chance of ever getting elected anywhere and you'd think that there would be a small-government, anti-government spending conservative party in Canada. As we've seen of the Harper Conservatives of the past decade, they are anything but small government and anti-government spending.

It's also why First Past The Post is a broken and outdated system for a multi-party democracy like Canada. It encourages things like vote splitting and strategic voting while not being the true will of the people. The NDP support Proportional Representation while Trudeau prefers ranked ballots, but has promised to look into other options.

Regardless, I don't think any party will have a majority at this point according to the polls, but I'm eager to see how that changes once the writ is dropped (which if the rumors are true, might be as early as next week and after the first debate on August 6.

[Napkiraly]

Ah so Ottawa has decided to grant $114 million to UoT for their new stem cell research program. The sad thing is that'll probably be enough to allow the Cons to argue that they care about Canadian science research and get away with it. Despite, ya know, absolutely gutting our science industry, especially those related to the environment and biology but really they've all been kind of fucked.

[Ainin]

Ah so Ottawa has decided to grant $114 million to UoT for their new stem cell research program. The sad thing is that'll probably be enough to allow the Cons to argue that they care about Canadian science research and get away with it. Despite, ya know, absolutely gutting our science industry (especially those related to the environment and biology but really they've all been kind of fucked).

Let's burn all of Environment Canada's archives FOR SCIENCE!

[Post War America]

Because I'm not Canadian I will sit here... wish I was Canadian and look over my own shitty choices for governation.

[Napkiraly]

Ah so Ottawa has decided to grant $114 million to UoT for their new stem cell research program. The sad thing is that'll probably be enough to allow the Cons to argue that they care about Canadian science research and get away with it. Despite, ya know, absolutely gutting our science industry (especially those related to the environment and biology but really they've all been kind of fucked).

Let's burn all of Environment Canada's archives FOR SCIENCE!

WE BURNED ALL OF THAT PAPER AND THE ICE CAPS ARE STILL HERE!!!1111!!!! GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX

I think Trudeau's greatest moment remains the time he called Peter Kent a piece of shit in the House of Commons.

[Geilinor]

Because I'm not Canadian I will sit here... wish I was Canadian and look over my own shitty choices for governation.

Based off of what I've seen in this thread, most Canadians aren't enthusiastic about their choices.

[Napkiraly]

Because I'm not Canadian I will sit here... wish I was Canadian and look over my own shitty choices for governation.

Based off of what I've seen in this thread, most Canadians aren't enthusiastic about their choices.

Well each party is rather shite in its own way (the Cons taking taking the cake however). The NDP and Liberals are certainly better than Harper and his lot. Though we still should go for PR or at the least STV. And the Senate should either be elected with the same amount of Senators per province or scrapped all together.

[MERIZoC]

Based off of what I've seen in this thread, most Canadians aren't enthusiastic about their choices.

Well each party is rather shite in its own way (the Cons taking taking the cake however). The NDP and Liberals are certainly better than Harper and his lot. Though we still should go for PR or at the least STV. And the Senate should either be elected with the same amount of Senators per province or scrapped all together.

Yeah, Senate is just a bad idea. The system has a lot of good parts, but is really in need of serious reform.

[Gristol-Serkonos]

Considering the Liberals supported Bill C-51 (which is possibly the worst anti-terrorism legislation ever produced by a Canadian Parliament) voting for the NDP might be the best option.

[Ainin]

Based off of what I've seen in this thread, most Canadians aren't enthusiastic about their choices.

Well each party is rather shite in its own way (the Cons taking taking the cake however). The NDP and Liberals are certainly better than Harper and his lot. Though we still should go for PR or at the least STV. And the Senate should either be elected with the same amount of Senators per province or scrapped all together.

In an ideal world, the Senate would be killed with fire. Unfortunately, that's essentially impossible because it requires the unanimous consent of the provinces. Quebec won't do it without Meech Lake 3.0: Third Time's the Charm? and Ontario won't do it period.

[Liberty and Linguistics]

Considering the Liberals supported Bill C-51 (which is possibly the worst anti-terrorism legislation ever produced by a Canadian Parliament) voting for the NDP might be the best option.

That bill alone drove countless Liberals away from the party, and to the NDP.

The Liberals shot themselves in the foot from an electoral standpoint.

[Napkiraly]

Well each party is rather shite in its own way (the Cons taking taking the cake however). The NDP and Liberals are certainly better than Harper and his lot. Though we still should go for PR or at the least STV. And the Senate should either be elected with the same amount of Senators per province or scrapped all together.

In an ideal world, the Senate would be killed with fire. Unfortunately, that's essentially impossible because it requires the unanimous consent of the provinces. Quebec won't do it without Meech Lake 3.0: Third Time's the Charm? and Ontario won't do it period.

Yeah which is why I support equal number of Senators per province. That'd attract the smaller provinces and would kind of push Ontario and Quebec due to the desire of reform and probably not wanting to come across as bigger assholes than they already do to other provinces (especially on this topic with all that has been going on).

Apparently Canada is a pain in the ass to run according to former government officials.

[Oneracon]

Considering the Liberals supported Bill C-51 (which is possibly the worst anti-terrorism legislation ever produced by a Canadian Parliament) voting for the NDP might be the best option.

That bill alone drove countless Liberals away from the party, and to the NDP.

The Liberals shot themselves in the foot from an electoral standpoint.

Which in itself is delicious, delicious irony... since the Liberals only voted for C-51 en masse to prevent Harper going after them as soft on terrorism in the campaign. I certainly hope they fired whatever idiots came up with that idea.

[Geilinor]

Considering the Liberals supported Bill C-51 (which is possibly the worst anti-terrorism legislation ever produced by a Canadian Parliament) voting for the NDP might be the best option.

That bill alone drove countless Liberals away from the party, and to the NDP.

The Liberals shot themselves in the foot from an electoral standpoint.

Trudeau: "But, but... Muh preventing terrorism! Come back, I saved you from ISIS!"

[Gristol-Serkonos]

Considering the Liberals supported Bill C-51 (which is possibly the worst anti-terrorism legislation ever produced by a Canadian Parliament) voting for the NDP might be the best option.

That bill alone drove countless Liberals away from the party, and to the NDP.

The Liberals shot themselves in the foot from an electoral standpoint.

Don't get me started with Trudeau's pledge to legalize pot.

I have nothing against legalizing pot, but is that really our current priority right now?

[Oneracon]

That bill alone drove countless Liberals away from the party, and to the NDP.

The Liberals shot themselves in the foot from an electoral standpoint.

Don't get me started with Trudeau's pledge to legalize pot.

I have nothing against legalizing pot, but is that really our current priority right now?

Can't tell if you're sarcastically pretending to be Conservative attack ad...

I mean Justin is an idiot, but the whole legalizing pot thing is one piece of a larger platform.

[Liberty and Linguistics]

That bill alone drove countless Liberals away from the party, and to the NDP.

The Liberals shot themselves in the foot from an electoral standpoint.

Which in itself is delicious, delicious irony... since the Liberals only voted for C-51 en masse to prevent Harper going after them as soft on terrorism in the campaign. I certainly hope they fired whatever idiots came up with that idea.

Trudeau, actually. He shouldn't be party leader if the Liberals want to bounce back in October.

BTW, does anyone watch the Canadian political ads? I thought the ones in America were cheesy and fearmongering, but holy christ canada...

[Liberty and Linguistics]

That bill alone drove countless Liberals away from the party, and to the NDP.

The Liberals shot themselves in the foot from an electoral standpoint.

Trudeau: "But, but... Muh preventing terrorism! Come back, I saved you from ISIS!"

Maybe all along, Trudeau wanted the NDP to win in 2015, to get back at his dad for forcing him into politics.