canadian election

[kateri]

hey, how's about some :canada politics?? seeing as how it's just under two weeks till the federal election? i know you canuckers are out there...

it's a worrying time...the conservatives (oh sorry new conservatives, basically the reform party if you look at their platform) are gaining on the liberals, and stephen harper has all but stated we would have gone to war had he been in power at the time.

anyone see the french-language debate last night? or watching the english-language one tonight?

[ribbon]

I don't know much about :canada politics. Care to enlighten me and the others who don't know?

[kateri]

sure will! :winky

we have a parliamentary system a lot like the :uk, so we vote for a member of parliament (MP) to represent our own riding. the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament (ie. the most MPs) becomes prime minister.

there are either four or five 'serious' parties, depending on who you ask (whether they consider the green party to be serious).

the liberals are currently in power and have been for over ten years (almost entirely under jean chrétien's leadership, paul martin has only been PM for six months). they are fairly centrist.

now it gets a bit more complicated...
the conservatives, as they used to be, were one of the two parties that dated back to confederation (the other being the liberals), and were slightly right wing. in the nineties a further right-wing party called reform was created. eventually they merged with some of the conservatives, creating the canadian alliance party. (after considering the name conservative-reform alliance party, until they noticed the acronym:muhaha--i'm not joking!!) now the alliance has finally merged with the rest of the conservatives, taking the conservative name but behaving eerily like reformers.

the new democratic party (NDP, that should really be orange!) are socialist. their founder, tommy douglas, basically invented the canadian health-care system. their current leader is jack layton.

finally, here's where you get to think we're insane!
the fourth major federal party is the bloc québecois. they are fairly socialist, but that is beside the point, since their main objective is to break up the country.

the main issues in this election are health-care (as always in :canada) and the 'sponsorship scandal', the latter being the reason the liberals are falling in the polls. you might remember in the nineties there was a referendum in quebec in which they decided, by less than half a percentage point, not to separate from :canada. it turns out the federal government, in the run-up to that referendum, was giving vast amounts of money to québecois companies, for those companies to promote canadian nationalism (i'm simplifying it a bit, partly cause i dont really understand!). but some of these grants seem to have been paid several times over, money went missing. i dunno, at least now we know both sides cheated on that one...so that's why we're looking at a potential minority government or worse (worse being, in my books, the new conservatives).

i should mention because i've said left/right wing, that i've been told that even the reform party at their most right wing was still to the left of the :usa democrats. but that could have been an exaggeration.

come on, i know there's canuckers in the :bowl... we gotta have our own political discussion...

[ribbon]

So the liberals aren't that liberal :confused?
I suppose I'd be reform (is that the most liberal?)? Is reform and green the same thing?

[kateri]

ack, no!!! don't say such things!!! :muhaha let me explain myself...

i was trying to say reform (who no longer exist) was as right-wing as we ever got, they were against loads of things i know you wouldn't be!!! (gay marriage for one, they were dead against that. the new conservatives more or less are too, but they know better than to try to outlaw it, that would never fly over here).

the liberals are around the middle but have the talent of shifting their policies with the mood of the country. which isn't all bad if it keeps the conservatives out of power...

i think our green party is about the same as yours (:usa). the NDP is the most left-wing party that can actually get seats in parliament though.

there will be a test on this, by the way! :winky

[ribbon]

Phew, thanks for setting my head straight :muhaha.

[scaredsilly]

:hugon kateri :hugoff

Oh, I am sorry I missed the start of this thread!! Don't usually posted, but always reading them!

Had to get my two sense in here... truthful, I learned more about the "parties" in your post (in terms of platform) then any of the news or media here. I live in BC, and most people seem to ignore politics as we have drawn the short straw too many times here!

Don't have cable so haven't seem the debates, I understand they were quite "animated" (or atleast the english debate was!)

I live in what in considered the "bible belt of BC" so we also have the "Christian Hertitage Party" which is doing well so far.

But like I said earlier, not much mentioned about it here!!

[kateri]

:hugondana duuude!:hugoff
i'm a BCer too, so i know what you mean about drawing the short straw (western alienation, anyone?) though the maritimes don't fare much better. if at all.

yeah the anglo debate was animated, in the sense that toddlers fighting over a toy are animated.

i have never heard of the christian heritage party...:ummm that's kinda scary. theyre doing well?? do you know anything about their platform? i mean i can guess but still... seems we get all the country's extremists (all extremes!) in BC (you notice i didnt get into the :smokin marijuana party :winky)

[Mully]

Hey.... I'm a BC fishy too! There are many of us around here.

I am definitely going to vote- can't whine if you don't, right? I just have absolutely no idea who to vote for. I don't like Harper, Martin, or Layton. I don't really like any of the federal parties, either. I know who I don't want provincially (any other BC fishies hate Campbell as much as me?) but I'm not sure where to "strategically" put my vote, lol.

Oh, and I totally hear ya on the short straw thing! Doesn't seem fair at all!

[scaredsilly]

:hugon to all :canada fishes :hugoff

Ok, as it seems only BC fishies are getting involved in this thread, but really anyone guess what the results are going to be???

In Your Riding???

Our Next Prime Minister???

Most of the polls I have seen, seems like a close race for Primer Minister, but the question I have is: Does it really matter? Most never keep the promises made during the campaigns! Or maybe I feel that way as BC is full of the extremes! And never really gets much!

I am definately going to vote, don't know for who... do you vote for who you think will do the best job? or with the party you think will win federal so your riding will be better represented? or with who you think will be the opposition, to stir things up?

I don't know... but I do predict a minority government this time around.

What are your thoughts?

[kateri]

i have a sinking feeling as to who our next PM will be :mad, the conservatives are leading the polls. (does NO ONE remember mulroney?? geez! i remember and i was just a kid...) but as they say, a week is a long time in politics...

i think we're looking at a minority government though, so at least if harper does get to power, the other parties should be able to stop their squabbling at least a little in order to properly oppose his dangerous policies.

it's an interesting question, whether not to vote strategically and what strategy to use. personally i have got so little info on our local candidates, and i care so little for any of the party leaders, that this time around (as usual) i'm voting for the party whose platform is closest to what i want to see happen for the country. and for the first time this is in no way a wasted vote, cause they brought in this thing where parties get paid (by whom i have no idea...) per vote received. i think it's a buck fifty per vote or something. don't know if i like that theory but at least it makes me think what party i want to be receiving my money!

[PrettyKittie]

and no mention of the marijuana party? lol
I think the BC-ers know someone who has had their lives effected negatively by Campbell and the Liberals. Hopefully that will bring more people out to vote. I personally would love to see more people in the eighteen to thirty ages vote.
I personally haven't decided who I will be voting for but I am really hoping for a proper mix. BC has been dealing with the Liberals who have all but what six seats and it has made me realize that it isn't always as much *who* is in power but how much power they have. An Opposing party is a lot more important that I had realized.

Oh and the Christian Heritage Party only is in eight ridings in BC. Not really leading when you consider that :)

[scaredsilly]

PrettyKittie,

glad to see others join the "debate"!!

What I meant with the Christian Heritage Party, was that they seem to be doing quite well in my riding.... but that is a story in itself!!

Still not sure.... any suggestions??

[PrettyKittie]

I live in an area that if we had someone from that party in our riding then they would most likely win. It's the main reason I know about the party hehe :)

[ribbon]

When are the elections?

[kateri]

:hugon:ribpink:hugoff theyre this monday

:hugonprettykittie:hugoff i think i may be misunderstanding what you said in your post before the last one, so correct me by all means if i'm wrong!! but it is important to remember that the federal liberals and the BC provincial liberals are entirely different creatures. gordon campbell has been just awful for BC, that's for sure, but his policies are actually a lot closer to stephen harper's than paul martin's. (any non-:canada fishies confused yet? so are we!)
you're totally right about the importance of a real opposition though.

[PrettyKittie]

:hugon Kateri :hugoff
oops oops oops!
My last post was to do with the Christian Heritage Party.
I do know that Campbell's liberals are different then Martins though (even though most of my posts don't show it :winky ). I think it's because I know too many people that have been hit hard by changes made by Campbel and *his* liberals but haven't seen anyone hit as hard by choices made by the federal liberals so whenever politics come up I tend to fly off the handle a little bit.

Can you tell I'm one of those people that gets confuddled when it comes to explaining what I think?

[Mully]

I hope everyone votes on Mon.!

I think I've finally decided. I'm not really a fan of any of the potential PMs... but I'm going to go with the local candidate that has worked really hard in the past, and that I believe will work the hardest to represent the people. God knows we definitely need a politician to represent the people!

[PrettyKittie]

Monday will be my sweetie's first time voting! He's twenty-nine!!!!