Canadian Election Thread

[Layell]

So Harper decided to call the election at almost twice the length of the regular election period. Election day is on October 19th.

I figured we could discuss some of this here, because this election is going to be painful, it will almost be like a US election.

First the conservatives have way more money than all the other parties combined, and with the rebate laws on the books they will make back a lot of what they spent. This article goes into more detail ( http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/can...ng-an-election-save-taxpayers-money-1.3177327 ). It's not going to be pretty, I am hoping this will be brought to more attention and Harper can be called out on it.

 

[Kink]

The biggest problem, as usual, is the standard class/political divide.

I'm a social NDP with a fiscally conservative attitude. Even I can admit I'm fucked.

There are more capitalists than socialists.

 

[soulgazer]

this is gonna be the first time i will get to vote, so i got a question

does the rest of canada even care about the Parti Québécois / can they even affect decisions? Duceppe (the leader) lost in the last elections and Québec's population has shown that we care less and less about seperating ourselves from the rest of Canada (ex: PQ lost in the last provencial election and it was one of the mains reasons they didn't get elected iirc)..

--

I'm hoping that another party wins so that we finally have some changes, esp. since I heard the Conservator have been doing a poor job with the economy lately (is that true btw?) and how he handled the Gun License stuff lol.

e: sry for shit english

 

[Cresselia~~]

Finally a good post.
I'm interested in listening to what real Canadians feel and think of.

 

[UncleSam]

Could someone link me to an explanation of what each party stands for on various topics because Wikipedia is being extremely unhelpful.

 

[Yoshi King]

UncleSam

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...-you-need-to-know-about-the-parties-platforms

 

[Jirachee]

does the rest of canada even care about the Parti Québécois / can they even affect decisions? Duceppe (the leader) lost in the last elections and Québec's population has shown that we care less and less about seperating ourselves from the rest of Canada (ex: PQ lost in the last provencial election and it was one of the mains reasons they didn't get elected iirc)..

the party you're referring to is the Bloc Québecois, Parti is a on a provincial level. To answer your question, yes, they can affect decisions in case of a minority government. They had some sort of actual power in 2008 because they had a lot of seats (about 50 iirc) so their vote mattered a lot. In case of a majority government the opposition parties don't really have much power anyway.

Quite frankly I don't expect the Conservatives to lose this. They just have so much more money than the other parties that the extra long campaign is going to work in their favor =\

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

As someone without a party affiliation, I'll be voting for either Mulcair or Trudeau as the election race continues. Harper has been introducing progressively more draconian legislature during his time in office while being the leader I feel least confident in their ability to keep the promises they make on the campaign trail. While I agree with as many Conservative values as I do left-wing, Harper's track record of failure to act in good faith with the social benefits I support is enough to make me not vote for him. In the NDP/Liberal case these parties are frankly so close in nature and political standing right now that there's currently little difference in voting for one or the other. If the election were to start today I'd vote strategically for Mulcair to prevent a Conservative win, and the two parties would have to differentiate themselves significantly in the ensuing two months to change that approach (strategic voting). A big value for me is the ability to mean what you say and to keep to your word in the election run up. On that front I was supportive of Trudeau for a long time but Mulcair has been brought a bit more to light, and his past reflects a person who initially struggled in politics due to his practice of being a straight shooter. The one concern I have about the NDP is that some of their stated practices are almost too leftist which makes me slightly concerned that they'd be able to be fiscally efficient.

In my ideal world right now the result of this vote would leave a coalition government involving the Liberals as I believe they would be the balancing force between the two current party extremes while also having a charismatic face of the government in Trudeau. i don't like Harper in the majority position of power he currently has due to his dictatorial tendencies, but with checks and balances in place he's certainly a capable governmental leader.

Unfortunately the ideal world is not ideal as the likelihood of any two parties working seamlessly together is almost zero.

 

[Layell]

I'm a social NDP with a fiscally conservative attitude. Even I can admit I'm fucked.

So how do you feel about the increased spending on jails when crime is down, 7 years to balance a budget, this election that is going to be the longest and most expensive probably in Canadian history? The choice is yours really.

does the rest of canada even care about the Parti Québécois / can they even affect decisions? Duceppe (the leader) lost in the last elections and Québec's population has shown that we care less and less about seperating ourselves from the rest of Canada (ex: PQ lost in the last provencial election and it was one of the mains reasons they didn't get elected iirc)..

--

I'm hoping that another party wins so that we finally have some changes, esp. since I heard the Conservator have been doing a poor job with the economy lately (is that true btw?) and how he handled the Gun License stuff lol.

e: sry for shit english

The rest of Canada cares really only when "separatist" is the word of the day. They can make things a bit more left leaning, but in general they are looking out for Quebec interests only. So to answer you, not really no we don't care and they only made a difference when they were big enough to be opposition.

Yeah Jirachee the only way the conservatives can be hurt is if the media really exposes why the long election is bad and Canadians get sick of it. I mean we are exposed to US election for longer, but who knows really X_X.

 

[DeathxShinigami]

Could someone link me to an explanation of what each party stands for on various topics because Wikipedia is being extremely unhelpful.

Also a good article I found is this

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/03/canada-election-parliament-stephen-harper

My personal thoughts:

The Bloc Quebecois are essentially dead. Even with Duceppe back as the leader of their party (and also with the provincial counterpart suffering a massive defeat in the quebec provincial last year.) The party isn't rebounding to levels of support that they have seen from around 2008 election instead staying around levels slightly higher of their 2014 which will probably results in a few seats at most.

The NDP has not lost much support in Quebec (and are basically set for gains in every province except Manitoba where the provincial NDP there is deeply unpopular) which is key for them if they hope to form a minority or a coalition government with the liberals...or even possibly a majority if they somehow improve in polling from now til election day!

The Liberals have hit their low point and luckily for them it probably will not hit Ignatieff levels of polling which was considered disasterous for them back in 2011 election. They have gained support in the atlantic provinces as well as Ontario and Quebec slightly since then, however due to losing center-right voters over the decade to the Conservatives and due to likely losing left-wing support to the NDP, I can't see them having good momentum to forming a minority, coalition or majority government. However they are most likely going to double their seat count and avoid total irrelevancy putting them perhaps in a kingmaker position when it comes to the next government?

And finally the Conservatives...been in power now through 2 recessions in Canada and suffering from lots of voter fatigue and resentment from the public when it comes to the current issues, I find it surprising they have rebounded in the polls. (Though I believe part of it has to be because of the HUGE amounts of government funding handouts given to a lot of areas within the past couple weeks and over the weekend.) They currently seem to neck and neck in the polling with the NDP and still have a fighting chance to form government once again. However polling still shows they have been losing support everywhere in the country to the other parties and seems doubtful right now if they'll be able to form a majority.

No comments on the greens as they seem unlikely to make any breakthroughs...although they still seem competitive over on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

 

[capefeather]

This might interest people in the coming... ugh... months. Also I hate this habit I have of relying on links, but this is a very good summary of the Harper government (and it's not even exhaustive). I'd really like to help stop the damage that the Conservatives have inflicted on this country, but apparently I live in a pretty blue riding and that's not likely to change any time soon. Considering Ontario's opposition parties failed to present a palatable alternative to the scandal-riddled Liberals last year, I fear that the same will happen with the federal opposition parties.

 

[DeathxShinigami]

The first debate between the party leaders occured today. Confidently I can say it was a big missed opportunity for Mulcair that he didn't really go on the offensive during it. Trudeau I felt was surprisingly sharp and made a great pitch to try to gain undecided voters at the end. While I feel Harper is being his usual so-so self. May just alone by being in the debate will probably create some national exposure to the green party which I guess is a good thing for her and the party.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Funny, I have a very different view on the debate. Mulcair came away very strong, he looked capable, confident, and appeared like a leader. He made his points crystal clear and pushed a clear message while jumping on Harper at every opportunity and not allowing him to get away from topics where he has a poor record. Harper did fine given Mulcair's attacking him, he pulled small things on each issue to fluff himself which is all his supporters needed and defended himself competently enough. May achieved her goal of getting broader name recognition to the party but is a poor debater, couldn't get through any point without hitting four tangents.

Good god trudeau was terrible. Weak presence, failed to deliver a message with impact, stumbled on his words, looked visibly uncomfortable and unsure of himself in fronto of the cameras. The ending pitch you talk about was the farthest thing from natural and clearly the only thing he rehearsed. The moderator actually thought he was finished speaking before he did because he was pimping the moment so long.

I came away from watching that debate with two more pieces of knowledge than I did before. First, trudeau failed to show himself as a viable leadership candidate in his first major opportunity to present himself to the Canadian people. And second, that Mulcair is not as radical as the conservatives would lead you to believe. In addition to the aforementioned points he fared very well when challenged on controversial topics, specifically when does the NDP support war efforts and came across as having very reasonable stances on those issues.

Mulcair knew every policy issue to support his plan and detract from Harper, appears a leader unlikely to radically shift the country, and looks every bit the statesman that trudeau could not. He is the clear winner of the debate in my eyes.

 

[billymills]

I was disappointed at a couple points in the debate. The moderator cut off the debate right when May brought up the TPP, the only time it was brought up. I was really hoping to see what the opposition parties had to say on the topic.

Trudeau turned a debate about electoral reform and parliamentary structure into an ill-focused rant on Mulcair's campaigning in Quebec, and claimed that no one wants to discuss Quebec separation, because they decided not to invite the separatists.

I thought everyone did reasonably well, but I was definitely disappointed by Trudeau.

 

[ForgottenOnes]

So I'm not actually legally able to vote yet cuz of my age ;~;, but I still listened in on the debate. Tbh the two leaders who impressed me the most were Mulcair and May.

I thought that Mulcair had a super strong presence in the debate, and May brought up some points that were pretty decent. May knew her shit as well. She was spot on with stats, and refuted everything wrong about statistics. I guess that was what impressed me. Being so on point with your stats about these debates.

Trudeau must have been like having a bad day or some shit, like he just choked ;;. I remember at one point in the debate, Trudeau kept on going back to Mulcair saying one thing in English, and the opposite in French. Trudeau must have brought this up 6-7 times because he couldn't answer Mulcair's questions. (rip) Even during the media questioning period after the debate, I clearly remember a person asking Trudeau something like "W-What did you mean by your closing statements? I mean it sucked. You had no presence, and you didn't emphasize anything" and then Trudeau came up with some decent answer.

Harper, I felt, was attacked so much that like I feel bad for him >.< . I guess thats what a PM does lol. Yeah he did well defending his stance and stuff.

>Hate Bill C-51

I hope the NDP win D:

 

[shaian]

Honestly if I were to vote Conservative, I'd do so just so I can see Harper go PM for 3 decades. I'm pretty sure he will win since most leftist voters are stuck choosing between the NDP and Liberals which are just two different parties for almost no discernible reasons, which is ultimately their biggest roadblock to actually winning an election (seriously just merge already).

That being said, I'd like to see Mulcair win, since Trudeau needs to get some experience as a leader, and Mulcair seems the most ready to address the damage done to our environmental, fiscal, and foreign policies by the Harper administration. It probably won't happen though since Harper is so damn good at manipulating politics.

 

[boo836]

Something I'm tired of hearing is that Justin Trudeau is inexperienced. I don't say this as a Trudeau supporter (I'd sooner hang myself), but as someone who's tired of people buying into the unsubstantiated partisan shots that keep being thrown around. If you want reasons to not support Trudeau, his foreign policy is atrocious and inconsistent, and he backed C51. Even worse, his idea of infrastructure spending doesn't help deal with Harper's clusterfuck of a recession.

 

[Layell]

So advanced polls have had a sharp increase, which I hope is a good sign. It seems Harper is trying to hold onto Conservative ridings and not touring any battlegrounds.

I voted in advance because my riding had a clear choice, I hope the rest of you get informed and get voting as well come election day.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Cast my vote last week courtesy of University's having advanced stations that allow students to vote either in their home riding or in the riding of their temporary residence while at school.

I voted in Ottawa Centre rather than Don Valley North as DVN is projected to be a tight race between Liberals and Conservatives, whereas the incumbent NDP candidate in OC had a projected lead, my vote would carry greater weight in OC.

In addition to other factors such as OC being more representative of my current and projected future interests than DVN where I may no longer be residing.

 

[DeathxShinigami]

Trudeaumania! Is in full force just by looking at the battleground maps. At this point it really looks like a dogfight between all 3 parties as there are a lot of seats in play generally.

I hold dual citizenship but haven't held residency status since early 2000's (when I was a kid) so I obviously can't vote. My preference though where I "would" be residing at is the riding of Cowichan—Malahat—Langford which was generally a safer NDP seat on the vancouver island but is now a marginal between them and the conservatives. I still really hope the NDP has a shot at sweeping all but one of the ridings on the island (Elizabeth May's seat in Saanich looks safe for her) although they are losing ground at the moment to the greens which is benefitting the conservatives when it comes to preferences.

I am comfortable enough with a Liberal minority and hopefully it'll be much better than the Liberal-NDP minority of 2004-2006 if one of the center to center-left parties gets the most seats to have the shot at forming government first.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

My ideal situation would be a NDP minority with ~40% of seats, Conservatives official opposition with ~32% of seats, and Liberals as king makers with ~28% of seats. This creates a balance where the NDP policies that I've gotten behind for support are checked by the Conservative values, which do carry value, while getting Harper out of power. The Liberals remain influential and Trudeau gets time to develop as a country leader while honing his party's policies which to date I do not feel are as thoroughly fleshed out as the other two parties.

 

[boo836]

So the opposition leaders have confirmed that they plan to vote out Harper should he win. i talked to Elizabeth May about it.

 

[Layell]

just gonna copy this from my own fb:

Tomorrow we vote, unless you did so in advance, be sure to know what you need to bring: http://elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=id&document=index&lang=e

Here is a good primer from Macleans as well if you haven't been paying any attention:
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-ultimate-issues-primer/

This has been our longest and most expensive election yet, and it will be costing taxpayers a ton. I urge you all to vote and send the message that needs to be sent, figure out your day tomorrow, get to the polls. If you work all during the time polls are open, your employer MUST give you a three hour window at some point to allow you to vote.

 

[shaian]

the only blues i want to win tonight are the jays lgi

 

[capefeather]

This has been our longest and most expensive election yet, and it will be costing taxpayers a ton. I urge you all to vote and send the message that needs to be sent, figure out your day tomorrow, get to the polls. If you work all during the time polls are open, your employer MUST give you a three hour window at some point to allow you to vote.

How ironic, the Conservatives complain about the last election wasting taxpayer money, yet here they are, changing the rules so that they can spend even more. Not even surprising at this point.

Anyway, while I'm here, might as well share something. Yesterday I saw two people discussing the election. One turned out to be a pretty hardline conservative, like, at one point he literally shouted his support for Ben Carson to everybody nearby. The other guy said he was fairly socially conservative usually, but couldn't vote for Harper because of all the horrible things he'd done. He said that Harper doesn't care about people, to which the former replied that that's a meaningless statement. He'd later complain about liberal media bias, ironically an actually meaningless statement because everyone is biased and cares about different things. The rest was basically the latter correcting the former on every point he brought up. Apparently the latter's sticking with his Harper support because, although all parties support abortion, Harper might be against it in principle. This apparently matters over all the negatives about him.