Anyone But Harper
Well, Canada's Federal Election is a week away. The process has gotten very interesting. A week ago, there was talk that the Conservatives under Stephen Harper could form a majority government. This week there is a chance the Liberal's under Stephane Dion could lead a minority government. Urban Canadians have just shown a preference for the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives.
In the party leaders' debates Stephen Harper did not do as well as expected and Stephane Dion, did much better. Dion has been under a relentless attack personally by the Harper Campaign in the US style of personal attack politics. At the same time Harper's advertising of himself was definitely similar to the American Republican style of self promotion as a populous virtuous, family man. (Harper is a George Bush admirer and disciple) I don't think Canadians like this attempt to make over himself or his rude personal attacking style against Dion.
Harper has made some other irritating gaffes I will not list here. His dramatic cutbacks on support and funding of the Arts is one of the best reasons to turf him out. His latest which seems to have made him finally fall below the Liberals among Urban Canadians is that he declared that the financial crisis is "a good opportunity for investments". When people are worried for their job and investments they don't appreciate this, seeing it as insensitive.
There are lots of good reasons to not vote for Stehen Harper and the Conservatives. They generally do not represent Canadian shared values. All of the other parties are to the left of the Conservatives who can garner enough votes to win the election with only 34% (or so) of the vote or even form a majority government with 40% of the vote.
Watch the You Tube video below to see some of the damage the Harper government has done as a minority government.
Coming down to the wire the mantra has begun. Don't waste a vote on the smaller party that will only help to elect the Conservatives. The last election, the New Democrats numbers were down because many tried to elect the Liberals and stop the Conservatives. It did not work. It only saw fewer New Democrats in Parliament. There are lots of efforts to encourage such strategic voting. Here is one web site http://www.votepair.ca/ This is a creative way to vote strategically without "wasting a vote."
I am not a fan of the Conservatives, in general and Sephen Harper ,in particular. I guess you figured that out by now. Below is a video on Stephen Harper which reflects how his critics feel about him.
Make sure you vote!
posted by Tossing Pebbles in the Stream @ 4:42 p.m.
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7 Comments:
Sobering video. Unfortunately, I live in a riding which makes Alberta look left wing. There will be a Conservative victory here.
This has nothing to do with your blog subject...but I just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed your comment about Paul Newman on my blog. I have friends who live near where he did in Connecticut and he would often show up for small town events...especially if it was for a good cause or involved children.
Thanks again for your remembrance.
While you make some good comments, I am reasonably happy with the state of affairs of the last several years. I travel extensively on business and therefore voted in the early polls since I will not be at home during the election. I voted conservative. I don't even know the members who were running in my riding. I just found the conservative candidate on the ballot and chose him/her. (heh, can't even remember who it was)
Ahhhh, politics… what a sad state of affairs… It hurts to read negative examples stated as being “the American way”… yet it is true. Nasty campaigning, lies, lies, and more lies. Tons of finger pointing. It is so sad to see so many people voting for someone just because… Recently one woman was “interviewed” on National TV saying she was voting for Palin because she was a mom! The interviewer asked “well what about her position on…” and the woman answered that none of that mattered. She was a mom and that was that. I found myself wondering if she would have said the same thing about Hillary???
When I was young, I voted the way my family or husband told me to vote most of the time. I did not have time to think about the issues… there didn’t seem to be any. Ah, youth! Looking back, I realize I hadn’t lived long enough to understand the issues, I hadn’t yet had to worry about the economy – I had my family to bail me out in the early years – didn’t have anyone going off to war – Vietnam (which I strongly opposed) was over… it took a few years to realize every time the Republicans were in office, ga$ prices went way up, our salaries got frozen and positions got cut AND the budget deficit got worse – BUT the rich got always richer. Many states considered art and music frivolous and those positions were cut out of some school systems. Next went librarians. Funny, the coaches were never laid off. Priorities… As an art teacher, I kept a close eye on these things and worried myself sick. Eventually the pattern formed before my eyes and I began watching things especially as it hit my wallet time and time again. There were times I threw my vote away, unable to go for either of the 2 main candidates. I was not old enough to see the fallacy in that… Ralph Nader helped put George Bush in the White House. Well, that and voter fraud, and who knows what else. Ahhhhhh, power…
I have high hopes that Canada will rise above and stay above the shenanigans of their southern neighbor.
And God save the Queen! ;-D !
I voted in the advance polls for the Conservatives. I like the fact that Harper does not panic over economic downturns and rush off, back to the capital, John McCain style, in a big show of doing something that amounts to nothing. Canada is better positioned to weather this storm (thanks to the cautious Harper government of the last 3 years) than virtually every other country and Harper is right about that. Sometimes what the media plays up as "insensitive" comments is nothing more than the speaking of truth (even when the truth hurts). I find Harper speaks harsh truth and that is an admirable quality for a Canadian leader, most of whom lie or mamby pamby about what they really think. The Stephen Harper = George Bush line has gotten quite tired with overuse. I think Harper thinks for himself and if it happens to be the case that, on occasion, some of his thoughts parallel those of GWB, so be it.
The NDP wants to spend $50 billion of your tax dollars to shut down the oil patch (the only real money maker in Canada, at the present time) and give the money to the auto industry that makes trucks and SUVs that nobody wants to buy. The Liberals want to spend $80 billion and tax the hell out of us. The last government that spent like a drunken sailor at the beginning of a recession was the Ontario NDP that less than two years into the spending orgy realized that the province was going bankrupt and immediately reversed course, leaving an enormous deficit that we are still dealing with 15 years later.
Still better than what we're dealing with here in the States. Our process and choices are a nightmare. :(
Navigator said;"The NDP wants to spend $50 billion of your tax dollars to shut down the oil patch (the only real money maker in Canada, at the present time) and give the money to the auto industry that makes trucks and SUVs that nobody wants to buy."
Wrong! This is a typical Conservative lie!
The NDP wants to cancel a big fat tax giveaway to big business that hasn't been implemented yet, and the money promised to the auto industry was a promis made by Mr.Harper. I saw,& Heard him myself.
Im tired of hearing what the NDP did in Ontario, They did really well in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and left no deficits there. The Conservatives ,on the other hand,have always left a Big Fat Deficit everywhere they go because their raison d'aitre seems to be the giving away of billions of taxpayers money to foreign corporations that send the cadeau away to some foreign country, further deteriorating Canada's chances of ever really being a REAL country, and not a colony of some foreign power.Companies such as;GM in Quebec where they received $350 million from the Provincial Liberal government, and I forget how much from the Feds, only to close their plant after receiving the cash!and of course the latest waste at the plant in Ontario. $400 million!?
I'd love to give the NDP a chance at Governance at the federal level. They can't POSSIBLY be any worse then the yahoos, Conservative & Liberal ,that we've sent there before. That's the way I see it.
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