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Canadian Election thread
08-06-2015, 07:32 PM
Since the writ has been dropped and we're now into an incredibly long (for Canadian politics) 78-day election campaign, I thought a thread would be appropriate.
Quoting from http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/federal ... -1.3178991
Quote:Our job is to listen carefully to what the candidates say, subtract the cartoon sound bites and decide which leader and which party are most likely to negotiate a deal that is in Canada's best interests. And on this issue, that is how we should vote.
("this issue" being trade, which is of course a big part of the economy)
Leaders' debate tonight - possibly the only one with all four parties' leaders taking part - will be streamed live on www.CPAC.ca
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Quote:Our job is to listen carefully to what the candidates say, subtract the cartoon sound bites
... but after you subtract cartoon sound bites from cartoon sound bites, there's nothing left to analyze!
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That's why one should listen to the entirety of the debates.
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Rob Kelk
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Is it just as entertaining as the GOP debates?
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Couldn't tell you - I've never seen a GOP debate. Probably not.
So ... no knockout punches (no "I knew Jack Kennedy" or "You had an option, sir" lines).
The left-wing party leader flubbed his closing statement, which is especially bad since he was reading it from notes. The centrist leader (the youngest of the four, IIRC) did much better than I had expected him to do, dispelling the "he doesn't have enough experience" message in the other parties' attack ads. The right-wing party leader was on the defensive (understandable since he's the one looking for re-election), almost admitted that the country is in a recession, and said he expects the next US President is going to approve Keystone XL. The Green Party leader showed knowledge on topics that are outside the stereotypical Green purview, thus showing (to me, at least) that she has the ability to lead a country. Whether I want her to lead the country is another matter, of course.
I have some policy-watching to do over the next eleven weeks...
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Rob, I think this is why we have a two-party system here in the US - it keeps things relatively simple. It's bad enough we get spammed with candidates every election cycle and it takes about a year to winnow the field. :p
(Also, the Electoral College system... Ugh.)
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Quote:Black Aeronaut wrote:
Rob, I think this is why we have a two-party system here in the US - it keeps things relatively simple. It's bad enough we get spammed with candidates every election cycle and it takes about a year to winnow the field. :p
(Also, the Electoral College system... Ugh.)
The two-party system has its own problems, however, because it turns both sides into an umbrella party instead of being actually ideologically unified.
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This isn't really the place to discuss US politics, IMHO - we have plenty of other threads for that.
So ... it appears the left-wing party wants to repeal the Clarity Act.
This has been part of their policy for a couple of years, but it only came to the forefront recently.
We don't have a tradition of "provinces' rights" the way the US has its tradition of "states' rights," so this is a major change to the political landscape. Yes, the change is "go back to making separatism referenda practical to hold" - but do we really want to go back there?
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And the campaign ads begin:
(Okay, this isn't a typical campaign ad. But what if it was?)
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I'd have to see his serious campaigning first, but hell, I'd at least go to one of his rallies to see what he's all about.
... were I Canadian, and/or part of his desired constituency.
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Sometimes, it's good to get an outsider's perspective on things.
The Register: Canadians taking to spying on their spies
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Rob Kelk
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It seems pretty obvious which party doesn't care about local affairs:
CBC Ottawa: Jim Watson cancels meeting as 9 Conservative candidates are no-shows
If that's how they act in the national capital, well...
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CBC news: Which leader has answered the most questions (so far)?
Of course (and as some of the comments point out), the number of questions answered is not necessarily the same as the number of different answers given.
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Well, we're halfway through the election campaign ... and so far only one party has released a platform.
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/platform
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Rob Kelk
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Less than four weeks to go, and I still haven't seen platforms from the three major parties...
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Why would they need platforms? They have enough hot air that they can use balloons instead.
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If they aren't willing to give me reasons to vote for them, why should I?
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Rob Kelk
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Well, two more parties are releasing their platforms today - the one that isn't is the one currently in power.
Possibly not a coincidence, advance voting starts today.
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Rob Kelk
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And the other big party has released its platform.
Just in time for the advance polls - and for Thanksgiving Monday.
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Rob Kelk
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And a 10 whole days before the election too. Someone might have time to compare facts and figures and ask impertinent questions.
Ah well, at least I have something amusing to listen to while I read.
http://mrlaheyvotes.ca/ (Trailer Park Boys, so very, very likely NSFW)
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It's time to vote!
[img]http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRo8ezGXIAAw9fA.jpg:large">
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Rob Kelk
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them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
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Well, some of the polls are closed, and for the first time ever we're legally allowed to discuss the results before the remaining polls close. (Gotta love Twitter...)
So...
It's no surprise that Atlantic Canada tends to the left. What is a surprise is that out of 32 seats reporting, as of this posting the Liberals are leading in 32. Yes, all of them.
All the polls were predicting a three-way race between the Conservatives (right), Liberals (center-left), and NDP (left-center), and we were wondering who's be leading a minority Parliament. Of course, the polls in the big population centers in Quebec and Ontario are still open, so it's still anyone's race.
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Rob Kelk
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The polls just closed everywhere east of the Rockies. Now to see whether the Liberals will keep that momentum...
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Rob Kelk
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Well, the CBC has predicted a Liberal government. No surprise - as of this post, they're at 58.7% of the popular vote and elected-or-leading in 52 out of 71 ridings reporting. But there's still 249 ridings that haven't reported even one poll yet.
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Rob Kelk
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All polls are now closed.
In extremely early returns, the NDP leader is trailing the Liberal candidate in his riding. (we have a Parliament, not a Congress. Our party leaders are elected (or not) to the House of Commons; they don't run directly for Prime Minister.) Also in very early returns, the Liberal and Conservative leaders are leading in their ridings.
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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