Canadian Opposition Tries to Force Early Election

Let's see.....on allowing private medicine in Canada, he agrees with not only the majority of the people, but with the Supreme Court.

Never heard tell of him saying we should switch to the US dollar. I'll believe it when I see it.

We should have joined our British, Australian, and US allies in Iraq. At the time, only a clear majority in Quebec thought we shouldn't.

We are in BMD. Norad is tracking missiles for it. We have agreed to share all info, which is the ONLY thing the US wanted besides moral support. This has been one of the most successful deceptions of that arsehole Martin. He managed to alienate the Americans for absolutely no reason.

He has said Abortion should be BANNED?! I don't believe it. Show me some proof. This is demonization.

The Supreme Court was wrong.

I'm all for border integration with the USA.

Our military should be equipped in the same manner as the USA, but I've never heard any Conservative speak of complete integration. And I'm a party member.

I stand by what I said.

Harper sets Nov. 28 as date to topple government

Opposition leader Stephen Harper says Nov. 28 is likely the day the axe will fall on the Liberal minority government, even as a new poll showed an early election might not go in the opposition's favour.

The Conservative leader says that's probably the date the House of Commons will vote on a non-confidence motion.

Prick. Whats the problem waiting until March or April? He aint gonna win.

Harper has been constantly unwilling to make Parliement run. Election now or in April we are still going to have a Lib minority.

Plus Martin may of been aware of some of what was going on, but it was Chretien so why blame Martin?

Interesting point, Juan. French speaking Quebeckers generally don't care which party (liberal/conservative) holds power, they will vote with the party most sympathetic to separation. This was demonstrated when they voted en masse for Mulroney. A CPC/Bloc Union would be just what Harper needs. Plus, his argument on decentalizing more power to the provinces (which is good ... going towards a US approach) is popular both out west and in Quebec. Not to mention that seperation is popular to both Albertans and Quebeckers.

Martin knew EXACTLY what was going on.

He was the second most powerful man in cabinet, and in Quebec. I understand his claim that Chretien kept him "out of the loop", but how is that possible when Martin's people used to claim they controled EVERY riding association in the country?

Besides, Martin has proven himself to be a liar on his own account.

What ever happened to Parliamentary reform?

The Liberals have got to go, for the good of the nation. To leave them in will simply encourage them.

Liberal scandals (remember Martin was in cabinet, so he is partially responsible)

The APEC thing. To my mind a very serious scandal, as it showed the PM not only suppressing free speech, but using the RCMP as his own personal Gestapo.

And the sequel.....the Apec inquiry.

The shutting down of the Somalia inquiry.

HRDC.

The golf course/hotel thing.

The persecution of BDC President Bouduoin (sp). Once again the PM uses the RCMP as his personal enforcers.

Gomery. The worst scandal in Canadian history.

Yup, we're going to have an election. I like the NDP's suggested date of February 13...that's about perfect and it's when Martin should make the election no matter when his government falls.

You Conservative types have to get a hold of your MPs and Stephen Harper, preferably by their throats, and tell them that this one had better be about issues though. You'd also better be willing to do some actual work when the election is over. People are damned tired of your scandal mongering, name calling, empty rhetoric, and sundry other crap.

I'm not a Liberal, Colpy. You never tralk about issues either, all you do is search for scandals and scream about corruption. Meanwhile the CPC lets meat packers (who just happen to danate to the party) walk away from conempt of parliament charges without paying a fine"

either helps or allows one of their MPs to secretly tape, and then misrepresents what was on those tapes to the public;"

has a Manitoba MP who pleaded guilty to breaking Manitoba election laws;

has another MP who tried to use his position as an Alberta MLA to illegally influence a legal case, then paid for his defense with taxpayers money;

has a leader who went to court in an attempt to keep third party advertisers backing him.

As for issues...well, you've flip-flopped on healthcare so many times that you can't be trusted have said that you won't try to ban abortion while purposely keeping the back door open; back US-style gun control (or lack thereof; support a US style war on drugs even though that has been a demonstrable failure; have a military plan that most Canadians disagree with and so on.

Basically, if you want to talk policy and nothing but, you will sink like a rock in the polls

Last time I looked, the Liberals were the gov't. How do the Conservatives let someone walk away from Parliament?

Must admit, this one looked sleazy. I don't like Grewel at all, but what he did was legal, and I don't think what was on the tapes was misrepresented at all.

I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about.

Day did get somewhat carried away on that one, but he had no criminal intent, made no personal gain, and has been burned hard enough he learned his lesson.

You mean has a leader who went to court in defense of freedom of speech. The "gag law" went through the courts more than once, and was struck down only to be re-introduced by the Liberals. They simply kept trying until they packed the Court enough to back them. And you accuse Harper of being questionable on this issue? It is to laugh.

The Conservatives have a clear policy on health care....the provinces should be free to experiment with different forms of delivery in a publically funded system.

As for abortion, are you afraid of democracy and a free vote? The CPC will not introduce abortion legislation. No Canadian Parliament would pass abortion legislation. Subject closed.

The CPC has a plan for strict licencing of gun owners. That is hardly "American-style" gun control. (sigh, I only dream) In fact Harper voted FOR C-68, before it became obvious what a disaster it was.

The CPC was for the decriminalization of marijuana. How is that like the insane US "war on drugs"?

Most Canadians WANT a robust military, I believe.

I don't think so, and I am quite willing to talk policy.....but it is NOT the only issue. Liberal corruption is an issue as well.

It takes unanimous consent to levy fines for contempt of parliament in committee. The Conservatives wouldn't give theirs. Millions of our tax dollars, which were supposed to ultimately benefit Canadian beef producers, went to Cargill and Tyson in a year when they made record profits and our farmers were going broke.

Bull****. You watched the last US election. You are likely familiar with what went on there. Do you think, even for a second, that kind of thing should be allowed in Canada? Do you support the corrupt fallacy that corporations and special interest groups have the same rights as citizens?

No. The Conservatives have a very unclear policy on healthcare. Sometimes they support two tier, sometimes they don't. Sometimes it's something they can fix, sometimes it's something they want to privatise. Sometimes they agree with the Fraser Institute, sometimes they refer to Romanow Report.

Their hidden agenda on health care can be inferred by the way they move to the left when the polls force them to and to the right when their corporate masters ask them to. mention a chapter 11 suit on healthcare to a Conservative and they turn white and deny it can happen. They can't say why though.

Quote:

As for abortion, are you afraid of democracy and a free vote? The CPC will not introduce abortion legislation. No Canadian Parliament would pass abortion legislation. Subject closed.

Not closed at all. I saw what you did at the convention. I saw Stevie standing up giving a speech at an anti-choice rally when he was being paid with my tax money and refusing to do the job he's paid to do. The agenda is clear and the attempts to hide it are comical.

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Quote:

quote]The CPC has a plan for strict licencing of gun owners. That is hardly "American-style" gun control. (sigh, I only dream) In fact Harper voted FOR C-68, before it became obvious what a disaster it was.

The CPC and it's supporters, and you are a perfect example of this, clearly favour US style gun legislation...or lack thereof.

Quote:

The CPC was for the decriminalization of marijuana. How is that like the insane US "war on drugs"?

Wow...don't you get dizzy spinning like that. They changed their stance on pot as soon as the Americans barked at them. They cited trade and the need to keep the border open. They opposed needle exchange. They opposed the safe injection site in Vancouver.

Quote:

Most Canadians WANT a robust military, I believe.

Yes they do. They do not want a robust military that backs the US to the detriment of the UN and peacekeeping though, and they certainly don't want members of our military coming home in body bags to pay for Dick Cheney's never-ending cheques from Halliburton.

Quote:

I don't think so, and I am quite willing to talk policy.....but it is NOT the only issue. Liberal corruption is an issue as well.

Policy is the only issue. The NDP cam up with a 7 point plan to correct corruption...not just Liberal corruption, but all corruption. That's called policy. Meanwhile, Harper came up with a plan that would address present Liberal corruption but leave the door open to Conservative and future Liberal corruption...that's partisan (and very cynical) politicking.

I didn't really follow this, and I agree that the meat packers walking away with cash while farmers went without was an outrage. So, you're telling me ONLY the CPC refused to consent? I fid that hard to believe.

I believe everybody, and every institution has the right to free speech. That seems simple to me. I'll tell you what, though. I'll agree to limits on private campaign advertising when the government surrenders its 120 million dollar a year advertising budget, much of which is spent on pro-government propaganda.

This is fear mongering of the worst kind. Even the old Reform Party campaigned on a policy of INCREASED, legislatively garaunteed levels of funding for Medicare. the proplem is the Canadian people don't pay close attention and were fooled by the "secret agenda" lies of the Liberals. That you would continue in such a dishonest smear attempt is regretable. How about talking issues and MAINTAINING some connection with reality?

“I have been an active supporter of the National Citizens’ Coalition for a number of years. This has never been a secret, I’m a strong supporter of the things that it stands for – political and economic freedoms,” [46] he said. “I think I’ve been a spokesperson for those kinds of things during my time in Parliament.”

"At the news conference which announced my appointment as vice-president of The National Citizens’ Coalition, I was asked whether the NCC was really just a branch of The Reform Party. This is a curious question. For 30 years now the NCC has been active in political debate. The Reform Party has been in existence for only the last 10 of those years. It would have been more logical to ask if the Reform Party were a branch of the NCC!…The agenda of the NCC was a guide to me as the founding policy director of Reform…Elected officials are constrained by the need for popularity every four to five years. The average one is consumed by the monthly opinion polls. The really bad ones worry about the approval of every group coming through their offices looking for a handout. Working with you in the NCC provides me with an opportunity to do much more – to fight for basic conservative values of free markets and free elections, whether fashionable at that moment or not…The battle for political and economic freedom will have its victories and its setbacks, as it has in the past. It will never end…and we shall never surrender."

“GLORIA MACARENKO: Stephen Harper, what do you think of a parallel private health care system in Canada?
STEPHEN HARPER / V.P, NATIONAL CITIZENS' COALITION: “Well I think it would be a good idea. I think we're headed in that direction anyway. We're alone among O.E.C.D countries in deciding that we'll have a two-tier system but our second tier will be outside the country where only the very rich and powerful can access it and will be of absolutely no benefit to the Canadian health care system. So I think this has been the wrong way to go. And clearly we're moving in another direction.”

Universality has been severely reduced: it is virtually dead as a concept in most areas of public policy.

"I know this is a dangerous subject. My advisors say don't talk about it, but the fact is sometimes provinces have allowed in the past few years, they've brought in private services covered by public health insurance... Why do I care and why do we care as a federal government how they're managed? What we care about is whether people can access them. This is just an ideological agenda."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper at the leadership debate, June 15th 2004, conceding that he shouldn't talk about his positive view of privatization of health care.

No, your attempts to smear the party are comical.

Don't take my stand on this issue as representative of the party. Harper voted FOR C-68. The party's position is destruction of the long gun registry. That's about it. I am a radical when it comes to gun control. I do not pretend to represent the CPC, nor do I.

I didn't like the CPC backing off because of US pressure. However, with a CPC government, I'm sure someone would introduce a bill, gov't or private member, and I think it would pass with a lot of support from CPC members. I should go read the official CPC website for official policy.

And you accuse ME of spin doctoring. HA!

"Well, I’ve always believed that we have to be a lot tougher with undocumented refugee claimants. Whether the best thing is to send them right out of the country or simply detain them until we get full information, we can look at either but, no this is a problem that does need to be fixed. Particularly post 9/11, we can’t take these kinds of security risks."

- Stephen Harper, CHML Radio AM 900 Hamilton, June 3, 2004.

"I do not intend to dispute in any way the need for defence cuts and the need for government spending cuts in general. …I do not share a not in my backyard approach to government spending reductions."

- Stepehen Harper, Hansard, May 23rd 1995. Harper has since roundly criticized spending cuts in the mid-1990s.

"I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans."

- Stepehen Harper, Report Newsmagazine, March 25th 2002. As it turned out, Harper wasn't the only one who didn't know all the facts.

"It was probably not an appropriate term, but we support the war effort and believe we should be supporting our troops and our allies and be there with them doing everything necessary to win."

- Stepehen Harper supporting the US-lead war on Iraq, Montreal Gazette, April 2nd 2003. Harper also called then-Defence Minister John McCallum an "idiot."

"It is inherently dangerous to allow a country such as Iraq to retain weapons of mass destruction, particularly in light of its past aggressive behaviour. If the world community fails to disarm Iraq, we fear that other rogue states will be encouraged to believe that they too can have these most deadly of weapons to systematically defy international resolutions and that the world will do nothing to stop them."

- Stephen Harper supporting the American invasion of Iraq, House of Commons, March 20, 2003.

"This government's only explanation for not standing behind our allies is that they couldn't get the approval of the Security Council at the United Nations - a body [on] which Canada doesn't even have a seat."

- Stephen Harper supporting the American invasion of Iraq, CTV's Question Period, March 30, 2003.

"Mr. Speaker, the issue of war requires moral leadership. We believe the government should stand by our troops, our friends and our allies and do everything necessary to support them right through to victory."

- Stephen Harper, supporting the American invasion of Iraq, House of Commons, April 1, 2003.

"Thank you for saying to our friends in the United States of America, you are our ally, our neighbour, and our best friend in the whole wide world. And when your brave men and women give their lives for freedom and democracy we are not neutral. We do not stand on the sidelines; we're for the disarmament of Saddam and the liberation of the people of Iraq."

- Stephen Harper, Friends of America Rally, April 4, 2003.

"The time has come to recognize that the U.S. will continue to exercise unprecedented power in a world where international rules are still unreliable and where security and advancing of the free democratic order still depend significantly on the possession and use of military might."

- Stephen Harper, May, 2003, speech to the Institute for Research on Public Policy.

"Continental economic and security integration" with the U.S. as well as a "continental energy strategy" that should be broadened "to a range of other natural resources."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

"A weak nation strategy..."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper describes Canada's historic foreign policy position of multilateralism

"Nay."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper voting against a motion urging the Canadian government not to participate in the US military intervention in Iraq, March 20, 2003.

Your accusations of CPC corruption are just that: accusations with nothing to back them up.

The CPC is the ONLY rational alternative.

The CPC was there and said no. They weren't willing to change that position. They killed the motion. They let Tyson and Cargill, both with connections to the CPC, walk away without a fine and without opening their books.

quote]I believe everybody, and every institution has the right to free speech. That seems simple to me. I'll tell you what, though. I'll agree to limits on private campaign advertising when the government surrenders its 120 million dollar a year advertising budget, much of which is spent on pro-government propaganda.

The NCC was formed (by an insurance salesman) in 1967 to oppose the introduction of medicare. Stephen Harper has been owned by the NCC since the very start. Here are some quotes:Quote: “I have been an active supporter of the National Citizens’ Coalition for a number of years. This has never been a secret, I’m a strong supporter of the things that it stands for – political and economic freedoms,” [46] he said. “I think I’ve been a spokesperson for those kinds of things during my time in Parliament.”Quote: "At the news conference which announced my appointment as vice-president of The National Citizens’ Coalition, I was asked whether the NCC was really just a branch of The Reform Party. This is a curious question. For 30 years now the NCC has been active in political debate. The Reform Party has been in existence for only the last 10 of those years. It would have been more logical to ask if the Reform Party were a branch of the NCC!…The agenda of the NCC was a guide to me as the founding policy director of Reform…Elected officials are constrained by the need for popularity every four to five years. The average one is consumed by the monthly opinion polls. The really bad ones worry about the approval of every group coming through their offices looking for a handout. ...

Quote has been trimmed

Nope. Again, there are things that Harper has said that make his position clear:

Quote:

"Well, I’ve always believed that we have to be a lot tougher with undocumented refugee claimants. Whether the best thing is to send them right out of the country or simply detain them until we get full information, we can look at either but, no this is a problem that does need to be fixed. Particularly post 9/11, we can’t take these kinds of security risks."

- Stephen Harper, CHML Radio AM 900 Hamilton, June 3, 2004

quote]"I do not intend to dispute in any way the need for defence cuts and the need for government spending cuts in general. …I do not share a not in my backyard approach to government spending reductions."

- Stepehen Harper, Hansard, May 23rd 1995. Harper has since roundly criticized spending cuts in the mid-1990s.[/quote

quote]"I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans."

- Stepehen Harper, Report Newsmagazine, March 25th 2002. As it turned out, Harper wasn't the only one who didn't know all the facts.

"It was probably not an appropriate term, but we support the war effort and believe we should be supporting our troops and our allies and be there with them doing everything necessary to win."

- Stepehen Harper supporting the US-lead war on Iraq, Montreal Gazette, April 2nd 2003. Harper also called then-Defence Minister John McCallum an "idiot."

"It is inherently dangerous to allow a country such as Iraq to retain weapons of mass destruction, particularly in light of its past aggressive behaviour. If the world community fails to disarm Iraq, we fear that other rogue states will be encouraged to believe that they too can have these most deadly of weapons to systematically defy international resolutions and that the world will do nothing to stop them."

- Stephen Harper supporting the American invasion of Iraq, House of Commons, March 20, 2003.

"This government's only explanation for not standing behind our allies is that they couldn't get the approval of the Security Council at the United Nations - a body [on] which Canada doesn't even have a seat."

- Stephen Harper supporting the American invasion of Iraq, CTV's Question Period, March 30, 2003.

"Mr. Speaker, the issue of war requires moral leadership. We believe the government should stand by our troops, our friends and our allies and do everything necessary to support them right through to victory."

- Stephen Harper, supporting the American invasion of Iraq, House of Commons, April 1, 2003.

"Thank you for saying to our friends in the United States of America, you are our ally, our neighbour, and our best friend in the whole wide world. And when your brave men and women give their lives for freedom and democracy we are not neutral. We do not stand on the sidelines; we're for the disarmament of Saddam and the liberation of the people of Iraq."

- Stephen Harper, Friends of America Rally, April 4, 2003.

"The time has come to recognize that the U.S. will continue to exercise unprecedented power in a world where international rules are still unreliable and where security and advancing of the free democratic order still depend significantly on the possession and use of military might."

- Stephen Harper, May, 2003, speech to the Institute for Research on Public Policy.

"Continental economic and security integration" with the U.S. as well as a "continental energy strategy" that should be broadened "to a range of other natural resources."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

"A weak nation strategy..."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper describes Canada's historic foreign policy position of multilateralism

"
- Conservative leader Stephen Harper voting against a motion urging the Canadian government not to participate in the US military intervention in Iraq, March 20, 2003.

Get the picture yet, Colpy? Stephen Harper would have had us in Iraq. He thinks multi-lateralism is a sign of weakness. He said so himself.