No conservative party

[SirJosephPorter]

The Reform Party called for an abortion law restricting abortion after a certain time in the pregnancy.........this is the norm in the world. In fact, you would have trouble finding many nations without any abortion law, like Canada. Colpy

Our lack of legislation on abortion is frightening. Unless one trusts that all doctors will somehow do the right thing. Niflmir

It is true that we have no law regulating abortion, but there is nothing frightening about this. Doctors themselves do a good job of regulating themselves. Indeed, it is impossible to get an abortion in Canada after 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy, unless there are serious complications to mother’s health. If a woman wants a late term abortion, she has to go to New York or Massachusetts.

So the self policing by doctors is working very well, there is no need to try to pass a law restricting late term abortions. Opening up the issue of abortion will lead to a bitter, divisive debate, perhaps lasting several decades (like it does in USA). We don’t want the cultural wars of USA repeated here in Canada. Indeed, any politician who digs up the settled, buried issue of abortion will be committing political suicide. Harper knows this, so he has wisely not touched the issue of abortion.

Currently the non law is working very well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

As for homosexuality, once again you would find Canadians close to evenly divided on the issue of gay marriage.....and Tommy Douglas believed homosexuality was a mental disease. Hardly a "right-wing fringe" position

Colpy, Canadians are far from closely divided on the issue. The last poll I saw on the issue of same sex marriage was more than a year ago. In that poll, 69% Canadians supported SSM, hardly a close issue.

When the courts handed down their decision, the country was divided 50:50. However, after Parliament took up the issue, there has been a steady movement towards SSM, and the last poll showed Canadians supporting SSM by a big margin (69%). So like abortion, SSM is also a settled issue, dead and buried. A politician would dig it up at his own peril.

As to Tommy Douglas, he was a progressive for his times. However, at that time, Psychiatry regarded homosexuality as a mental disorder. That was the accepted view in those days. But things have moved on since then. We know a lot more about homosexuality; it is not regarded as a mental disorder any more, but just an alternate lifestyle. A progressive (like Tommy Douglas) in the old days is regarded as a conservative today.

To regard homosexuality as a mental disorder today would indeed be a far right, fringe position.

 

[VanIsle]

You never give up do you! It always has to be a far right fringe person. Could you ever, just once, bring yourself to the realization that some people believe one thing and some believe another and it has no religious or political connection whatsoever. It's simply just a belief by a single person.

 

[Colpy]

As for homosexuality, once again you would find Canadians close to evenly divided on the issue of gay marriage.....and Tommy Douglas believed homosexuality was a mental disease. Hardly a "right-wing fringe" position

Colpy, Canadians are far from closely divided on the issue. The last poll I saw on the issue of same sex marriage was more than a year ago. In that poll, 69% Canadians supported SSM, hardly a close issue.

When the courts handed down their decision, the country was divided 50:50. However, after Parliament took up the issue, there has been a steady movement towards SSM, and the last poll showed Canadians supporting SSM by a big margin (69%). So like abortion, SSM is also a settled issue, dead and buried. A politician would dig it up at his own peril.

As to Tommy Douglas, he was a progressive for his times. However, at that time, Psychiatry regarded homosexuality as a mental disorder. That was the accepted view in those days. But things have moved on since then. We know a lot more about homosexuality; it is not regarded as a mental disorder any more, but just an alternate lifestyle. A progressive (like Tommy Douglas) in the old days is regarded as a conservative today.

To regard homosexuality as a mental disorder today would indeed be a far right, fringe position.

I agree with everything you say, especially the line I put in bold.

The one point I would make is that a view that commands even 31% support is not "fringe"

 

[JLM]

You never give up do you! It always has to be a far right fringe person. Could you ever, just once, bring yourself to the realization that some people believe one thing and some believe another and it has no religious or political connection whatsoever. It's simply just a belief by a single person.

I'm so glad you said that-as I get so sick and tired of constantly reading this "left wing/right wing" drivel. A lot of it has got no business even being connected to politics. And then you see ridiculous statements like "69% accept............"- which is absolute utter garbage because 99% of the people I know weren't even asked.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

I'm so glad you said that-as I get so sick and tired of constantly reading this "left wing/right wing" drivel. A lot of it has got no business even being connected to politics. And then you see ridiculous statements like "69% accept............"- which is absolute utter garbage because 99% of the people I know weren't even asked.

JLM, that is how opinion polls are conducted, they ask only a few thousand people. So why 99%? Probably 99.99% of Canadians were not asked, but what has that got to do with anything?

In the opinion polls, samples are scientifically selected, in a statistically random way. They don’t ask more that say 2000 people, which means that most Canadians were not asked. That does not make the poll any less relevant. The poll is a snapshot in time (or was about a year ago, I have no reason to believe that there has been any substantial change since then).

I think the poll reasonably reflects the sentiment of the majority of Canadians. We have had adequate debate on the subject of SSM, the courts have spoken, the Parliament has spoken, the people support SSM, the issue is dead and buried. It is time to move on.

 

[JLM]

JLM, that is how opinion polls are conducted, they ask only a few thousand people. So why 99%? Probably 99.99% of Canadians were not asked, but what has that got to do with anything?

In the opinion polls, samples are scientifically selected, in a statistically random way. They don’t ask more that say 2000 people, which means that most Canadians were not asked. That does not make the poll any less relevant. The poll is a snapshot in time (or was about a year ago, I have no reason to believe that there has been any substantial change since then).

I think the poll reasonably reflects the sentiment of the majority of Canadians. We have had adequate debate on the subject of SSM, the courts have spoken, the Parliament has spoken, the people support SSM, the issue is dead and buried. It is time to move on.

It's NOT scientific, I've been polled dozens of time over the years MAINLY because I was near my phone at supper time.

 

[Zzarchov]

First of all a right wing party splits the Conservative vote, thus enabling the Liberals to rule as if blessed by a higher power, majority after majority, without even having to break 40% of the popular vote.
.

You mean like the 3 Left Wing parties that split the vote, combined with cries of traitor and subverting the legal and borderline mandatory nature of Coalitions as an opposition to minority government, allowing a party that lost the election to rule as if blessed by a higher power?

The solution should be at least requiring a candidate get 50% of the vote to win a riding, with a run-off election if necessary.

 

[Tyr]

In the first instance, abortion, you are only partially correct. The Reform Party called for an abortion law restricting abortion after a certain time in the pregnancy.........this is the norm in the world. In fact, you would have trouble finding many nations without any abortion law, like Canada. That stance is, therefore, hardly "right-wing fringe" as in conforms to the norm in western societies.....and matches the opinion of at least 40% of Canadians. Au Contraire, the extremeist position is no law at all.....

As for homosexuality, once again you would find Canadians close to evenly divided on the issue of gay marriage.....and Tommy Douglas believed homosexuality was a mental disease. Hardly a "right-wing fringe" position

As for government-funded multi-culturalism, well, that may fairly be called a right wing position......not a fringe right wing position as, once again, a very substantial portion of Canadians would agree that gov't sponsored multiculturalism is idiotic, wasteful, counter-productive, and detrimental to the welfare of our country. Full stop.

You seem to think that anything you happen to disagree with, any idea that doesn't fit in with the Holy Bible of Accepted Lefty Truths is a "right-wing fringe" idea.

How intellectually arrogant of you!

And how incorrect you are....

You SO went to Carleton.

you seem to be splittting hairs infinatum. Sharp razor?