Canada's Federal Election 2015: The Official Thread

Corduroy

Senate Member
Feb 9, 2011
6,670
2
36
Vancouver, BC
I'very already spoken to a few of my local candidates for the upcoming Federal election, and I hate to say it but unless one if them shows more independent thinking, I might be casting yet another blank ballot. I'm sick of casting blank ballots. I'm considering my local libertarian candidate, but even that with hesitation.

Never mind policy. Here's how I see the campaign unfolding:

Don't vote for Mulcair because he committed treason by getting French citizenship.

Don't vote for Trudeau because of his age.

Don't vote for Harper because he's scandal-ridden.

Okay, that's nice. So who should we vote for?

Are these things you predict the campaign will revolve around or the actual reasons you won't vote for these candidates?
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
Are these things you predict the campaign will revolve around or the actual reasons you won't vote for these candidates?

What I predict the campaign will revolve around. For example, anyone who refuses to vote for Mulcair for no other reason than that he has dual citizenship is an idiot, especially given that Harper has never proposed changing the law to prohibit it. I guess that would make Harper an accomplice.

Who cares if Trudeau is young? Is Harper entirely to blame for the present economic downturn?

I fear yet another election with little substance. What's the point of checking such shallow candidates come election day. Elections have become nothing more than circus shows for buffoons.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,817
471
83
Poll Tracker: Harper, Mulcair in close race as campaign set to begin

With the federal election campaign set to officially begin this weekend, Stephen Harper's Conservatives and Tom Mulcair's New Democrats are neck and neck in national voting intentions, with Justin Trudeau's Liberals falling increasingly behind.

The latest update from the CBC Poll Tracker puts the NDP narrowly ahead at 32.1 per cent support, followed closely by the Conservatives at 31.6 per cent. The Liberals, at 25.6 per cent, come up in third.

The Greens and Bloc Québécois round out the list with just under five per cent apiece.

If an election were held today, this would likely deliver 113 to 151 seats for the Conservatives, 114 to 140 seats for the New Democrats, and 62 to 94 seats for the Liberals. The Bloc would likely win up to two seats, while Elizabeth May of the Greens would likely be re-elected to the House of Commons.

There is a lot of overlap between the Conservative and NDP tallies, but the Tories do hold a slight advantage and would most likely end up with a plurality of seats. The NDP and Liberals, however, would easily win a majority of seats between them.

Polling trends clear

Polls released over the last week have shown clear trends in how voting intentions are shifting. Polls by Forum Research (for the Toronto Star), EKOS Research (for iPolitics), and Ipsos Reid (for Global News) have all shown a similarly positive trend for the Conservatives, and negative movement for the Liberals, since they were all last in the field together at the same time at the end of June. Since then, the Conservatives have picked up between three to five points in each of these three polls, while the Liberals have dropped between three and four points. The New Democrats appear to be wobbling back and forth within the margin of error.

Indeed, since the Poll Tracker update of June 29, the New Democrats have not moved at all. The Conservatives, however, have picked up 3.2 points while the Liberals have dropped 1.7 points. This represents significant movement in an aggregation of all publicly available polls.

But the future is unknown

Though the numbers point to a close race between the Conservatives and New Democrats, campaigns matter — particularly when they are twice as long as the norm.

The 2011 campaign is proof of that. Four polls were conducted in the final days before the writs were dropped on March 26 of that year. Altogether, they averaged 39 per cent support for the Conservatives, 25 per cent for the Liberals, and 17 per cent for the NDP. In Quebec, the Bloc Québécois was dominant with 39 per cent support.

On election day, the Conservatives took 40 per cent of the vote, with the NDP capturing 31 per cent, the Liberals 19 per cent, and the Bloc just 23 per cent in Quebec. The NDP's tally in that province went from 16 per cent in the polls, before the election officially began, to 43 per cent at the ballot box.

That is not to say that the polls were wrong about the state of the race when it kicked off in 2011, but rather that opinions can change over the course of a campaign. And that campaign was just 37 days long. Now, with 11 weeks to go before casting a ballot, Canadians have much more time to change their minds — even again and again.

CBC's Poll Tracker aggregates all publicly released polls, weighing them by sample size, date and the polling firm's accuracy record. Upper and lower ranges are based on how polls have performed in other recent elections. The seat projection model makes individual projections for all ridings in the country, based on regional shifts in support since the 2011 election and taking into account other factors such as incumbency. The projections are subject to the margins of error of the opinion polls included in the model, as well as the unpredictable nature of politics at the riding level. The polls included in the model vary in size, date and method, and have not been individually verified by the CBC. You can read the full methodology here.

The questions asked in the polls mentioned in this article were as follows:

Forum: "If a federal election were held today, which party are you most likely to vote for?"

EKOS: "If a federal election were held tomorrow, which party would you vote for?"

Ipsos Reid: The question asked was not included in Ipsos's release.


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http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/politics/p...close-race-as-campaign-set-to-begin-1.3176101
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
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Vernon, B.C.
Forum: "If a federal election were held today, which party are you most likely to vote for?"

EKOS: "If a federal election were held tomorrow, which party would you vote for?"

Ipsos Reid: The question asked was not included in Ipsos's release.


Share this story

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/politics/p...close-race-as-campaign-set-to-begin-1.3176101

I'd vote for Conservatives period, the other parties are going to cost us more in taxes and there's no proof they can offer any better. Harper has the experience, the other two are floundering! Mulcair is full of a lot of B.S. :) :)
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
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48
Ottawa, ON
I'd vote for Conservatives period, the other parties are going to cost us more in taxes and there's no proof they can offer any better. Harper has the experience, the other two are floundering! Mulcair is full of a lot of B.S. :) :)

Taxwise, Libertarian would be an even better option, plus the party has moderated itself somewhat over the years.
 

Corduroy

Senate Member
Feb 9, 2011
6,670
2
36
Vancouver, BC
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
193
63
Nakusp, BC
Stephen Harper 'gaming the system' with early election call, says former Elections Canada head



The former head of Elections Canada says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is "gaming the system" with an early election call and the result is parties with less money are politically disadvantaged.
"What it does is completely distort everything we've ever fought for, everything we've established as rules," Jean-Pierre Kingsley said in an interview on CBC Radio's The House.


Stephen Harper 'gaming the system' with early election call, says former Elections Canada head - Home | The House | CBC Radio
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
33,676
1,666
113
Northern Ontario,
I don't know who the Liberal or Conservative candidates are in this district yet but I will be probably loosing my vote unless I decide to vote NDP , cause even if the farmer's cow was nominated NDP at the federal or Provincial level here it would be a shoo-in!
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
There's always the possibility I could change my mind. I've read bios of his other two main party opponents and I'm not swayed. I've been redistricted into a different riding and I like my new MP even more than my last ;)

"Redistricted" - you learn sumpin new every day! :) :) What riding are you in now?

I don't know who the Liberal or Conservative candidates are in this district yet but I will be probably loosing my vote unless I decide to vote NDP , cause even if the farmer's cow was nominated NDP at the federal or Provincial level here it would be a shoo-in!

You better get busy educating folks!
 

Liberalman

Senate Member
Mar 18, 2007
5,623
36
48
Toronto
The Conservative 4 years of law making in the House of Commons record speaks for itself. We all have to thank Stephen Harper for this really long 11 week election to read the Hansard and back issues of articles on our Prime-Minister's and how many questions he answered from the reporters that the voters wanted to know. 11 weeks is a good length for an election to see if we want another four years of tearing down more freedoms that the people of this great country of Canada fought for.
 

Vancouverite

Electoral Member
Dec 23, 2011
287
0
16
Many in BC are afraid of the NDP, which was probably why Christie Clark won a majority. The same can happen federally, which would give the Conservatives another majority.

And, if the Liberals come in third, Justin may want to think about going back to his teaching job.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
Many in BC are afraid of the NDP, which was probably why Christie Clark won a majority. The same can happen federally, which would give the Conservatives another majority.

And, if the Liberals come in third, Justin may want to think about going back to his teaching job.

Well, I've said it before and it's probably getting tedious but here it is again for the Newbies. The N.D.P. is the best political party by far until someone else's money runs out. There I've said it for the last time.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.