Stephane Dion wins!
- Thread starter Tonington
- Start date
That's better. Criticize him for his policies not for where he is from. If you don't like him because he is left-wing, and you disagree with his policies, I can respect that. But criticizing him just because he is from Quebec? Now that doesn't make any sense.
Nobody much cares what Canada thinks. Sorry, its true.
A world leader?
I don’t get when someone tells Canadians nobody much cares what Canada thinks. It is as though it’s more about wanting the Canadians they are speaking with to actually believe that idea than it is really about believing it themselves. It’s even made more belittling when it comes from someone from the USA.
But regardless of someone actually believing this, I know for a fact from having been places that our identity has been recognized throughout the world and up until this time, it’s been very well respected. People in different countries have held a very positive idea of Canadians throughout the world and this, “nobody cares what Canada thinks” for me is just another way to defend a Canadian government at this time which is a failure in being able to maintain our positive image in the world.
Sure, now we’ll say our image isn’t important because Harper is a disaster with handling foreign relations.
When the Israelis tried sending in their spies into Gaza, did they do it using false US passports? No. So why did they try fooling the Palestinians with fake Canadian Passports? Why if our identity, what we stand for means nothing? It is because the identity commanded a level of trust at that time. A good reputation to be communicated with. Why have some Americans stuck Canadian flags on their lapels when traveling? I would like an answer to this. Why? Because they think our flag looks prettier?
I don’t expect people in the world to know a lot about us. To know our history, our geography, or our much about our cities. However up until now, people have held an idea of 'Canadians' and that image has been good. When somebody in some part of the world has something to say, it isn’t easy at first impression to separate the understanding of what we know of their country. We sometimes at first default them to the image of their country of origin, and proof of that is all the bigotry I read on these boards of people defining the whole sum of another people — as with the Middle East. There is very little ‘individual’ recognized in those discussions.
So the next time anyone tell me that “nobody cares what Canada thinks”, I simply regard that as a “nobody cares what Canada thinks while Harper is still PM.”
Sure, ok then we agree.
I never had a problem understanding Dion........and how the heck could anyone complain after Chretien?
Wow, thanks for the support all of you who defended some of my points. This is a nasty form with some REAL cynics.
That non-sense about "nobody cares what Canada thinks" is just that, non-sense. Around the world people respect what Canada has always stood for. I'm not surprised to hear that from an American however. The powerful brainwashing machine that you guys are stuck in is hard to overcome.
As I mentioned in one of my postings yesterday I have not voted Liberal in a federal election before. I thought about voting Liberal last time just to combat "Steve" and the conservatives but I didn't because I make my decision based on what is the best thing to do at the time. I'm not sworn to voting for one party for the rest of my life. Politics are a fluid thing. They change as the world changes. I really like the way the Liberal party is going. They are listening to Canadians and the issues that matter to us. That is what democracy should be. It shouldn't be about making unilateral decisions based on what a small group of people within the country believe to be right.
That non-sense about "nobody cares what Canada thinks" is just that, non-sense. Around the world people respect what Canada has always stood for. I'm not surprised to hear that from an American however. The powerful brainwashing machine that you guys are stuck in is hard to overcome.
As I mentioned in one of my postings yesterday I have not voted Liberal in a federal election before. I thought about voting Liberal last time just to combat "Steve" and the conservatives but I didn't because I make my decision based on what is the best thing to do at the time. I'm not sworn to voting for one party for the rest of my life. Politics are a fluid thing. They change as the world changes. I really like the way the Liberal party is going. They are listening to Canadians and the issues that matter to us. That is what democracy should be. It shouldn't be about making unilateral decisions based on what a small group of people within the country believe to be right.
Oh, as opposed to the "unpowerful" brainwashing machine of Canadian culture?
:lol:
Give me a break. Canadians are constantly bombarded by the Canadian media about their place in the world which gives Canadians an inflated view of themselves in world affairs. Its perfectly encapsulated in this idea from the Left that "Canada had a good reputation then Harper came along." That's such utter nonsense. Quick, what is the position of the new Prime Minister of Italy on global warming? You don't know (without googling) do you? Of course you don't. Why would you? So why would an Italian care about Canadian policies?
I've lived in Canada, England and the US, and guess what, Canada doesn't show up on the radar in either America or the UK. The two countries that matter most to Canada and which Canada is most alike pretty much ignore Canada! And you think people are sitting on the edge of their seats in India or Taiwan or Uruguay wondering what Canada's position is on this and that policy? Do you care about what Spain or Malaysia are going to do? Well, why do you think they care what happens in Canada?
Yes, Canada is a great place. Yes, Canada is respected in the world. Yes people like Canadians. But when the chips are down, do people care what Canada's policies are? Nope. If they really don't in America or Britain, they're not going to everywhere else.
Alot of countries DO care about other country's policies in preticular environmental policy. GHG emissions affect the entire planet. All pollution affects the entire planet. Canada should be a leader on this front and other environmental issues. We are not right now. Neither the conservatives or the previous liberals were very good at dealing with that. I think M. Dion's Liberal party has no choice but to address those issues if they want to get elected. If successful, the rest of the world will see that the country with the most natural resources can manage them and hopefully they will follow our lead.
by the way... Nothing personal toro. I just happen to be optomistic about M. Dion and the direction that the only real alternative in Canada to the conservatives is going.
by the way... Nothing personal toro. I just happen to be optomistic about M. Dion and the direction that the only real alternative in Canada to the conservatives is going.
The winner
:kermit:Am lak dis guy mor bettr dan de udder guy wat run again im. Dem udder guys s'wot is mean me. Nutting rong wit is Anglaish. Unnerstan im perfect. Need to cut de hairs and mebby de soot be press, hein?
Ee's gonna sen us mor moneys and unite as un, le pay,,,,,,,,,ow you say.......de country. Vive Dion libre. Oui, an Le Quebec libre aussi.
Dat guy, Ignite-iff, wasshissnom, am tres hereux he's not score da gole. He's tok lak de harse-ole eh? Ken Dryden, ees da was been, pretty much da cheep-skate eh. All he ever doos is stan inna creese........lol ha ha.
Ilove da poutine aussi, :love9::love9:, moi.
Dis gonna get moi bann i tink.:wave:
Au revoir:
Jean Luc:smilebox:
:kermit:Am lak dis guy mor bettr dan de udder guy wat run again im. Dem udder guys s'wot is mean me. Nutting rong wit is Anglaish. Unnerstan im perfect. Need to cut de hairs and mebby de soot be press, hein?
Ee's gonna sen us mor moneys and unite as un, le pay,,,,,,,,,ow you say.......de country. Vive Dion libre. Oui, an Le Quebec libre aussi.
Dat guy, Ignite-iff, wasshissnom, am tres hereux he's not score da gole. He's tok lak de harse-ole eh? Ken Dryden, ees da was been, pretty much da cheep-skate eh. All he ever doos is stan inna creese........lol ha ha.
Ilove da poutine aussi, :love9::love9:, moi.
Dis gonna get moi bann i tink.:wave:
Au revoir:
Jean Luc:smilebox:
I don't mind Dion at all. I think he's a decent guy. Dion is probably the candidate I'd have supported if I were a Liberal delegate.
Toro, I don’t know what circles you’ve surrounded yourself around but I clearly have had Canada acknowledged by people living in other parts of the world with a positive world view.
I never was trying to defend a ludicrous notion of whether people in other countries care about our minute details. But even Canadians care about the general going on within other countries. Whether Lebanon's government might get toppled, etc. World affairs do affect everyone. And so Canada’s international stance is a concern to other leaders and the people of their countries. To make it into an argument of what you can quiz Canadians on as to details on other countries is a joke.
Your now trying to fix the statement to fit a truth when your original statement was quite general indeed.
Your other point about our media brainwashing is pretty flat considering we are bombarded half the time with US media and programming. We even get to weigh your self-righteous views in your media against us. Somehow up until now we were able to separate fact from fiction which kept us out of the Iraq War even though time after time Americans would show up on our televisions filling our airwaves with incessant propaganda and American patriotism as to a world view. I’ve known many people in Canada to simply turn on CNN as the only depository of information. How much in there is about Canada? Canadians in general obviously know more about you than Americans know about Canada.
Given Canada’s French dualism, imagine how much restraint do we have to endure hearing French slams by the Americans one after another even though the French were right about the ill gotten Iraq War and had America listened a little more to their friends, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble.
I disagree with you there too. I think the rest of the world does care about what the US or the UK think. At most, they just don’t care much what Bush has to say because his words don’t hold much weight anymore as to 'truth'.
However, definitely the world cares what both countries think and do. If Blair had not sided with Bush to begin with it would have really taken away a lot of support for the US stance with Iraq. Maybe the US politicans feeling the country becoming more isolated by their traditional allies would have been more questioning of the idea in the least. It would have also not left France just a target for ridicule and a scapegoat for the pro-war camp.
Then again, if you ask somebody who doesn’t care deeply about politics in general, of course they aren’t going to care much (whatever it is political). I’ve been shooed out of a discussion before because Desperate Housewives was about to start.
Anybody else have that experience? It’s a real political deflater. I’m not even allowed to talk when Greys Anatomy is on. I’m totally muzzled just like one of Harper’s MPs.
Anybody else have that experience? It’s a real political deflater. I’m not even allowed to talk when Greys Anatomy is on. I’m totally muzzled just like one of Harper’s MPs.
My god Eleven I'm outraged, I hate Desperate House Wives and I don't know what Grey's Anatomy is but it sounds painful. :wave:
I heard M. Dion mention earlier that he thinks that Harper's government is leading Canada in a much more right wing way than people expected when they elected the conservatives. I think that is a fair assessment. I don't think that many Canadians share the views that Harper's government have. Much too far right. The only reason that he's the PM right now is because of the Liberal scandals. Most people didn't vote for the conservatives because they understood what they were all about. They voted for them or didn't vote for the Liberals because they felt the Liberals (in the state they were) could not be trusted:
Liberals lost votes directly to the "conservatives" in the east because old voters didn't realize that the conservative name was only a facade (it was the Reformers that they were voting for).
Left leaning Liberal voters who would never consider voting for the conservatives (in preticular the Reformed/ Alliance conservatives... whatever you want to call them now) voted for the NDP or green party.
The result of all of this was a conservative minority. Thank goodness it was only a minority.
I really think that the Stéphane Dion/ gK Liberal party will succeed in getting back most of the Liberal support that was lost during the last election. In addition, I think that some, not all, REAL "Torrie" voters (probably not extreme righties) will have realized that they were tricked by Harper and will be more comfortable voting for the trustworthy M. Dion who represents them more suitably.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, politics are a fluid thing and people should not get caught up always voting for one party just because of the colour tie they wear. Voters should do their homework and vote for the party or individual that seems to reflect their views at that time and that they feel will continue to do so in the future.
M. Dion also said earlier that maybe the reason people think he lacks charisma is because he wears glasses. I think becasue poker is so popular lately, he should show up tomorrow at question period wearing some cool looking prescription Gucci shades.
Liberals lost votes directly to the "conservatives" in the east because old voters didn't realize that the conservative name was only a facade (it was the Reformers that they were voting for).
Left leaning Liberal voters who would never consider voting for the conservatives (in preticular the Reformed/ Alliance conservatives... whatever you want to call them now) voted for the NDP or green party.
The result of all of this was a conservative minority. Thank goodness it was only a minority.
I really think that the Stéphane Dion/ gK Liberal party will succeed in getting back most of the Liberal support that was lost during the last election. In addition, I think that some, not all, REAL "Torrie" voters (probably not extreme righties) will have realized that they were tricked by Harper and will be more comfortable voting for the trustworthy M. Dion who represents them more suitably.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, politics are a fluid thing and people should not get caught up always voting for one party just because of the colour tie they wear. Voters should do their homework and vote for the party or individual that seems to reflect their views at that time and that they feel will continue to do so in the future.
M. Dion also said earlier that maybe the reason people think he lacks charisma is because he wears glasses. I think becasue poker is so popular lately, he should show up tomorrow at question period wearing some cool looking prescription Gucci shades.
