who would you vote for?

[Colpy]

Ah, Rev, perhaps you missed something.

The Reform Party does not exist anymore. (sigh) It was sacrificed to political expediency. Unfortunately, this was necessary, as the vote-split on the right was rapidly turning Canada into a de facto one party state.

As well, I get very tired of the left's attempts (somewhat successful) to paint Reform, and now the Conservatives as NOT moderate. This is an insult to the millions of Canadians who vote for those parties.

I should remind you that in the nineties, when the Liberal gov't was cutting Medicare to the core, the Reform platform called for increased, legislatively guaranteed levels of spending on health.

What is fascist about recall, Parliamentary reform, citizen initiatives? If you want to talk about top-down party control, look to the Liberals.

The Conservatives have dropped much of their direct democracy platform. In reality, it would be quite hard to fit a playing card between the platform of the Conservatives and the Liberals.

And the Liberals won't do a damn thing they promise anyway.

 

[#juan]

Colpy wrote: I should remind you that in the nineties, when the Liberal gov't was cutting Medicare to the core, the Reform platform called for increased, legislatively guaranteed levels of spending on health.

I am not Chretien's biggest fan but when Jean Chretien took over the government from Kim Cambell, he was handed a budget with a forty five billion dollar deficit. He was also handed a national debt of $550 billion dollars. Mulroney had chalked up a deficit of $40 to $50 billion dollars every year he was in office. The country was broke. Chretien took money out of medicare like he took it out of a lot of places. You can't buy if you don't have the money. It took almost forty cents of every tax dollar just to service Mulroney's debt. It took Chretien three years to get rid of the deficit and the Liberals have actually paid down some of the debt. As the GDP and the revenues have increased under the liberals, more money is now available for health care. If you want to blame someone for the woes of our health care system, blame Mulroney. The country will be paying off Mulroney's debt for the next 30 years. More than that if we elect a Conservative government.

 

[Colpy]

Absolutely correct on Mulroney.

He was completely irresponsible with the public purse.

And, although it chokes me to say it, the Liberals (especially Martin) deserve credit for balancing the budget.

But it is time for them to go. They have presided over scandal after scandal. The have lied, cheated, turned the RCMP into their personal gang of thugs, ignored a lack of confidence in Parliament, focused all power into the PM's office, stolen our money, bought off Members, paid off friends, and generally made a mess of Canadian political culture.

The only alternative is the Conservatives. They are NOT the same party they were under Mulroney. They deserve a crack at the job.

Unless, of course, you prefer a one party state.

Our current leaders are simply too crooked and meglomaniacal to be allowed to stay. We really can't afford to let them get away with this stuff.

 

[Hank C Cheyenne]

exactly Colpy, I totally agree with you....we can't let Canada become a one part state..... their only argument is that the opposition are Conservatives so people make the link to Mulroney and rule them out...

...people make the assumptions on where the conservatives stand on health care and other issues...usually because they are brain washed to beleive that....or maybe because they see the conservatives in the US .... and they make more assumptions.

...Harper has been clear that he clearly supports public health care in Canada.... and I think he is more open to fixing health care than any other party in Ottawa.....consider all the countries with public health care all over the world....now tell me which ones are the most effective...countries with exclusively public health care or countries with a two tier system.....look to Europe for this and do your own research.....on wait times, quality of care and cost.... then you can critisize.... but some simply just look to the US to re affirm their beliefs on health care..... which would make them idiots.

 

[Hank C Cheyenne]

If Ralphie was PM he would get drunk, fall off a cliff and drown in the Ocean and embaress Canada.

.... :lol: I find this hilarious even if I do like the guy.....could you imagine if that actually happend 8O

... the man is hilarious though...diden't he get drunk and go to a homeless shelter and throw money on the ground....then offer welfare people a 1 way ticket to BC....ho ho the man is brash but honest.

 

[Reverend Blair]

The Reform Party does not exist anymore. (sigh) It was sacrificed to political expediency.

Bullshit. All the worst parts of the Reform party are alive and well in the CPC. The bigotry, religious intolerance, classism, and celebration of ignorance is demonstrated every time Harper or one of his lackeys opens their mouths.

As well, I get very tired of the left's attempts (somewhat successful) to paint Reform, and now the Conservatives as NOT moderate.

When the decide to adopt moderate policies, then I will call them moderate. Right now they are extremists who have chased the moderates out of the party.

What is fascist about recall, Parliamentary reform, citizen initiatives? If you want to talk about top-down party control, look to the Liberals.

Your formula for recall was ridiculous. Remember "Doris" Day? Your version of parliamentary reform was just a triple-e senate. We've been seeing that model fail in the US for years now, but you want us to adopt it. Nevermind that it gives disproportionate power to provinces with low populations. Citizen initiatives? More like mob rule the way you had it lined up. Again, we've seen that system not work in the US because everybody votes in their personal self-interest instead of what is best for the community or the nation.

The Alliance did support proportional representation for a time, which would have done away with one-party rule permanently, but as soon as Harper thought he could be king, he backed away from it. Sadly, it actually would have been adopted because the Liberals are in a minority.

The Conservatives have dropped much of their direct democracy platform. In reality, it would be quite hard to fit a playing card between the platform of the Conservatives and the Liberals.

When it comes to trade and giving everything to corporations while screwing Canadians, that's true. It makes Harper and the other Conservatives sound even stupider when they complain about the "NDP budget". The CPC had the budget they wanted, but they refused to vote for it.

The Conservatives are nothing like the Liberals when it comes to social programs and legislation though. When Harper was holed up in the basement at the U of C he was writing position papers on privatising health care and adopting the US dollar. We all saw the SSM debate. We all understand that the CPC tried, and is still trying, to lie to us about their stance on abortion.

Most worrying of all though is the CPC's inability to compromise and make deals. If they were to win a minority government, they'd fall quicker than Joe Clark did. To them partisan politics is a full time job and governing is a side effect.

 

[PoisonPete2]

the promise of good goverment is the basic tenent of Canadian rule. this was ignored following the '72 report of the Ledain commission that recommended legalization of marihuana, controlled sale and medical investigation for health benefit. Since then Canadian goverment has disregarded clear benefits of the plant, if favour of stridant demands of foreign countries and continued conpliance with treaties that should have been reviewed or recinded. Meanwhile hundres of thousands of our people suffer imposition of cruel punishments, live with the stain of criminal convictions and the anxiety of the government imposing on their private behaviours. Lets clear at least this mistake in a vigourous manner, and then move on to less important matters like Political salaries. /I'm going marijuana party,.

 

[HOCK]

For REV -

From the posts way back - maybe wrong choice of words (flip flop) - I just do not like Mr Layton and the NDP or the Conservative for that matter. Jack Layton thinks that he is running the country and will side with whatever party will help out his cause. The balance of power and determining if there is going to be an election lies with Mr Layton.

People got tired of the Conservative / Liberal bashing in Ontario and voted NDP. Were we any better off???.....I don't think so...

Does anyone really think we would be better off with anyone else in power???

 

[Ted]

In my opinion, the only party that is addressing what for me are the most important issues facing Canada, is the CAP, which isn't listed in this poll.

There have been so many backroom agreements made that move us closer to becoming a US protectorate. None of the major parties are talking about it. Check out the CAP site. There is some shocking imformation there, that is worth reading and reflecting on. Is it all true? I don't know, but my gut tells me a lot of it is true.

Then again, as far as that goes, I am disillusioned with all of the parties. None of them really represent us anymore. They will tell us what they think we want to hear, and once they are safely elected, they forget about us until they need our votes again.

 

[Reverend Blair]

Jack Layton thinks that he is running the country and will side with whatever party will help out his cause. The balance of power and determining if there is going to be an election lies with Mr Layton.

That's his job...to try to get policy passed into law that will help Canadians. He doesn't think that he's running the country, but he had a platform going in and is doing his best to see that it gets addressed. He has stuck to things that the Liberals promised as well, which points to their lack of integrity, not Layton's. He has been the only one in Ottawa trying to get things done since the last election.

Layton has withdrawn his support for the Liberals because they are doing nothing to fulfill their own promises on healthcare. The Conservatives and BQ are now sying that Layton has to introduce a non-confidence bill because they aren't willing to do it themselves.

Talk about a flip-flop. Harper's been screaming his lungs out for an election for months and now he's afraid to introduce a bill? What a freaking coward. Duceppe, at least, has always said that he will support any bill he agrees with, confidence or not. Harper has tried to defeat the Liberals on bills he agreed with. What a hypocrite.