I post this here because we do not want to bore other members with Canadian politics. Which way are you voting? Do you know? Why?

I am going to vote Conservative. I have nothing in common with NDP beliefs and would not consider a vote for that party. The liberals are corrupt, govern as they see fit, they have sqandered our tax dollars and need to be tossed. I will not be a victim of Liberal political grandstanding trying to convince me that a vote for the Conservatives is un-Canadian and high risk. I would not consider a Liberal vote. That would endorse their governance which has been nothing short of contemptable. The party needs a make over before they will see my vote.

 

Conservative as well, I am traditionally a Liberal thinker/voter but enough is enough. Canada needs a change.
In 35 of the past 37 years, Canada has been ruled by:
(1) Pierre Trudeau - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(2) Brian Mulroney - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(3) Jean Chretien - a multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec.
(4) And now we are going to vote for Paul Martin???? - a
multi-millionaire lawyer from Quebec???

Time for the rest of the country to thrive...Time for a change.

 

I'm favouring the Conservatives this time as you are, but this time Politics is leaving a sour taste in my mouth.....even more so than normal.
C.

 

hear, hear...

I feel like I have a permanent pucker with Canadian politics, especially with the Liberals......
& not just my mouth

I still plan on exercising my right though,
too many brave men fought to preserve it to abstain....

 

Sadly we have very little representation of the Conservative Party on a Provincial level but it is getting there, so I usually voted Liberal, since the SoCreds virtually disappeared.

On a National level, I plan to vote Conservative --- it's like the "Western Canada" thing to do

Seriously... I have been against NDP policy since I took a political science course in college and learned the NDP used to be known as the CCF -- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation who mirrored many of the CPC (Communist Party of Canada) idealogy and anti-capitalism policies. Read this for more... http://www.civilization.ca/hist/labour/labh29e.html

Liberal "liberties" taken at my expense is reason not to vote for them.

 

Aye lad, lol, altho the choices are 'interesting', we must exercise our right.

I hear you on the puckering.lol, PITA might be more accurate. It can only get better....right......
C.

 

All I will say is this - I was in the U.S when Clinton left office and George Jr. took over; Harper and his campaign reminds me *very* much of George Jr. and his campaign against Gore. The only real talking point he's had so far (as far as I can tell) has been the Liberal scandal. It takes more than pointing out your oppositions flaws to get my vote. If Harper manages to get some substance in his campaign before the 23rd he might get my vote, but I am not holding my breath.

While I do not condone scandal (who does?) the Liberal government has done a pretty decent job these past years, and I'm not convinced the Conservatives or NDP will do any better.

 

Not really any hard decision for me. Conservative for sure. I agree with much of what they stand for and Harper has been the most clear on their platform. My neighbour two days down is the liberal MP for my area.

The liberals have had their day and it's time to send a clear mesage to them their growing arrogance and inept managment of public funds is not acceptable. They have done some things for the economy in general over their term but not being challenged for years seems to have fostered laziness, arrogance and corruption.

 

"Gomery has exonerated the Liberal government" (Paul Martin). How so? He stated that the government stole money and redirected it Liberal interests in Quebec.
"We have kept all of our promises" (Paul Martin). Oh really! A child care program......not done. Scrapping the GST......not done.

The list can go on. Time for the rhetoric to stop. The Liberals are trying to buy votes, and I don't think it is going to work this time. Shame really, they have lost there way.

Haven't been around the site in some time guys.......good to be back.

 

In the old days I voted Progressive Conservative, because they were Progressive. I have voted Liberal the last few times because I don't believe in the " pull yourself up by your bootsrtaps " philosophy. Harper scares me. He has not stated how he will pay for the cuts, what he will cut or what he is prepared to give Quebec/the block for their support. His daycare program nets out to under 100 dollars after taxes. Less than two tanks of 94 for me.
Harper seems to be doing what Harris did. Tell the electorate what they want to hear, promise them the moon and when you are in power.......do what you want. I don't believe Harper has changed his spots, just died his coat so it looks different. Like Henna it will wear off soon after it has had the desired effect.
The Harris Conservative were the first party that figured out that you could promise the electorate anything to get in and once in do what you want.
Layton blew it because his ego and Martins were both too big. Our best governments and programs have come from minority governments.
Power Corrupts, Absolute Power ( a majority ) Corrupts Absolutely.
Some Liberals are thieves, not all. Some G drivers are bad, not all. I don't like broad brushes.
Sorry for the longer than I intended rant but hey, you asked, and I could have made it longer.
Boy, do I ever love this car.

 

Liberal.

 

I'm bucking what seems to be the popular trend of this thread as well. Harper scares me (actually A LOT!: ) as well. He isn't able to answer most questions directed at him, and instead simply points out the Liberal scandals. Between every word he speaks, he has that incredibly practiced creepy smile . He proposes a reversal of the Kyoto Accord which counters virtually every developed nations' except for Bush's US stance.

The financial losses happen with every party, not just the Liberals. Once in a while, someone just gets caught. You want to talk about arrogance, look at the Mulroney years (even Mulroney personally after he was out!).

The Mulroney government did more to screw the country than any other in the recent past.

My vote for the Liberals won't count much anyway, since Albertans tend to blindly vote for the Conservatives in virtually all ridings and in all elections. But the Liberals will get my vote, if for no other reason than to rid us of the 'Not Withstanding' clause. I think they're still the lesser of all evils. At least we don't have a bunch of old actors running for leadership (mind you, I could see Donald Sutherland doing well).

BTW, I thought it's always dangerous to discuss Politics, and Religion?

 

I noticed that too... makes you cringe.
Can't believe his advisors haven't picked up on that.

 

IMHO, 95% of governing is the day-to-day operation of the country that's the same regardless of your ideology. In reality it's more like running a large company than a political exercise, but it's the part that never makes the news. Election campaigns are a little like engineers arguing who can do a better job of driving a train down a straight track. The party platforms (and "scandals") are window dressing for the most part - once elected they are primarily driven by economic, global and random factors outside their control and, of course, by public opinion (not always the wisest council).

I worry about a protest vote. When I still lived in Saskatchewan the NDP got dumped by a "time for a change" vote after 16 years and the Conservatives swept every riding but two. The problem was, almost none of the MP's elected had ever been part of a town council or school board, let alone a real government. They fumbled around with the basics for a couple of years reinventing the wheel, then literally bankrupted the province in the early 80's. Today's federal Conservatives are in the same position - how many of them have been part of a sitting federal government? Opposition doesn't count - it's a different job entirely.

 

I take the opposite point of view Gord. The phony smile and failure to address pointed questions by Harper is a campaign tactic and it is working. The Liberal campaign machine will take every opportunity to twist Harpers words and put a negative spin on them and have been successful with this tactic. It won't work this time, Harpers advisors have wisely convinced Harper to take a different approach.

With regard to the Liberal record, I find little to be greatful for. We have the Liberals prison reform where this government has changed the prison system from a penal system to a rehabilition system. It is a colossal failure. We have a government that has changed the age of consent to 14 years of age so that the sexually sick can legally prey on young girls and boys. As well, there is actually lobbying going on right now to drop the age further and is under serious consideration. We have a useless gun registration that cost over a billion dollars yet gun crime is on the rise by huge numbers. Our former justice minister thinks that prison time is not the solution to gang violence and that youth programs are what is needed. You must also remember that Martin started this campaign by trying to make this election about National Unity and was actually firing up a storm with regard to the separation issue. His advisors put a lid on this but talk about a stupid move. It is the Liberals that changed the funding policy for elections based on votes which put millions of dollars into the Bloc election fund using taxpayer dollars. Harper is scary?

The liberals have a lot of good policy but they are misguided on a number of issues. The biggest for me at this time is accountability. This country survived Jean Chretien so I am not too worried about Steven Harper. I am worried about gun violence, underfunded military, govenment corruption, and bad social policy. You also cannot paint Harper with the same brush as Mulroney, it is simply unfair and as yet without merit.

There comes a time when bad politicians and bad admistrators need to be removed from office.