Jan. 2006 Canadian Federal Election - Your Vote?

[rebellious_L]

i vote for the liberals only to keep the conservatives out. Even though Martin is whiny bitch. I would probably vot conservative if MacKay was their leader.

[Bizud]

also i'm not voting NDP since i dont live in toronto

 

I don't get it.

[Monochrome Rainbow]

So far it's Liberal. Everyone else seems too fiscally reckess at the moment...

say what?

The only thing that the Liberals have done that is not fiscally responsible is the Sponsorshop Program and really now that it has surfaced I think there will be a lot more transparency in government and given the relationship between Paul Martin and Jean Chretien (and the fact that it operated mostly through the PMO)I would not be surprised if Martin actually wasn't part of the scandal. The finance minister has a lot of responsibility other than signing cheques and from my undrestanding, he doesn't even have the option to sign unless approved by the treasury board beforehand.

 

He should bear some responsibility for lack of judgement in some areas although I'm not certain he was aware of what he was participating in.

 

 

The Liberals are also the only party addressing what every economist says is our primary economic concern, which is productivity. They also have an excellent budget track record, are paying off the debt and investing socially (although some social expenditures have been flawed). I would like to see a Liberal/NDP coalition because the NDP are very innovative with social programming but reckless with businesses. Conservative are reckless and wastful in terms of taxes, although I do like their plan for small businesses.

[Matt]

The NDP doesn't get along with the Liberals well enough, they bullied the Liberals around until they said no, and surprise surprise the NDP ended the government. However, the Liberals have provided a stable Canada when a lot of other countries are not so stable. They have been working on having more people having actual jobs. Voting for the Conservatives might not give Canadians the same results. The NDP is reckless, they are not all that innovative and their long term plans have no real money figures to them. The economy doing is essentially to having quality social programs or else there is not the money to pay for them either.

[Monochrome Rainbow]

No, they don't get along well at the moment and a coalition government is extremely unlikely, I'm well aware of that. All I said was that given the election platforms so far, my ideal government would be an NDP/Liberal coaliton.

 

Also, the NDP are reckless to a degree but not nearly as much as the Conservatives or Greens. And they do have some great ideas, tax credits on hygenic products, energy effiicient appliances and upgrading, fuel efficient cars. Also child care and education are finally getting some attention and results (albeit as miniscule as they are) have been created. At least the NDP are discussing sustaining the environment, homelessness, education, etc. Much like they propped up the Liberals in the last minority, having the NDP working with the Liberals will increase the desperately needed funding to these areas.

 

Would I favour an NDP majority? I'd have to be out of my fucking mind. They're just not prepared for it and they would detroy our economy, which is the Liberal's strength. All I'm saying is that although there are not any long term monetary figures attached to their proposals at the moment, a Liberal/NDP partnership would push the Liberals to allocate more funds to social programming and development.

 

Really with the party leader's in question there's not much more that can be offered to Canadians, which is kinda sad. I just feel it would be the best possible outcome out of the whole election, not much of a chance of it happening by any means though.

 

I think the Liberals have played things very well thus far and wish they could have governed longer because they would have had more of a chance to act, my only problem with them is they don't (Or at least the old liberal government didn't. New one hasn't had much of a chance.) allocate enough funds to social programming. We'll see how it turns out, I can't say I am 100% behind any party.

Edited December 12, 2005 by Monochrome Rainbow

[supercanuk]

Democracy is a fallacy, it no longer (if it ever had) represents the people, private industry has become the cancer to the modern democratic state.

Edited December 12, 2005 by supercanuk

[Ravenous Yam]

So far it's Liberal. Everyone else seems too fiscally reckess at the moment...

say what?

The only thing that the Liberals have done that is not fiscally responsible is the Sponsorshop Program and really now that it has surfaced I think there will be a lot more transparency in government and given the relationship between Paul Martin and Jean Chretien (and the fact that it operated mostly through the PMO)I would not be surprised if Martin actually wasn't part of the scandal. The finance minister has a lot of responsibility other than signing cheques and from my undrestanding, he doesn't even have the option to sign unless approved by the treasury board beforehand.

 

He should bear some responsibility for lack of judgement in some areas although I'm not certain he was aware of what he was participating in.

Even though it ISN'T the only fiscally irresponsible thing they've done (gun registry?), it is pretty fucking major. Fiscal irresponsibilty is one thing (they already had that covered), outright corruption, money laundering, and embezzlement are quite another.

 

The Liberals have a huge part of the country eating right out their hand, and APPARENTLY it doesn't matter what they do short of throwing babies off cliffs will change their mind.

For instance, if any other party had stolen money in this fashion, their support would be almost nonexistent. Liberals are still leading though... it's scary and depressing.

 

 

And supercanuk, that is so true. Democracy has died and become plutocracy.

[ecnarf]

FYI, I don't think I'd mind if Paul Martin chucked a few babies off a cliff.

 

There must be something wrong with me.

[no yu begin wher i end]

There's nothing wrong with you. It would make for good tv.

[supercanuk]

FYI, I don't think I'd mind if Paul Martin chucked a few babies off a cliff.

 

There must be something wrong with me.

hi- larious.

[Ravenous Yam]

FYI, I don't think I'd mind if Paul Martin chucked a few babies off a cliff.

 

There must be something wrong with me.

Hahaha. Maybe you just don't like babies very much?

[Bizud]

Who says the Liberals are great at managing our economy, anyway? We have budget surpluses, but the social safety net is in tatters. We have the lowest unemployment rate in years, but the new jobs are mostly part-time jobs with little in the way of benefits, or low-paying jobs in the service industry - well-paying jobs are disappearing fast.

[Matt]

We had to make cut backs and reform the system as more money comes into the economy we can invest more into other programs otherwise we're spending what we don't have which leaves less for the future. Also the debt needs to be paid off, or else that just gets worse, so actually the Liberals have managed our economy well. And the way the system works is as people have more money they spend more so more new and better jobs are needed creating more jobs too that can be even better.

[Monochrome Rainbow]

So far it's Liberal. Everyone else seems too fiscally reckess at the moment...

say what?

The only thing that the Liberals have done that is not fiscally responsible is the Sponsorshop Program and really now that it has surfaced I think there will be a lot more transparency in government and given the relationship between Paul Martin and Jean Chretien (and the fact that it operated mostly through the PMO)I would not be surprised if Martin actually wasn't part of the scandal. The finance minister has a lot of responsibility other than signing cheques and from my undrestanding, he doesn't even have the option to sign unless approved by the treasury board beforehand.

 

He should bear some responsibility for lack of judgement in some areas although I'm not certain he was aware of what he was participating in.

Even though it ISN'T the only fiscally irresponsible thing they've done (gun registry?), it is pretty fucking major. Fiscal irresponsibilty is one thing (they already had that covered), outright corruption, money laundering, and embezzlement are quite another.

 

The Liberals have a huge part of the country eating right out their hand, and APPARENTLY it doesn't matter what they do short of throwing babies off cliffs will change their mind.

For instance, if any other party had stolen money in this fashion, their support would be almost nonexistent. Liberals are still leading though... it's scary and depressing.

 

 

And supercanuk, that is so true. Democracy has died and become plutocracy.

I will admit although I am in favour of gun registry you are correct in saying that the program itself is infact extremely poorly crafted. There's no debating that and I would be foolish to even try. I stand corrected, it desperately needs to be revamped. I do still believe that the Liberals hold a very good fiscal track record however; their good far outweighs the bad, especially when you look at the last 10 years of economic history around the world. Much worse would certainly be in store under a Conservative or NDP government.

 

The Sponsorsip Scandal is also indeed a HUGE deal, and if it were the same government in power there would be no chance of me voting Liberal or supporting them in any way; it's the biggest scandal in the history Canadian politics.

 

Also, I can't speak on behalf of the rest of the country but I surely would not be voting for any government that has essentially stolen from me. I just don't equate Martin's government with Chretien's, the party had nothing to do with the program. I already explained my reasoning for my beliefs in regards to the Liberal party.