Canadians elect Conservative minority government

[dolphinius_rex]

Well, after 13 years of Liberal control, Canada has finally allowed the Conservative party back into power. I for one am very happy about this!

It looks like Western Canada will finally have a little representation in our government!

[stix]

What's Canada's conservative party like? I hope your conservatives up there are not like the ones in the US.

North America isn't big enough for any more people who are aligned with the bush crowd.

[dolphinius_rex]

What's Canada's conservative party like? I hope your conservatives up there are not like the ones in the US.

North America isn't big enough for any more people who are aligned with the bush crowd.

Well, that depends on who you ask.

Basically, there are a lot of extreemists. Extreme left wingers will tell you that the Conservative party is an extreme right wing party, who will overturn gay marriage, and reverse abortion laws. Then they'll go on about how Canada will become the 51st US state, and that the leader of the party is a Bush worshipper with no backbone.

These people are in my opinion, at LEAST as extreme as the disturbing images they conjer up in their heads.

On the other end, is the extreme right wingers, who believe that the Conservative party is God's gift to the world. They'll be completely pure and uncorrupt, and restore everyone's faith in government. They'll bring about election changes so that representation is more fair across the country, and roll back taxes for the common people. On top of that, they'll offer a more democratic approach to government (namely, every MP will be voting on legislation based on his or her riding's opinion, and not how the Prime Minister TELLS them to vote, as has been the norm for many MANY governments in our country).

Sadly, a *LOT* of people fall into one category or the other. I myself try to hold more of a middle ground, believing that the conservative government will make good on hopefully MOST of their election promises. I don't however expect perfection, nor do I buy into the fear propaganda spread by the Liberal party prior to the election.

[Boba_Fett]

What's Canada's conservative party like? I hope your conservatives up there are not like the ones in the US.

North America isn't big enough for any more people who are aligned with the bush crowd.

Edited due to inappropriate content - Moderator

[stix]

Thanks for your thoughts, Dolph.

Is there a Canadian newspaper website where I can follow Canadian politics a bit, without too much of a slant one way or the other?

[Ian]

Boba_Fett, I know you're a big Bush fan but calling people a "homo" because they disagree with you isn't cool. Please don't do that again.

[dolphinius_rex]

Thanks for your thoughts, Dolph.

Is there a Canadian newspaper website where I can follow Canadian politics a bit, without too much of a slant one way or the other?

I'm kind of old fashioned, in the fact that I get my local and national news mostly from the printed local newspaper (which *IS* quite slanted, but I'm used to it). However when I'm looking online, I usually go here:
http://www.mytelus.com/news/display.do? ... anada_home

[LoneWolf]

What's Canada's conservative party like? I hope your conservatives up there are not like the ones in the US.

North America isn't big enough for any more people who are aligned with the bush crowd.

Your definition of conservative is completely flawed.

I'm honestly pretty sick of everyone who stereotypes conservatives as "Bush-ites" or "fundies". I consider myself conservative. I honestly don't consider Bush a conservative at all (nor do I consider him a liberal), I consider him a new Republican, whose definition I'm still struggling to find. Heck, in this day and age, Republicans and Democrats don't seem all that far apart: the issues they argue on seem to be argued more for the sake of argument and power brokering. They see eye to eye plenty well on pork, needless laws designed to replace an average citizen's need to be a responsible individual, and concern more for personal power (aligned with the desires of corporations) over the needs of the voters that put them in office.

Republicans used to believe in a less powerful federal government, and that many issues could be decided by state law. This is no longer the case. Republicans used to be more free-market. This is obviously no longer the case (look at airline bailouts, oil subsidies, tax breaks, etc). I still believe in these things, along with a strict interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Republicans once did --but now many only say they do.

I'm conservative --and yet, I'm not Republican. And overall I'm tired of many of the ways Bush has run this country (for environmental issues, erosion of personal privacy. lack of concern for voters compared to concern for corporations). But what I'm even more tired of are the ignorant statements that stereotype what "conservative" and "liberal" mean, just parroting things people have heard from others, rather than finding out what they REALLY mean. That's what gets us into a mess in the first place. Do some research, figure out what a conservative really is, and a liberal really is, or better yet, throw the two terms away, and find out what conservative and liberal THINKING really is, and get back to me.
And then remember, today's "liberal" thinking will be conservative --in another twenty years.

P.S. Dolph, I don't know a lot about Canadian government (a friend who is a dual citizen and got married and moved up there a decade ago once tried to explain but says even HE gets confused by it sometimes, and he's an intelligent guy), but the little I do know says this should be a good thing. Good luck to your new government.

[Boba_Fett]

Boba_Fett, I know you're a big Bush fan but calling people a "homo" because they disagree with you isn't cool. Please don't do that again.

My apologies. I usually wouldn't do something like that, but stix kinda made me a bit mad right there :/

[dolphinius_rex]

Boba_Fett, I know you're a big Bush fan but calling people a "homo" because they disagree with you isn't cool. Please don't do that again.

My apologies. I usually wouldn't do something like that, but stix kinda made me a bit mad right there :/

I get the same urges when dealing with extremist left wingers... but I try very hard to control myself regardless.

[MediumRare]

I'm afraid that I haven't kept up with Canadian politics as much as I should. In any case, a change of power after 13 years is probably OK. And a minority government will keep the more rabid elements at bay.

However- I just don't see a party that gets over 65% of the vote in Alberta as being good for the rest of the country!

G

[dolphinius_rex]

I'm afraid that I haven't kept up with Canadian politics as much as I should. In any case, a change of power after 13 years is probably OK. And a minority government will keep the more rabid elements at bay.

However- I just don't see a party that gets over 65% of the vote in Alberta as being good for the rest of the country!

G

As a Westerner, I don't feel bad about having a very large amount of support for the West when compared to the East of Canada

[MediumRare]

My roots are in Saskatchewan- maybe that qualifies me as an "Easterner" to someone in B.C. But I still can't see Alberta as the appropriate role model for the rest of the country, especially with the monoculture that just established itself there.

G

[dolphinius_rex]

My roots are in Saskatchewan- maybe that qualifies me as an "Easterner" to someone in B.C. But I still can't see Alberta as the appropriate role model for the rest of the country, especially with the monoculture that just established itself there.

G

Nah, I'd say you're one us

[Spazmogen]

I'm not taking any sides on this one...here's my prediction: 20 months. No more.

Stephen Harper is the next Joe Clark.

He may be 'nice enough' but he has very little experience on his team so far.

The Liberals, NDP and Bloc will give them a while to get settled.

Then let the debates begin.

The Bloc will have a hard time letting Calgary make decisions for Quebec. The sabres of seperation will rattle again. There will be another referendum, perhaps Quebec will vote to leave Canada this time. It was damn close last time. 49-51% (Yes/No).

Harper will learn what they all learn: its harder to be in power than to be the opposition.

I can hardly wait for the 1st budget. I'm expecting something like this: the Liberals cooked to books! There is not enough money to keep my election promises...GST cuts won't happen, other tax cuts won't happen either. (We saw it in Ontario when the Liberals took over after 8 years of Conservative power).

As for the Liberals: McKenna just stepped down as US Ambassador. He'll be the Liberal leader shortly.

Another election again by 2008.



But once again the Bloc & NDP have the real power to make or break any legislation getting through Commons.

[stix]

1. Dolphinius,
Thanks for the link. Good to hear about what's going on in Canada. (And speaking of what's going on in Canada, can you give us any early glimpse into the 1655, just a peek?)

2. Most Everybody Else: Great discussion! Cheers!

3. To Whom it May Concern, and apparently it does concern you:

Get a grip.

[dolphinius_rex]

1. Dolphinius,
Thanks for the link. Good to hear about what's going on in Canada. (And speaking of what's going on in Canada, can you give us any early glimpse into the 1655, just a peek?)

Nope... not yet