Canadian Federal Election 2011

ChronicTom · Apr 11, 2011

Elizabeth May from the Green Party of Canada will be on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos tonight (monday) on CBC at 11:00pm.

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/weekly-schedule/upcoming-guests---week-of-april-11-2011.html

Elizabeth May

Elizabeth May isn't afraid of getting into a fight - in fact, she might enjoy it. Elizabeth was born in Hartford, Connecticut. When she was a teenager, her family moved to Nova Scotia, where she became politically active. In the 80s, she was a Senior Policy Advisor for the Mulroney government, and then spent 17 years as the Executive Director for the Sierra Club of Canada. But in 2006, Elizabeth took on a new challenge: She was elected leader of the federal Green Party, and vowed to make them a more powerful force in Ottawa. Despite gains, the Greens have yet to win a seat in the House of Commons, but this time around, Elizabeth is hoping she, or one of her candidates, can make the historic breakthrough.
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lunarverse · Apr 11, 2011

I think Iggy's on tomorrow night.

ChronicTom · Apr 11, 2011

Here's another nail for the con coffin...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/11/cv-election-weston-ag-fraser.html

But in a scathing letter addressed to members of a Commons committee on Friday, which was received by the clerk and members on Monday, Fraser said the quote had nothing to do with the summits.
Instead, she said, the Conservatives inserted an 2010 comment she made during a CBC News interview on security spending by a previous Liberal government after the Sept. 11 attacks a decade ago.
“The comments attributed to me in the [Conservative] report are completely unrelated to G8/G20 spending,” Fraser writes in her letter.
“I would appreciate it if the report could be modified as it is clearly erroneous.”
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NDP MP Pat Martin said it well with;

“This was complete misrepresentation and a fraudulent use of a quote about an event that happened years before, cut and pasted into this context,” Martin said.
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Aristartle · Apr 12, 2011

I'm totally voting strategically this time and voting Liberal. The Conservatives are out to take my riding and the Liberal candidate is a left-wing Liberal, so he's cool.

ChronicTom · Apr 12, 2011

lunarverse said:

I think Iggy's on tomorrow night.
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Accoridng to George last night, iggy was on just before the election was called, so I don't think he will be back for it.

Elizabeth May spoke very well, but before she did, George spoke about the debates and how he thought they should be run.

His idea is that the leaders of the parties stay in Ottawa, as its the ridings candidates we vote for, not the leaders. Instead of having a single debate (or two in different languages), there should be a set number of debates, each with a specific topic (the top concerns of Canadians).

I'm otherwords, as the economy is one of the top concerns, one of the debates would be just about the economy, the next, health care, and so on.

Inlcuding one that is about the leaders vision for the country... to let voters know where they plan on taking the country.

That way, a party wouldn't be able to hide from questions by changing the subject (or not as easily) and it would give voters a clearer impression of what it means to vote for each.

Over all, it was a great show... Ice cube being on the second half was pretty cool too.

lunarverse · Apr 12, 2011

Latest news is Harper's government lied about spending some money during the G8 and they spent some money illegally in a riding out near Muskoka, likely to "buy" votes. Unfortunately the auditor general's report can't be released until after the election due to there being no government at the moment.

Too bad, because this could really hurt Harper's chances of getting re-elected.

ChronicTom · Apr 12, 2011

If you aren't aware of how to find previous election results for your riding, here is the link to do so;

http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=pas&document=index〈=e

Here are some shortcuts...
Choose the Election you want the info on;

40th General Election, October 14, 2008

39th General Election, January 23, 2006

38th General Election, June 28, 2004

37th General Election, November 27, 2000

36th General Election, June 2, 1997

On each page, the first section is Official Reports, choose Official Voting Results link under it.

On the left hand side of the page, there are a couple of options with + signs beside them, click on the one that says;
Poll-by-poll results Electoral districts

Choose your province, then your riding, and it will give you everything from that election in your riding.

ChronicTom · Apr 12, 2011

Here, Elizabeth on The Hour;

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html?ID=1878911366

Be sure to watch the intro from George.

lunarverse · Apr 12, 2011

ChronicTom said:

If you aren't aware of how to find previous election results for your riding, here is the link to do so;

http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=pas&document=index〈=e

Here are some shortcuts...
Choose the Election you want the info on;

40th General Election, October 14, 2008

39th General Election, January 23, 2006

38th General Election, June 28, 2004

37th General Election, November 27, 2000

36th General Election, June 2, 1997

On each page, the first section is Official Reports, choose Official Voting Results link under it.

On the left hand side of the page, there are a couple of options with + signs beside them, click on the one that says;
Poll-by-poll results Electoral districts

Choose your province, then your riding, and it will give you everything from that election in your riding.
Click to expand...

Thanks for those links. That's the information I've been looking for.

ChronicTom · Apr 12, 2011

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ditor-general-boxes-harper-in/article1980360/

Sheila Fraser giveth, Sheila Fraser taketh away. Let me make sure I have my facts straight:
For the last five years, Stephen Harper has seen parliamentary procedure as an inconvenience. Something to be ignored when it gets in the way of his political agenda or even threatens to slow it down.

Joan Bryden – one of the finest reporters in Ottawa – has a story today that everyone has now seen, quoting from a draft report by the Auditor-General that Stephen Harper’s government has, among other things, misled Parliament in their G8 and G20 actions.

Stephen Harper’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, among other Conservatives, alleges that the final report tells a very different story.

In the midst of an election campaign, this is what we call all-in poker. If Mr. Soudas et al.’s version of events is accurate and the report exonerates entirely the Conservative government, there is zero chance that the report will not be leaked by the Harper camp today.

What, is Stephen Harper suddenly paralyzed by Parliament and its rules? Really? “Oh, I would really, really like to release a report that I have a copy of that exonerates me and saves my now-floundering election campaign; but damn, those rules of procedure won’t let me.” Yes, this sounds like the Stephen Harper that we all know and love.
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lol

I am getting more and more cheerful about this election.

Srgt. Pepper · Apr 12, 2011

As much as I'd hate to see Harper get back in, I expect that theirs not going to be much of a change in seats held in parliament. The only thing I can see changing this is a if we had a record turnout for young voters.

Will we show up? I know I will, and I'm sure most of you will too, but as for the majority of our age bracket, I'd put my money on no.

ChronicTom · Apr 12, 2011

Srgt. Pepper said:

As much as I'd hate to see Harper get back in, I expect that theirs not going to be much of a change in seats held in parliament. The only thing I can see changing this is a if we had a record turnout for young voters.

Will we show up? I know I will, and I'm sure most of you will too, but as for the majority of our age bracket, I'd put my money on no.
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Drag someone who normally wouldn't vote with you... even just one person, that's all it takes... if everyone did that, we would have record turnouts.

Srgt. Pepper · Apr 12, 2011

^Agreed, I'm forcing my roommates to come to the polls.

ChronicTom · Apr 12, 2011

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5UE0SgN5ic&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5UE0SgN5ic

Srgt. Pepper · Apr 12, 2011

Found this Group on facebook thought id Share it,

Bring a Friend Day, May 2nd

ChronicTom · Apr 14, 2011

For those who missed the debates, here's a transcript of the english ones...

http://www.pointsofinformation.ca/a...lish_language_federal_leaders_debate_555.html

pay attention to this part... lol

For anybody who missed this evening's debate, POI's crack team of transcription monkeys was able to get every word down. Not all of the monkeys agreed on what those words were, but by comparing their different versions we're confident that we have put together an accurate transcript.
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ChronicTom · Apr 14, 2011

For those young people who haven't voted before and are confused about it;

Voting in an election can be more difficult than simply marking an “X” next to the candidate you choose.

For example, how do you vote in your home riding if you’re currently attending school in another city or province?

What do you do if you’re currently living in another country, but want to vote?

How do you even know if you’re on the registered voters list?
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http://www.thestar.com/blogs/article/974963--youth-nation-how-to-vote-no-matter-where-you-are?bn=1

ChronicTom · Apr 14, 2011

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/can...1/04/14/cv-election-ethnic-counter-rally.html

"Whether you're Chinese, Arab, Portuguese, Italian, South Asian, Irish, Vulcan, Klingon, Zombie, or Ewok. Let's show the Conservatives that "ethnic voters" are not props for photo-ops," the Facebook page says.
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the bolding is mine... lol

ChronicTom · Apr 14, 2011

This comes from a facebook page.. as I'm not really sure how to share things from there to here (or if you can), I'm just going to quote it in it's entirety...

This is something everyone should read.

There is only one thing about the outcome of the May 2nd election on which Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Harper agree. It is that one of them will be the Prime Minister of Canada. Mr. Layton, Mr. Duceppe and Ms. May are not in the running to form a government. They can’t. It will be either Mr. Ignatieff or Mr. Harper.

That is the choice, and it is a very clear – in fact, stark choice. We will choose between openness or secrecy. Between listening or refusing to listen. Between someone who respects Parliament or someone who disdains it. Between things we can and will do now or things that, (provided of course that everything goes well), we might do in five or six years. Between someone who answers all questions from Canadians, or someone who won’t accept any.

Between Mr. Harper who said “It’s past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act”, or Mr. Ignatieff who said “ . . . we don’t want user fees. We want universal, accessible, free-at-the-point-of-service health care, paid out of general revenue. That’s just bottom line. Otherwise we get two-tiered”.

Between buying jets or helping vets. Between real early childhood learning and care or Saturday-night babysitting. Between respect for our great institutions or contempt for them. Between helping families or helping big corporations. Between the Canada that we think we have, or the way in which Mr. Harper has already changed it.

Over the past few years Mr. Harper’s government has quietly engineered so many changes that there are some ways in which our country is barely recognizable. Many of us don’t yet realize the extent of those changes, because many of them have been brought about very carefully and gradually – almost imperceptibly in some cases.

This is diabolically clever. If these things had all been done at once, there would have been loud protests and reactions. But moving just one little brick at a time doesn’t cause much fuss – until you realize that the whole house has been renovated. And we’ve hardly noticed.

These are changes that are at the very heart of who and what Canadians are. They are changes to the protections that used to exist against the tyranny of the majority – or against a single-minded my-way-or-the-highway autocrat. These changes are losses to our very Canadian-ness. Let me remind you of some of them:

The Law Commission of Canada was created by an Act of Parliament in 1997. It worked very well. It kept an eye in a sort-of avuncular way, on necessary reforms of the law, including election law. The Commission couldn’t actually change law; but it was very good at letting governments and everybody else know when changes needed to be made and why. It was our legal Jiminy Cricket, and it performed a valuable service for Canada. The Commission was created by an Act of Parliament, and any government wanting to shut it down should have been up-front about it. It should have come to Parliament with a Bill to rescind The Law Commission of Canada Act. That’s what any of our 21 previous Prime Ministers would have done.

But to Mr. Harper, Parliament is an inconvenience. Somebody might ask “Why are you doing this?” But he didn’t want to go through all that Parliamentary trouble; so, rather than proposing the abolition of the Commission (a proposal about which there would have been pretty fierce debate on all sides), they just eliminated all funding for it in the federal budget. Governments can do that. Poof – no Law Commission.

Nice and quiet. Just one little brick. Hardly noticed.

Then there was the Court Challenges Programme, set up in 1994, which was the means by which a bit of legal help could be provided to a private individual or small organization who didn’t have a lot of money, and who was taking on, or being taken on by, the Government of Canada. It leveled the legal playing field a bit. It was a perfect example of fundamental Canadian fairness.

By convincing a tough panel of judges of the reasonableness of your cause, you could get a little help in paying for some lawyers to go up against the phalanx of legal beagles that could always, and forever, and at public expense, be brought to bear against you by the State. In other words, if you weren’t rich, and if you were taking on or being taken on by the Feds, you might have had a chance. But Mr. Harper doesn’t like being questioned, let alone challenged. It’s so inconvenient! Solution? Quietly announce that the Court Challenges Programme is being, er, discontinued. Poof – no Court Challenges Programme – no court challenges.

Hardly noticed.

The Coordination of Access to Information Request System (CAIRS) was created (by a Progressive-Conservative government) in 1989 so that departments of government could harmonize their responses to access-to-information requests that might need multi-departmental responses. It was efficient; it made sure that in most cases the left hand knew what the right hand was doing, or at least what they were saying; and it helped keep government open and accountable. Well, if you’re running a closed-door government, that’s not a good idea, is it? So, as a Treasury Board official explained to the Canadian Press, CAIRS was killed by the Harper government because “extensive” consultations showed it wasn’t valued by government departments. I guess that means that the extensive consultations were all with government departments.

Wait! Wasn’t there anybody else with whom to extensively consult? Wasn’t there some other purpose and use for CAIRS? Didn’t it have something to do with openness and accountability? I guess not. Robert Makichuk, speaking for Mr. Harper’s government, explained that “valuable resources currently being used to maintain CAIRS would be better used in the collection and analysis of improved statistical reporting”.

Right. In other words, CAIRS was an inconvenience to the government. So poof – it’s disappeared. And, except for investigative reporters and other people who might (horrors!) ask questions, its loss is hardly noticed.

And the bridge too far for me: Cutting the already-utterly-inadequate funding for the exposure of Canadian art and artists in other countries. That funding was, by any comparison, already laughably miniscule. Mr. Harper says that “ordinary” Canadians don’t support the arts. He’s wrong. And his is now the only government of any significant country in the world that clearly just doesn’t get it.

All these changes were done quietly, cleverly, and under the radar. No fuss. No outcry. Just one little brick at a time. But in these and other ways, our Canadian house is no longer the kind of place it once was. Nobody minds good renovations. Nobody even minds tearing something down, as long as we put up something better in its place. That’s not what has happened.

Mr. Harper fired the head of the Canadian Wheat Board because he was doing his job properly. He removed the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission because she wanted to make sure that the Chalk River nuclear reactor was safe.

Hardly noticed.

There are many more things that were hardly noticed: Cuts to funding for the Status of Women, Adult Learning and Literacy, Environmental Programs, museums funding, and more. All quietly, just one brick at a time.

Hardly noticed.

As to campaign promises, everybody in sight on every side is guilty of breaking those. Except the Federal NDP of course, who haven’t yet had the opportunity. (It’s very easy to make promises that you know you will not likely have to keep).

But the government promised to end wait times in health care. They didn’t. They promised to end, once and for all, the whining of some provinces about the non-existent “fiscal imbalance”. They didn’t. They said they had brought final resolution to the softwood lumber problem with the U.S. They haven’t. They promised to create thousands of new child-care spaces in Canada. They haven’t. They promised not to tax income trusts (“We will NEVER do that!” they said). They taxed them. They promised to lower your income tax.

They raised it.

They said they had a good “made-in-Canada” plan to meet our obligations on climate change. They don’t. Mr. Harper has said plainly that whatever the Americans do is what we’ll do too.

They campaign on a platform of transparency and accountability; but they’re now trying to discredit the Parliamentary Budget Officer that they created, because he’s trying to do the job that they gave him. Mr. Harper said that our form of government, evolved over centuries from the 900-year-old British Westminster tradition, was all wrong. We had to have fixed election dates, because otherwise, democratic principles would be trampled. ”Fixed election dates”, he said, “stop leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar. They level the playing field for all parties”.

So Parliament (remember them?) at Mr. Harper’s insistence, passed a law requiring fixed election dates, which Mr. Harper promptly broke.

Somebody once said that we get the kind of government we deserve. What did we do to deserve Mr. Harper? He once said that we should all “Stand Up for Canada”. Well, let’s do that. We just have to decide whether the present version of Canada is the one that we’ll stand up for. Or stand for.

Thank you

Tommy Banks (an Alberta Senator.)
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7he4uthor · Apr 14, 2011

has nobody organized an election/fraud botcott yet ?

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