Another Tory candidate call it quits…or gets fired.
It has happened before - over a party appointed candidate who had a criminal record. OUCH!
I am at least thankful the fundamental character flaws in some Conservative candidates are coming out before the election and not afterwards. After being elected such poor quality candidates with obvious lacking of judgment would mean they would have the power to do some serious irreparable harm to Canadians and the country.
This all adds to the ballot question that Canadians are just starting to consciously ask themselves. “Is Stephen Harper the kind of person we want to lead this country if you can’t trust and believe him?” Is his party trustworthy enough and caring enough to govern us and speak for us? Or is this election all about Stephen Harper’s personal goal of gaining political power through control freak philosophies by using bullying and belligerent campaign tactics?
You already know can’t believe their political promises…think Income Trusts. He has no respect for the Rule of Law proven by his own breach of his own fixed date election law. Last weeks triple play of gaffe apologies that Harper had to admit to now seems like the tip of the iceberg. What else this politician still trying to hide from us?
Be careful who you vote for. And as you reflect carefully on that most serious decision about the future of you and your family think about if you can trust Stephen Harper. Are you going to be better off with a guy who raised taxes for the working poor and cut them for the upper class?
Are you doing better today because of his infamous GST reduction? Did you know that he did not really mean it when he said the private sector would provide 250,000 day care spaces. Did he tell you the $100 per child he provided last election, so you would have a choice for child care, was going to be tax back? It is not as if you forget to red the fine print on that promise is it? Ask yourself, is your child care situation improved and how much more choice do you have with this Harper half truth?
The Conservative campaign slogan, “We’re Better Off With Harper.” As a compassionate progressive Canadian I have reflected on this slogan. I think it could use an editing. Here is how I feel about Canada and being Canadian.
Here is how I would change the Conservative slogan: WE’RE BETTER! OFF WITH HARPER!” Seems closer to the truth don’t you think?.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Is Harper Against Free Speech and Freedom of the Press?
Harper is gagging the military and the media. Read Blast Furnace here and here for some disturbing but insightful commentary. Harper is a clear and present danger to democracy and freedom of speech.
He demands total control over the political messaging from his Cabinet and Caucus, and given the Ritz, Sparrow, Cannon worker gaffes and others, one can sympathize. But to shut up the military and the freeze out the media for pure political purposes is not leadership. That shows he is not interesting in serving the needs of a free and democratic Canada, only his own hidden agenda and a personal pursuit of power.
Be afraid of this man…be very afraid - especially if he gets absolute power from a majority government. One can only imagine what he would do to the rights and freedoms of Canadians in such an event.
Harper is about power and politics. He doesn't care about people and progress. He is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER!
He demands total control over the political messaging from his Cabinet and Caucus, and given the Ritz, Sparrow, Cannon worker gaffes and others, one can sympathize. But to shut up the military and the freeze out the media for pure political purposes is not leadership. That shows he is not interesting in serving the needs of a free and democratic Canada, only his own hidden agenda and a personal pursuit of power.
Be afraid of this man…be very afraid - especially if he gets absolute power from a majority government. One can only imagine what he would do to the rights and freedoms of Canadians in such an event.
Harper is about power and politics. He doesn't care about people and progress. He is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER!
Harper Hype on Green Shift Impact Exposed as MISLEADING
Steve Chase of the Globe and Mail has an excellent piece in today' paper exposing the misleading and unsubstantiated Harper rhetoric about the Dion Green Shift. It has generated a lot of interest with 145 comments already noted as I write this post.
Nice to see some serious MSM reporting on this policy with comments from experts and not just swallowing the Harper hype as if it were reliable and accurate.
This piece shows Harper is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER.
Harper can't be trusted. He is a danger to democracy.
Nice to see some serious MSM reporting on this policy with comments from experts and not just swallowing the Harper hype as if it were reliable and accurate.
This piece shows Harper is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER.
Harper can't be trusted. He is a danger to democracy.
Happy Birthday Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, child soldier, and only westerner still left in Guantanamo prison “celebrated” his 22nd birthday yesterday.
He has spent a third of his life in a foreign (meaning American) prison because our government, both Liberal and Conservative, have found the protection of his citizenship rights “inconvenient.”
Khadr has been denied the protection of the Geneva Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. He is entitled to the protection of both Conventions but he is disposable for political reasons.
Every other western country has repatriated their Gitmo prisoners and then tried them domestically – with the cooperation of the US government. Why is Canada so far out of step with the rest of the world?
This just one more example why we need to be careful who we elect so we s individual citizens do not have to fear our government.
He has spent a third of his life in a foreign (meaning American) prison because our government, both Liberal and Conservative, have found the protection of his citizenship rights “inconvenient.”
Khadr has been denied the protection of the Geneva Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. He is entitled to the protection of both Conventions but he is disposable for political reasons.
Every other western country has repatriated their Gitmo prisoners and then tried them domestically – with the cooperation of the US government. Why is Canada so far out of step with the rest of the world?
This just one more example why we need to be careful who we elect so we s individual citizens do not have to fear our government.
Friday, September 19, 2008
New EKOS Poll Has Some Fascinating Results.
EKOS has a new poll out of about 4000 Canadians with some interesting numbers and some “same old” numbers too.
Hat tip to Kady O'Malley of Macleans for the EKOS link. The pollsters reporting on the Undecided voter has not been very high profile in this election. Nor has the variability of the voter intentions been studied much to date. The voter intention have been given extensive media coverage but are essentially a “no news story because nothing much has changed in this election from the results in 2006.
Some momentum seems to be building for the Greens. They are making BC a three way race for second place running equal to the Liberals and breathing down the neck of the dippers. In Tory-blue Red-neck Alberta the Greens are also competitive with the Libs and ahead of the NDP. They are all way out of contention here over all but it may mean a concentrated effort by Dipper Linda Duncan in Edmonton Strathcona and the same by Liberal Jim Wachowich in Edmonton Centre may make them contenders in the home stretch.
The core Conservative support is strong but they have no growth from any second choice preferences. So if strategic voting is going to happen, and it will, the Cons are vulnerable, especially if they seem to be heading for a majority. Most notable is the Undecided group split virtually equally between the four major parties but conventional wisdom is the Undecideds don’t show up anyway. In what many see as a boring pointless election, expect this to hold true.
In the simple ABCs of a Danny Williams world, voters who want to support “Anybody But Conservative” has some reason to be encouraged. The EKOS poll shows the Conservatives would attract only 10% of all second choice voters. That means there not much chance of Harper getting a swelling of strategic voter support to push him into a majority government.
Harper will have attract support for his coveted majority based on his new advertising persona of a metro sexual “Who’s Your Daddy” family man that has come from his in-house Image Consultant preening of his new “true self.” Harper has a core and committed voter support with consistent polling between 35-38%. But it is concentrated mostly in rural Canada. That seems an unlikely voter mix to manufacture a majority, but campaigns count and that possibility should not be counted out.
A Harper majority could happen if Quebec wants it to happen. Any whiff of that as a real possibility, then expect Ontario to see that coming. They would engage and show up to reject Harper like a cold cut on a Ritz wise-cracker, just to balance it out the Quebec influence on Harper and push him back into minority territory.
With a minority government second and third place seat results become very important. They become the holders the balance of power and hold the strings that keeps the government in office and honest. The second choice Liberal support comes mostly from the NDP. A full third of them would go Liberal if they were to switch votes. Not good news for Layton the self-delusional “I am running to be PM as the wannabe Canuck version of Obama. If it becomes strategically necessary to beat back a Harper majority or to simply humble them, Dion could pick up a quarter of the soft Green vote too. Even stranger is the possibility that 16% of the obviously disillusions old time true blue Reformers who want to send Harper and really embarrass him, could do so and turn to the Liberals to serve those ends.
This election has not yet started and is far from over. The lessons learned from the Dion and Stelmach victories should not be lost on Emperor Harper. When the front runner is found wanting and the path forward is not clear in the minds of the electorate, then anything can happen. Layton is a non-starter and Harper has shown his in not to be trusted. Harper may well “win” the election but not the country. Making Layton the reason to believe in the NDP because his leadership numbers were better than Dion’s ignores the Liberal depth and bench strength compared to the narrow and shallow Dippers.
The voter has a long weekend to really decide who they choose to trust with their future. This election will be decided over the long weekend before the Tuesday vote on October 14th. My money says that the victory of a majority government will not go to Harper because he is a one-man show demagogue and therefore deemed to be dangerous.
This election will not be a blessed event for Jack Layton because he is seen as essentially superficial. It will not be the Greens because they are a parking lot for many disgruntled voters. Expect May to personally surprise us all and especially Peter MacKay, who could be dumped again. It will not be Dion but it might be the Liberal Team who could have the best overall election showing by simply exceeding expectations.
Hat tip to Kady O'Malley of Macleans for the EKOS link. The pollsters reporting on the Undecided voter has not been very high profile in this election. Nor has the variability of the voter intentions been studied much to date. The voter intention have been given extensive media coverage but are essentially a “no news story because nothing much has changed in this election from the results in 2006.
Some momentum seems to be building for the Greens. They are making BC a three way race for second place running equal to the Liberals and breathing down the neck of the dippers. In Tory-blue Red-neck Alberta the Greens are also competitive with the Libs and ahead of the NDP. They are all way out of contention here over all but it may mean a concentrated effort by Dipper Linda Duncan in Edmonton Strathcona and the same by Liberal Jim Wachowich in Edmonton Centre may make them contenders in the home stretch.
The core Conservative support is strong but they have no growth from any second choice preferences. So if strategic voting is going to happen, and it will, the Cons are vulnerable, especially if they seem to be heading for a majority. Most notable is the Undecided group split virtually equally between the four major parties but conventional wisdom is the Undecideds don’t show up anyway. In what many see as a boring pointless election, expect this to hold true.
In the simple ABCs of a Danny Williams world, voters who want to support “Anybody But Conservative” has some reason to be encouraged. The EKOS poll shows the Conservatives would attract only 10% of all second choice voters. That means there not much chance of Harper getting a swelling of strategic voter support to push him into a majority government.
Harper will have attract support for his coveted majority based on his new advertising persona of a metro sexual “Who’s Your Daddy” family man that has come from his in-house Image Consultant preening of his new “true self.” Harper has a core and committed voter support with consistent polling between 35-38%. But it is concentrated mostly in rural Canada. That seems an unlikely voter mix to manufacture a majority, but campaigns count and that possibility should not be counted out.
A Harper majority could happen if Quebec wants it to happen. Any whiff of that as a real possibility, then expect Ontario to see that coming. They would engage and show up to reject Harper like a cold cut on a Ritz wise-cracker, just to balance it out the Quebec influence on Harper and push him back into minority territory.
With a minority government second and third place seat results become very important. They become the holders the balance of power and hold the strings that keeps the government in office and honest. The second choice Liberal support comes mostly from the NDP. A full third of them would go Liberal if they were to switch votes. Not good news for Layton the self-delusional “I am running to be PM as the wannabe Canuck version of Obama. If it becomes strategically necessary to beat back a Harper majority or to simply humble them, Dion could pick up a quarter of the soft Green vote too. Even stranger is the possibility that 16% of the obviously disillusions old time true blue Reformers who want to send Harper and really embarrass him, could do so and turn to the Liberals to serve those ends.
This election has not yet started and is far from over. The lessons learned from the Dion and Stelmach victories should not be lost on Emperor Harper. When the front runner is found wanting and the path forward is not clear in the minds of the electorate, then anything can happen. Layton is a non-starter and Harper has shown his in not to be trusted. Harper may well “win” the election but not the country. Making Layton the reason to believe in the NDP because his leadership numbers were better than Dion’s ignores the Liberal depth and bench strength compared to the narrow and shallow Dippers.
The voter has a long weekend to really decide who they choose to trust with their future. This election will be decided over the long weekend before the Tuesday vote on October 14th. My money says that the victory of a majority government will not go to Harper because he is a one-man show demagogue and therefore deemed to be dangerous.
This election will not be a blessed event for Jack Layton because he is seen as essentially superficial. It will not be the Greens because they are a parking lot for many disgruntled voters. Expect May to personally surprise us all and especially Peter MacKay, who could be dumped again. It will not be Dion but it might be the Liberal Team who could have the best overall election showing by simply exceeding expectations.
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