I'll agree with that. I believe the media slants some issues. Just come election time George manages to pull a rabbit out of his hat and win Electoral and Popular despite spending most of his presidency below 50% approval.

But I digress.

In Ontario, there will be a few Conservative subplots in the whole story line, but most Canadians agree....nothing will change.

I salute Ryan on his post...well documented.

Waste of taxpayer dollars - yeah, considering the likelihood of another Liberal minority. This'll be the first election in which I'll be eligible to vote - but regardless, the elderly Italian folk in my riding will be voting Judy Sgro (Liberal) to another 4 year term as an MP, assuming she runs again (would be surprised if she didn't). Technically I can just sit back and watch, cause I'd be voting Sgro anyway...

Steven Harper a scary man - hell yeah

The Conservative Party not having an solid position on things - Pretty true. It'* kinda like "The Liberals are BAD!" is their entire stance, from what I've seen.




That said, I'm finding the 'talking down' to differences in political opinion to be kinda pet-peeving... but I'll behave.

That'* kinda weird, your conservative party seems to be just like our liberal party. No answers or ideas, just Bush is bad. Bush won't be on the ballot, and they are still running against him. Talk about having no ideas. The dem'* will be losing ground for the next two elections at least, which jives with your expectation of continued liberal rule in Canada.

Careful now ... that'* a big generalization.

Thats rationing a political system you understand and party you support versus a political system you do not understand...things arent jiving.

Conservatives leadership in Canada strikes fear in Canadians because of what its done to the United States. We as a population do not want our political system to equate to the current US scene.

Liberalism in Canada is not as left wing as you think, its more left of center. That being said, the Liberal party brings and element of stablility to the Country, the Progressive conservatives and its party leader will not be a good Prime Minister for this country.

This whole election stems from the Sponspership "scandal", basically the Chretien Liberal gov't paid marketting agencies to promote Canadian unity during the last Referendum that could have lead to the separation of Quebec. Essentially they took tax payer dollars, the way I see it...it cost each person in this country a couple bux to keep the country unified...big deal During that time Paul Martin was the finance minister...

God damn Gomery report...another WASTE of tax payer dollars to uncover this "scandal"

I agree our Liberal gov't has had some wacky costly ideas, that didnt really pan out in the long run *cough* gun registry *cough*

But they're better then that clown Harper and his merry band of idiots.

Jack Layton...ha..he'* just a follow, one minute supporting the Liberal and Paul Martin, the next he'* not....he'll never get anywhere, this country needs a leader not a follower.

Steven Harper...scary, Paul Martin, meh...Jack Layton..follower...who would you choose?

Hmmm...I know about the redneck states but which ones are blueneck :?:

LOL...nice one.

Econonic centers of the US will vote Democrat (ie New England, NY State, some Great Lake states) and Calfornia , Bible belts and mid western states are and always will be Republican. I cant say I will ever see Alabama or Nebreska vote Dem.

No offense, but thats the way it is.

And for the record, I DO NOT KNOW exactly what states voted what, I'm just making casual observations.

Wow, a guy goes to class for a couple (ugh, 6) hours and look what happens! :P

sonoma, to some degree a map of Canada would illustrate the regionalisation of voters, however it would be much more complex and wouldn't really serve to illustrate the true balance of power. If you look at the west, it has a large geographical area, however because of the lower populations does not hold as much political power. Also, as opposed to the US, where there are 2 main parties and the independents are extremely marginalised, Canada has 4 parties which all have a significant role in the government and distribution of power.

To sum it up (VERY simply) would be to say that the Tories (Conservatives) control most of the west, the Liberals control the Maritimes (Atlantic Provinces), Ontario, and a good portion of the east. However, in Quebec (which is also in the east), the Bloc Quebecois control a large number of seats, even more as of late, due to the scandal. On top of that, there is the New Democratic Party (NDP), which has "pockets" of support throughout Canada, but primarily in BC. There are also independents, but they play a much smaller role, like in the US.

As far as my thoughts on the election, well, I'll be doing everything in my power to avoid a government under Stephen Harper, even if that means voting for Paul Martin (who is honestly not my first choice). Like I said earlier, most likely we will get another Liberal minority, at the expense of us (the taxpayers).

Nonetheless, as long as Stephen Harper'* Tories do not form the government, I will be satisfied. As others have stated here, they have a very poorly developed platform on many key issues, and they have many policies I disagree with (indeed, many directly conflict with my lifestyle). For example, they support George Bush in the missile defence program, which I do not at all support. The Tories also advocate decreased immigration, another stance I disagree with. I won't bother going into the social issues.

Their main platform, it seems revolves around 2 primary issues. That the Liberals exemplify a "culture of entitlement," that they are corrupt, and basically "evil." The second issue is that of tax cuts. They constantly criticise the Liberals for not being rid of the GST as was promised many times over the last 10 or so years. However, they neglect to mention that is was the CONSERVATIVE government of Brian Mulroney that instituted the GST in the 1980s. Yet stil they talk of the "great acheivments" of the Conservative party in the past, and the benefit Canada has realised as a result.

It would require a complete 180 degree turn in the Conservative party'* stance before they would ever see support from me. Although I live in the Conservative heartland...

It seems to me that Canadians are faced with the same "lesser of two evils" dilemma us Americans seemed to have in '04. You have no idea how many times I heard people say that they voted for Candidate X just so Candidate Y wouldn't get elected, not because they felt Candidate X would run the country properly.

Completely true, for me at least. It'* known as strategic voting, basically voting to ensure your vote "matters" as much as possible. Personally, I support the Green Party of Canada, however there is 0 chance of them forming a government anytime soon, thus I toss my hat into the ring with Paul Martin'* Liberals for the time being. Even if just to ensure that the Tories don't make it to power.