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[Walpurgis]

Kind of related but, according to an upcoming book, this is most likely Harper's last fed election, win or lose. Dunno if it was already brought up.

(Not set in stone of course.)



http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/win...ther-federal-election-new-book-says-1.3179214

Good riddance. I hope his character isn't representative of the Conservative party. And I hope his replacement won't ruin the country if he becomes PM.

 

[matthewwhatever]

I think this needs clarification, because a lot of people read this wrong (not saying you don't know this, I just don't want anyone getting the wrong idea): They're required to have no less than 2 hours non-overlapping with your shift. That means if your shift wouldn't have overlapped anyways they don't really have to do anything.

Which still leaves things pretty difficult for people working two jobs.

IMO voting should be on a weekend, or the day should be a stat.

Actually I didn't know that -- I stand corrected. Still, my broader point stands: voting isn't *that* difficult. It's not like there's only one day where you can vote. Yes, it requires you to go somewhere else at some point between now and October 19th with some form of ID, but that doesn't sound like a super high entry barrier.

On the broader trend of getting people to vote, a few years ago I was working at an ad agency that was bidding on Elections Canada's advertising contract. We got shortlisted, which meant going in and pitching them on our ideas. I can't remember what we proposed, but I remember one thing from the research: that political engagement among the youth wasn't declining, just youth voting. Young people were still doing all the things that you'd associate with civic engagement, were still politically aware, etc., but for whatever reason, that had stopped translating into them voting. I feel like more cities should act as guinea pigs for voter engagement -- try out different tools and systems to see if anything increases turnout. Municipal engagement is already abysmal, so I don't see how it could hurt.

I thought Surrey had a large immigrant Indian population. They aren't voting conservative are they?

It's just that the Conservatives are anti-immigration which is directly opposed to their interests. There was also Harper's comments on the niqab and "violent cultures" which should piss off Sikhs and Muslims.

Reminder: when the Conservatives brought up the idea of banning the niqab back in June (after their previous attempt was struck down by the courts), this is who they had making the announcement:

Also, here's Jason Kenney visiting a Sikh temple in India:

Immigration is one of the few areas where these Conservatives aren't in lock step with the Republicans. They're more than willing to pander to diaspora communities to get votes, in part because a lot of those communities have proven to be very easy to mobilize as voting blocs. You'd think that Harper's thinly-veiled racism would've clashed with that, but...well, just look up at that picture of Tim Uppal. It's basically become like every other area in which people vote against their interests.

Good riddance. I hope his character isn't representative of the Conservative party. And I hope his replacement won't ruin the country if he becomes PM.

If and when Harper goes, it's hard to imagine that his successor will be much better. Kenney was seen as the frontrunner for a long time (though his disastrous stint as defence minister may have killed his hopes), and he's probably worse than Harper. Mackay is pretty hard right. John Baird is less scary than he was a few years ago, but his sudden exit probably hurt his chances (as does the fact that it's hard to imagine the CPC base voting for someone like him). I've seen some people say Maxime Bernier could be a dark horse candidate, and he's very much a US-style conservative. Jim Prentice probably had hopes of replacing Harper, and he was somewhat more moderate, but his career is over now.

Don't know who else that leaves. James Moore? Rona Ambrose? Based on what I know about them, I don't think they'd be drastic departures from from Harper's style.

 

[Entropia]

What the heck, southwestern Ontario. Why are you guys so conservatives ?

That's interesting, growing up in my county (huge agriculture) we had a liberal MP throughout the 90's.
Though it looks like he retired/stopped running in 2008 and they started voting Conservative.

 

[gabbo]

The more I hear about that act the more and more I feel like it's name was intentionally ironic. How that got thought with so little buzz about it in the news is beyond me. I only learned about it after the fact and was totally disgusted.

It was pretty big at the time, but as usual the government framed it as bureaucracy getting in the way of the people/government's work.

People don't like 'bureaucracy' until they absolutely need it, so people shrugged and moved on.

 

[gutter_trash]

who is bilingual enough in the Conservatives to take over for Harper? Jason Kenney is able to talk but besides him, don't think their is anyone else.

or else they resurrect Jean Charest out of retirement (who is still relatively young for a former PC leader and 9 year Quebec Premier) but Charest is more of a ''Progressive'' Conservative than a Conservative

 

[gabbo]

who is bilingual enough in the Conservatives to take over for Harper? Jason Kenney is able to talk but besides him, don't think their is anyone else.

or else they resurrect Jean Charest out of retirement (who is still relatively young for a former PC leader and 9 year Quebec Premier) but Charest is more of a ''Progressive'' Conservative than a Conservative

I don't think he'd help their Quebec problem too much.

 

[gutter_trash]

I don't think he'd help their Quebec problem too much.

give it two elections cycles and they will recycle him eventually, the Conservatives have a ceiling among social-conservatives and cannot grow outside of that due to their social stances

The Conservatives to survive in the future will have to get a bit more ''progressive'' again by getting a bit more P back

 

[GSG Flash]

The NDP are seriously lagging in my riding of Nepean, which is a shame because it's a brand new riding ripe for the picking. At this point I'm voting for the Liberals since they have the most support after the Conservatives.

If and when Harper goes, it's hard to imagine that his successor will be much better. Kenney was seen as the frontrunner for a long time (though his disastrous stint as defence minister may have killed his hopes), and he's probably worse than Harper. Mackay is pretty hard right. John Baird is less scary than he was a few years ago, but his sudden exit probably hurt his chances (as does the fact that it's hard to imagine the CPC base voting for someone like him). I've seen some people say Maxime Bernier could be a dark horse candidate, and he's very much a US-style conservative. Jim Prentice probably had hopes of replacing Harper, and he was somewhat more moderate, but his career is over now.

Don't know who else that leaves. James Moore? Rona Ambrose? Based on what I know about them, I don't think they'd be drastic departures from from Harper's style.

Pierre Poilievre has been in the spotlight lately. I shudder to picture the Conservatives with him at helm.

The old PCs had competent candidates, but they've been run out of the party by Harper and his cronies.

 

[matthewwhatever]

The NDP are seriously lagging in my riding of Nepean, which is a shame because it's a brand new riding ripe for the picking. At this point I'm voting for the Liberals since they have the most support after the Conservatives.

Pierre Poilievre has been in the spotlight lately. I shudder to picture the Conservatives with him at helm.

The old PCs had competent candidates, but they've been run out of the party by Harper and his cronies.

I...why...he...how...*sigh*

I'd like to think that he's too smarmy and obnoxious for him to ever become leader...but then again, Harper is pretty smarmy and obnoxious, and that never hurt him.

I think Bernier would have a better shot at winning than anyone thinks. He's an idiot, but he's also bilingual, he'd win over a lot of Quebec voters just on the strength of being from there, and he'd be right wing enough to appeal to many parts of the CPC base. Harper also seems to give him a lot more leeway than anyone else, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of his top advisors went that way in an eventual leadership race.

And speaking of Nepean...are you in Baird's old riding? That's where I am too! I think the Liberals stand a decent chance of winning. If you're in the part of his riding that now has Poilievre...my condolences.

 

[GSG Flash]

And speaking of Nepean...are you in Baird's old riding? That's where I am too! I think the Liberals stand a decent chance of winning. If you're in the part of his riding that now has Poilievre...my condolences.

In Poilievre's old riding, so I had to deal with his bullshit and tax payer funded partisan flyers for almost a decade. Thank god he decided not to run in this riding.

Though we're thinking about moving to Greely... Which is Poilievre's new riding ugh.

 

[jstripes]

Sorry, but under Harper's Fair Elections Act, Elections Canada is now no longer allowed to advertise that Canadians should get out and vote.

And at the same time, the Cons will undoubtedly again set up a few badly-disguised robo-call operations giving out misinformation. They'll get caught, shrug it off as usual, and Elections Canada will be powerless to do anything.

It's like Harper has cheat codes for the whole system.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Here's something that's pretty interesting:

Brand new electoral map for Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan's ridings have been completely re-organized and all the previous weird urban/rural split ridings (gerrymandering anyone?) that hugely favoured the Conservatives have been replaced by urban only ridings.

Going from last election results, the NDP would have won two of these ridings, and four more are within striking distance.

 

[gutter_trash]

Here's something that's pretty interesting:

Brand new electoral map for Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan's ridings have been completely re-organized and all the previous weird urban/rural split ridings (gerrymandering anyone?) that hugely favoured the Conservatives have been replaced by urban only ridings.

Going from last election results, the NDP would have won two of these ridings, and four more are within striking distance.

i thought that the re-cuts was non-partistsan

 

[Tiktaalik]

i thought that the re-cuts was non-partisan

It is a non-partisan process, though parliament is consulted. I had no idea what the process is, but you can read about it here:

http://www.redecoupage-federal-redi...?section=info&document=index&dir=rolec&lang=e

Ten independent electoral boundaries commissions – one in each province – are established to revise the electoral district boundaries in their province.

Each commission is composed of three members. It is chaired by a judge appointed by the chief justice of the province and has two other members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons.

The commissions each work separately to:

* Propose a new electoral map for their province by considering such criteria as average population numbers, communities of identity and interest, historical patterns of an electoral district, and geographic size of electoral districts

* Consult with Canadians through public hearings

* Submit a report on their considerations and propose electoral map to the House of Commons

* Consider objections from members of the House of Commons

* Prepare a final report outlining the electoral boundaries for their province

It is important to note that commissions do consider the input received from Canadians and members of the House of Commons when determining the boundaries. However, as independent bodies, they make all final decisions as to where these boundaries will lie.

Having wholly rural and urban ridings makes more sense than split urban/rural as the concerns of rural voters are vastly different from the concerns of urban voters. This makes total sense and so it's unsurprising that an independent body would design the ridings as such. This does not benefit the Conservatives though, as they will no longer be able to have rural voters dilute urban voters.

Saskatchewan's Conservative MPs were opposed to the push toward all-urban ridings. Some political observers have predicted the change might give a leg-up to the New Democrats in some seats.

From what I've seen the riding redistributions have been done pretty reasonably and fairly. The only one I'm not super impressed with is how the ridings of North Burnaby and East North Vancouver have been merged into one. This has been controversial because the cities are separated by a body of water, and they're demographically very different. The action combines a safe Conservative seat with a safe NDP seat, so this one will be a real battleground. You can see an image of the awkward new riding here: http://www.burnabynow.com/news/final-decision-burnaby-s-federal-ridings-split-in-three-1.596818

 

[Walpurgis]

And at the same time, the Cons will undoubtedly again set up a few badly-disguised robo-call operations giving out misinformation. They'll get caught, shrug it off as usual, and Elections Canada will be powerless to do anything.

It's like Harper has cheat codes for the whole system.

I wonder what would happen if Mulcair did that. He's be said to be similar to Harper. Maybe that's what we need to get rid of him.

 

[CitizenVectron]

Here's something that's pretty interesting:

Brand new electoral map for Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan's ridings have been completely re-organized and all the previous weird urban/rural split ridings (gerrymandering anyone?) that hugely favoured the Conservatives have been replaced by urban only ridings.

Going from last election results, the NDP would have won two of these ridings, and four more are within striking distance.

I would expect the CPC to probably lose 2-3 seats to the NDP in Saskatchewan this election. 1 each in Regina and Saskatoon for sure (unless something major changes), and possibly 1 more in Regina. The Liberals will hold onto their single seat in Regina (Ralph Goodale), and could possible take the far north of the province as well. Basically the CPC will possibly lose anywhere from 2-5 ridings in total, depending on different shifts.

 

[matthewwhatever]

That Saskatchewan stuff is genuinely surprising to me. Between those seats that are more favourable to the Liberals and NDP and the seats in Calgary that seem to be in play, it's nice to see that not every new riding is a probable CPC pickup.

(And as I said, if my Ottawa riding can switch from Baird to Liberal because of boundary changes, I'll be ecstatic.)

I wonder what would happen if Mulcair did that. He's be said to be similar to Harper. Maybe that's what we need to get rid of him.

Actually, one of his MPs has already been fined by the CRTC for robocalls. Plus there's the $2.75M that his party has already bilked from the system...

 

[maharg]

I'm personally betting that the CPC nets no new seats in Alberta at this point (by which I mean there will be at least 7 non-CPC seats).

 

[matthewwhatever]

I'm personally betting that the CPC nets no new seats in Alberta at this point (by which I mean there will be at least 7 non-CPC seats).

I know the election has barely started (and I'm going to assume you aren't exactly plugged in to their circles), but is there any sense of panic emanating from the Conservatives out there? They haven't had to fight on their home turf for about twenty years, and now they're suddenly not able to a whole province for granted.

 

[gutter_trash]

in Quebec, the new redraws of the ridings has hurt the Bloc the most than any other federal party.

having more chuncks of ethnic minorities added here in there in ridings redraws kills the Bloc out of Montreal and its suburbs

 

[Walpurgis]

Actually, one of his MPs has already been fined by the CRTC for robocalls. Plus there's the $2.75M that his party has already bilked from the system...

According to the article, at the time, that guy was competing with Mulcair for the party's leadership. He's still with the NDP though. Either way, I'm getting sick of how easy it is to do these kinds of things without repercussions. A $10,000 fine is a joke for these parties.

As for the $2.75 million, they didn't actually steal it as I thought they did.

Earlier this year, the secretive, all-party BOIE found that the NDP MPs broke parliamentary rules by using taxpayer money to run offices for party purposes. The MPs were ordered to repay a combined $2.75 million following a ruling by the BOIE.

It seems that they just wasted it for their own purposes. They claim that the other parties are just scared of their recent popularity but I don't think they were doing well in the polls back in April. They just seem overly defensive and kind of sound like the Conservatives with stuff like this.

"They're going to take punches at us because they don't like us. We're moving up and so we're just going to probably take a lot more punches before we get where we've got to go," said NDP Ethics critic Charlie Angus.

I hope it isn't true but I'm afraid they are just trying to prolong it and keep it as allegations until the election is over.

He said the NDP is confident that “the court is going to decide in our favour.”

Overall, it seems that Mulcair is similar to Harper but that he seems to be good at his job of regularly making Harper look like a fool and giving him a run for his money this election. I don't like his "unwavering support for Israel" but I think all three of the primary candidates have that illness. At this point, I'm just voting for the NDP because of their policies.

in Quebec, the new redraws of the ridings has hurt the Bloc the most than any other federal party.

having more chuncks of ethnic minorities added here in there in ridings redraws kills the Bloc out of Montreal and its suburbs

Good news. Hopefully this weakens the popularity of fascist Quebec parties.

 

[SRG01]

I know the election has barely started (and I'm going to assume you aren't exactly plugged in to their circles), but is there any sense of panic emanating from the Conservatives out there? They haven't had to fight on their home turf for about twenty years, and now they're suddenly not able to a whole province for granted.

It's really hard to say given we're still in the first week of the campaign. All I can say is that there was a billion-dollar LRT funding announcement for Calgary... and not much for Edmonton.

 

[RevoDS]

I don't think he'd help their Quebec problem too much.

That remains to be seen. "Je me souviens" is Quebec's motto in name only; in practice, we elected a Liberal provincial government just 18 months after ousting them on widespread accusations of corruption and civil unrest.

Charest's name sure was damaged back then, but I wouldn't bet against him if he were to jump into federal politics. He's as astute a politician as any out there and would probably find a way to regain some public favor even in Quebec. He smartly remained completely out of the spotlight since his lost election and that hasn't hurt his perception.

The only thing that can hurt him publicly in Quebec is the Commission Charbonneau report, but that's going to be long done and buried by the time the next federal election comes about.

Plus, he can't do any worse than Harper.

Spoiler

In case Charest is a gaffer: Please don't do it.

 

[jstripes]

Oh, Justin.

https://twitter.com/nickkouvalis/status/629081075906547712

(NSFW)

 

[SRG01]

Oh, Justin.

https://twitter.com/nickkouvalis/status/629081075906547712

(NSFW)

Ehh, doubt this will get any traction. Female toplessness is legal in Ontario and BC as it is.

 

[matthewwhatever]

Oh, Justin.

(Link removed just in case.)

(NSFW)

Oh no, he went to a Pride Parade!

Wait, is the NDP against those now? I just figured Mulcair skipped Vancouver Pride for reasons known only to him and the NDP braintrust. I had no idea it was because he was opposed to people in various stages of undress

 

[jstripes]

Ehh, doubt this will get any traction. Female toplessness is legal in Ontario and BC as it is.

Apparently Ezra Levant was losing his shit over it.

Do people still listen to Ezra?

 

[MMarston]

Oh, Justin.

https://twitter.com/nickkouvalis/status/629081075906547712

(NSFW)

I'm finding it ironic that the guy's twitter blurb is "Life is short, party hard"

 

[matthewwhatever]

I'd be surprised if Ezra even listens to Ezra.

 

[gabbo]

Apparently Ezra Levant was losing his shit over it.

Do people still listen to Ezra?

Who?

 

[MMarston]

Map of the most Googled party leaders in each election riding

lol at how Giles Duceppe is the most Googled leader in the Okanagan for some reason.

 

[jstripes]

Who?

Canadian media conservative blowhard.

He'd be big in the US, but he's more of a gadfly here.

 

[S-Wind]

What we really need is proportional representation voting. I voted for first past the post the last time the question came up, and I still regret it. Proportional representation is the best way to establish minority coalitions.

Why did you vote for first past the post???

 

[SRG01]

Apparently Ezra Levant was losing his shit over it.

Do people still listen to Ezra?

He has a very vocal fanbase. It's kind of fascinating.

 

[matthewwhatever]

So the Conservatives are basically campaigning against themselves right now?

So, so far, Harper has vowed to revive a home reno credit similar to 1 he ended & block a Netflix tax only his govt seems to have considered

(The latter comes from a weird web ad Harper seems to have shot...on his iPad or something?)

 

[BigJonsson]

Clearly he is going to clog the press with these bizarre out of the blue things to keep people distracted

 

[Holmes]

Oh no, he went to a Pride Parade!

Wait, is the NDP against those now? I just figured Mulcair skipped Vancouver Pride for reasons known only to him and the NDP braintrust. I had no idea it was because he was opposed to people in various stages of undress

Whoa, salty.

 

[lupinko]

Why doesn't Harper just strip Mulcair of his citizenship? I mean he already passed the law to do it, and Harper already makes up bogus shit to justify the Conservatives' crap.

Spoiler

C-24 is a fucking shitty law and those who passed it and are for it are horrible people.

 

[Walpurgis]

Why doesn't Harper just strip Mulcair of his citizenship? I mean he already passed the law to do it, and Harper already makes up bogus shit to justify the Conservatives' crap.

Spoiler

C-24 is a fucking shitty law and those who passed it and are for it are horrible people.

 

[Walpurgis]

Whoa, salty.

He's a Trudeau fanboy, what did you expect?

So the Conservatives are basically campaigning against themselves right now?

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

(The latter comes from a weird web ad Harper seems to have shot...on his iPad or something?)

What? Netflix tax? Who thought that crap up????

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

Why doesn't Harper just strip Mulcair of his citizenship? I mean he already passed the law to do it, and Harper already makes up bogus shit to justify the Conservatives' crap.

Spoiler

C-24 is a fucking shitty law and those who passed it and are for it are horrible people.

Wouldn't be surprised to see that overturned by the Supreme Court in a few years. Wouldn't be the first nor the last of Harper's laws to fade into history.

The #HarperANetflixShow trend is hilarious.

 

[mo60]

So the Conservatives are basically campaigning against themselves right now?



(The latter comes from a weird web ad Harper seems to have shot...on his iPad or something?)

I find what harper is doing now weird for an election camapaign and a bit risky Usually I do not expect a party to camapaign against themselves unless they decide that the policies they implemented are not that great for the electorate. I do not know if Canadians will actually support the conservatives if the party keeps on campaigning against themselves.I feel that harper is just trying to do anything to stay in power at this point.

 

[matthewwhatever]

First -- and possibly only -- English debate tonight!

How to Watch
TV:
CityTV (English)
CPAC (English/French)
OMNI (Italian, Punjabi, Mandarin and Cantonese)

Online:
http://www.macleans.ca/debate
http://www.cpac.ca/
http://www.omnitv.ca/

He's a Trudeau fanboy, what did you expect?

I don't deny that I'm a Liberal supporter, but if someone is going to post a picture that even Ezra Levant is questioning the validity of, it deserves a snarky response.

 

[gutter_trash]

“We will never tax Netflix or other online streaming services”

“The choice is clear,” @pmharper says. "If you like watching Netflix or videos online, only voting Conservative w/ stop a Netflix Tax.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/0...tax_n_7945090.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-politics

Harper going for young voters

 

[Holmes]

I don't deny that I'm a Liberal supporter, but if someone is going to post a picture that even Ezra Levant is questioning the validity of, it deserves a snarky response.

Maybe, but implying that the NDP is against Pride isn't snark, it's just downright the stupidest thing I've read in this thread.

 

[Lexxism]

I don't get it. Nick Kouvalis is a Con right? Why mention NPD? Or am I missing something here?

 

[Impeccable]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/0...tax_n_7945090.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-politics

Harper going for young voters

I think most young voters are the most connected and social, it's a fundamental flaw to attempt to deceive that demographic. At least, I hope so.

 

[matthewwhatever]

I don't get it. Nick Kouvalis is a Con right? Why mention NPD? Or am I missing something here?

Isn't jstripes an NDPer? I didn't look at the source of what he was posting, so I just assumed it was an NDP thing, and thought it was only fair to mention that it was kind of hypocritical to attack Trudeau for being at a Pride event when Mulcair had skipped one of Canada's largest just to give a five-minute speech.

If that wasn't the intent, then I apologize.

 

[Stet]

Nick Kouvalis is a human turd.

 

[matthewwhatever]

I'd never heard of him before just now...but checking out his Wiki entry, I can see what's so abhorrent about him. Rob Ford's chief of staff? The guy behind the Mount Royal robocalls against Irwin Cotler?

Yikes. As I said: jstripes, I'm sorry.