Conservative minority government

[Gunnar]

at least i can say, hey i did not vote, so i did not contribute to stephen harpers win....

And whether you should be proud to say that, or ashamed, you'll need to understand politics better before you know.  You have probably at least 18 months to get so informed.  Make the most of it.

 

[ChopperHead]

I never understood why people dont vote. like most have that argument that they dont like any of the partys etc etc. Well there are like 20 something parties. there is a party out there that you can support. just cause you dont support the Liberals, tories etc they arnt the only ones there. We have everything from the Communist party of Canada, to the Grey Party, the Marijuana Party like whatever your value and beliefes are there is someone out there you CAN vote for. so that argument holds no water with me.

Also take 5 min and check out the party websites. there they have links to all their adds what their platform and policies are etc. Watch Cpac for 30min and you will have at least a somewhat Informed view of what each of the parties are and represent.

the only real excuse for not voting that I buy is if someone is out of the country or is working and cant get there. but even then they could have done advanced voting but whatever still at least thats a real excuse.

 

[The_Falcon]

Re: Liberal succesor. I believe Ignatief lost his bid, so unless he's going to replace a liberal who won last night, he's out. Manley, IIRC, is a Chretien cronie. I'm not sure if I would want him as leader (wait a second, maybe I do  ). McKenna is a real possibility, especially if he is fired by Harper. And this may sound odd, but Stronach may make a run. I'd love it if she won. Talk about taking candy away from a baby.

???
Umm Ignatief won his riding quite handily.

 

[HDE]

You,ve gotta love the way the Dept of Finance uses GDP as a means of comparison between nations and "Polaris" Staples pooh poohs that measure as being invalid   ;D

 

[dutchie]

???
Umm Ignatief won his riding quite handily.

You're right. I meant Marc Garneau. Ignatief DID win, and could take over as leader. IIRC, when he first joined, talk of him being the leader was brought up, but it was said at the time that he needs some experience as an MP before that can be supported by the party.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Gayson]

I think a new law should be passed.

People who don't vote don't get free health care.  This will kill 2 birds with 1 stone:

1)  More people will vote

2) Since the vote will still never reach 100%, more money in health care will bw available to those who use it, the voters.

After all, if you don't vote you must not care about how this country is being run.  If you don't care about the policies you don't care about health care.  If you don't care about free health care than you probably don't mind paying for it.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

I'm very interested to see how this accountability legislation plays out.

 

[rifleman]

I think a new law should be passed.

People who don't vote don't get free health care.  This will kill 2 birds with 1 stone:

1)  More people will vote

2) Since the vote will still never reach 100%, more money in health care will bw available to those who use it, the voters.

After all, if you don't vote you must not care about how this country is being run.  If you don't care about the policies you don't care about health care.  If you don't care about free health care than you probably don't mind paying for it.

Perhaps we can start with cutting off health care from people, who don't care about a persons' right to chose whether they want to vote..
Even they pay taxes which funds that Health Care.

 

[Armymatters]

How about doing what Australia does, slap a $200 dollar fine against people who don't vote? It can provide some revenue for the government, and it serves as a way to just get people to vote.

 

[geo]

How about doing what Australia does, slap a $200 dollar fine against people who don't vote?

Reference?

 

[CanadianGuy]

Liberal party is rumoured to be $30+ million in debt, 2nd lowest votes for it in its history will get it not much for funding from votes received, previous ban on big donations and with the Accountability Act banning business and Union donations the Liberal Party is in serious trouble. Add to this their internal battles and leadership problems and they won't be wanting an election for a long while especially with public opinion against any election in the near future. Ditto for the NDP and Bloc.

 

[dutchie]

Reference?

It's been all over the news. It's not really enforced, apparantly, but is there to remind people of the importance of voting.

there is another thread on the 'not voting' topic here:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/38841.0.html

 

[Armymatters]

Reference?

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060118/mandatory_voting_060118/20060118?s_name=election2006&no_ads=

Over there is its a $50 dollar fine, but it does the job. High voter turnout.

 

[3rd Herd]

My opinion,
see post at:
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/36886/post-325710.html#msg325710

maybe the mods should merge these two threads

 

[geo]

Over there is its a $50 dollar fine, but it does the job. High voter turnout.

well.....
50$ fine (not 200$) and voting day scheduled on weekends .... and they're still getting 90% turnout... wonder what that 10% brings in to the Gov't coffers.

The way I see it - if you vote then you have a right to speak your mind about what is going on in Ottawa... and if you don't vote;..... I don't want to hear a peep outa your corner.

 

[Lance Wiebe]

I think that Harper has, at minimum, two years.  Most likely closer to three.

The Lieberal party went deep in to debt, and will have to go further in debt because they have to run a leadership campaign.  They will need close to three years to recover, I'm thinking.

I don't think the Bloc really wants another election quickly, either.  They already lost some seats, and may lose more by forcing an election over something silly, like lower taxes.

The NDP most likely can't wait for another election.  But they barely count.

If PM designate Harper plays his cards right, in three years he'll have most Canadians eating out of his hands.  Run a centrist government, keep scandals to a minimum, prove that he's not the devil incarnate (as painted by the lieberals...), et voila!

 

[geo]

Well....
the LIEberals of the Chrétien/Martin Era VS the CONservatives of the Mulroney Era....

All I see is a bunch of corruption issues that span all the major parties.

 

[rifleman]

and you wonder why people don't vote

 

[Kirkhill]

Somebody around here needs and opto-rectotomy.  Its guaranteed to cure that brown haze discolouring the vision.  ;D

 

[Kirkhill]

By the way Lance, I agree with you.

Harper has a lot of tools to hand with which he can operate without creating major confrontations in the house -

Consider: Accountability Act - Supported by NDP and Bloc - just think how much red meat can be thrown to the journalists with that one by loosening up Freedom of Information rules.  That alone should keep headline writers busy for a while.

Beyond that:  Regulations in all departments do not needs acts of parliament to change.

Discussions with the premiers are entirely within the purview of the PM - rebalancing finances, responsibilities and potentially the Senate are there for consideration

Parliamentary reform; supported in some way shape or form by Bloc and NDP.

Mulroney famously rolled the dice.  Often poker is used as an analogy for describing the actions of our power-brokers.  I think the question in this case will revolve around how good a game of Bridge Harper can play.  He has a lot of cards to play.  Its up to him to prove that he can play them.