Election 2015

[Privateer]

The CPC is running a pretty nasty, maybe dishonest ad campaign some ethnic media in Toronto and Vancouver.

No doubt photoshopped, but still funny:

 

[PuckChaser]

Looks like the crooks are trying to get to the trough early. I expected nothing less from them, however.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/liberal-campaign-co-chair-steps-down-in-wake-of-lobbying-email-1.2609815

 

[George Wallace]

This supposedly on CTV site ( It is on the link, but you will have to scroll through/down several topics to find it. ):

Posted by a CTV viewer
Too good not to share:

SAW THIS, POSTED BY A CANADIAN SOLDIER: More about why I won’t vote liberal . . . I find that many lefties are concerned with $90,000 paid back to taxpayers, yet unconcerned that one Liberal senator owes more then all the conservative senators combined, Mac Harb. Or how about Liberal election fraud. A couple elections ago ad-scam was the biggest financial and election scandal in the G8. Yet you still support the Liberals like Ralph Goodale who were involved in it. There were no criminal charges. No senators other then the Conservative senators have been forced to pay back money. Tom Mulcair misappropriated $3,000,000 and you have heard not a peep. You never heard much about Liberals already breaking election law at advance polls for this election. Trudeau skipped out on his job in the house of commons to give paid speeches to charities despite being a multi-millionaire. He has never been employed full time but you want him to run the country. Tom Mulcaire pledged to ban the bulk export of Canadian water. Harper has already done that. He pledged to get rid of the senate, which he cannot do. Similarly he has sworn to get national day care which requires provincial agreement, and the provinces have said no already.
Trudeau is planning to spend our way out of debt. Ridiculous. He has pledged to create a false economy by spending money on infrastructure which we cannot afford and which artificially supports industry for short term job growth before that industry collapses when funding runs out.
Despite having the best cared for veterans in the world, and despite the Harper government being the first in my lifetime to properly equip the military, you think the Liberals will do a better job; the same liberals that denied us heavy armour in Afghanistan (where they sent us). They also denied us heavy weapons, mothballed our artillery, sold our tanks and heavy helicopters and rewrote the veterans charter which you blame Harper for.
Harper bought us transport planes, trucks, weapons, new tanks, heavy lift helos, artillery, uniforms, ammunition, took the handcuffs off us in Afghanistan and brought us home when we completed our mandate. But you call him a warmonger.
Trudeau and Mulcair both want to get out of the fight with ISIS. They want to negotiate and give aid. According to Trudeau the Boston bombing happened because “someone didn't feel included.” I too want change. I want people to stop being consumers and start being citizens. I want people to stop being citizens of convenience. I want people to get a hand up, not a hand out. I want us to fight alongside those who need our help against forces of evil like ISIS, al Shabbab, Boko Haram, and al Qaeda, all of whom actually exist and, believe it or not, want you dead. I believe in immigration in a controlled manner and enabling others to stay home and sort out their own country rather then importing their problems to ours. If they won’t fight for their home they won’t fight for ours. I’m 43 years old, I pay my taxes, I’ve been unemployed and never collected a dime I didn't earn. I always pounded the pavement to get another job so I could make my own way. I’ve been in 23 countries. I’ve served my nation for 25 years. I’ve been in synagogues, mosques and churches, prayed at the worlds holiest sites but give no allegiance to those support groups for the weak of faith that you call religion. I believe in free enterprise. I have friends of every colour and lost many of them while fighting alongside them. I have dined with princes and gone days without food. I believe in free enterprise, not union mob rule. I believe in earning rights not demanding them. I believe in standing up for what you believe in but if you break the law to do so, then facing the consequences. I don’t call 911 when my family is at risk; I may inform the authorities later though. I don’t think prisoners should have the right to vote, but the left does (and Trudeau Sr basically ensured it). I say Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays. If you wish me a Happy Eid, Kwanza or Hannukah I will thank you. My family didn’t come to this country—we made this country. I think there’s a difference between schooling and education. I will never vote Liberal. Part of the reason is that I will not support any group of voters that refers to any democratically elected leader of this country as a dictator or that compares him to Hitler. I am tired of Liberals saying I'm a bigot because of how I vote. I would never degrade them in that manner, though I've defended and secured their right to vote. If you don’t like my stance, fine. If you can’t have an intelligent discussion about policy then you shouldn’t vote. If you hate me, fine—I’ve been hated by better. Im a Conservative and these are the reasons why. Argue that.

https://www.facebook.com/CTVNews

The author has made some very glaring points that have been overlooked by the majority of the public in their "hatred" for the Conservatives.  Points that when we look at the Liberal and NDP Parties activities in the past few years, have been totally swept under the table or ignored. 

 

[Edward Campbell]

Looks like the crooks are trying to get to the trough early. I expected nothing less from them, however.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/liberal-campaign-co-chair-steps-down-in-wake-of-lobbying-email-1.2609815

Of course they are, as the article says, "Both the Conservative and the NDP campaigns criticized the letter Wednesday, suggesting that [size=14pt]the Liberals are trying to influence contacts and friends in the oil and gas industry."[/size]

Well of course they are ... Energy East, and other pipelines are going ahead under a Liberal government, no matter what the LPC candidates may have told people in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. It's how the Liberals operate ... always in bed with the Big Banks, Big Business and Big Labour.

 

[Altair]

Of course they are, as the article says, "Both the Conservative and the NDP campaigns criticized the letter Wednesday, suggesting that [size=14pt]the Liberals are trying to influence contacts and friends in the oil and gas industry."[/size]

Well of course they are ... Energy East, and other pipelines are going ahead under a Liberal government, no matter what the LPC candidates may have told people in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. It's how the Liberals operate ... always in bed with the Big Banks, Big Business and Big Labour.

At least he stepped down right away, but if I were trudeau I would have kicked him out of the door.

The liberals cannot have these kind of characters around.

 

[Edward Campbell]

The Liberals have had "these kinds of characters around" since I was a schoolboy, in 1950, and, doubtless, before that, too. They, the hacks, flacks and bagmen, have been, especially since circa 1970, an essential component of Liberal Party operations. Oh, the other parties have them too, but never as many or as slick or as brazen as the Liberals ... and they aren't going away.

 

[Altair]

The Liberals have had "these kinds of characters around" since I was a schoolboy, in 1950, and, doubtless, before that, too. They, the hacks, flacks and bagmen, have been, especially since circa 1970, an essential component of Liberal Party operations. Oh, the other parties have them too, but never as many or as slick or as brazen as the Liberals ... and they aren't going away.

As long as their is a culture of zero tolerance they shouldn't be able to cause much trouble.

This guy stepped down, a plus.

 

[Edward Campbell]

As long as their is a culture of zero tolerance they shouldn't be able to cause much trouble.

This guy stepped down, a plus.

There was never a "culture of zero tolerance," and there never will be. Big money is the fuel for modern, media driven politics ... you either have to have a really HUGE pool of small to medium sponsors or you need a handful of Big ones. Campaign finance reform has helped, a bit, to shake out some of the "old money," but the Big Banks, Big Insurance, Big Business, Big Law firms, Big Media companies and Big Labour still provide "off the books" support in the form of e.g. jobs for senior campaign staff and unsuccessful candidates between elections.

The Liberal Party of Canada has always been the Big Party ... and it was and still is a creature of e.g. the Desmarais family and Power Corporation. Gerry Schwartz and Onex provides similar support for the CPC.

 

[PuckChaser]

This guy stepped down, a plus.

That's never stopped a witch-hunt against the Tories. There's a massive double standard if you think he can just step down to save the party embarrassment.

Trudeau has a culture of zero tolerance. Zero tolerance against any ideas against his. If you thought Harper was autocratic, just wait for the guy who had a "respect for the basic dictatorship of China's government".

 

[Brad Sallows]

>The liberals cannot have these kind of characters around.

That's amusing.  Read some of the books written pre-internet about Canadian politics since WWII.  The Liberals were the party of influence peddling and patronage.  If you served the party, you expected to be well looked-after.  Disconnecting the party from some of those channels - including the Senate Liberals, who historically were the conduit to measuring the pulse of the business establishment - has weakened, not strengthened, the LPC.

 

[Altair]

That's never stopped a witch-hunt against the Tories. There's a massive double standard if you think he can just step down to save the party embarrassment.

Trudeau has a culture of zero tolerance. Zero tolerance against any ideas against his. If you thought Harper was autocratic, just wait for the guy who had a "respect for the basic dictatorship of China's government".

I like you puckchaser, I really do, but your spin is a bit much.

You know as well as I do that Trudeau's stupid comment had to do with how fast they can change their economy not the political freedoms of the Chinese dictatorship.

 

[cavalryman]

You know as well as I do that Trudeau's stupid comment had to do with how fast they can change their economy not the political freedoms of the Chinese dictatorship.

Seriously?  You do understand that the political and the economic are so intricately intertwined that one doesn't happen without the other.  Sure you can turn a command economy around really fast, if you don't mind bulldozing the population along the way, but it doesn't mean that it'll work.  How's the Chinese economy doing these days anyways?  I do hope you don't get buyer's remorse.  The new boss isn't going to be any better than the old one.  He's not even smart enough to be as good as the old one.  :

Cripes, I really can't wait until the election is done.  Churchill had it right when he said something to the effect that the biggest factor against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.  Canadians are proving that in spades these days, it seems.  Low information voters indeed.

 

[PuckChaser]

You know as well as I do that Trudeau's stupid comment had to do with how fast they can change their economy not the political freedoms of the Chinese dictatorship.

So you agree that we should artificially set the price of our currency, and have government control in all of our major industries?

 

[Brad Sallows]

>[Media favouritism] will be a common (and, in my opinion, unfair) complaint amongst Conservatives ...

I doubt that it's unfair.  I have subscribed to Maclean's for a long time, and considered it to be a pretty balanced publication.  In the 05, 12, and 19 Oct issues (the last one I just received today) I see:
- Paul Wells wrote his customarily balanced and insightful columns
- Martin Patriquin wrote a favourable interest piece about Gerry Butts
- Scott Gilmore wrote what I think was supposed to be a piece to goad Conservatives into being better people, but finished with "And now, ironically, the Conservative party is whom you vote for if you are timid and emasculated, if you go to bed scared and wake up worried." as the penultimate sentence
- Aaron Hutchins wrote a short piece about a guy who exposes distasteful behaviour of Conservative candidates on the internet (no reminders about candidates of other parties in similar situations)
- Aaron Wherry wrote a favourable interest piece about Jo-Anne Gignac (Who?  A CPC candidate)
- Jason Markusoff wrote a favourable piece about Notley and the AB NDP
- John Geddes wrote a favourable personal interest piece about Trudeau
- a piece by 3 contributors on "Harpernomics" - one by one of the authors of the Unifor study, one by some guy in the Carleton school of business, one by an economic advisor to Trudeau - essentially covering the respective points of view of the three major parties; but, the Unifor study really doesn't belong anywhere in any serious comparison of policies or records
- a piece by Martin Patriquin on the collapse of the NDP in polls
- a favourable editorial about the TPP
- a piece by Martin Patriquin on the collapse of NDP support in QC
- a piece by Nancy Macdonald about a NDP-LPC contest in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski

Missing in action: anything really meaty and in-depth on Harper, Mulcair, or prominent members of their teams, which might either humanize them or lend some credence to the possibility that the CPC and NDP have intelligent, thoughtful people.  Maclean's might have covered some people earlier this year, but what goes out closest to election day has the most influence.

 

[Good2Golf]

As long as their is a culture of zero tolerance once they're caught doing wrong, they shouldn't be able to cause much trouble.

This guy stepped down, a plus.

[added to bring the heart of the issue to the fore]

:not-again:

 

[Altair]

So you agree that we should artificially set the price of our currency, and have government control in all of our major industries?

I said it was a stupid comment. Politicians make stupid comments.
I remember harper making quite a few stupid comments in the years before becoming prime minister

 

[Altair]

[added to bring the heart of the issue to the fore]

:not-again:

Like every party.

Conservatives as well.

 

[PuckChaser]

I said it was a stupid comment. Politicians make stupid comments.
I remember harper making quite a few stupid comments in the years before becoming prime minister

About admiring communist dictatorships? That's a pretty big one. It was also not based on economic policies, he was asked "What nation's administration do you most admire?" You're the one that's gotta watch the spin, here. Maybe he'll whip out his CF-18s, since he's cancelling the F-35. Or drop some more parkas to stop the genocide in Syria/Iraq?

One comment can be passed off. A history of comments shows a flippant disregard for common sense and the inability to speak when not scripted. It even showed during his debates when he wasn't delivering lines, he shouted like a pissed-off 8 year old trying to get a word in edge-wise.

 

[Altair]

Seriously?  You do understand that the political and the economic are so intricately intertwined that one doesn't happen without the other.  Sure you can turn a command economy around really fast, if you don't mind bulldozing the population along the way, but it doesn't mean that it'll work.  How's the Chinese economy doing these days anyways?  I do hope you don't get buyer's remorse.  The new boss isn't going to be any better than the old one.  He's not even smart enough to be as good as the old one.  :

Cripes, I really can't wait until the election is done.  Churchill had it right when he said something to the effect that the biggest factor against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.  Canadians are proving that in spades these days, it seems.  Low information voters indeed.

I said it was a stupid comment. What more do you want?

And trust me, if justin trudeau and the LPC come even close to the CPC in terms of partisan pettiness, divisive a track ads,  muzzling of scientists, war on the press, answering every question in the HOC with a talking point, using my money for "economic action plans " advertising that might as well have had a CPC logo on the back of it, taking veterans to court, and trying to be a one man show, I'll park my vote elsewhere.

But as I see it, the current guy is doing all of this now, unapologetic, and the new guy might not. I'll take my chances.

 

[Altair]

About admiring communist dictatorships? That's a pretty big one. It was also not based on economic policies, he was asked "What nation's administration do you most admire?" You're the one that's gotta watch the spin, here. Maybe he'll whip out his CF-18s, since he's cancelling the F-35. Or drop some more parkas to stop the genocide in Syria/Iraq?

One comment can be passed off. A history of comments shows a flippant disregard for common sense and the inability to speak when not scripted. It even showed during his debates when he wasn't delivering lines, he shouted like a pissed-off 8 year old trying to get a word in edge-wise.

I somehow don't think that you need to fear that justin trudeau will somehow turn canada into a 1 party state with a command economy. So I really don't think it's that big a deal.

He plans to keep increase training the kurds and stop the bombing. Don't see much in terms of policy about parkas. Don't see the issue again.

Must say a lot about Stephen Harper when a guy who has made all of these comments can still beat him in the general election.