In reply to all the liberal bashing

[Fishbone Jones]

Lieberals - politicians who use the party platform (a la 'Red Book') to buy the Canadian public's vote. Once in power, simply disregard all promises as being ludicrous and unworkable. Mostly broken when speaking of not increasing taxes. Flat out lies = Lieberal. See -  'the little thug from Shawinigan (Cretin) federal, and Dolton MsQuinty, provincial

 

[cplcaldwell]

Aw come on recceguy, "Lieberal" pre-dates the Red Book.

"I will never enact Wage and Price Controls"

...

"Zap! You're frozen!"

 

[Fishbone Jones]

The Red Book was but a recent example Even though they used the same one in two elections ;D

 

[Brad Sallows]

>The charter of Rights and Freedoms. (what a horrible thing for a nation, a list of rights and freedoms deemed inalienable!)

We already had a Bill of Rights, regardless whether one deemed it sufficiently effective, and the Charter itself is by some measures deficient.  A more powerful but deficient body of law is not necessarily a leap forward.

>Our Constitution.

A constitution is just the instruction set for government.  We had those before the 1982 Act.  What we have now isn't necessarily better just because it's newer and is an act of our Parliament.

>Our own flag.

Whose flag did we have before?  Would it be a noteworthy achievement if we changed it again?

>The Royal Canadian Navy.

Uh.  So what?

>The Canada pension plan.

Again, so what?

>Universal health care.

Don't confuse "rationed" with "universal".  We didn't need what we have now in order to provide health care for those least able to afford it, and it has proven to be quite the millstone around our necks in any attempt to move forward.

Each of the six items listed arguably has its good points, but it's helpful to bear in mind the deficiencies and irrelevancies as well.  I'm sure we can find reasons to laud and excuses to deplore our governments at all levels and of all factions, but there is also this to observe: a political party would be worthy of acclaim if it did nothing that was repugnant and at least something that was good.  So far we have a complete shortage of those.

 

[rz350]

Each of the six items listed arguably has its good points, but it's helpful to bear in mind the deficiencies and irrelevancies as well.  I'm sure we can find reasons to laud and excuses to deplore our governments at all levels and of all factions, but there is also this to observe: a political party would be worthy of acclaim if it did nothing that was repugnant and at least something that was good.  So far we have a complete shortage of those.

Agreed, but all I ever hear is liberal bashing and conservative praising. The liberals did some bone headed things, and some good things. Same for the Conservatives. But the sonservatives have enough defense on this site that I don't need to any. The liberals do not, si I though I would add some.

 

[HDE]

The Army.ca website is largely a site discussing military issues so it probably shouldn't be a surprise that the Liberal record on military matters is a priority.


Howzabout "In reply to all the liberal bashing...consider some of the Liberal accomplishments on military matters...

That'd make for an interesting discussion

 

[rmacqueen]

No, the Supreme Court of Canada gave the legal right for them to marry. Nobody has a really good reason for them not to.

Actually, I would like to point out that the supreme court didn't actually rule on the gay marriage issue as it was never challenged beyond the provincial court level.  The Liberals attempted to do an end run around the issue by giving their proposed changes to the SCC but the court didn't buy into it and only said that the changes did not violate the constitution but that it was a political matter at that point so there was nothing to rule on.  The Liberals then embarked on a disinformation campaign that convinced a lot of Canadians that they didn't have a choice.

Our own flag.

Whose flag did we have before?  Would it be a noteworthy achievement if we changed it again?

Prior to the adoption of the maple leaf we flew what was known as the Red Ensign which had the Union Jack on it and was a derivative of the British Red Ensign

 

[Eowyn]

Actually, I would like to point out that the supreme court didn't actually rule on the gay marriage issue as it was never challenged beyond the provincial court level. 

Actually it was decided at the Court of Appeal level of several provinces, it was only a matter of time before it got to the SCC.  By the way, the Court of Appeal is several courts higher than a "provincial court".

 

[rmacqueen]

Actually it was decided at the Court of Appeal level of several provinces, it was only a matter of time before it got to the SCC.  By the way, the Court of Appeal is several courts higher than a "provincial court".

My mistake.  Still, SCC never actually ruled on it, they are just the excuse.

 

[Cloud Cover]

Actually it was decided at the Court of Appeal level of several provinces, it was only a matter of time before it got to the SCC.  By the way, the Court of Appeal is several courts higher than a "provincial court".

To be more precise, the SCC refused to grant leave to appeal at least one of the Court of Appeal decisions, thus endorsing the reasoning, if not the principle.  Eowyn, you know what I mean.   

 

[canadianblue]

I think that some Liberal governments have done some good in Canada, but personally in the past thirty years I think that they have helped divide the country more so then any other political party in Canada. Mostly due to ignorance and misinformation.

I think we have to overhaul Canada's democracy, but I'm not gonna get too much into it tonight. More or less a Triple E Senate, as well as democratic reform.

 

[Torlyn]

Howzabout "In reply to all the liberal bashing...consider some of the Liberal accomplishments on military matters...

I'm still waiting for someone to tackle this one...  I won't hold my breath.

T

 

[George Wallace]

Well it was the Conservatives under Mulroney that drove me to the Reform Party.  I still haven't forgiven Mulroney for closing down Lahr and Baden.

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

It is clear that the Liberals have lost their way and they need some time in the wilderness to regroup. Staying in power at all costs, especially at the cost of principle, and governing by populist polls is just not the way to run a great country like this. This party curried favour with a lot of special interest groups in order to maintain power and used our money to bribe voters...not to mention stuffing their friends pockets with taxpayer's money as well.
Of my almost 30 years of service, the Liberals have been in power for 19 of them and they haven't' been a lot of fun for those of us in uniform. The later Tory years were not that great either I have to admit....cutbacks and closing our European Bases.
This new Government is committed to re equipping us and standing behind us. To be fair this was started by the Liberals. But having a Minister of ND who is a former serving officer who understands the CF is a big commitment...one the Liberals were never ready to give us.

 

[GAP]

Well it was the Conservatives under Mulroney that drove me to the Reform Party.  I still haven't forgiven Mulroney for closing down Lahr and Baden.

Yeah, but was that not when the whole western world was extracting the "peace dividend"?

 

[George Wallace]

Yeah, but was that not when the whole western world was extracting the "peace dividend"?

Peace Dividend!  For Christ sake.  Canada has been extracting the Peace Dividend since 1950.  In the beginning of the 1960's there were 4 full Fighter Wings and a Headquarters in France and Germany.  We don't even have one of those in Canada today.  Each of those Wings had a minimum of three full Sqadrons. 

In Germany there was an Army Bde plus.

Canada had the third largest Navy in the World.

Don't talk about Peace Dividend.

When Mulroney closed down CFE, we pulled back approx 5,000 troops.  At the same time the Americans were pulling 350,000 troops out of Europe, most of them from Germany.  The French finally left Germany at the same time.  The Brits drastically reduced their troop strengths also.  Peace Dividend!..... and people still want more.  We have been decreasing our strength for the past fifty plus years.

 

[GAP]

You will notice that I did not comment on it one way or the other. All I remember is the BS given for drastic reductions of the military infrastructure, here, the US, Briton, etc. Anybody with an ounce of common sense could realize it was going to come back to bite them.

 

[Loachman]

The liberals did ... some good things.

You still haven't named any.

 

[George Wallace]

You still haven't named any.

Well......I call it a mistake......a complete blunder on someone's part........but we did get the Leopard 1 C1 way back in 1977........I know it was a mistake, because usually the Government doesn't procure top of the line equipment for us.......and this time they did.......so it had to be a mistake.  ;D

 

[toglmonster]

Just one comment. The Liberal party have been in power for most of the past 30 years, look at the state of our armed force.