Coalition Government :) :O

[prb]

Harper's CONservative government has proposed a confidence motion to eliminate the $1.95/vote funding that Federal parties receive. This is the majority of funding for the Liberal, NDP, Bloc Qubecois and Green Parties.

Now there are talks of a Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition. I'm so happy He's asking for a second election within 2 months, and won't get it.

[Boozy]

Harper is a total douchebag, right down to those sweater-vests he wore on TV during the campaign to make himself look less cold and more "friendly and approachable". Ha! It would have done more good to put bunny ears on a shark.

I hate him and I hated those sweater vests.

Here's an interesting opinion piece on the public funding issue:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../WBwbradwanski

This excerpt sums up my feelings:

...what the Tories are proposing is fundamentally undemocratic. To scrap public funding without lifting the ban on corporate and union donations (and raising the cap on personal ones) means there's simply not enough money in this country for a multi-party system.

The last thing we should do is lift the bans on corporate and union financing, as our friends to the south have shown us the damage that can do. Public campaign financing is absolutely necessary.

I don't want another election, but I'd welcome a chance to get rid of Harper and the Conservatives.

[Slytovhand]

Gotta love "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" ideology.

But I do agree in principle - letting only the big parties with lots of support have all the money is not good in a capitalistic democracy, because that means only the rich parties have the power (environmental issues usually have little weight when it costs money to implement, and capitalism is a short term investment).

Would a second election kick him out?

[Boozy]

Would a second election kick him out?

It would be the third federal election in just over two years.

And no, it probably wouldn't.

It's a three-ring circus up here in Canadalandia!

[Gravekeeper]

Would a second election kick him out?

All of this buffoonery has actually increased the Conservatives approval rating. A lot of people may not like Harper, but as bloody sad as it sounds, he was still better than the other 3. Dion especially was overwhelmingly rejected by voters so trying to prop him up as the head of a coalition was a horrible, horrible idea. The whole coalition was a horrible, horrible idea honestly.

If you take 3 people no one really likes and put them together, it doesn't add together their approval ratings to form Voltron. Quite the opposite.

Harper's a smart guy, he's just....how do I put this? A soulless automaton still with no concept of human emotion. He's really the type that would be better served working in the background of a party since he, like every party leader we have, utterly lacks any sort of charisma. Our problem is we don't really have a leader with a shred of charisma anywhere in Parliament right now in any of the parties and with the way our system works its doubtful we'll get one at any point in the future.

Still, our economy is more solid than the rest of the world so I'm willing to let Harper keep steering it....for now.

Despite all the OMFG JOBZ crap the unemployment rate is *still* lower than the Liberals have had in 16 years and I see no point in bailing out those idiots running the auto industry until they smarten the fark up and tell us what they're going to do to stop running their businesses into the ground.

Manufacturing jobs are going to suffer too. Period. People have less money. There is less demand for product. Less product is produced. Its simple economics. I don't understand the people that are surprised by the turn down in the manufacturing sector. Nor do I think we should just throw billions at it no questions asked and hope they stay afloat until the economy recovers.

Their businesses are simply unsustainable the way they currently run them.

[Gravekeeper]

It would be the third federal election in just over two years.

And no, it probably wouldn't.

It's a three-ring circus up here in Canadalandia!

Voter turn out was *horrible* last election too. People are pretty apathetic. Though if another election gets dragged out the number might go up as people vote out of spite. -.-

System needs to be changed to direct proportional representation instead of first across the line. We need some new people and ideas in there. Also, you should be required to run candidates in more than one province. ( Fark you, Bloc. Seriously. ).

[lordlundar]

Though if another election gets dragged out the number might go up as people vote out of spite. -.-

Or down out of a "why bother if it's going to be ignored?" reaction.

[Spiffy McMoron]

*Spiffy comes in late*

Harper's CONservative government has proposed a confidence motion to eliminate the $1.95/vote funding that Federal parties receive. This is the majority of funding for the Liberal, NDP, Bloc Qubecois and Green Parties.

That was what made it a "money" bill (and therefore making it a vote of confidence) but the bill also would have taken away the right to strike for all federal employees for the next two years. Plus, some members of the Opposition were upset that there was no mention of any stimulus package.

Harper is a total douchebag, right down to those sweater-vests he wore on TV during the campaign to make himself look less cold and more "friendly and approachable". Ha! It would have done more good to put bunny ears on a shark.

<snip>

I don't want another election, but I'd welcome a chance to get rid of Harper and the Conservatives.

I would not--and not only because of "voter burnout". I did not vote for the Conservatives (I live in the only riding in Alberta that agreed with me) but I was considering it--I think that they have been benefitial to Canadians as a whole. I don't agree with all of their policies, but I think that the minority governments we've been having the past few years have benefitted Canada more than all of the Liberal majorities since 1993

Harper's a smart guy, he's just....how do I put this? A soulless automaton still with no concept of human emotion.

I would say that he's too overconfident to think that a bill this big would have passed unchallenged, and I think that he's a bully to even bring it before Parliament.

Unfortunately, he's the best we've got. Dion, although he's a smart guy, is seen as a weak and ineffectual leader who's leaving soon. Layton is a confident, charismatic leader who's in charge of left-wing hippies. Duceppe is a very good leader of a small party with progressive social reforms...who want to seperate Quebec from the rest of the country.

As much as I'd like a charismatic leader, I'd like a leader with the leadership, knowledge, and pragmatism to lead Canada though our funk and beyond. Of the four choices, Harper is the best.

System needs to be changed to direct proportional representation instead of first across the line. We need some new people and ideas in there. Also, you should be required to run candidates in more than one province. ( Fark you, Bloc. Seriously. ).

Proportional representation would work in theory, but the problem with that--not including the massive electoral reform that would have to take place--is that we'd have nothing but minority governments. The last time over 50% of the popular vote went to one party was to the Conservatives in 1984 (No Big Brother puns, although it is tempting to crack one or two ). This would lead to more problems--we'd be voting again every year or two, coalitions would become the norm, etc. I wouldn't mind seeing an elected senate, though. That would be cool with me.

As for the Bloc--I agree with you in theory; but if we were to get rid of the Bloc, then all of the old seperatist resentment would flair up again. Frankly, I think that the Canadian provinces are stronger as a whole instead of fractured--and this includes the half-wits who want Albertan seperation. -_-

On a more personal note, I'd really like to take a swing at everybody who claims that the coalition government wasn't elected. YES THEY WERE!!!! The MP's were elected in the same election and in the same manner as the Conservative MP's. In Canada, you vote for the MP, not the leader of the party.

/endrant

[Gravekeeper]

My main problem with Layton is he would drown your puppy in front of your kids if he thought it'd get him a few more seats in parliament. -.-

[Rapscallion]

That would make for one hell of a manifesto pledge...

Rapscallion

[Boozy]

My main problem with Layton is he would drown your puppy in front of your kids if he thought it'd get him a few more seats in parliament. -.-

Pretty much.

Layton is every bit as bad as Harper.

[Gravekeeper]

Oh the up side, our politics are finally so messed up we have our segment on the Daily Show now.

Indecision Oh-Eh?

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