Problem with Rebuilding

Me like many Liberals are facing an identity crisis. We have no longer became the natural governing party of Canada we are rather seen as another left wing party. In order for us to rebuild we need to attract the votes that we lost which are old Green party voters that latter turned orange. I am not a green party person, but I have always kind of liked Elisabeth May. My support for her has dwindled lately. As I always agreed with her on a Carbon tax, High speed rail , legalizing pot, green jobs and democratic reform. ever since the beginning I knew the greens where very much to the left, and knew the Liberals where of course the party I wanted to win, but I always thought that there left policies would be okay for me as long as the issue's I stated above was still in there platform. In 2008 when Dion made a deal with May to help her get elected in Central Nova I was hoping for May to kick out Peter McKay. in 2011 I felt we could have helped her win SGI. I supported her in SGI not because she was better than the Liberal candidate, but because she was the only person I felt could have won. If you have the leader of the greens running in a riding it will create a split of the left vote. I felt that In order to beat the Conservative Gary Lunn Elisabeth May was the only Viable candidate. Clearly she was since she won the riding. Now if we want to those old Liberal voters who moved to the Green and then the NDP we have to attract them  back, by making it so that we are united with the greens to eliminate Harper. I am no green party person , but the having a more Greens in Parliament is much better than having the Conservatives.How we do this is we help another Green get elected in West Vancouver sunshine coast- sea to sky country. Where we got 22% and 3rd place and the greens got 7% the Conservative got 45%. If the Greens put a high profile candidate in the riding and we eliminate our Liberal candidate, and ask the Liberals in the riding to unite to beat Harper. In return the Greens would take out some of there candidates to make up the loss we lose in West Vancouver. I chose Toronto as it is the place we need to start rebuilding. Pickering Scarborough east (where we lost by 1200 votes and the Greens got 1600) Don Valley east ( where we lost by 2% and the greens got 3%), Don Valley west (Where we lost by 1% the greens got 3%), Etobicoke Center (where we lost by a few dozen votes the Greens got 3%) and of course Etobicoke lakeshore (where we lost by 5% and the greens got 4% we can still make up the difference I think) If we also shift our policies to democratic reform, Carbon tax and legalizing pot all worthwhile ideas that many Liberals support we can help make the case to the green voters that we are helping Greens getting elected, and eliminating Harper. This will also help us rebuild our Toronto base and stop Harper from getting another majority in 5 years.

P.S there are many other riding's that we the Greens can help the Liberals I just used Toronto, because we really need to rebuild our base there.

Layton has no Power

Jack Layton can go on and on about how he will "work together" with the Conservatives, but it is not going to happen. The whole reason why Stephen Harper wanted a majority was so he could run things the way he wants without consulting the other parties. The NDP will not get government programs and they will not get funding for the things they want. The Conservatives do not care how much Layton opposes their bills because they can pass them without him.

In the next four years, I think we will see many fiscal cuts to appeal to the Tory base, but won't rile up the population. This will allow Harper to announce a tax cut just in time for the election. And the NDP will not be able to do a thing about it.

During his victory speech on election night, Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised NDP Leader Jack Layton with a warmth usually reserved for an old friend. 

“I think I can speak for the entire country in recognizing the determination and tenacity of Mr. Layton and his remarkable campaign,” said a smiling Harper, as Conservative supporters inside Calgary’s Telus Convention Centre cheered their new political rival.

Read more at the Toronto Star.

The New NDP Caucus

A majority of the NDP's MP's are rookie MP's. Now I am not saying that they aren't up to the job. I think we will see in time to come whether they will be the inexperienced caucus that was a mistake to put as the official opposition or the amatures that ended up being was is needed in Ottawa. Only time will tell. Elisabeth May put it best last night "amateurs made the ark, professionals made the Titanic." Now Amateurs can still prove to fail like in Quebec the ADQ surged, and got 2nd place in the 2008 election then in 2009 the ADQ dipped all the way down to last place and no longer a official party in the province of Quebec. We will just have to wait and see how the NDP party will govern.

Election Night Recap!

Now as if this election needed much of a recap, but some good news came out of the election. First the Green party got there first seat in Parliament now copying the elections in Australia and U.K where the Green party got there first elected seat in there countries Parliament. I hope Elisabeth May keeps her seat and now will be welcomed to the debate without a question. Even though the Green party lost votes I think that was just, because for the first time the Green party spent there time in one riding, because unlike the others parties they can't get seats running a national campaign. The Bloc got destroyed, but if the NDP don't satisfy Quebec they may go back to the Bloc, but I am happy they voted against the Separatist party. The worst part is that the Conservatives got a majority. I wonder how Harper will govern now that he has a majority. I also wonder what his budget will be like if it will include anything different, and I wonder if Harper will still follow the rules of Parliament or now that he has a majority he won't have to.

Were Not Dead Yet!

Many people may say that the Liberal party is dead. This is un true the Liberal party isn't dead. We may have only gotten 19% of the vote and 34 seats, but that doesn't make us dead. The NDP got less votes then us in 2008 and look at them now. The Liberal party will come back stronger in the next election. With a Tory Majority people will see that Harper isn't going to help them, and the budget isn't going to be balanced like he said the Liberals will get those voters. Those Conservatives who thought that Harper would balance the budget, be fiscally responsible and keep the economy strong will realized that the party that is capable of doing it is the Liberals party. To the NDP voters who tought that Jack Layton could actually afford his imagenairy platfom his 70 billion dollars in spending promises and his to far to the left policy will realize that the Liberal party is the party that can afford it's policies and that they have a party that is in the center. We as Liberals mustn't waver the center. We mustn't merge with any party! Be the party the NDP or the Conservatives. We must stick to our affordable and realistic platform. We aren't dead and we will rebound like we did in 1993, 1980, 1963, 1935,1926,1921,1896,1874. We've been in election before were we have almost been dead, but we came back rolling in the next election. We are nowhere near death. Remember a majority of Canadian Prime Minister were Liberal. Let's not start amplying for the NDP or Conservatives. We must remain in the center and not allow Canada to turn into the U.S where the country must decide between two extreme's of the political spectrum. If we allow that to happen then nothing can get done as both of them would put forward two extreme policies that wouldn't work. Let's not move from the center!

Now What?

The Liberal team has worked hard, as has Michael Ignatieff. But, it seems like hard work does not always pay off, as the past is hard to forget. The problem of the Liberal Party reaches beyond just leadership. Since the sponsorship scandal, the Liberals have slowly degraded.

We must realize that it will take many years, decades before trust us restored. People will not readily return to the Liberal Party. But, changing leaders will not solve the issues that haunt the Liberal. The core problems will not disappear with the leaders. It has been demonstrated time and time again with Martin, Dion and Ignatieff, each successively losing seats. Michael Ignatieff must stay on as leader.

We fought hard, we put forward good policies and we had a great time. It was fun.

Thank you and until the next time!

Merci et à la prochaine!

Conservative Majority

The counts are in and the Conservatives are already at 140 seat mark. We haven't even hit the West yet and the Conservatives have pulled into a commanding lead. The Liberals have collapsed and the NDP seem like they are going to be the Official Opposition with Quebec going orange.

I'm ready to call this in favour of a Conservative majority. Congratulations, Stephen Harper, on finally obtaining your majority.

PM Jack Layton

Today is May 2. Election day. It looks like we will be back in 2008, except that the NDP and Liberals will have switched places. Stephen Harper will have his third minority and will subsequently resign as leader before the next election.

But, that is one of only a few scenarios that could happen. It seems, with the rise of the NDP, that the Liberals and the NDP together will hold a great number of seats in the House of Commons (thank you, BQ). This means that those two are in good position to form government, coalition, whatever you want to call it.

PM Jack Layton would not be that bad. I would much rather have him than Stephen Harper. The Tories have brought with them a mandate of secrecy, waste and contempt for Canadians. With the NDP, we will at least have open government and the Liberals, holding the balance of power might be able to water down their huge spending promises.

Most of all, would be the coveted Proportional Representation. No matter what form it comes in, voting reform is needed in Canada. The NDP has committed to electoral reform and that can only be good for Canada.

Vote!

                          I know since the election was called our Blog has been hoping that people throughout Canada will vote with the party that is fiscally responsible and has a clear vision for Canada. That Party is the Liberals, but now let's get away from what party you should vote for to a more pressing issue for me.
                          In the last election the party that got the most votes was the INGTV party which stands for (I'm Not Going To Vote Party) In the last election this party got 41% of the eligible voters of Canada. This party got 9.8 million votes nation wide. Beating out all the other parties. If these voters actually created a party on the ballot they could actually win an election, but some people think that voting doesn't matter, because one vote can't make a difference. That kind of thinking is what creates the rapidly growing INGTV party. This parties platform includes doing nothing and allowing other people to make the descion for you. If you don't vote May 2nd you can't complain about the result. If there is a Tory majority that cuts health care and you didn't even vote you can't complain saying if you voted Harper that you didn't know that's what you were voting for. And if you voted for another party you could complain, because you try to stop it. The strongest activist of this party are the youth. Apparently the platform appeals to the younger generation, but I don't think that that is true. This year many youth groups have been trying to get out the vote. Advance polls are showing a 30% rise in participation. We need to keep this moving in the right direction. The party that I want to lose on May 2nd more than the Conservatives is the INGTV party of Canada. They are bad for Canada and are the worst thing for our democracy. One of my solution to try and raise voter participation is to create proportional representation. Studies have shown that countries with proportional representation have much higher voter turnout then countries with FPTP (First Past The Post)

Don't Give Harper a majority!

Harper is saying that right wing Liberals should vote for him to stop a left wing NDP government. The blue Liberals know that a vote for a Harper means a government that won't respect democracy, and aren't fiscally responsible spending 1 billion dollars on the most expensive G8/G20 summit in history. The Conservatives gave Canada a deficit. The Liberals know that their party fixed the deficit mess in 1993 and will do it again. Voting Liberal will not be a vote for the NDP. Even now where the NDP is just 5% behind the Conservatives Harper is still predicted to be just behind a majority Government. Don't be fooled the Conservatives want a majority. They want complete control. The only thing stopping him is your vote.  Don't give Stephen Harper a majority. A vote for the Liberals is a vote for a fiscally responsible government, a government that helps Canadians with education and will keep the economy strong like they have before.

Vote Liberal !

The party that should get elected May 2nd is the Liberal Party of Canada. They unlike the Conservatives don't believe in billions of dollars being spend on Prisons, jets and corporate tax cuts. They unlike the Bloc believe in National unity. They unlike the NDP have a realistic platform that Canada can afford without raising taxes more than the putting the corporate taxes where they were in 2008. Unlike the NDP they have a record of budgetary surplus, and being able to afford there promises without damaging Canada's competitiveness. The Liberals believe in investing in education. Although they may not believe in a Carbon tax currently. They believe in reducing emission and creating a green economy by making High speed rail, helping Canadians renovate there houses and investing more in renewable energy. Unlike Harper the Liberals have supported Canada's universal health care since the beginning, and has never called for the end of the Canad health act like the Conservatives. They have a history of giving Canada a strong economy. They support realistic goals to improve health care and senior care. They support crime prevention not mega prisons. Fiscal responsibility not billion in spending promises or billion in tax cuts to major multinationals. The party that Can help Canada the most is the Liberal party. On May 2nd vote for the party that has done so much and is prepared to do so much more for Canada

Update: there is a problem this post was done by Vanillaman not Doggy and owner. Sorry for the mix up

I Want A Coalition!

Although I support a coalition with the NDP in order to get rid of Harper. This belief of mine comes to a halt of the question is whether I support a coalition with the NDP to make Jack Layton the PM. I think the NDP have an okay platform, but some of there policies are too much. The NDP would want so many more government programs that it would not be sustainable unless you raise taxes by much more then they are currently saying. We clearly need a party that is fiscally responsible while still providing more programs. This party is the Liberals. But if we get 3rd place in parliament, and the NDP want a coalition to form a Government I would support it. Because I support having the NDP part of a Liberal Government, and I support having the Liberals part of a NDP government. Anything is better than Harper. Although I don't want us to sell out. We should support the NDP only as long as they compromise on parts of there platform and don't go off spending multiple billion of dollars without paying for it. Now if there was a Bloc party holding the balance of power I would support having them a part of the coalition, but just like the 2008 coalition deal they would have to set aside Quebec independence. What I hope does come out of a coalition is IRV or any other proportional representative voting methods. The NDP support some sort of proportional representation. I hope if we have a coalition that the NDP passes some sort of proportional representation. I think that no matter what happens on May 2nd all the political parties should look at eliminating Harper as the PM of Canada. But if the NDP don't compromise then any of my support for a coalition is out! A merger would be even worse, and shouldn't be discussed.

What Happen's May 2nd

Personly i am a little skeptical of the polls. But let's say for argument sake that the NDP get 27-30% of the vote come election day and the Liberals get there 22% (let's say). Current projection are a little shaky. At Threehudredandeight.com the projection still have the Liberals at 2nd place and the NDP at 47, but Ekos has the NDP at 98 seats! That leaves a heck of a lot of gray. The Liberal are projected to get 74 seats or as low 56 seats. This leaves a bit of a surprise on May 2nd. If the Liberals get the Threehudredandeight.com projections the House of Commons would be very similar. In fact the Conservative would get 143 seats exactly. Now I think Threehudredandeight.com is being a little to pesemistic on the projections. Ekos is a little to optomistic. So here are my projection provided that the polls stay the same. I think the Conservatives will get 140 about where they were last election maybe picking up a few seats in the Atlantic and Ontario, because of Newfoundland, but losing any gains in Quebec and BC. The NDP at 60 seats grabbing a lot in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario with maybe a few grabs here and there in the other provinces. The Liberals will get 65 seats even though the Liberals will lose the vote they will still get more seats, because we still lead in Ontario, but it's not that the Liberals are doing better it is because I think the Bloc will hang on even with current polls to many of there seats, because the NDP will just spread there support throught the province that they will only grab a seats in the Ridings were last election the winner got 35% of the vote or less. The Bloc will get 40 seats No real suprise (polls have them at about 25%) they lost seats in the province, but they will still get the majority of the seats, Because NDP support will be devided throught the province that the Bloc will hold on to the majority. The Independents will get 2 one in Quebec in Potiac and one in Ontario with Helena Guergis (Although most projection have her losing I think that she will win, because there aren't any pols on her riding itself). The Greens may just beat the Bloc in the national vote according to polls they are either just ahead by a point or behind by 2%, but more important the Greens according to local polls will get there first seat in BC.

Harper Quotes: Too Late?

The Liberals have hit the jackpot; but has it come too late in the campaign?

The party has obtained a 500 page book on Harper's quotes. No, not the visionary, good ones, but the controversial ones. All compiled by the Tories back in 2003. My personal favourite is:

"It's [proportional representation] certainly an option. Electoral reform is an option is an option I would look at. Proportional representation probably wouldn't be my first choice, but it's something that I think the party should look at as an option and I think we should change the current system."

So, where is my rep-by-pop? Harper did not make one attempt to change the current system since he took power. With the rise of the NDP, the first-past-the post system now favours the Conservatives who can rule with a plurality in many ridings that they would not have under PR or at least Instant Run-Off. Stephen Harper was right: the FPTP vote is unfair. We must install a new, fairer method of election.

But, has this breakthrough came to late in the election campaign? We will only know on election night. With the Liberals looking pretty dim in the polls, we must hope that these quotes can help the "boot Harper out" cause.

You can download the book here.

Related articles

• How a Yes vote to AV could lead Britain to proportional representation (economist.com)
• Tory majority could hinge on where votes bleed to NDP in final week (theglobeandmail.com)

Way To Go Greens!

Every election 1993-2008 the Green party has been rowing in support, Reaching new heights in 2004 when they got 4.5% of the vote and in 2008 were they were just 15% behind of getting a seat in Central Nova. This election they may just get what they deserve. In Sannich Gulf Island the Green party released a poll showing that Elisabeth May is 7% above the Conservative Gary Lunn! This means that the Green party could get there very first seat in 2010. Although Polls have the Greens at around the same support they had last election this is probably because Elisabeth May strategy this election was to stay more in here own riding. I wish the Greens well in May 2nd in Sannich Gulf Island, but I hope that Green party supporters across the country understand that in some close riding's were Harper could get his majority it would be the best to vote for the Liberals. In 2008 Elisabeth May said on CBC that what she wanted in 2008 was a Liberal Minority government with some Green party members.  I think having Green party members in Ottawa will help push the focus to the environment and also a carbon tax. But the Best way to get rid of Harper May 2nd is to vote Liberal in some parts of the country and vote Green in Sannich Gulf Island. We must vote strategically to get rid of Harper splitting the left wing vote is what Harper wants.

NDP's Double Standard!

 Jack Layton says that the Liberals don't support a national pharmacare system that is somewhat true. The Liberals support buying in bulk the drugs so that they can get it for a cheaper price instead of each province buying individually. The idea of buying in bulk is a main component of a pharmacare system, but the Liberal party not even the NDP have a national universal pharmacare system in there platform. I support a national pharmacare system. It is substantial cost effective, and lowers the raise in drug prices.a universal drug plan would save the federal government 10 billion in health care spending. (That's enough for Harper to buy his mega prisons). But the NDP have a double standard they are attacking the Liberals for having no national pharmacare in there platform yet the NDP platform on drugs is practically the same to the Liberals. It's like Harper saying that Canada can't afford the Liberal plans for families, and still spend billions on mega prisons and fighter jets (wait a minute). The NDP and the Conservatives are playing double standards accusing the Liberals for not having a good platform when the NDP platform on drugs is very similar and the conservative plan on the deficit makes no sense compared to the fiscal responsible plan of the Liberals.

Read more about a national pharmacare system here
Read more about the NDP on Pharmacare here

Harper is addicted to lying

Harper again said that this is an unnecessary election! Maybe Harper forgot why we have an election. The reason we have an election is because Harper was held in contempt of Parliament. meaning Harper broke the rules of Parliament. So the opposition like any in the world couldn't have confidence in a party and government that doesn't follow the rules and lie's about numbers and figures that are very important to Canadian people. This election is necessary Harper, because we need to get rid of man who breaks the laws and rules! As Harper said in 2006 "it's time to demand better". Well yes MR. Harper it is time to demand better! It's time to elect a different government! Harper is lying all the time! He is addicted to lying. He isn't even blinking when he lies he looked straight at the crowds face and practically told them that there was no reason to call an election.

Split the Vote and Support Harper

In Canada, we do not have a fair voting system such as Instant Run-Off or Single Transferable Vote. Our first-past-the-post system makes it possible that a plurality, not a majority, rules while the winner takes all. In many ridings, the Conservatives win because people decide to vote for the NDP or the Bloc or any other party except the Liberals

In most constituencies and especially in Quebec, this is true. The Bloc will never form a government and will never be able to provide the same kind of representation that the Liberals can. If you do not want the Tories in power for another four years, voting Liberal is the best option.

As NDP support continues to rise in the polls, will the left-wing vote splitting phenomenon be a serious game changer and prove to be a boon for the Tories in their quest for a majority? 

While it's not unusual for the New Democrats to experience a surge during a campaign — Jack Layton often outperforms his competitors in the English-language debate, resulting in a spike — experts say it usually peters out come election day.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/decision-canada/Divided+Harper+stands+left+wing+split+could+return+Conservatives+power/4637362/story.html#ixzz1JwV74ojw

Lie again

Harper in all his ads is saying that the Liberals would want a ipod tax that would total 75$. First such a tax would be very extreme considering a classic ipod cost around 200$ this tax would be very high. Higher than the sales tax combined! The thing is the Liberals don't want an ipod tax the so called Liberal tax on ipods is just made up. I know Harper likes to make up his own truth, but come on! A tax on ipods! The Conservatives might as well say that Ignatieff supports sending Canadians to the moon. The word iPod I don't even think is even mentioned in the whole Liberal party platform. The Conservatives are desperate I see since they have nothing to really attack Ignatieff on they are just going to make up stuff now.This is lie number 1,000,000 (I think maybe he is lying more), but I will keep keeping the conservatives accountable to there lies during the election and hopefully I won't have to after the election.

Tories Muzzle Voters

The Tories do not want you to vote. In fact, they will go as far as trying to declare your vote null and void. This was demonstrated this week when the Conservatives wrote Elections Canada to have advanced votes from University of Guelph students not allowed.

The Tories' argument is that the voting station was not authorized and therefore, the votes should not be allowed. They're right, but why should students be penalized for mistakes made by the officer in charge. They were just trying to get a better chance of winning the riding by annulling 700 votes by students who would most likely vote Liberal or NDP. It is not right to be doing this and even they realize it. After they made their initial complaint, Guy Giorno then said that it was OK to let the votes through.

THORNHILL—All party leaders are urging voters — especially young voters — to turn out in droves to cast a ballot on May 2. 

But only one party appears to have an interest in driving down the participation of 18-to-24-year-olds in this campaign, says an expert on youth voting patterns. And now the Conservative Party is facing an allegation of election tampering after trying to have 700 votes cast by students earlier this week at the University of Guelph declared null and void.

Read more at the Toronto Star.

Related articles

• Ignatieff hammers Tories for challenging Guelph student ballot (theglobeandmail.com)
• Tories want U of Guelph votes discounted (macleans.ca)