So here it is 6PM and I am still at work, but happy to be here and to be paid, which is more than can be said for many people. My reason for staying later was to make up time lost while voting this afternoon. I didn't want to deal with lineups and the sooner I went in and voted the less chance I would have to change my mind. A friend of mine sent me a website that asked you to choose which platform policy you agreed with the most, without letting you know which party it came from. 12 questions later I was in a dead tie with the Liberal, NDP, Bloc Quebecois and the Conservatives. How's that for being undecided. In the end I voted for the NDP, mainly as a protest vote, but also to allocate, my $1.78 worth of federal election funds to Jack Layton and a campaign well run.
I was quite impressed with the Conservative campaign, it was well run, it focused (for the most part) on issues and policies, and they kept the wackos in the party under wraps and more importantly on message. The NDP campaign was just as solid, their only problem at the beginning was trying to justify their relevance, especially in light of Buzz Hargrove (CAW President) throwing his support behind the Liberal Party. Layton's turnaround in the last week was impressive. Standing up there and asking all progressive voters to lend him your vote for even one time was pure genius. It was heartfelt and open and honest. This strategy may cause several Toronto area seats to go NDP at the cost of the Liberals. The Bloc Quebecois tried to run their usual tired campaign of sneering at the federalists and promising Quebecers a new dawn in an independent Quebec. They have yet to produce much for us. Rather than participating in the last minority government and effect change for Quebec, they sat their with their arms crossed crying how the government doesn't work for them, and waiting to destabilize the Liberal minority at the first opportunity. When the upsurge in conservative support rose out of the ashes within Quebec it sent Gilles Duceppe scrambling to find fault with the conservative party. This week he came out with an advertisement that claimed that Quebecers should not be told what to do by a bunch of cowboys in Calgary. So much for his inclusive rainbow coalition eh? I guess his definition of coalition is if you are only pure laine.
And then there is Martin and the Liberals. I can't help but envision Paul Martin as Porky Pig standing there stuttering THAT'S ALL FOLKS. What a campaign disaster! Before Christmas he was barely on the horizon, meeting up with people gladhanding and talking about his record. Then just before the Xmas break he decided to raise the specter of separation to scare people into thinking that the Liberals would be the only party to defend Canada. It was something that should have been left dead and buried. Remember it was the Liberals 10 years ago who completely misjudged the separatist movement in Quebec, and in response to that they created a program of buying of the voters with generous handouts to their Liberal supporters. Now with the Gomery commission out they have stirred up separatist sentiment again, and you want to tout yourselves as defenders against Quebec separation? My God your party is at the root of most of it, starting with Pearson's inability to lead Quebec to a stronger position Nationally, and Trudeau's national centric view of the FEDERATION. That's right folks we are a federation not one country indivisible.
So on to the next Martin gaff, his anything you can do I can do better party platform. Daycare policy isn't enough he was going to sweeten it. Healthcare was all over the map starting from a very pro-Romeo position to a pro-Kirby report. Post-secondary education - give a student a free year, What the F---? Paul have you ever read the BNA act? It's our constitution stupid! Daycare (aka early childhood education), Post-Secondary Education, and Healthcare are the Province's bailiwick. The Feds have no business making policy without the Council of the Federation being involved and approving it. The ultimate Gaff was his vow to repeal the not withstanding clause from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms during the second debate. My God man, that is a serious thing to mess around with. This action only comes out of many hours of sober debate amongst all parliamentarians, constitutional amendments are never, never, to be off the cuff declarations at a candidates debate!
The ultimate gaff of the Liberal campaign were those negative advertisements, and campaigning. What was he thinking? The lengths of dirty tricks the Liberals tried to play were endless. I heard on the news today that during a candidates debate on a radio show, a caller accused the Conservative candidate, a former minister, that he was fired because of pedophilia charges. The outraged candidate had the radio station's news team trace the call. It went back to a liberal riding office. The Liberals are lying and demonizing the opposition any way they can so that they can scare people into voting for them.
Elections are meant to be a time for the public to decide in which direction the Country should go. The electorate should never be bullied into thinking that only one party defends their best interest. It is clear to me that the Liberals need a time out. It is my sincere hope that most of them are wiped off the map tonight in support of other candidates. The Liberal party needs to wipe it self clean from the stain of the Martinites and the Chretienites. It is time to get back to basic Liberal values and become the centrist party that they are supposed to be. Hopefully they will have the time to redress their wounds and heal themselves properly. Let them become the party of the thinking man. The party that would lead Canada to the next level in societal evolution. They can do that, for they have done it before.
One last note on election day. If nothing else, this election has sparked lively debate in the workplace. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to and participating in my co-workers debate over the right path for this country to follow. The way we have discussed things, with the passionate and intellect that we all bring to bear on the subject, I can almost picture us in the Athenian Agora discussing philosophy with Plato and Socrates. It is my sincere hope that this discussion continues so that we can all evolve in creating a true Canadian society.
-Andrew
I was quite impressed with the Conservative campaign, it was well run, it focused (for the most part) on issues and policies, and they kept the wackos in the party under wraps and more importantly on message. The NDP campaign was just as solid, their only problem at the beginning was trying to justify their relevance, especially in light of Buzz Hargrove (CAW President) throwing his support behind the Liberal Party. Layton's turnaround in the last week was impressive. Standing up there and asking all progressive voters to lend him your vote for even one time was pure genius. It was heartfelt and open and honest. This strategy may cause several Toronto area seats to go NDP at the cost of the Liberals. The Bloc Quebecois tried to run their usual tired campaign of sneering at the federalists and promising Quebecers a new dawn in an independent Quebec. They have yet to produce much for us. Rather than participating in the last minority government and effect change for Quebec, they sat their with their arms crossed crying how the government doesn't work for them, and waiting to destabilize the Liberal minority at the first opportunity. When the upsurge in conservative support rose out of the ashes within Quebec it sent Gilles Duceppe scrambling to find fault with the conservative party. This week he came out with an advertisement that claimed that Quebecers should not be told what to do by a bunch of cowboys in Calgary. So much for his inclusive rainbow coalition eh? I guess his definition of coalition is if you are only pure laine.
And then there is Martin and the Liberals. I can't help but envision Paul Martin as Porky Pig standing there stuttering THAT'S ALL FOLKS. What a campaign disaster! Before Christmas he was barely on the horizon, meeting up with people gladhanding and talking about his record. Then just before the Xmas break he decided to raise the specter of separation to scare people into thinking that the Liberals would be the only party to defend Canada. It was something that should have been left dead and buried. Remember it was the Liberals 10 years ago who completely misjudged the separatist movement in Quebec, and in response to that they created a program of buying of the voters with generous handouts to their Liberal supporters. Now with the Gomery commission out they have stirred up separatist sentiment again, and you want to tout yourselves as defenders against Quebec separation? My God your party is at the root of most of it, starting with Pearson's inability to lead Quebec to a stronger position Nationally, and Trudeau's national centric view of the FEDERATION. That's right folks we are a federation not one country indivisible.
So on to the next Martin gaff, his anything you can do I can do better party platform. Daycare policy isn't enough he was going to sweeten it. Healthcare was all over the map starting from a very pro-Romeo position to a pro-Kirby report. Post-secondary education - give a student a free year, What the F---? Paul have you ever read the BNA act? It's our constitution stupid! Daycare (aka early childhood education), Post-Secondary Education, and Healthcare are the Province's bailiwick. The Feds have no business making policy without the Council of the Federation being involved and approving it. The ultimate Gaff was his vow to repeal the not withstanding clause from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms during the second debate. My God man, that is a serious thing to mess around with. This action only comes out of many hours of sober debate amongst all parliamentarians, constitutional amendments are never, never, to be off the cuff declarations at a candidates debate!
The ultimate gaff of the Liberal campaign were those negative advertisements, and campaigning. What was he thinking? The lengths of dirty tricks the Liberals tried to play were endless. I heard on the news today that during a candidates debate on a radio show, a caller accused the Conservative candidate, a former minister, that he was fired because of pedophilia charges. The outraged candidate had the radio station's news team trace the call. It went back to a liberal riding office. The Liberals are lying and demonizing the opposition any way they can so that they can scare people into voting for them.
Elections are meant to be a time for the public to decide in which direction the Country should go. The electorate should never be bullied into thinking that only one party defends their best interest. It is clear to me that the Liberals need a time out. It is my sincere hope that most of them are wiped off the map tonight in support of other candidates. The Liberal party needs to wipe it self clean from the stain of the Martinites and the Chretienites. It is time to get back to basic Liberal values and become the centrist party that they are supposed to be. Hopefully they will have the time to redress their wounds and heal themselves properly. Let them become the party of the thinking man. The party that would lead Canada to the next level in societal evolution. They can do that, for they have done it before.
One last note on election day. If nothing else, this election has sparked lively debate in the workplace. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to and participating in my co-workers debate over the right path for this country to follow. The way we have discussed things, with the passionate and intellect that we all bring to bear on the subject, I can almost picture us in the Athenian Agora discussing philosophy with Plato and Socrates. It is my sincere hope that this discussion continues so that we can all evolve in creating a true Canadian society.
-Andrew
posted by the arboral at 3:11 PM
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