JamesH

A member since July 16, 2007 22:51

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Comment History

Nanos National Poll - Canadians' views on minority governments and Harper's re-election a mixed bag (2009-08-22)

• It's interesting that a majority of people support minority governments and feel it's important that the parties work together, but they don't support electo...

Nanos National Poll - Economy slides as an issue of concern - no political dividend for Conservatives, yet. (2009-08-10)

• A well done poll on second choices would I think be interesting and I think surprising. I think you would find that in the West the Conservative/Reform vote...

Nanos-Policy Options Poll - Canadians see recession lasting into 2010; Support deficits and Infrastructure spending (2009-01-25)

• At this time, it is a golden opportunity to be investing in technologies that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce GHG emissions. These technolo...
• I don't know that its specifically necessary to tax CO2 emissions, as Dion suggested. Once the current economic crisis is over, the price of fossil fuels wi...
• I agree, but I don't think a carbon tax could be implemented in the current climate. The advantage of a carbon tax, if implemented properly, would be that s...

New Nanos National Poll - Lib 34, CP 33, NDP 19, BQ 7, GP 7 (completed Jan 7) (2009-01-09)

• I agree with this. Likely Liberal growth with Iggy will come from soft right voters disenchanted with Harper's hard line and no longer fooled by the sweater...

Harper has "poisoned the well" in parliament - path forward is uncertain (2008-12-01)

• How do you figure "Canadians won't get the government they elected" if (when) a Liberal/NDP coalition takes power? We elected a Parliament, not a government...
• There are three points you're missing: 1) In an extremely difficult economic situation, instead of being statesmanlike, Harper saw it as an opportunity to p...
• Maybe so, but the Libs and NDP together got more VOTES than the Cons did. (26.2 + 18.2 = 44.4%, compared to the Cons at 37.6%) You're simply proving the un...
• Exactly. So this coalition will be the most democratic government we've had in a while.
• Dude, see my earlier comment. The Bloc will, by virtue of their own self-interest, support the coalition, at least until Harper is replaced as leader of the...
• Yeah, the government that 37% of Canadians wanted is being replaced by the government that 44% of Canadians wanted. I may not be a math major, but I'm prett...
• Sigh. The auto and forestry sector demand isn't going away, it's just dried up for the moment. If we do nothing, cars will still get built and lumber will ...
• I agree, but probably the Cons would be smart enough to get someone more centrist, or at least looks centrist, like maybe Prentiss, after they boot Harper. ...
• Actually, I think all of the right wing posters on this board are in fact Pierre Poilievre in disguise.
• Again, read my earlier comment. Why would the Bloc take down the coalition, and take the blame for causing an election? In that scenario they would certain...
• I hear what you're saying. I'm not saying we should just drive a truckload of money up to the Not-So-Big Three's doors. The money should be predicated on t...
• I don't what Michaelle Jean's leanings are, but I do trust that she will consult constitutional experts and make a decision based on their guidance. Given t...
• Actually, running a big surplus in good economic times makes an awful lot of sense. You can keep the economy from overheating and causing inflation using ta...
• Harper may very well try to prorogue. In my opinion the G.G would be acting well within her prerogative to say no. Parliament has just started and has not ...
• Well, the fact is the two parties that are forming a coalition DID get more votes than the Harperites, and they have formed an agreement that allows them to ...
• But when Harper was planning to form a government in 2004 with Bloc support, he wouldn't have been beholden to the "separatists", huh? And yet the Liberal/N...
• Well, you obviously support Harper, and Harper (up until a week ago) depended on the Bloc's support. I don't understand why it's OK for Harper to get suppor...
• The Conservatives' last budget (and many other pieces of legislation in the last session) passed with Bloc support. So by your logic, the Bloc has "veto pow...
• Ahh.. so Harper's last budget COULD have been supported by the NDP, a party that would rather eat vomit than support a Harper budget. If there's a theoreti...
• Your statement is patently untrue. Many Quebecers vote for the Bloc because they see it as the best representative of their interest in Ottawa. They are by...
• Let's go through this one more time. We DO NOT elect a government, we elect a legislature. The government is formed by members of that legislature who enjo...
• I think Harper did what he did because he thought he could get away with finally getting to work on his real agenda, e.g. taking away workers' rights, preven...
• Hilarious. Your position is unassailable, apparently because of the simple math that the party that only 22% of the people voted for should get to to dictat...
• Apparently, "fungible" is the word of the day in Conservative party talking points released to their supporters. I am in fact a member of the NDP and don't ...
• I just want to add to what prg is saying. This is the way that Parliamentary democracy is supposed to work. The Parliament is a body that is supposed to re...
• Again you resort to insults and straw men arguments in place of rational conclusions. You bring up bogeymen such as Parizeau, Marois, and the Bloc, none of ...
• Fungible (adjective): Descriptive of voting for someone (like Stephen Harper) who has the personality and moral standards of a fungus. Your constant referra...
• "Chretien won a majority with just 37% of the vote. Does that make his win any less legitimate. I don't think so." Absolutely I think Chretien's win is less...
• Speaking of all this wooing, it is against the law to offer any kind of inducements to an MP to cross the floor or change their vote. Two examples: the Cadm...
• The MPs who are in this coalition have proven to be intelligent compromisers who are willing to do the best they can for our country. I would rather have a ...
• Wow. I really feel sorry for you, westerner. Really, I do, I'm not kidding.
• Right wing economists are surprised by the current recession. "No one could have seen this coming," they say. Really? No one could see that all the big in...
• Two things strike me about Ruth's comment: 1) The "government" (i.e. the Executive) never was and never has been elected in Canada. We elect a Legislature,...

Reading the entrails of the Quebec By-elections (2007-09-16)

• Of course it's been frequently noted that in Quebec in particular the Afghanistan issue is a hot button, but to what extent do voters in Quebec equate the Ha...

Jack Layton & the NDP - The Minority Challenge (2007-08-27)

• What the NDP needs more than anything is a consistent, rational economic policy. There is a considerable amount of distrust and lack of confidence in both t...
• I agree with your concept, but where I disagree with you is the supposition that the Liberals are a left-leaning party. They RUN from the left, but they GOV...

New SES Research Poll - Federal Tories and Grits Close - Harper Best PM Advantage Weakens (2007-08-14)

• While I don't agree with the transferable vote idea, I do agree that the current system is broken and must be fixed. Under first-past-the-post, parties look...
• No, the outcome is decided by the voters. In full PR, each registered party has a list of candidates, who could be chosen by the party leader in some manner...
• There is no problem with establishing a cutoff percentage of, say, 10%. Lots of other countries have it, and if those are the rules, the marijuana party or ...

Summer will be serious for PM - Nik's Sun Media Column July 16, 2007 (2007-07-16)

• I agree with the two issues Nik raises as being critical for Harper, but of course the environment is the third elephant in the room for him. Harper appears...
• In fact we emit far more CO2 on a per capita basis than either China or India. The reason why these countries were not required to reduce emissions in the f...
• Sigh. No one is saying there is no economic impact to complying with Kyoto. Climate change is a problem that we have to face. Doing nothing, hoping it'll ...
• Thanks for the positive comment, blossom. As I said before, the Harperites have done nothing about GHG emissions since they came to power other than cut wha...
• Thanks blossom. I really enjoyed reading your comments above. I think you're right about the military spending. A year or two from now Harper will be off...