Conservative Victory Propelled by Ontario Voters

Pauvre Canada

[updated Wed Oct 15 06:47:20 EDT 2008]

The ballot question was the economy.

Let's hope the next election each party will do a better job in staying on message and providing a clear plan.

NDP had run a very good campaign, I hope they can work with the current CPC.
I hope the Liberal party is rebuilt with a new leader.

I do expect if opposition blocks the CPC again within the first 24 months we will get another election. I hope they understand the importance of respecting the mandate given to the government.

[updated Wed Oct 15 07:30:05 EDT 2008]

An interesting sidelight to the election is the numbers who voted vs 2006

totals 000's
2008..............................2006
all... 13,826.........................14,817
Cons:5,208...........................5,374
Libs:..3,600..........................4,479
NDP:.2,500..........................2,500

In my opinion and by these numbers it appears this election was basically decided by Liberal voters who stayed home and I think it was in Ontario where they sat on their hands. We get the government we deserve and I hope absent lib supporters learn the lesson.
This was not about making Harpercrite king since he got even fewer votes than last time and Taliban Jack got the same numbers.
The Libs will find their sea legs soon enough and understand that it was the fear of the economy that lost them the election. The green shift will happen just not yet.

[updated Wed Oct 15 08:28:16 EDT 2008]

Good job Canada!!!

The correct party was chosen to lead our country!!

Honestly the CPC won more seats than I expected. The Prime Minister made a good speech last night and I'm glad that the right man will be leading our country going forward.

I'm a bit surprised that Dion did not quit last night after being beat down so much but I'm sure it won't take long. Are the liberals still really a national party with only 7 seats west of Ontario (and well under 20% of the vote out there) and a very good portion of their seats in the whole country in only 2 cities?

[updated Wed Oct 15 08:48:23 EDT 2008]

I am reminded of the epitaph on the grave of Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott : "To seek, to strive and not to yield."

The Liberals have some soul searching to do - with Tubby as unpopular as he was and is, the Liberals should have done much better last night.

Stéphane has some soul searching to do too.

Clearly his gamble on the "Green shift" failed.

Clearly the "Green shift" was, as Rex Murphy put it, "a piano tied around his neck which he went about the country trying to sell."

Now I only have an Hons BA in Political Science & History - but what the hell was he thinking proposing anything with the word 'Tax' in it. Let alone a complicated policy.

All he had to say was that he would put in enhanced programs for energy reduction like home renos, industry etc to effectively achieve his objective - but to use the words 'tax,' revenue 'neutral' ... oh well, done now.

Clearly the Green Shift Platform is now dead - the voters rejected it all too clearly.

The Liberals now have to clearly reposition themselves, without a scintilla of doubt, in the middle of the political spectrum, be fiscally conservative and socially progressive.

And rebuild.

Stéphane should also remember Harry Truman - 'the buck stops here.'

He should spare the Party internal schisms and further embarrassment and now do the honourable thing.

He has much to offer as a Cabinet Minister.

ATB

John

[updated Wed Oct 15 11:44:56 EDT 2008]

Canada PM faces market crisis with minority government
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081015/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_election_canada_ca_4

"The fact that Mr. Harper was restricted to another minority government, albeit a marginally stronger one, means that this campaign can only be viewed as a personal defeat," said an editorial in the influential Globe and Mail newspaper, which had endorsed Harper before the vote.

"Near term, the House (of Commons) will probably act in unison on defense economics, while big plans by the Conservatives will likely be shelved rather than force a nonconfidence vote and another election," said Andrew Pyle, wealth advisor at ScotiaMcLeod.

Copied and Pasted from

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080906/economy_elxn_080906/20080906?&s_name=election2008
Election 2008 promises:

1)a two-cents-per-litre tax cut on diesel and airplane fuel over four years; at an expected to cost of $600 million a year
2)relax restrictions on foreign ownership
raise the allowable level of foreign investment in airlines from 25 per cent to 49 per cent
let foreign companies own Canadian uranium mines
3)provide $150 million annually for maternity and parental leave benefits for entrepreneurs who pay into Employment Insurance
4)give first-time homebuyers a $750 rebate, and up to $5,000 in tax credits, for closing costs; implementation cost is estimated at about $200 million per year
5)increase the senior age credit by $1,000
give $85 million in tax breaks to families with one spouse who forgoes full-time work to help a disabled family member
6)give consumers protection against Internet spam and ban unsolicited text message charges
7) allow charities and non-profits to set up RESPs for children in low-income families
give $2,000 in incentives for apprentices completing training programs
8) increase the Senior Age Credit by $1,000
9) provide $400 million more over four years for the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative and Automotive Innovation funds
10) get rid of industrial tariffs on imported machinery and equipment (implementation cost: $345 million)
11) Reduction of the federal debt, resulting in interest rate savings
r12)Reduction of personal income taxes under the Tax Back Guarantee
13)Automotive Innovation Fund to help automotive sector
14)providing funds to create jobs in personal and food safety sectors and to reduce greenhouse emissions

Which one will the CPC bring out to show cooperative spirit in the next HOC?

[updated Wed Oct 15 13:21:09 EDT 2008]

The great news for the day is we only have 3 Liberals in Metro Vancouver, unfortunately one is Hedy Fry. A side note: If you think the election was not necessary, blame it on this fact. Before a Party can become Official, it must have representatives in all ridings in Canada, that is why we are getting the results we are. And thanks to the Liberals we got this mess in Canada. For 13 years they did nothing about this, because they were always spoon feeding Quebec like babies!

[updated Wed Oct 15 13:30:36 EDT 2008]

The Hill Times, June 5th, 2006
NEWS STORY
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2006/june/5/lib_money/&c=1
Four Liberal leadership candidates still haven't raised any money
Liberals say they're charting new territory under Bill C-24, but leadership candidates are 'really struggling' for money in this campaign.

Ontario Liberal Sen. David Smith, who is co-chairing Mr. Ignatieff's campaign, recently told The Hill Times that due to the difficulties in raising funds by all the leadership campaigns, the current leadership campaign has to be cost effective.

"We're not rushing into expenditures until it's obvious that they are necessary. It's not just the spending limit, it's the raising limit [as well]. In addition to that, you are going to have over 10 candidates out there beating the bushes for money. So, you have to be very cost effective and that's what we are doing," said Sen. Smith, adding that the Ignatieff campaign has set a target of about $2.5-million to be raised in this campaign.

David Herle, former campaign manager for the Liberal Party's last two electoral campaigns, told CBC Newsworld's Politics host Don Newman last week that the campaign financing rules for leadership campaigns should be changed because under the current rules in place, fundraising is an uphill battle. He argued that political parties rely on public financing for running election campaigns but leadership campaigns do not have any such arrangement. So, he said the law should be changed to give a reasonable opportunity to leadership candidates to raise money.

"Every candidate is really struggling for money in this campaign, some of them desperately, but everybody is really short of money and it creates a moral hazard and I think the law needs to be changed," said Mr. Herle.
================================================================

Does anyone think under the present circmumstances raising funds have improved for the Liberal Party or the leadership candidates?

[updated Wed Oct 15 14:14:54 EDT 2008]

It sounds like we get some really good policies passed in the HOC with the Prime Minister's new mandate.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081015.welxnharper1015/BNStory/politics/home

Harper targets Senate reform

STEVEN CHASE
Globe and Mail Update
October 15, 2008 at 2:41 PM EDT

CALGARY — Newly-re-elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper today served notice that he will stack the Senate with Tory appointments if necessary to push through democratic reforms of the chamber.

He also said he's reviewing options for further aid to Canadian banks as he released a six point action plan to address the global financial crisis.

But Mr. Harper declined a request from the nation's premiers to attend an Oct. 20 emergency meeting on the economy, saying he will instead hold his own first ministers' get-together in the weeks or months ahead.

“It's not possible for me to take part in a meeting Monday, but I welcome the meeting, I think it's a good idea for the provincial premiers to get together,” Mr. Harper said. “I wait with impatience the results of their discussion before they meet again with me.”

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at a press conference in Calgary, on October 15, 2008, following his Conservative party's victory in Tuesday's federal election.

In his first post-election news conference, Mr. Harper warned that the Conservatives are serious about promised reforms to the Senate – including elections and eight-year fixed terms – and will fill it with new Tory appointment to push through reforms if the Liberal majority there opposes it.

“We don't believe an unelected body should in anyway be blocking an elected body,” Mr. Harper told a news conference in Calgary.

There are currently 16 vacancies in the Senate because Mr. Harper has let retirements go unfilled, but the Liberals still dominate with 59 unelected Senators in the chamber.

“I have held off for a very long time in naming senators. That said, I do not believe it is justified that the Senate would continue to [be] dominated by a party that did not win two consecutive elections,” he said.

“We are looking for the opportunity to elect senators, but if at some point it becomes clear some senators are not going to be elected, the government will name senators to ensure that the elected will of the House of Commons and the people of Canada is reflected in the Senate.”

By January 2010, there will be 31 vacancies in the Senate and the Liberal caucus there will be down to less than 50 seats in the 105-seat chamber. Mr. Harper could theoretically appoint 31 senators to a brief one-year term and use this strength to push through whatever changes are necessary.

[updated Wed Oct 15 15:49:56 EDT 2008]

Congratulations!

[updated Wed Oct 15 16:37:06 EDT 2008]

So - i guess NONE of the pollsters nailed it this time.

Looking at strategic, ekos and nanos, they were all reporting very similar numbers. But in this case they all fell short, most outside their margin of error.

To me, this is a demonstration of the weaknesses of three day polls during elections where there's a lot of volatility. Sudden last minute changes by the electorate simply cannot be tracked by voter intention polling in that kind of environment.

So - a couple of questions seem to pop into mind:

1 - several pollsters asked questions in addition to 'who are you going to vote for'? Should we give some of the trends we saw there in things like 'who'd make the best pm' more weight?

2 - what other questions might have been valuable? Would questions like 'who do you think has the most momentum' given more of a hint as to how things were going to wind up on the last day? Are there others?

3 - if rolling polls are best for tracking where we've been and giving the trends of what happened, is there a better way of tracking where we're likely to be tomorrow?

[updated Wed Oct 15 22:37:52 EDT 2008]

Knives come out swiftly for Dion

British Columbia's Liberal Premier, Gordon Campbell, said voters in his province clearly were not impressed by Mr. Dion. “We can't underestimate the fact that, frankly, Mr. Dion's leadership did not resonate with British Columbians. [Stephen] Harper's did.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081015.election-dion16/BNStory/politics/home?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

Foxers has said 3 days. I guess they want to move on Dion while the corpse is still warm. Will Dion pull a Chretien and leave a timebomb.

[updated Thu Oct 16 06:49:26 EDT 2008]

Opportunity knocks for Ontario

Danny Williams and Dalton McGuinty both have grievances against the federal government, but they have pursued them in different ways. The question now, as Stephen Harper goes back to Sussex Drive, is which one of them has been smarter.

But what if the day isn't done and what if Mr. Harper has a long memory for those who have crossed him? What does Mr. Williams have left the next time he wants to be threatening? Will the Liberal and New Democratic MPs from Newfoundland be able to protect his offshore energy accord when the equalization scheme is reviewed again?

Mr. McGuinty's trump card is that Ontario can't be ignored. The collapse of its manufacturing sector - some 230,000 well-paying jobs lost in the past five years - threatens the federal treasury and that's something Mr. Harper can't ignore. He needs Ontario whether he admits it or not.
===============================================================
Well where do we go next for 12-25 seats: Ontario seats or NL seats?
NL only has 3 seats up for grabs and its in the Liberal supported province of Williams.
In Ontario we were close in several races..logically we need to fix Ontario and bump NL behind Quebec now for resources of the federal gov't. After all we have limited resources now in a small budget. Looking forward to photo-ops of Harper and Liberal Premier in Ontario in the coming weeks.
================================================
"Mr. Williams, the Newfoundland Premier, has never seen a fire on which he didn't want to pour some gasoline. Not content with taking down the Canadian flag and referring to the Prime Minister as "Steve," he used the federal election campaign to wage the electoral equivalent of all-out war. And he could luxuriate yesterday in the knowledge that his Anything-But-Conservative campaign knocked his federal cousins off the map by robbing them of the three seats they held in the last Parliament."
====================================================

[updated Thu Oct 16 07:12:35 EDT 2008]

Wow - that was quite an event. I think I got it all wrong except here in NL.

Ah well - congrats to all....

[updated Thu Oct 16 12:28:59 EDT 2008]

I think this is the best guy for the job.

McKenna eyeing Liberal leadership

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/election-2008/story.html?id=883087

OTTAWA -- Frank McKenna, the former premier of New Brunswick, is said to be seriously considering a bid for the Liberal leadership should Stephane Dion step down.

"Frank still has the bug and is open to lobbying from some of Canada's most senior businessmen that the party needs him and the country needs him," said a Liberal source who is understood to have been in contact with the former Canadian ambassador to Washington.

Mr. McKenna's name is frequently mentioned as a potential leadership candidate, but he decided not to run in the 2006 contest because of health issues facing his wife, Julie. Those issues are said to have been resolved.

The poor performance by the Liberals in this week's election, coupled with the prospect of a divisive fight for a vacant leadership between Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff, has prompted a group of senior party figures to approach Mr. McKenna, 60, now deputy chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Asked what it would take to draw Mr. McKenna into the race, the source said: "He has to be persuaded that there is a sufficient level of interest in his candidacy. There is, and I have reason to believe he's interested."

[updated Thu Oct 16 12:42:03 EDT 2008]

Okay now time to start debating the next election...

[updated Thu Oct 16 14:17:24 EDT 2008]

The main reason why the Liberals Lost this election.

They have not rebuilt behind Dion. I have not heard one Liberal publicly state that it was a team failure. The party had 2 years to rebuild and purge their problems.
To this day, they feel they were cheated by the RCMP, ADSCAM etc.

Lessons not learned.

In the 2 years did the Liberal Party (Team) offer a new message in a unified coherent platform? No. The question remains will they blame Dion for the result or accept the 'team' approach and change.

As a conservative, watching them let Dion become the scapegoat reminds me of the war between Chretien and Martin camps. Are we in for a repeat of Iggy-Rae Part II?

Iggy is much closer to Harper than Rae. If Ontario is the best opportunity for growth than Rae would be the end of the Liberal Brand in Ontario. Anyone deny the negative feelings on Rae as NDP premier?

BTW I supported Bob Rae as my MP! Great man economic meltdown during his term.

Where is the front bench? Why has no Liberal come to Dion's defence? Did Dion fail to unify the party under his leadership? Two years later in his tenure and not one Liberal loyal to the leader has come out to support Dion.

Is it the $ 200,000 debt the party has not agreed to assume holding him back from the announcement?

[updated Fri Oct 17 09:01:28 EDT 2008]

A crushing defeat to Liberals and their egos, the next time Liberals refer to Canadians they are only talking about the ones that live in Toronto! As long as the Liberals keep pounding Canadians on Multiculturalism, Billingualism, The Senate, Enviroment, Quebec Culture they will never Win again. Canadians think differently now and the Liberals have not picked up on this fact. This party must reconstruct itself from the bottom up to even have a chance a governing again. And no Prime Minister from Quebec either or they lose again. When Canadians went to the Polls they were thinking about the foolish Jean Chretien and his government of the past and the fact he has not been brought to Justice. Canadians were thinking about Food from China (Not Afganastan) Trips to the USA, North American security, Jobs lost to China by Chretien that hurt Ontario, the RCMP, CSIS what are they doing?? It could not happen to a better Party. Time to get up to date Elections Canada, get rid of the paper ballots and do some planning, some version of electronic voting has become a realty.

[updated Fri Oct 17 17:09:27 EDT 2008]

The Liberals got what was coming to them and that makes me happy, the old fool Chretien out there living in the past on the campaign trail. Next election I hope the Liberals get ZERO seats. No Chretien, the bad times are when the Liberals are in power and sending our tax dollars and jobs to China, is that not right Mr Team Canada.

[updated Fri Oct 17 17:35:25 EDT 2008]

In my opinion, as I reflect on this past election, all five party leaders will be gone over the next 18 months.

The Harper cons have had three shots at a majority and failed. The party brass will make a move on Harper in due time but not later than a year from now.

The Libs will elect a "fixer" as leader who will be able to rally the troops around tried and true classic Liberalism. He/She will have the charisma to get fund raising up to snuff and the ability to play down and dirty with Steve and his successor since that is the only way cons play the Flanagan game.

Taliban Jack has also gone past his best before date and his failure to capture more votes while spending like a drunken sailor in Quebec will see him off to the political wilderness. Mulcair who has an ego larger than Jacks will be pushing him out with knives in his back. Mulcair has no principles,loyalties or scruples. Problem is who would hire a failed socialist like Taliban Jack with no relevant world experience.

Duceppe is done and has accomplished all he can. He has a fat federal pension awaiting him and he will become the separatist elder replacing Parizeau.

Liz May will have to give way to a more seasoned professional politician who can preach the overall green play book which is quite right wing in its philosophy.

The next election will occur in the next 18 to 24 months as the economy tanks and the cons are left with mounting deficits and no way to cut them based on their ideology and populist thinking where deficits are treated like the socialists would. .

[updated Sat Oct 18 07:34:48 EDT 2008]

Dion is not going to resign on Monday. he is going to announce a merger of the NDP and BLOC into a coalition that then becomes a majority government once parliament is resumed.

[updated Sat Oct 18 11:11:33 EDT 2008]

Replacing Dion not enough to rebuild Grits: Lord
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/indepth/id_tories/s/cbc/081017/canada/nb_nb_lord_liberal_leadership_2

"I think the Liberal Party of Canada has some serious issues in rebuilding. It is not just a question of the leader and if they think their issues are only because of Stéphane Dion, I think they are missing part of the big picture," Lord said.

"The fact is they are completely not there in some parts of Canada, in western Canada in most ridings they finished third, in Quebec [in] a lot of the ridings they are just not there. There is no organization there. They have a lot of rebuilding to do and I hope they take a long time to rebuild because I think Canada is better served with a strong Conservative party."

[updated Sat Oct 18 13:17:59 EDT 2008]

News Flash: Canada must do what Britian is going to do, Restrict Immigration especially from countries like China and Hong Kong, we need a more balanced approach, allowing only a certian number from each country, this is only fair and the right thing to do. The Liberal approach has always been unbalanced and who fills their pockets. We need a major overhaul of staff at Immigration Canada eliminating those from the (416) and Quebec, Jobs in the Federal Service must be based on what percentage of the population your Province is and not a single person over, Of course we know B.C. will get screwed everytime, it has been happening for the last 100 years. BC was better off before 1871

[updated Sun Oct 19 16:48:04 EDT 2008]

If the Liberals fail to rebuild, should they like the Bloc become a regional party. Should they become Party of the GTA?

[updated Sun Oct 19 18:14:41 EDT 2008]

Attention: All Liberals, Kelly McParland at the National Post has 6 tips to get your party in the right direction, Read and Learn for the First time in your life. Your Party may actually survive if can Read, Think and Listen!

[updated Mon Oct 20 02:57:34 EDT 2008]

The Six Tips For Liberals as in National Post and 1 of mine Total 7
1. Get over yourselves
2. Forget Trudeau
3. Look at a Map ( Which one you ask? Canada)
4. Enough with Anti-Americanism - Carolyn Parrish was an embarassment
5. Think smaller
6. Don't be in such a Hurry

Bonus Tip: Forget Chretien the man should be in Jail

[updated Mon Oct 20 11:31:09 EDT 2008]

Another fact that is happening now (for the benefit of the ignorant in Central Canada), and that most of the (416) Voters are ignorant of, the Pudget Sound region of Washington State and British Columbia is projected to be in the next 15 years to have a population of 30 million, did you think all of them will live in Washington State, the first wave started 10 years ago, the second wave is happening now and the 3rd will come next. Hell even Surrey BC is projected to have a population of 10 million in 15 years. It only takes 3 years to get Dual Citizenship or Canadian Citizenship, you can critque these numbers, but if you think you are going to the same taxes you got before think again even under the Liberal Brand, it is not going to happen, you will be a after thought to the rest of Canada. The population shift is not East to West but South to North, because of the liveable climate. Of course British Columbia has always for over 150 years a North - South connection than a West - East connection, which has been a good thing, we are more independant and do not get caught up in this Quebec nonsense every day, every month, every year and every decade.

[updated Mon Oct 20 14:02:05 EDT 2008]

So let's speculate about what will happen with the LPC following whatever Dion announces later today.

I haven't made many posts here but have followed the debate with great interest. I live in BC and was usually only able to check this board fairly late in the evening. Usually I found that any points I would make had already been made by others.

I one of the few posts I did make, I mentioned that I was a CPC supported so am obviously pleased with the outcome.

This is pure speculation - but here goes with my thoughts on what will happen with the LPC.

Dion will announce his resignation today.
The May 2009 LPC convention will become a leadership convention.
McKenna will not run.
Rae will win.
Following the convention Iggy will defect to the CPC.
The LPC will lose the next election, which will see a CPC majority.
The NDP will come close to replacing the LPC as the Official Opposition.

Then and only then will the LPC finally get its act together and start to rebuild.

What should happen - again pure wishful thinking on my part.

McKenna should run for leader. Before he announces his bid he should build a network who know he is in only to rebuild the party and will step aside after his work is done - probably not until 2 election cycles have gone by.

We need 2 strong centerist parties. One slightly to the right, one slightly to the left.

The NDP will never be a factor federally unless the LPC collapses completely. They can stay on the fringe and congratulate themselves that they are keeping everybody honest. In fact they will never be more than a fringe party and will never break the 20% barrier. Effectively they can be dismissed unless the LPC collapses completely.

The Greens will never amount to much. I found it interesting that in the BC vote on proportional representation the Greens were the only party to oppose the referendum. This from the party that had the most to gain from proportional representation. Why did they oppose the referendum? Because the referendum was not exactly what they wanted. Until the Greens develop some political smarts and realize that politics is the art of the possibly they will never go anywhere

[updated Mon Oct 20 14:26:06 EDT 2008]

Next Up Provincial Election in British Columbia May 9 ,2009, I "m a Provincial Liberal on the Social Credit side of the Party, they went the way of the Do Do Bird because they did what the Federal Liberals are not doing, that is not Listening, Grace McCarthy was to busy talking she could not hear a thing. Message to Campbell the min wage is $18.00 per hour in Australia, the recommended min wage for Canada is $17.50 per hour, you have been brained washed by the Chinese, if your Chinese business partner cannot pay $17.50 per hour to Canadians then go get a job at GTA cleaning the streets. The min wage in BC will be $17.50 per hour, these are the same experts that you listened to for your Provincial Bureaucrats and MLA's so you better listen to them again or your history like Dion. The Do Do boy!

[updated Mon Oct 20 18:27:55 EDT 2008]

There was no choice: The Liberal 'prize' is back up for grabs

"Mr. Dion had little-to-no caucus support. His party lost ground (again) in the popular vote and, of course, seats. If he hadn't gone, he would've been pushed. It was a sign of his isolation that on election day, friends say he pushed aside all contrary evidence and assumed the Liberals would win."

"Mr. Dion can, and should, remain in politics, to make an important contribution to the country's political life and the Liberal Party. But not as leader."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20081021.COSIMP21/TPStory/Comment/

=======================================================

Is this really a prize?

A political party at its lowest standing in the history of Canada.
A political party at its lowest financial footing without the ability to raise money from Big Oil/Banks compliments of Chretien.
A political party without grassroots support in Canada outside the GTA and MTL island.
A lame duck leader agreeing to stay to protect the new leader until May 2009.
The Iggy/Rae camps not able to agree to a compromise for the interim leader forcing Dion to continue to the banner carrier for the Liberal Party.
A CPC that is growing in support in Liberal 'safe' riding in GTA -see Brampton.
A CPC with proven fundraising capabilities and another succesful election result.
A CPC with a minority requiring "Liberal" votes to pass legislation.

Can you see the chalk outlines of Liberal leader hopefuls?

Is this really a prize?

[updated Tue Oct 21 10:07:24 EDT 2008]

Why do we even need a Liberal Party in the first place? Their only a Regional Party in Canada, namely in (416) area. Lets drop them off the Ballot, they have never done any for the West, all they have done is stolen from the West. Their is a 100 hundred years of Evidence starting with the CPR, a Liberal idea, 100 miles either way of the Track what fools.

[updated Wed Oct 22 01:03:32 EDT 2008]

The CPC victory was more because of the people who didn't vote than the ones who did. With every poll showing decided voters picking Harper ,the undecided could have made a huge difference by going out to vote. Without the polls telling us who was going to win many would have taken the time to participate in the process. When we have the opinion our vote will not make any difference , why would we bother to get out and vote ? How many voters would have gone to the polls if they had not been told the results by pollsters? The people who pay for polls know they have an effect on the outcome or they would not allow the results to be published. There should be a ban on all poll results during an election campaign.

[updated Wed Oct 22 12:04:23 EDT 2008]

"Mistakes were made...detention and mistreatment were connected to those mistakes in my view in an indirect way," said Iacobucci during a news conference Tuesday summarizing key points of the 544-page report.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government appointed Iacobucci in December 2006 to lead the investigation into Canada's role in the detention of Canadian citizens Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin in Syria.

Western governments and human rights groups accuse Syria of freely using torture on its prisoners.

The men say they were wrongly labeled as terrorists by Canada's federal police force and intelligence agency. They were subsequently arrested on separate visits to Syria between 2001 to 2003, imprisoned and tortured, only to be released without charge.

[updated Wed Oct 22 18:09:39 EDT 2008]

There is another problem with the current Liberal contenders, their all carring baggage they had when with the Chretien governments of 13 years, no Canadian will trust them, only those in the (416) region of Canada! Name one who has no baggage!

[updated Thu Oct 23 01:53:40 EDT 2008]

Many have bragged that Mr Corrupt won three consecutive terms, there is only one problem with glooting over that, the population in the west was very low then, it is not going to happen again, with the wealth of BC and Alberta. It is a New Era Liberals. so better a leader that can mix with all. Trudeau did not, Chretien did not

[updated Thu Oct 23 12:43:11 EDT 2008]

The sky is falling compliments of the Liberal, NDP, Bloc, Greens. All of them have attacked the CPC Party for the handling of the economy. I think these parties need to take a geography lesson Canada is not the US.
==========================================
Nationwide, nearly 766,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice from July through September, up 71 percent from a year earlier, said foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc.

By the end of the year, RealtyTrac expects more than a million bank-owned properties to have piled up on the market, representing around a third of all properties for sale in the U.S.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081023/foreclosure_rates.html
===================================================
Losing their homes”
By Andrew Coyne | Email | October 9th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Posted to: Andrew Coyne's Blog,
housing crisis
From last week’s debate:

Canada is not the U.S., Mr. Harper said, adding that Canadians are not in danger of losing their homes or their jobs.

Mr. Dion shot back that Mr. Harper’s do-nothing attitude is endangering Canadian prosperity…

“The economy is not fine and if you talk to Canadians that’s what they’ll tell you. Either you don’t care or you’re incompetent. Which is it?” NDP leader Jack Layton charged, scoffing at Harper’s suggestion that Canadians are more worried about the plummeting stock market than losing their homes…

‘You’re so out of touch with people when you say they’re not worried about losing their jobs and losing their homes,’ Ms. May said after Harper suggested Canadians are worried about the stock market drop, not about jobs…

From the Globe and Mail, via Worthwhile Canadian Initiative:

An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Canadian home owners are currently in arrears, said Will Dunning, chief economist at the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP), in a report released Monday.

This means about 0.3 per cent of Canada’s 8.05 million home owners are behind on their mortgages by three months or more, he said.

By contrast, arrears in Canada hit about 0.7 per cent in 1992, as the effects of the housing bubble in the late 1980s and early 1990s worked their way through the mortgage market, Mr. Dunning said….

The closest comparison to Canadian arrears levels in the United States are 90-day mortgage delinquencies, Mr. Tal said. They are now in the 2 to 3 per cent range, meaning that about 1.5 million U.S. home owners are currently in delinquency.

In August, the last month for which data were available, one in every 416 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing, a 12 per cent increase from July and a 27 per cent increase from August, 2007.

National foreclosure statistics aren’t available in Canada, but lenders say the rate is low, and hasn’t shown an appreciable increase over last year.

At 70 per cent, the equity Canadians have in their homes has also been increasing over the past decade, while in the United States that level has slipped to below 50 per cent, Mr. Dunning said.

The U.S. housing collapse was a crisis brought on by overuse of subprime mortgages. Thus, Mr. Tal said, it’s important to remember that at its peak risky mortgages made up 5 per cent of the market in Canada, compared with 33 per cent in the U.S.

When will this Prime Minister do something show he cares about this avalanche entirely unremarkable rate of foreclosures?
============================================================
So again all the parties and the blind party followers have attacked the CPC on the economy, banking and have LIED to Canadians or can't tell the US and Canada apart.

[updated Thu Oct 23 15:58:33 EDT 2008]

Now we are finished with the Federal, it is time to concentrate on the Provincial, for us the big day is May 9,2009. We expect the New Min Wage to be $17.50 per hour. This is already lower than the $18.00 per hour in Australia. Now who set this Rate, it so happens to be the same group that recommended to Gordon Campbell the rates for BC Beaucrats and MLA's, Only a Fool would not take their recommendations again! What about your Province, do you need a change also? Second: Because of the infiltration of Asians into Canada, including Business people, because of them our Standard of Living is hiting rock bottom. The Dollar is a perfect example, What would the Liberals do that Conservatives could not!

[updated Thu Oct 23 19:17:34 EDT 2008]

It seems pretty obvious that the election has caused many to lose interest in this site. It could also be that those who are still posting don't want to debate but rather impose their opinions on others. When a racist bigot gets responses to his utter nonsense it is not worth taking part in the discussion. Then you have the legends in their own minds who know everything so why bother trying to exchange ideas with them ? When someone expresses an opinion and is labelled idiotic or stupid it tends to make further posts hard to produce. When a new topic is put up for discussion we might be able to debate and just have a place to spend some time and enjoy the conversation . Nik, if you want to keep people involved ,you might want to give us something of interest to analyze and discuss.

[updated Sat Oct 25 11:57:13 EDT 2008]

It is unfortunate but Donsanjh wins the recount, that means we have 4 Liberals in the Lower Maninland, Hedy keep your mouth shut now, you are surrounded by Blue! But somehow she cannot do that, she likes herself to much! The Non Listening Hedy Fry is back in Parliament. Oh NO!!!!!!

[updated Sat Oct 25 19:27:20 EDT 2008]

Tories are becoming Liberals "lite"

Tories scaling back on tough-on-crime agenda.
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, October 26
OTTAWA - The federal Conservatives have scaled back their tough-on-crime agenda by abandoning at least one dozen of the key promises that helped vault them to power in 2006, including abolishing prisoner voting and eliminating "artistic merit" as a defence for child pornography.

[updated Mon Oct 27 03:52:47 EDT 2008]

The Liberal Front Bench and its Leadership Race? Predictions

Lets hear a list of names that are vying for the 'prize' to lead the party of Metro Toronto,MTL Island, NL.

With some of the leadership rivals still in debt from 2006, I can't imagine they would enter again.

Where will this new leader come from? Outside?

Another Short list revised

Bob, Iggy
Leblanc

[updated Mon Oct 27 09:37:16 EDT 2008]

A Fistful of Greenbacks (Or, Why Lizzy May Will Stay Green)
Monday, October 20th, 2008
Thankfully for me, Abbas Rana of the Hill Times has fleshed out the computations needed to figure out the changes in Elections Canada subsidies to political parties as a result of the election. Here’s how the new subsidies work out:

Elections Canada Subsidies for Political Parties, 2006 and 2008

Party
2006
2008
Change

Tories
10,218,123.83
10,150,401.30
(67,722.53)

Liberals
8,517,048.19
7,078,480.50
(1,438,567.69)

NDP
4,923,795.04
4,908,296.25
(15,498.79)

BQ
2,953,217.78
2,690,151.75
(263,066.03)

Green
1,262,641.81
1,834,456.65
571,814.84

http://phantomobserver.com/blog/?cat=44

[updated Mon Oct 27 09:41:25 EDT 2008]

Tories see wins in ethnic ridings as proof Liberal lock on minorities is ending
The Conservatives won six new heavily ethnic ridings that were once Liberal strongholds, a trend they say proves their efforts to woo this vote have borne fruit.

They also came close to ousting Liberal incumbents in several ethnic constituencies in Vancouver and in the Greater Toronto Area, including Brampton Springdale and Brampton West, where the Liberals won by less than 2 per cent of the vote. In Vancouver South, Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh retained his seat by a mere 22 votes – compared with a 9,000-vote lead in 2006.

The Conservative party is touting this as a “major breakthrough,” noting that support for the Liberals among new Canadians is no longer guaranteed.

“We did extremely well among new Canadians and in cultural communities,” Jason Kenney, Conservative MP for Calgary Southeast and the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism, said in a telephone interview this week. “New Canadians have demonstrated their votes are not to be taken for granted, and that decades of false stereotyping by Liberals in immigrant communities is a barrier we have begun to overcome.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081026.wridings1027/BNStory/politics/home

[Szabo] told The Hill Times last week that he doesn’t believe the federal Liberal Party needs a counterpart to Mr. Kenney’s role in their Liberal caucus to work especially in the ethnic communities to retain the left over support base or to increase Liberal support in this critical voting block.

“No, no, not at all. I don’t subscribe to ethnic groups are somehow homogeneous and controllable by someone who says nice things. They’re Canadians, they run businesses, they employ people, they have priorities, they’re not sheep to be told what to do. You have to earn their trust and respect and throwing little tid bits, ‘Oh, I’ll attend your fundraiser function or our cultural events and say nice things therefore you should vote for me.’ People are not that naïve,” said Mr. Szabo.

He said the key reason for the Liberal loss in the last federal election is the newly-elected Conservative Party’s attack ads against Party Leader Stéphane Dion . . .
http://phantomobserver.com/blog/?p=1239

Next election the rest of large urban ridings will join in giving Harper a majority and sending the Official Opposition to the Wilderness.

[updated Mon Oct 27 11:16:12 EDT 2008]

Here is another fact the Liberals do not seem to understand, majority of people in the west and northern Ontario,do not like the fact there are far to many French Canadians working in the Public Service, with their only critea of being there is because they are supposed to be bilingual, but in fact to do not know how to speak "English", perfect example is this President of the Border Security Agency, came to Vancouver and did not know a word of "English" these people are not qualified to be working there in the first place. No wonder the Beaucrats in Ottawa are all screwed and do not know where they are living, same tip for the Liberals look at a god dam map. Which one you say "Canada" There needs to be a complete overhaul of the Public Service Commission!

[updated Mon Oct 27 13:37:21 EDT 2008]

Time to face the Facts - Ontario and Quebec - Why the West does not like you! All the Federal Jobs are taken by French Canadians and Ontarians because of the world's single greatest scam called "Billingualism" created by Liberals For Liberals, that is why the West will never never Vote Liberal or a Liberal Leader until you Face the Facts and Changes are Made. Do not like it to bad this is the Fact of Life!!

[updated Tue Oct 28 14:15:18 EDT 2008]

McKeena makes a smart move, he took a look at a Map of Canada (which more people in Ontario and Quebec should do) and said I only have support in the (416) area and I do not want to associated with a loser the Liberal Party of Canada (A regional party at best) Where is Habs now!

[updated Tue Oct 28 18:22:19 EDT 2008]

Justin Trudeau may when a Poll but he will never be elected in the West, the son of Mr Finger! That is just a Fact of Life, The Liberals are a dead Party. Did you actually think we would forget!

[updated Wed Oct 29 01:22:54 EDT 2008]

I note that with the election over the Tories can go back to being truthful about a deficit as flaherty is now letting that cat out of the bag.
Its interesting that Canadians didn't see the hypocrisy and lies of this government.

Their fiscal performance is so poor I fear we will have Mulroney type deficits anytime soon.

Maybe the Liberals picked a good time to lose an election and the tory mismanagement will help their rebuilding process move even faster .

[updated Thu Oct 30 07:46:18 EDT 2008]

"Paul Martin did something that we will never do. We will not balance our budget on the backs of the provinces and territories in Canada," Mr. Flaherty said. While Mr. Martin cut transfer payments, that is not an option for the current government, he said. "Those payments go for education, for health care, for social services, for the needs of communities … that's what Paul Martin cut. We will not do that."

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081029.wflaherty1029/BNStory/Business/?cid=al_gam_nletter_maropen

And that is why the CPC will form another gov't next election and the Liberal Party of 416 will lose another 10-20 seats.

[updated Thu Oct 30 09:27:08 EDT 2008]

....Justin Trudeau is the top pick among Canadians of all political stripes and most age groups as the next leader of the federal Liberal party, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll.

Trouble is, the 36-year-old first-born son of the late Pierre Trudeau says he's not interested in the party's top job this early in his nascent political career.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=7038a85c-037b-40c6-9b35-7314430c96c7
--------------------------------------------------

This illustrates the reality of the "front bench" Liberal partisan keep talking about -rofl
The public want a change, the old gaurd NEED NOT APPLY.

[updated Thu Oct 30 11:33:59 EDT 2008]

Harper's cabinet
Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008
The list of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's new cabinet:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Justice Minister Robert Nicholson
Revenue Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn
Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson
Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl
Defence Minister Peter MacKay
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day
Treasury Board President Vic Toews
Labour Minister Rona Ambrose
Human Resources Minister Diane Finley
International Co-operation Minister Beverley J. Oda
Environment Minister Jim Prentice
Infrastructure Minister John Baird
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon
Industry Minister Tony Clement
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister and Francophonie Josee Verner
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Jay Hill
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz
Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney
Public Works and Government Services Minister Christian Paradis
Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq
Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea
Minister of State (Sport) Gary Lunn
Minister of State and Chief Government Whip Gordon O'Connor
Minister of State (Status of Women) Helena Guergis
Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) Diane Ablonczy
Minister of State (Transport) Rob Merrifield
Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification) Lynne Yelich
Minister of State (Democratic Reform) Steven John Fletcher
Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear
Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada) Denis Lebel
Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) Keith Ashfield
Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent

[updated Thu Oct 30 11:38:53 EDT 2008]

Interesting article today -

"By GREG WESTON
Debt, donation rules make life tough for wannabe Liberal leaders

When the newly re-elected Conservative government recalls Parliament sometime late next month, one of the first orders of business will probably be to kick the leaderless Liberals where it hurts -- squarely in the bank account.

A senior government official says Stephen Harper's administration will move quickly to bar political candidates and parties from accepting loans as a way to dodge electoral financing laws.

The move could leave the already cash-strapped Liberals trying to run their coming leadership race on pennies, hot air and used buttons."

Owtch. That really WILL hurt the liberals badly. Going into the election there was something like a million bucks outstanding from the last leadership race between all the candidates - imagine if they had to pay that off when it was racked up, they'd have had a million less going into the election.

And candidates can't simply go to a big businessman and get the cash they need - they'll need to have the support of the people.

I suspect that things just got harder for any of the leadership hopefulls :)

[updated Thu Oct 30 14:39:55 EDT 2008]

Hi Nik:

Not much content to the comments these days.

How about having your company look into the reason(s) so many people are staying away from the voting booths these days? My opinion is that parties haven't made their basic principles and values clear to people resulting in too much emphasis on personalities and election policies. I found the following on the internet - any comments on how well these definitions fit our two prominent federal parties?

Right (Conservative)
Conservatives tend to favour economic freedom, but frequently support laws to restrict personal behaviour that violates "traditional values." They oppose excessive government control of business, while endorsing government action to defend morality and the traditional family structure. Conservatives usually support a strong military, oppose bureaucracy and high taxes, favour a free-market economy, and endorse strong law enforcement.

Left (Liberal)
Liberals usually embrace freedom of choice in personal matters, but tend to support significant government control of the economy. They generally support a government-funded "safety net" to help the disadvantaged, and advocate strict regulation of business. Liberals tend to favour environmental regulations, defend civil liberties and free expression, support government action to promote equality, and tolerate diverse lifestyles.

[updated Thu Oct 30 17:13:40 EDT 2008]

I see the TV networks are playing up the fact Harper lied about a deficit during the election campaign.

[updated Fri Oct 31 03:12:16 EDT 2008]

How Canada's divided left can get it right
ROD LOVE

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

October 30, 2008 at 2:30 AM EDT

As a founding member of the United Alternative, the fledgling attempt to "unite the right" that ultimately put Stephen Harper in the living room of 24 Sussex Dr., I read Norman Spector's recent column on uniting the left with great interest.

His musings on what the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens must contemplate looking at their barren political landscape reminds me of what we faced in the conservative movement when we began to bring our fractious family together in early 1998, half a decade after the rise of Reform and the collapse of support for the Progressive Conservatives.

....

Eventually, the debilitating knowledge that elections can't be won will galvanize the membership to force the adults in the various parties to confront reality.

Second, that will force the donors to slowly begin to turn off the spigot.

Campaigns are not won on prayers alone, and as they say in the jungle, when the water dries up, the animals begin to look at each other differently.

As the money dries up, the third phenomenon takes place: middlemen reaching out to the other parties to begin negotiations.

These talks will be held not by the calcified elders whose ancient animosities are carved in granite, nor by the overprogrammed youth spoiling for a fight, but by a subset of pragmatists who, at this point, will be neither seduced by applause nor depressed by failure. When they start talking, things start happening.

....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081029.wcounite30/BNStory/politics

[updated Fri Oct 31 09:37:26 EDT 2008]

More women break cabinet glass ceiling (Cabinet-Women)
The Canadian Press Oct 30 17:49

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OTTAWA _ The ascension of three female rookie MPs straight into senior cabinet posts adds a more feminine touch to a Conservative government assailed in the past for sidelining women.

Lisa Raitt at Natural Resources, Leona Aglukkaq at Health, and Gail Shea at Fisheries are among 11 women named to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's inner circle Thursday. That's up from seven in the previous cabinet.

``We are almost at critical mass in cabinet, which is significant,'' said Francoise Gagnon, executive director of Equal Voice, a non-partisan group that promotes women in politics.

``Critical mass is 33 per cent and we are at 29 per cent. But what matters today is that women have been appointed to positions of influence in the cabinet.''

Harper took flak in his first minority mandate for a male-dominated leadership in which women played less visible roles. Marjory LeBreton, who remains in cabinet as government leader in the Senate, was one of few women considered to have much influence.

The prime minister made a point of putting a more feminine focus on his selections this time.

``Mr. Harper had a very strong pool of talent to pick from,'' said Donna Dasko, vice-chair of Equal Voice. ``The experience and perspective that these women bring to the table can only benefit this cabinet.''

More women ran in the last federal campaign than ever before. Of 387 female candidates for all parties, 69 were elected. Women in the House of Commons will account for 22.4 per cent of representation, up just slightly from 2006.

While Equal Voice hails that progress, it notes that Canada sits 46th in world rankings according to the number of women in national legislatures.

Other women with full cabinet portfolios are: Rona Ambrose at Labour, Diane Finley at Human Resources, Josee Verner at Intergovernmental Affairs, and Bev Oda at International Co-operation and Development.

Calgary MP Diane Ablonczy, a respected political veteran who once challenged Harper for the Canadian Alliance leadership, was passed over for promotion once again. She remains in the junior role of minister of state for small business and tourism.

Two other women got junior portfolios: Helena Guergis is minister of state (status of women) and Lynne Yelich is minister of state (Western Economic Diversification.)

Another step toward a majority government. With Prentice under environment he will tackle those issues and increase our support by women and voters wanting a middle ground.

12 seats does not look that far away with his recent moves. Keep it up.

[updated Sat Nov 01 12:45:29 EDT 2008]

To members of Sean Godfrey for Oshawa
Sean Godfrey
October 26 at 12:12am
A few thoughts on how the Liberals must face some inconvenient truths… if we are to become a relevant political force in 21st century Canada.
1) A Liberal Party Leader:
We need to pick a leader who can work with others, who can listen, will respect their opinions but who also has charisma, intelligence and can communicate ideas well. He or she must be likeable in the public’s eyes, a good salesman and a great communicator - to get the message across to the public.
2) The Machine:
Here, the Liberals have their greatest lessons to learn, from of all people, the Conservatives.
This is the 21st century. So, let’s start to use 21st century techniques and every possible modern media tool to maximal advantage.
We need to include the internet, TV marketing, telephone marketing, focus groups and professional PR firms to create…a successful brand.
We must build a successful brand from both top down… and bottom up.
The message to the public must, of course, be exceptionally good from the central leadership; but the creation and execution of political momentum must be at both riding and national level.
According to the Toronto Star last week, only 36,000 individuals across Canada contributed last year to the Liberals.
The Conservatives had five times that number of contributors, and as a result had a national database of identified Conservatives to approach, not just for money, but for votes, taking signs, recruiting volunteers and grassroots organization.
They also outgunned us by five times in terms of money raised from individual donations. We must learn how to play the ‘new’ game.
We need to create that kind of database and those kinds of numbers of supporters consistently across this country, from year to year, and not just hope we can gain enough national support in an Election period.
The Conservatives also targeted specific groups such as middle class married women very successfully, in terms of policy and propaganda. For the Conservatives, each riding had thousands of identified supporters from the national database who could then be plugged into each local campaign.
3) Each Liberal riding must become a fully functioning cell of political action:
during writ but also between writs, more importantly. The Liberal Party needs to wake up to the simple fact that if each riding association were to become a supported hotbed of local political activity, then the Liberal brand would resonate in every riding across the country with the electorate in every Election.
Right now, Liberal riding associations - especially in un-held ridings - are aimless, impoverished and have no true political activity, except by accident.
The Liberals centrally spent no concerted effort, time or money going after un-held ridings, and ignored their issues in strategy and policy approaches.
No wonder almost no ridings were taken back and several “stronghold” ridings were lost.
The Liberals have believed arrogantly, for too long, that just showing up to an Election should be sufficient to win.
We need to take serious stock: the Liberals have lost the confidence of this nation.
We simply don’t resonate with enough people anymore in this country.

Part 2 con't

[updated Sat Nov 01 12:51:44 EDT 2008]

Liberal Party leadership race already getting ugly.

Rae refers to the rumours as BS that he was not running, he was sick and had to declare his bid early. Dominic Leblanc is getting backed by Martin/Trudeau.

Looks like Dion may not survive a push before May. Stay tuned for some more self-destruction.

We should start a betting pool.

[updated Sat Nov 01 14:21:29 EDT 2008]

The Enigma That Is Stephen Harper.

To begin, I want to make a few general observations about the Nanos polling: what strikes me is the fact that the election results suggest to me that this was a tale of two elections -- in English Canada, much headway was made by the CPC quite literally in the last moments of the campaign (and largely due to the excellent work done and driven by Jason Kenney in the cultural communities) while in Quebec, the exact opposite effect was seen as the Bloc was given a jump-start as some voters rushed to breathe new life into the party while vote splitting also worked in their favour in other ridings.

I find it both mildly amusing and also troubling to note that the same two issues: cultural funding reductions and young-offender provision modifications quite literally cut both ways for the CPC. They bumped up seat totals in English-Canada while denying Harper a majority government by suppressing CPC voter support in Quebec.

This brings me to an examination of the Prime Minister. Who is the real Stephen Harper? Prior to the election, one might of thought that he was the next Diefenbaker (whom Harper is said to admire) but it was not to be. Dief went from a minority, to a majority and again to a minority.

Is the PM the next Lester Pearson? Pearson headed two successive Liberal minority governments. Does this mean that Harper will mark time for a year to a year and a half and then suddenly call it quits? In my view, we will have to see who is selected as Liberal leader and whether that individual is even capable of gaining traction.

Conversely, is Harper about to break the mold? Can he build on two minority governments and win the big prize next time? Much will depend on the quality of his innate political skills. For my part, I find it somewhat disappointing to see which way the wind is once again blowing in Quebec. Lawrence Cannon has been bumped up into political irrelevance in Quebec (along with province of Quebec Liberal strategists) while the ever-failing ADQ continues to call the tune in Ottawa, both in the PMO and across the ridings. That my friends, is nothing less than a recipe for political disaster in Quebec come the next election. This sad prospect makes me cringe as I await the eventual political consequences in the province of Quebec.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm a Conservative supporter having worked in the last election for both Josée Verner and Luc Harvey. (Won one, lost one.)

[updated Sat Nov 01 18:11:26 EDT 2008]

Cash-strapped Liberals fall behind NDP in fundraising
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081101/national/liberals_money_woes

What's this
By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - The once-mighty Liberal party has raised less money from fewer donors so far this year than the NDP, traditionally the poor sister of Canadian politics.

According to quarterly financial returns posted by Elections Canada, fewer than 35,000 donors contributed a total of $3.6 million to the Liberal party from January to September this year.

Over the same period, the Conservatives vacuumed up almost $15 million from more than 125,000 individuals.

Even the NDP did better than the Liberals, raking in $3.7 million from almost 44,000 contributors.

The dismal financial news comes just as Liberals are digesting the results of the Oct. 14 election, in which the party fell to its lowest share of the popular vote - 26.2 per cent - since Confederation.

Party president Doug Ferguson said he expects the party will be left with a $2-3 million campaign debt after it receives rebates on campaign expenses from Elections Canada.

Moreover, since each party receives a public subsidy worth $1.95 per vote, the Liberals' reduced vote share will translate into an annual loss of $1.6 million for the party.

Ferguson acknowledged the Liberals' financial straits are worrying. But he noted that the party traditionally rakes in the bulk of its donations in the fourth quarter and predicted that by year end the Liberals will surpass the NDP in fundraising.

However, the party will have to compete for scarce dollars with a half dozen or more Liberal leadership contenders, who will soon be scouring the country for donations.

Candidates to succeed outgoing Leader Stephane Dion are expected to bolt quickly out of the gate after the Liberal national executive meets next weekend to set the timing, location and rules for the leadership convention. The convention is most likely to be held next May in Vancouver.

The Liberal party has been struggling to raise money since 2004, when political financing reforms severely limited personal and corporate contributions. Stephen Harper's Conservatives tightened those rules even further in 2007, banning corporate donations outright and capping annual personal contributions at $1,100.

Traditionally most reliant on big corporate donations, the Liberal party has had the most trouble adapting to the new regime. By contrast, the Tories have thrived, tapping into their Reform party roots to master the art of raising lots of small donations from thousands upon thousands of individuals.

......

[updated Sun Nov 02 01:46:14 EDT 2008]

Now we find out the worst managed company in the history of Canada, the continually parasite on the Public Purse, Bombardier of Quebec, is now in trouble with their Pensions, like Bankers they always have their hands in our pocket, when is this going to stop Quebec learn to do things on your own, like Alberta did. This all brought to you by Jean Chretien and the g.d. Liberals, no Liberal nomination is worthy of being Prime Minister!

[updated Sun Nov 02 22:07:33 EST 2008]

Ontario to get 2009-10 federal equalization payment

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada will provide C$347 million ($292 million) to the province of Ontario next year under the country's program of equalization payments, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in a statement on Monday.

It will mark the first time that Ontario, the most populous and industrialized province in Canada, will receive funds under the program, which seeks to ensure equal services across the country.

Ontario's manufacturing sector, and specifically its auto-manufacturing industry, has been hard hit by slowing U.S. demand, high gasoline prices and a strong Canadian dollar.

Flaherty, a former Ontario finance minister, said that a dramatic transformation is taking place in the auto industry in Ontario, where hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost since 2002.

After meeting with provincial finance ministers, Flaherty acknowledged to reporters that it was an "odd feeling" to see Ontario facing economic difficulties that would put it on the receiving end of federal payments meant for poor provinces.

Also in line to receive funds next year are Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Manitoba.

The mostly French-speaking province of Quebec will be the largest recipient of equalization funds. It is due to get C$8.355 billion in 2009-10, more than half the total available, up from C$8.028 billion this year.

With changes to the funding formula, future payments under the equalization program will grow at a "sustainable rate" based on economic growth, Flaherty said.

Overall payments are due to rise to C$14.2 billion in 2009-10 from C$13.6 billion in the current 2008-09 fiscal year.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue, writing by Lynne Olver; editing by Peter Galloway)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081103/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_economy_flaherty_equalization_2
---------------------------------------------
What do you think about this development and what it will mean for the Ontario Government?

[updated Mon Nov 03 15:37:52 EST 2008]

Some owners deserting factories in China

Even before the global financial crisis, factory owners in China were straining under soaring labor and raw-material costs, an appreciating Chinese currency and tougher legal, tax and environmental requirements. When the credit crunch took hold -- prompting Western businesses to slash orders for Chinese goods and bankers to curtail loans to factories -- many operations were pushed over the edge.
....
Toy makers are among the hardest hit. More than 3,600 such factories have closed -- about half the industry's total, government figures show. Most were small operations, but last month Smart Union Group's three huge factories stopped production, leaving more than 8,700 workers jobless.
....

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-factory3-2008nov03,0,7768849.story
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you think the consequences will be in North America with the slowdown in China?

[updated Mon Nov 03 15:47:20 EST 2008]

American Election Predictions
There is a map at CNN to help
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/calculator/
----------------------------------------------------
Popular Vote, Electoral College

Increase in overall vote by 5 million: Obama 363 McCain 175
----------------------------------------------------------

I am going by the victory party size prediction: 1 Million expected at Chicago and 2-3000 people at McCain HQ.The election is already over as internal numbers are not published but each party has spent money for it victory party. McCain won't be attending his own party but will be reporting from a large screen. He has been spending alot of time in his own backyard defending former Republicans states.

Huge increase in advance polls: Change of government.

Organization: Obama beat Clinton, and Republican machine.

Money: Obama has spent at least 2 to 1 in battleground ridings.

Economy/Bailout= Negative forces for incumbent Party

Message= Obama's Hope Unified America vs McCain mudslinging and fear agenda

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[updated Tue Nov 04 10:26:24 EST 2008]

Liberals will never win again, Justin Trudeau will never be Prime Minister, the Prime Minister must come from British Columbia. We must make it illegal to import or buy any and all products from China, including "Made in Canada" with ingredents from China. Time for the Anti China Party in Canada, only born Canadians can be members. So how do like that!

[updated Tue Nov 04 15:52:56 EST 2008]