It's Election Season in Canada(?)

Who would you vote for?

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Canadian opposition parties 'to reject Harper budget'

All three Canadian opposition parties say they will vote against a budget presented by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, a move that could prompt an election.

The Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois said they would reject the budget plan, delivered to politicians on Tuesday.

The left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) also said it could not support the budget in its current form.

If it is defeated, Mr Harper will be forced to call an election.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is thought to have offered concessions to the New Democrats, but the party's leader Jack Layton responded by saying Mr Harper had missed the opportunity to make the minority Parliament work.

"The NDP will not be supporting the budget as presented," Mr Layton said.

Michael Ignatieff, leader of the opposition Liberals, also said the group would be "forced to reject" the federal budget.

A vote on the proposed budget is expected to take place on either Thursday or Friday.
'Growing deficit'

The prime minister's budget calls for corporate tax cuts.

But the opposition parties have argued that a growing deficit is plaguing the country, and it will only worsen if tax cuts take place.

They have also argued against Mr Harper's plans to spend $9bn (£5.6bn) on 65 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the military, which will cost the country at least another $5bn in maintenance costs.

The minority Conservative government needs the support of at least one of the opposition parties to pass its budget and avoid a new election, which could be held in early May.

If an federal election does take place - which would be Canada's fourth in seven years - little is expected to change.

Mr Harper's Conservative government, which has emphasised economic recovery over the past few years, is expected to win if the election moves forward but not outright, meaning it would still govern with a minority.

Canada has recovered all the jobs lost during the economic downturn and repaired its economy faster than many other industrialised nations.
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So it looks like there will be a spring election in Canada. I'll confess that I haven't been watching Canadian politics recently, with the whole thing in a rut and having to do other things. Recent polls indicate that the Tories are in strong minority/slim majority territory, but who knows what a campaign will bring? I'll probably be voting Liberal.

Would anybody like to comment?

PS: It's on. Here some useful Canadian electoral/politics websites:

CBC Canada Votes 2011

CTV's Electoral Coverage

Maclean's election coverage

The Globe and Mail coverage

National Post coverage

Electoral Projections here and here

Election pools here and here
 
I was expecting Layton (NDP) to support the government, actually. Surprised when he didn't.
We've had a series of weak coalition governments lately, but the country seems to be doing decently (except on certain essential fronts, like balancing long-term entitlements and dealing with climate change: we have a lot of wiggle-room left, though, because of how slowly these problems will affect us).

I don't really care about the 'contempt of Parliament' thing going on right now, but I'm also not really following it. I'm more affected by the Conservatives with their 'tough on crime' legislation, which is showing tremendous levels of poor thinking on their part. I'd consider being okay with it, if we legalised marijuana, because I'd expect a net savings and a decrease in total criminality. But their continued fear-mongering over dropping crime rates is pretty pathetic.

The Green Party released an 'attack ad' on attack ads. I think it was a good idea, because the Greens are really focusing on elevating the discussion. The Conservatives have kept elections at bay for some time with prodigious use of attack ads. The one that really irked me was the ones against Stephan Dion (Liberal) for his desire to create a carbon tax. Now, whether "a carbon tax is a good idea" is worthy of debate, but the Con attack ad merely derailed the conversation about whether it's actually a good idea, and merely was a smear campaign.
 
I don't see how the Torries don't walk away with another plurality -- third straight -- unless the NDP and Liberals have figured out how to stop vote splitting and further.

If I could vote, I'd enthusiastically line up behind Ignatieff. I like him.
 
WOW!!!! I'll be able to vote!!!!

Im gonna need to do some more research though
 
I think that they should completely de-certify both liberal and conservative parties for the numerous scandals both were involved. I believe this should be the case with each party that breaks laws and ethics of conduct in public office, the rules of which are as malleable as a leaf in the wind (which should not be the case).

There is just too much crap in our politics. It's a good thing our economy and standard of living is good but a bad thing that because of this that quite a few people just don't care (as shown by poor voter turnover).
 
What alliances are there and what are the parties' main focus? More info needed to vote! An update of the most noteworthy scandals would be good too. ..Probably Liberals or New Democrats...
 
you know, i most likely would vote for the conservatives. if i bother to vote.
 
I'll vote liberal. The tories are terrible spendthrifts and have acted contrary to accepted parliamentary procedure for most of their time in government. Governments like that cannot be allowed to stand even in the case of ideological agreements.

I find this contempt of parliament quite damning.
 
Harper needs to go, I don't trust him. Don't know whom I'll vote for yet, depends who is running in my riding. Currently we have a Conservative MP though iirc he may be linked to soem recent scandal with an RCMP officer or something and the NDP came a close second (though their candidate is retired from politics and running a local cafe).
 
Loppan Torkel said:
What alliances are there and what are the parties' main focus? More info needed to vote! An update of the most noteworthy scandals would be good too. ..Probably Liberals or New Democrats...
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The Conservative Party are generally centre-right but with tendancies to lean way right on some social and environmental issues (opposed to legalizing marijuana, prostitution and gay marriage).

The Liberals are centre-left with tendancies to lean a little further left on social issues (spearheaded the decriminalizing of possession of small amounts of marijuana, legalizing gay marriage and they support legalizing prostitution in Ontario).

The NDP lean way left on pretty much anything. They're the closest thing we have to a national socialist party (no, I don't mean Nazi's).

As far as scandals go, well the Liberals have a habit of giving juicy goverment contracts to their buddies (what else is new). They also like to reward their supporters in the private sector with cushy goverment appointments (senate seats for life are a favourite).

The biggest recent scandal attached to the Conservatives involved them suspending Parliament because PM Harper was afraid that the NDP and Liberals were going to gang up on him and force an election (which he most likely would have lost). It was legal, but it was still a pretty slimy move designed to save his job.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
 
Most probably the Liberals.
 
mech654 said:
Most likely to be the NDP.
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The only thing I ask NDP voters is to consider voting Liberal if 1: NDP will come in third in the riding and 2: Liberals have a chance to win it. I'd also ask Liberal voters to vote NDP if the reverse is true.

I know the Liberals aren't that much better than the torries, but they are better. I've only seen 2 elections here, but I'm tired of watching the vote splitting in the face of the "unite the right" success.

Simple as ABCs: Anyone But Conservatives.
 
Are the Greens a chance in their leader's seat this time?

FPTP sucks, yo.
 
Arwon said:
Are the Greens a chance in their leader's seat this time?
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She moved to a much more competitive riding in BC, so yes, a very good chance.

Though the Greens here aren't your normal Greens.

FPTP sucks, yo.
Click to expand...

Yes.

VRWCAgent said:
Care to explain that, "citizen"???
Click to expand...

IIRC, his dad is Canadian. I think he's allowed to vote wherever his dad last had residence.
 
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