Posts Tagged by election
Will You Rise Up for Canada?
| 4/17/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Finally, I’m hearing what has been frustrating me. Throughout this campaign I’ve been astounded that more and more Canadians are not becoming aware of just how badly we need to restore democracy in this country. I’ve wondered how so many can be presented with the evidence of Harper’s contempt for our system and just let it roll off them as they decide they don’t want Michael Ignatieff so they will just let Harper carry on.
I hear the cynicism that ‘they’ (the politicians) are all the same and nothing will change. We wont know unless we vote out the bad and replace him with someone else. Just because Harper has worked to develop a teflon exterior which allows him to tell lies and distortions one after another without consequences doesn’t make him right or believable.
I’ve been a political junkie most of my adult life and I’ve never seen a Prime Minister like this one and I never want to see one like him again. It’s bad enough he came to office promising a new era of transparency and accountability and failed to deliver. It’s unbelievable that he’s been allowed to remain in office for 5 years in the most closed, secretive and dictatorial environment I have ever seen. (more…)
Harper Apologizes, Sort Of
| 4/7/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Following several revelations about people trying to attend Conservative campaign events being ejected, apparently for having done really bad things like — attending a Liberal campaign event, having an bumper sticker supportive of the NDP, campaigning against plastic water bottles on the University of Guelph campus, being an advocate for homeless veterans or participating in an event designed to encourage young people to vote — Harper has offered an apology. Sort of:
“If anybody is kept out of any of our events that’s there to hear our message, we obviously apologize to them,” the Conservative Leader said during a campaign stop north of Toronto, in Vaughan.
I don’t know, if I was going to offer an apology to people, especially young people, about the poor behaviour of people who represented me, I’d be saying I was sorry to those people and assuring them their treatment was unacceptable.
Interesting to note, a person currently charged with fraud was able to attend a Conservative campaign rally and apparently has had some ongoing involvement with Harper’s Conservatives. I guess that is to keep Bruce Carson company. Remember him, the former point man for the very security sensitive Afghanistan file who had 5 previous convictions for fraud and had been ordered to have psychiatric counselling.
Have you noticed that Harper never takes responsibility for anything? (more…)
Letter to Ignatieff
| 9/29/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Last week I was having lunch with a friend and briefly the subject of politics came up. I expressed some of my views on Ignatieff to which she responded that I should write him a letter about my views. My response was, I would but it would not likely get anywhere near him. I thought about that and decided that be damn if it gets anywhere near him, I’ll write my letter here on my blog. So here goes:
I joined the Liberal Party of Canada in July of this year. While I’ve spent a lifetime reading and thinking about politics and how our leaders (or lack), shapes my country, I’ve never before made the decision to commit myself to a political party.
I’ve always leaned towards liberalism, largely because I have a deep-seated belief that one of the great strengths of this country is our social safety net which provides a level of support for those at the lower socioeconomic levels of our society. That sense of social responsiblity balanced with fiscal responsibility has always come from the Liberal Party of Canada.
So, why did I join in July? After a few years of what appeared to me as utter chaos within the party due to their infighting and weak leadership, there appeared to be a leader with some integrity and vision. I still think you have the integrity, but to be frank, I’m having a lot of trouble with discerning your vision.
Where’s the vision?
You seem to be spending a lot of energy and air time reacting to Harper. Canadians know what Harper is, the problem is they don’t yet see a viable alternative to him. True there are aspects of Harper the Canadian people don’t fully realize or appreciate how wrong he is, but they still don’t see a viable alternative. Why do you think Canadians haven’t yet given him a majority government? (more…)
Harper’s Election to Lose
| 10/10/2008 | Posted by Patti under General |
You know, two weeks ago, I would have been willing to bet that Harper was going to manage to hoodwink the Canadian people enough to win the majority he has lusted after and that Dion would do well to elect a handful of MPs. How quickly things can change.
Here we are two weeks later, two debates and world markets in a tailspin, it looks like Harper will not get his majority and if the current trend continues, he may even end up where he belongs — in the Official Opposition. The last part is a bit of a longshot but then so was Harper being held to a minority two weeks ago.
Yesterday Harper had balls enough to muse about how “Prime Minister Dion” sounds in an effort to scare people away from that prospect. He needs to be careful, that might start to roll of people’s tongues a lot easier than he wants. At best Dion could only pull off a minority government but would put Harper at minimum into the Official Opposition benches, if we got real lucky maybe not even there. (more…)
One Week Left in Election Campaign
| 10/6/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics, Harper |
Today is the last day of the advanced polls in our election and then next Tuesday is vote day. I’ve not been posting much on the election but have been watching very closely. I tuned into and listened closely to the English language debate last Thursday. I was glad that I did, as it is likely one of the very few times that Harper has been forced out of his ‘bubble’ in this election and it was long overdue.
Until now, Harper has managed to appear only at well staged events with only pre-registered attendees. When the press started to blow the whistle on the fact that Harper was keeping a bubble around him, and avoiding any unexpected outbursts by the electorate who have the right to answers from him, his campaign claimed that it was necessary due to security issues. Yeah right.
Anyways, back to the debates. Harper provided no surprises, he was the smug, arrogant individual he always has been. Talking around every issue put before him and beating hell out of the truth about the other leaders. He was nailed not badly a few times by the other leaders but it rolls off of people like Harper who really doesn’t care when it comes to others.
He’s not wanting to be Prime Minister to see a better Canada, he’s wanting to be PM to alter the country to his liking. For a guy who chose to call an election on a trumped up excuse, one really has to wonder why his party remains the only one which hasn’t produced a platform for the public to examine. What’s he hiding other than the fact that he really doesn’t have a plan beyond wanting to get a majority government. (more…)
Harper Needs to Go
| 9/23/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Well, we’re two weeks into an election campaign here in Canada and so far I’ve not commented. I have some concerns about Dion as a potential Prime Minister, but I have ZERO doubts about the fact that Harper needs to go. As much as I don’t like Layton and his politics, I could live with him as the Official Opposition and Harper reduced to ‘also ran’ but that isn’t going to happen. At this point, it appears that we’ll do good if Harper manages to be kept to a minority government.
Ironically enough, some of my doubts about Dion have been quelled by Harper. See, first and foremost, Harper is a bully. Bullies often instinctively see value in their opponent that they want to flatten, quickly. Harper has been assailing Dion and his character from the moment that he was elected Liberal leader. That indicates to me, along with Dion’s unlikely win, that there is more to Dion than meets the eye. (more…)
Fall Election Looms
| 8/22/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Once again, the election drums are beating. Such is life when there is a minority government in power. What makes this time rather interesting is that Harper is the one that is adding fuel to the fire. So much for his oft repeated declaration that he intends to govern until October 2009 which is when the law, that he brought in, sets for the next federal election.
Harper is claiming that the opposition parties are obstructing the function of parliament and that unless he has some indication that he has a functioning parliament, he will bring about the dissolution of parliament. He really can’t get himself off the opposition benches can he? Maybe an election will put him back in his more natural location, on the opposition benches — he appears to be more comfortable there. (more…)
Harper Like Nixon?
| 4/29/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Interesting article in the British paper Guardian comparing Steven Harper’s attitude to Richard Nixon’s. Now, before you’re thinking that the paper is suggesting Harper is a crook like Nixon (aka Watergate), that isn’t the gist of the article.
What the writers are comparing between the two men is their rather obvious utter contempt for the institutions which shape and form their respective governments. That contempt was evident before either of them arrived in office and became even more obvious through Harper’s rather long running war with the national media.
Sometimes even more so than the official opposition, the media can manage to hold governments to account simply through their willingness to dig beyond the facade and find out what is going on behind the scenes. Then they publish their results. I often rail against the media’s often clear bias in their reporting and selective quoting but at the same time, they are bringing to light what would be otherwise in the dark and allowing governments in particular to operate without rebuke. (more…)
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