As much as I hate to admit it, it’s really looking like we’re going to have Stephen Harper as a Prime Minister. The thought absolutely sickens me. My only hope is that the trend in Canada of the conservatives always polling higher than they perform will stick.
Other than that, I pray for a tiny minority so it doesn’t last too long.
Any one else interested in Canadian politics here? If not, just ignore this post.
Being right in the Conservative heartland, I’m pretty much resigned to the fact that all my vote is going to do is alter some party’s funding slightly.
A CANADIAN developer. Interesting.
Who’s still up there? Bioware?
My wife is in Canada on a research trip, and arrived just in time for the leaders’ debates. She describes the current Liberal efforts as flailing around in desperation.
Martin’s “notwithstanding clause” pledge seems like the most bizarre election promise ever. Have Canadians discovered a new appetite for Constitutional debate since I left?
Troy
Martin did that to try and trap Harper, but Harper didn’t rise to it. The Liberals are flailing. The attack ads were the last straw, and they all but guaranteed a conservative government. Unless someone manages to catch Harper eating babies before the election, I think they pretty much have things in the bag.
The saddest thing to me is that I feel Gilles Duceppe would be the best Prime Minister… if it weren’t for the fact he should probably be charged with treason. He certainly looks best in the debates.
I’m also disappointed in Jack Layton dropping the ball in the english debates monday. Guy sounded like a commercial, and let me say, that wasn’t the best use of his time.
Although I’m a Liberal supporter, I’m hoping for a small Conservative minority government. The Libs need a year or two in opposition to clean house and elect a new leader completely disassociated from Chretien and all the baggage that brings. At the end of the day, the CPC aren’t ahead because Harper’s message is resonating with Canadians; they’re ahead because the Liberals are running an awful campaign and they’ve been in power for over 12 years.
But if the Cons win a majority…whoa boy. :(
Well, I don’t know about Harper being a “guaranteed win”. I still think Harper’s essential creepiness works against him, but more importantly I think most Ontarians at least understand that the Conservatives, if elected, will immediately try to overturn every social program they can get their hands on. I think Harper may, at best, get a minority.
Besides, remember the last election when it looked like Harper was going to win? And then everybody sort of woke up and made sure that didn’t happen?
My particular riding in Kitchener is pretty much a Liberal lock, but I’m going out to vote all the same. It makes me feel like a big man.
Besides, remember the last election when it looked like Harper was going to win? And then everybody sort of woke up and made sure that didn’t happen?
Yeah I know, and I’m hoping for that again this time. But they didn’t have a big lead last time, just a few points. They also weren’t making any inroads in Quebec.
I’ll be doing advance voting this weekend, even though I’m in a Bloc stronghold. But I’d rather the bloc get the seat than the conservatives.
Are you kidding? There are HUGE development houses here. In Montreal alone, Ubisoft has a facility with something like 1400 employees and EA has opened a studio. Then there’s Vancouver, with its massive EA factory. Canada’s got its fair share of developers.
Don’t forget Rockstar.
Digital Extremes, Radical, Relic, Pseudo Interactive, KOEI, EA Montreal, EA Quebec City, Ubisoft Quebec City, Blackbox, Gameloft, Rockstar Vancouver, Rockstar Toronto, Digital Illusions. Those are just the major names off the top of my head. There are also numerous handheld game companies, and companies less well known, or further out of the mainstream.
Plenty of places to work. When I was last looking for a job, I ended up with offers from three different major Canadian cities.
I think the Conservatives have a great shot at winning a majority government. And I’m not all that concerned about it now. Martin and the Liberals have completely blown apart in this campaign. Anyone watch the debates? Martin was confused, jittery, and, well, obviously desperate and flailing about. I’m not so worried about the corruption, because I think all parties are corrupt to a certain extent and that the real problems were under Crouton, but that the Liberals have no plan. And that if Martin gets a minority government, which is the only positive result possible for him judging by the current numbers, we’ll see more crazy promises to satisfy the NDP and maybe even a constitutional mess now that Martin’s made that goofy promise to dump the notwithstanding clause.
The latter really bugs me. For starters, I like the notwithstanding clause. It serves a useful purpose, and I don’t want to see our Supreme Court being given ultimate authority over what happens in Canada. No thanks to American-style government by judge. Also, Martin clearly only trotted this out to try and get Harper on the defensive over the possibility of using the notwithstanding clause to ban gay marriage. I don’t like gamesmanship like this, especially over the constitution, because fucking around with it could throw the country into a repeat of what happened with Meech in the early 90s.
I was going Liberal because I thought they were best positioned to handle Quebec, and because of Conservative social policies, and because I think Harper’s plan to give more autonomy to the provinces will be a disaster. I also don’t think Harper really is a Canadian, first and foremost. He’s an opportunist, just like a lot of the old Reformers, with more allegiance to Alberta than Canada as a whole. If he loses this election and gets dumped as Conservative leader, I could see him popping up as the leader of some Western separatist party in coming years.
But I don’t have any confidence in the Liberals, either. Martin absolutely disgusts me now. I’ve never liked the guy much because of his privileged background and his arrogance. Now, though, he’s displaying those qualities plus some really unflattering desperate ones that make him appear anything but prime ministerial.
In short, I think we’re fucked no matter which option we choose. I’ll probably wind up writing Shit bonerz! on my ballot on the 23rd.
A Conservative win could be the best thing for the Liberals I knocked doors for all those years.
The Liberals are in power for a dog’s age regularly and always spiral down into a morass of corruption, confusion and entitlement. Then, reinvigorated, they rise from the ashes and get elected to five or six more consecutive terms. King/St. Laurent led to Dief, Pearson/Trudeau to Mulroney and now Chretien/Martin maybe to Harper.
Troy
Yes. Harper is for Canada about as much as Duceppe is. It’s just that Duceppe is honest about it and doesn’t give a shit what people think. If Harper dropped the pretense, things would go a little smoother, I think.
I also agree regarding Martin. I have hated him since the start. I’ve never trusted him. And then there’s the fact that there’s no god damn way in hell that he, as finance minister of the time, had no knowledge of the sponsorship scandal. And if he didn’t, then he certainly wasn’t FIT to be finance minister, and as such, not fit to be PM. IMO, he simply covered his tracks well enough that he knows it, and so he gloats.
I would love to see Martin deposed but not at the cost of the country, which is what I feel a Conservative majority would be. I don’t feel they have core Canadian interests at heart, and I don’t feel Harper in particular cares about anything other than taking a piece of the power pie. I mean, that’s how his party came in to being; a bunch of smaller parties who couldn’t manage it on their own. So now there’s one big party that doesn’t actually stand for anything.
I think our best outcome at this point, is a squeaker conservative minority, that lasts for a little while, and then we get another election (far too soon again, but whatever), which puts the liberals back. I just hope that they find a new leader by then.
In the mean time, I just hope the conservatives don’t ruin the country. I lived in Alberta during the early Klein years, and let me tell you, scrubbed debt or not, it really did suck having all money pulled out of absolutely everything, from healthcare to education. I don’t want to see the whole country go through that. It would be disasterous.
I’m voting Green.
There’s no way I’ll vote for the commies, I can’t stand Martin, Harper scares the fuck out of me.
I have no choice :(
I’ve heard so many comments identical to these ones it’s frightening. Canadian politics are in a very sad state of affairs at the moment, with most Canadians trying to pick the lesser of three evils. None of the leaders are particularly inspiring or vote-worthy.
I’m voting for the Liberals, even though I live in a downtown Calgary riding and the Conservative candidate is guaranteed victory. I’m still hoping for a small Conservative minority win, but I figure the $1.75 my vote gives the Liberals will help them out next time when they’ve got a new leader on board.
Is that like the $.02 my vote’s worth? Man, Canadian currency is down the tubes. ;)
No, under Canadian election laws, political parties receive funding based on how many votes they receive, to the tune of $1.75 per vote. This funding is necessary because there’s a very low cap on the amount of money businesses, labour unions, and other special interest groups are permitted to donate to candidates/parties.
That system didn’t strike anyone else as remarkably open to corruption?
Uh, you say this writing from the country of the Abramoff scandal? This is like the pot calling the shiny new white kitchen tile black.