How are you planning to vote?

klewlis · Jun 15, 2004

I do agree that the Liberals are the lesser of the two evils. The Conservatives are just nasty, nasty. I think the best we can hope for is a liberal minority with the NDP backing them up--this will hopefully force them to compromise on certain things, especially considering that the Conservatives will be able to balance things out a bit.

Svt4Him · Jun 15, 2004

And I'm Conservative all the way. I find Liberals wishy washy, and don't know when to close their mouths.

And again, a minority government will mean we do this all over again in November.

California Dreamin' · Jun 15, 2004

i just drove up the road and saw a Christian Heritage Party sign
I thought we only had Green, NDP, Conservative Alliance and Liberal represented in my area!

California Dreamin' · Jun 15, 2004

On the CBC site it showed the Green party, NDP, Liberal, Conserv Alliance candidates for my area. Elections.ca included the Christian Heritage candidate and an Independent...
check elections.ca to be sure for your area

vibrant · Jun 16, 2004

*shrugs.

but anyway,

SallyNow · Jun 16, 2004

Well, personally I wish there was still a PC around. They were moderate right0wingers, with many good ideas. I'm not right-wing, but they did have admirable traits.

And that the Liberals would get their behinds in gear and get rid of Martin. But then of course everyone would say, "well if Martin didn't do anything wrong why'de they keep him?" Okay..so..erm...I'm not sure what they should do

Anyhow. If we get a Conservative government, they'd be in trouble. Why? Because at least 65% of the rest of the government would be Centre or Left (and possibly some former PC's) That could create a real problem in the governement.

So I think the best idea right now would be to have a Liberal minority, with the PC hot on their heels, and the NDP and Bloc keeping a good balance.

And I hope a Green or two. We need some people caring about the enviroment we live in. I can't believe they didnt let the Green leader speak at the debate

See, I'm for a balanced government. I think we will have on in the next election. Only then can the most number of people be represented.

Cordy · Jun 16, 2004

Well, after reading up a bit, having a few discussions and watching the debate on TV, I am all for CONSERVATIVE!

Svt4Him · Jun 16, 2004

Again, the idea of a minority government goes beyond just thinking there would be equal balance. As a minority presents the budget, there is a vote of non-confidence. If that is the case, the budget will not be agreed upon, and you can already see each group don't agree with the others. Once this happens, the government can't proceed, and since no one will back down, we will have to re-elect a new government. You can't have a government that can't table a budget and have it accepted, and you will have that in this minority government.

Here, found some informaiton:

All of that negotiating tends to make for slow-passing, inconsistent legislation. There's also the ever looming threat that fragile party agreements will fall apart. The average duration of minority governments in Canadian history is just under a year and a half.

A minority is tossed and new elections called if the House passes a majority vote of non-confidence in the government or if the ruling party fails to pass a major bill like the budget

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040601.elminor0601/BNStory/specialDecision2004/

beigo · Jun 16, 2004

I was looking up each party's platform on foreign aid, and was surprised to not find anything about it on the Conservatives' website. The NDP, I found, has a decent plan to increase foreign aid to 0.7% of the GDP, as the Liberals promised they would do back in 1993, but don't go into too much detail of how they would implement their policies, only that they would increase spending. The CHP has a more detailed policy, telling what types of aid would be given, and how they would distribute it.

This is a very important issue for me, as it should be for Christians. We shouldn't vote based entirely on selfish motives, as in which party will help me the most, but more upon how our country could become a more positive influence upon the entire world.

Based upon this issue alone, I would vote for the CHP, but I haven't made up my mind yet.

gluadys · Jun 16, 2004

Minority government does tend to be unstable and short-lived. But very productive. Most of the great legislation we have had in Canada (including medicare) has been passed by minority governments. While majority governments can sit on their fannies for their whole term in office and do nothing---like the Chretien liberals. (Unless you call the sponsorship scandal doing something.)

That's why we need proportional representation. We get the balance we need: good representation of all points of view in the House of Commons. And we also get a relatively stable government, especially if we also put in fixed election dates.

It is also likely we would get better representation of women and of demographic minorities. And less divisive regionalism. Check out www.fairvotecanada.org for more info on making the voting system fair. And ask your candidates if they will support a change in the voting system.

See the info on the campaign bulletins under "Publications".

Blank123 · Jun 16, 2004

do you guys know how to decline your vote? Like is there an option like that on the ballot?

gluadys · Jun 16, 2004

Check with the Elections Canada office in your riding for the precise procedure. Basically you have to take the ballot as if you were going to vote, return it unmarked and folded to the returning officer and tell him/her that you are declining the ballot. The returning officer should make a note of that and put it in a special envelope.

Blank123 · Jun 16, 2004

thanks

traingosorry · Jun 16, 2004

I might be alone on this one but when I saw the debate the first thing I thought of when I saw Harper was " Hey who let the American take the podium?" He actually *LOOKS* like an American....does that make sense to anyone? probably not- but it scared me. And he was the most composed of all of them- calm and collected.

Heather

kermit the toad · Jun 16, 2004

traingosorry said:
I might be alone on this one but when I saw the debate the first thing I thought of when I saw Harper was " Hey who let the American take the podium?" He actually *LOOKS* like an American....does that make sense to anyone? probably not- but it scared me. And he was the most composed of all of them- calm and collected.

Heather

Heh...I know what you mean. He's definitely not my type of Canadian.

SallyNow · Jun 17, 2004

While I won't vote based on the styles of the candidates, I did think, "Why is Steven Harper trying to look like JFK with a tan?"

Another thing that bugs me about Harper is his constant harping about "power". Take, for instance, his (paraphrased) comment about "Why vote for Bloc if they will never have power." WHY? A Canadian knows the answer to that: "Because we vote for who will represent our values the best." In our government, it's about co-operation, not a me-win mentality.

I think we'll have an interesting minority government, hopefully Liberal. But, even the conservatives do win...65% of the house will be centre and left.

I might be in the minority (no pun intended) but I think it would be nice to see 33.3% Right wing, 33.3% Centre, and 33.3% Left, and cooperation between the parties. But that's just a dream...however...

As a minority presents the budget, there is a vote of non-confidence. If that is the case, the budget will not be agreed upon, and you can already see each group don't agree with the others.

See, I think the thing is...we're going to have some cooperation between the Liberal and NDP, between the Green and NDP, between the Liberal and Bloc, Bloc and NDP, Bloc and Conservative, Liberal and Conservative. Some very good things could come out of this government...it'll be jogged out of complacency

Oh, my, I kinda Harper bashed, didnt I? Sorry about that! He actually has some good points. But so did Martin and Layton and Duceppe.

Mulutka · Jun 17, 2004

I'm for Harper all the way!!!! He takes tough stances and stays with them (example: abortion and same-sex marriages). Harper looking like JFK?? I don't see it except that they both have traditional male hair cuts.

Anyone who thinks the NDP are an okay way to go should take a look at how they ROYALLY messed up BC!!!! Total mismanagment of our natural resources-> making us live in a recession...

Don't even get me started about the Green Party. They want to cut back our military even more--> what's left to cut?? We used to be such a strong military country and now look at us! They're a little too fluffy happy for me.

Dionysius · Jun 17, 2004

I posted this up in my church's forum, but I will to post it up here too.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] Of all topics, abortion is certainly one that I feel very strongly about. If you think that I was forceful in my argument against postmodernism in the other threads, be warned that I take the issue of abortion much more seriously.[/font] [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]The thing is that abortion debate isn´t just something where people try to learn off of each other, express their opinions and go on their merry (or sometimes angry) way. Abortion has consequences. Serious consequences. Loss of innocent lives. In this issue, we insist that we pro-lifers are right, and insist that others agree.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]I agree that we should be open to all matters. But I feel that the loss of innocent lives trumps all concerns of taxation, welfare, scandals, and the rest of the parties´ platforms.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Vote to ban abortion (except when the mother´s life is in danger). Otherwise in a more enlightened age, it´ll be looked upon as a kind of genocide and ourselves, the accomplice.[/font]

and in another post,
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]War in Iraq cost 50,000 lives, and most of them are military personnel. People with some sort of crime upholding a dictator regime. On the other hand, if what al says is true, abortion claims twice that every year, all innocent. I say it´s a bigger issue than Iraq. It´s just unnoticed.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]That said, I hear Stephen Harper is not pro-life. He seems to be undecided on the issue, whereas the other party leaders are all blatantly for it. I think we should just vote in local candidates who are against abortion.[/font]

On the whole, I lament the fact that abortion seems to be such a small issue even among Christians. It seems that while we are not willing to be controlled by the media in what we believe, we are willing instead to let the media dictate what is important and what is not.

There is a quote, I don't know by whom, that says "all it takes evil to succeed, is for good people to do nothing". This applies here and now. Please, think about the far-reaching implications about this issue.

Victrixa · Jun 17, 2004

Hi,

Please, everyone, brothers and sisters. As someone said earlier, get out there and vote! It's our duty as Christians and as Canadian citizens. Jesus said to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Those are not only taxes but the carrying out of our responsibilites as citizens of our country.

Anyone here from the Province of Quebec?

God bless all and have a good June 28th Election Day!

Getting ready for elections,

Caroline

Grace_Alone4gives · Jun 17, 2004

HArper Harper Harper!!!

How are you planning to vote?

cur tu me vexas?

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