Moose Jaw Forum

Priapus wrote:nego, are you honestly comparing the importance of the multiplex to free elections in society???

Hey I have heard that the MultiPlex is going to make this city the centre of the universe so maybe it is a fair comparisson.

As someone that would call myself a Reformer I personally think that Harper sold out the dream of true change for political expediency.
When Reform was founded it was suppose to be a chance for the grassroots to have a say and change the way Ottawa was run. What has really happened is that in their haste to form government the ideals were sold out and in many, many ways we are right back to where we were in the first place.

Locally we "nominated" or I should say the party leader unilaterally nominated the candidate. There was no chance for the locals to select who they wanted, but rather it was Harper, the party leader, who said who was running. So really who is calling the shots here - the local electorate or the party????

If you look at what OUR Canadian electoral system is suppose to be - represented by an individual selected by their peers - we have morphed into something quite different. The parties have far too much control of what is said as well as the agenda with the local electorate really having nothing to add.

There was a call last summer to hold a convention to restart the Reform party but it never happened. That is not to say there isn't going to be some sort of re-incarnation as there is still a lot of grumbling out there in what was thought to be Reform country.

No Harper sold out the dreams of true reform and in the end is no different than the people and system many years ago he said he was setting out to replace.

As far as this debate goes if he was any sort of a man he would have NO FEARS of taking on Ignatieff in a one on one format.

As far as the debate between Harper and Ignatieff goes I see that Rick Mercer himself has offered to host and moderate a showdown between what many see as the top political dogs in the country.
Mercer also sweetened the pot by offering to make a substantial donation to a charity of the candidate's choice = Ignatieff has agreed to such a showdown still no word from Harper....
SOURCE - http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadav ... ction.html

nego wrote:the whole election is a waste of taxpayer dollars totally unnecessary ...I will not be voting for your Iggy no matter how badly he fails in a debate. furthermore severalof the folks on this website seem to be only concerned about tax dollar spending everyone on here should be pissed right off about the election

You sound like you put about as much value on democracy as the 13 year old in this article; http://www.thenownewspaper.com/duty+inf ... story.html

truth defender wrote:So lets affix the root cause why we CANNOT have a majority government in this country on the real culprits - the Bloc and their best "Conservative friend" Brian Mulroney.

I could care less about the Bloc but maybe you could explain why we had majorities in the past while the Bloc was around.
It boils down to poor leadership, policies and record. Replace Harper with someone with some integrity and backbone along with a couple tweets in policy and you have a majority. The Liberals, , , , well they are carrying way too much past baggage left by previous leaders they cannot shed to even think about it.

jty wrote:

truth defender wrote:So lets affix the root cause why we CANNOT have a majority government in this country on the real culprits - the Bloc and their best "Conservative friend" Brian Mulroney.

I could care less about the Bloc but maybe you could explain why we had majorities in the past while the Bloc was around.
It boils down to poor leadership, policies and record. Replace Harper with someone with some integrity and backbone along with a couple tweets in policy and you have a majority. The Liberals, , , , well they are carrying way too much past baggage left by previous leaders they cannot shed to even think about it.

I think if you take a really good look at the breakdown of lets face it a three party race with the Bloc influence it really has thwarted any type of majority.
When there were four parties - and no Bloc - suddenly it seems majorities were almost a given.
SOURCE -http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/1867-present.html

Prior to the departure of Chretian - the Conservatives had a strong Reform element which made the Eastern powerbrokers nervous - now Harper and the Conservatives have changed the game and become very friendly with the Central Canada forgetting their roots. Many of the true Reformers have departed or been devoured by the party (the ideals are long ago gone).
As far as the NDP/CCF goes they have fluctuated up and down in their numbers but deep down they have a strong constituency and gone from outsiders politically to more mainstream and accepted. They have been a force not to be trifled with especially when it comes to forcing policy change. Personally I doubt if people ever want an NDP government nationally but then again deepdown people like them because they keep a lot of people honest and have forced some good measures - not just Medicare.
If parties seen as left-wing and centre-left ever united under one banner and they could maintain their voters we would see a left-wing country/government here no problem.

OTTAWA — Stephen Harper is ignoring the ongoing calls for him to debate Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff one on one.


CBC comedian Rick Mercer over the weekend offered to moderate a debate between the two leaders. Other organizations have put their names forward as well, including a public-policy group called Canada2020 that is connected with former CBC host Don Newman.


Ignatieff has accepted Mercer's offer. But Harper said he's moved on.


"The train has left the station," the Conservative leader told reporters in Ottawa on Sunday. "The networks made their decision and we have accepted their decision."


The Liberals have accused Harper of being a "chicken" for backtracking on his original suggestion that the two men take part in a mano-a-mano debate. On Sunday, Harper suggested it was the Liberals who backed down in private negotiations among the parties and the consortium of networks that organize the televised leaders debates.


"We were open to all kinds of different formats. Our preference was one on one, but we would abide by whatever decision the television networks made.

SOURCE - www.canada.com/debate+train+left+statio ... z1IUi3VEA1

The incredible rubber chicken strikes again.

jty wrote:

nego wrote:the whole election is a waste of taxpayer dollars totally unnecessary ...I will not be voting for your Iggy no matter how badly he fails in a debate. furthermore severalof the folks on this website seem to be only concerned about tax dollar spending everyone on here should be pissed right off about the election

You sound like you put about as much value on democracy as the 13 year old in this article; http://www.thenownewspaper.com/duty+inf ... story.html

jty...you will have to do better than that

nego wrote:jty...you will have to do better than that

how`s this nego,,

jty wrote:

nego wrote:jty...you will have to do better than that

how`s this nego,,

Relax folks; jty and nego are just having a deep political debate.

Juney wrote:

jty wrote:

nego wrote:jty...you will have to do better than that

how`s this nego,,

Relax folks; jty and nego are just having a deep political debate.

Unlike Mr Ignatieff and the Electric Rubber Chicken....