SpankyMcFarland

We are the smallest, right? Or are we in the middle of the pack now? So it is a little silly to compare ourselves to much bigger economies.

Canada deserves praise over the past twenty years - not one man. This is a well run country. It was well run when Harper became PM.

It is not, by any stretch, 'head and shoulders' above the G7 countries. We have done OK. To big it up any more is not accurate. BTW G7 are not our peers - they are all way bigger than we are. We do not really belong in that group any more given the size of our economy.

Our economic performance has not been way better than the rest. Harper's claim on that is flat-out wrong.

Ireland narrowly won the 6N. I am biased on these matters, but I have to admit Ireland were a bit lucky and I would put Ireland with Wales below England and probably below France in this competition, although we all know how unpredictable the French are. So being hammered by Ireland is not a good sign. Canada recovered a bit in the second half. They just don't have enough top class pro players to compete at this level.

Canada have gone backwards in rugby.

It has not been great for a lot of young people who are underemployed. Canada's performance has been anemic in the last five years and I never hear Mr. Harper give any credit to his predecessors for leaving him a country with solid banks, a manageable national debt and no Iraq war dead. You can argue these economic things till the cows come home. Canada has done well enough but is not head and shoulders over the much bigger economies of the G7 nor of its real peer group, the G20. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/spin-cycle-does-canada-s-economic-performance-really-top-the-g7-1.3178235 This whole where would you rather be is a Catch-22 thing. What pol could say I'd rather have been in Britain?

JT's remark seems more aware of the potential meaning of the term than Harper's was, though. This old stock thing would flown over my head completely if it hadn't been pointed out to me. I can't say I find it that offensive.

He's very smart but he does misspeak quite often when off script, usually small grammatical slips.

The National Post's comment about Newfoundland not being around long enough to be old stock kind of ignores the island's story from 1497 to 1949.

Justin?

I don't think he meant to cause this ruckus. The debate was heated and chaotic and it must be easy to misspeak under such circumstances. The problem is it feeds into an existing narrative about him. If he and his surrogates had just apologized for any offence caused, they might have put the controversy to bed more quickly. Sometimes, saying sorry is the wisest course. Instead, Rempel tried to bluff her way past the question today on PandP with two tactics she uses all the time - answer a question not asked and point to the sins of others.

The Hakarena. http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/17/rugby-world-cup-all-blacks-matt-dawson-hakarena And one suggestion for the Irish team - a Riverdance routine.

I think they are different because they actually say other things occasionally. Harper seems to want to bore us into submission on how wonderful the economy has been these last ten years.

I guess you have to try and combine the polls with local knowledge. In my riding it is a bit simpler. We have a Liberal incumbent and an NDP candidate who is new to politics. She's not going to poll anything like him. Fortunately, the Conservative candidate is already unpopular from his MHA days in provincial politics even without the Heave Steve effect so the result should not be close. Famous last words. This election really shows how ridiculous FPTP is in any election that has more than two parties. Harper would never win in a French-style contest against one other opponent but he could well become PM with the support of a third of the electorate.

If people stay loyal to the one of the opposition parties when another is clearly ahead in their riding, they are simply giving Steve another term. To beat someone like this, you've got to be flexible and recognize that party loyalty does not fit well in a FPTP system.

Harper's economic message: Bad things - global economic conditions. Good things - all my work.

Practically speaking, FPTP means no contest in many ridings. In mine, the Liberals are the only viable non-Harper option. A vote for the NDP is effectively a vote for the Conservatives. Never before have accurate polls been so important to determine whom to vote for.

That beer was my first love when I came to Canada. The extra alcohol did its charm no harm.

You'd think the European team would have a much harder time working together but that has not been the case.

At least we can see it on TV, more than can be said for 6N rugby these days. One challenge has been the continuing dominance of the Big Five at the business end of the competition. It would be great to see a new country or two in the semis.

I get the feeling that federal politics matter only to a dwindling cone of older Canadians, and the arguments are over relatively small differences in policy.

His proposal would affect me directly.

One interesting thing. There are a LOT of Conservative supporters defending the party in the comments section of the CBC report.

Yeah, there can be no statute of limitations on mug shots for anybody over five. That was Rob Ford-like news all over the world. But on the other stuff, I think Jonathan Kay is right when he says that this is a generational thing and the younger people won't be so bothered by raunchy, off-colour or insulting written remarks as older voters might be. As a geezer myself, I'm more used to hearing this stuff from my peers than reading it.