GWiz

That's what I said... Please try and keep up...

Substitute USA for "Canada" and we can agree... Lyin' Brian MORONey was the BEST Prime Minister the United States ever had... Remember these words - "REVENUE NEUTRAL", "FAIRER", "MORE OPEN", when it comes out of the mouths of big spending "CONSERVATIVES"... Since you're a LIBERTARIAN I'm hardly surprised that you're against so called "entitlements" (aka social benefits) like universal health care, child care, pension income supplements and the like... Even though the Chretien/Martin Liberals had other ways less friendly to Big Business to deal with "Balanced Budgets" and "deficit spending" in the end the biggest TAX HIKE in Canadian history by the "CONSERVATIVES" did indeed help on that score quite substantially... Since the GST meant it was done on the backs of those least able to afford paying TAXES it's still sad that it was done in that manner... But at least it was done... Already previously addressed by me...

I voted MAJORITY cause I HOPE Harper reads the "tea leaves" wrong again and calls a third meaningless election... Then, hopefully, we get 3 new leaders in TIME for the next election after that...

Didn't Walker "consider that" too?

Hmmm, maybe you're starting to "catch on" to the POINT I was making... Conversely; is the US (and other countries to lesser extents) big enough to "put a dent in" Canada's economy? Be honest now... BTW - Read item 11 in the NAFTA agreement, you may change your mind about what you stated earlier... Oh, one more little thing about "Canadian Companies" buying up or "merging" with foreign companies, you may want to delve into that a whole lot deeper, things are not always (read seldom) what they seem...

Naaa, doesn't bother me a bit really... If you'd have read my posts you wouldn't be making the assumptions you are... Plus I didn't say I didn't care about elections or their outcomes, of course I do, I just said that they wouldn't have much affect on me or my life, and it won't... If you're trying to get my goat my friend you are really failing miserably... FYI - Just so you can't say you haven't been warned, remember that - Plutocracy Now: What Wisconsin Is Really About - article? About how American Unions lost their power without having the Democrats on their side... Do YOU know the only way something like that will happen (it's already happening) in Canada? If YOU guessed by Unions and "ordinary" workers not STRONGLY supporting the Liberal Party of Canada thereby forcing them to get their FUNDING (which is what really counts) from business just like the CONS... Then see how much "influence" unions and the general public have in Canadian politics... Have a nice day...

Election results yes, polls not so much... Hmmmm, the Greens have been asking me to run, think I should consider it? That's of course is if YOU think I care one way or another... Since I actually don't, simply because whatever the outcome of the next election it's not gonna affect me very much at all... But it might affect YOU big TIME...

Why don't the NDPers on here like this thread? Is it the side of Layton you don't like to admit? Did getting "shut out" in the last by-elections make Layton do this or was it something else?

Walker's Republicans at the federal level GIVE $700 BILLION to well off and RICH Americans and then turns around and goes after LOWER middle class income earners earning for the most part under $50,000.00 annually to make up for a budget deficit in Wisconsin? Give me a break, how bad is the US education system already? Now YOU know, they can't do that math...

Naaa, Ignatieff is Ignatieff, and while I had a much better impression of him in person vs what snippets I've seen as sound bites, he's no Trudeau (senior or junior) when he speaks... In the end it will come down to simple FACTS and REALITIES between Harper and Ignatieff with Layton as always blowing wind at both of them knowing that he's not really even in the picture... If Elizabeth May can articulate an even remotely acceptable Green platform she'll split the "also ran" vote of the NDP her way... While I'll admit May will do more vote splitting on the left many people will see the need to support the Liberals as the ONLY means of stopping Harper from gaining a majority... If Ignatieff can get the Liberal message across the Liberals will do just fine... Liberals are more "conservative" in spending than Harper and Co. and they can prove it... Liberals are more "socially concious" than the NDP and they can prove that too; PLUS they could actually form a Goverment which the NDP can't do... I'm actually looking forward to the next election to see how things play out and how Ignatieff performs on the big stage in front of a real audience... Whatever happens it's not gonna make any real difference to me, but it sure as hell may have a HUGE effect on YOU and the life you have going forward into the future... Be careful what you wish for, YOU may not like what YOU get... Be INFORMED not just led...

Follow the money, I can't, can YOU? - It seems like only yesterday Canada was running surpluses and was led by a fiscally conservative government. Now both seem distant memories, as recently confirmed by the latest news that the Harper government will run deficits even larger than planned and for even longer than planned. Over at least seven years Mr. Harper plans to add no less than $170.3 billion more to the federal debt. It is time for Canada talk about the costs of this spending problem. Good governments make tough choices. The Harper government has chosen to overreact to Canada's recession choosing spending over restraint. They keep saying it is the worst recession since the dirty thirties. Despite this being untrue for Canada, they use this claim to bolster their interest in big spending. Unemployment was a lot higher during the recession of the 1980s and '90s than it is today and was similar during the '70s. When one factors in another relevant economic indicator -- inflation -- Canada's is much better off during this recession than during any of the last three. Despite this fact, the Harper government has chosen to go on a giant spending spree. Last fall the prime minister promised a balanced budget, as did all federal party leaders. Much has changed since then. The January budget projected a deficit of $34 billion. In May it was increased to $50 billion. Now the deficit figure has been upped to almost $56 billion. Since revenue has only fallen by $17 billion, this giant deficit figure reveals how massive overspending is the key deficit culprit. In fact, from fiscal year 2005-06 through 2009-10 the Harper government will have increased program spending by $66.7 billion -- a 38% increase in only four years. Much of the so-called "stimulus spending" allegedly was "temporary." It's turning out to be as temporary as income taxes, when they were "temporarily" introduced in 1917. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty keeps suggesting there is $29 billion in stimulus spending in 2009-10 and another $17 billion in 2010-11. If this is the case, and it is temporary, then spending should decline substantially in 2011-12. Instead, the fall economic update reveals a planned one-time meagre spending reduction of $3.9 billion -- 1.6% of program spending in 2010-11. Simply put, the spending is not temporary. The government argues that the strength of Canada's economic position means it can afford to shoulder this added economic burden. While this may be true, it is bad fiscal policy. Canada's debt peaked at just under $563 billion in 1996-97. In the subsequent 10 years, it had been whittled down to just under $458 billion. The Harper spending spree will have wiped out in only three years all that was paid back over the last 10. A look at the debt clock hosted by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation at www.debtclock.ca shows Canada's debt at almost $490 billion, climbing at a rate of $1,772.57 per second! - http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1761269

The things I see is that most of Canada pretty much missed the '07/'08 recession all together with the exception of some layoffs in the automotive and related sectors in the southern Ontario region... How that turned into a $67 BILLION dollar deficit still escapes me... Where did Harper & Co spend that money and why? Where's the accounting for it? Here in Winnipeg the shopping malls were full throughout the so called recession... Major building projects from the mega floodway expansion to new airport and centerport building to new PUBLICLY funded football stadium to a new Ikea based shopping mall to new Manitoba Hydro Building to The Human Rights Museum to new mega northern Hydro Projects and transmission line and so on, and so on, Manitoba has been booming throughout the so called recession and post recession... Saskatchewan too is booming in both potash and new Oil finds... Building a new Domed Stadium in Regina and Saskatoon is expanding into a major city... Where was all that money spent? I'd really like to know without the BS and meaningless rhetoric please...

Harper spending too much Only one comment applies... DUH!

I know, but it is the point of this thread right?

I'm a "news junky" so I see all the "noise" in Canadian politics all the TIME, but the vast, vast majority of Canadians are totally oblivious to what's happening on the Canadian political scene right now... Wait until a writ is dropped and you just may see a completely different picture than some would like to paint, especially on here... The TRUTH is that Ignatieff is still a fairly unknown quantity and a LOT will depend on the QUALITY of people the different parties have running in ridings across Canada and NOT just the party leaders who only appear on ballots in their own ridings... On that score the LIBERALS are looking pretty good I'm thinking... Just MHO of course... But I for one wouldn't like having an Oda (or a bunch of other CONS) out front and center representing my party in the next election whenever that may be...

Cuba's a nice place to visit (and I have) but I wouldn't want to live there... I like CANADA, it's my home, and like Cuba we have some problems, so the question is will Harper win or will Layton?

Who cares? Seriously, who really cares? I know I don't, at least not much, it's something that's more "background noise" than a substantive issue... There's WAY too much "big stuff" happening in the world today for things like this to matter...

It's a poll, it's to express a variety of opinions, it seems no one right of center is interested enough to do so... At least not yet, then again I did ask tough questions, so if someone doesn't really believe in something they won't answer them I guess...

You have your "history"; I have the TRUTH... To each their own... Remember, the LATEST $56 BILLION deficit isn't Trudeau's nor any "liberal's" it's ALL YOURS... AND so is every borrowed dollar spent on summits, planes, tax cuts, and the "other" wasted money too, including a 2% reduction in YOUR beloved GST, and squadering the LIBERAL'S "rainy day fund" to boot... Now the big question; what did YOU gain from it? Cause YOU must have gained something since YOU so ardently support it, right? So you'll pardon me for laughing, eh...

It'd have been at $1.15 long ago if Harper & Co weren't doing everything they can to keep it down... btw, since I was earning US dollars at the TIME I really didn't mind MORONey Dollars aka "the Northern Peso"... Chretien indeed...

But it could still be better...

Better question, what does Canada still own and/or do, and how long will it under the Harper Government? Oil refining - gone - US does it and sells gas back to Canada, the gas prices at the pump - US controlled, meat packing - done in the US Mad Cow taught us the mistake there, aerospace - US handout (Canadarms) rest US, even Canada's census now under US Lockheed Martin control, and so on and so on and so on... Applause to Saskabush for STOPPING the selloff of Canada's potash industry, the TSX - we'll see, next up? Take your pick, the Harper Gov. don't mind at all... Funny thing is I really don'r care cause NOTHING affects me, but YOU may find that living in YOUR OWN country that's under foreign or foreign corporate control has certain disadvantages for Canada and Canadians...

pssst, it was LAYTON not Iggy that caved on the Corporate tax breaks and it was LEYTON not Iggy that'spent 45 minutes in a private meeting trying to make a DEAL not to force an election... Maybe that thread needs bumping?

Cool... Everybody happy or simply resigned?