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normanchateau

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Everything posted by normanchateau

  1. Indeed it was nothing more than a complaint, unjustified in my opinion, to the Alberta Human Rights Commission...and it appears that the complaint was not sustained. The Alberta Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act has included sexual orientation as an unacceptable grounds for discrimination since 1998, following a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. This has nothing to do with C-250 which came years later. No crime was committed in the above case. By contrast, bill C-250 is concerned with hate crimes. C-250 added sexual orientation to hate crimes legislation and Harper and his party vehemently opposed it for religious reasons. This makes them extremists by the standards of most Canadians. And far more so than merely opposing C-38 which was opposed even by some nonConservatives. C-38 opponents can at least use the argument of maintaining traditional values. But even most who support traditional values view gay bashing as a hate crime. Harper doesn't. He voted to exclude physical assaults against gays, i.e., gay bashing, from hate crimes legislation.
  2. I'm not sure that Harper had much of a choice. His party has been infiltrated by a large number of one-issue, religious zealot candidates who were nominated in ridings from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. In British Columbia there are anti-abortionists running for CPC and even a CPC candidate who opposes stem cell research, a position he shares with George Bush. There are four CPC candidates with links to Focus on the Family running in British Columbia. The religious right are well-organized, well-financed and make no pretence of where they want Harper to stand on the issues that are important to them. In West Vancouver, after John Reynolds announced he would not be riunning again, CPC picked as their candidate Mr. John Weston, who runs a "Christian Law Firm." Count on Harper to pander to candidates like this.
  3. I wonder if Harper pressured Grewal to resign or whether it was a spontaneous act on Grewal's part, motivated in part by polls indicating that he'd lose the 2006 election. I'm guessing the latter given the quality of some of the other CPC candidates. At least three riding associations in Nova Scotia and four in British Columbia have picked CPC candidates with ties to Focus on the Family and other groups linked to religious, socially conservative US organizations. These "pro-family" people do not represent mainstream Canadians but they appear to play a disproportionate influence on Stephen Harper and his party. Why else would he follishly be promising to revisit C-38? The growing number of religious zealots in the Conservative Party of Canada in 2005 are described in: www.valleysceptic.com/conservatives_hijacked_by_zealots.html Harper has given no indication whatsoever that he's bothered by the growing influence of these fanatically religious, socially conservative, US Republican types on CPC policies. Nor did he give any indication that he was bothered by Grewal's behaviour. Not exactly the sign of a strong leader and perhaps a predictor of his future performance in the unlikely event that he became Prime Minister.
  4. This is the first good news in a long time for Harper. Let's not forget that Grewal won his seat last year by only a few hundred votes. The NDP was projected to take this seat easily from CPC and the local Indo-Canadian community has been campaigning for his ouster. With a new candidate, CPC is back in the running in this riding. Too bad for Harper that Nina Grewal hasn't stepped down. She's been a largely invisible and silent MP. CPC can do better.
  5. Strategic Counsel today, 11/29/2005, just published some new national percentages for party preference: Liberals 35 CPC 29 NDP 17 BQ 14 Green 5 Here are the Strategic Counsel numbers for British Columbia, 11/29/2005: Liberals 35 CPC 30 NDP 29 And here are the seat projections from JORD.CA: Liberals 135 CPC 89 NDP 25 BQ 59 Neither the Liberals or CPC are headed for a majority but so far it looks like Harper is more likely to be dumped by his party. Who knows, if CPC actually picks a leader who is not a social conservative, CPC might stand a chance of defeating the Liberals next time. No matter how one analyzes the current statistics, approximately 70% of Canadians support parties to the left of Harper's. I don't see that changing until CPC picks a more socially middle-of-the-road leader.
  6. Canada has had hate crimes legislation in place for years. Previously, hate crimes included factors such as race, ethnicity and religion. So if you committed a crime against someone that was motivated by race, ethnicity or religion, you would receive a stiffer penalty than those penalties normally in place for that crime. What bill C-250 did was add sexual orientation to hate crimes legislation. Calling someone a fag is not a crime and C-250 didn't change that. Religious fundamentalists, extreme evangelicals, the religious right, the Christian Heritage Party and Stephen Harper opposed C-250. They have no problem with hate crimes legislation based on race, religion or ethnicity but they have a problem with protecting gays and lesbians under hate crimes legislation. Verbal gay bashing was not a crime prior to C-250 and it's not a crime after C-250. However, if you physically assault or kill someone merely because they're gay, C-250 stiffens the penalties. Stephen Harper voted against that as did most members of his party. The NDP, BQ and Liberals all voted in favour of C-250 and view Harper's opposition as motivated by his irrational fear that C-250 will be used against the churches and their more extreme members, many of whom are Harper supporters. Most Canadians are far more socially tolerant than Harper and his religion-driven opposition to C-250 has come back to haunt him.
  7. Harper certainly does care about Alberta. Didn't he propose putting a firewall around Alberta before he became CPC party leader? Does he really think that Canadians are so stupid that they'll forget about every one of his bizarre ideas? Does he really think that Canadians will forget why he quit the Reform Party then came back to lead the Alliance Party? This is not the kind of man I'd ever, ever want negotiating with Quebec on behalf of Canada. No wonder he's dead last in the Quebec polls after the BQ, Liberals and even NDP. CPC supporters are deluding themselves if they think no-win Harper will do any better in 2006 than in 2004. He's the same Harper, with the same social conservative baggage, that he was last time. I know this is difficult for many Albertans to accept but outside of Alberta, he has little credibility.
  8. Democratic space does a regular projection of predicted seats based on party preferences of the previous week and an analysis of how these numbers translate into individual seats in each party. The web address is: http://www.democraticspace.com/canada/2005.../national.shtml You will need to change the three dots in the URL above with the word election. Here are their seat projections as of November 27, 2005: Liberal 120 CPC 91 NDP 35 BQ 62 The web site also gives the numbers for each province as well as makes predictions for each riding along with projected margins of victory. The Quebec numbers, BQ 62, Liberals 13, seem reasonable since there are 13 ridings in Quebec which are largely anglophone or allophone rather than francophone. Still, this is a coup for the BQ since they're projected to win 20% of all the seats in Ottawa with a mere 13% of the vote. The NDP is also a winner in these projections since they currently have less than 20 seats. Nonetheless, even 35 seats is still only 11% of the seats in the House of Commons, far less than their percentage of the popular vote which is now near 19% in the polls. It's not surprising that the NDP and BQ want an election now since they're both projected to gain seats. By contrast, all seat projection websites, e.g. jord.ca, democratic space, UBC-ESM Election Forecaster, etc., predict a loss of CPC seats nationally. Odd that Harper got tricked into an election now by the NDP and BQ but perhaps he's praying for a miracle to drop from the sky between now and January 23rd. The biggest changes are projected in BC where the Liberals are projected to win 14 seats, the NDP 11 seats and the CPC 11 seats. This means that 50% of the BC seats currently held by CPC will be wiped out. That would leave only Ontario and Alberta as the only provinces with a significant amount of CPC seats, i.e., 29 and 27, respectively. Without the CPC seats in Ontario, CPC would have no more seats than the BQ. The Greens are at 5% nationwide but that does not result in them getting seats. Nonetheless, they will be a spoiler in the many ridings where the margin of victory will be less than 5%.
  9. Should be interesting to watch Harper campaigning for the No side in the next Quebec referendum. Let's see now. Question: Where exactly is he in the polls in Quebec? Answer: In fourth place after the BQ, Liberals and NDP. Question: How many seats is he projected to win in Quebec? Answer: Zero, which is why some Quebec CPCers want him replaced. Question: How many party leaders in the history of Canada have become Prime Minister without winning a single seat in Quebec? Answer:
  10. Yes, the difference is like night and day. The leader of the CPC voted to exclude gay bashing from hate crimes legislation, i.e., Bill C-250. It's not clear whether he was motivated by homophobia or the irrational fear that gays and lesbians would use C-250 to take away "religious freedom". Either way, Harper's position is not one shared by most Canadians as I suspect most Canadians view gay bashing as a hate crime. The Liberals, NDP and BQ voted unanimously in favour of C-250. And despite the passage of C-250, Harper and his supporters still have their religious freedom to hate whoever they want to hate. Gord S, looks like this is where many of us have migrated. I preferred your previous name on 50plus even though it wasn't a credibility enhancer. I probably should have changed mine as well but I think I'll just take my lumps as usual from angry Liberal bashers and the religious right.
  11. Frank McKenna's name also appeared. That's four Liberal names by my count in this thread. And who will replace Stephen Harper when he loses the next election? Gurmant Grewal or the "honest" CPC Deputy Leader who made a deal with David Orchard then reneged on the deal after consultations with Brian Mulroney?
  12. I think it will be a minority government but I don't feel sufficiently confident to predict whether that minority will be Liberal or Conservative. If Liberal, I expect CPC will dump Harper and replace him with a more electable leader who is not a social conservative extremist. Harper's replacement might go on to win a Conservative majority. If Conservative, I expect the Liberals will quickly dump Martin and replace him with someone untainted by adscam. Martin's replacement will, with the help of the NDP and/or BQ, defeat the Conservative minority and go on to form a Liberal majority government. In other words, whoever wins a minority government this time won't win a majority in the next round.
  13. Bill C-250 certainly is an issue. It exemplifies perfectly the type of man that Harper was and still is. Harper supporters are unable even to explain why he voted against it so they instead claim it's not an issue. It's a lot easier to say something is not an issue than try to explain his extreme position. I suppose C-38 is also not an issue even though Harper promised to revisit C-38 if elected. Harper supporters want to make "Liberal corruption" an issue rather than acknowledge that Harper is an extremist who voted to exclude gay bashing from hate crimes legislation.
  14. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I agree wholeheartedly, its time for a change, Bill C-250 isn't an issue in this campaign, and Harper and the CPC don't have their hands in the till. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Who says Bill C-250 isn't an issue in this campaign? Why are Harper's past actions, no matter how inappropriate, intolerant and inconsistent with the wishes of a majority of Canadians, not an issue? Most Canadians view gay bashing as a hate crime. Harper and his party don't. In my opinion, such a man is not worthy of being Prime Minister. Can any Conservative supporter explain to me exactly why Harper voted against C-250?
  15. Canada already has the healthiest economy of all the G-8 nations. Do you really believe that it's only the gay and lesbian community which favors including gay bashing in hate crimes legislation?
  16. What is it that they like about the Conservatives? Is it that Stephen Harper voted against bill C-250, the legislation that added gay bashing to the list of hate crimes. C-250 passed thanks to the NDP, BQ and Liberals all supporting it. Harper's party did not support C-250.
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