Vancouver King

Nuke them 'til they glow.

Yup, keep the socialism coming, one day you'll see that infinite social spending destroys the economy. We've already reach the point where we keep sliding down this slippery slope. I'm also extremely concerned with the Alberta numbers. Numbers below natural unemployment are sometimes as dangerous as above, and I fear a reccession may occur if the welfare suckers in other places aren't forced to move out here to fill our jobs (not forced... cut off so they have to ). You are truly a piece of work. Which part of my post got you into attack dog mode? Maybe it was posting the actual, true figures from the Statscan report - is that what tripped you off? Is the truth now a leftist plot? Yes, Elections Canada did have the temerity to hire thousands of poll clerks for one days employment on Jan.23rd. What is your alternative to hiring these people? Abolish elections? I stand by my point that 42,000 lost manufacturing jobs is more significant to the country than hiring 15,000 short term election workers. It's not socialism, it's simple common sense.

But it is worse: Reread the article you linked: Quote: "Public administration rose by 15,000 in January, with gains at the federal and municipal level. Temporary hiring for the recent election contributed to added employment in the industry. The downward trend in the number of factory jobs continued in January with a a decline of 42,000, mostly in Ontario." I'm certain you will agree that 15,000 one-day election jobs in January is a far cry from 42,000 added public sector positions. This 42M figure is the real story of the report, another huge monthly loss of decent paying manufacturing jobs - times are getting tougher for Ontario.

The good news from this quiz is that I am not an unreconstucted Stalinist with authoritarian tendencies. Trust me, the forum doesn't want the bad news. In my defense, I did vote for Robert Stanfield in 1972.

D.B.: Stephen Harper ran a campaign on accountability and ethics. How is this being accountable to the voters of Vancouver-Kingsway? Another negative angle on the Emerson affair is this: the three main sources of endorsement for the move are Gordon Campbell, Jack Poole and the Vancouver Board of Trade, a trio of "good ol boys" suspected here as having plotted this move before the election and having as an irresistible side benefit for them, the entire travesty was performed on the backs of a horde of leftist rabble. If class warfare still has merit this dustup was victory for the suits. These conspiracy theories abound in a half-century leftist fiefdom like Kingsway and it can be argued that Harper - coming from a political environment that has not had a left of centre opposition for four generations - had understandably and seriously underestimated the strength of opposition to implementing a rightest agenda in an activist/progressive riding. Harper has expended considerable political capital on this miss-step and it contributed significantly to a less than stellar opening two weeks for his young government.

Geoffrey: Doesn't appeal to me thats for sure. Too ethnic for you, Geoffrey?

Women's hockey shouldn't be an olympic sport. There is only 2 countries in the world that compete at an olympic level, how ridiculous is that for an event. They had to blow out the score because home advantage against the Americans in the final is decided by goal differential. It was embarssing to watch, and hopefully the IOC eliminates women's hockey in a hurray, its just beyond ridiculous why they are there. Where is home ice advantage for the team scoring the most blowouts?

Searched for this information for an hour and found nothing on topic. My understanding is that Liberals have much more to lose than either the CPC or the NDP, in fact corporate money for the Tories and union money for NDP are a surprisingly small percentage of their overall campaign donations. Both rely heavily on small individual donations under $500. Maybe someone else can confirm this.

Geoffrey: ... piss of Harper enough with your whining and he's sure to call that by-election for you. ___________________________________________ Now you are getting the right idea. Bring all the friction to a fast stop. Quit having this pesky crossing- the-floor issue clouding Harper's opening efforts. There's been too much unnecessary controversy for a fledgling government. Heck, your guy might just win and have people like me look foolish for thinking otherwise. Yes, indeed, this messy situation can be cleared up once and for all by Emerson seeking a mandate in a by election running as a Conservative. I knew that eventually we would agree on something.

No. But Emerson will have probably have to have a round the clock bodyguard soon (Campbell did for awhile - may still do so).What kind of annoys me about these 'protests' is I really doubt that a large number of the protesters are actually Liberals. I suspect most are NDP looking for a cause. To many, the party labels are secondary to them being victims of an "Alice in Wonderland" factor completely beyond their control and wishes. Their Jan 23rd choice of party was dismissed in service to David Emerson's ego.

Just heard that since baseball/softball are to be dropped from Summer Games in 2012, Dick Cheney has demanded that quail hunting be adopted.

Emerson is becoming a liability. Harper needs to get this guy in check, shut him up, and issue a statement about his decision before CBC starts any more leftist rants. What, exactly, is Emerson bringing to the CPC table? There has to be an upside somewhere in this debacle. According to James Travers of the Star, a softwood agreement is largely accomplished, therefore Emersons negotiating skills can't be the reason. A voice for downtown Vancouver? Voters here are livid over his action and feel disenfranchised - will he give voice to those concerns? Harper did not help his cause when he was quoted, "I expected that type of superficial criticism", in response to the uproar from voters in the riding. What arrogance. This from the man who promised new ethics in government. If Harper could redo this episode he would not touch Emerson.

What a shame! What would possess them to give the host country team such an unnecessary whooping? Could it be because all the Italian girls on that team seem to rival Sophia Loren in beauty? All I can say is that I hope it makes our team of ugly ducklings feel better. You are right. Why embarrass the hosts. Gretzky was recently quoted as saying that European hockey powers loathe Canada and it's teams. He attributes this to jealousy over our success, but frankly, routs like this don't endear us to anyone. I was a bit disappointed in Pavarotti's performance, it lasted all of 5 minutes.

Canadian women demolish host Italy 16-0 in hockey! I should have called a bookie ...

Concerned: Well the big difference with Belinda was that her riding was historically liberal. The CPC's only won the riding because the voters wanted HER. When she crossed the floor the voters were not upset about it as they were traditionally liberal. Vancouver Kingsway was not CPC riding. In fact, the riding right beside it to the east is traditionally NDP. Exactly. The last time voters in Kingsway elected a party with the word "conservative" in it was the Diefenbaker sweep of 1958. Like many other downtown, urban Canadian ridings the vast majority - 80% - of voters are fundamentally left of centre to one degree or another. This is not the case in Stronach's riding. This move has less to do with CPC reaching out to cities than satisfying Emerson's lust for power - he could not accept the fact that his party's loss meant no more deal making. The move was all about David Emerson, his career and his inability to accept defeat. His decision was made without regard for the politics of his riding. It's the rough equivalent of Calgary Centre voters waking up to find their member of parliament had walked across the floor to sit with the NDP.

I am beginning to believe the chances of Emerson resigning his seat are increasing day by day. CTV Newsnet just reported that web recall sites cannot handle the traffic. Nothing indicates opposition is losing steam. There will be considerable fallout if he decides he's had enough. Perhaps Emerson and Harper chose the wrong flock of sheep to disenfranchise.

Global TV (BCTV) - no friend of West Coast lefties - reported results of a phone poll conducted by Mustel Group for CTV involving voters in Vancouver Kingsway. Responses were taken over the last 48 hours from 202 respondents and the margin of error is approx. 7%. Of all respondents, 42% voted Liberal, 24% NDP and 14% CPC. Of those that voted Liberal, 23% voted for the candidate, David Emerson, 62% voted for the party. To the question, "Would you vote for David Emerson if he ran as a Conservative candidate?", the result was an astonishing 11% yes and 76% no. Apparently the Vancouver Board of Trade endorsement of Emerson's move is, to put it mildly, at odds with the voters in the riding.

Global TV (BCTV) - no friend of West Coast lefties - reported results of a phone poll conducted by Mustel Group for CTV involving voters in Vancouver Kingsway. Responses were taken over the last 48 hours from 202 respondents and the margin of error is approx. 7%. Of all respondents, 42% voted Liberal, 24% NDP and 14% CPC. Of those that voted Liberal, 23% voted for the candidate, David Emerson, 62% voted for the party. To the question, "Would you vote for David Emerson if ran as a Conservative candidate?", the result was an astonishing 11% yes and 76% no. Apparently the Vancouver Board of Trade endorsement of Emerson's move is, to put it mildly, at odds with the voters in the riding.

Their decision was represented, they voted for David Emerson, you got David Emerson. That is the Canadian system. I do agree that it looks bad. Recall petitions don't work in Canada either, people can whine all they want, they elected the guy. Softwood will be settled quite quickly with a competent Natural Resources minister. This has nothing to do with Emerson. ====================================== Gosh, Geoffrey, I don't feel unrespectable. When I voted, the party name was on the ballot right next to each candidate. Is it possible that as many people voted for the party name as the candidates name? Of course recall petitions will not unseat Emerson. What they do serve is to keep the issue in the press and before the public - surely even a partisan like you will agree this is not good for the CPC. So softwood has nothing to do with Emerson, eh? Check ctv.ca right now, Geoffrey, their #2 headline reads: "Emerson denies stalling on softwood solution." I'm just guessing here, but this might indicate that Emerson does have something to do with softwood.

Geoffrey: "The people are completely unrespectable, but it should be that way." What do you mean? Are you saying the decision of Vancouver Kingsway voters should not be respected? The Harper/Emerson action has engendered feelings of "same old, same old", "business as usual" and "they are all the same". How does such generalized cynicism help CPC majority hopes? Opposition to the move is not fading as fast as Tories would like- ie. web recall petitions, Emerson hiding from media - only settlement of softwood on terms favorable to Canada will prove this blatant opportunism was worth the bad press.

This is understatement. I live in Vancouver Kingsway and followed through with my posted intent to vote strategically to punish Liberal corruption. Thus, I voted for Emerson's only real opponent, Ian Waddell of the NDP. The Conservatives ran a distant third in this riding with 18% of the votes cast. Now the corrupt enemy is the new govts best friend. The political gods must be crazy.

Giving Quebec more sovereignty is a wise political move for now, but not a wise political move for the future...it is also not a wise move for Quebec. If we look at Quebec today, regardless of whether we believe this province should have special status or distinct society status or not, it DOESN'T. If you give Quebec more autonomy, you will undoubetly here about it from other provinces, like Newfoundland or Alberta. You will also give the soft nationalist voice more authority, and they will undoubetly want more. Time to realize Canada cannot just be ripped into 10 different pieces. We can either function as a federation or as ten governments...the choice needs to be made now. Decentralizing the country into 10 newly empowered fiefdoms replete with new tax points and reduced federal intrusions will do little to satisfy Quebec's demand for recognition of it's distinctiveness. Success for sovereignty is linked to a definition of Canada as a duality of two solitudes - not 10 - with all the implications of such a partnership - shared ownership and shared power over the dominion. It gets worse for Harper. The fiscal imbalance in Quebec includes a dimension that Quebec is contributing much more to confederation than it is receiving. Forget the fact that this is nonsense and realize that at some point the Conservatives will have to risk the attendant political fallout and explain to Quebecers that from a fiscal perspective they are the country's largest beneficiary.

Tobin has no profile in the West. Then again, when did the Liberals ever care about the west? Allan Rock is their best chance at winning an election in the next 6-8 years. ____________________________________________________________________ I recall his "Captain Canada" performance when, as Fisheries Minister, he threatened the Spanish turbot armada with an archived memo if they didn't desist. Other mentioned contenders are hardly household names: Michael Ignatieff ... Martin Cauchon? Who are these people?

McKenna's announcement increased Hedy's chances five fold. She's now 1000 to 1 instead of 5000. Poor Hedy, she still doesn't realize that thousands in Vancouver Centre held their noses to vote for her over her light fingered opponent. It's the holding of the noses part she can't come to grips with. I'm surprised posters on this thread discount Brian Tobin's leadership possibilities. An extreme partisan, yes, a Chretienite, yes, but tenacious, well informed and with a national profile. I would guess he is the new favorite.

On the reasonable assumption that a breakthrough in Canada's three major cities is a requirement for a majority, this represents a commendable first effort to get the attention of the chattering class. What better way than borrowing a ploy from the Liberal election strategy handbook? Barbeques at Dick Cheney's ranch will have to wait for a majority term, meanwhile, toadying to the urban East is the order of the day.