socialist

It is disingenuous for the NDP to claim that the Liberals are playing games when it has been Mulcair who injected it into the campaign as an election issue. . Mulcair seems desperate to get into power and ready to throw anything and everything into the mix if it gets him a few more seats. The more I see of Mr Mulcair the less I like or respect him.

Neo fascist? Are you being serious? Maybe you should have accused me of being a Liberal Fascist. When I started this forum I was a die hard socialist, hence my name. My thoughts have changed since that time and I see socialism as a scourge to society. If I could change my name I would, but I don't think I can.

This is a big problem with Canada. People voting because of a manufactured cliche/slogan instead of understanding the important issues. Canadians are too complacent and a majority will believe 100% of what they hear from the left wing media party.

Mulcair will do and say anything to get power and the PM job. Don't fall for his crap - closet separatist at the least and a power hungry incompetent to say the best. He will go the way the wind blows if it's to his advantage. This claim that the NDP attempt to repeal the Clarity Act is somehow intended to *strengthen* separatism is an outright lie. William Johnson has it right: French citizen Thomas Mulcair is knowingly and deliberately weakening federalism in order to get separatist votes. Obviously Mulcair is pandering to the separatists and doesn't care one iota about Canada! Vote NDP and destroy Canada!

Where does Mulcair stand on unity? PMSH has brought a measure of peace to the discontent artificially stirred up by PET. Canadians — including most of the population of Quebec — were cleverly used by the Quebec establishment and by the man who craved acceptance in Quebec, Trudeau, to convince everyone that Quebec was and is a have not province. Anyone truly understanding Canadian history would know otherwise. The elite in Quebec intentionally stirred up the 'ordinary man' there, so as to use the threat of separation. By introducing a Charter, Trudeau bypassed parliament and used the Supreme Court to 'create' a bilingual establishment in Ottawa — not of course excluding the Supreme Court — while marginalizing Anglo influence in the government bureaucracy, and of course anywhere bilingualism could be used to curb Anglo power and increase the power of the Quebec establishment. Separation was the straw man Trudeau and company used to threaten Canadians. Chrétien was almost down on his knees just prior to the last referendum. He and of course his predecessors and the Quebec establishment overplayed their hand. They had a Tiger by the tail. If it wasn't for Canadians from across the land travelling to Montreal, waving a giant flag, Quebec would have no doubt separated. The Quebec establishment almost got what they calculated to use only as a threat; separation. Thankfully, Canadians managed to do the right thing at the right moment in history. Thankfully, Canada has today a Prime Minister who has the interests of everyday Canadians in mind. His push back against Quebec, metastasizing bureaucracies ... and their handmaidens, the unions, some provincial premiers, and a couple of would be Prime Ministers, who appear both cravingly venal and mindlessly naïve about the consequences of their urge to create an even larger unaccountable socialist bureaucracy, has so far been masterful.

So you are saying these NDP supporters aren't happy with Mulcair? I used to be a firm believer in the ideology of the NDP Socialist Caucus. I wonder what % of NDP membership consists of supporters of the Socialist Caucus? http://www.ndpsocialists.ca/

Sadly the entire country will pay for the situation Alberta finds itself in. This along with the Ontario Liberal economic disaster will affect the economy of the entire country. There will be no money to feed the dastardly Equalization so many provinces count on instead of more responsible fiscal management. Let this all be a warning to anyone thinking of voting for Mulcair's NDP or their leftist cousins, the Trudeau Liberals come October.

The recent surge of NDP and Liberal support in Alberta, Ontario, and maybe ..maybe according to this poll the Federation is a testament to the number of Canadians who are now latched firmly onto the public teat. They rely on the union slug mentality types like Wynne, Notley, and Mulcair to shovel the proceeds productive Canadians earn into their hands, in exchange for their vote. Basically Costs nothing Day care? Sure no problem..but first we need to hire thousands of lazy low education union layabouts to manage it. Canada Post home delivery at the loss of hundreds of Millions? ...Absolutely, but of course first, we need to hire back all the grade nine drop out adult paper boys and girls. Dont like having to compete on your merits and productivity? Hey no problem we will just pull out of the TPP talks , in fact ALL FREE TRADE, and everything will be fine...Except that all those other countries will now only trade with their partners in the agreement before even buying a dollar worth of our over priced union slug stuff. The same unions that are the masters of Mulcair and the NDP have progressively dumbed down Canadians to the point where they think Government is the solution to all their shortcomings and will provide everything they need through TAXING the rich ( aka Productive Canadians) Elect Mulcair and watch this country turn into the SH--ter Ontario is .

Don't know about that - at least with the Liberals. Historically, they tread the middle ground rather successfully. And it's not hard to argue that the Chretien government of the '90s is far more representative of traditional "conservative" governance than Harper's government is. As far as the NDP goes .... who the hell knows.

The polls show only that the electorate is going through a bi-polar stage ... results all over the map. With 2 months to go , its going to continue ... The CPC hasn't laid a hand on Smiley Tom or his merry band of Unionist and Enviro masters , that will come. Explain the new green economy and how it will work.The NDP in its policy book states clearly that they will shut down carbon producing industries.I imagine that means the auto industry , oil etc , a lot of high paying jobs ..The oil sands bring in 150 million a DAY to this economy. What is the specific plan to replace those industries?

Who made Coyne the expert? Remember his dust up with Mulcair a few years back? It got quite heated.

Hypothetically, would an MP like Ralph Goodale be more likely to vote with the CPC or with the NDP? I don't think all Liberal MPs would be eager to form an alliance with the NDP.

I think this forum is great for allowing one to present his or her views. The level of debate is outstanding, and I've found that the way I think politically has changed, in some part, because of the debates I have read on this here forum. I am appreciate having the opportunity to present my views, even though my views bring out a lot of venom in other members, as that is not my intention, it's simply a by-product of a stimulating debate.

Most Canadian journalists are smug monkey-see, monkey do jerks with lots of snark but not a lot of brains. That's why so many Canadians turn to the American or British media to get international news. Marche also seems a bit confused about the difference between a mayor and a prime minister. Ford is a conservative, but his tenure only "coincided" with Harper's, so pardon me, but what the heck is that about? I'm not fond of many of Harper's policies, but there is no doubt that his leadership through the financial crisis (aided by a conservative banking system), allowed Canadians to weather that storm safely. I have friends in the US and Britain who were hit much harder, especially those whose jobs depended on the markets. However, because I actually have a horizon that can be broadened, I know this. Marche needs to take a civics class and get out more often. This is typical Canadian reporting. Sigh.

It would be hard to find another skein of deception as artless as this opinion piece. Mr. Harper is not the voluble sort, but Canadians are as well informed about what his government is doing, and about opposition to it, as they have ever been. Canada's economy is very dependent on natural resources, including energy, as the mini-recession we are now experiencing demonstrates. Mr. Harper was wise in choosing a wait and see policy with respect to climate change. The option of gutting a second string player like coal was just not there for us, nor do our cold climate and vast distances allow for an easy fix in energy consumption. Anyone who knows even recent Canadian history knows that the "scandals" of the the Harper years were nothing alongside those of earlier government: a couple of minor breaches of election law and a handful of senators (of both major parties in the Senate) who fudged expense accounts And it was not Harper's chief of staff who was indicted, but a senator. The attempt to link Harper to mayor Ford is pathetically dishonest. There is no link. The worst thing about these scribblings is the failure to mention the policies promised and delivered by this government: tax reforms that have allowed Canadian to shelter their money for retirement, immigration reform, updating of our social security system, increased funding of medical care, balanced budgets, strong support for Israel, and vigorous advocacy of free trade. Does Mr. Marche oppose these?

The New York Times should be writing about Obama's contempt for law (using prosecutorial discretion not to increase the efficiency of immigration law but to blatantly undermine the express provisions of the law -- what is the point of Congress passing a law if the President cannot only undermine it, but can intentionally implement policies that are the exact opposite of those enacted by Congress.) Also, Obama's incredible violations of privacy and internal spying are inimical to a democratic society. Also, the Times should look at the record of the clown that Obama appointed as science advisor (John Holdren -- whose prophecies of doom have been completely wrong) before criticizing Harper's science policies.

Who is Stephen Marche? An accomplished Canadian writer? Yes. He is equally an unabashed supporter of Canada's leftist New Democratic Party (NDP). The current election is a very close race between Stephen Harper's Conservatives and the NDP led by Thomas Mulcair. The New York Times wants to add its voice to Canada's election, so in the interests of balance and fairness, I am looking for another op ed from the other side. Canada's economic record through the financial crisis; its reputation, widely held, as one of the best countries in the world; and its defence of free market capitalism are simply ignored by Mr. Marche, an academic and again, an ardent supporter of the NDP.

Marche sums up the POV of the Harper Derangement Syndrome crowd pretty well. Everything is Harper's fault, the country is going to hell in a handbasket, the sky is falling! A couple of things you would never realize from reading Marche's biased article: Harper has committed to at least 4 more debates during the election, possibly five. What he hasn't agreed to is 9 more debates proposed by all manner of special interest groups. You would also never know that the first (and so far only) Member of Parliament convicted of a robocall offense was Liberal MP Frank Valeriote. There is plenty more. The Times would do a service to the readers by getting the other side story

This is a nice piece written by a former left wing partisan hack employed by the CBC. My, my, it's scary how readily some of you swallow the kool aid before giving some impartial thought.

That's your view, and I'm thankful I don't share it with you. Now how would you go about reducing our "collective" demand on earth's resources? I'm interested.

I will. Too bad 98% of Canadians aren't wise enough to study their platform.

The victim thing won't hold water with anyone. It's simply preposterous to think this "scandal" will be seen by those with an unbiased mindset in any other way than; -Duffy was greedy as sin, -Wright and the PMO were so disgusted by that greed that they sought to reverse it by paying back the money -and the left wing set out to use the events in a blatant attempt to make a mountain out of a mole hill. It's not rocket science .

I don't care about Harper or Wright, Mike Duffy abused his position, broke the public trust and basically stole from the Canadian taxpayer. He is not even man enough to say I'm sorry.