Evening Star

How did the 1995 budget cater to those who "favour a nanny state"? (And why does AB spend so much more per capita on health and education than ON if they don't favour a 'nanny state'? We're not exactly talking about New Hampshire here.)

I'm fully aware of Broadbent's importance, historically. I'm just not sure that this is going to persuade many Mulcair supporters.

I'm not sure how many Mulcair supporters are going to change their minds over the opinion of someone who led the party in the 80s. I know I won't.

Yeah, I don't get that one either. I've never had to wait months for a regular doctor's appointment. (To see a specialist, maybe.) If my doctor is booked for the day and I really need to see someone, I can always go to a walk-in clinic and be seen within a couple of hours (an option I didn't have in the US, by the way.) And ER visits can mean several hours of sitting in the US as well.

I get the point you're trying to make. I just don't think you're giving Dolly Parton enough credit.

Dion is no Dolly Parton!

I was posting drunk and was being meaner than I really should. But yes, that's primarily what I was referring to: I see that as the one challenging idea that has been presented on which there is significant disagreement and I do think it's completely foolish, for reasons I (and cybercoma) have already given. (Otherwise, I have trouble taking seriously debates about the ideological differences between the guy who worked for Romanow and the guy who served in Charest's cabinet [and was Layton's co-deputy]. Nor am I very moved by questions about the centrist intentions of the guy who led the fight against corporate tax cuts and who's probably the most prominent cap and trade advocate in Canadian politics.) I also think it's a little dumb to advocate lowering the voting age, as Cullen did. (Are Grade 11 students really demanding this en masse? Do we have any real plan to motivate 21-year-olds to vote before we worry about extending the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds?)

I guess "assume" is the wrong word: I conclude that he's a moron based on the ideas that he has presented so far and as a result, I tune him out.

Strongly agree. If the Liberals were to really take a stand on this, it's one of the things that could convince me to vote Liberal. In general, I do agree that the Liberals need to figure out what they stand for, as they can't really be the NDP.

Admittedly, I kind of assume that Cullen is a moron and tune out whatever he says so I might be overlooking some important disagreements.

Is this the first leadership race you've ever seen in your life? This is possibly the least infighting I've seen in a leadership contest. The disagreements between candidates are so minor that I fell asleep during the last debate.

I hardly think our electoral system is absolutely perfect and beyond any sort of questioning or challenge. Edit: And, remember, I don't even necessarily support PR myself.

Finally watching the last leadership debate. Wow, Singh has come a long way since the first debate. He may be my #2 pick so far based on this first answer. Edit: The more Ashton goes on about 'her generation', the more I'm getting embarrassed to be part of it. Edit 2: Ugh, seriously, lowering the voting age? One more reason to stay away from Cullen.

Thanks, cybercoma. Those are my issues with MMP as well.

We don't have a presidential system. Harper won a seat in Calgary. In a Parliamentary system, the government only governs with the confidence of Parliament. Saying that one party with a plurality but a minority of seats should be able to govern regardless of Parliament's preferences is an attitude that undermines Parliamentary democracy: this is tyranny of the minority.

Has today's debate been archived anywhere? CPAC doesn't appear to have it, on first glance.

I'm tending to agree with j44.

The left-wing bias of the media rears its ugly head again. Oh wait...

Nope, that's one more solid point in Mulcair's favour, as far as I'm concerned.

With the new voting format, with so many members voting by mail or online ahead of time, could those sorts of deals really have the same impact that they used to?

Yes, this was exactly my point! In the same way that Peggy Nash is much more socially liberal than Tommy Douglas, she's also well to his right on economic issues! As such, I don't know what the basis is for saying she would be one of the most left-wing NDP leaders ever.

I didn't watch the debate but I'll take your word on it. I never thought of Tommy Douglas as a progressive on social/cultural issues at all, in any case. My point was strictly about economic policy and there I do think Douglas and Lewis were much further left than Nash, in any traditional sense where "left" relates to socialism. (I personally tend to think of "left"-"right" in terms of economics and "liberal"-"conservative" is terms of social/cultural issues, like Vote Compass did.)

Wow, Liberal bounce. The NDP have their work cut out for them.

I question whether Douglas still believed that by the time he was federal NDP leader in the 60s. Even so, by the same token, Douglas/Lewis seemed to advocate a greater role for the government in the economy than anyone advocates today: when does someone like Nash even talk about creating Crown corporations or implementing something like the FIRA?

I don't see what makes her more left-wing than Douglas or Lewis, at least on economics.