This election should never been called.

[independent]

Voters are tired of elections. There is no reason that this election was called. Parliment should be in session shielding us from the economic crisis in the states.

[Topaz]

Voters are tired of elections. There is no reason that this election was called. Parliment should be in session shielding us from the economic crisis in the states.

I agree and I still say if Harper gets a minority again then he should resign as leader of the Cons because he said he couldn't work with the opposition parties. What are we suppose to do have another election until he gets a majority?

[Topaz]

Voters are tired of elections. There is no reason that this election was called. Parliment should be in session shielding us from the economic crisis in the states.

I agree and I still say if Harper gets a minority again then he should resign as leader of the Cons because he said he couldn't work with the opposition parties. What are we suppose to do have another election until he gets a majority?

[DrGreenthumb]

I agree and I still say if Harper gets a minority again then he should resign as leader of the Cons because he said he couldn't work with the opposition parties. What are we suppose to do have another election until he gets a majority?

Harper has simply shown that his word is worthless and can't be trusted. He passed a fixed election date law then broke it because he saw political advantage for himself in doing so. Harper is a proven liar, and has proven he cares more about his own political aspirations, than about the good of Canada.

We will have a lot of heartbroken parents in this country when their children get put into prisons with real violent criminals. A lot of young people are going to end up in jail over youthful experimentation with drugs, something most Canadians have tried at some point in their lives. MandaTORY sentencing laws take away the discretion of a judge to decide an appropriate remedy based on the facts of each INDIVIDUAL case. No kid is going to come out of prison a less dangerous, more well adjusted citizen. The exact opposite is true. The conservatives will do a huge ammount of damage to our youth, and their opportunity to achieve their goals in life.

Parents who support these reactionary drugwar laws will quickly change their tune when it is their own child being put in harm's way and exposed to the violent predaTORY offenders in prison populations.

[Moonbox]

I know I've tried to explain it like a 100 times but I'll try to briefly explain it again as simply as possible so everyone here understands.

The fixed election date became 100% meaningless when Dion and the opposition started threatening to vote non-confidence. When this occurred, it became painfully obvious the opposition was only prepared to co-operate until public polls started looking good for them to win an election.

Regardless of whether or not you think it's 'fair' or 'right' for Harper to have brushed off his own piece of leaky legislation, it would have been supremely stupid to allow Dion and the Liberals to drum up public and financial support until they felt they could win an election and then FINALLY vote non-confidence.

You can fuss all you want about it but when the opposition throws threats and rhetoric around about opposing Harper and bringing down his government, they really shouldn't cry about it when he decides to step into their ring and play their own game.

What I find absolutely hilarious, however, is how for months and months people were bravely posting about how there should be an election to put the Harper government out of its 'misery'. Now these same people are pouting and carrying on that there's an election because it seems the polls aren't really agreeing with how they feel right now.

[guyser]

I know I've tried to explain it like a 100 times but I'll try to briefly explain it again as simply as possible so everyone here understands.

You tried to explain it before and it didnt work than as now because your same flaw still rears its head.

We know he didnt break the law, however, he did say he would give up the advantage of calling an election at his opportune time...only to go back on that.

He did say he would call an election if Parliament didnt work , however he has been able to get everything he wanted since the libs are so lame they let him.

So he calls an election because it suits him and the CPC's. Nothing wrong with that, except what was he saying before.........or rather why did he when he had no desire to play along?

[Moonbox]

You tried to explain it before and it didnt work than as now because your same flaw still rears its head.

We know he didnt break the law, however, he did say he would give up the advantage of calling an election at his opportune time...only to go back on that.

He did say he would call an election if Parliament didnt work , however he has been able to get everything he wanted since the libs are so lame they let him.

So he calls an election because it suits him and the CPC's. Nothing wrong with that, except what was he saying before.........or rather why did he when he had no desire to play along?

If he had a majority government I would agree with you and I'd not be able to defend anything he said. In a minority government where the opposition has announced its intention publicly to bring down your government (when it's advantageous to them) only an idiot would cripple himself and hand over every advantage to his opponents. Non-confidence was informally declared by the opposition and they avoided it to play the 'poll and wait' game by the silly technicality of abstaining from every vote.

You can complain all you want going, "But! But! He said...!" but if you think that it would have been intelligent and reasonable for Harper to make absolutely certain the Liberals had every advantage and should have been allowed to poll until they knew they could win before they finally voted non-confidence then you're clearly incapable of having a 'reasoned' and worthwhile discussion.

Again, I don't think Harper holds the high ground here and I don't think anyone is claiming he does. This, however, does not change the fact that only an idiot would have allowed the liberals to scheme against a weak minority government until a Liberal victory was assured. The liberals were not doing their job. They were abstaining from voting on legislation they felt was completely wrong for Canada. They were ONLY looking to keep their jobs safe and they were more concerned with getting back into power than they were with looking out for Canada.

Don't throw the balogna around about who should be or shouldn't be trusted. We all know every politician out there is more slippery than a snake bathed in KY. I vote in my best interests and so do you and we make our own decisions but acting like Harper is somehow less trustworthy than anyone else out there is stupid. You've seen Layton's and Dion's spending promises. They're criticizing Harper for SPENDING while their spending promises DWARF Harper's. It takes no genius to understand that they're both making things up as they go along. I won't even comment on May because I think she's an even bigger joke than Layton.

[guyser]

In a minority government where the opposition has announced its intention publicly to bring down your government (when it's advantageous to them) only an idiot would cripple himself and hand over every advantage to his opponents.

Again, he said what he said and then failed to follow. No more no less.

Non-confidence was informally declared by the opposition and they avoided it to play the 'poll and wait' game by the silly technicality of abstaining from every vote.

In other words.........Harper got what he wanted. Parliament worked exactly like it should.

You can complain all you want going, "But! But! He said...!" but if you think that it would have been intelligent and reasonable for Harper to make absolutely certain the Liberals had every advantage and should have been allowed to poll until they knew they could win before they finally voted non-confidence then you're clearly incapable of having a 'reasoned' and worthwhile discussion.

Why the constant need to try and justify what he did? No one is arguing it wasnt a good move, but rather he said he wouldnt pull this ....and then he did.

He also said he wouldnt govern by polls.....and what has he done? Govern by polls according to you .

This, however, does not change the fact that only an idiot would have allowed the liberals to scheme against a weak minority government until a Liberal victory was assured.

Actually, only an idiot would present this rule that could only come back and haunt him so soon after. Did he forget he had a minority govt?

The liberals were not doing their job. They were abstaining from voting on legislation they felt was completely wrong for Canada. They were ONLY looking to keep their jobs safe and they were more concerned with getting back into power than they were with looking out for Canada.

So ?

Don't throw the balogna around about who should be or shouldn't be trusted. We all know every politician out there is more slippery than a snake bathed in KY. I vote in my best interests and so do you and we make our own decisions but acting like Harper is somehow less trustworthy than anyone else out there is stupid. You've seen Layton's and Dion's spending promises. They're criticizing Harper for SPENDING while their spending promises DWARF Harper's. It takes no genius to understand that they're both making things up as they go along. I won't even comment on May because I think she's an even bigger joke than Layton.

Wha???

I didnt mention trust, nor did I talk about spending so wtf?

For the record, they are pretty much all snakes, they pretty much all lie about spending during an election campaign.

Never said to the contrary.

[g_bambino]

Harper has simply shown that his word is worthless and can't be trusted. He passed a fixed election date law then broke it because he saw political advantage for himself in doing so.

Harper can't "pass" anything, except maybe gas. Parliament passed legislation that made the maximum life of a parliament one year shorter. That's all. There was no law broken in the Governor-General calling an election before that date.

[Moonbox]

Why the constant need to try and justify what he did? No one is arguing it wasnt a good move, but rather he said he wouldnt pull this ....and then he did.

I didn't try and justify anything. I said it was an intelligent move that only an idiot wouldn't make. You're the one who just keeps repeating, "But he said!!!!"

Actually, only an idiot would present this rule that could only come back and haunt him so soon after. Did he forget he had a minority govt?

Something he will quite likely make amends for this time around. Oh wow!

I didnt mention trust, nor did I talk about spending so wtf?

Then what are you posting for other than just trolling? What's the thread titled? Why are you arguing with my assessment of why Harper called the election and why only a fool would have done otherwise? Really...why ARE you arguing with me at all when I haven't said anything even close to the effect that he didn't flip flop (GASP OMG a politican changed his stance!)?

Go away troll, you're not worth the words anymore.

[guyser]

I didn't try and justify anything. I said it was an intelligent move that only an idiot wouldn't make. You're the one who just keeps repeating, "But he said!!!!"

Ah so you admit he says one thing and does another. IOW he is a politician. Perhaps he should have not bothered with his pontificating that he was above these types of tricks.

Ok, we agree on that one.

Then what are you posting for other than just trolling? What's the thread titled?

Trolling is only done on weekends. I am not here on weekends. Might troll tomorrow but I am out of lures.

The thread is titled.."This election should never been called."

Look up ...its in the header.

Why are you arguing with my assessment of why Harper called the election and why only a fool would have done otherwise? Really...why ARE you arguing with me at all when I haven't said anything even close to the effect that he didn't flip flop (GASP OMG a politican changed his stance!)?

Umm...because he did flip flop, not to mention he said he wouldnt do this. Is it that hard to understand?

I will remember your forgiveness on "changed his mind" When , or rather if ever, the Libs get back in, and politic on not stealing any more money and then they do just that...I will remind you.

Go away troll, you're not worth the words anymore.

So you quit, just like that?

[scribblet]

I know I've tried to explain it like a 100 times but I'll try to briefly explain it again as simply as possible so everyone here understands.

The fixed election date became 100% meaningless when Dion and the opposition started threatening to vote non-confidence. When this occurred, it became painfully obvious the opposition was only prepared to co-operate until public polls started looking good for them to win an election.

You did, I believe there was another thread on the same subject, this partisan repetition gets boring

I don't have the wording handy and no time to look for it right now.

[Bryan]

I'm wondering if the people who think this election was not needed actually watched question period at all. Bickering was extreme even by house of commons standards.

During the first 1.5-2 yrs, things went smoothly. Crazy smoothly. Harper got more done in that time than the Liberals did in 13 straight years. Then it stopped. Opposition was stalling everything, refusing to report to committees, not showing up for votes, constantly threatening to trigger an election. Bickering was extreme even by house of commons standards.

It was time. If he didn't jump, he was going to be pushed. The only way he could have NOT called an election was if the fixed election date legislation was specifically extended to cover minority governments. I don't think anyone would have approved of such legislation.

Not only that, Canadians as a whole should be relieved that the election call also killed a few bad pieces of legislation (C-61 and C-51 in particular).

Besides all that....

If you spend much time HERE, are you not a political junkie? I know in my case, I LOVE election time. I'd be perfectly happy if there were elections every year or two!!

[Radsickle]

Harper needed an election to be called before the doomed implosion of the markets. He knew it would be bad, politically, to campaign for re-election after catastrophic failure so found a way to break his word and call an early election by blaming Parliament for being `uncooperative' before the fall session had even begun. Far too many Canadians fell for this and it looks like he'll win at least a minority now.

BTW: Those markets are imploding due to the trend to `deregulate'; something popular among conservative politicians. We're not supposed to think that though....

Canadians as a whole should be relieved that the election call also killed a few bad pieces of legislation (C-61 and C-51 in particular).

Very True.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Radsickle

[peter_puck]

I know I've tried to explain it like a 100 times but I'll try to briefly explain it again as simply as possible so everyone here understands.

The fixed election date became 100% meaningless when Dion and the opposition started threatening to vote non-confidence. When this occurred, it became painfully obvious the opposition was only prepared to co-operate until public polls started looking good for them to win an election.

Can you find me the spot where it says that ? This sort of reminds me of Animal Farm with Harper up on the ladder adding your little fine print.

Harper broke his own law, plain and simple. Admit it and move on. That is much safer than trying to BS your way out. The Ontario premier (whose name I can't spell at the moment) went back on his not taxes and got elected. Chretian promised to cut the GST, he changed his mind...and got elected.

Breaking a promise is one thing, insulting people's intelligence is another.

Regardless of whether or not you think it's 'fair' or 'right' for Harper to have brushed off his own piece of leaky legislation, it would have been supremely stupid to allow Dion and the Liberals to drum up public and financial support until they felt they could win an election and then FINALLY vote non-confidence.

and your point is ? It has always been like that. Harper said no, we are going to be responsible and prevent governments from pulling the plug for political gain We are going to be different. But when Harper had a change to reap that gain, what did he do ?

and BTW, the government was working. The only breakdowns were when Conservatives tried to disrupt ethics probes into their own conduct.

Edited September 27, 2008 by peter_puck

[Smallc]

Harper got more done in that time than the Liberals did in 13 straight years.

That is certainly quite subjective.

[g_bambino]

Harper broke his own law, plain and simple.

Wrong.

[independent]

I know I've tried to explain it like a 100 times but I'll try to briefly explain it again as simply as possible so everyone here understands.

The fixed election date became 100% meaningless when Dion and the opposition started threatening to vote non-confidence. When this occurred, it became painfully obvious the opposition was only prepared to co-operate until public polls started looking good for them to win an election.

Regardless of whether or not you think it's 'fair' or 'right' for Harper to have brushed off his own piece of leaky legislation, it would have been supremely stupid to allow Dion and the Liberals to drum up public and financial support until they felt they could win an election and then FINALLY vote non-confidence.

You can fuss all you want about it but when the opposition throws threats and rhetoric around about opposing Harper and bringing down his government, they really shouldn't cry about it when he decides to step into their ring and play their own game.

What I find absolutely hilarious, however, is how for months and months people were bravely posting about how there should be an election to put the Harper government out of its 'misery'. Now these same people are pouting and carrying on that there's an election because it seems the polls aren't really agreeing with how they feel right now.

People are tired of elections. Dion was well aware that the public would have been angered if he forced an election. Unless Harper had some legislation planned that would clearly have upset the electorate I see know reason why Harper felt he could not govern. The opposition parties threaten non confidence votes routinely that what opposition parties do. Chances are a lot of people will not go out and vote because they are tired of it.

[TCCK]

Oh enough on the Harper broke his own law and whining about another election.

ITS HERE, DEAL WITH IT!!! If yo don't like it STAY home to protest his calling another election, LOL

Edited September 27, 2008 by TCCK

[independent]

Oh enough on the Harper broke his own law and whining about another election.

ITS HERE, DEAL WITH IT!!! If yo don't like it STAY home to protest his calling another election, LOL

I am trying to understand the point of it. The poles were suggesting another minority government. Why should we quietly sit by well Harper wastes our money on another election? The money can be better spend elsewhere.

Edited September 27, 2008 by independent

[TCCK]

I am trying to understand the point of it. The poles were suggesting another minority government. Why should we quietly sit by well Harper wastes our money on another election? The money can be better spend elsewhere.

Like on welfare payments and more $1/2 million dollar modern art sculptures that look like a 10 year old get loose with a welder and a blow torch, or maybe on more studies to prove how cows farting cause way more greenhouse gases than a car, or more raise for the politicians? That is what the Liberals, NDP and Green Party would do.

I believe Harper called the election because he wants to get rid of the frustrating "loyal Opposition" having a strangle hold by bribing the ruling government to do what the Loyal opposition wants if they want any votes for the items that would really help the country. Then the Liberals, NDP and BQ go back on thier word and abstain from a vote or still vote against what they promised to support after they already got what they wanted from the Conservatives. Parliamental voting blackmail and back stabbing.

The Liberals are just peeing into the punch bowl even when it is in their best interests just to make the Conservatives look bad that they can get nothing done.

How can anyone fault Harper for wanting to change that situation to get a majority government so he can do some real good for the country and stop the blackmail.

[independent]

Like on welfare payments and more $1/2 million dollar modern art sculptures that look like a 10 year old get loose with a welder and a blow torch, or maybe on more studies to prove how cows farting cause way more greenhouse gases than a car, or more raise for the politicians? That is what the Liberals, NDP and Green Party would do.

I believe Harper called the election because he wants to get rid of the frustrating "loyal Opposition" having a strangle hold by bribing the ruling government to do what the Loyal opposition wants if they want any votes for the items that would really help the country. Then the Liberals, NDP and BQ go back on thier word and abstain from a vote or still vote against what they promised to support after they already got what they wanted from the Conservatives. Parliamental voting blackmail and back stabbing.

The Liberals are just peeing into the punch bowl even when it is in their best interests just to make the Conservatives look bad that they can get nothing done.

How can anyone fault Harper for wanting to change that situation to get a majority government so he can do some real good for the country and stop the blackmail.

The Liberals just stood by letting the Conservatives make themselves look bad. No one stopped Harper from governing. Harper just seems to be a control freak that just does not want to work within the rules of parliment. He does not even want to follow his own laws.