Are two conservative parties better than one?

[-1=e^ipi]

1 hour ago, Argus said:

Btw, the Liberals are deadset against pornography, too. 

The liberal party isn't liberal.

[Machjo]

28 minutes ago, taxme said:

I am not aware of any time in the 60's where Indian children were taken away from broken families. But there were probably plenty of non Indian children that were taken away from their parents for whatever reason in the sixties. In the days gone by there were residential schools set up where Indian children were being put in residential schools to receive an education. It was time to learn how to read and write. With the new world on their doorsteps it was time for Indian children to learn how to read and write and get their education just like non Indian children had to do also. I do not think that it harmed them at all but helped them instead.

The residential school system ended in 1996 but started in 1884. By the 1960's, many indigenous children came from broken families involving widespread abuses.

In fact ironically, just as the government had planned to start phasing out the system, it delayed that plan due to the number of children being taken away from abusive homes. In other words, the system created the need to perpetuate it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixties_Scoop

[SpankyMcFarland]

21 hours ago, Queenmandy85 said:

Most of an MP's work load is looking after constituents' problems such as problems with pension cheques etc.

Our system is responsible government, not representative government. As Lord North said, each Member of Parliament represents all (Canadians). PR denies the opportunity to vote for an independent. It also means that if a member quits the caucus, they lose their seat. It means being stuck with minority governments leading to frequent elections. It means disasters like BC has where a caucus of 3 members holds the government hostage. Rather that a temporary situation, PR makes it permanent. 

Who was this Canadian guy Lord North? The lad who did so well managing the colonies in North America? 

I guess one's views on PR depend how seriously you take the popular vote. FPTP favours the biggest party and can lead to bizarre results with more than two parties, e.g. our 1993 federal election where a regional party with 13.5% of the popular vote got 54 seats while a national one with 16% got 2. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_federal_election,_1993

Lord North's countrymen are seeing the same problem with regional parties like the SNP,  DUP and SF who win way more seats than their vote share would suggest compared to small national parties:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_general_election,_2015#/media/File%3A2015_UK_General_Election_Gallagher_Index.png

BTW PR does not necessarily deny voting for independents e.g. STV. 

 

[SpankyMcFarland]

Coyne's thesis depends on the effect of parties on the electorate. I don't think it's that strong. Most people pay as little attention to politics as posible between elections. Canada's political culture is different from that of the US and is in some ways more like Western Europe's. 

Both major parties support free trade and have done so since Mulroney (notwithstanding some predictable opposition barking at the time of the original deal) so it shouldn't be a major political issue. The current NAFTA problems originate south of the border. I guess Scheer will try to blame Trudeau if no deal emerges but it's not a convincing argument. 

[taxme]

19 minutes ago, Machjo said:

The residential school system ended in 1996 but started in 1884. By the 1960's, many indigenous children came from broken families involving widespread abuses.

In fact ironically, just as the government had planned to start phasing out the system, it delayed that plan due to the number of children being taken away from abusive homes. In other words, the system created the need to perpetuate it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixties_Scoop

So, what do you think is the problem here with all of this abuse being committed to Indian children by their families? It still cannot be the white man's fault today, is it?

[Machjo]

4 minutes ago, taxme said:

So, what do you think is the problem here with all of this abuse being committed to Indian children by their families? It still cannot be the white man's fault today, is it?

They were dealing with intergenerational broken families and the 1960s isn't that far back. Furthermore, many of the 60s scoop never had parental models either. Effectively, many  needed to learn basic parenting skills that whites take fro granted. That has an interngenerational impact.

Remember too that the last school closed its doors in 1996.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Machjo

[taxme]

15 minutes ago, Machjo said:

They were dealing with intergenerational broken families and the 1960s isn't that far back. Furthermore, many of the 60s scoop never had parental models either. Effectively, many  needed to learn basic parenting skills that whites take fro granted. That has an interngenerational impact.

Remember too that the last school closed its doors in 1996.

There are plenty of white parents today and in the past who never took that course on parental skills either. There are plenty of families of all races and cultures in Canada that have and who still are abusing their children today. That is a fact of life. I think that in the end though Indians are doing a lot better in life today than what they did in the past before the white man came along and they know it too. They just hate to have to admit it. There is no reason anymore for Indians to cry poor me.

One can only hope that the closing of those school doors will be better for the native Indians and their children today.

[-1=e^ipi]

3 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

Both major parties support free trade and have done so since Mulroney

No they don't. They support 300% tariffs. That's not free trade.

[SpankyMcFarland]

4 hours ago, -1=e^ipi said:

No they don't. They support 300% tariffs. That's not free trade.

OK, few governments on this planet support free trade 100% and we all know about the bizarre hurdles to trade that exist even between our provinces. What I meant there is that NAFTA has long since faded from being the burning issue it once was. 

[SpankyMcFarland]

Conservatives are already a minority in Canada. Mix two parties with FPTP and you're looking at NDP-style significance for both of them. Politicians are interested in their own conversation in the corridors of power right now, not about subtly shifting the direction of the national political needle for the next generation. That's a job for the likes of Coyne and Co.