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I can't dispute you when it comes to the hypocrisy of the Emerson appointment. That was crass and hypocritical.

But you have to keep it in perspective, it was one act. I wouldn't be willing to stand by the Conservatives if they pulled a couple more like it. But c'mon, you've got to cut them a little slack, they're new.

I don't think Goodale has the killer instinct for leadership. He's a solid workhorse whose well respected by all, but he's probably too decent for life at the top. I just wish he was a Tory!

   

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I'm not a Liberal, MCB. That's a nasty thing to accuse somebody of. Not quite as bad as being called a Conservative, but close.

The NDP, the Bloc, and the provinces seem to think they've gotten somewhere on the childcare issue. Nobody is saying yet, but there seem to be negotiations going on and Harper seems to realize that, for all his bluster, he's going to have to deal with the opposition parties.

My guess is that Harper is going to increase funding to the provinces to replace the childcare money and call it part of addressing the "fiscal imbalance." The provinces that have been fighting for the funding to continue will pledge to use that money for childcare. The NDP and the Bloc will share credit for brokering the deal.

If so, it'd be a lot like the "NDP budget" that you Conservatives were so mad about.

The long gun registry never made the speech. I found that interesting because because there was a lot of law and order stuff in there and a lot of it is pretty controversial. Toews later said that he may introduce the legislation as several small bills where he thought he could get deals instead of as one large omnibus bill. I wonder if the Conservatives aren't going to try to kill the registry outside of the House instead of fighting to get rid of it democratically.

Toews also said that the NDP ran on mandatory minimums for gun crime so he expected they'd support legislation on that. He's only partially right there...the NDP has said that the mandatory minimums the Conservatives want are too harsh and would likely not survive a court challenge. I'm guessing that Toews is willing to drop the minimums to five years to get support.

The other thing that really stood out is Harper begging for Quebec votes. Given his stance on Kyoto, the US, Afghanistan, etc., I'm not sure that he'll gain anything in Quebec, but he was really pandering to them on the fiscal imbalance etc. That might hurt him in the west, where people have a visceral animosity towards any federal government that panders to Quebec.

I also half-heard something a couple of days ago about the Conservatives pouring tons of federal money into Quebec in the short time they've been in office. That isn't going to play well west of Toronto either.

Anyway, their clear and focused agenda is looking a little blurry right now. They'll likely have to blur it a fair bit more to get it through parliament. Before you Conservative types go running around and claiming total victory, you should look at what the promises are and what the actual legislation and actions are.

   

Apologies for the Lib remark, I'm well aware of your NDP credentials and intended to make that clear but didn't. You have a right to be insulted that I left the impression you were a Lib.

Although you are correct that I would much prefer Harper simply kill the child care deal and freeze the NDP out, most of us are realists and recognize that compromise is part of the game in a minority government.

As for the gun registry, I think it's history. I don't think that's necessarily a good thing. I believe in the registry in principle, the problem lies in the way it was set up. Alot of Libs had their hand in the till on that one no doubt. As a result, Canadian police are probably going to end up losing a valuable tool, as it's an easy way for the Tories to appeal to their base.

I doubt very much that any NDP or Liberal would be willing to defeat the Government on the law and order package. That would be a Tory wet dream. Can you imagine Belinda or Jack trying to fight an election arguing it's a good idea to let Crips out of jail earlier? We'd wipe the floor with them.

I don't like the way the Tories are pandering to Quebec, but it's smart politics. Ontarians are rarely bothered by it, Quebecers lap it up, and who else are conservative westerners going to vote for?

I think the Tory agenda is crystal clear. It's also acheivable, and most importantly not at all scary.

It's going to be awfully tough for you guys to paint us as scary after we get this through.

   

The gun registry was a bad idea from the outset and was only a vote grab fro the Liberals way back when. Every police force in Canada came out against it and said it was useless to them. Gun crime is not done by law abiding gun owners that buy guns at gun stores. It's done by criminals bringing guns in illegally from the US and a registry wouldn't stop that. Nuke it and be done with it.

   

It's not a matter of confidence though, so the government wouldn't fall, the legislation would merely fail. The only way it becomes a matter of confidence is if Harper makes it one, and then the story becomes him trying to force an election.

I wouldn't put too much faith in the law and order package being overly popular either. A lot of it...especially the drug legislation...is likely to be seen as heavy-handed and ineffective and there seem to be no real plans to back up the anti-gun/anti-gang laws with social programs to address the problem at its base.

There are also a lot of questions about costs. Jails are expensive to build and expensive to run. If the perception becomes that people are being locked up for minor crimes (i.e. pot) and the cost of that is high, then people will turn against it very quickly. That's especially true if people are worried that their friends and relatives are at risk of going to jail.




In Manitoba and Saskatchewan? The NDP. The Conservatives are already in trouble with farmers for their Wheatboard policy and for appointing an ag minister from outside the prairies. If they think that Harper is becoming Mulroney in regard to Quebec, they'll vote for somebody else.

In BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan (it's such a cool province, it gets mentioned twice )? The last time they thought the Conservatives were pandering to Quebec too much, they started up the Reform Party.



Nobody ever painted you guys as scary but yourselves. All we did was quote you. Harper can't keep the gags on forever.

   

If that's the case then why are both the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and Canadian Provincial Police Association supporting it?



http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... hub=Canada

I suggest you speak to the average domestic issues coordinator at your local police station. I think you'll find they use the registry quite often.



That's a dumb argument, and demonstrably wrong.



That was comitted by an offender who purchased his gun legally.

40% of domestic homicides, which are still the leading type of murder in Canada, are comitted with firearms. And 80% of those guns are legally owned.

Guns kill hundreds of people each year in Canada. It makes perfect sense to keep track of them.

   

I guess it depends on where you get your info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_gun_registry

What percentage of all gun homicides are domestic anyway?

   

Oh well, I guess time will tell. We'll take our chances.

By the way, your partisanship and seething hatred of the Cons is undermining your argument.

   

Yes there was interviews of various polics assiotation leaders that say that that they want the registry and say it is a valuable tool.
Was on TV last night after the speech Harper made.

And its not really a question if crimes are comited with guns not registered, often they arn't but with the registry an officer can quickly determine if the gun was stolen, not registered or registed in his/her name. All is valuable info, so say the police.

   

My numbers are from Stats Can. There is no way that high a percntage of police officers oppose the registry. There's not even that high a percentage of cops who even give a shit one way or the other.

I don't know how many gun homicides are domestic related. About 36% of domestics are comitted with guns, most of which are legally owned long guns. I'm sure if you dig around on the Stats Can site you can extrapolate the numbers to figure it out.

http://www.cfc-cafc.gc.ca/pol-leg/res-e ... ault_e.asp

My point is that it is a myth that the only guns being used in crimes are illegal weapons in the hands of hardened criminals. Statistically, murders commited by otherwise law abiding gun owners shooting someone in a fit of rage or jealousy are just as common as those involving hardened gang bangers in Jane and Finch.

I realize that most legal firearm owners would never shoot anyone else, but it does happen with some frequency, so from a policing point of view, it makes perfect sense to try to keep track.

   

As is your partsanship and seething hatred of Liberals and the NDP.

My basic argument isn't partisan though, it's based on questions and points made by analysts from across the political spectrum. How will people react? How will Harper get other parties to cooperate? Why are we ruled by an evil robot? Oh wait, that last one may not have been picked up by the analysts yet.

   

The cons got a skin of their teeth minority and by the spin you would think they own the dam country. People wonder if there is a difference between the libs and the cons under all the BS, the proof is in the pudding and the games are about to begin again.

The opposition reaction to the throne speech vs the Martin minority throne speech was telling. There is room for a bit of wiggle room here but Rev is dead on when he says that we are looking at another 'NDP budget' if the cons wan to hold it together. I am quite sure it will be a photocopy in practice with a con flourish of a tax cut on top. It will be spun as a 'new and bold direction' but I suspect the smell is the same at the end of the day.

   

I think naming Stevie as someone who 'rocks' is really pushing it. The guy's an economist for Christ sakes! That's someone who is good with numbers but didn't have the personality to make it as an accountant. Stephen is doing well, might be a more apt way of wording it.

   

The accountability act is the strong point for Canadians so it is a free ride for the cons on that issue in specific .

The GST cut is so stupid I can hardly believe that it is an issue because the cut is not significant and can be recovered easily through varies hidden tax methods and there are many in Canada .

I am not sure military spending carries enough voter power and will likely be a long time coming before anything could be resolved .Mr. Harper can't just provide for the issue without uproar so it should be interesting how that plays out .

Health care and Health care waiting times are far too involved amongst all parties so some areas of the program are inevitably going to have to hurt some Canadians to provide for others . Not much choice there because the bottom line is that it is your Tax dollar, and any improvements without giving up specific areas will hurt you and I .Improved wait times is something all canadians are looking forward to , but it will come at the expense of some things paid for out of your own pocket . Health care is by far and currently Canadians most agressive oppressor of disposable income .

Child care versus pocket money is just a scary issue , because the cost difference is enormous and implementing the $100 per month may be significantly enough to cover areas of health care . (its peanuts)

The above shows a flat Zero in any designation of tax cuts what-so-ever.

Today the entire country received a slap at the pumps , so hard that the money will in essence fund any above funding needs very very quickly .

It is the new norm in Canadian politics to get a cash grab to make a party look great .

I'm not impressed by any of Harpers proposals but if he can go to the store buy ear plugs for his visit to parliament , and implement everything by tomorrow , he will have successfully scared the living shit out of every canadian , but will also have done something that invokes change for the future , because in essence these 5 things are light hearted , toward showing future change is on the way , and that all Canadians can trust in .

I'm just a little suspicious disappointed and confused as toward the definitive action of the rise in pump prices coinciding with day one and the throne speech .This issue alone kills any trust I have regarding Harpers direction of reducing taxes and I am very interested to see if the hike produces something very beneficialy loud to canadians such as what Ralph bucks did for Albertans .

So far I would classify it as very very irresponsible because Ottawa will see huge sums of money from it and that money had better do some talking immediately to show it is not an adopted liberal tax grab . If it happens to often I will be no less than convinced especially where few countries have this resource which almost flows abundantly like water .

   

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