Canadians to go to polls on May 2
Newsbot @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:44 am
Title: Canadians to go to polls on May 2
Category: Political
Posted By: Curtman
Date: 2011-03-26 06:26:07
Canadian
Curtman @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:44 am
$1:
Where the Conservative leader goes after 1 Sussex Dr. is a tightly held secret. The Conservative Party won't disclose where Harper and his campaign will spend the first few days of the election.
Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton have both planned rallies in downtown Ottawa before leaving town. Ignatieff will travel to Montreal, where Bloc Qu�b�cois Leader Gilles Duceppe is spending Saturday. Layton is flying to Edmonton Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton have both planned rallies in downtown Ottawa before leaving town. Ignatieff will travel to Montreal, where Bloc Qu�b�cois Leader Gilles Duceppe is spending Saturday. Layton is flying to Edmonton Saturday afternoon.
They're off to a great start. No questions from reporters. The whereabouts of Harper are secret information.
$1:
Ignatieff indicated Friday the Liberals will focus on recent scandals hitting the Conservatives, including charges of electoral fraud for two senators, allegations staff interfered with access to information requests and an accusation a former senior advisor to the prime minister tried to use his influence to promote his girlfriend's business.
Not good.
Former escort says she's 'deeply hurt' by Carson lobbying report
$1:
Her statement said she was recruited into the sex trade as a �young adolescent.�
�Vulnerable minors every day are pulled into this trade and face violence, abuse and exploitation. It is difficult and terrifying.�
�Vulnerable minors every day are pulled into this trade and face violence, abuse and exploitation. It is difficult and terrifying.�
Obviously Harper's advisor was just helping out a troubled prostitute. If you've seen the movie Pretty Woman, you'd know this was a good thing.
Curtman @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:24 am
Harper confirms Canadians heading to polls May 2
$1:
Earlier Saturday, Ignatieff issued a statement ruling out a "coalition with other federalist parties." However, the statement pointed out that coalitions are a legitimate constitutional option.
The wording was tougher when it mentioned the Bloc Quebecois.
"We categorically rule out a coalition or formal arrangement with the Bloc Quebecois," the statement said.
The wording was tougher when it mentioned the Bloc Quebecois.
"We categorically rule out a coalition or formal arrangement with the Bloc Quebecois," the statement said.
So, by process of elimination we're left with an agreement of some sort with the NDP? They need to get the details sorted in these first few days. Divided we fall. A Liberal-NDP coalition is the only chance we have to get rid of Harper.
raydan @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 8:14 am
I gave up on politics and politicians years ago. 
Guy_Fawkes @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 8:19 am
Curtman Curtman:
Harper confirms Canadians heading to polls May 2
So, by process of elimination we're left with an agreement of some sort with the NDP? They need to get the details sorted in these first few days. Divided we fall. A Liberal-NDP coalition is the only chance we have to get rid of Harper.
$1:
Earlier Saturday, Ignatieff issued a statement ruling out a "coalition with other federalist parties." However, the statement pointed out that coalitions are a legitimate constitutional option.
The wording was tougher when it mentioned the Bloc Quebecois.
"We categorically rule out a coalition or formal arrangement with the Bloc Quebecois," the statement said.
The wording was tougher when it mentioned the Bloc Quebecois.
"We categorically rule out a coalition or formal arrangement with the Bloc Quebecois," the statement said.
So, by process of elimination we're left with an agreement of some sort with the NDP? They need to get the details sorted in these first few days. Divided we fall. A Liberal-NDP coalition is the only chance we have to get rid of Harper.
"'This is about a Liberal government and not a coalition government,' Ignatieff told reporters on Saturday."
Face it we are either going to get more of the same, or a Con majority. Either way Libs will still be the opposition, the election is a waste of time and money.
Curtman @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:05 am
Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:
Face it we are either going to get more of the same, or a Con majority. Either way Libs will still be the opposition, the election is a waste of time and money.
The last six years have been a waste of time and money. Nothing gets done in Ottawa because the Cons are unable to compromise on any issue and Canada doesn't trust Harper with a majority. So an election is necessary, and thankfully Harper is the one who give the post election coalition option its credibility by promising that it will happen. How wonderful.
raydan @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:30 am
Damn it!!!
5 weeks of political bickering, smear campaigns, lying, broken promises, alliances, narcissistic behavior, scandals and threats...
...and this is just on CKA. 
PimpBrewski123 @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:39 am
And it has already begun. Our lovely QC media such as TVA is already giving all the pro media coverage to Duceppe. At least on some newspapers owned by that same owner PKP, there are some editorialists that actually debate the relevance of the Bloc.
Arena funding or not, Quebec should vote Conservative.
Guy_Fawkes @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:45 am
Curtman Curtman:
Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:
Face it we are either going to get more of the same, or a Con majority. Either way Libs will still be the opposition, the election is a waste of time and money.
The last six years have been a waste of time and money. Nothing gets done in Ottawa because the Cons are unable to compromise on any issue and Canada doesn't trust Harper with a majority. So an election is necessary, and thankfully Harper is the one who give the post election coalition option its credibility by promising that it will happen. How wonderful.
Compromise? Because saying Im going to vote down the budget without reading it, is compromise. I must have missed something because you still havent explained why a election is necessary, if the end result is the same why go to an election.
Curtman @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:54 am
Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:
Compromise? Because saying Im going to vote down the budget without reading it, is compromise. I must have missed something because you still havent explained why a election is necessary, if the end result is the same why go to an election.
Apparently you did miss something, because there never was a vote on the budget.
How it happened: the events that led to the Harper government's downfall
$1:
- Feb. 3, 2011: Finance committee produces report saying government appears to have breached parliamentary privileges of MPs by refusing to disclose tax-revenue and crime-bill details.
- Feb. 7, 2011: Liberal MP Scott Brison asks Commons Speaker Peter Milliken to rule whether the government is in contempt of Parliament.
- Feb. 14, 2011: International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda retracts earlier statements that an international-aid group called KAIROS had been denied funding on the advice of bureaucrats at the Canadian International Development Agency. Oda admits she reversed CIDA's position by inserting the word "not" in a memo written by a CIDA official.
- Feb. 17, 2011: Government tables corporate-tax revenue projections and cost estimates for crime bills. Liberals say an forecasted $650 million cost for 18 crime bills is absurd.
- Feb. 17, 2011: Commons foreign-affairs committee tables report asking Milliken to investigate whether Oda is in contempt of Parliament.
- March 9, 2011: Milliken rules that, "on its face," government is in contempt of Parliament for failing to disclose the details requested by the finance committee. Milliken also rules that Oda appears to have breached parliamentary privilege. He refers both matters to the Commons procedure and House affairs committee.
- March 16, 2011: Government tables more crime-bill details with procedure committee, but opposition MPs say it's not enough.
- March 21, 2011: Procedure committee adopts report finding government in contempt of Parliament over withheld crime-bill information.
- March 22, 2011: Opposition parties say they will vote against federal budget tabled by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. The government declares it won't accept amendments.
- March 25, 2011: The Harper government is defeated in the House of Commons on a Liberal non-confidence motion by a vote of 156 to 145. Motion states that Commons agrees with committee finding that government in contempt of Parliament.
- Feb. 7, 2011: Liberal MP Scott Brison asks Commons Speaker Peter Milliken to rule whether the government is in contempt of Parliament.
- Feb. 14, 2011: International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda retracts earlier statements that an international-aid group called KAIROS had been denied funding on the advice of bureaucrats at the Canadian International Development Agency. Oda admits she reversed CIDA's position by inserting the word "not" in a memo written by a CIDA official.
- Feb. 17, 2011: Government tables corporate-tax revenue projections and cost estimates for crime bills. Liberals say an forecasted $650 million cost for 18 crime bills is absurd.
- Feb. 17, 2011: Commons foreign-affairs committee tables report asking Milliken to investigate whether Oda is in contempt of Parliament.
- March 9, 2011: Milliken rules that, "on its face," government is in contempt of Parliament for failing to disclose the details requested by the finance committee. Milliken also rules that Oda appears to have breached parliamentary privilege. He refers both matters to the Commons procedure and House affairs committee.
- March 16, 2011: Government tables more crime-bill details with procedure committee, but opposition MPs say it's not enough.
- March 21, 2011: Procedure committee adopts report finding government in contempt of Parliament over withheld crime-bill information.
- March 22, 2011: Opposition parties say they will vote against federal budget tabled by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. The government declares it won't accept amendments.
- March 25, 2011: The Harper government is defeated in the House of Commons on a Liberal non-confidence motion by a vote of 156 to 145. Motion states that Commons agrees with committee finding that government in contempt of Parliament.
Guy_Fawkes @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:01 am
Please read my post again. 
I never said there was a vote.
dino_bobba_renno @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:06 am
Curtman is right that the non-confidence vote wasn't over the budget, rather it was on ethics but I still don't see that benefiting the opposition parties to any great degree. These issues have so far failed to gain any great amount of traction with the public. They have garnered a little more attention as of late but nothing to the degree that would indicate that Canadians are ready for an election. Personally I think oppositions have a coalition up their sleeve again, why else would you pull a stunt like this when your behind in the polls by over 10 points?
Curtman @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:47 am
Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:
Please read my post again. I never said there was a vote.
I never said there was a vote.You didn't say much of anything other than act surprised about me saying the Harper Government refuses to compromise.
$1:
March 22, 2011: Opposition parties say they will vote against federal budget tabled by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. The government declares it won't accept amendments.
They put out a take-it-or-leave-it budget with corporate tax cuts that the majority of Canadians, and the majority of MP's oppose, and refused ANY amendments at the same time they were ruled to have been in contempt for withholding information about their numbers. It's hard to imagine this scenario going any other way than an election.
Guy_Fawkes @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:37 am
I not surprised they didnt, Im saying that the other side didnt offer much in the area of compromise either. Ultimately if the end result is the same what is gained? What happens if we get the exact same numbers as before? Will the opposition trigger another election, and keep going until the Cons get a majority or the Libs get a minority? Im starting to think Dino is right and a coalition may come out of this if the Libs dont get any traction. Thats the only way we will see significant change, the problem is Iggy has been telling everyone that he will not form a coalition. So either he will flip on his promise, fail and give the Cons a majority or end up back at square one; no matter how you slice it I dont see this as a win for the Liberals.
Bruce_the_vii @ Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:42 am
It's a mess, eh. Look on the bright side - it's entertaining.