Another poll

[quote=“crazy Horse”]
Are you talking about the niqab issue?

Why do we have to please “the world”? 70-80% Canadians agree with the PM on this one.[/quote]

Yeah, that tactic and the ads about dope and hookers. We will see who agrees with the PM on election day.

Tory ethnic media ads say Liberals will make pot available to kids, put brothels in neighbourhoods

[quote=“bthedog”]Liberals at highest level of support since the writ was dropped.

ctvnews.ca/politics/election … -1.2610732[/quote]

Yup. CBC poll tracker has the Liberals a little over 5 points ahead of the Cons.

CBC Poll Tracker

The CBC polls are always highest on the liberals. No wonder, they stand to gain millions.

As for the hookers and dope dealer ads, yeah, no argument from me there.

[quote=“crazy Horse”]Are you talking about the niqab issue?

Why do we have to please “the world”? 70-80% Canadians agree with the PM on this one.[/quote]

Still beating a dead horse? (No pun intended)

“Always”?

[quote=“crazy Horse”]

[quote=“hitest”]

What I find terrible is that our reputation with the World has been tarnished because we have a Prime Minister who is using racist tactics to get re-elected.[/quote]

Are you talking about the niqab issue?

Why do we have to please “the world”? 70-80% Canadians agree with the PM on this one.[/quote]

There are lots of reasons for being disappointed about how our international reputation has declined. We no longer have a seat on the Security Council because we are not as well trusted internationally, particularly by smaller and non-aligned countries, at least in part because we’ve withdrawn support for UN programs and peacekeeping missions. Our largely symbolic air operations in Syria are without either UN or NATO approval.

We’ve become laggards rather than leaders on international environmental issues. That is not even a left-right issue as the positive example of the Mulroney government demonstrated.

From a different (even rightist) perspective, our government likes to talk tough about sensitive issues concerning Palestine and Israel, Iran’s nuclear program, Ukraine, and ISIS, but the reality is that our contribution to the US coalition is token, and we’ve let our military become badly run down, to the disappointment to our allies. The government’s military procurement program has been a fiasco; we can’t even keep our navy at sea for extended periods without borrowing logistic support.

Here’s an interesting article by Brian Stewart on that topic: < cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- … -1.3242611 >. It’s interesting to read that although our armed forces have not quite become a mercenary force, Canada is paid by NATO to participate in military expeditions. Perhaps that’s why Canada was not invited to the Iranian nuclear talks, notwithstanding that the government says that to be taken seriously by our allies we must play a military role.

As for what the majority think about Harper’s position on the preferences of extremely modest Muslim women, not all issues can be reduced to what the majority thinks. Majority rule applies to many but not all issues.

Like other leading democracies we elect majoritarian governments to set budgets, deliver programs and set policies, but we have a Charter that guarantees individual and minority rights on issues like freedom of religion, association, expression etc, even if the majority happens to disagree. The courts play an essential role in our democracy, and the government of the day, no less than the rest of us, is subject to the rule of law.

So it should be disappointing that on the one hand we are well regarded for having a modern Charter of Rights and Freedoms, especially compared to the Americans (who labour over what the ‘Framers’ intended over two centuries ago), but we have a government that has a strained relationship with the courts at the best of times, and on the niqab is dismissive of how the courts have ruled on two occasions.

It’s time for Harper to go.

[quote=“hitest”]Yup. CBC poll tracker has the Liberals a little over 5 points ahead of the Cons.

CBC Poll Tracker[/quote]

Expect that lead to be eaten up by the NDP in the next few, especially in QC.

Mulcair is very very happy today, and is thanking Trudeau for his wonderful gift.

cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- … -1.3272049

[quote=“PLA”]

Expect that lead to be eaten up by the NDP in the next few, especially in QC.

Mulcair is very very happy today, and is thanking Trudeau for his wonderful gift.

cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- … -1.3272049[/quote]

That’s a pretty sad comment about Mulcair and his vision for the country if that’s the best he can come up with so close to voting day.

[quote=“PLA”]
Expect that lead to be eaten up by the NDP in the next few, especially in QC.

cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- … -1.3272049[/quote]

Perhaps. However, Trudeau dealt with the issue quickly and his national campaign co-chair has stepped down. It is bad news, but, I don’t know if it is enough to stop Trudeau’s surge. I will be curious to see if either the Cons or the NDP get a bump in the polls.

Trudeau was calm, but I like Chretien’s response better. “HE RESIGNED! Next.” lol

Cons I’m pretty sure will not benefit from that. NDP on the other hand, I figure, depends on what QC voters’ heart desires.

Agreed. We should know shortly if the mishap has an effect.

crazy horse of course the niqab issue most canadians agree because they don’t know the facts, the question they ask is , do you think a person must show their face to become a canadian citizen at the swearing in ceremony, of course most will say yes,
but here are the facts, they are already canadian citizens before the swearing in ceremony, a JUDGE actually grants them citizenship in private and he/she sees the woman without the niqab to prove who she is, ceremony is just that a ceremony no legal status, now if you asked the same question with that preamble most canadians would probably say no. Harper is going after the anti-immigrant vote in quebec with this issue, if it is such a big issue in canada why is he not putting ads about it in the lower mainland or in the toronto region where there are lots of muslims?

[quote=“Jabber63”]crazy horse of course the niqab issue most canadians agree because they don’t know the facts, the question they ask is , do you think a person must show their face to become a canadian citizen at the swearing in ceremony, of course most will say yes,
but here are the facts, they are already canadian citizens before the swearing in ceremony, a JUDGE actually grants them citizenship in private and he/she sees the woman without the niqab to prove who she is, ceremony is just that a ceremony no legal status, now if you asked the same question with that preamble most canadians would probably say no. Harper is going after the anti-immigrant vote in quebec with this issue, if it is such a big issue in canada why is he not putting ads about it in the lower mainland or in the toronto region where there are lots of muslims?[/quote]

Yes, we know all that. The fact is most people are not comfortable with the symbolism in the context of the ceremony. It is seen as disrespectful. And I realize the holier than thou crowd love to tell the people that what they think is wrong , but I find it refreshing that people of all political views are willing to make a decision that may be “politically incorrect”.

Still beating the dead horse…

I don’t care if you think it is acceptable that the Cons are using racist tactics to get re-elected, but, I do care that our once great nation is now frowned upon by the World.
Canada had the reputation of being a peace keeping nation that highly valued the rights and freedoms of others. But, like PLA said, I’m beating a dead horse as well.

I think Preston Manning started the ideology slide of the Canadian Conservative Party to the right wing. Harper was a policy adviser to Preston. During and after the political right merged, Harper came out on top.

Harper then moved the “public” or “ruling” Conservative Party ideology over to the far right. It was easy for him to do. He got elected and as long as he could get the party elected, the slide to the right was okay with the party rank and file. Those who had their doubts about the shift to the right, lost their stature in the party and became mute, or left the party. Unfortunately, there is nothing more powerful than success and Harper and the right wing were successful.

I think Harper was influenced by the right wing of the US Republican party. There is also a strong streak of populism in Mr. Harper. A lot of what he has done either appeals to many people in Canada or they simply do not care about what has happened. They would rather have a “strong” economy and the erosion of political, social, scientific, and legal rights is okay. This group is often overlooked or disregarded by what has been called the Ontarian establishment and the media which promotes a small “L” liberal agenda.

[quote=“Pantagruel”]I think Preston Manning started the ideology slide of the Canadian Conservative Party to the right wing. Harper was a policy adviser to Preston. During and after the political right merged, Harper came out on top.

Harper then moved the “public” or “ruling” Conservative Party ideology over to the far right. It was easy for him to do. He got elected and as long as he could get the party elected, the slide to the right was okay with the party rank and file. Those who had their doubts about the shift to the right, lost their stature in the party and became mute, or left the party. Unfortunately, there is nothing more powerful than success and Harper and the right wing were successful.

I think Harper was influenced by the right wing of the US Republican party. There is also a strong streak of populism in Mr. Harper. A lot of what he has done either appeals to many people in Canada or they simply do not care about what has happened. They would rather have a “strong” economy and the erosion of political, social, scientific, and legal rights is okay. This group is often overlooked or disregarded by what has been called the Ontarian establishment and the media which promotes a small “L” liberal agenda.[/quote]

I agree with most of this. I don’t like Harper and that whole Reform side of the party. I hope that either a loss or weak minority will result in a leadership change and get the conservative party back to a semblance of pre-Manning days. But I don’t have much choice when it comes to voting, I simply cannot vote for Justin. There is just too much that I strongly disagree with him and the liberals. Mulcair actually sounds more conservative than him and he certainly has some credibility.

But to your point about the populism with some of Harper’s views, even by those of other political leanings. This is a true barometer of Canadian values. We are constantly being told by progressive intellects, and the CBC and those that would like to socially engineer us, how it is we are supposed to think, how to act, what to say etc. when it comes to the subjects that may teeter on politically incorrect. And I find it refreshing.

[quote]The CBC Poll Tracker shows the Liberals increasing their lead with 35.7 per cent support, followed by the Conservatives at 31.1 per cent and the New Democrats at 23.6 per cent.

With these levels of support, the Liberals are now on track to win the most seats with between 114 and 152, with 95 to 137 going to the Conservatives and 70 to 103 to the NDP.[/quote]

ANALYSIS: Poll Tracker: Are the Liberals now eating into Conservative support?

CBC Poll Tracker

Seems like the Dan Gagner fiasco didn’t have much effect on the polls as of late.

“HE RESIGNED! Next.” - Chretien

lol

Liberals ahead by 8%, according to Leger:

leger360.com/admin/upload/publi_ … 151017.pdf

There’s an interesting op-ed in the Globe and Mail saying that the niqab issue has backfired on Harper.

< theglobeandmail.com/globe-de … e26844199/ >

There is, the author suggests, a disparate but significant minority who detest Steve Harper: the ABH vote, which has been mostly split between the Liberals and NDP. Although both parties have the same position on protection of individual and minority rights, it was Mulcair and the NDP as the strong front runner in Quebec who took the brunt of the Conservative’s strategy of appealing to ‘old stock Canadians’ by singling out a few Muslim women (who are apparently ‘disrespectful’ although how and to whom are not clear).

The manner in which the Conservative strategy developed corresponded to the shift in polling results at the expense of the NDP and in favour of the Liberals, initially in Quebec and then nation wide, with ABT voters deciding that the Liberals have a better chance of defeating Harper.

I suspect that among the ABH vote are considerable numbers of progressives, libertarians, intellectuals, CBC News fans, and opinion leaders like Danny Williams, of diverse persuasions, whose resolve has been strengthened by the Conservative attack strategies.

The announcement of a tip line so that citizens can report on neighbours for being ‘barbarians’ was a related development, although that does not seem to have gotten any traction, perhaps because it is so ridiculous.

Also of interest is that Lynton Crosby, referred to by some as the ‘Lizard of Oz’, appears to have abandoned the Harper campaign and left the country. That may have been prompted by Harper’s recruitment to his campaign of Rob Ford, a crackhead and misogynist with a drinking problem, presumably to support Harper’s law and order, keep drugs out of corner stores and brothels out of neighbourhoods messaging < thinkpol.ca/2015/10/15/lynton-cr … ns-harper/ >.