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dwot (99.54)

Canadian Election - Oct 14th

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September 13, 2008 – Comments (8)

I think Harper is one of Canada's worst Prime Ministers.  He inherited a country with a surplus of over $10 billion per year and to me the numbers look like a $6 billion deficit for this year.  Given that last year was a $13 billion surplus, that's in the range of a $20 billion regression.  It is massive when you consider Canada has about 1/10th the population of the US.

And here's the really sad thing, I don't see a leader out there able to make the tough choices and say "no" to the whims and make fiscal responsiblity a priority again.  

In eight years Bush brought the US to brink of a financial crisis that the cost of the outcomes are yet to be known, but the biggest losers are younger people and they will be expected to bear the burden of the debt.

I have been strong in my opinion that Canada is in much better shape than the US, and it is still my belief, but what I see lacking is leadership to keep Canada strong.  All I see is politicians that would spend money that is not there and follow policies that would make Canada weak.

I was quite used to the level of taxation and I didn't ask for a tax cut so that we could increase our debt and ensure it is more costly in the end as we increase our debt servicing costs.  And right when the baby boomers turned 60.

A quote that is one of my favorites is:

What experience and history teach is this -- that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it - Georg Wilhelm Hegel, 1770 - 1831

I am not even sure who to vote for in terms who is likely to do the least damage...

8 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On September 13, 2008 at 2:41 PM, kdakota630 (32.84) wrote:

To me, Harper is still the best choice.

The Green Party and NDP aren't even close to getting my vote, and as long as the Liberal Party is proposing the carbon tax, they don't have a chance at my vote either.

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#2) On September 13, 2008 at 3:45 PM, motleyanimal (97.69) wrote:

You don't need a new government as much as you need a guillotine.

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#3) On September 13, 2008 at 4:59 PM, dwot (99.54) wrote:

kdakota -- yuck...  I don't even see a least damage choice...  yuck...

 

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#4) On September 13, 2008 at 9:04 PM, LordZ wrote:

Maybe Canada should go on strike like in South Park...

Ya know, for more money.

 

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#5) On September 14, 2008 at 12:55 AM, StockPumper (< 20) wrote:

Canadians will have no right to mock Americans for voting in a Bush government after this election. Canadians are passing on the Liberals with such people as John McCallum, an economist who was the cheif economist of RBC, one of the world's best managed banks. They don't like Dion, because he is too french. How people forget history so quickly. Dion may be the reason Canada is a united country today. Jean Cretien brought him into the party in the middle of last Quebec referendum. Remember, this is the guy who passed the clarity act, which mandates Federal scrutany on referendums held in Quebec. In other words, it makes a referendum in Quebec a hell of alot more difficult.

Even worse than the fiscal mismanagement of the massive surpluses this government inherited, is some of the Conservatives broken promises and simply bad policy. I will name a few:

- Taxing income trusts

- Cutting the GST instead of income taxes

- Taxing foreign investment

- Bill C-61 - backing up DVDs and unlocking cellphones will soon be illegal, moving Canada into the dark ages

- A government that is opposed to Net neutrality. I mean this is the government that thinks and I quote "facebook is dangerous".

- Destroyed Canada's relationship with China, after it was such a success under the Cretien government, remember "Team Canada". 

- Is this election even legal? Didn't this government pass a law that  a governemtn cannot call a snap election! Another promise broken.

I am so disappointed with this Conservative government.

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#6) On September 14, 2008 at 12:48 PM, kdakota630 (32.84) wrote:

Cutting the GST was promised and fulfilled.

And the gov't didn't pass a law preventing snap elections, but did break their promise not to do it.

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#7) On September 14, 2008 at 1:14 PM, kdakota630 (32.84) wrote:

Now that I think about it, I'm skeptical about your claim that the Conservatives believe "Facebook is bad", considering they have a profile on Facebook.

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#8) On September 19, 2008 at 5:30 PM, Montol (< 20) wrote:

StockPumper - Amen!  People do overlook far too quickly that Dion was an essential player in the referendum days - the Clarity Act made it much more difficult for separatists to tag-in weakly and confusingly-worded amendments that, if passed, could easily have fractured the entire country.  If that isn't leadership and dedication to your country - I don't know what is.

Beyond that, he's one of the few that are strong enough to recognize in Canada our environment IS our country, and stand up beside his Green Shift plan, which - while undoubtedly flawed in its current form - is actually a relatively feasible, front-to-back PLAN OF ACTION that they are willing to take.  YES it involves paying more for some things - but quite frankly, I'd rather have a leader of my country be willing to stand up and say "This is important, this is our plan, its probably going to suck a bit, but at least we're addressing it NOW, so we can make sure the issue isn't impossible to deal with LATER".

I agree with all your points on what the Conservatives have destroyed.  Harper is an evil, lying, shady actor who is nothing like he shows himself to be on TV.  Open, honest, accountable...visionary?!  We've had huge drawbacks in liberties (C-61 dealt with a lot of restrictions on what type of content the Canadian government would subsidize for arts and entertainment projects if I'm not mistaken) and one of the most closed-door leaderships in history, often making decisions that most Canadians don't support - read: extending the tour of duty in Afghanistan.  We're supposed to be a nation of peacekeepers, not warmongers.

So, my vote is going Liberal.  If yours isn't - at least choose the Green Party.  They need your money, they won't win, and they're the least of all evils of the alternatives available... :)

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