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October 21, 2008 15:18 +0000 | Canada Liberals Politics 1

So Stefan Dion is finally leaving. After a short time in the Big Seat and holding the dubious honour as only the second Liberal Leader to ever not win a federal election, the Long Knives have come out for Dion and he's now effectively on his way out.

And while I can understand the bitterness from the Liberals (they are used to winning after all) I think that they would benefit from a step back before shouldering him with all the blame.

Where do we begin? Was it the gutting of the health care and the environment by the Liberals under Chrétien and Martin? The rise of the NDP and the Greens? What about the sponsorship scandal in Quebéc? Or maybe it was the two generations of disenfranchisement the West has had with the party since Trudeau's Salmon Arm Salute?

The fact is that the Liberals have long been in decline and frankly, they've been completely undeserving of the leadership of this country even longer. They have a lot to answer for and this typical arrogance of their being Canada's ruling party is at the root of their problems. Liberals have to stand up and take responsibility for their actions on health care, the environment, in Quebec and the West. Then and only then will they be entitled to govern this country.

So lay off Stefan. Sure he made some bad calls, but he should in no way shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for the Liberal loss. His party didn't deserve to win. It's that simple.

October 16, 2008 16:03 +0000 | Canada Conservatives Politics 3

This wasn't the only reason of course, but a number of political expert-types are pointing to this video as a major reason for their losses in Quebec. Without a good number of seats in Quebec, there was no way for any government to acquire a majority in the House.

Just after Harper made his idiotic comments about arts funding going to "rich people and their extravagant galas", a Québecer published this video on youtube and made some serious rounds throughout the provice as well as across this country. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth checking out:

October 14, 2008 16:11 +0000 | Canada Politics 3

It's that time again. I've talked about this on a few other occasions but thankfully, the subject never gets old. It is, after all, the thin line we've collectively drawn against the dogmas of dictatorship and divine right. In Canada, we assert our collective will and dictate the ideals that will lead us forward. Sometimes we make poor decisions and elect people undeserving of leadership. Often, we vote out of fear, or a lack of confidence in our options. In every single case however, we elect the government we deserve.

I can only hope that in this election, I'm right when I say that we deserve better than we've seen in the past.

The polls are open now and close at 7pm in BC and 9:30pm in Ontario. Other poll colsure times can be found here
Know your rights when voting. Elections Canada has a FAQ for any of your questions.
Get educated on the parties available to you. Visit their respective sites and read up on their platforms:

October 08, 2008 20:15 +0000 | Canada Conservatives Green Party Liberals NDP Politics 0

The CBC hosted a televised debate for Vancouver-Centre candidates not too long ago and they'll be running the show tonight at 4:30pm, 7:00pm and 11pm PST on CBC Newsworld. While the "victor" has not been released, the following claims that the Greens did very well. If you're currently living in Vancouver-Centre or are just interested in how some of the lesser candidates are doing, it might be worth checking out:

The X Challenge with Mark Kelly / 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm and 11 pm PST

Tune in today (Wednesday, October 08) to CBC Newsworld and watch Green Party deputy leader and Vancouver Centre candidate Adriane Carr triumph in debate and studio audience polling on The X Challenge with Mark Kelley. The program airs at 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm, and 11 pm PST.

Adriane appeared with two other Vancouver Centre candidates, the NDP's Michael Byers and Conservative's Lorne Mayencourt, as well as Liberal Ujjhal Dosanjh, in a debate format that enabled voters to put their questions directly to the candidates, and to vote on the results.

After 90 minutes of debate, questions and answers, and voter polling, a final poll asked the audience to indicate if any minds had been changed.

We promised not to reveal the results of this pre-taped program, but let's just say that Green Party supporters will be delighted by Adriane's performance in the debates, and thrilled by her final placement in the polls.

It would be hard to imagine a better outcome!

The audience of about 100 was selected to represent political leanings as indicated by CBC's latest rolling poll and the idea was to gauge how many voters were influenced, and in which direction, by candidate's participation in the debate and answers to audience questions.

The X Challenge will air today, Wednesday, October 08, at 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm and 11 pm Pacific Time on CBC Newsworld. Don't miss it!

Strange that Hedy Fry, the Liberal candidate in Vancouver-Centre didn't show up and sent Dosanjh instead. I'm interested to hear their reasoning on that one.

I have no idea if it'll be available online, but if I find it, I'll post the link here.

Update: 2008-10-09 00:04:14 -08:00

True to form, the CBC has posted the entire debate online. Enjoy!

October 02, 2008 23:38 +0000 | Canada Conservatives Green Party Liberals NDP Politics 1

I just got an email from someone promoting voteforenvironment.com and I really wanted to rant here.

I really, really hate that site. Aside from the fact that it flat-out tells you not to vote for a party that wants to make the environment better, it openly advocates for a party with a long record for doing the opposite. Has everyone forgotten that the Liberals are the ones who actively gutted health care and the environment for twelve years before they were finally kicked out of office? How can anyone claim that they're better than the Conservatives on either of these issues when they've done everything they could to support big business over clean air and fresh water in the last two decades?

Sure Stefan Dion might be different from his predecessors, but you can be sure that the people under him like Hedy Fry (my current MP) haven't changed. Innaction and fear-mongering are the tennets of the Liberal party and claiming to support them in the name of the environment is either naive or misleading. Take your pick.

It's sites like this that foster fear and promote a complete lack of action on issues that they claim to support. If they just wanted to advocate that Harper's Conservatives are bad for Canada, I'd be right behind them, but claiming that a Liberal government would be better for the environment is like claiming that white cats don't eat mice. It's laughable.

Elections are at the core of democracy. We take what the people want, tally up the votes and move our government in that direction as a result. It's not a betting pool, it isn't a chess game. To use a phrase I read earlier today: "Don't vote for the lesser of two evils, vote for the one that isn't evil". It's not like you don't have a choice ladies and gentlemen, there are at least 4 candidates in every riding in this country and if you're interested in the health of the environment, I can promise you that the Liberals and Conservatives aren't the least bit interested in doing anything about it.

October 02, 2008 18:14 +0000 | Canada Conservatives Green Party Liberals NDP Politics 1

For those of you not following the federal election, the Big Debate is tonight, and for the first time in history, the Green Party will be represented.

It all starts at 9pmEST, which for the West coast folks, that's 6pm. I'll be attending a shindig at Soho pub on Denman with the rest of the Greens to watch Elizabeth May in action. If the French debate is any indication, it should be a really good show.

For my friends living outside the country, the CBC will be hosting the debates online as well. Just go to CBC.ca and follow the links from the front page. They use a form of streaming Windows™ media, but it should work on a Mac as well.

Is anyone else annoyed that CBC hasn't done more stuff with Bittorrent?

Also, for those interested in the U.S. election, the Vice Presidential candidates debate will be held at roughly the same time down south. I expect Palin to look like the complete idiot that she is. That too should be a fun show, and you can expect the guys at OneGoodMove to have some really good video when it's finished.

September 17, 2008 17:24 +0000 | Politics Scams 0

I just got a call from the Green Party today asking for money. It's a typical thing when you're already on the donors list that your party will give you a call trying to milk you for that list bit of cash when an election is called so I wasn't bothered at all. In fact, I did the math and agreed to top up my contribution to total the $400 mark for the year (you get $300 back the following year in your tax return).

I'm posting this here because it occurred to me just as I was about to give the guy my card number that he called me. He could have been anyone claiming to be from the Green Party and I was about to give him my credit card info.

So I quizzed him and he passed. He had my account number, address, email address etc. etc. I'm not worried. But I thought I'd point this out to the rest of you for what it might be worth. Remember who called whom before you give out any personal info :-)

September 13, 2008 20:32 +0000 | Canada Conservatives Green Party Liberals NDP Politics 2

Slate has a humbling article about the past few years in Canadian politics:

If you're at all confused or curious about how things have been going in our country; who's said what, or changed what laws, it's worth a look. Among the topics mentioned, it covers our about-face on Kyoto, the disappearance of our financial surplus, and censorship in our cultural sector.

September 10, 2008 23:42 +0000 | Conservatives Politics Technology 0

The Twitter user FakeSteveHarper started following me today, so I checked him out. He's hilarious. If you use twitter, check him out.

September 10, 2008 19:24 +0000 | Canada Conservatives Democracy Green Party NDP Politics 1

Stephen Harper and Jack Layton have rescinded their statements that they'd withdraw from the debate if Elizabeth May is permitted to attend. It may have taken an impassioned letter to the Globe and Mail from former Prime Minister Joe Clark and a barrage of hate mail from their supporters to shame them into doing the Right thing, but regardless, my faith in our electoral system is slowly returning.

Update: 2008-09-10 16:16:31PST

Elizabeth May's twitter status has been updated to say "I am celebrating my inclusion in the televised leaders' debates! Going out to dinner at my favourite restaurant in New Glasgow."