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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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 Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:14 am Post subject: Canadians go to the polls on Oct 14th |
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Federal election day after Thanksgiving is 3rd in just over 4 years
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Canadians will head to the polls in a general election on Oct. 14, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday in Ottawa after meeting with the Governor General.
Harper made the announcement outside Rideau Hall after his conversation with Micha�lle Jean.
"Her Excellency, the Governor General, has seen fit to dissolve Parliament," he said.
The vote will take place one day after the Thanksgiving holiday.
"Between now and Oct. 14, Canadians will choose a government to look out for their interests at a time of global economic trouble," Harper said.
When asked about what the outcome might be, the Conservative leader said, "We believe it is going to be a tough election. We believe it will be a tight election. And, yes, we believe in all likelihood it will be a minority."
Before taking questions, Harper paused briefly to praise Canada as the "best country in the world," and said serving as prime minister has been an honour.
Harper took direct aim at the Liberals, led by St�phane Dion, and their promotion of large-scale spending and a new carbon tax.
"This tax will pack a cost on to every expenditure every family and every business makes," said Harper who is the MP for Calgary Southwest.
Dion's plan would levy $15.4 billion in new taxes on Canadian industries that produce high carbon emissions. The higher prices for energy that people would face would be offset by broad-based tax cuts, according to the plan.
Dion has countered that his plan is revenue neutral � offset by income-tax cuts.
Leaders react to election call, outline platforms
The Liberal leader said the October vote poses "a stark choice" for the country, and slammed Harper's party for not planning for future generations.
"Stephen Harper has formed the most conservative government in our history," Dion said in the foyer of the House of Commons.
Dion, who represents the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, said he would champion a "richer, fairer, greener Canada," and said he does not mind being "the underdog" going into the campaign.
Bloc Qu�b�cois Leader Gilles Duceppe said it was important to send a large number of Bloc MPs to Ottawa, and said his goal was to prevent Harper from gaining a majority.
"In order to have Quebec respected in Ottawa, we need to have a team that puts Quebec first," Duceppe said in Montreal. He represents the riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie.
"With the Bloc, Quebec can present a united stand in Ottawa," he said. 'We want Quebec to be the winner."
New Democrat Leader Jack Layton, speaking in Gatineau, Que., with the Parliament Buildings behind him, touted his team of MPs and called for a campaign of hope and optimism.
Unlike Stephen Harper, I will be a prime minister who puts you and your family first," he said in English, after a lengthy start to his speech in French.
Layton, whose riding is Toronto-Danforth, urged Canadians to tap into the political "winds of change" in the United States, saying in French that it was time to say "goodbye to George Bush and Stephen Harper."
Green party Leader Elizabeth May, speaking in Guelph, Ont., said her top priority would be the environment.
"We must live on this planet as if we plan to stay," May said, saying the election "makes all the difference in the world."
May, who is a candidate in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova, called for "a better world for us and for our children," and said she would continue to challenge the "massive unfairness of excluding me from the leaders debate."
May's party has been shut out of the leaders debate, usually held in the last few weeks of a federal leadership campaign, because the Greens have never held a federal seat in Canada.
Just last week, they gained their first-ever member of Parliament when former Liberal MP Blair Wilson, a Vancouver-area Independent, joined the party on Aug. 30.
Harper now heads to Quebec City on Sunday and then to Vancouver. Dion will arrive in Montreal later in the day.
Layton will speak in Calgary later Sunday, while Duceppe will attend events in Montreal. May will remain in Guelph before heading to Ottawa.
Harper's Conservative party has been in power since Jan. 23, 2006, when it won a minority of seats.
Heading into this election, the Conservatives held 127 seats, while the Liberals had 95. The Bloc Qu�becois had 48 seats, the New Democratic Party 30, and there were three Independent members of Parliament.
The Green party had one MP and four seats were vacant.
The calling of the Canada-wide vote means the cancellation of four federal byelections.
Three were set for Monday in the ridings of Guelph, Saint-Lambert , and Westmount-Ville-Marie. A fourth was to be held on Sept. 22 in Don Valley West.
After Harper made his announcement, Canada's chief electoral officer, Marc Mayrand, issued a press release confirming that the byelections would not take place.
This will be Canada's fifth general election in 11 years and the third in just over four years, dating back to June 2004.
In calling the election, Harper ignored his own law for a fixed election date. The Conservatives had set Oct. 19, 2009, for the next vote, but Harper had recently suggested he was ready to go sooner and pull the plug on his current minority government.
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ernie
Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Location: asdfghjk
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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| it's funny how harper campaigned against early snap elections. of course they're ok if he's doing it! |
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Jandar
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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Canada is starting to sound like Italy in the 60s.
Backwoods and iceburgs, high taxes and instability.
Carbon tax  . |
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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Jandar wrote: |
Canada is starting to sound like Italy in the 60s.
Backwoods and iceburgs, high taxes and instability.
Carbon tax . |
I really don't get your joke. Italy has backwoods and icebergs?
Canada's taxes have gone down significantly in the last 10 years, and not sure what you mean by instability.
Italy had a carbon tax in the 60s? Wow, ahead of it's time!
Post drunk much? |
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Zutronius
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Location: Suncheon
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Are we Canadians living abroad eligible to vote? I've been looking on Google but haven't came up with much yet. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Zutronius wrote: |
| Are we Canadians living abroad eligible to vote? I've been looking on Google but haven't came up with much yet. |
I'm wondering the same thing. |
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Jandar
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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No absentee voting, Canadia has disenfranchised the voting public!
This is your birth right. Stand up don't let them keep you down.
Long live the Queen! |
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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Three elections in four years is ridiculous. Wish Harper had stuck to his own election law. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Jandar wrote: |
Canada is starting to sound like Italy in the 60s.
Backwoods and iceburgs, high taxes and instability.
Carbon tax . |
The average Canadian (outside of QC) pays less in taxes than the average American now. Given the political economy of the two nations going forward the disparity is likely to get stronger.
About the 'snap election'. There is nothing snap about this. We've known it was coming for a long time and anyways this is the primary outcome of a minority government. They get done what they can get done and then go to the polls. This is the Canadian system. I would not want set dates. |
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ernie
Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Location: asdfghjk
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| i don't have a problem with snap elections but i do have a problem with a prime minister who promises to eliminate them, then does it himself. plus harper is a major douchebag. he's only doing it because his pollsters see a chance to win a majority. |
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Jandar
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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| He's doing it because the Queen's agent told him to. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| ernie wrote: |
| plus harper is a major douchebag. |
Why is he a douchebag? I think he has been a fine PM. Couldn't be partisanship...? |
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ernie
Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Location: asdfghjk
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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i don't have a problem with him as a person or his party but with his (and their) policies, including:
- backing out of kyoto for a 'made in canada' solution (i actually asked him this in person before he was elected) that has yet to be made, of course
- a cozy relationship with one of the worst US leaders in history
- supporting the North American missile defence shield
- support for the war in iraq |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| Zutronius wrote: |
| Are we Canadians living abroad eligible to vote? I've been looking on Google but haven't came up with much yet. |
I'm wondering the same thing. |
http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=ec90540&dir=bkg&lang=e&textonly=false
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Canadian citizens temporarily residing outside Canada
Canadians who will be 18 years of age or older on polling day and are temporarily residing outside Canada may vote by special ballot in an election or referendum. They must have resided in Canada at any time before applying for registration, have been residing outside Canada for less than five consecutive years immediately before making the application and intend to resume residence in Canada.
The five-year limit does not apply to:
* electors who are employed outside Canada in federal or provincial public administration or people living with them
* electors who are employed outside Canada by an international organization of which Canada is a member and to which Canada contributes, or people living with them
* electors living with members of the Canadian Forces outside Canada or with civilians who are teachers or members of the administrative support staff for a Canadian Forces school
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I'm not sure whether that would affect residency for tax purposes though. . . |
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Bramble
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Location: National treasures need homes
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the information, Peppermint. All this time I thought I was just a derelict voter ... and I'm not even eligible to vote anymore! 
Seriously, I hate all the politicians in Canada so much I could vomit all over my keyboard. For a split second I thought the Greens might deserve a chance, but I wonder if they'd be as bad as the rest if they ever got one. |
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